LIFT Episode 6:
In our sixth episode, Allison discusses leadership in technology, specifically the nascent cryptocurrency market, with Sara Drakeley, CEO of MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency payment application that runs on the blockchain. The discussion centers on Sara’s mission to reimagine payments from the ground up and her vision of sending money as easily as sending a text, anywhere in the world, instantly, securely – and at a minimum of cost. Sara also shares her unconventional leadership journey from technical director at Disney Animation Studios in Los Angeles to New York as a Wall Street hedge fund software engineer, and then back to California where she landed as third engineer at MobileCoin. After becoming CEO in five years, Sara shares her leadership style and also unveils life as a female CEO in a predominantly male-dominated technology environment, and how trust with her team has enabled her to take off for maternity leave.
Today’s guest is Sara Drakeley, CEO of MobileCoin, who is building a global payments infrastructure that runs on a blockchain. She shares leadership lessons learned and how she focuses on being an authentic leader and servant leader. What is most important to Sara is to ensure that she is doing the most impactful thing that she could be doing in her life, with the minimum time allotted, while empowering her team to realize the vision they share at MobileCoin by removing blockers, supporting them, and giving them the resources they need. Also, she shares how her MIT degree in mathematics and computer science helped her understand how to solve problems quickly. As the CEO, she attacks and solves problems by learning as much as she can about them, so that she can make an informed decision and act quickly. She also shares how mathematics is the key to ensuring secure cybersecurity payments in an increasingly risky threat environment that attracts exploitation. Finally, she offers some words of wisdom for software engineers starting out in their career. Don’t be afraid to ask the people around you the “dumb questions” because the answer will come faster. Tune in for all this and more from today’s interesting conversation in the world of cryptocurrency.
“Ultimately, it’s my job to empower my team to help realize the vision that we all share.” — Sara Drakeley
“Entertainment matters, finance matters, it all matters. It’s just about the degree of risk tolerance that can be acceptable within that space.” — Allison J. Taylor
Leadership inspiration for professionals who appreciate life-long learning infused with sarcasm and wit. Silicon Valley consultant Allison J. Taylor curates intelligent conversations that illuminate fresh points of view across business, technology, communications and management. Time-pressed execs can get informed and inspired in under 60 minutes.