Being a high-achiever with a perfectionist streak might not seem like the best training for the unpredictability of being a Lead Dad, but for Andrew Pettit, our Lead Dad of the Week from Darien, Conn., that background is serving him well.
An Ivy League athlete, he’s had a career – from NBC and Viacom to Palantir, the tech firm whose reach span government intelligence to ad sales – that has been about managing operations and solving problems at fast-paced organizations where plans get rewritten on the fly.
He credits that job training with helping him as a Lead Dad. “At Palantir, you’re always being challenged,” he said. “You’re always shifting. It’s a great environment to breed founders. It’s also a great environment to breed parents. You’re leaving and your daughter spills milk on the floor. What do you do?”
Andrew took on the role of Lead Dad a few years ago when it became clear that his wife Kelly, who works as a general counsel at a private equity fund, would have to return to the office and there was going to need to be a parent closer to home for their children. It was a natural point for him to leave Palantir, which had gone public, and work in advisory roles to start-ups.
“We made a conscious decision in the summer of 2023 that I was going to be Lead Dad at that point,” he said. “I was going to be the parent of record and most responsible for things. I liked the idea of being at home even if it wasn’t forever.”
Given his background, Andrew is in demand to advise founders. He’s selective in what he promises to do, knowing the all-in nature of start-ups and parenting. After all, he’s coached 14 teams for his two daughters.
“The hardest part is the context shifting,” he said. “You’re talking to your client, then you have to tell your kids to turn the screens off and kick them outside.”
And sometimes those very different responsibilities overlap and compete for your attention. He admits, like most parents, that it can be a struggle, though he tries to control the known obligations of both roles as much as he can.
“Finding the balance between when I’ll be working and when I’ll be parenting can get frustrating when one is taking over the other,” he said. “One way to manage that is I carve out sacred hours when I won’t focus on the schedule or the activities. Or I’ll tell people that I’m dad and anything else I’m doing for them is a bonus.”
Andrew knows their family’s system isn’t for everyone and that theirs is just one way to manage parenting and working. “The truth is we’ve set up our life in a way that works for us.”
Welcome, Andrew, to The Company of Dads.
