In this episode we discuss: How do you build an organisation to compete with Google? We are joined by Omid Ashtari, ex-COO of Streebees and President of Citymapper. We chat about the following with Omid:  How do you think about organisational structure? How proactive should you be in anticipating organisational challenges? What is the highest impact communication challenge you helped resolve? How do you prevent drift from the customer as the company scales?  References: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtari http://www.startuppragmatism.com Biography:  I have two decades of experience in tech and worked in sales, business development and strategy roles for Google across the Dublin, London and San Francisco office during his 7 years there. As the first international employee, I set up Foursquare in Europe as Managing Director. I subsequently joined Citymapper for 6 years as President running the non-engineering side of the business. I then joined Streetbees as COO running operations, international expansion, finance and legal. Throughout my career I have raised north of 100 million dollars of funding for businesses I have worked for. I am an angel investor in more than 45 businesses and advise many of them in all manner of things including strategy, operations, business development, fundraises etc. I am also part of the Mayor of London's Business Advisory Board, and a Mentor at Seedcamp and Entrepreneur First. I am also an aspiring writer for my blogs startuppragmatism.blog and thefullspectrum.blog. Summary: Personal growth and evolution over 13 years. 0:05Brandon reflects on his past solo travels and how they relate to his current life.Brandon M reflects on his past self-absorption and lack of empathy, now prioritizing supporting others' success and empathy in personal and professional life.Brandon M recounts a 2011 incident where he carried a biscuit tin full of Canadian coins and sat next to a homeless person, now recognizing the importance of empathy and caring for others.Organizational structure and skills for a business. 4:09Bethany: People often create an org structure that prioritizes making their existing team happy, rather than starting fresh and building a structure that works for the business.Brandon M: Bethany suggests starting with a blank slate and building an org structure that works for the business, rather than trying to fit existing team members into a pre-existing structure.Bethany and Brandon M discuss the importance of defining the skills needed for a business to succeed, rather than simply morphing structures around people.They agree that it's better to have a flexible approach to organizational structure, recognizing that roles may evolve as the business grows and changes.Organizational design and hiring for a scaling startup. 9:57Brandon M. faced pushback on hiring 2 product marketing managers, but believes it was necessary for success in both self-serve subscribers and enterprise sales.Brandon M. emphasizes the importance of clear go-to-market strategy and collaboration between product marketing manager and go-to-market manager.Bethany identifies...