feedback

Here is some feedback I've received on recent lectures and fireside chats.

Startup Leadership Program (NYC), 2/25/2025

• We do a survey at the end of the class for every section, and you'll be proud to know that you got the highest score of any speaker we've had so far. This is an opinionated group, so I would not say that lightly. Your session scored a 9.9 average!!! We received so many amazing reactions from the Fellows. Here are a few snippets direct from some of our fellows:
• Paul's talk was so inspiring. It was so refreshing to see someone who has been so successful continue to be curious. 2 key learnings I had during his chat were: get out and talk to customers and his take on hiring (asking those around you who the smartest person they know is).
• (He) realizes that we are knowingly or unknowingly in bubbles. Reach out to people outside the bubble to learn new perspectives.
• (His) primary research is very important - strip away the middle layers to eliminate misinformation.
• He struck me as the type of guy who loves loyalty and humility. Honestly he might be my favorite speaker yet.
• I like how he talked about trust models, and figuring out where our stress is coming from.
• Getting his hands dirty with customer interaction, how he color codes his calendar, owning and understanding the problem. collecting talented people, his approach to email (delete, do, delegate, defer).
• Maniacal focus on customer development. Also being a whole person matters.
• Love love loved his talk. It was incredible to get a peek into Paul's mind and hear how he goes about approaching a problem and investigating how to solve it. Uber driver?! Amazing.
• He is AWESOME. Really cool humble guy who has so much experience and gold nuggets of wisdom to share with us. He struck me as the type of guy who loves loyalty and humility. Honestly he might be my favorite speaker yet.
• Stay curious and center the customer to avoid building something no one cares about.
• Get good at making decisions, quickly and decisively (4Ds); customer support is a CEO's job.

Keith Kline, Venture Fizz, 5/14/2024

• Paul's story is great. Enjoyed hearing about how he loves thinking of new ideas but how it is actually the focus piece that has allowed for success.
• Great facilitation-- Keith asked just the right amount of questions
• Paul's communication style: honest, compelling, to the point, plus the stories themselves
• that it was open and honest sharing with DEETS ; ) ...with specificity and not vague, empty exchange...therefore def NOT a waste of time but PRODUCTIVE and inspiring
• I like Paul's interview question asking what their fave app is on the phone and then asking them to name 3 things they hate about the app! Brilliant! Then working through ideation of fixes to the app
• Paul is a well known entrepreneur
• intimate conversation with a digital pioneer
• Paul English was FANTASTIC. So many nuggets of wisdom
• Paul gave very realistic and do-able advice for improving knowledge of the customer which is critical for all product managers.

Dmitry Koltunov, Startup Leadership Program, 4/23/2024

• Thank you so much for your time, candor and wisdom. The class was energized and so grateful to the opportunity to hear directly from you.
• Paul English was an exceptional guest speaker
• Great lessons from Paul. I loved the casual nature of the conversation and just felt like he was spitting gold the entire time.
• The fireside chat was great.
• Paul's attitude as a serial entrepreneur, and most importantly, his extreme humility, was truly inspiring
• Paul's insight and experience was amazing to hear.
• It was incredible being able to listen to a seasoned, unicorn founder talk about the fundamentals of business (user interviews) and how that doesn't change regardless if you're building a unicorn or a bootstrapped business
• Your perspective on a leader's role in recruiting and in being closely connected to the customer and to sales really resonated. And I know many of the fellows will take inspiration from your calendar organization.

Startup Boston, 9/14/2023

• "Paul - loved our session today! I've been hosting all week and that was definitely the highlight", Puck Fernsten
• "Bookmarking this to watch again and again!!", Jessica Sahagian
• "Paul is absolutely fantastic and an incredible asset to the Boston community", Melissa Meredith
• "That was fantastic. So refreshing to hear him actively prioritizing mental health", Karen Kelly

Kit Hickey class at MIT Sloan, 4/21/2020

• "It seems like he has such an active radar on things that piss him off and he has the mentality that he can solve it. I loved that and I want to be more like that."
• "I found him fascinating"
• "Fantastic hearing how he makes himself vulnerable to employees. I've worked for founders who have done the opposite, that change would have made a world of difference."
• "Great tactics. You typically don't actually see tactics from these amazing people, I appreciate how he shared actual things I could do"
• "I'm so grateful, that was absolutely phenomenal"
• "Something about him really, really resonated with me. You said you have seen him speak before -- do you have any notes? Can I watch the other section's video as well?" (note, have never had a student ask this before!)
• "That was the best speaker I've ever seen across all my classes."
• "I found him insightful, mature, humble -- the type of founder who has thought through stuff. No wonder people want to work for him"
• "The best speaker so far -- his role play for firing was super valuable"

Eliana Berger's cross-campus home (work) project, 4/28/2020

• THAT WAS MY FAVORITE TALK BY FAR
  no WONDER you are working for paul what an incredible leader and mentor
  holy shit i'm blown away i have 4 pages full of notes
• he was my fav speaker. Still thinking about why that is but probs (a) he's just a really damn nice dude, and (b) his answers were all succincts and actionable; he made things seem simple even though I am fully aware they're only results of a lifetime of starting companies
• I really liked the idea of people-focused interview questions. His example interview question of explaining things your coworkers did well / didn't do well was great, and it's a unique perspective I don't think a lot of companies consider for product roles.
• Really enjoyed hearing from Paul and took lots of notes! Especially interesting to hear about his thoughts on cowboy and craftsman engineers, and making sure founding teams are strong at recruiting, and not using team polls to determine which features to develop.
• I have so many good thoughts: (a) his answers felt genuinely thoughtful and carefully considered. It seemed like he really wanted to help us. (b) he is very intentional with his strategy and wasn't afraid to share the details. Loved hearing the three-pronged product strategy (table stakes, innovation, refinement), interview questions, and culture building. was way more useful that he didn't hold back. (c) last answer just gave me hope that it is possible to be a successful founder and philanthropic.
• I really appreciated his advice on leadership - I could tell that he genuinely cares about the people he works with and the causes he supports, and it really gives me hope that it's possible to be conscientious and successful. I love that he didn't shy away from advocating for balance in his lifestyle, and that he pushes for ethical and transparency decision-making for buiding loyalty. I also really liked his practical advice about developing product features and recruiting!