Bob Kavner Part 1 - How Mentorship, Self-Awareness, and a Commitment to Great Work Formed the Foundation for an Incredible Career

In today’s episode, I’m joined by legendary tech investor and executive, Bob Kavner! Bob was formerly the CFO of AT&T and lead AT&T's multimedia division. He has also been chairman and an early investor for an incredible array of revolutionary companies including Earthlink, Pandora, Overture, Ticketmaster, and so many more.

Bob has an incredible life story and has spent more than three decades at the intersection of technology and multimedia while working closely with some of the biggest luminaries in the field. In part one of our conversation together, Bob offers his insights into the impact that strong mentorship has had on him, how his personal and intellectual development throughout his early years taught him how to be a more present and engaged romantic partner and businessman, as well as why personal failure was something that needed to happen for him to experience growth.  

To learn more on Bob and listen to our conversation in further depth, tune in to Episode 7 of What Didn’t Kill You! 

Some Questions I Ask:

• How did having such a profound mentor in your life inform your view on what a strong performance should look like? (13:11)
• Did you notice any similarities in dynamics amongst the performers and leaders you met during your early days in business? (15:40)
• How did you go from being a Senior Audit Partner on the ‘AT&T’ account to joining the company? (17:51)
• As someone who has been married for so long and been a successful leader in business, how do you approach maintaining a fair work and life balance? (27:20)
• Was there anything you took away from your first marriage that you applied to later relationships when your work life became too demanding? (31:30)
• Did the personal development you went through in your thirties feed into your evolving outlook on Management and Business? (36:33)

In This Episode You Will Learn:

• Some background on Bob. (1:42)
• The exposure to different work practices Bob gained throughout the industries he worked in. (9:43)
• How Bob became a Senior Partner at ‘AT&T’. (10:25)
• Bob’s perspective on his own adversity. (26:31)
• Why failure played such a key role in Bob accessing his humility and vulnerability. (33:16)

Let’s Connect!

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