The Agile Scaleup

Burrito Bonds; Recruiting Video Ex; Intro Mistake we Make; CEOs Jun 17 – 18 Bloomberg HQ

Hello ScaleUps, 

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

What people believe is not so much a function of what is being said, but rather who is saying it.
	Steve Martin, Messengers

Winner of Columbia Exec Program, YPOer James Drage --
Managing Partner of Halifax-based Atlantic Venture Capital, James Drage was the lucky winner of a $6500 Columbia University Executive Program with Messengers’ author Steve Martin and other top behavioral scientists. More information on this program below, but first…

Example of Effective Recruiting Video --
YPOer Ron Lovett, founder/CEO of Halifax-based Connolly Owens, used this video to successfully recruit a junior sales associate – a great example of messaging and using video to attract talent.

Mistake with Introductions --
Gathering a new group of people? Avoid “going around the table” and having each person introduce themselves – everyone will be more focused on what they are going to say then listening to others. Instead, have the senior most person make introductions of everyone, according to Steve Martin, author of Messengers (Oct 15, 2019) The leader’s status will better convey each person’s expertise and they can subtly set future expectations of performance i.e. “Margaret is project lead for xxx and consistently delivers on time and on budget.” And if you’re leading the meeting and you don’t know everyone? Prep accordingly!!

Power of a Single Word Brand Identity --
“Vibrancy” is Chilango’s brand identity. Co-founded by ex-McKinsey consultant Eric Partaker (communicating his competency), this UK-based Mexican restaurant chain conveys everything it delivers -- the food, atmosphere, messaging, and service approach – with a feeling of vibrancy. And this vibrancy permeated their two crowdfunding campaigns, using Steve Martin’s powerful influence/messaging techniques to raise awareness and millions of dollars. “Driving Experience” is BMW’s brand identity. “Scaling Up” is ours. What is the word/concept that permeates your brand?

Burrito Bonds --
Watch this 5-minute promotional video for Chilango’s “Burrito Bonds 2” campaign and note the various influence techniques. This campaign, aiming to raise £1m, was oversubscribed raising £3.7m. This article highlights the success of the campaign. One key insight Eric shared at last week’s Summit – when you share testimonials in a video like their one for Burrito Bonds, three is the ideal number.  Too many and it becomes suspicious, like you’re selling too hard.  Makes sense.  And note that the videos highlights, with larger font, the brands associated with the three investors they feature – former execs from Domino’s Pizza, McDonald’s, and Itsu.

Influence Principles Applied to Tips --
Jason Robbins, CEO/Chairman of ePromos (custom logo merchandise), sent me the image below noting “They must have read the book on pricing. Even the tips are being shown in declining order!” As Steve Martin, one of the top 3 influence experts in the world, found in his research, by suggesting three options (best, better, good) and listing the tip options from highest to lowest, this restaurant is likely generating greater overall tips. My guess is that most people would tip $30 (which Jason did, though he recognized the psychological trick). If reversed, I’m guessing most people would tip $28.

Understanding People to Drive Results--Columbia University Graduate School of Business, New York.
The program has been developed in collaboration with world-leading researchers and practitioners in the field. You will be learning from some of the most noted experts, leading scholars, and best-selling authors including Scale Up Summit 2019 opening speaking Steve Martin who leads this program. Engaging, fascinating, and challenging yet always relevant and practical, this program equips you with new insights, tools, and skills in the field of behavioral science to inform and optimize your business strategies by better understanding and influencing people's behavior.

Jack Nicklaus, General Stanley McChrystal, Dov Seidman, Verne Harnish --
For CEOs Only, June 17 (evening) – June 18 (all day) is Bloomberg’s CEO Breakaway Summit at Bloomberg HQ in NYC.  Join me and a first-class lineup of keynotes – along with 150 of the top mid-market CEOs from around the globe. Global membership is just $5k and includes the NYC Summit ($2500), London Summit, Bloomberg Driving Experience, Bloomberg Gala, and 14 other events. And it includes one seat at our fall ScaleUp Summit ($2k value). For more info take a look at this short video. See you in NYC.

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 (Sold Out); 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]   

WRITE AND PUBLISH A BOOK to Grow Your Business and be THE Authority in your space. My publisher and friend Adam Witty at ForbesBooks has streamlined the process. forbesbooks.com/scalingup  for more information and to take their Authority Assessment

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.alignwithscalingup.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.

Uber’s Prediction; Economic Outlook; Apple Does it Again; Streaming LIVE ScaleUp Summit

Hello ScaleUps, 

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

CEO Boot Camp Open Seat --
One of the CEOs signed up for the June 4 – 7 Boot Camp needs to postpone if anyone would like to take his seat. Aug 20 – 23 (Estes Park, CO), is the next CEO Boot Camp (4 of 7 seats open).

Fortune 500 2019 --
Released yesterday, Walmart, Exxon Mobile, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, and Amazon made the top 5 of the Fortune 500 list. Average revenue/employee of the 500 is $477,351, roughly 4x mid-sized firms; and profit/employee averaged $38,327. The average profitability was 8.0%, up from 6% last year. And once again, Apple’s profit/employee of $450,992 was almost equal to the other 499’s revenue/employee! Amazing!! Find a firm on the list, in your related industry, and see how you compare (Laureate Education is one I track).

CEO Sentiment Good Sign for Economy --
People are not logical, they are psychological (which is why we get pricing and compensation so wrong – but that’s for a later post). That’s why it’s important to pay attention to what the Fortune 500 CEOs are thinking. Alan Murray of Fortune reported yesterday:

61% of Fortune 500 CEOs think the economy will stay the same over the next 12 months; only 21% think it will get worse. And slightly over half think a recession won’t hit in the next two years. 76% think the Federal Reserve has been “just right” in its conduct of monetary policy. And 74% say the U.S. remains the best region for them to invest over the next two years (for a decade they said China)

And with an expected $88-trillion-dollar global economy this year, up from $34 trillion at the turn of the Century, if you can’t make a million or a billion, it’s your fault.

Why 4x Rev/Emp over Mid-Market Firms? --
It seems crazy that these “elephants” would be almost 4x more efficient in generating revenue per employee vs. the “gazelles.” Why? People, Pricing, and Process. First, they are able to attract top talent and have corporate universities to train them (smart talent vs. cheap labor). Second, they have brand (strategy!) which gives them pricing power. And third, they focus on keeping their processes lean. When fully implemented, Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) does the same for mid-market firms. It’s why tracking Rev, and more importantly, Gross Margin Dollars/Employee, is critical. Is this KPI heading in the right direction?

Top 10% Generate Almost 50% --
And fun fact, the top 50 Fortune 500 firms generated almost 50% of the total revenues. And the combined revenues of the entire list, $13.7 trillion, represents 2/3rds of the US GDP. I hope many of these firms, and their employees, are your customers – they have all the money.

Uber’s Original Pitch Deck --
Check out Slide 20 in Uber’s 2008 original pitch deck. It outlines what they thought were three scenarios (BHAGs):

Best-Case – Market Leader with $1 billion annual revenue Realistic-Case – 5% of Top 5 Cities with $20 - $30 million annual profit Worst-Case – 10 car, 100 client service in San Fran

In reality, they hit $1 billion in 2015 and $11.3 billion in 2018; they are in 100% of the top US cities (and 30% of countries!); but may never be profitable! Instructive to see how they saw the business in 2008 and how it is now – what they got right and missed totally. Lots of pivots along the way. Thank you for Scaling Up Certified coach Judy Guido for pointing me to this.

ScaleUp Summit Next Week – Streaming LIVE --
Our team of coaching partners, and some of the smartest mid-market company teams, will gather next week in Atlanta for our ScaleUp Summit to “outlearn the competition.” Streaming LIVE, you and your team can still sign-up to dial in remotely – just $2495 for both days. Gather in a conference room or alone on your laptop/phone and choose from the top authors presenting their latest tools/techniques for scaling. My goal each Summit is to pick up just one killer idea – and pack my brain with a 100 others I can assess at a later date. The next ScaleUp Summit is Oct 15 – 16, Anaheim.

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 (Sold Out); 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]   

WRITE AND PUBLISH A BOOK to Grow Your Business and be THE Authority in your space. My publisher and friend Adam Witty at ForbesBooks has streamlined the process. forbesbooks.com/scalingup  for more information and to take their Authority Assessment

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.alignwithscalingup.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.

Paris; What Kills You; Ariel View of HQs; London June 13 - 14

Hello ScaleUps, 

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

You teach that which you need to learn the most.
	Paraphrasing Richard Bach

Join me in Paris 26 – 28 June --
I’m keynoting and attending this Scaling Business Summit in Paris. The hosts are providing a significant discount if you sign-up by May 15.

Hardiness, and How to Think About Stress --
Last week’s insight highlighted how a key characteristic of top leaders is hardiness. Seems this is related to how you think about stress. Research indicates that it’s not stress that is killing you, but thinking that stress is killing you which is killing you! It’s all mindset.

The Upside of Stress --
Scaling Up Certified coaching partner Lisa Ridley requires all her clients to read The Upside of Stress: Why Stress is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It by Dr. Kelly McGonigal. Here is a link to McGonigal’s insightful TEDx talk on the subject. Notes Ridley, “it completely changes the conversation around ‘I’m so stressed, I have too much to do, etc.’ and has them re-frame not only how they approach their work, but their life.” Thank you, Lisa.

It’s Not Stress, It’s How You Think About Stress --
Maybe I’m repeating this for my own sake (thus the quote above), but again, what the research found is that it’s not stress that harms you. It’s thinking that stress is harming you that harms you. Instead, if you see stress as good for you, those people had the lowest death rate!! Change your mindset and change your life – you’re either winning or learning – there is no losing!

ForbesBooks Interview, a Good 11 of 14 Minutes --
At the Conscious Capitalism Summit I was interviewed by ForbesBooks on a wide range of topics I don’t normally address like the role of Capitalism and Government (3 minutes into the interview – where I would start); the need to shift toward the feminine in our businesses over the next few decades (7 minutes into the interview); why planning can be dangerous (8 minutes in); what nature can teach us in scaling; the need to bring silicon and carbon together; and the three books I’m reading right now. Maybe worth playing the 14-minute interview in the background while doing email, starting at minute 3. Go to the link above and then scroll down the list of interviews and click on the Verne Harnish interview. Hope it’s helpful.

Why Every CEO Should Write a Book --
It is the best calling card you can offer to potential and existing customers, employees, advisors – establishing you as an expert in your industry with any relationship you’re nurturing to scale the business. That’s why I’m excited about our new partnership with ForbesBooks (my dear friend Adam Witty’s firm) – it’s a great brand which all our future books will don, including the future print runs of Scaling Up. Let Adam’s firm help you get the book completed in “24 hours.”

How to Structure Your Book --
The simple structure of your book? Write one chapter on each of your core values, purpose, brand promises, and BHAG – so 8 to 10 short chapters of stories where you’re living each of these components of your Vision Summary. Then write an opening chapter that summarizes the rest, because that’s the one most everyone will read if they crack open the book at all. That’s why the two MOST important components are the Title and the design of the Cover – it needs to look and sound great (first impression). The title should include the “words you want to own in the marketplace” and better if you also have your equivalent of the Nike “swish.” The title “Scaling Up” are the two words we want to own in minds around the globe, and the “S” curve on the cover is our swish.

Ariel View of Silicon Valley HQs --
Quick and interesting – 9 ariel views of Apple, Facebook, Oracle, etc. HQs. I like dreaming about the Scaling Up world HQ we’ll build someday!! I hope you are dreaming about your world HQ as well. Physical space matters.

London June 13 - 14 Scaling Up Master’s Program (SMP) --
Organized by our Scaling Up Coaching Partner Neale Lewis, these are the dates for our next launch of the ScalingUp Master's Program (SMP) in London. Here's a link to the overview including a 2-minute video. Limited to five companies at a time, it's an 8-day local program spread over a year that installs the Scaling Up tools and a learning culture within a company. It's the most effective program we've designed combining over 30 years of experience in helping companies scale. To apply go to this link

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 (Sold Out); 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]   

WRITE AND PUBLISH A BOOK to Grow Your Business and be THE Authority in your space. My publisher and friend Adam Witty at ForbesBooks has streamlined the process. forbesbooks.com/scalingup  for more information and to take their Authority Assessment

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.alignwithscalingup.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.

Meet Jack Nicklaus; Trait of Great Leaders; Onboarding Gift; May 8 Webinar “7 Strata of Strategy”

Hello ScaleUps, 

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

How do great leaders find such courage while most people don’t? Research points to a personality style called “hardiness.”
	Fortune

Invitation to Meet Jack Nicklaus --
Exclusively for CEOs of firms over $20 million, more below. But first…

Dominate Your Industry, The “7 Strata of Strategy” Webinar --
3pm ET Wednesday May 8^th I teach a 90-minute webinar (including 30 min Q&A) going deep into our strategy framework for dominating your niche. Please register here. Thank you.

THE Emotional Quality of Great Leaders --
One common characteristic of Fortune’s “50 Greatest Leaders” is courage – willing to make bold moves and decisions when necessary. This short Fortune article links this capability of bravery back to a personality style called “hardiness.” Notes Fortune’s Geoff Colvin (I’m framing this quote and staring at it each day):

Hardy individuals don’t see the world as threatening or see themselves as powerless against large events; on the contrary, they think change is normal, the world is fascinating, they can influence events, and it’s all an opportunity for personal growth.

Hardy individuals are simply less afraid and don’t feel stress the way most people do. Please take one minute to read this quick and insightful article.

How to Become Hardy, the 3 C’s --
All this begs the question, if hardiness is the crucial leadership trait, can it be learned? I found this 2012 Psychology Today article highlighting the research of The Hardiness Institute.  According to the founder Dr. Salvatore Maddi, the most important characteristics of hardiness are commitment, control, and challenge.  

View Stressors as Opportunities to Grow --
I found the last characteristic, challenge, particularly useful given some big stressors I’ve been facing. The key is viewing these stressors as opportunities to learn with almost a child like curiosity i.e. “I’m curious what’s going to happen next.” Redirecting/reframing that self-sabotaging voice in your head is a big part of developing hardiness. Please take 3 minutes to read this insightful article – which includes how parents can help their children to become hardy.

New Employee Fun --
First impressions matter. Coming out of my two-day Scaling Up workshop for 260 YPOers and their teams in Brisbane, Australia this week, Chapter Chair and Managing Director of Wiley, Tom Wiley, noted:

I’ve already embraced improving our new employee onboarding experience using your movie voucher idea…I sent out the first one today.

 

Integrate Culture into Website --
I was equally impressed with Wiley’s recent integration of their culture into their website. I particularly love the title “Our anthropology” and the closing quote from Tom “This is not what we do, this is who we are together.” How many companies share what “We Love;” “Our traditions”; and “Our tribe.” It’s worth a few minutes poking around the site, maybe giving you some ideas for your own! Does your website and other marketing materials reflect your culture?

Scaling Up Best Practices --
Want to fine tune your implementation of the Rockefeller Habits 2.0? Consider our Scaling Up Users Conference organized around the Four Decisions: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. Interact with executives and coaches who share practical tips on how they’ve successfully deployed our tools/techniques to scale – May 23, Atlanta (9am – 5pm)– at the same hotel as our ScaleUp Summit May 21 – 22. Attend one or both. See you in Atlanta for some serious learning and fun!

Jack Nicklaus and David Rubenstein --
Join me June 17 (evening) and all day the 18th, NYC, for Bloomberg’s CEO Summit. In addition to the already star-studded program, Bloomberg just announced David Rubenstein, Carlyle Group co-founder and co-Executive Chairman, will host a special live taping of his Bloomberg TV show with "The Golden Bear" Jack Nicklaus, legendary golfer, businessman and philanthropist. It’s an intimate group of 200 CEOs by invitation only – please email me at [email protected] if interested in attending (let me know your revenues confidentially).  Here’s a link to more information.

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 (Sold Out); 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.alignwithscalingup.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.