CEOs enter their out-of-pocket era
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Communication leaders have made an effort to unpolish their CEOs, but some of these top executives are taking the need for authenticity a little too far.
Why it matters: The balance between personality and precision is hard to grasp, and over-indexing on either can affect a company's reputation.
State of play: Anduril founder Palmer Luckey recently said that women should be having kids as teenagers during an interview with TBPN.
- Palantir CEO Alex Karp offered commentary on ICE and the fentanyl crisis during an earnings call.
- Sam Altman acknowledged his X post about ChatGPT-powered erotica was "one of [his] dumbest mistakes of the year."
- And Snowflake chief revenue officer Mike Gannon shared financial guidance during an influencer interview, forcing the company to file an 8-K with the SEC.
- This all happened within the last two weeks.
What they're saying: "As an advisor, I now coach CEOs to undo being overly rehearsed or scripted," says Shahed Fakhari Larson, CEO of UNLMTD Partners.
- Some executives get stuck in a binary view of their communication style, she adds. "They think they either need to be completely unscripted and raw or tightly rehearsed. But that's a fallacy — really effective leaders are able to show their personality and authenticity and still be incredibly precise in their messaging."
Between the lines: Most of these out-of-pocket remarks happen during creator-led interviews or on social media, which shows that being authentic across modern media channels requires a higher degree of communications savvy.
- "The first layer of media training is foundational — which is how to protect yourself and your organization," says Sarah Brown, founder of media training firm Brighton Media. "Executives must have a clear understanding of the general rules of the road."
- "I have found that there absolutely is an appetite for more colloquial styles when approaching executive communications, but it has to be rooted in what the guidelines are from a regulatory perspective," says Alex Jorgensen, partner and head of investor relations at Prosek Partners.
- Snowflake executive Gannon, for example, "broke those core rules" during his influencer interview, Brown said.
Yes, but: These creator-led platforms shouldn't be ignored.
- A recent Pew Research report found that 1 in 5 U.S. adults regularly gets news from creators on social media, indicating these channels are important for building trust with key audiences.
Zoom in: This is increasingly true for potential employees or retail investors, who are regularly engaging on social media platforms like X, Reddit and YouTube.
- Plus, executives can engage there much more frequently than they can host earnings calls.
- "The population has become far more engaged with public equities, and so I think these channels are top of mind for many executives, optimizing them, making sure their presence is authentic to themselves, and making sure they're not they're not ignoring a huge swath of investors," Jorgensen says.
The intrigue: While earnings calls are, by design, very scripted, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong managed to toe the line expertly while reporting earnings last week.
- As the call was wrapping, he rattled off a series of phrases based on what Polymarket was predicting he would say. "lol this was fun - happened spontaneously when someone on our team dropped a link in the chat," he later posted on X.
What to watch: There is appetite — or at least more tolerance — for business leaders to share their hot takes.
- "Creating controversy and courting haters has been a great way to break through," Common Thread Communications founder Cristin Culver said at a recent MB Live event.
- "I don't know that the window is going to be open forever, but a lot of brand lift is coming from haters," she added.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect Palmer Luckey is Anduril's founder (not CEO).
More on Axios:
