We were once told to shut Higgsfield down. We had burned more than $10M of the $16M we raised and spent a year without a product that worked. As CEO, I felt responsible for setting the wrong direction. The creative directors we brought in helped us find a way forward. On 20VC, Harry Stebbings asked how my style as a CEO has changed. Here are the five principles I run Higgsfield on. 1/ Look for good derivatives. I care more about trajectory than pedigree. Adil had no famous company on his CV, just a computer science degree and shifts as a bartender and barista. Today he leads our 20+ person YouTube team and is the face of Higgsfield. 2/ Build on people’s strengths. Not everyone has to fit the same shape. If someone is exceptionally good at something, even something narrow, I build around it. 3/ Give people clear signals. I learned this from Jensen Huang. He has more than 60 direct reports, and when something matters, he tells all of them at once. I want everyone to know where we’re going and what’s working. How to get there is theirs to figure out. 4/ Let the strongest argument win. If a 20-year-old has the better argument, I want that argument to win. I need people to tell me when I’m wrong. 5/ Work hard, starting with myself. I work 80 to 90 hours a week, and I’m grateful to my family for their patience. Our team works just as hard, and I hope many of them will build real wealth and experience as the company grows. One lesson I keep coming back to is that momentum doesn’t last forever, so we keep pushing every day.
it's a good thing you don't adhere to bad actors
Some great lessons here. Indeed momentum doesn't last forever, so good to always make the most of the moment.
Momentum, Tenacity, and Openness to pivot to a better idea ar the holy triumvirate.
All very good points.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience Alex. Point 1 and 4 together are the real formula, hire for trajectory, then create the conditions where their argument can beat yours. Most founders do one or the other; few do both. Curious about the tension between 3 and 4 though: with clear top-down signals (Jensen-style) AND "strongest argument wins," how do you keep people from reading your signal as the final answer? I've found that once the CEO speaks first, the room quietly aligns, so I've started speaking last on contested calls. How do you handle that at Higgsfield?
The hardest part of leadership is creating enough clarity for people to move fast without needing you in every decis
The look for good derivatives framing is sharp trajectory over pedigree is easy to say and hard to actually hire on. Adil going from barista to leading a 20+ person team is the kind of proof point that makes it real. Curious how you spot trajectory in practice is it pace of learning, ownership instinct, or something harder to name.
Do you see your thought process as a leader changing in the future given that well-tuned agents are getting much better at solving all problems? The only gap is calling the final shots now…
Really good lessons here, especially “let the strongest argument win.” Building a team where people can challenge the CEO and where strengths matter more than pedigree is harder than it sounds. Great perspective on leadership and building through uncertainty.