Slack Founder Stewart Butterfield Talks WFH with Guy Raz | How I Built This | NPR
Executive Summary
Slack co-founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield tells Guy Raz how Slack handled the work-from-home surge, why the pivot from a failed video game gave the company its product, what 110,000 paid customers meant for reading demand, and why leaders must reassure people and repeat the plan in a crisis. TL;DR Butterfield says forced change expands what seems possible, and in uncertain times people need to be reminded what matters, reassured, and clear on the plan. Live Q&A recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, so work-from-home and pandemic context runs throughout. Based on first ~37,000 caption characters, covering essentially the full 40-minute session. Details come from machine-generated captions and the guest's own claims; business figures are not independently checked. Topics are untimed; metadata follows YouTube. Source: https://youtubetotranscript.com/transcript?v=lUc9ZC4oeqg
Key Takeaways
A pivot built Slack
Guy Raz recounts that Slack began as a video game company; when the game failed, the internal messaging tool the team had built for itself turned out to be the compelling product.
Reading demand in a crisis
Slack had 110,000 paid customers, many small and medium businesses. New team creation jumped early in the pandemic, but Butterfield says they could not tell how the economic damage would land and said so.
Remote collaboration varies
With 15 offices in 10 countries, much of Slack's normal work already happened in writing, so the shift was easier for them than for companies built on face-to-face habits.
Forced change expands possibility
Butterfield says when you are forced to do something you thought impossible, other things you thought impossible may become possible too, and he expects wider acceptance of workplace technology.
Reassurance is the job
People hate uncertainty and invent reasons for things. Leaders must remind people what is important, reassure them, and make sure they understand the plan, in greater quantity and quality.
Small business empathy
He reflects on closed shops and restaurants: people open them out of identity and creative drive, and failure is emotionally and financially devastating for families.
The Conversation Breakdown
A pivot built Slack
⏱ Untimed topicGuy Raz recounts that Slack began as a video game company; when the game failed, the internal messaging tool the team had built for itself turned out to be the compelling product.
Reading demand in a crisis
⏱ Untimed topicSlack had 110,000 paid customers, many small and medium businesses. New team creation jumped early in the pandemic, but Butterfield says they could not tell how the economic damage would land and said so.
Remote collaboration varies
⏱ Untimed topicWith 15 offices in 10 countries, much of Slack's normal work already happened in writing, so the shift was easier for them than for companies built on face-to-face habits.
Forced change expands possibility
⏱ Untimed topicButterfield says when you are forced to do something you thought impossible, other things you thought impossible may become possible too, and he expects wider acceptance of workplace technology.
Reassurance is the job
⏱ Untimed topicPeople hate uncertainty and invent reasons for things. Leaders must remind people what is important, reassure them, and make sure they understand the plan, in greater quantity and quality.
Small business empathy
⏱ Untimed topicHe reflects on closed shops and restaurants: people open them out of identity and creative drive, and failure is emotionally and financially devastating for families.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
A pivot built Slack - Stewart Butterfield's approach
Guy Raz recounts that Slack began as a video game company; when the game failed, the internal messaging tool the team had built for itself turned out to be the compelling product.
Remote collaboration varies - Stewart Butterfield's approach
With 15 offices in 10 countries, much of Slack's normal work already happened in writing, so the shift was easier for them than for companies built on face-to-face habits.
Reassurance is the job - Stewart Butterfield's approach
People hate uncertainty and invent reasons for things.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓Repeat the plan and the purpose to your team more often than feels necessary.
- ✓Treat forced change as a chance to question other assumptions you thought were fixed.
- ✓Look at whether your product is an internal tool you built for yourself, as Slack was.
- ✓Pick one idea from "Reading demand in a crisis" and test it in your own work this week.
Notable Quotes
“human beings hate uncertainty”
“people need to be reminded what's important more often people need to be reassured”
“I think business leaders are going to need to be open to a wider set of possibilities”
“when you're forced to do something that you previously thought was impossible other things that you also thought were impossible maybe become possible”
The One Thing to Remember
human beings hate uncertainty