Lou Delzompo
Jan 8, 2022 #givethanks100
Today I'm giving thanks for Lou Delzompo.
I first met Lou in my time at Pearson. If I remember correctly, Lou was my fifth of six bosses in a three year period. We both came over via acquisition- me from my startup, he from Pearson’s acquisition of PowerSchool from Apple.
I think one of the biggest things I learned in my time working for Lou was that as a manager you don’t need to view things as a zero-sum game when considering alignment of the company’s and an employee’s goals… More specifically, that there can be mutual value in setting your direct reports up for success in their career ambitions wherever that may take them. I distinctly remember a time meeting with Lou when I was talking about my plans for 3 years later at Pearson and he stopped me mid sentence and said, “Aaron, from everything I know about you, I’d be shocked if you’re still here in 3 years.” I knew he was right, but was still shocked to hear him say it.
Lou left Pearson a bit before I did and ultimately we decided to join forces as I left and we launched another startup in K-12 edtech. We gave it a good run – working to bring safe social networking to schools and during that time, I continued to learn a lot from Lou. Ultimately we weren’t able to get the traction we both desired, but before winding down, we were able to sell some of the unique tech we built to Edmodo.
Lou- you’re amongst the favorite people I've ever worked for, I was honored you joined me to give it a run at our startup, and I’m grateful for all I learned from you – those lessons have continued to pay dividends for years to come.
Originally posted on LinkedIn – head over to give it a like or a share.
I’m giving thanks for 100+ days to individuals that positively impacted me or HomeSpotter’s trajectory.