Afleveringen
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Iâve met with +300 people in each of the past two years.Many of these meetings involved requests for adviceâŠand one trend stands out: The more specific people are in the questions they ask, the better the perspective I can provide.
Itâs a lesson that my new friend Jodi exemplified when she used ChatGPT to get the basics before we met.
Listen to get the full story, tips for diving deeper, and a potential best use case of combining Human and Artificial IntelligenceâŠ
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Iâm excited to share the next podcast episode in my series of conversations with interesting people on topics where business and life intersect.
My discussion partner this week, Meredith Meyer, is CEO and Lead Consultant of Infinite Potential, LLC, where she provides strategy and talent consulting services. I first met Meredith over 20 years ago, when we were both assistant brand managers on Tide at Procter & Gamble.
Since then, she has spent a career moving from marketing and brand roles to people leadership at software companies.
I walk away with an insightful perspective and a big smile whenever I meet with Meredith. So this time, we decided to record ourselves and stick to a topic: Lessons weâve learned from coaching people.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Almost every company, of nearly any size, has at least one employee who makes life miserable for everyone around them.
We all know they are a problemâup to and including the CEOâyet nothing is done about their behavior. Itâs like weâre all being held hostageâŠ
I was one of those leaders who let such a problem fester.
But I finally overcame my fears and did the right thing.
I hope this story motivates you to move faster when the toxic employee arrives at your companyâŠor are they already there, and youâre still not handling the problem? Letâs fix that.
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âYou should create contentâ
This is becoming the go-to advice for college job seekers, small business owners, and mid-career layoff victims.
But itâs not for everyoneâŠ
And if you donât love your work, it wonât be great and wonât lead to your heartâs desire.
Read, listen, or watch if you dare to fall in love with the creative process.
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Recently, I had the chance to join John Warrillow on his podcast, Built to Sell. Heâs the best in the business at pulling stories and success tips from sellers.
In preparing for my discussion with John, I wondered what I could bring to the table that would be different than the other 479 guests he has spoken with.
But I kept thinking back to a surprising consistency Iâve heard in Johnâs interviews:
Most earnouts donât work outâand thatâs a shame.
Iâve been fortunate on the other side. Nothing was easy, and we got lucky as hell. But each time I hear of othersâ struggles, I wish I had a chance to share my experience with them beforehand.
So I sat down and tried to distill what I learned and screwed up in going through this twice.
Whether you hope to sell your company someday, are an employee at a company that goes through this, or are just curious, come with me for a peek behind the curtain at an interesting, under-reported corner of the business worldâŠ
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Iâll bet thereâs a German or Japanese word for the sudden pop of a long-forgotten, meaningful memory that suddenly comes back like a strike of lightning.
I had one of those âmemory popsâ last week when reading Paul Fisherâs post, âYou Can Learn Anything from Anyone.â In it, Paul shares the story of a steelworker who was proud to point at a skyscraper and tell his children that he was responsible for placing the beam on the 45th floor.
It reminded me of going into marketing many years ago, in part for the chance to see the product of my work on thousands of store shelves.
Meaning is important, but it is different for everyone. Try a bunch of things until you find yours.
âProof of impactâ has been special for me. Maybe it can be for you, too.
Listen for more on how to make meaning this way.
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Thereâs no certification course needed to become a CEO. One day, you find yourself in that position and must figure it out on your own. Everyone is waiting to see what youâll do first.
No pressure, of courseâŠ
Everyone who has been in this role has a unique story to share. This week, I sat down with Rob Reinfeld, the Co-founder and CEO of A2 Influence, a content development agency that helps leading brands and retailers create and distribute authentic content at scale.
Weâve been friends and business partners for years, so I was curious to hear his impressions after completing his first year as CEOâand share some of my own memories in the process.
Whether youâve been a CEO for years or aspire to be in that role someday, Iâm sure youâll uncover some valuable lessonsâand enjoy a few laughs with us along the way.
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Lots of people I know are waiting for their exit.
They donât love their jobs and dream of doing something else with their lives. But the promise of life-changing money keeps them in their seats.
Some are waiting for the IPO or their Private Equity owners to sell the company. Others wait for the options to vest or for the commission checks to be paid.
I see and feel for their sufferingâbecause Iâve been there. In total, across two acquisitions, Iâve spent eight years of my career waiting for a check.
Neither case was âRest and Vestââwe had to work our butts off to get those checks.
However, I learned that a painful journey can bring a reward more valuable than what hits your bank account. Hereâs howâŠ
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Life is full of little phrases that make us flinchâŠ
âWeâre still waiting for our flight crew to arrive.â
âDue to an accident overnight, the bridge is closed for repair until further notice.â
âI saw something that concerns me, and Iâd like to run more tests.â
They bring immediate annoyance and the worrying prospect of more pain.
Leading a business gives you many other opportunities to listen for and correct problems.
It took me decades of work to compile the following list of phrases. Ignore them at your perilâŠ
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âIâd love to start a business, but I think my ego is holding me back from giving up my current position.â
âI canât share this idea until itâs perfect. My ego is getting in the way.â
âIâm afraid this will fail, and Iâll look like an idiot in front of my peers. I guess itâs my ego again.â
These quotes are a sample of what people said to me last monthâjust like the month before and the one before that.
Each individual I spoke with is a strong, proven mid-career leader with a robust network. An entrepreneurial path tempts them, and they could easily return to a traditional job if the leap doesnât work out, but a voice in their heads blocks them.
Choosing the career path of an entrepreneur has forced me to understand and overcome my Ego. It has been a wild ride of two steps forward and one-and-a-half steps back.
You might choose to start a company someday. Or you may have no choiceâforced into a freelance or contract assignment in a corporate environment that increasingly drives us to fend for ourselves. Either way, Iâd like to share what your Ego is in for.
Despite the risk of making entrepreneurship seem an even scarier proposition, I hope to share an under-reported payoff that is more valuable than any financial windfall that may result.
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Iâm excited to share the next podcast episode in my series of conversations with interesting people on topics where business and life intersect.
Brynne Thompson is an investor, advisor, and all-around brilliant+kind person who helps startup founders and institutional investors figure out where the future is heading.
Weâve had many such conversations over the years as fellow members of the Coburn Ventures communityâso I knew she would deliver the good stuff.
Our discussion topic revolves around how we can take advantage of all the information available at our fingertips without falling for the non-wisdom of the crowdâand driving ourselves crazy in the process.
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When we look back on a year, itâs hard to remember specific days. Meetings were attended, emails were sent, and clients were served. Itâs all a big blur.
But we do recall a handful of eventsâthe big deal we sold, the massive problem we solved, the time the client yelled at us, and when our manager confided in us over drinks.
We remember stories.
Wouldnât it be great if we could capture all of the meaningful stories from our work and put them down in writingâto share for othersâ benefit and keep the lessons top-of-mind for ourselves?
Yes, it is great. I know because I did it. It helped turn our team around. Iâm going to tell you the story of company storytelling and how you can start benefitting the same way today.
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For the 2nd year, I reviewed my calendar to tally up the number of people I met. Survey says:
307 Meetings
Itâs down from 2023, when I was getting two new businesses off the ground. In 2024, I was a little more in-person and made more new friends than last year.
But this was the year I began to see each meeting as a kind of danceâan opportunity to bond with another person and create something unique through conversation. As the year progressed, I dropped some awkwardness, let my partners take the lead more often, and smiled more than ever.
I hope we get on each othersâ dance cards in 2025!
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Going through an acquisition comes with tons of pressure, fear, opportunityâŠand surprises.
But making it through gives you more confidence for the next time and a desire to pay it forward for those who come after us.
In that spirit, I sat down with my long-time business partner, Ryan Watson, to discuss the surprises we have experienced during M&A processes.
Ryan and I led the acquisition of our influencer marketing company in 2018. Today, Ryan regularly advises his clients on both sides of the M&A process as a Partner at Upsourced Accounting, a group of future-focused financial strategists who provide digital accounting and CFO services to the creative industry.
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If youâve worked closely with people, pushing business boundaries long enough, youâll have some drama, breakups, and maybe a betrayal. When you take your work seriously and own the business, everything about it is personal.
My story today started with a close friendship, led to a close business partnership, and ended with a bombshell betrayal.
There is much truth in recovery models, but they tend to lack specificity around betrayal and fail to detail what acceptance and integration look like over the very long run. So hereâs one guyâs journey. I hope you never feel this pain. If you have or do, I hope this helps.
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My brand promise in this newsletter is to provide shortcuts to success. And today, Iâm sharing a juicy one that Iâve learned across thirty years of buying and selling professional services:
Make sure your business is important to the service provider you hire. And almost always, the size of the check you writeâcompared to other clientsâis the measure of importance.
Over on Substack, I tell the story of how I learned this the hard wayârepeatedlyâat my agency and share some tips for service business clients and providers.
Instead of pitching my own businesses, in this episode, Iâm highlighting some of my favorite up-and-coming professional service providers. Iâve been lucky to meet and work with so many folks who Iâm confident will deliver for you.
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I wasnât planning to write this week. But a tiny nothingness struck me that made me feel something special.
It was just this broken signâŠthat someone sprayed with orange paint to help pedestrians avoid its danger.
It doesnât matter who specifically did it.
All that matters is We Did It.
We care.
Despite our many faults and broken internal algorithms, we have this going for usâwhich is nice.
Iâm thankful for all of the little things we do to help each other counter the entropy in the universe.
That ugly, broken orange metal stump is a sign of something beautiful.
Happy Thanksgiving
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Today, I share my podcast conversation with Mark Mearsâan author, consultant, and enlightened leader.
After a career in senior marketing roles such as Pizza Hut, McDonaldâs, and The Cheesecake Factory, Mark turned a major disappointment into an opportunity to fully follow his calling.
He shares inspiring messages about the best behavior of team leaders and provides insights on his shift from C-level VIP to consulting solopreneur.
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No one starts a company expecting to be sued by their biggest competitor. Maybe we shouldâŠ
Almost no one publicly shares what itâs like to go through it when it happens. But today, Iâm opening the vault to share my experience defending against a punch below the belt.
Just push play to hear the whole storyâŠ
And if you have a moment, please share this post with an entrepreneur you know. Small business owners need all the help they can get against competitors lacking honor. My story might come in handy when a lawsuit lands in their laps.
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âAllergies are a secret plague to millions of people. We deserve to breathe, and we founded Wyndly to help you.â
It's a pretty darn good elevator speech.
Today, I share my podcast conversation with Aakash Shah, a first-time founder who is building a startup in an enlightened way. There are at least three reasons why I think youâre going to enjoy this episode:
If youâre early in your career or thinking about launching your own business, Aakash shares a journey and tips that might help you get a head start.
Wyndly is a fascinating example of a tech-enabled service that re-thinks the typical business model.
Aakash reminds us that our companies have a greater responsibility to their customers, especially in healthcare.
We agreed that success looks like reaching just one person. Maybe thatâs you!
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