By ADAM BRYANT
Published: January 22, 2011
This interview with Jeremy Allaire, chairman and chief executive of Brightcove, an online video platform for Web sites, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant. The New York Times Company owns a small stake of less than five percent in Brightcove.
Earl Wilson/The New York Times
Jeremy Allaire, chairman and C.E.O. of Brightcove, an online video platform for Web sites, says the initial hires are key in building a business. In his case, he sought bright people “with whom I could have a high-bandwidth conversation.”
Corner Office
Q. What were your most important leadership lessons?
A. One of the most important influences early on was being educated in a Montessori setting. The Montessori ethos was very formative for me because it built into me a belief in self-direction, in independent thought, in peer collaboration, in responsibility.
Those even became tenets for me in terms of my management style — a kind of laissez-faire approach to allowing people to self-direct and peer-collaborate to figure things out and get things done here. That attracts a certain kind of person. There are other people who can’t thrive in that — they need things spelled out, they need their five tasks.
Another was that I took an interest in high school in extracurricular activities that were really about critical thought, analytical thought and leadership. I was on the debate team. I did model United Nations. So at a very young age I became very comfortable with speaking in a leadership capacity, conveying ideas, arguing for ideas and synthesizing information.
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