#17 Troy Kane: The Founder’s Playbook

In this episode of Stratospheric Leaders, I sit down with Troy Kane, President andCOO of Inplay Global, Inc. an innovative company creating the world’s firstregulated marketplace for Performance Securities – a new asset class offinancial instruments tied to real-time sports team performance and fanengagement.
Troy’s story began on the Chicago trading floors at just 14 – shapedin his formative years by the trailblazing women in his family – including hisaunt who was among the first women on the trading floor of the Chicago Board ofTrade. From there he built a career defined by modernising markets helping drive the shift from open outcry to electronic trading, and today he brings that same pioneering energy to his role at Inplay Global.

A few takeaways from our conversation that stayed with me:

1. Influence = listening + evidence (not volume)

2. Don’t shut people down. Take time to understand other people’s perspectives.

3. Debates need to be rooted in fact.

4. Don’t be afraid to hire people smarter than you. Build by hiring experts, then empowering them (no micromanaging).

5. The real work of leadership is managing the “small things”. They make the big things possible.

6. Educate. Don’t just explain. What makes your business different? Help people get it.

7. Attention to detail isn’t optional. You need to understand all dependencies that go into launching a company.

8. Learn from failure. With any missteps or failures – offer constructive feedback, capture the learning and avoid the same mistake twice.

9. Under promise and over deliver – always! Advice from his Dad that has stayed with him! Consistency and delivery becomes your reputation.

This is a great story on a leader building a business from the ground up in a space that is truly innovative. Enjoy!