Padmasree Warrior is the Founder, President and CEO of Fable, a mobile-first company that brings stories to everyone, anywhere. Previously, Padma was the Chief Executive Officer of NIO U.S., Chief Development Officer and Board Member of NIO Inc., a manufacturer of smart, electric, and autonomous vehicles. In this role, she scaled the company from start-up to a successful IPO NYSE:NIO in 3 years.

Prior to NIO, Warrior served as the Chief Technology & Strategy Officer (CTSO) for Cisco until September 2015. In this capacity, she was charged with aligning the company’s technology and business strategy to business results. She was in charge of corporate strategy, mergers, acquisitions, venture investments, and strategic partnerships. Previous to that, she was the SVP and GM for Cisco Enterprise segment and co-led Cisco’s worldwide engineering organization. Prior Cisco, she was EVP and CTO at Motorola. Under her leadership, Motorola was awarded the 2004 U.S. National Medal of Technology.

Padmasree Warrior has been widely recognized for her creative, visionary leadership. Forbes has named her one of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” for three years running. 

Our conversation was truly fascinating! We discuss her reverse journey from grown-up to start-up, what she had to unlearn from a large corporation to become a start-up founder, how you can get your initial hires onboard, and the rituals that build a strong company culture.

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