- Phil Schraeder started at GumGum in 2011 as the VP of finance and became the CEO in 2019.
- He's learned from his career mistakes, including growing too quickly and not being decisive enough.
- Mentorship and transparency have been crucial in both his personal and professional success.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Phil Schraeder, a 48-year-old CEO in Los Angeles. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I graduated in 1999 with an accounting and finance degree and started my career at KPMG as an auditor. I quickly realized it wasn't the right energy and environment for me.
In 2001, I made a leap of faith, quit my job, and moved from Chicago to Los Angeles without an apartment. I had only ever spent two days in the city.
Once I got there, I came out as gay and got a senior financial analyst job for a production company on the Fox studio lot. Through my network and relationship with the founder I met in LA, I became employee 10 at GumGum, an adtech firm, as the VP of finance in 2011.
Early on, this involved moving boxes into a U-Haul. I grew with the company and was appointed CEO six years ago. Now, we have about 500 employees in 20 countries and are valued at nearly $700 million.
Throughout my career, I've had regrets and a lot of mistakes I've learned from. These are the four biggest.
1. Growing too quickly without having a solid foundation
A critical learning for me was growing too quickly without building, focusing, and having our foundation sturdy. We grew fast, and I got excited about what would come and what we would build.
That's important, but I quickly realized there were a lot of cracks in the foundation, for example, around operational vigor, leveraging data, and putting the systems in place to manage ownership and accountability.
If you grow in ways that make your structure rocky, you'll have to go back, restructure, and sort it all out.
2. Taking too long to change the company mindset from a startup to a more mature business
I think there have been times when I took too long as a CEO to decide on deals.
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We often must choose between wanting the money we need to grow and seeing that a deal is not servicing them or us. It's OK to say no to partners or clients or to say this is what we need and expect for this to be successful for both of us.
I held on to how we did things too long and how my mindset operated when we were trying to take what we could get. I should've gotten more decisive sooner.
3. Not getting a mentor or executive coach earlier
I didn't realize how important a mentor or coach was until I made some of these mistakes. One of my bigger issues in making the jump to CEO was not getting mentorship from someone who's been there and done that.
I think that on several occasions, I went through pain myself, and that's how I realized that issues needed to be solved — rather than finding someone to help me avoid that pain. Having a mentor earlier on could've been very helpful.
I found an executive coach who has worked with other CEOs who have navigated through mid-growth stage companies. Relying on that person to help me make the necessary decisions or think differently has become very important.
It's also been critical to me to navigate the business's rapid growth over the last several years.
4. Not being transparent in all facets of my life earlier
I've had to live my identity to be true to myself. That outcome and what it did for my confidence is exponential and priceless.
For example, I dress with intention and like to stand out. Once, an investor I knew called me out during a meeting with people on my board, questioning my dress. This was the moment when I knew I had to take a stance.
I had two choices: I could brush it off and move on or address it head-on with everybody. I talked to the company, some 500 people, and told them to have a voice in who they are and that their uniqueness makes them amazing and great.
As a CEO, the real work begins in the quiet moments that no one knows behind the scenes
I must show up as an individual and represent the values I preach to the company.
I've tried hard to make every employee feel like they can reach out and schedule a meeting with me. I'm in the market discussing solutions, visions, and values, which ultimately ties into my moral compass and integrity.
I used to use the word authenticity, but now I prefer transparency. I'm being more transparent than I've ever been. Because my journey is unconventional, transparency with my colleagues is my superpower.
