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Episode 383

Five Ways to Allocate Your Capital with Wade Foster, CEO of Zapier

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A huge part of any business is money. Money for growth, money for product dev, money for hiring, money for marketing, money for sales… So a huge question every business leader needs to ask themselves is: 

How do you make your money, time, and resources work best for you? 

And that’s a question of capital allocation. 

Today’s guest, Wade Foster, CEO of Zapier, has been on the show before where he spoke about The Outsiders and why that book has been so meaningful for him. The Outsiders looks at eight hugely successful CEOs who have extraordinarily high returns and identifies the key strategies for thoughtful capital allocation.

 In this episode, Wade talks through the five categories of capital allocation and how they apply both to the company and his personal life. These categories are: 

  • Investing in existing operations
  • Acquiring other companies
  • Issuing dividends
  • Paying down debt
  • Buying your company’s stocks

Key Discussion Points:

  • Why Wade has been so intrigued by The Outsiders and capital allocation in general.
  • Ways Wade is investing in existing operations in Zapier, such as coaching programs.
  • How Zapier is thinking about automation within their company.
  • How Zapier is thinking about acquisitions of other companies in the future. 
  • Wade’s thoughts on issuing dividends and alternative ways to create incentive structures.
  • Some of the ways that Zapier is tackling debt.
  • Zapier’s approach to generating cashflow primarily focuses on increasing customers.
  • How Zapier deals with forecasting, which Wade believes is half science, half art.
  • Wade’s investments in himself: Coaching, reading, and connecting to business owners.
  • Some of the long-term visions that Wade meditates on regularly.
  • Why small, ‘mom-and-pop’ software shops excite Wade so much.
  • Closing Advice: Don’t be afraid to do something new and different!

Mentions:

This episode of Mission Daily is brought to you by our friends at TriNet. TriNet makes HR easier, from payroll to benefits to compliance. AND they offer full-service solutions tailored to your industry and your company, whether your team is 10 people or 1,000. Check out TriNet today at trinet.com.

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Episode 367
Five Ways to Allocate Your Capital with Wade Foster, CEO of Zapier