The Agile Scaleup

Doctor Death; Unstoppable Teams; High Stakes Negotiations; Best $995

Hello ScaleUps, 

Hope it’s been a productive and purposeful week. Here are some insights/opportunities to help you outlearn/outthink the competition.

High Stakes Negotiations --
Of all the courses I’ve attended, the one that has benefited me (and the leaders I teach) the most is Dr. Victoria Medvec’s “High Stakes Negotiations” course…the best $995 you’ll spend.  More below, but first…

Unstoppable Teams --
Three-time Navy SEAL platoon commander and CEO of Perfect Fitness, which was one of the fastest growing companies in the US, Alden Mills has just released his latest book Unstoppable Teams: The Four Essential Actions of High-Performance Leadership. Alden is also a dear friend, having spent time together when our families both lived in Barcelona. He is a longtime entrepreneur, with over 40 patents, and has over 25 years of experience working on high-performance leadership, sales, and team-building. He’ll be keynoting our fall ScaleUp Summit Oct 15 – 16, Anaheim.

Respect and Doctor Death --
Grab a copy of the book, released just Tuesday, and take 8 minutes to read through Chapter 5 titled “Respect” as Alden takes you on a mission in Bosnia to pursue Doctor Death. He details a similar challenge a decade later when his company faced a death-defying moment with Wal-Mart. He then describes leading a community action group to pass a $30 million school bond. Reading this chapter really lit a fire under me as a leader!! Then jump to chapter 7 and read about “Activating the 10x Advantage.” SPro and book club members will receive a copy of the book next week. 

C.A.R.E. Framework of Leadership --
In the end, leadership can be boiled down to a couple four-letter words – easy and care! Of the 6000 leadership books written, most aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. What I’m teaching leaders is to focus on one thing – making the lives of their employees EASY (vs. hard). From the chairs they sit in to courses on how to better manage their money to the technology they use to do their job, leaders need to simply focus on finding out what would make their employees’ jobs and lives easier and see what you can do to help. This, then, leads to the team feeling like you CARE for them. If they feel cared for, they’ll then care for your customers and the company. That’s why I’m thrilled that Alden chose C.A.R.E as the acronym for his leadership model: Connect, Achieve, Respect, and Empower. Enjoy his quick, insightful and fun-to-read book! Then join over 1000 leaders of growth firms Oct 15 -16 in Anaheim (Oct 17 Scaling Up User Conference) to learn from Alden and a dozen other top biz leaders. 

Founded 1871, GLC Minerals is Scaling 30% Annually --
The fifth-generation family member to own Green Bay, WI-based GLC Minerals Wes Garner notes: “Our business value has probably grown 30% year-over-year for the past three years. It is a combination of investment in personnel and education that has gotten us here. For example, by taking the negotiations course (Dr. Victoria Medvec), we were able to drastically improve our margins with customers and walk away with an even stronger relationship. Before taking the course, I would have never imagined we could have accomplished what we did. Without a doubt, that course has paid for itself a hundred times over already."

How to Negotiate while Strengthening the Relationship --
The challenge negotiating in business (vs. purchasing a home or car) with customers, vendors, partners, key employees, etc. is that you are normally entering into a long-term relationship with that person. So how do you triumph while strengthening the relationship The is precisely what Dr. Victoria Medvec teaches some of the top companies in the world how to do. Everything is a negotiation, as such, it’s one of the most crucial skills to master. Dr. Medvec’s course is the one I took years ago which has done more for my business than any other course I’ve attended (including my own!!).   

Last Week’s Mini-Case Study --
It was one of Dr. Medvec’s techniques Avaneesh Marwaha, CEO of Litera Microsystems, used to increase the value of a critical deal by 10%, which I highlighted last week. Please have someone in your organization go through the self-paced online course – it will be the best $995 you spend within the organization.

CEO-BOOTCAMP: spend 3.5 days with Verne, serial entrepreneur John Ratliff, and 6 other CEOs in a beautiful retreat setting, addressing the constraints holding back you, your business, and your industry. Jun 4 - 7; Aug 20 - 23, 2019; Jan 14 - 17; Jan 21 - 24, 2020.

EXITING: Thinking about selling the business for $40 million or more? Want to get 25% to 200% more than you thought? Request the whitepaper from the Exit Strategies Summit at Harvard from Denise Richmond at (610) 299-6466 or email at [email protected]

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? The Scaling Up team is prepared to support you. We have helped 40,000 other organizations over the past 30+ years, in scaling up their organizations through coaching, workshops, online training and more. 

We would like to offer you a complimentary, personal follow-up from our Scaling Up team to share how we can support you in scaling your organization.

YES! I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COACHING & RECEIVE A COMPLIMENTARY FOLLOW-UP (CLICK HERE)

For questions or more information contact us at [email protected]

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability - Drive Execution with Align, cloud-based software designed to scale up your Rockefeller Habits implementation. www.alignwithgazelles.com - on your computer, tablet or phone. Click here to watch an introductory video.

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.

Buffett’s Success Metric; Newest Centibillionaire; Works Every Time; Emplify March 26

Hello ScaleUps, 

Hope it’s been a productive and purposeful week. Here are some insights/opportunities to help you outlearn/outthink the competition.

Scaling Up User Conference May 23 Atlanta –
Practical experience sharing from top mid-market firms using our Scaling Up tools to grow (why struggle to implement). More below, but first... 

New Partnership in Employee Engagement – Webinar 26 March 1pm ET
Knowing the people side of the business is critical, Scaling Up has partnered with the employee engagement measurement platform Emplify to provide insights, best practices, and tangible tools for scaleups. Emplify CEO, Santiago Jaramillo, and I are hosting a webinar to discuss how business leaders worldwide are scaling their organizations while creating a culture of high employee engagement and how those two transformations go hand-in-hand. Join us March 26th at 1pm ET by registering HERE. 

Best Sales Hint –
One idea Avaneesh Marwaha picked up at our CEO Boot Camp last week added 10% value to a new SaaS contract and extended it from 3 years to 5 years, returning 100x the cost of the camp. Notes Avaneesh, CEO of Litera Microsystems, “the deal I closed last Friday, the CIO emailed today (Tuesday) with a bunch of issues. Instead of emailing back, I picked up the phone (as Verne suggested) and talked to him directly and actually got him to agree to a bit more on the subscription value by listening to his needs and concerns. We structured the deal differently to match those needs and concerns which ended up giving us more up front as well.” Avaneesh, congrats on your “bias for action.”

Phone vs. Email in Critical Sales/Negotiation Situations –
The idea I shared with Avaneesh and the other CEOs came from Northwestern Univ. Professor Dr. Victoria Medvec’s “High Stakes Negotiation” course. When you’re in the middle of closing a big deal and receive emailed questions from the customer, never, ever respond back with an email. Instead, ALWAYS “pick up the phone” and address their questions. There is often more behind their questions than is obvious; you get a lot more interaction time; and you’re going to structure a better response/deal. This both improves the outcomes and strengthens the relationship.

Warren Buffett’s Measurement of Success –
Would people hide you (yes, hide – it’s not a typo)? Watch this 3-minute excerpt from a Warren Buffett presentation to get the context for his measurement of success – they go purchase a new mattress (just watch the video – and find out what you can’t buy!). Thank you, Rabbi Stephen Baars, for posting this important reminder.

Vitamin C Might Reverse Stress-induced Driver of Breast Cancer –
Nature’s natural antibiotic and chemo, Vitamin C, continues to garner attention as the latest clinical research shows it’s ability to reduce the size of tumors. As a precaution, and to boost energy, I still get a high-dose 50-gram IV C, with a 2-gram glutathione push, every few weeks (now going on 20 years). It’s the equivalent of an oil and filter change every 30,000 minutes!

Now There are Two (Fun Fact for the Weekend) –
Besides Vladimir Putin, there are now two official centibillionaires – Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.  Even after giving away $35 billion, Gates wealth hit exactly $100 billion this week, driven by Microsoft’s continued stellar performance as the #1 most valuable firm in the world. This Fortune article highlights the achievement.

Scaling Up User Conference May 23 Atlanta –
A separate and popular third day to our ScaleUp Summit, the Scaling Up User Conference provides an opportunity for you and your team to learn best practices directly from top firms and their coaching partners using our one-page Growth Tools to successfully scale. I open with an hour update and Q&A followed by a series of breakout sessions organized around the 4 Decisions: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash.

Wear Black and/or White with a Splash of Red –
Aligning with our “Scaling Up in Action” Summit theme, we’re hosting Atlanta’s top’s 80s MTV band Electric Avenue for a fun evening of music and networking with 1000+ leaders of mid-market scaleups. Register you and your team for the ScaleUp Summit now.

CEO-BOOTCAMP: spend 3.5 days with Verne, serial entrepreneur John Ratliff, and 6 other CEOs in a beautiful retreat setting, addressing the constraints holding back you, your business, and your industry. Jun 4 - 7, 2019.

EXITING: Thinking about selling the business for $40 million or more? Want to get 25% to 200% more than you thought? Request the whitepaper from the Exit Strategies Summit at Harvard from Denise Richmond at (610) 299-6466 or email at [email protected]  

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? The Scaling Up team is prepared to support you. We have helped 40,000 other organizations over the past 30+ years, in scaling up their organizations through coaching, workshops, online training and more. 

We would like to offer you a complimentary, personal follow-up from our Scaling Up team to share how we can support you in scaling your organization.

YES! I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COACHING & RECEIVE A COMPLIMENTARY FOLLOW-UP (CLICK HERE)

For questions or more information contact us at [email protected]

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability - Drive Execution with Align, cloud-based software designed to scale up your Rockefeller Habits implementation. www.alignwithgazelles.com - on your computer, tablet or phone. Click here to watch an introductory video.

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.

New Power Jacket; Tragic Loss; Million Dollar Women; March 26 ExO Webinar

Hello ScaleUps, 

Hope it’s been a productive and purposeful week. Here are some insights/opportunities to help you outlearn/outthink the competition.

Your net worth will depend mostly on your net thoughts.
	Mike Dooley, A Beginner’s Guide to the Universe

Two EO San Diego Members Perish in Helicopter Crash –
Many of you may have read about the tragic crash in Kenya last week, killing four entrepreneurs. Two of them, Brandon Stapper and David Baker, were EO San Diego members. Their memorial services are this weekend. What a tragic loss. Our prayers go out to all their families and friends – hug them tight tonight (and every day and night).

Million Dollar Women’s (MDW) Summit April 5 NYC --
Calling #femalefounders who want to Go Big! The Million Dollar Women’s Summit is almost here. Scale up your business faster and in great company with female founders who are ready to #GoBigNow. On 4/5 in NYC. Register today: #MDWSummit. I’ll be speaking (and I’m on MDW founder Julia Pimsleur’s board – great mission) – please pass along to any female founders you know – thank you. 

The New Power Jacket – Leather! –
And for women leaders the leather jacket has become the new power outfit. This Fortune article highlights this latest fashion trend among women CEOs – from General Motor’s CEO Mary Berra to IBM’s CEO Ginny Rometty. Check out the various styles.

One Page Personal Plan (OPPP) Video –
It’s not so much about balance as it is blend, when it comes to your personal and professional lives. And a happy personal life supports a healthy professional life. In that spirit, we created the One-Page Personal Plan (OPPP) to complement our One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP), both highlighted in Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0). To further support implementation I recently created a 14-minute video to walk you through how to fill it out. You can download the form at www.scalingup.com (click Growth Tools link next to picture of book). Hope it proves helpful.

Upcoming Live Webinar with ExO author Salim Ismail to Transform Your Organization –
A 10x mentality, whether revenues, profits, or creating an internal advantage over the competition (the X Factor in Scaling Up), frees you from the bonds of how you’ve always done things. Thinking exponentially is key. That’s why we’re hosting Exponential Organizations (ExO) author Salim Ismail (founding executive director of Singularity U) on March 26^th who will share eleven specific approaches to discovering your own 10x strategies, shifting the way you think about company growth.

CEO-BOOTCAMP: spend 3.5 days with Verne, serial entrepreneur John Ratliff, and 6 other CEOs in a beautiful retreat setting, addressing the constraints holding back you, your business, and your industry. March 12 - 15; Jun 4 - 7, 2019.

EXITING: Thinking about selling the business for $40 million or more? Want to get 25% to 200% more than you thought? Request the whitepaper from the Exit Strategies Summit at Harvard from Denise Richmond at (610) 299-6466 or email at [email protected]

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? The Scaling Up team is prepared to support you. We have helped 40,000 other organizations over the past 30+ years, in scaling up their organizations through coaching, workshops, online training and more. 

We would like to offer you a complimentary, personal follow-up from our Scaling Up team to share how we can support you in scaling your organization.

YES! I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COACHING & RECEIVE A COMPLIMENTARY FOLLOW-UP (CLICK HERE)

For questions or more information contact us at [email protected]

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability - Drive Execution with Align, cloud-based software designed to scale up your Rockefeller Habits implementation. www.alignwithgazelles.com - on your computer, tablet or phone. Click here to watch an introductory video.

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.

#1 Constraint; Walks and Talks; Allure’s MBD; Congrats Prime Data

Hello ScaleUps, 

Hope it’s been a productive and purposeful week. Here are some insights/opportunities to help you outlearn/outthink the competition.

#1 Constraint to Scaling --
Here’s my latest 4-minute video detailing the key constraint to scaling a business.

Bluewire Media’s “Walk and Talk” (Scaling Up Case Study) --
About a year ago Toby Jenkins and Adam Franklin, co-founders of Brisbane, Australia-based Bluewire Media, tweaked their weekly council (strategic thinking) meeting. It’s now a Steve Jobs-like “walk and talk.” Notes Toby: “Adam and I walk up to 10kms, sometimes in the bush, other times by the river.” And the benefits, continues Toby:

• It "stacks" exercise, nature, work and friendship (35 years this year including 14 years in business together).
• Nurtures body, mind and energy at the same time.
• Much higher energy level and focus for the whole 2-3 hours
• A sense of moving in the same direction. 
• Often feels like a much higher quality conversation

FYI, over the past five years Bluewire Media has scaled from 99% working only in Australia to now active in 44 countries.

Same Walk and Talk Format with Clients --
Bluewire Media uses the same approach with clients. “High quality 1-on-1 time with the key decision maker,” continues Toby. “I've found it useful in the negotiation phase, when we're both trying to get crystal clear on the higher-level context and then zoom in on the nitty gritty of an engagement. And it's been highly useful as a regular check-in process too.”

And Same with Family (Plus “Advances” vs. “Retreats”) --
“Luce (my wife) and I even do it sometimes when we need to talk something through. It's not yet calendarised like the work ones, but I consider it a great tool. Across all of these three (council, clients, spouse), I find there's something about architecting the circumstances that gives both people the best chance of being at your best for whatever needs to be figured out at the time.” Love this idea Toby. And appreciate that you noted in your email to me “we’ve basically followed your whole Scaling Up playbook, with 90 day ‘advances’ for a decade.” I love that you call them quarterly “advances” vs. “retreats.” We’ve begun calling our planning sessions “advances” as well.

Allure Medical Doubles Revenue in 24 Months (case study) --
This Growth Institute post details how Theresa LaBranche, COO of Allure Medical, is using the skills garnered from our online coached Master of Business Dynamics (MBD) program to double revenues from $20 million to $40 million – and how it’s helping to double again this year. Comparable to an online MBA, but at a fraction of the cost, this accredited program of six courses completed at your own pace (Scaling Up, Topgrading, ExO, Hyper Sales Growth, Mastering New Marketing, and Outthinking the Competition) continues to help leaders make a massive impact in their companies and communities. Theresa’s story reaffirms the importance of investing in executive education. You’ll also see Theresa and her team at the upcoming ScaleUp Summit – they normally bring one of the largest teams, earning them the table right at the very front.

Congratulations Steve Falk, Prime Data --
Kudos to President Steve Falk for creating a culture where his staff took it upon themselves to apply and be chosen for the Globe and Mail (Canada’s largest national newspaper)/Morneau Shepell Employee Recommended Workplace award. It was their responses to the questionnaires that shaped the outcome. Noted Falk, “I just wanted to say thank you for helping us develop a well-regarded workplace culture. We’ve taken many of the Rockefeller Habits to heart over the past 3 years.” 

CEO-BOOTCAMP: spend 3.5 days with Verne, serial entrepreneur John Ratliff, and 6 other CEOs in a beautiful retreat setting, addressing the constraints holding back you, your business, and your industry. March 12 - 15; Jun 4 - 7, 2019.

EXITING: Thinking about selling the business for $40 million or more? Want to get 25% to 200% more than you thought? Request the whitepaper from the Exit Strategies Summit at Harvard from Denise Richmond at (610) 299-6466 or email at [email protected]  

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? The Scaling Up team is prepared to support you. We have helped 40,000 other organizations over the past 30+ years, in scaling up their organizations through coaching, workshops, online training and more. 

We would like to offer you a complimentary, personal follow-up from our Scaling Up team to share how we can support you in scaling your organization.

For questions or more information contact us at [email protected]

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability - Drive Execution with Align, cloud-based software designed to scale up your Rockefeller Habits implementation. www.alignwithgazelles.com - on your computer, tablet or phone. Click here to watch an introductory video.

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.