Danielle Morrill is learning to block out distractions and call the shots

Danielle Morrill has years of experience working for startups, but when she spoke at Thinc Iowa 2012 on Oct. 10, she was just six months into her first stint as a startup CEO. Earlier this year, Morrill helped found Referly, a social shopping platform that rewards users whose referrals help generate sales. And since then,…

Danielle Morrill has years of experience working for startups, but when she spoke Oct. 10 at Thinc Iowa 2012, she was just six months into her first stint as a startup CEO.

Earlier this year, Morrill helped found Referly, a social shopping platform that rewards users whose referrals help generate sales. And since then, she said, there have been days that her role as CEO has been bewildering. “I wake up and I’m like, ‘What am I supposed to do? What’s my job now?’ ” she said. 

“Before, in other jobs, I didn’t have to decide,” Morrill continued. “Someone else would call the shots for me.”

At Thinc Iowa, Morrill discussed how she has adjusted to calling the shots and, just as importantly, how she steers clear of obstacles that prevent her from doing so effectively. 

To hear Morrill’s Thinc Iowa talk in its entirety, see the video above. For more on Morrill from the conference, see our story: “Danielle Morrill: Shot selection is important“.

About Danielle Morrill 

Morrill is the CEO and co-founder of Referly, a social rewards and referral platform that participated in YCombinator Summer 2012. Danielle previously served as Head of Marketing at Twilio, where she was the first non-founding employee. She helped grow the company’s customer base to more than 100,000 developers. Before Twilio, Danielle worked on Seattle-based startup Whrrl, a mobile location based social networking and recommendations service which was acquired by Groupon in April 2011.

About Thinc Iowa

Thinc Iowa is now Big Des Moines, part of The Big Series, a trio of events produced by Silicon Prairie News. The Big Series in 2013 will include the inaugural Big Kansas City in March, Big Omaha in May and Big Des Moines in October. Stay tuned for announcements regarding all three.

  

Credits: Video by Event1 Video.


Thinc Iowa 2012 Video Series presented by Iowa Economic Development

Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) is dedicated to supporting innovation by connecting entrepreneurs with resources and development opportunities in Iowa. It salutes the founders of today and tomorrow; encouraging ideas that will invigorate a new economy. Please visit iowaeconomicdevelopment.com for more information on how IEDA can help your business ideas come to life.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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