Smash Notes
Natalie Fratto
Episodes
Notes
TED Talks Daily · 3 ways to measure your adaptability -- and how to improve it |…
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What Future Does Natalie Fratto Say IQ and EQ Will Not Prepare Us for?
In her TED Talks Daily talk on adaptability, investor Natalie Fratto says we are entering a future in which IQ and EQ both matter much less than how fast a person can adapt. She points to three habits she uses with founders: asking what-if questions, actively unlearning, and choosing exploration over exploitation. She uses Destin Sandlin's backwards bicycle, which took Sandlin eight months to ride, as proof that a person can unlearn an old skill. Fratto says those drills put you in the driver's seat so that the next big change finds you already practicing. Her name for the skill is an adaptability quotient, or AQ.
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How Do You Distinguish the Best Founders From the Rest
Here are three tricks to try, when evaluating startup founders. First, ask them "what if" questions. Then test whether they can unlearn information. Finally, look for people who prioritize exploration over exploitation.
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How Is Exploration Described
Fratto frames it as a state of constant seeking. We should not fall too in love with our wins, but continue to seek out what might kill us next.
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What Is the Natural Tension Between Exploitation and Exploration
Natalie Fratto states how we collectively overvalue exploitation. She gives the example of Blockbuster, of how the CEO filed for bankruptcy due to focusing on exploitation and not adaptability.
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Why Is It Beneficial to Practice Simulations
It’s a safe testing ground for adaptability. Rather than testing how you retain information, you are tested on how you manipulate manipulation in order to achieve a certain goal.
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How Is Adaptability a Sign of Intelligence
Our adaptability quotient is something that can be tested and improved. Fratto states how important AQ is for all of us because the world is also speeding up, which forces our brains to react.
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How Does Natalie Fratto Decide Which Startup Founders Are Great?
Natalie Fratto says on TED Talks Daily that she met 273 startup founders in a year and had to judge which ones could build something big. Some venture capitalists, she says, bet on background: an Ivy League school, a blue-chip employer, or a large vision already shipped. Others score emotional quotient, meaning how well a founder builds teams and rapport with customers. Fratto does neither. She looks for adaptability, how someone reacts to constant change, and she treats that adaptability quotient as something that can be measured and improved. Her first test is a what-if question, such as a revenue stream drying up overnight, instead of "tell me about a time when."
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What Makes a Great Founder
As an investor, Natalie Fratto has to determine which founder would be the best to invest in. She looks for signs of one specific trait: adaptability. To her, it’s important to see how people react during the frequent times of inevitability change.