During the latest Laplink Connections interview, Laplink Software CEO Thomas Koll talked with Blake Irving about corporate culture and why it’s an important part of any successful business. Former CEO and board director of GoDaddy, Irving is currently serving as a board director for Autodesk, DocuSign, Flowhub, and ZipRecruiter. And he has become especially well-known for fostering a relaxed, authentic, “cool” environment at GoDaddy where he set up a drum set in his office and built a skateboard park at its engineering center in Tempe, Arizona.
During Thomas’ discussion with Blake, they talked about how Blake focused on making significant changes to evolve GoDaddy’s culture when he joined the company as CEO. He worked with his team to build a more inclusive, inviting, authentic, and connected corporate culture. Prior to his arrival, many people had more negative experiences with GoDaddy’s corporate culture, as evidenced by its “GoDaddy Girls” advertising campaigns, hiring and promotion practices, and other messages that Blake worked hard to change.
Thomas and Blake also discussed Blake’s work as executive producer of the well-received “CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap” documentary. The CODE documentary was a feature-length film that explored why more American women and minorities are not pursuing careers in computer science, despite high demand and lucrative job opportunities.
In addition, they discussed how many companies have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by moving to a hybrid model of work combining both remote work with office work environments and the lessons to be learned from this approach.
For more information about Laplink Connections and to watch the latest video interviews, please visit the Connections website.