Colleen McCreary

tech industry people & ops leader (cpo w/two IPOs & three $B acquisitions), bosox/pats/gator fan, bu & cu alum, mom/wife, my own words & thoughts

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

I've always loved @firstround and this was a bucket list opportunity to share some of my years of crazy startup love on the review. https://t.co/qeXzXyin2j

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

@markpinc I think another note here was tuning the rewards/recognition to incentivize going big vs just iterating. Charlie Munger had it right “Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome”

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

@markpinc I think another note here was tuning the rewards/recognition to incentivize going big vs just iterating. Charlie Munger had it right “Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome”

[Jay Kreps @jaykreps]

Lots of complaints about VCs on Twitter today. I met a few scuzzballs along the way when Confluent was in its venture financed days. But mostly it was actually smart, thoughtful people. On the whole venture capital is kind of awesome if you think about it. You show up, give a ppt presentation to a group of people who compete to be helpful at building businesses, and some percentage of the time walk away with millions of dollars to go build your thing. You have to read a pre-VC account like Shoe Dog where the entire dramatic tension is the company going bankrupt in high growth to realize how much harder it is without this.

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

@markpinc You’re totally coachable. With data and small doses.

[Aaron Levie @levie]

CEOs are uniquely prone to AI psychosis because they’re sufficiently distant from the last mile of work that still has to happen to generate most value with AI.

So when they play with AI, they see the happy path results, often not considering the next 10 or 20 things that have to happen to get sustainable results from agents.

“Look I made this awesome product prototype”. Yes but you didn’t have to review the code before it went into production and fix a bunch of issues.

“Look I generated a contract”. Yes but you didn’t verify all the terms before it goes out to the counterparty and didn’t have to wire up all the past contracts to work with.

The best thing you can do as a CEO is to use AI a *ton* to figure out the real implications of agents in the enterprise, and come out the other side with an appreciation for both the upside and the real work that goes into them.

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

@FortuneMagazine How disappointing to see Fortune recycling a story Bolt pumped up back in June 2025 - they didn’t get rid of HR, they moved work and renamed it. And still laid off more people in April 2026

[Mike Vernal @mvernal]

Soma (@SSomasegar) was such a wonderful and kind human being. I went from working in his org (DevDiv) 20+ years ago to being a board member with him at Statsig just over the past few years and he was always just so kind, generous and high integrity.

I am heartbroken for everyone — Madrona folks, his founders, Microsoft folks but of course most importantly his family.

May we all touch so many people and be so beloved by those we touch.

[Aditya Agarwal @adityaag]

https://t.co/AoyPtuI9jx

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

Honored to deliver the commencement speech today at Boston University’s College of communication. HR Lady gave three pieces of advice:
1) Show up.
2) Your values are your brand.
3) Embrace the hard and imperfect.

https://t.co/FzVT0HPknu

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

McCreary, Napoli: 2026 COM Convocation Speakers https://t.co/4IF0TRtVuZ

[Aaron Levie @levie]

Great read. AI lets you get tremendous leverage that wasn’t available before in almost any domain.

That means we’re at a unique moment in history where anyone with a high level of ambition and core skills in any area can overcome a lot of historical experience requirements for their role.

This can apply to anyone who’s junior or senior, but it’s pretty sweet that you can do far more than you could have accomplished as a newer employee than even a couple years ago. The people that take advantage of this will get ahead massively.

And the companies that find this talent within or outside should put them in key positions to get as much out of them as possible. These people will seem strange and from the future, but they will help you figure out where things are going. Everyone company should be doing whatever they can to find them.

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

One of my favorite phrases I’ve learned from working at startups and with founders is “intellectual honesty.” In the best cases, it can really reframe a situation to help people look in the mirror about their current environment, problems they are trying to solve, and the possible solutions.

The best leaders are not just comfortable with employees speaking up, but encourage challenging the status quo and pushing for the best solutions across customers, employees, and shareholders

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

@bgurley My son attended your talk today. He texted a number of great lessons (& a photo) that are better heard from an outsider than mom. I love being an operator but didn’t love investing. People often don’t understand. Find what you love and where you’re most valuable.

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

@jaykreps I think you’ve always been that annoying founder

[Operator Collective 🔆 @OpCo_VC]

We just published our first OpCo Intelligence report: The State of AI Transformation 2026, released today in @axios with @MadisonMills22

A few critical findings ⏬

https://t.co/bWQJy7Ylj4

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

As many others have pointed out, this is a combination of factors.
1) Overhiring and lack of controls preventing it as cos and teams see “size of team” as symbol of importance (glamour metric)
2) Economic reality relative to market cap/valuation and inflated SBC costs that now all of a sudden are real.
3) AI

[Colleen McCreary @Chiefpplofficer]

As many others have pointed out, this is a combination of factors.
1) Overhiring and lack of controls preventing it as cos and teams see “size of team” as symbol of importance (glamour metric)
2) Economic reality relative to market cap/valuation and inflated SBC costs that now all of a sudden are real.
3) AI

[Jay Kreps @jaykreps]

Some Silicon Valley people think @DarioAmodei is talking his book. That all the AI risk talk is hype to drive up the valuation or a (nonsensical) scheme to achieve regulatory capture. My observation as a board member is that this is bullshit. The @AnthropicAI founders and leadership is very earnest and sincere in what they say. They may be wrong, or you may disagree, but this isn’t some convoluted ploy: they believe AI is a very very impactful technological change and want to ensure it goes right. What it means to stand on principle is to do something you believe is right where the cost to you is high. The benefit of seeing this kind of thing is you can tell who actually has principles and is willing to pay that price.

[Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump]

Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin – watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.

[Dustin @r0ck3t23]

Dario Amodei just gave his first interview since the Pentagon blacklisted his company. The toll is visible on his face.

He was asked one question. What would you say to the President right now?

He didn’t hesitate.

Amodei: “We are patriotic Americans. Everything we have done has been for the sake of this country.”

Anthropic built their models to defend America. They were the first AI lab cleared for classified military systems. They wanted to help the warfighter.

But the Pentagon demanded unrestricted access to fully autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of American citizens.

Amodei drew the line.

The government responded with emergency Cold War powers. A supply chain designation normally reserved for foreign adversaries. A six-month federal phaseout ordered from Truth Social.

Amodei: “When we were threatened with supply chain designation and Defense Production Act, which are unprecedented intrusions into the private economy, we exercised our classic First Amendment rights to speak up and disagree with the government.”

The administration framed Anthropic’s refusal as anti-American.

Amodei’s response dismantled that framing in one sentence.

Amodei: “Disagreeing with the government is the most American thing in the world.”

Here is the deeper paradox nobody in Washington wants to say out loud.

We are in a geopolitical race against autocratic adversaries who use AI for mass surveillance of their own citizens and autonomous weapons with no human oversight.

The Pentagon demanded that Anthropic build those exact capabilities for America.

Amodei: “The red lines we have drawn, we drew because we believe that crossing those red lines is contrary to American values.”

You cannot defeat authoritarianism by adopting its methods.

You cannot defend the open society by forcing private companies to build its antithesis under threat of wartime emergency powers.

Anthropic held the line. Got blacklisted for it. And came out the other side saying the same thing they said going in.

That is what it actually looks like to mean it.