The Agile Scaleup

Best Biz Bio; Great Employment Ad; What not Why; Felix Culpa

Delusional people don’t learn well.
                     David Novak, co-founder Yum Brands

Anyone who tells you to follow their passion is already rich!
                     Scott Galloway

An invitation to invest 2 to 22 minutes in your executive education this week.

Summer Read – How Leaders Learn
From living in 30 trailer homes to co-founder and former CEO of $32 billion Yum Brands, this Fortune article details the lessons David Novak has learned along the way. I love great biz biographies, and his book How Leaders Learn is the best so far in 2024. Start with chapter 11 “Are you Delusional?” and then read the rest – there is so much practical wisdom in this book.

Pizza Hut’s Critical Number
Great leaders boil immediate strategy down to one metric. Notes Fortune, when Novak was hired to lead marketing for Pizza Hut, its numbers needed help, so one question his team asked was, “How could we get weekday volumes much closer to weekend volumes?” That’s a perfect strategic metric – Moneyball stat. Read the article above to see how they did it. Then read Novak’s book.

Follow Your Talent (not Passion)
Marketing guru Scott Galloway riffs on the reasons “follow your passion” is bad advice in this 3-minute video. It was author Cal Newport who first pointed out the fallacy of this overused commencement address bromide – to follow your passion. Here is a link to Cal Newport’s important 20-minute video which is the best career advice you can offer your recent college grad – a video I shared during EO’s Family University this week in Ocean Reef with my son Quinn (16).

Start with What (not Why)
I witnessed it again this week – how confusing “starting with why” can be for leaders. What is supposed to be a “purpose” question, I normally get an answer that is closer to the “brand promises” i.e. why do people buy from us, because we deliver fast, quality service. The much better question is a “what” question i.e. what difference are you trying to make? What problem are you trying to solve in the world? What do you want to do with your life? What is your purpose? You’ll notice whenever someone describes their purpose it's with a lot of “what” statements as well.

“Why” is Not a Friendly Question Anyway
Most of the communication literature I read suggests avoiding “why” questions. Why did you do that? Why are you saying that? Why are you thinking that? Asking “why” has a finger-pointing, accusatory tone. Work to eliminate the word “why” from your communications with people. The better word is usually “what” i.e. what caused you to make that decision? I even suggest when looking for the root cause of something to ask 5 what questions vs. why questions. It just feels less offensive/accusatory. Start with What.

Vibecession (not Recession)
27-year-old Kyla Scanlon first coined this term in 2022. Considered Gen Z’s favorite economist, this Fortune article details her rise to fame. Maybe not that interesting, I do find her term fascinating – which represents the “disconnect between peoples’ malaise about the economy and rosy official metrics like GDP growth and the low unemployment rate,” according to Fortune. Save 2 minutes and skip the article.

Felix Culpa – Good Bad Luck
Tim Ferriss shared this:

“Felix culpa is a Latin phrase that comes from the words felix, meaning ‘happy,’ ‘lucky,’ or ‘blessed,’ and culpa, meaning ‘fault’ or ‘fall.’ In the Catholic tradition, the phrase is most often translated ‘happy fault,’ as in the Catholic Exsultet. Other translations include ‘blessed fall’ or ‘fortunate fall.’” More broadly and put another way in Oxford Languages: “an apparent error or disaster with happy consequences.”

Love This Employment Ad
Taking a page from MOM’s Organic Market’s CFO/COO ad in Scaling Up, Skyco Group created this highly successful recruiting ad for Concreter/Formwork tradespeople. Note the “Would you like to work for a company that…”



Order a box of 20 books
Save 50% over the price on Amazon for Scaling Up, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, and 12 Habits of Valuable Employees books here for less!

Additional Books 
Scaling Up Compensation, a quick read helping you get much greater impact and outcomes from one of your largest expenses; and The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time, which provides you with some great ideas to borrow/steal for your own business are available on Amazon.

EDUCATION: 
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Scaling Up Free Mini Course

COACHING: Unlock Explosive Growth with a Scaling Up Coach
Is your business hitting a growth ceiling? Break through with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™. Our elite coaches master the Scaling Up methodology to reignite growth, align your team, and chart a clear scalability path. From day one, we provide a custom-tailored approach - conducting a comprehensive diagnostic, hand-picking your perfect coach match, and providing dedicated support. Whether a $5M or $250M firm, invest in coaching to propel your business to extraordinary new heights.
Schedule a complimentary follow-up or check out our FAQs. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected].

Have you considered becoming a Certified Scaling Up Coach?
Learn more about what it takes to certify and what being a coach is like. Pop into our Coach Office Hours to talk with our coach certification coordinator and a certified Scaling Up Coach. Learn More & Register for Office Hours here >

SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive Scaling Up workshops. Here's our list of workshops

Ontario, Canada – Jul 11, 2024 (Virtual)
Boulder, CO – July 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Chile – Jul 23, 2024 (Virtual)
Boulder, CO – July 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Hong Kong – Jul 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Bengaluru / Hyderabad / Dhaka, India – Jul 31, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Jul 31, 2024 (Virtual)
Adelaide, Australia – Aug 13 & 14, 2024 (2 Day, In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Aug 15, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA –  Aug 28, 2024 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia –  Aug 29, 2024 (In-Person)
Melbourne, Australia – Sep 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada – Sep 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Denver, CO – Sep 17, 2024 (In-Person)
Columbus, OH – Sep 20, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Sep 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Nottingham, UK – Oct 1, 2024 (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Oct 7, 2024 (In-Person)
Phoenix, AZ – Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Ontario, Canada - Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Oct 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Oct 15, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Oct 16, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Nov 12, 2024 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia – Nov 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Nov 14, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Nov 19, 2024 (Virtual)
Franklin, TN – Dec 5, 2024 (Virtual)
San Antonio, TX – Dec 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Dec 12, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Dec 18, 2024 (Virtual)

Planning to Exit – Critical Whitepaper
Selling your firm, for its maximum value, is the most important negotiation in which a business owner will participate. You are typically negotiating with sophisticated buyers who have done hundreds of acquisitions whereas this is often your first rodeo. And these buyers have a formula for ripping you off – and it works, stealing tens of millions from you. Seeking help, owners discover the big M&A firms, especially those specializing in your industry, are more beholden to the buyers than the sellers (they will tell you otherwise). Email me to get a whitepaper on how to maximize your valuation and avoid the psychological games buyers play [email protected].

TECHNOLOGY:
Scaling Up Scoreboard is AI-enabled and integrated with Salesforce, Slack, and Zapier (allowing it to connect with 1000s of systems). Use Scoreboard to provide your team (working remotely even more important!) with a real-time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of the Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

*This may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Spikey People; Uniqueness Measure; Sequoia Capital; Phoenix Nov 6 – 8

Happiness is a solid and joy is a liquid.
                     JD Salinger, Author

Gross margin tells you how unique your product is and how much people are willing to pay for it.
                     Doug Leone, Sequoia Capital

An invitation to invest 2 to 22 minutes in your executive education this week.

Pat Lencioni, Fred Reichheld, Ram Charan, Carolyn Dewar—Nov 6 – 8 Phoenix
Our LIVE summit events are back in partnership with Chief Executive magazine. Join over 750 CEOs and their mid-market teams in Phoenix Nov 6 – 8 for first-class executive education. Discounts for teams, you can see the full program and more at this link.

#1 Metric — Gross Margin Dollars/Total Compensation
Please ask your accountant/CFO to give you the total gross margin dollars divided by total compensation (including benefits) for 2019, 2022, 2023, and YTD (I skip the pandemic). Because of inflation, this number has been plummeting for many firms. Get this number heading in the right direction quickly. Call us if we can help.

Hire Spikey People — Sequoia Capital’s CEO — Video
Celebrating 50 years since Sequoia launched its first venture fund in 1974, CEO Doug Leone shares what’s required to build an enduring firm in this 42-minute interview. At minute 7:02 he discusses the importance of hiring “spikey, non-linear, slightly injured” people – Daniel Cable’s notion that you need to hire strange people. He goes on to explain it's often a product problem; you have to architect the firm, not just the product.

Rocks in a River – Job of CEO to Identify and Clear
Leone, at minute 16:04, describes a business like a river – “there are rocks in the river and your job as CEO is to remove as many rocks as possible.” Our use of the term “rocks” in Scaling Up is precisely this meaning. And in the new versions of our books, I’ve moved us away from the “climbing a mountain” analogy to one of a river flowing, noting that nature moves down the mountain, not up it. Thank you to Aditya Tulsian for sharing this video.

Gross Margin – Key Metric Measuring Uniqueness
At minute 25:01 Leone rifts on the importance of gross margin. Back to my ratio above, the real measure that you’re building an enduring firm is gross margin. Notes Leone “gross margin tells you how unique your product is and how much people are willing to pay for it.” Please listen to those 3-minutes if not the entire 42 min. So much wisdom in this short interview.

Why Joy is More Valuable Than Happiness
The JD Salinger quote above opened Chip Conley’s blog post this morning. It’s worth 1 minute to read thru Chip’s perspectives on joy and happiness.

Joy Party
One biz note – on the 20^th anniversary of Chip’s hotel chain Joie de Vivre (he even named his hotel chain after the word), they hosted a Joy Party inviting the 10,000+ Californians with the name Joy– clever. How might you celebrate your customers in a clever way? Themed parties are usually a winner.

Use of Lighters for Candles = Smoking
This Fortune article on Bic details how this French firm has remained innovative and nimble. Led by Gonzalve Bich, grandson of founder Marcel Bich, one of the fastest growth engines are temporary tattoos that last a few weeks. And fun fact – the use of lighters for candles equals their use for smoking. Please take 2 minutes to read how this multi-generational biz has navigated the markets for almost 80 years.

Order a box of 20 books
Save 50% over the price on Amazon for Scaling Up, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, and 12 Habits of Valuable Employees books here for less!

Additional Books 
Scaling Up Compensation, a quick read helping you get much greater impact and outcomes from one of your largest expenses; and The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time, which provides you with some great ideas to borrow/steal for your own business are available on Amazon.

TECHNOLOGY:
Scaling Up Scoreboard is AI-enabled and integrated with Salesforce, Slack, and Zapier (allowing it to connect with 1000s of systems). Use Scoreboard to provide your team (working remotely even more important!) with a real-time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of the Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Scaling Up Free Mini Course

COACHING: Unlock Explosive Growth with a Scaling Up Coach
Is your business hitting a growth ceiling? Break through with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™. Our elite coaches master the Scaling Up methodology to reignite growth, align your team, and chart a clear scalability path. From day one, we provide a custom-tailored approach - conducting a comprehensive diagnostic, hand-picking your perfect coach match, and providing dedicated support. Whether a $5M or $250M firm, invest in coaching to propel your business to extraordinary new heights.
Schedule a complimentary follow-up or check out our FAQs. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected].

Have you considered becoming a Certified Scaling Up Coach?
Learn more about what it takes to certify and what being a coach is like. Pop into our Coach Office Hours to talk with our coach certification coordinator and a certified Scaling Up Coach. Learn More & Register for Office Hours here >

SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive Scaling Up workshops. Here's our list of workshops

San Diego, CA – Jun 25, 2024 (In-Person)
Washington, DC – Jun 27, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada – Jul 11, 2024 (Virtual)
Chile – Jul 23, 2024 (Virtual)
Hong Kong – Jul 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Bengaluru / Hyderabad / Dhaka, India – Jul 31, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Jul 31, 2024 (Virtual)
Adelaide, Australia – Aug 13 & 14, 2024 (2 Day, In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Aug 15, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA –  Aug 28, 2024 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia –  Aug 29, 2024 (In-Person)
Melbourne, Australia – Sep 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada – Sep 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Denver, CO – Sep 17, 2024 (In-Person)
Columbus, OH – Sep 20, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Sep 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Nottingham, UK – Oct 1, 2024 (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Oct 7, 2024 (In-Person)
Phoenix, AZ – Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Ontario, Canada - Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Oct 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Oct 15, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Oct 16, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Nov 12, 2024 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia – Nov 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Nov 14, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Nov 19, 2024 (Virtual)
Franklin, TN – Dec 5, 2024 (Virtual)
San Antonio, TX – Dec 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Dec 12, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Dec 18, 2024 (Virtual)

Planning to Exit – Critical Whitepaper
Selling your firm, for its maximum value, is the most important negotiation in which a business owner will participate. You are typically negotiating with sophisticated buyers who have done hundreds of acquisitions whereas this is often your first rodeo. And these buyers have a formula for ripping you off – and it works, stealing tens of millions from you. Seeking help, owners discover the big M&A firms, especially those specializing in your industry, are more beholden to the buyers than the sellers (they will tell you otherwise). Email me to get a whitepaper on how to maximize your valuation and avoid the psychological games buyers play [email protected].

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

*This may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

New Rule 50; Smartest Pen; Federer; How Do You Compare

…I had to work very hard to make it look easy.
                     Roger Federer

Pressure bursts pipes – or makes diamonds.
                     The power of peer pressure

An invitation to invest 2 to 22 minutes in your executive education this week.

Roger Federer’s Dartmouth Commencement Address
Here’s a link to Roger’s commencement address. Starting at 5:52 he shares his three “tennis lessons.” I felt his delivery a little awkward, so here’s a summary of his three lessons:

• Effortless is a myth – success requires tremendous hard work
• It’s only a point – he lost 46% of his points, so don’t sweat losses, keep going
• Life is bigger than the court – enjoy a life outside of work

This Fortune piece provides some fun stories behind each of his three lessons. Enjoy.

New Rule of 50 for Scaleups
This David Cummings blog post provides a much-needed update to the Rule of 50 by weighting growth rate twice profit. Take your growth rate times 2 and add your profitability and it should be above 50 i.e. 20% growth rate x 2 plus 15% profitability gives you a score of 55. What is your score? Keep it above 50.

Benchmarking Fortune 500
In total, Fortune 500 companies represent two-thirds of the U.S. GDP with $18.8 trillion in revenues, $1.7 trillion in profits, and $43 trillion in market value (as of March 28, 2024), and they employ 31 million people worldwide -- $606,451/rev per employee; $54,839/profit per employee. Pick a firm from the Fortune 500 list that’s in a similar industry and see how you stack up – worth benchmarking.

Double Worker Productivity – Daily Huddle
Atlassian released its annual “State of Teams” report detailed in this Fortune article. Atlassian continues to find workers wasting 25 billion hours dealing with notifications (Slack, email, etc.) vs. focused on the work at hand. This is what the 8 – 12-minute daily huddle fixes. It replaces 10x that much time to keep each other updated asynchronously. Get a 10x ROI on the one daily routine that will set you and your team free. Give us a call to let us coach you through an effective daily huddle.

How IKEA Is Working to Retain Employees
It costs IKEA $5k to replace a frontline worker – and they’ve been losing 62,000 each year. This Bloomberg story details the moves IKEA is making to fix this problem including flexible schedules, more generous compensation, and smoother orientation for new hires. These changes have reduced attrition from 33% to 17.5% -- almost a 50% reduction. Please invest 2 minutes to pick up some ideas that might help your attrition if any issues. Thank you to coach Bill Gallagher for sharing.

Let Workers Swap Shifts w/o Managers
Notes the Bloomberg article, which aligns with the idea that managers just need to get out of the way:

In collaboration with a group called the Shift Project, Ikea US began testing the ability for workers in a few stores to swap shifts online, without a manager’s approval, replacing paper forms that had to be signed by both workers and their respective managers, which made swapping “particularly tedious,” Shift Project researchers found. Workers in the pilot program can also adjust their hours of availability more easily, and request to not be scheduled in certain blocks of time.

This is a good example of technology replacing managers – and letting the hive/tribe figure stuff out.

90% Startups Fail – How Nuwa Improved its Odds Using Scaling Up
This Medium article details how Marc Tuinier, founder of Nuwa Pen, used Scaling Up from the beginning of his startup to beat the odds and scaled from 1 to 40 employees in two years. Billed the “Smartest Pen in the World” it allows you to write on any paper from Post-It Notes to butcher paper and it captures and digitizes what you write. Check it out https://nuwapen.com/.

NZ-based Allied Medical 25% Growth Rate (Scaling Up Case Study)
Launched 25 years ago, Katie Noble co-founded New Zealand-based Allied Medical. This ScaleUps.com article details how she used Scaling Up, with the help of coach Adrian Pickstock, to identify and remove constraints, sharpen their strategy, and improve communication to drive 25% annual growth with their 50-employee firm (scoring 50 with just their growth rate). With a BHAG to empower 300,000 New Zealanders by 2030, they update this number monthly including a list of names of those they’ve helped. Daily Huddles and Quarterly Themes keep them focused and on track. Please let one of our coaching partners give you a hand in scaling easier with less drama.

Order a box of 20 books
Save 50% over the price on Amazon for Scaling Up, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, and 12 Habits of Valuable Employees books here for less!

Additional Books 
Scaling Up Compensation, a quick read helping you get much greater impact and outcomes from one of your largest expenses; and The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time, which provides you with some great ideas to borrow/steal for your own business are available on Amazon.

Planning to Exit – Critical Whitepaper
Selling your firm, for its maximum value, is the most important negotiation in which a business owner will participate. You are typically negotiating with sophisticated buyers who have done hundreds of acquisitions whereas this is often your first rodeo. And these buyers have a formula for ripping you off – and it works, stealing tens of millions from you. Seeking help, owners discover the big M&A firms, especially those specializing in your industry, are more beholden to the buyers than the sellers (they will tell you otherwise). Email me to get a whitepaper on how to maximize your valuation and avoid the psychological games buyers play [email protected].

TECHNOLOGY:
Scaling Up Scoreboard is AI-enabled and integrated with Salesforce, Slack, and Zapier (allowing it to connect with 1000s of systems). Use Scoreboard to provide your team (working remotely even more important!) with a real-time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of the Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Scaling Up Free Mini Course

COACHING: Unlock Explosive Growth with a Scaling Up Coach
Is your business hitting a growth ceiling? Break through with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™. Our elite coaches master the Scaling Up methodology to reignite growth, align your team, and chart a clear scalability path. From day one, we provide a custom-tailored approach - conducting a comprehensive diagnostic, hand-picking your perfect coach match, and providing dedicated support. Whether a $5M or $250M firm, invest in coaching to propel your business to extraordinary new heights.
Schedule a complimentary follow-up or check out our FAQs. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected].

Have you considered becoming a Certified Scaling Up Coach?
Learn more about what it takes to certify and what being a coach is like. Pop into our Coach Office Hours to talk with our coach certification coordinator and a certified Scaling Up Coach. Learn More & Register for Office Hours here >

SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive Scaling Up workshops. Here's our list of workshops

San Francisco, CA – Jun 19, 2024 (Virtual)
Boulder, CO – Jun 20, 2024 (Virtual)
Ontario, Canada – Jun 25, 2024 (Virtual)
San Diego, CA – Jun 25, 2024 (In-Person)
Washington, D.C. – Jun 27, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada – Jul 11, 2024 (Virtual)
Chile – Jul 23, 2024 (Virtual)
Hong Kong – Jul 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Bengaluru / Hyderabad / Dhaka – Jul 31, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Jul 31, 2024 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia – Aug 7, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Aug 15, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA –  Aug 28, 2024 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia –  Aug 29, 2024 (In-Person)
Melbourne, Australia – Sep 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada – Sep 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Denver, CO – Sep 17, 2024 (In-Person)
Columbus, Ohio – Sep 20, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Sep 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Nottingham, UK – Oct 1, 2024 (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Oct 7, 2024 (In-Person)
Phoenix, AZ – Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Ontario, Canada - Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Oct 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Oct 15, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Oct 16, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Nov 12, 2024 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia – Nov 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Nov 14, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Nov 19, 2024 (Virtual)
Franklin, TN – Dec 5, 2024 (Virtual)
San Antonio, TX – Dec 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Dec 12, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Dec 18, 2024 (Virtual)

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

*This may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Aussie Model; 50 Best; 3 Killers; What CEOs Think

Fortune 500 CEOs are upbeat on the economy — and they wish they owned Microsoft and Nvidia stock.
                     Fortune magazine

…many employees are merely adequate — they don't do much to create real value for their employers.
                     Peter Economy

An invitation to invest 2 to 22 minutes in your executive education this week.

Aussie Model Fan of Scaling Up
Bella Geminder, model and billionaire heiress, has launched Strange Luxury skincare out of Melbourne, Australia. This Harpers Bazaar article details Bella’s journey including her nighttime ritual. Notes Bella:

I will then wind down with a book. It’s my time to completely detach from everything. I am currently reading Scaling Up by Verne Harnish. I couldn’t recommend this more if you’re interested in business. It highlights the importance of a strategic plan and teaches you tools and techniques to help founders. 

Thank you to Scaling Up Coach Jonathan Mond who is coaching Bella’s sister, who passed along my book to her sister.

What CEOs of Fortune 500 Are Thinking (Infographic)
In a few simple infographics, Fortune shares what CEOs are thinking. #1 threat is inflation and #2 is technology transformation. They are more bullish on the economy than expected. And the infographics include their top uses of AI. Please take 1 minute to scan thru.

Kudos to Jim Collins
This Fortune article details how 49 companies have remained on the Fortune 500 list for the 70 years it’s been in existence. The 17 firms Jim Collins considered great in his Good to Great book are still on the list; only 6 of the comparable firms. Seems to validate what he learned, primarily about the importance of preserving the core (core values, purpose, and competencies) while stimulating progress. Please take 3 minutes to absorb the key lessons in this article. “The Core” chapter in Scaling Up speaks to how scale-ups use these ideas.

3 Profit Killers – Legendary Jonathan Byrnes, MIT
This Chief Executive post shares the late Jonathan Byrnes's three profit killers:

• Marginal contribution. Why shouldn’t we take business that contributes to overhead, even if it doesn’t cover full cost? 
• Full product line. Why shouldn’t we carry products that lose money if they are part of a product line that makes money overall? 
• Traffic drivers. Why shouldn’t we carry money-losing “loss-leader” products if they attract customers who then buy very lucrative products? 

Companies fall victim to these three traps all the time. It’s why turnaround experts like Greg Brenneman (Continental Airlines, PwC, Burger King, etc.) go after these profit killers immediately, challenging teams to face the brutal facts. Please invest 2 minutes to read the full article if you and your team need nudging (kicked) to avoid these traps.

Corporate Competitor Podcast – Target CEO
Don Yaeger’s 40-minute podcasts are so insightful. Sports Illustrated editor, NY Times bestseller, etc. – his latest podcast features Target’s Chair and CEO Brian Cornell. One thing Cornell does to keep his team connected to and immersed in the marketplace (Rock Habit #6):

(He takes) 10-15 of his officers at a time on a two-day “accelerated mentorship program” during which Cornell and his team travel to different parts of the country, spend time in Target stores and distribution centers, and meet with board members or shareholders—even other CEOs who have something to teach them.  

Please enjoy 40 minutes of insights from one of the top CEOs in the world.

Article to Share with Your Employees?
With AI augmenting many jobs, it’s more important than ever for your team members to have some tools to up their game. This Inc. article pulls from our quick read 12 Habits of Valuable Employees book and shares 7 ways employees can advance their success path (vs. career path) inside your organization.

Best Restaurants in the World – Spain Wins Again
Awarded Wednesday night in Las Vegas, this CNN article lists the top 50 restaurants in the world with my adopted country of Spain topping the list with the most wins, six, including three of the top five.

#1 Restaurant Provides Lesson for Growth Firms
Noam Wasserman’s research at Harvard showed that intact teams who leave one successful venture are more likely to scale again. Case in point, Barcelona’s Disfrutar walked away with the top prize. Ranked number two last year, it’s owned and run by chefs Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch, and Mateu Casanas who met while working at the legendary El Bulli, ranked #1 for years. Like Ocean’s 98 (OK, not that many sequels yet), the key is getting the old gang back together and finding another bank to rob.

Order a box of 20 books
Save 50% over the price on Amazon for Scaling Up, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, and 12 Habits of Valuable Employees books here for less!

Additional Books 
Scaling Up Compensation, a quick read helping you get much greater impact and outcomes from one of your largest expenses; and The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time, which provides you with some great ideas to borrow/steal for your own business are available on Amazon.

SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive Scaling Up workshops. Here's our list of workshops

Kansas City, MO – Jun 12, 2024 (In-Person)
Adelaide, Australia – Jun 12, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Jun 13, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Jun 19, 2024 (Virtual)
Boulder, CO – Jun 20, 2024 (Virtual)
San Diego, CA – Jun 25, 2024 (In-Person)
Washington, D.C. – Jun 27, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada – Jul 11, 2024 (Virtual)
Hong Kong – Jul 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Bengaluru / Hyderabad / Dhaka – Jul 31, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Jul 31, 2024 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia – Aug 7, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Aug 15, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA –  Aug 28, 2024 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia –  Aug 29, 2024 (In-Person)
Melbourne, Australia – Sep 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada – Sep 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Denver, CO – Sep 17, 2024 (In-Person)
Columbus, Ohio – Sep 20, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Sep 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Nottingham, UK – Oct 1, 2024 (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Phoenix, AZ – Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Ontario, Canada - Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Oct 15, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Oct 16, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Nov 12, 2024 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia – Nov 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Nov 14, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Nov 19, 2024 (Virtual)
Franklin, TN – Dec 5, 2024 (Virtual)
San Antonio, TX – Dec 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Dec 12, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Dec 18, 2024 (Virtual)

Planning to Exit – Critical Whitepaper
Selling your firm, for its maximum value, is the most important negotiation in which a business owner will participate. You are typically negotiating with sophisticated buyers who have done hundreds of acquisitions whereas this is often your first rodeo. And these buyers have a formula for ripping you off – and it works, stealing tens of millions from you. Seeking help, owners discover the big M&A firms, especially those specializing in your industry, are more beholden to the buyers than the sellers (they will tell you otherwise). Email me to get a whitepaper on how to maximize your valuation and avoid the psychological games buyers play [email protected].

TECHNOLOGY:
Scaling Up Scoreboard is AI-enabled and integrated with Salesforce, Slack, and Zapier (allowing it to connect with 1000s of systems). Use Scoreboard to provide your team (working remotely even more important!) with a real-time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of the Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Scaling Up Free Mini Course

COACHING: Unlock Explosive Growth with a Scaling Up Coach
Is your business hitting a growth ceiling? Break through with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™. Our elite coaches master the Scaling Up methodology to reignite growth, align your team, and chart a clear scalability path. From day one, we provide a custom-tailored approach - conducting a comprehensive diagnostic, hand-picking your perfect coach match, and providing dedicated support. Whether a $5M or $250M firm, invest in coaching to propel your business to extraordinary new heights.
Schedule a complimentary follow-up or check out our FAQs. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected].

Have you considered becoming a Certified Scaling Up Coach?
Learn more about what it takes to certify and what being a coach is like. Pop into our Coach Office Hours to talk with our coach certification coordinator and a certified Scaling Up Coach. Learn More & Register for Office Hours here >

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