Second City is an iconic Chicago institution training comedic geniuses across generations, but developing the talents of a VP of Technology is one of its more under-the-radar accomplishments. Arne Saupe, Vice President of Technology at Farmer’s Fridge, learned more than acting and improvisation when exploring this new arena. He discovered lessons in management, failure, team building, empathy, and communication that bolstered his years of experience as a technologist and growth-stage leader. 

In this episode, Arne dives into finding complementary team members, ensuring diversity in thought, and balancing the vision with guardrails. He provides clear advice for approaching feedback and determining growth opportunities, including quarterly check-ins to identify what you want to think about the least and recognizing those as areas you likely must improve. 

• (02:11) – Farmer’s Fridge and Trunk Club
• (05:23) – CEO and CFO partnership
• (09:15) – Investing your time in what you’re good at
• (11:59) – Motivating the team
• (14:32) – Lessons from improv and acting at Second City
• (21:07) – Management training
• (25:01) – Failure and mistakes

Technology leader and team builder Arne Saupe is the Vice President of Technology at Farmer’s Fridge. Previously, he served as the Director of Engineering at Trunk Club and led teams at several innovative companies during significant periods of growth. Arne earned a bachelor’s degree from Kent State University in computer science.

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Podcast episode production by Dante32.