{"id":1471,"date":"2019-01-25T23:00:21","date_gmt":"2019-01-25T23:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knowyourteam.com\/blog\/?post_type=podcast&#038;p=1471"},"modified":"2025-04-21T10:38:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T17:38:27","slug":"episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 9: Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"The Heartbeat Interview:  Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive\" width=\"1400\" height=\"788\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/X501KFOzEnw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-as-the-founder-of-a-100-person-company-who-recently-turned-down-an-8-figure-offer-for-sale-wil-talks-about-naivete-transparency-as-a-leader-and-not-enabling-your-employees-to-lie-to-you\">As the founder of a 100+ person company who recently turned down an&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@wilreynolds\/when-life-changing-money-isnt-c2f7d00a67f8\" target=\"_blank\">8-figure offer for sale<\/a>, Wil talks about naivet\u00e9, transparency as a leader, and not enabling your employees to lie to&nbsp;you.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Hi everyone, I\u2019m\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/cjlew23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Claire Lew<\/a>, and I\u2019m the CEO of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=post&amp;utm_campaign=heartbeat-podcast\">Canopy<\/a>, and today I\u2019ve got a real special guest with me. I have\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wilreynolds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wil Reynolds<\/a>, who is founder of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.seerinteractive.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SEER Interactive<\/a>, an incredible SEO firm that he started, I want to say back in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I met Wil at this really interesting, invite-only small conference just for digital agency owners called&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/bureauofdigital.com\/intro\/owner-camp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Owner Camp<\/a>. I remember Wil telling me a story of how he started his company. It was incredible. I\u2019ve been inspired ever since. Been a big fan, and honored to be able to chat with him today. Thanks for being here, Wil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: Of course. My pleasure. Thanks for having me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Sweet. Okay, so Wil, I\u2019ve got this one question I want to ask you about leadership, which is\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s one thing\u200a\u2014\u200aor it could be several things\u200a\u2014\u200athat you wish you would have learned earlier as a leader?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.knowyourteam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: The first thing that pops to mind for me is, I kind of waited too late to hire support. What I mean by that is, I\u2019m kind of a hustler. I\u2019m a, \u201cI\u2019ll figure it out.\u201d I\u2019m the kind of guy that\u2019s like, \u201cWell, I can go into QuickBooks and cut payroll.\u201d And I underestimated the amount of people that I would need to help me continue to keep the company moving as we grew. I kept holding onto things that (1) I was not good at and (2) was distracting me from the thing that I could create value in the company, because I was just like, \u201cOh, we don\u2019t need someone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>So I think one of the biggest things that I wish I\u2019d done earlier, was hire every single executive that I hire\u200a\u2014\u200aI wish I would have hired them a year to two years earlier. I was in my hustle mode, doing it myself, and doing a massive disservice to my team in the\u00a0process.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Wow. Being a business owner myself, growing the business, I can absolutely relate. It\u2019s when you get that person in who, you\u2019re like, \u201cOh, I can totally do this myself,\u201d and they start doing it for you, it\u2019s like the world changes. Was there for you someone\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: Seriously\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Yeah, I\u2019m sorry. Keep going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: I was going to say, when I was cutting payroll, there\u2019d be just dumb shit would happen. Like, I would forget that Monday was a holiday. So all of a sudden, I\u2019d be like, \u201cI\u2019m going to cut payroll on this day,\u201d and be like, \u201cYou can\u2019t cut payroll that day.\u201d And then I\u2019m like, \u201cOh, crap. People aren\u2019t going to get their checks for a week.\u201d So then, I would sit there and mail checks out, and forget to take the taxes out. So at the end of the year, my team members were getting hit with like taxes owed, and they were like, \u201cYo, dude, you didn\u2019t take the taxes out?\u201d And I was like, \u201cOh, my god. I\u2019m messing stuff up.\u201d Then that created so much more work for me, and took me away from where I drove that value in the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Absolutely. Absolutely. Wow. What else, Wil? What else do you wish you had learned earlier? I know when we\u2019ve talked in the past, you were always sort of sharing all sorts of lessons from building your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: I wish I would have, well, I was young when I started SEER. I was very na\u00efve about people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.knowyourteam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/172e2-1cq68w2eczoah7ua8dpdflw.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: I kind of thought that if SEER was super transparent with people, like we have an open book, let\u2019s people know what the company was making and all that stuff. And I kind of built SEER in the vision of all the things I wished every company I ever worked for would have done, because I never would have built SEER if every company I worked for had been a certain way. And I thought wrongly so, that if I had built the company like that, people would just want to stay with me forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And as na\u00efve as that may sound to most of the people that are watching this, I was na\u00efve. And I just thought that if you built a company with a certain type of heartbeat, and a certain type of ethos, and a certain type of openness and transparency, and a certain type of sharing the profits, then people would stay forever. And by forever I mean have an average tenure be five, six, seven years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>And it really hurt. I took it way too personally when people would leave early\u00a0on.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Because I was kind of under this impression that\u2019s like, \u201cDude, you know how much the company makes. You can see how much you get as a result of our profitability. You can see the kinds of things we\u2019re trying to do as a company.\u201d And I didn\u2019t give really give people the latitude to change their minds about what they wanted to do, or to change the fact that they wanted to work at a different place and do the same thing. I used to take it way too personally. And that used to make me a very bad manager early on, because I was still figuring myself out at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Right. I think, wow, that\u2019s incredible. I think the amount of self awareness that takes to process and realize, \u201cWait a second. I\u2019m getting too wrapped up into this emotionally. I\u2019m equating my sense of identity with the company\u2019s identity, and everything I\u2019ve wanted it to be.\u201d And how I think for a lot of founders, it\u2019s almost like popular wisdom when you\u2019re building a company that that should be the case. You\u2019re supposed to put your heart into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lot of business owners I think go into business because they\u2019re trying to create a workplace that they wish they had. And you\u2019re saying, \u201cDon\u2019t get too caught up.\u201d Because here\u2019s the thing, I mean, it sounds like to your point, people are going to leave regardless of what you build, regardless of what you\u2019re creating. And that\u2019s not always bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: No, it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Is that how you think about retention? Is that how you think about keeping folks? It\u2019s not as like, \u201cOh, my god, I need to keep every single person.\u201d How do you think about that as a leader?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.knowyourteam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/f294d-14gu140gtq9cdrsn8fgbb3g.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: It\u2019s so interesting, because I evolved on this. Now I sit with every new employee at SEER, and I tell them, \u201cI don\u2019t care how long you\u2019re here. I care about the impact that you have.\u201d I was like, somebody can be in this company for four years, and not do half the work that somebody in six months can do. Right? Somebody in six months can completely rebuild the way that we did something and then bounce, and add more value than somebody who\u2019s just been saying, \u201cI ain\u2019t doing the same old thing every day for four years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I tell people, I\u2019m like, \u201cBefore we met, our trajectories were on different places. Now that we\u2019re together, the only thing that matters is that we do something positive for this company while we are together. And I want you to be able to look back at the time that as you leave, and we part again, and whether I choose that it\u2019s time for you and I to part, or you choose that it\u2019s time for you and I to part, we should be able to look back at the time that we were together, and know that we had an impact because we worked on something together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I always say, \u201cYou take care of us as it comes time for you to leave, then we\u2019ll put you on our alumni network. I will contact other CEOs and people that I know to help you find your next gig. But in order to get there, I\u2019ve got to feel like we did something great together. And that you\u2019re giving me the heads up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We just recently recorded a video about two of our employees who decided to leave. You can really see how I\u2019ve evolved on this. Now I\u2019m publicly talking about, and recording videos about people who came to us and told us, \u201cI want to leave this company.\u201d And what that was like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We want to open more of a dialog between people who are kind of feeling it\u2019s not the right thing, but yet they\u2019re not sure, but they know they can\u2019t say that to their company because there\u2019s fear. And we want to try to help companies eliminate some of that fear, and make it something we want to talk about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Because if you don\u2019t openly start talking about this, you\u2019re forcing your team members to lie to you. Right? Let\u2019s call it at the end of the day what it is. If you take a sick day, you\u2019re going somewhere to interview for a job, you have just lied. And that is a value that anybody really enjoys. Nobody enjoys being lied to that I\u00a0know.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>So what we felt is, we had to make it a safe place for people to feel like they didn\u2019t have to be dishonest, and they could say to us, \u201cYou know what? I think my time at SEER is starting to come to an end.\u201d And that they weren\u2019t going to be mistreated or fired on the spot, and unable to pay their bills, which is what was going through their minds about, \u201cIf I\u2019m transparent with you guys about this, and you go \u2018Fuck you! You\u2019re replaceable,\u2019 then all of a sudden it\u2019s like I can\u2019t do that because then how am I going to pay my bills?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you want to have that kind of transparent style company, I think it\u2019s incumbent on us to kind of show people that, hey, your coworkers, some of them have come to us and said, \u201cI don\u2019t know where I\u2019m going to go next, but I know it\u2019s not going to probably be here.\u201d And then watching SEER encourage that, help people with their next opportunity and treat them well, I think that\u2019s really important for people to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: I think that\u2019s phenomenal. And I honestly, off the top of head, I can\u2019t think of many companies, if any, off the top of my head, that think about that transition with such transparency. And to your point, I definitely, when I used to work for someone, I\u2019ve definitely gone to interviews, and like you said, called a sick day. And yeah, you\u2019re lying. That\u2019s the thing. It\u2019s like you are giving-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: You\u2019re lying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Yeah, you\u2019re lying. You\u2019re giving space for your employees to lie. And what kind of environment does that create, right? I mean, for you as an employer, it gives you also this advantage of now you can prepare for that transition, instead of being just super surprised by it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.knowyourteam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/10ecc-1bs2ot1utwdr2vleclhqnta.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: Bingo. It\u2019s interesting. Right? If somebody goes on an interview and tells us they were taking a sick day, then they\u2019re also upset when they\u2019re like, \u201cOh, why is the company doing this because I don\u2019t know about it?\u201d Well, because we\u2019re doing the same thing you do. When you were doing something that you don\u2019t want me to know, you run off and just do it, and don\u2019t tell me. So why am I any different? You know what I mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m like, no, if we\u2019re going to be a transparent company, as we were talking about the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@wilreynolds\/when-life-changing-money-isnt-c2f7d00a67f8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">potential acquisition<\/a>, I had to stand in front of the company and tell them, \u201cThis is what happened related to somebody wanting to acquire us, and here\u2019s what my mental state is.\u201d I think as a company, you have to overweigh on transparency, if you want that much out of your team member. Because they\u2019re looking at you, every decision you make. They\u2019re looking at four, five, six, seven decisions before they feel safe making one thing. That\u2019s how trust is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Yeah, that\u2019s incredible. And&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@wilreynolds\/when-life-changing-money-isnt-c2f7d00a67f8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the post, by the way, for folks who are watching that Wil is referring to, is that he got offered an eight figure deal to have the company sold and acquired<\/a>, and he would have profited very handsomely from that, and he turned it down. So for folks who are interested and curious about that, that\u2019s a whole \u2018nother thing, we could talk about that for a whole hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing that you mentioned though Wil, it\u2019s something that\u2019s come up before with some of the other leaders that I\u2019ve talked with, which is this idea of transparency. And that it\u2019s a huge hot topic these days. It\u2019s the big thing to do, so to speak. I mean, I run under your company, we\u2019re all about transparency. But are there downsides to transparency, as well? Is there a place where you draw the line? Do you think very carefully about how transparency is? And I\u2019ll give you a quick example. I talked to Des Traynor, who\u2019s the co-founder of Intercom a few weeks ago. He was talking about the importance of transparency within context. Do you feel similarly? Do you feel like, you were saying, if you want this much transparency from employees, you\u2019ve got to give this much. Are there boundaries to that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: I think whenever you\u2019re being transparent it has a chance to hurt somebody. This is a no-brainer. I can be like, Claire, I don\u2019t like that jacket. I can hide under the guise, \u201cI was being transparent.\u201d You know what I did learn, though? It\u2019s dependent on your population. Certain people can\u2019t deal with certain pieces of information. For instance, if I go out and say, before all this offer stuff came in, I said, \u201cHey team, I\u2019m think about having a conversation about selling the company.\u201d Most people don\u2019t have the ability to process what that means. It creates all this nervousness and fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think that there is a time where you\u2019re like, I wish I could tell people, but they actually don\u2019t know how to deal with that information, and that\u2019s not fair. Because now you\u2019re being transparent, but you\u2019re giving somebody information that they actually do not know how to process. Most people, if I were to go to them before all this had happened and be like, \u201cHey everyone. Whatever we\u2019re doing today, I\u2019m not going to be able to meet with anybody, because I\u2019m talking to a broker about the sale of our business.\u201d All of a sudden it would be like, \u201cOh my god, I\u2019m doing no work. Wil\u2019s going to sell the company. What does that mean for us?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.knowyourteam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/eb210-1tkg2vc-qwfdemuscl4loxw.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It would be like, \u201cOh my god, I was just telling you transparently what I was doing, and instead of you being, \u2018Okay, cool, thank you, I guess you\u2019ll tell me when there\u2019s other things that I should know.\u2019 People are going to freak the fuck out. It\u2019s a great example of times where being transparent could work against our objectives and goals. I think there are times where transparency can come back to bite you. You\u2019ve just got to know your population, and your team, and only you know what you\u2019ve been saying to your team the whole time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If I was out there saying, \u201cWe\u2019ll be transparent about everything that happens in the company,\u201d that\u2019s very different than if I\u2019m like, \u201cWe\u2019ll be as transparent as we can be at the time. But I will never intentionally not tell you something if I can avoid putting myself in a situation like freaking the company out before any decisions are made.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Right. I think you bring up such a good point, which is to say, do you have transparency for the intention of the good of the company. Like you were saying, sometimes it\u2019s going to hurt people, and that might happen. But on the large scale things, how can transparency actually help the good of the company. And it\u2019s not going to really help folks and the good of the company if you are, like you were saying, spooking people by letting them know the first minute you\u2019re even just thinking about a sale, that that\u2019s something that\u2019s on the table. I know something I\u2019ve talked about with a lot of business owners. Oh yeah, sorry, no go for it. Yeah, jump in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: I was just going to say, the other thing, too, is when you have to let people go. I used to be super transparent about that when we were really small and I was young and didn\u2019t know any different. And all of a sudden, you tell somebody, \u201cWe\u2019re letting this person go because they really weren\u2019t blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,\u201d and you\u2019re like, that\u2019s disrespectful to that person, one. I don\u2019t need their former coworkers to know what was in that conversation. And two, people start being like, \u201cDid I do that?\u201d And then they start freaking out, \u201cI\u2019m going to be fired.\u201d So now, instead of focusing on the work, they\u2019re like, \u201cOh, my god, I\u2019m going to get fired.\u201d And you\u2019re like, \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also see transparency as another one of those things where like, the way I worked on that is, I learned to say, \u201cHere\u2019s what our belief system is. And if we choose to part ways with someone, then you can pretty much bank on the fact that somewhere along one of these values, they A, went the opposite. That\u2019s it.\u201d So then I started talking more about this is what we believe and if you make that a consistent thing you talk about, it\u2019s related to how your quarterly performance was, to why we\u2019re restructuring, to why all of a sudden somebody\u2019s not here anymore, it\u2019s always coming back to these things. It gives you more of a framework to talk about you\u2019re working towards than what that individual person did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Right. That\u2019s such a helpful guideline and rubric for folks. I think transparency around letting someone go is, it\u2019s always a struggle. It\u2019s always a struggle. I\u2019ve definitely talked to a business owner who, just sort of assessing his population, kind of went the other way. He recognized that people were going to be wondering why was this person fired. It looked like they were doing so good on the surface. They were super popular at the company. And he realized, he talked with the person who was let go and said, \u201cWould it be okay if I shared, and this is what I\u2019m going to share.\u201d And they both agreed on something and then he ended up sharing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But to your point, it\u2019s one of the hardest things to figure out as a leader. Yeah, I appreciate you sharing that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: Because they got permission. That was awesome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Yeah, exactly. I think that\u2019s the key part is, making sure that you\u2019re not just sort of blacklisting them, and making up a story that they\u2019re not going to feel comfortable sharing. This idea of sort of setting the record straight, and again, for the good of the company, is big. Yeah. Thanks so much, Wil. I so appreciate all your thoughts. It\u2019s something I definitely am taking in, and going to put into practice going forward. Yeah, I appreciate everything, and thanks for being here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wil<\/strong>: Thanks for running\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=post&amp;utm_campaign=heartbeat-podcast\">Canopy<\/a> (formerly Know Your Team\/Know Your Company) and making it awesome. It\u2019s great. I love seeing you guys grow, and I just love seeing what comes through my inbox, and the things that I learn about my team. As we\u2019ve grown well past the number that I thought we would ever be, I used to tell the company it would be no more than 10 people, I actually could know people at a very deep individual level when we were that size. I\u2019ve always had it in my heart to kind of want to know people that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And Canopy has helped me to scale that a little bit. It\u2019s helped me to know a little bit more about my team and find out what they\u2019re working on in ways that didn\u2019t require me to sit in one on ones all day. So just keep doing what you\u2019re doing. I love the work that you\u2019re doing, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Claire<\/strong>: Ah, thanks, Wil. That made my day. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right. Take care. Talk soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.knowyourteam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/bc39d-1yqupc_k-57-fvlob-lvk6a.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"newsletter-post-form-container\">\n  <h3>Never miss a post \u2013&nbsp;get our latest leadership insights, as they&#8217;re released&#8230;<\/h3>\n\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/newsletter.canopy.is\/embed\" width=\"850\" height=\"150\" style=\"border:1px solid #EEE; background:white;\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<br\/>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the founder of a 100+ person company who recently turned down an&nbsp;8-figure offer for sale, Wil talks about naivet\u00e9, transparency as a leader, and not enabling your employees to lie to&nbsp;you. Claire: Hi everyone, I\u2019m\u00a0Claire Lew, and I\u2019m the CEO of\u00a0Canopy, and today I\u2019ve got a real special guest with me. I have\u00a0Wil Reynolds,&hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/\">Read the full article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/chtbl.com\/track\/D44D5\/https:\/\/knowyourteam.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/KYT009.mp3","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"17:31","filesize":"16.04M","date_recorded":"06-11-2017","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"9","itunes_title":"Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"full","filesize_raw":"16815750"},"tags":[],"series":[3529],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast-download\/1471\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive.mp3","player_link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast-player\/1471\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive.mp3","audio_player":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1471-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast-player\/1471\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast-player\/1471\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive.mp3\">https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast-player\/1471\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive.mp3<\/a><\/audio>","episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":[],"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/the-heartbeat","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"EwzVP046w1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/\">Episode 9: Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/embed\/#?secret=EwzVP046w1\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Episode 9: Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive&#8221; &#8212; Canopy | Blog\" data-secret=\"EwzVP046w1\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.1 (Yoast SEO v22.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Episode 9: Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Episode 9: Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X501KFOzEnw As the founder of a 100+ person company who recently turned down an&nbsp;8-figure offer for sale, Wil talks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Canopy | Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/knowyourteamhq\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-21T17:38:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"317\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@KnowYourTeamHQ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"17 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/\",\"name\":\"Episode 9: Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-25T23:00:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-21T17:38:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":317},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Episode\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Episode 9: Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Canopy | Blog\",\"description\":\"Thoughts on how to become a better leader, and avoid being a bad boss.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Know Your Team\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/knowyourteam.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Artboard-1@2x.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/knowyourteam.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Artboard-1@2x.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024,\"caption\":\"Know Your Team\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/knowyourteamhq\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KnowYourTeamHQ\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/knowyourteamhq\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCLmMSaIY8JfjiJnwYSfYeuA\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Episode 9: Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Episode 9: Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive","og_description":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X501KFOzEnw As the founder of a 100+ person company who recently turned down an&nbsp;8-figure offer for sale, Wil talks","og_url":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/","og_site_name":"Canopy | Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/knowyourteamhq","article_modified_time":"2025-04-21T17:38:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":317,"url":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@KnowYourTeamHQ","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"17 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/","url":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/","name":"Episode 9: Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png","datePublished":"2019-01-25T23:00:21+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-21T17:38:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png","width":600,"height":317},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/episode-9-interview-with-wil-reynolds-founder-of-seer-interactive\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Episode","item":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/podcast\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Episode 9: Interview with Wil Reynolds, Founder of SEER Interactive"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/","name":"Canopy | Blog","description":"Thoughts on how to become a better leader, and avoid being a bad boss.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#organization","name":"Know Your Team","url":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/knowyourteam.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Artboard-1@2x.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/knowyourteam.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Artboard-1@2x.png","width":1024,"height":1024,"caption":"Know Your Team"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/knowyourteamhq","https:\/\/twitter.com\/KnowYourTeamHQ","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/knowyourteamhq\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCLmMSaIY8JfjiJnwYSfYeuA"]}]}},"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png",600,317,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png",600,317,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png",600,317,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg-300x159.png",300,159,true],"large":["https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png",600,317,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png",600,317,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/773fb-1lzsvrcmdtljpefneeyipxg.png",600,317,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Claire Lew","author_link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/author\/claire\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":false,"rttpg_excerpt":"As the founder of a 100+ person company who recently turned down an&nbsp;8-figure offer for sale, Wil talks about naivet\u00e9, transparency as a leader, and not enabling your employees to lie to&nbsp;you. Claire: Hi everyone, I\u2019m\u00a0Claire Lew, and I\u2019m the CEO of\u00a0Canopy, and today I\u2019ve got a real special guest with me. I have\u00a0Wil Reynolds,&hellip;&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/1471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1471"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=1471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}