Vanessa Hendriadi, CEO and Co-Founder of GoWork, has done what many founders only talk about: she deliberately stepped back from running the day-to-day and handed operational control to a GM—while staying firmly in the CEO seat. In this conversation, she shares how her engineering mindset, love of systems, and experience merging companies and surviving COVID laid the groundwork for a more scalable leadership model. Vanessa explains why delegating ownership (not tasks), embracing radical transparency, and framing her leaders as the “first team” in the company were critical to making the transition work. She also dives into the inner game: stoicism, daily movement, journaling, and protecting her energy “like equity” so the business now fits into the life she wants, not the other way around. Timestamped Show Notes [00:00] Cold Open – Delegating Ownership, Not Tasks Vanessa’s philosophy: “If I delegate the task it will die, but if I delegate the ownership, it will grow.” [00:35] Show Intro Scott introduces ENTREPRENEURISM and the core tension of entrepreneurial life: opportunity, focus, and the struggle of scaling without becoming the bottleneck. [02:06] Meet Vanessa & GoWork at Scale Scott introduces Vanessa’s role as CEO & Co-Founder of GoWork and outlines the scope of the business: premium workspaces across Indonesia, strategic merger, funding through Series B, and surviving COVID while many competitors exited. [03:41] From Chemical Engineer to System Builder Vanessa recounts her path: studying chemical engineering in the U.S., MBA, early career roles, and returning to the family business.Realization that the existing culture “wasn’t hers” and that she wasn’t meant to inherit a system but to build one. [05:45] Connecting Real Estate ‘Hardware’ with Startup ‘Software’ How exposure to her family’s real estate investments and her husband’s startup world led to the insight that someone had to connect the two.Founding Rework (later GoWork) in 2016 as an enablement platform for founders, corporates, and landlords—not just a co-working brand. [07:19] Superpower: Resonance and Human Systems Vanessa describes her superpower as “resonance”: connecting, absorbing, adapting, and amplifying what she learns from people.Scott connects this to the idea of culture and human systems as the true leverage for scaling. [09:49] Early Struggles: Motherhood, FOMO, and Overwhelm Building her first company while her second son was nine months old and the Indonesian startup ecosystem was exploding.Watching other founders grind 20-hour days and dealing with FOMO and the realization she couldn’t—and shouldn’t—try to do everything herself. [11:59] You Can’t Do Everything: The Seeds of Delegation The awareness that she needed to empower others instead of being the single point of failure.Moving from personally hiring every employee to “cloning” leaders who can make similar quality decisions. [13:16] The Decision to Install a GM Vanessa walks through the year-long emotional and strategic process of deciding to hand day-to-day operations to a GM.Balancing what’s good for her and what’s good for the company—refusing to optimize for only one side. [15:05] Transparency, Shared Ownership & Over-Communication Using the same radical transparency that helped GoWork survive COVID to lead this transition.Bringing the entire leadership team into the process early: “I don’t know exactly how to do this, but I need your help, and I’m going to involve you in every step.” [16:04] What’s in It for Them: Elevating the Leadership Team Explaining the “why” to her team in terms of their growth: more empowerment, higher levels of delegation, fewer dependencies on the founder as the safety net.Her ownership vs. task delegation philosophy and how she set clear lanes, metrics, and decision rights. [18:06] Shadowing, Step-by-Step Authority Transfer The GM initially shadows Vanessa; now Vanessa shadows the GM.Why this isn’t about stepping out but about everyone—CEO, GM, and managers—stepping up and taking real responsibility (including risk). [19:19] Humans, Not Machines: Leadership as Art and Science The challenge of leading “non-engineerable” humans with different limits and stress responses.Ensuring people feel supported and not siloed; emphasizing the leadership team as each manager’s “first family” in the company. [20:44] The Leadership Team as Team #1 Scott reinforces the idea that the leadership team must be the #1 team, not just a working group.Vanessa explains how aligning this “first family” unlocks accountability across departments. [21:08] Visionary CEO + Integrator GM Scott frames Vanessa’s new structure using the “visionary and integrator” language from Rocket Fuel.Vanessa describes defining lanes between herself, the GM, and the rest of the leadership team to avoid confusion and disempowerment. [22:05] Pre-Mortems and Leading with Questions Vanessa uses pre-mortems to anticipate failure modes of the transition (e.g., saying the GM owns decisions while she still intervenes).Instead of telling people what to do, she leans into questions—shifting from directive leader to coach-like leader. [23:33] Soft Stuff Is the Hard Stuff Scott reflects on the messy people equation and how coaching helps entrepreneurs become better coaches themselves.Vanessa underscores the importance of support systems—for leaders and for teams. [24:11] Quick Fire: Book Every Entrepreneur Should Read Vanessa recommends Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.She describes it as a “mental pressure valve” that reminds entrepreneurs how tiny most problems are in the grand scheme of things and helps them stop overreacting and start leading. [25:14] Quick Fire: Morning Routine Vanessa moves her body every morning: sometimes cardio, VO₂ max work, strength, or swimming—choosing based on how she feels.Movement is how she “unclogs” her mind and sets the tone for the day. [26:06] Quick Fire: Tools & Apps She Can’t Live Without Admits WhatsApp (and for many, WeChat) runs half her company, life, and “drama.”Shares her Oura Ring as a key longevity tool—tracking sleep, steps, and stress; she checks the dashboard multiple times a day. [27:11] Quick Fire: Daily Habits – Journaling & Affirmations Journals every morning in the Day One app: three prompts—wins from yesterday, something new she learned, and at least five items of gratitude.Often pairs journaling with short meditation or daily affirmations focused on positivity and gratitude. [28:15] Quick Fire: Best Business Advice “Build our life so that the business fits into it and not the other way around.”Explains how systems, empowered leadership, and protecting energy like equity helped her stop trying to be the hero and made the business run better. [30:28] Advice to Early-Stage Entrepreneurs Don’t believe you are “the answer” to everything; build a strong second layer and support system from the start.Life happens—family, health, unexpected events—so you must design a company that can survive even when the stars don’t align. [31:39] Show Outro Scott closes the conversation, thanks Vanessa, and reinforces the importance of disciplined action in entrepreneurship.Reminder to subscribe, share, and continue exploring the complexities of entrepreneurism.Quick Fire – Books, Tools & Resources (with Links)Book – Meditations by Marcus AureliusAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255/App – Day One (Journaling)Official site: https://dayoneapp.comTool – Oura Ring (Sleep, Recovery & Readiness Tracking)Official site: https://ouraring.comApp – WhatsApp (Primary Communication Platform)Official site: https://www.whatsapp.com
