The Agile Scaleup

12 Cuban lessons; 5 ways to avoid commoditization; 2 employees needed; and a bonus chapter

"...insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Soon you'll see huge companies with just two employees - the CEO and the CIO.
	John Chambers, former Cisco CEO

Wisdom from Mark Cuban -- Shark Tank judge; investor in over 150 companies; and sports team owner closed-out our Growth Summit last week. Here's a link to 5 biz lessons from Mark. Below are a dozen more, but first...

It's Strategic Planning Time -- ... and there is a bonus Scaling Up chapter to download on how to prepare and run a strategic planning session, including a sample One-Page Strategic Plan. Go to www.scalingup.com. And below under EDUCATION are the Scaling Up workshops near you.

5 Ways to Avoid Commoditization -- my latest Venture column in Fortune addresses a universal problem -- commoditization driven by increased competition in almost every industry. To maintain healthy margins, here are five strategies:

1. Create a third market place
2. Target the right customers
3. Add a dose of expertise
4. Don't keep them (customers) waiting
5. Amp up the personal touch

Please take 1 minute to read through the details. Thank you to Steve Hall, driversSelect.com; Dave Monahan, Smart Dolphins; Chris Parker, Innvision Hospitality; and Dr. David Michael, North Shore Pediatric Therapy for sharing their best practices.

Friction-Free Economy -- "Why Every Aspect of Your Business is About to Change" is the title of an insightful article in Fortune this month. Notes writer Geoff Colvin:

Imagine an economy without friction-a new world in which labor, information, and money move easily, cheaply, and almost instantly. Psst-it's here. Is your company ready?

He goes on to note:

The 21st-century corporation will increasingly be an idea-based business, operating not just in infotech but also in media, finance, pharmaceuticals, and other industries that consume lots of brainpower. McKinsey finds that while "asset-light, idea-intensive sectors" generated 17% of Western companies' profits in 1999, they generate 31% today. The losers in that shift are capital- and labor-intensive sectors like construction, transportation, utilities and mining.

Colvin concludes, as Tom Peters suggested decades ago, that all of us will eventually work in...:

...a continual Hollywood model, in which people and resources come together to achieve a goal and then disperse to other projects, may become common across the economy. It's happening already.

So how might you transform the nature of work in your company/industry? How will you prepare/create the next future? This is why strategic thinking is so important - with time to read and reflect and reinvent your world.

Vision for EO and Others -- BTW, I agree with John Chambers, quoted at the beginning of this insight. This was always my vision for the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) and my own organizations - that they would eventually be run by just two people. Save this article for the weekend.

Wrap-Up Day 1 -- Over 900+ CEOs and executives of scaleups gathered for a meet-up in Dallas at our two-day Growth Summit presented by Fortune. A record number of standing ovations were received by our world-class faculty. I'll share one short interview from the Summit each week that will give you a couple practical tips for scaling up your business, along with reasons to read their book.

Ron Kaufman's Uplifting Service -- Here is a 4 minute interview with Ron Kaufman, author of Uplifting Service. The guru that helped Singapore become known for customer service, Ron shares a simple definition of service that makes it very operational (2:25 into the video) and reminds us that outstanding customer service is a key way to de-commoditize the business. FYI, our next Summit is May 24 - 25, Atlanta with an optional May 26 Rockefeller Habits 2.0 user conference.

Mark Cuban's 12 Keys to Success -- capping off our Growth Summit was an unscripted hour with Mark Cuban. My favorite insight, when asked about his biggest failure and the lessons learned, he thought for a moment and then noted that he's failed a lot - and the one thing in common with all his failures is "thinking he was too smart." Leaders must continue to listen and learn, something Mark does by being a voracious reader and making it a point to sit in the cheap seats and talk with fans. Here's a link to 12 more practical tips from Mark, succinctly captured in Kevin Daum's Tuesday Inc. column - it's worth the 2 minutes to scan his bullet points.

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if your company would be a good candidate to work with an executive growth coach? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients.

TECHNOLOGY:

Align Software puts everyone on the Same Page - Literally! See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progress on their priorities - alongside how these Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.alignwithgazelles.com- on your computer and on your phone.

Better Book Club -- What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.

Do You Have Plonkers?; Bix Location Decision; Power of City Clusters; Oct 16 Webinar Salim Ismail

"...insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Don't get mad, get data.
	Unknown (do you know who said this?)

10X the Business -- the author of Exponential Organizations is hosting a live webinar tomorrow, Friday, at noon ET - more details below, but first...

Are "Plonkers" Crushing Your Margins (Gazelles case study) -- do you really know which products, locations, and customers are making you the most money? Are your financials detailed enough? Jim Harriott, founder of Rx Management with 18 pharmacies throughout Australia, created a matrix of Pleasers, Pullers, Plonkers, and Providers (see matrix below) for their 13,000 SKUs. My latest Huffington Post piece details how Harriott uses this matrix to protect profits, drive up gross margins, and eliminate the money-losing duds in its business. The goal is to continue to eliminate the Plonkers and put more emphasis/marketing on the Pleasers, those high-margin, high rate of sale, products and services.
 

Do you know where your products/services/customers/locations land in this matrix? If you're not making as much money as you would like, don't get mad, get data! Please pass along the article to your CFO and start cranking more data.

Biz Location Decision -- is your city known for something? Wichita, where I went to college, is the epicenter of private aviation, home to Beech, Cessna, Gates Learjet, and originally Boeing. If you're in a specific sector of business, you might want to locate where there is a cluster of similar businesses - like Warsaw, Indiana: the Orthopedic Capital of the World. Hermann Simon's research with "hidden champions" found that companies that cluster end up helping everyone through shared talent and knowledge - think Silicon Valley for your industry. Maybe you can start a cluster to help 10x your biz?

Town, Inc. -- this is the title of Andrew Davis's new book. Subtitled "Grow Your Business. Save Your Town. Leave Your Legacy." Davis makes a case for taking the lead in your city and creating a cluster of businesses and helping your local town brand itself. Go to chapter 8 and flip to the section titled "A Town Blown Away" - it's about how two local citizens remade Greensburg, KS, a town of 700. After being leveled by a tornado, they attracted Leonardo DiCaprio to produce a TV show called Greensburg about how it's becoming the "greenest" city in the US - amazing! Here's a link to the Wikipedia piece on the show. Andrew is keynoting our Summit next week on this and his previous book Brandscaping: Unleashing the Power of Partnerships. Connecting your company to bigger brands, including a city, is a powerful way to 10x the business.

Singularity U Founder Webinar -- It's been a year since Singularity U founding Executive Director Salim Ismail published his breakthrough book Exponential Organizations - a book I'm happy Amazon automatically pairs with mine. Salim nailed some 10x strategies I absolutely missed in Scaling Up - so his book is a must read. On Friday, Oct 16th, 12pm EST, Salim will host an anniversary webinar. He will focus on the real cases and experiences he has seen over the past year, the challenges companies have overcome, and the key action items around implementing this methodology. Click here to register!

See you in Dallas -- I look forward to seeing almost 900 of you in Dallas for our Growth Summit presented by Fortune (we've seen the power of partnerships) next Tuesday and Wednesday - the #1 "Meet-up for Scaleups" in the world.

Are you interested in becoming a Gazelles International Coach? Through ongoing education, relevant business partnerships, best-practice tools, and our exceptional community, Gazelles International coaches are equipped to dramatically impact their clients' success. See why Sean Evans relies on Gazelles International to provide him with the backdrop for his business as a certified growth coach.

If you are a business coach, you're invited to attend our Dallas Coaches Summit on Monday, October 19 to experience our community for yourself. Contact: [email protected] for more information.

EDUCATION:

Growth Summit Presented by FORTUNE
Dallas, TX - Oct 20-21, 2015

Scaling Up Business Growth Workshops 2015

Have Big Plans to Execute in 2015? Learn how to use the proven Rockefeller Habits 2.0 tools and strategies to scale up smarter.

Johannesburg, SA - October 15, 2015
Richmond, VA - October 29, 2015
Las Vegas, NV - November 3, 2015
Waukesha, WI - November 3, 2015
Dublin, Ireland - November 4, 2015
Surrey, BC - November 20, 2015
Portland, OR - November 5, 2015
Washington, DC - November 4, 2015
Laval, QB - November 5, 2015
Philadelphia, PA - November 10, 2015
Cedar Rapids, IA - November 11, 2015
Norton, MA - November 11, 2015
Austin, TX - November 12, 2015
Memphis, TN - November 12, 2015
Fort Myers, FL - November  17, 2015
Colorado Springs, CO - November 18, 2015
Indianapolis, IN - November 19, 2015
Dallas, TX - December 2, 2015
Denver, CO - December 2, 2015
San Diego, CA - December 15, 2015

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if your company would be a good candidate to work with an executive growth coach? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients.

TECHNOLOGY:

Align Software puts everyone on the Same Page - Literally! See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progress on their priorities - alongside how these Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.alignwithgazelles.com- on your computer and on your phone.

Better Book Club -- What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.

Million Dollar Women; More Talking to Crazy; 100 Best for Women; Oct 16 Webinar

"...insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Hire the best people, set strategy, and keep cash in the bank.                                                       VC Fred Wilson

 Exponential Organizations Webinar Oct 16 -- it's been a year since Singularity U founding Executive Director Salim Ismail published his breakthrough book Exponential Organizations - a book I'm happy Amazon automatically pairs with mine. Salim nailed some 10x strategies I absolutely missed in Scaling Up - so his book is a must read. On Friday, Oct 16th, 12pm EST, Salim will host an anniversary webinar. He will focus on the real cases and experiences he has seen over the past year, the challenges companies have overcome, and the key action items around implementing, all part of an Online Master Class he will be personally teaching - this is important if you want to 10x your firm. Click here to register!

Million Dollar Women -- this is the title of Julia Pimsleur's book released Wednesday. Founder of children's language learning company Little Pim, she has a goal of helping one million women get to the $1-million-in-revenues mark by 2020. Even though women are starting businesses at twice the rate as men, only 3% ever cross the magical $1 million revenue mark vs. 6% for men. Julia details how she, as a wife and mother, did it - along with the case studies of a dozen other women - with the goal of achieving what she calls a Triple Win - Money, Meaning, and Mobility. One of many great lines in the book - "Remember VC Fred Wilson's advice: "Hire the best people, set the strategy, and keep cash in the bank." Julia has written a very heartfelt and practical book for women wanting to scaleup. Congrats.

Talking to Crazies Summary -- It seems women have to deal with crazy people more than men. Last week I highlighted Mark Goulston, MD, and his new book Talking to Crazy. Here's a link to an excellent summary of the book by Mark in Bottom Line Personal titled "8 Ways to Manage the Impossible People in Your Life". Take two minutes to scan down through the 8 impactful and practical tips - then tape this article near your desk/phone. The "3 strikes and you're calm" technique" is particularly worth 20 seconds to read - and the reminder to remain poised.

100 Best Workplaces for Women -- Fortune just inaugurated their first top100 list of "Best Workplaces for Women" and congrats to perennial Gazelles client PPR for breaking into the Top 10 at #9! Also making the list include Infusionsoft, Hubspot, The Container Store, and Marriott (why we like to host our Summits at their properties).

How BuildDirect is Empowering Employees (Gazelles case study) -- This week Kevin Daum is doing the heavy lifting for me with this Inc magazine piece he wrote highlighting $150 million BuildDirect and their use of the Scaling Up tools to create a highly empowered growing team of 315 associates. Twice winner of Aon Hewitt's "Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada", Daum outlines 7 approaches Jeff Booth, CEO of BuildDirect, uses to keep his culture strong. Please take 2 minutes to scan down through these workplace strategies and pick one to implement in your own.

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if your company would be a good candidate to work with an executive growth coach? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients.

TECHNOLOGY:

Align Software puts everyone on the Same Page - Literally! See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progress on their priorities - alongside how these Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.alignwithgazelles.com- on your computer and on your phone.

Better Book Club -- What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.

Are you interested in becoming a Gazelles International Coach? Through ongoing education, relevant business partnerships, best-practice tools, and our exceptional community, Gazelles International coaches are equipped to dramatically impact their clients' success. See why Sean Evans relies on Gazelles International to provide him with the backdrop for his business as a certified growth coach.

If you are a business coach, you're invited to attend our Dallas Coaches Summit on Monday, October 19 to experience our community for yourself. Contact: [email protected] for more information.

EthoSolar’s Brutal Facts; Talking to Crazy; Top 40 Best Advice; Forbes 400 Youngest Billionaire

"...insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Topgrading: 2 Day Workshop Dubai -- making a wrong hiring decision is painful. The only interviewing method that delivers a 90%+ hiring success rate is being offered in the Middle East Oct 26-27 (3 seats left) and online, more info below, but first...

Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit -- anyone have connections to this event and knows Jim Mellado? Please email me [email protected] - thanks.

Talking to Crazy -- are there irrational and unreasonable people you have to deal with occasionally (or a lot!). Mark Goulston MD, top psychiatrist and best-selling author, has a new book just released this week titled Talking to Crazy: How to Deal with Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life. A recent keynote at our Summits for his previous book Just Listen and hostage negotiation trainer, Mark knows how to convey practical techniques that work. BTW, the book will help you better deal with anyone - crazy or not - partners, co-workers, customers, suppliers, investors, or teenagers! These are fundamental communication skills that will make you a better person no matter how irrational the other side gets.

Best Advice from Fortune's Top 40 Under 40 -- Fortune announced their annual list last week, and WeWork co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann landed the #1 spot. What I found insightful was Fortune's piece on the "Best Advice" these winners had ever received. It is worth 3 minutes scanning down through their hard-earned lessons, mantras, and reminders of what it takes to scale. One of several themes - focus, focus, focus - and find quiet time to tap into your intuition.

Fun Facts Forbes 400 Wealthiest -- Bill Gates was #1 again ($76 billion), 22nd year in a row, with Warren Buffett #2, Larry Ellison #3, and for the first time Jeff Bezos (Amazon) enters the top 10 at #4 ($47 billion). The combined net worth of the 400 is $2.34 trillion, up $50 billion from last year, though all those numbers will be dramatically down given the latest plunge in the stock market. FYI, the new youngest billionaire (in the world) to make the US list is 25 year old Evan Spiegel, co-founder of SnapChat. Also interesting, only 13% of Gates's wealth is tied to his stake in Microsoft! He's been investing and diversifying wisely. For more fun facts (I think biz leaders should know trivia stuff about biz), here's a link to a Forbes summary of the list - 1 minute to read.

...FYI, Mark Cuban Landed #211 on the List -- with a net worth of $3 billion, we look forward to spending an hour with Mark at American Airlines Arena and then watching his Mavericks' team play the Phoenix Suns as part of the upcoming Growth Summit, Oct 20 - 21, Dallas.

EthoSolar Faces the Brutal Facts (Gazelles case study) -- my Huffington Post article this week highlights how Worchester, MA-based EthoSolar (with three additional locations in Canada), a commercial and residential solar developer, had to pivot to new market segments after their team set aside their politeness - a real challenge for friendly senior teams - and let the debate rage. Among other things, it meant turning down a $60 million project! Take 3 minutes to read how the team, working with Gazelles coaching partner Les Rubenovitch, had to rebuild trust among the team and face the brutal facts in making some tough decisions that have ultimately helped the company over double in size in just one year.

Topgrading: 2 Day Workshop In Dubai and Online -- starting with a Topgrading Scorecard, that is far superior to a job description, to four killer questions to ask in a screening interview, to a structure interview process that will get candidates to tell you things they wouldn't otherwise - plus a technique called TORC to get references to reveal the truth about the person your hiring - it's no time for amateur hour in hiring the right people. Hire the right person, your life is great; hire the wrong person and your life (and those they work with) is miserable. This is the one decision you absolutely must get right. For more info on this Oct 26 - 26 workshop in Dubai, register your interest here. And the course is also available online.

TECHNOLOGY:

Align Software puts everyone on the Same Page - Literally! See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progress on their priorities - alongside how these Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.alignwithgazelles.com- on your computer and on your phone.

Better Book Club -- What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if your company would be a good candidate to work with an executive growth coach? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients.

Gazelles International Coaches: Through ongoing education, relevant business partnerships, best-practice tools, and our exceptional community, Gazelles International coaches are equipped to dramatically impact their clients' success. See why Sean Evans relies on Gazelles International to provide him with the backdrop for his business as a certified growth coach.

If you are a business coach, you're invited to attend our Dallas Coaches Summit on Monday, October 19 to experience our community for yourself. Contact: [email protected] for more information.