Before leading FanDuel from 2021 to May 2026, Amy Howe was a McKinsey partner and COO of Ticketmaster. She built a track record of scaling consumer tech companies in fast, heavily regulated markets. This collection organizes her advice on handling rapid growth, protecting time to think, and building capable teams.

Visual summary of operating lessons from Amy Howe.

Part 1: Leadership and Intentionality

  1. On Scheduled Thinking: "You cannot lead effectively if your calendar is simply a series of reactive meetings. You have to actively block out time to think about the business, rather than operating inside it." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  2. On Autopilot: "Leadership requires deliberate choices. The moment you start operating on autopilot, you lose the ability to see around the next corner." — Source: [Chief Executive]
  3. On Executive Focus: "Your job at the top is to identify the few problems that actually matter to long-term growth, rather than solving everything yourself." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  4. On Managing Energy: "It is equally important to manage your mental and physical energy as it is to manage your schedule. The business will take everything you give it." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  5. On Decision Fatigue: "When you run a fast-paced business, decision fatigue is real. You have to push decision-making down to the people closest to the work." — Source: [Strategic CHRO 360]
  6. On Prioritization: "There are always fifty things we could be doing, but success comes from picking the three that will actually move the needle." — Source: [CNBC Evolve]
  7. On Intentional Culture: "Culture does not happen by accident. If you do not deliberately shape the environment, the environment will shape you." — Source: [Chief Executive]
  8. On Stepping Back: "Sometimes the best action you can take as a leader is to step away from the desk and change your environment to reset your perspective." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  9. On Defining Success: "Success has to be defined clearly upfront. If the team does not know what winning looks like, they cannot align their daily actions to achieve it." — Source: [Masters of Scale]

Part 2: Navigating Career Transitions

  1. On Sliding Doors: "Careers are rarely linear. They are a series of sliding door moments where you have to decide whether to walk through an unexpected opportunity." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  2. On Consulting to Operating: "Advising a company is fundamentally different from operating one. As a consultant, you provide the map; as an operator, you have to drive the car through the mud." — Source: [Wharton School Interviews]
  3. On Embracing Risk: "Moving from a secure partnership to a fast-moving entertainment company felt risky, but the biggest risk is staying comfortable for too long." — Source: [Strategic CHRO 360]
  4. On Transferable Skills: "The core skill of breaking down a complex problem into manageable parts translates across any industry, whether it is media, ticketing, or gaming." — Source: [Sloan Sports Analytics Conference]
  5. On Industry Jumps: "When you enter a new industry, you have to be willing to ask the basic questions that everyone else assumes are already settled." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  6. On Networking: "The best career opportunities often come from long-term relationships built on doing good work, rather than formal job searches." — Source: [Ticketmaster Blog]
  7. On Leaving a Legacy: "You should approach every role with the mindset of leaving the organization stronger and more adaptable than when you arrived." — Source: [Chief Executive]
  8. On Imposter Syndrome: "Everyone experiences moments of doubt when taking a big leap. Rely on your foundational skills while you learn the new context." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  9. On Timing: "There is rarely a perfect time to make a major career change. You have to trust your ability to figure it out once you make the jump." — Source: [Masters of Scale]

Part 3: Building a Culture of Endurance

  1. On Grit: "Grit is the ability to maintain your focus and effort even when the outcomes are not immediately visible." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  2. On Athletic Backgrounds: "Growing up as a competitive athlete teaches you how to recover from a loss and show up the next day ready to work." — Source: [Chief Executive]
  3. On Low Points: "The most valuable lessons do not come from the quarters where everything goes right. They come from the moments when you miss the mark and dissect why." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  4. On Team Endurance: "You cannot run a sprint pace for a marathon distance. You have to build pacing and recovery into your corporate culture." — Source: [Strategic CHRO 360]
  5. On Safe Dissent: "If everyone in the room is agreeing with the executive team, you have a broken culture. You need an environment where people feel safe challenging the consensus." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  6. On Managing Volatility: "In a shifting market, resilience means adjusting your stance so the next hit does not knock you off balance." — Source: [CNBC Evolve]
  7. On Accountability: "A sustainable culture requires strict accountability paired with structural support rather than personal blame." — Source: [Chief Executive]
  8. On Staying Coachable: "No matter how high you rise in an organization, you must remain open to feedback and willing to change your approach." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  9. On Celebrating Effort: "We have to celebrate the execution and the effort alongside the final revenue number to build a team that keeps trying new things." — Source: [Masters of Scale]

Part 4: Strategic Growth and Scale

  1. On Market Expansion: "Scaling a business requires a clear understanding of which local nuances matter and which parts of your model can be standardized." — Source: [iGaming Business]
  2. On the Super Bowl: "High-traffic events are stress tests for your entire organization, from the underlying technology to customer service." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  3. On Customer Acquisition: "Acquiring customers quickly is meaningless without the infrastructure and the product experience to retain them." — Source: [CNBC Evolve]
  4. On Infrastructure: "You cannot build a massive consumer business on fragile technology. You have to invest in the backend long before the front end demands it." — Source: [Ticketmaster Blog]
  5. On Competitive Advantage: "In a crowded market, your advantage usually comes down to executing the fundamentals better and faster than your competitors." — Source: [Sloan Sports Analytics Conference]
  6. On Brand Trust: "When you ask consumers to trust you with their money and data, brand reputation becomes your most valuable asset." — Source: [Flutter Entertainment Updates]
  7. On Strategic Partnerships: "The right partnerships accelerate growth, but they only work if both sides are aligned on the long-term objective." — Source: [iGaming Business]
  8. On Product Iteration: "You have to be willing to launch an imperfect product to gather real user data, rather than waiting for a theoretical perfection." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  9. On Measuring Growth: "Revenue growth is the headline, but underlying metrics like user engagement and cost of acquisition tell the actual story of the business." — Source: [Chief Executive]
  10. On Market Timing: "Being first to market provides an edge, but being the most reliable in the market provides a sustainable business." — Source: [CNBC Evolve]
  11. On The Necessity of Scale: "One of the things that we're seeing, which is not dissimilar to many e-commerce industries, is that you've got to have scale." — Casino.org

Part 5: Navigating Regulatory Environments and Responsibility

  1. On Responsible Gaming: "Protecting the consumer must be built into the core architecture of the product." — Source: [Flutter Entertainment Updates]
  2. On Regulatory Compliance: "You should view regulators as necessary partners in establishing a sustainable, long-term industry." — Source: [iGaming Business]
  3. On Proactive Measures: "The industry must self-regulate and implement safeguards before being forced to do so by external legislation." — Source: [CNBC Evolve]
  4. On Consumer Protection: "If we want a healthy market in ten years, we have to turn away revenue today that comes from unhealthy consumer behavior." — Source: [Flutter Entertainment Updates]
  5. On Education: "A significant part of operating in a new regulatory environment is educating the consumer and lawmakers on how the technology actually works." — Source: [Sloan Sports Analytics Conference]
  6. On Transparency: "When issues arise in a regulated market, immediate transparency with authorities is the only way to maintain your license and credibility." — Source: [iGaming Business]
  7. On Industry Standards: "Leading companies have a responsibility to raise the floor for the entire industry regarding safety and compliance standards." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  8. On Local Laws: "Operating across different states means accepting that a uniform approach to compliance will eventually fail." — Source: [Flutter Entertainment Updates]
  9. On Ethical Boundaries: "Your corporate values are tested most when adhering to them costs you market share in the short term." — Source: [Chief Executive]
  10. On Long-Term Viability: "A business model that relies on exploiting regulatory loopholes is inherently fragile." — Source: [CNBC Evolve]

Part 6: Problem-Solving and Analytics

  1. On Data-Driven Decisions: "Data should inform your strategy, but it cannot replace the need for human judgment in complex, ambiguous situations." — Source: [Sloan Sports Analytics Conference]
  2. On Breaking Down Problems: "The consultant background trains you to take a massive, undefined problem and break it down into mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive pieces." — Source: [Wharton School Interviews]
  3. On Asking the Right Questions: "Most business failures come from executing the right solution to the wrong problem. Spend more time defining the problem." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  4. On Customer Insights: "Quantitative data tells you what the customer is doing; qualitative feedback tells you why they are doing it." — Source: [Ticketmaster Blog]
  5. On Over-Analysis: "There is a point of diminishing returns in analytics. Sometimes you have to make a call with incomplete information and adjust as you go." — Source: [Chief Executive]
  6. On Testing Hypotheses: "Treat new initiatives as hypotheses to be tested rather than definitive plans to be rigidly executed." — Source: [Sloan Sports Analytics Conference]
  7. On Cross-Functional Insights: "The best solutions emerge when you force different departments to look at the same set of numbers together." — Source: [Strategic CHRO 360]
  8. On Predictive Models: "Predictive analytics are incredibly powerful, but you have to account for the unquantifiable human elements that algorithms miss." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  9. On Simplifying Complexity: "If you cannot explain your strategy in plain language to the front-line employees, it is too complex to execute effectively." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  10. On Learning from Failure: "When a project fails, the post-mortem should focus on the flaw in the logic or the process, without assigning personal blame." — Source: [Chief Executive]

Part 7: Team Dynamics and Talent Management

  1. On Hiring: "I look for individuals who have demonstrated resilience and adaptability, because the exact nature of their job will inevitably change." — Source: [Strategic CHRO 360]
  2. On Diverse Perspectives: "A homogeneous leadership team will have blind spots. You need people with different backgrounds to pressure-test your assumptions." — Source: [Chief Executive]
  3. On Empowering Leaders: "You have to give your leaders the autonomy to make decisions, even if it means they make a choice you would not have." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  4. On Clear Communication: "In a remote or hybrid environment, communication has to be frequent and highly intentional to maintain alignment." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  5. On Recognizing Talent: "Sometimes the best person for a new challenge is the one with the steepest learning curve, rather than the most experience." — Source: [Wharton School Interviews]
  6. On Team Alignment: "Every individual on the team needs to understand exactly how their daily tasks connect to the broader strategic goals of the company." — Source: [Strategic CHRO 360]
  7. On Managing Egos: "High-performing teams require confident individuals who are willing to subordinate their egos to the collective objective." — Source: [Sloan Sports Analytics Conference]
  8. On Mentorship: "Good mentorship involves opening doors and advocating for people when they are not in the room." — Source: [Chief Executive]
  9. On Retention: "People leave jobs when they stop learning and growing. Providing continuous challenges is the best retention strategy." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]

Part 8: Personal Development and Mindset

  1. On Continuous Learning: "The day you believe you have nothing left to learn about your industry is the day you begin to fall behind." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  2. On Handling Pressure: "Preparation is the best antidote to pressure. When you have done the work behind the scenes, you can trust your instincts in the moment." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  3. On Self-Awareness: "Effective leadership starts with knowing your own blind spots and actively surrounding yourself with people who compensate for them." — Source: [Chief Executive]
  4. On Work-Life Integration: "Balance is a myth; it is about integration and making conscious choices about where you allocate your time on any given day." — Source: [Strategic CHRO 360]
  5. On Constructive Feedback: "Feedback is a tool for improvement. You have to train yourself to listen to the substance without reacting to the delivery." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  6. On Staying Grounded: "Having an identical twin and a close-knit family ensures that no matter what title I hold, I am never allowed to take myself too seriously." — Source: [Corporate Competitor Podcast]
  7. On Adaptability: "The market shifts too quickly to hold onto rigid plans. You must be deeply committed to your goals but entirely flexible in your methods." — Source: [Masters of Scale]
  8. On Purpose: "You have to find the connection between the work you do and a larger impact, otherwise the inevitable daily grind will wear you out." — Source: [Wharton School Interviews]
  9. On Legacy: "Ultimately, your legacy is defined by the culture you built and the people you developed along the way." — Source: [Chief Executive]