Incorruptible: How Great Companies Stay Great featuring Eric Ries
Snafu w/ Robin Zander
In this episode, I’m joined by Eric Ries – entrepreneur, founder of the Lean Startup movement, and author of The Lean Startup and Incorruptible – for a conversation about what it actually takes to build companies that last. Eric’s work has shaped how startups and large organizations approach innovation, but this conversation goes deeper than experimentation. It’s about what happens after you succeed and why so many good companies slowly lose their way. At the center is a concept he calls financial gravity: the invisible force that pushes organizations toward short-term decisions,...
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How Cults Work with Ellen Huet
Snafu w/ Robin Zander
In this episode, I’m joined by Ellen Huet – journalist at Bloomberg and author of Empire of Orgasm – for a conversation about power, belonging, and the sometimes blurry line between influence and manipulation. Ellen has spent over a decade covering Silicon Valley – from AI startups to the personalities shaping the industry. Empire of Orgasm explores OneTaste, the sexual wellness company and alleged sex cult. Throughout the book, Ellen also explores the broader question of how high-demand groups actually work. At the center of this book is the uncomfortable idea that cults aren’t a...
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Building Community that Drives Business with Joshua Zerkel
Snafu w/ Robin Zander
In this episode, I’m joined by Joshua Zerkel – community strategist, former Evernote ambassador turned community leader, and author of The Community Code – for a conversation about what it really takes to build community that drives business outcomes. Joshua’s path is anything but typical. He started as a power user and advocate, writing productivity books about Evernote before eventually joining the company and helping scale its community as it grew from 100M to 200M users. From there, he went on to build and lead community at Asana, turning it into a global program spanning forums,...
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How to Move People with Lindsey Caplan
Snafu w/ Robin Zander
.In this episode, I’m joined by Lindsey Caplan — organizational psychologist, former Hollywood screenwriter, and upcoming author — for a conversation about creativity, communication, and how people and groups are actually moved. Lindsey’s path is anything but linear. She started her career on TV and film sets in Los Angeles, working on shows like Malcolm in the Middle, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Amazing Race. From there, she transitioned into learning and development at companies like DreamWorks Animation, Zendesk, and Credit Karma, eventually stepping fully into organizational...
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Founder-Led Sales with Gagan Biyani - Snafu Conference 2026
Snafu w/ Robin Zander
This conversation between Robin Zander and Gagan Biyani, founder of Maven and early contributor to Udemy, Lyft, and Spread, explores the intersection of growth, education, and entrepreneurship. The session begins with a brief mindfulness exercise for the audience before diving into Biyani’s career and his perspective on growth. He distinguishes growth from traditional marketing by emphasizing that growth is a systematic approach that integrates product, analytics, and user behavior to drive scalable results, rather than solely focusing on branding or messaging. Biyani also addresses the...
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How to Sell Yourself – A Workshop
Snafu w/ Robin Zander
Robin Zander hosted a Snafu webinar for the Sidebar community on non-sales selling—think self-promotion for career transitions, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and product people. The goal: learn to “sell yourself” without the ick factor. Participants shared fears: follow-ups feel intimidating, sales feels slimy, and success seems like a numbers game. Robin reframed it: selling is really about enrollment—being a chief evangelist for your work, not begging for attention. Drawing on stories from his childhood pumpkin patch, his time as a personal trainer (where desperation lost...
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Your Best Meeting Ever with Rebecca Hinds, PhD
Snafu w/ Robin Zander
In this episode, I’m joined by Rebecca Hinds — organizational behavior expert and founder of the Work AI Institute at Glean — for a practical conversation about why meetings deteriorate over time and how to redesign them. Rebecca argues that bad meetings aren’t a people problem — they’re a systems problem. Without intentional design, meetings default to ego, status signaling, conflict avoidance, and performative participation. Over time, low-value meetings become normalized instead of fixed. Drawing on her research at Stanford University and her leadership of the Work Innovation...
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Corporating: Navigating Career and Life with Mandy Mooney
Snafu w/ Robin Zander
In this episode, I’m joined by Mandy Mooney — author, corporate communicator, and performer — for a wide-ranging conversation about mentorship, career growth, and how to show up authentically in both work and life. We talk about her path from performing arts to corporate communications, and how those early experiences shaped the way she approaches relationships, leadership, and personal authenticity. That foundation carries through to her current role as VP of Internal Communications, where she focuses on building connections and fostering resilience across teams. We...
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Why the Best Leaders are Better Storytellers with Robin P. Zander
Snafu w/ Robin Zander
Welcome back to Snafu with Robin P. Zander. In this episode, I’m doing something a little different: I step into the guest seat for a conversation with one of my good friends, Andrew Bartlow, recorded for the People Leader Accelerator podcast alongside Jessica Yuen. We dive into storytelling, identity, and leadership — exploring how personal experiences shape professional influence. The conversation begins with a reflection on family and culture, from the Moroccan textiles behind me, made by my mother, to the influence of my father’s environmental consulting work. These threads of...
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Investing In People, AI, and the Future of Work with Virginie Raphael
Snafu w/ Robin Zander
In this episode, I’m joined by Virginie Raphael — investor, entrepreneur, and philosopher of work — for a wide-ranging conversation about incentives, technology, and how we build systems that scale without losing their humanity. We talk about her background growing up around her family’s flower business, and how those early experiences shaped the way she thinks about labor, value, and operating in the real economy. That foundation carries through to her work as an investor, where she brings an operator’s lens to evaluating businesses and ideas. We explore how incentives quietly shape...
info_outlineI’m traveling with my family to Mexico for two weeks this winter. The trip is a throwback to holidays from my childhood. Every other year, my family avoided the holidays altogether and traveled to Latin America. As a kid, I was sad to miss the holidays, but in retrospect those international trips were formative. This will be the first family trip in a decade and the first time with my nephews (7 and 10).
Know why
When I took a month-long trip with my mother to Ghana, I had to get very clear in the months leading up to the trip why I was going. And my purpose for taking the trip wasn’t to have a great experience.
Visiting Ghana was a lifelong dream of my mother’s and a trip she wouldn’t have attempted alone. My primary reason for going to Africa was to support her; to facilitate her having a positive experience.
As you are heading into an experience with family, ask yourself why you are prioritizing spending time in this way:
- What are you hoping to get out of it?
- What do you want for your family members?
The more clearly you know why, the better you will be at boundaries and making productive use of the time.
Habit: Write down 10 different reasons “why” you are taking the action that you are. They won’t all feel true, but you’ll find something new through the exercise.
There’s no problem so big you can’t walk away
I use this phrase, which is oft repeated by a close friend, to remind myself that I have agency. We always have the ability to leave – even when it feels like we don't.
It is something of a cardinal sin in my family to leave a conversation or issue unresolved. And yet I’m always calmer for stepping away for ten minutes and coming back to the issue later.
Any of us is free to take a break or walk away at any time.
Habit: Remind yourself, maybe even aloud, that “There’s no problem so big I can’t walk away.” Repeating that serves as a reminder that you are not stuck in a difficult situation.
Take a pee break
Years ago, a friend taught me the trick of taking a “pee break.” Maybe you actually need to use the toilet, but that's beside the point.
The goal is that when you are upset you take a couple of minutes to reorient yourself and come back refreshed.
Under very few circumstances is it considered socially inappropriate to take a couple of minutes out of a conversation “because I have to use the restroom.” And often you come back better able to handle whatever challenge has been going on.
Habit: Practice “taking a pee break” when the stakes are low. During an otherwise unheated conversation say, “I'll be back in 2 minutes. I need to use the restroom.” The better you get at taking a break, the better you’ll be able to when things get heated.
Therapy with family
I'm a proponent of facilitated conversation: therapy, coaching or anything else that works for you.
In advance of our trip to Ghana, my mother and I went to therapy together. The objective was to create some guidelines about what we might expect while we were traveling in Africa, and how to collaborate better.
My mother and I walked out of therapy with a new willingness to listen to each other, which led to a gentler trip in Ghana then might have happened otherwise. (It was still an intense experience!)
Habit: Organize a facilitated conversation. It might not change anything, but it might also result in less drama.
Family meetings
We had regular family meetings growing up. Once every few weeks, our family of four would sit down and discuss challenges that had come up recently.
I don't remember what got discussed, but “let’s have a family meeting” remains my family’s shorthand when communication is getting tough.
Habit: Schedule a brief “family meeting.” The goal isn't to change anybody's behavior, but to create space for airing of grievances – so they don't bubble over at inopportune times.
As I get ready to spend two weeks in close quarters with my family in Mexico, I know that I am going to need to practice a lot of these habits and tools. I hope that one of these habits is useful for you as you head into your own holiday plans.
Until next time,
Robin