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In this special episode of Proc and Roll, Conrad sits down with Natasha Gurevich to reflect on their career journeys, transitioning from massive enterprise procurement leadership roles to the wild world of startup founders. Natasha reflects on her legendary career—including being Nike's first CPO, where she grew spend under management from $10 billion to $15 billion and delivered a massive 23x ROI—and shares the harsh, unglamorous truths about entrepreneurship.
They dive deep into how procurement professionals misunderstand supplier relationships, why companies listen to external consultants more than their own internal leaders, and the psychological shock of losing the corporate "dopamine yo-yo". If you are considering making the leap into starting your own business or want to know how to elevate your C-suite presence, this episode is packed with hard-earned wisdom.
Timestamps:
(00:01:06) - Intro & Natasha’s Background: A look at Natasha's incredible career at Nike, Salesforce, IBM, and McKesson.
(00:03:09) - Leaving the Enterprise: Why Conrad and Natasha left the corporate world to build their own startups.
(00:05:56) - The Biggest Supplier Misconception: Why the old-school "sharpen your pencil" and "throat to choke" mentalities are wrong, and why suppliers are actually your greatest partners.
(00:13:27) - The Outsider Advantage: Why enterprise leaders often ignore their internal experts but will pay top dollar to listen to external consultants.
(00:18:59) - The "Infection" of an Idea: Conrad shares how the vision for Graphite took hold of him and the importance of waiting for the "gears to align" in your career.
(00:27:51) - What Natasha Would Do Differently as a CPO: The absolute imperative of aligning procurement's goals (like being a cash machine vs. risk prevention) with the enterprise's true priorities.
(00:33:40) - Finding "Ease" in the C-Suite: How experience and leaving the corporate safety net gives you the fearless confidence to engage with senior leadership.
(00:41:39) - The Deafening Silence of Startups: The brutal reality of entrepreneurship and the psychological shock of losing the daily corporate "cortisol and dopamine yo-yo".
(00:52:48) - The Real Test of a Business: Why compliments from friends don't matter until a customer actually pulls out their wallet to pay you.
(00:59:47) - Keep Learning: Why "learning is more valuable than earning" and the one metric that dictates your career success.
About Proc n Roll:
Proc n Roll is your ultimate guide to practical procurement. Hosted by industry veterans, we navigate the complex intersections of procurement, supply chain, digital transformation, and the cutting-edge technology redefining the enterprise landscape. Join us as we interview top leaders, unpack hard-learned lessons, and explore how to build resilient, forward-thinking organizations.
