The Agile Scaleup

Toxic Family; Newsjacking COP; Wide Bans; ESOPs

Brains are in; heavy lifting is out. That’s the essential nature of the new knowledge-based economy. Therefore, the development of knowledge is close to job No. 1 for corporations.

Tom Peters

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.
                                                  H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

How Panama and Geoversity Newsjacked COP26
Marketing guru David Meerman Scott (DMS) blogged yesterday about how a rag tag team from Geoversity in Panama managed to “newsjack” (a DMS term) the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow (BBC, Bloomberg, Time magazine, etc.). In a lesson on how to beg forgiveness vs. ask permission, please take 2-minutes to read how the indigenous Guna people of Panama brought attention to their plight. Sometimes the backdoor is better to use than the front door, as DMS suggests. FYI, DMS is on the board of Geoversity, an organization I co-founded with Nathan Gray. 

Toxic Effect of Branding as “Family”?
This latest HBR article questions the idea of branding your culture as “family-like.” Does this mean the employer is the parent and workers the children? What about letting someone go for performance reasons? More difficult in a family environment. While there are aspects of family that are positive, maybe there are better analogies? I prefer the professional sports team analogy or other models of high performing organizations. Please take 3-minutes to scan the article for some possible reasons to shy away from the family brand, even in family-owned firms. Or watch a couple episodes of “Succession!”

Wide Pay Bands – More from Allied Printing Services
YPOer John Sommers, whose firm has a 10x wide pay band for salespeople ($60k to $600k) also has 2x wide pay bands for other positions – something we recommend in Scaling Up Compensation. The average comp for his 11 customer service reps is $63k with a range of $45k to $89k. Similarly, his 19 production planners (engineers) have an average salary of $89k with a range of $68k to $140k. Wide pay bands with clear KPIs for advancing within the band, is key to establishing an effective compensation plan that accommodates the differences in individual performance. Again, the range of pay within a band should be at least 2:1.

Hiring 90, ESOP Key to Lowest Employee Turnover in 7 Years (Scaling Up Case Study)
This Scaleups.com article details how a 100+ year old distributor of building materials, Palmer-Donavin, is scaling rapidly with the help of Scaling Up coach Rick Crossland. Adding an additional 90 employees this past year, the 560-employee firm will generate $280 million in revenue. One key is the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), which has also given CEO Robyn Pollina an advantage in acquiring firms. Notes Pollina:

With similar offers on the table, a selling owner is much better off from a tax perspective selling to an ESOP versus a non-ESOP. 

If you are a US-based firm, please take 2-minutes to read through the details of Palmer-Donavin’s ESOP and other employee benefits.

Nextdoor Goes Public Via a SPAC
Led by CEO Sarah Friar, who we hosted on one of our virtual Summits last year, the neighborhood-focused social media firm went public this week via a SPAC. Valued at $4.3 billion on revenues of $120 million, SPAC’s remain a viable way for many mid-market firms to maintain control (you normally give up less than 20% ownership) while giving you an equity component to your compensation scheme to attract talent. We’re helping firms get SPAC-ready, with over $147 billion sitting in SPACs needing to find acquisitions within 15 to 24 months. Email me verne@scalingup.com if interested.

4D Weekly Meeting Template in Align/Scoreboard
Make your weekly meetings even better with our brand new 4D Meeting Template in our SaaS offering called Align/Scoreboard. This meeting gives you a 4D look at the business – and emphasizes the proper sequence of an effective weekly meeting: Discover, Discuss, Decide, Delegate. Now you can customize your meetings to follow this format precisely, saving time in both planning and execution and boosting productivity for each meeting. Schedule a demo here.

Using OKRs vs. KPIs/Rocks?
We have a “switch” we can turn on to use the OKR language instead of KPI/Rocks inside Align/Scoreboard. We’ve also implemented several improvements to the Huddles Meeting view, including easier navigation of your Critical Numbers. Give your teams the same instant and nicely formatted access to your data (mobile ready) as you do the stats of your favorite sports team or figure.

Weekend Countdown – 1-Minute of Wisdom
Enjoy this kickoff to your weekend – some bits of wisdom from a fresh set of wise teachers, updated each weekend.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/weekendcountdown

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books

Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

Planning to Exit?
It’s the most critical decision a business owner will make in their lifetime – and over my 40 years of helping firms I’ve seen owners taken advantage of time and time again – leaving tens of millions on the table. You’re up against 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. Seeking help, owners find 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). They are not your friend in the process, just another transaction. Email me to get a white paper on what to avoid when exiting verne@scalingup.com.

TECHNOLOGY: 
ScalingUp Scoreboard
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!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

We’re still in business coaching and training firms:
Sydney, Australia - Nov 17, 2021 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Nov 18, 2021 (Virtual)
The New Forest/Wiltshire, England – Nov 18, 2021
Melbourne, VIC, AUS - Nov 23, 2021 (Virtual)
London, UK - Nov 25, 2021 (in-person)
Ann Arbor, MI – Jan 27, 2022 (Virtual)
Dallas, TX - Feb 24, 2022 (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – March 23, 2022 (In-Person)

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.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

COACHING:
Ready to scale but looking for guidance?
Work with a Coach! Scaling a company is hard, but you don’t have to go it alone. Our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Operating system, all with a custom and diagnostic approach to each unique company. 

Learn more about what it’s like to work with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™ by scheduling a complimentary, personal follow-up. CLICK HERE! Or check out our FAQ’s. Additional questions can be sent to coaching@scalingup.com. 

Did you miss previous insights? - read here

Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI 

Follow Verne on Instagram: @scalingup2.0

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

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Vesting Bonuses; Ferriss Revisited; Rock in Shoe; Nov 11 ExO Webinar

A Ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.

John A. Shedd

Be so good they can't ignore you.
                                                  Steve Martin

CEOs Attend for Free
Any CEO who has attended a Scaling Up Master Class (or the online Master Course) is our guest to attend any future Master Classes for no charge, so long as you bring along at least one-paid attendee – honor system.  Please use code CEOVIP for the Dec 8-9 Scaling Up Master Class.  Below is the reason why, if interested!  Thx.

$60k - $600k Pay Band – and Vesting Bonuses
Tuesday, I presented to YPO Connecticut River Valley (yesterday to EO Richmond) my content based on our new book Scaling Up Compensation . YPO Day Chair John Sommers, CEO of Allied Printing, shared how they’ve structured super-wide pay bands for both sales and customer service. Salespeople can earn anywhere from $60k to $600k (they are a significant printer for the Fortune 50), and their customer service reps can advance from a starting hourly wage to salary. In addition, 50% of bonuses are paid out at the end of the year; and the other 50% pays out over the next 7 years! Thus, there is an increasing pot of money sitting there that employees risk losing if they leave! Remember, people will do more to avoid a loss than to get a gain. Great compensation and retention plan, John.

Revisiting the “4-Hour Work Week”
Cal Newport is one of my favorite thinkers/writers. His latest New Yorker piece revisits Tim Ferriss’s huge bestseller The 4-Hour Work Week and how prescient it is in today’s environment. Notes Newport, on the real lesson from the book:

If you concentrated on the efforts that actually mattered, your professional contributions could be compressed into a handful of efficiently planned weekly hours. 

At the heart of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0), and our coaching/training/technology, is helping you identify this “main thing” – and getting everyone in the firm (OK, 2/3rds) to focus on what is most important each day/week. Please take 3-minutes to read through the article.

Alex Otanez, CEO Shockoe’s Ah-Ha (Scaling Up Case Study)
Alex, whose Richmond, VA-based company Shockoe builds significant mobile apps for major firms (Amex, JB Hunt, AC Moore), shared how his new Scaling Up coach Bill Gallagher, in their first meeting after the CEO Boot Camp he attended, helped him identify a significant time sync and eliminate it, freeing up hours a week of time. The key question “what is the biggest rock in your shoe?” It was an entire series of activities which Bill bluntly suggested “let’s get someone else to do for you” and they did. I know, I know, it should be obvious, but it often isn’t. BTW, I have a new coach, at $10k/month, who is doing the same for me – and I teach this stuff!  Get a coach.

Exponential Organizations – Salim Ismail Nov 11, 2:30pmET
Technology and data are changing the very face of how we all operate. In this new world, only the smartest, most adaptable organizations will flourish. A few years ago, Salim Ismail literally wrote the book describing what this organization looks like. And next week, 11/11, he’ll be sharing that formula in this live training. He’ll reveal the proven, systematic process you can use to leverage all this change and use it to grow that much faster. Thinking exponential…what a time to be alive. Whether or not you’ve entered the “digital space”, there’s no question about it. Learn more and register here: https://hubs.li/H0-zj590

CEOs Attend for Free
Why?  Many CEOs like using our Master Class to “inculcate” new team members into the Rockefeller Habits 2.0 system – and they enjoy taking the course with them to support the learning and as a review for themselves.  But if you’re like me, you don’t want to have to keep paying each time – so you don’t have to.  In addition, we have many CEOs that invite/pay for their suppliers or customers or colleagues to participate, a way to build relationships. 

Weekend Countdown – 1-Minute of Wisdom
Enjoy this kickoff to your weekend – some bits of wisdom from a fresh set of wise teachers, updated each weekend.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/weekendcountdown

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books

Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

Planning to Exit?
It’s the most critical decision a business owner will make in their lifetime – and over my 40 years of helping firms I’ve seen owners taken advantage of time and time again – leaving tens of millions on the table. You’re up against 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. Seeking help, owners find 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). They are not your friend in the process, just another transaction. Email me to get a white paper on what to avoid when exiting verne@scalingup.com.

TECHNOLOGY: 
ScalingUp Scoreboard
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!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

We’re still in business coaching and training firms:
Sydney, Australia - Nov 17, 2021 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Nov 18, 2021 (Virtual)
The New Forest/Wiltshire, England – Nov 18, 2021
Melbourne, VIC, AUS - Nov 23, 2021 (Virtual)
London, UK - Nov 25, 2021 (in-person)
Dallas, TX - Feb 24, 2022 (In-Person)

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.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

COACHING:
Ready to scale but looking for guidance?
Work with a Coach! Scaling a company is hard, but you don’t have to go it alone. Our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Operating system, all with a custom and diagnostic approach to each unique company. 

Learn more about what it’s like to work with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™ by scheduling a complimentary, personal follow-up. CLICK HERE! Or check out our FAQ’s. Additional questions can be sent to coaching@scalingup.com. 

Did you miss previous insights? - read here

Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI 

Follow Verne on Instagram: @scalingup2.0

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

100 Fastest; StoneAge ESOP; Bucket List #2; Dec 8 – 9 Master Class

Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.

Madam C.J. Walker

Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.
                                                  Howard Schultz

Fortune’s 100 Fastest Growing Firms (Fun Facts for Weekend)
Released this morning, the financial sector once again dominated the list of 100 Fastest Growth Firms. And the average age of these firms is 45 years, up from 40 last year (scaleups do get better with age!). 33% average return the past three years vs. 19% for the S&P 500.

Twice-Annual Scaling Up Master Class – Make Opportunity Happen
Dec 8 – 9 I’ll personally teach my twice-annual Master Class (3 hours each day – goes quick attendees share). Hoping to be in-person, the airlines are expected to be impacted Dec 8 (Southwest’s deadline for vaccines) and could significantly strand in-person attendees – so we went virtual. More details here and below (https://scalingup.com/dec-2021-virtual-master-class-scaling-up-workshop/.

YPOer Kerry Siggins’ ESOP – Employee Retention 6.8 years
This article details how 160-employee StoneAge, a manufacturer in Durango, Colo., rolled out an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 2015 – something 6000 other firms have done. The company, founded in 1979, makes high-pressure water-blasting tools and automated equipment used in industrial cleaning. Currently, it brings in $55 million in annual revenue.  The article also details the additional benefits CEO Kerry Siggins has structured to maintain outstanding employee retention. Considering 50 of her team were hired within the last two years, a 6.8-year average tenure is tremendous. Please invest 2-minutes to read her story – then grab an eBook copy of Scaling Up Compensation (Kindle, iTunes, etc.) 

Sales Process Key to Driving More Cash
Dramatically improving cash flow starts with the sales process. Shortening the sales cycle, pricing, upfront deposits, etc. all contribute significantly to more cash. Scaling Up coach Rick Crossland has written an easy-to-read article that details various strategies for finetuning your sales process.

Align/Scoreboard Updates Huddles 2.0 Interface.
We’ve supercharged meetings with Scoreboard's newest update to the huddles interface. Take advantage of the new intuitive layout, at-a-glance info, and improved visibility so you can spend more time getting your work done and less time in meetings. Huddles 2.0 provides clearer organization so you have access to all relevant data right in front of you. Current users can login now and give Huddles 2.0 a try! If you’re considering the Scoreboard software and want to experience Huddles 2.0, click here to schedule some time.

Bucket List #2 – Antarctica with the Mavericks
We still have spots for our Pacific to Atlantic bike, hike, kayak experience in Panama. Jan 5 – 12; Feb 13 – 20 are the next two. $15,000 ($10k of which is a tax-deductible donation). For more info (the brochure is beautiful). The other opportunity is Jan 31 – Feb 7 a once-in-a-lifetime experience to Antarctica with an intimate group of top biz leaders/adventurers. Hosted by the famous Maverick 1000 organization – 8 spots left. For more info.

New Team Members or a Refresher, Scaling up?
Dec 8 -9 is the twice-yearly Scaling Up (virtual) Master Class I teach personally. Specifically:

• Wed Dec 8 – 1:00pm - 4:30pm ET (90 min People, 90 min Strategy)
• Thurs Dec 9 – 1:00pm – 4:30pm ET (90 min Execution, 90 min Cash)

And we have a special CEO-only 90-minute session where we’re also talking about how to get exit and SPAC ready this year. Tues Dec 7 – 2pm – 3:30pm ET. Priced $250 - $395/person depending on number you sign up, it’s very affordable and a productive first-class executive education event to jumpstart 2022 and beyond. For more info and to register May 3 – 5, Dallas, is next in-person.

Weekend Countdown – 1-Minute of Wisdom
Enjoy this kickoff to your weekend – some bits of wisdom from a fresh set of wise teachers, updated each weekend.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/weekendcountdown

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

Planning to Exit?
It’s the most critical decision a business owner will make in their lifetime – and over my 40 years of helping firms I’ve seen owners taken advantage of time and time again – leaving tens of millions on the table. You’re up against 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. Seeking help, owners find 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). They are not your friend in the process, just another transaction. Email me to get a white paper on what to avoid when exiting verne@scalingup.com.

TECHNOLOGY: 
ScalingUp Scoreboard
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!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

We’re still in business coaching and training firms:
Lowell, Michigan - Nov 4, 2021
Sydney, Australia - Nov 17, 2021 (In-Person)
The New Forest/Wiltshire, England – Nov 18, 2021
Melbourne, VIC, AUS - Nov 23, 2021 (Virtual)
Dallas, TX - Feb 24, 2022 (In-Person)

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.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

COACHING:
Ready to scale but looking for guidance?
Work with a Coach! Scaling a company is hard, but you don’t have to go it alone. Our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Operating system, all with a custom and diagnostic approach to each unique company. 

Learn more about what it’s like to work with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™ by scheduling a complimentary, personal follow-up. CLICK HERE! Or check out our FAQ’s. Additional questions can be sent to coaching@scalingup.com. 

Did you miss previous insights? - read here

Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI 

Follow Verne on Instagram: @scalingup2.0

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

Bucket List; Right Decisions; Stanford Research; Oct 21 Virtual Summit

Longevity in this business is about being able to reinvent yourself or invent the future.

Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft

Most entrepreneurial ideas will sound crazy, stupid and uneconomic, and then they’ll turn out to be right.

Reed Hastings, Founder Netflix

Bucket List Item – Bike, Hike, Canoe Atlantic to Pacific in 6 Days
Space for 8 biz leaders/guests each adventure – a once in a lifetime opportunity in Panama to bike, hike, and canoe from the Atlantic to the Pacific in 6 days through Jaguar Country – what we call the Transcon for Business Leaders adventure. By special arrangement by the Minister of Tourism and the Kuna Tribe, we’ve hosted a half-dozen of these over the last few years (David Meerman Scott on the first one). Jan 5 – 12; Feb 13 – 20 are the next two. $15,000 ($10k of which is a tax-deductible donation). For more info (the brochure is beautiful).

Getting Important Decisions Right – 4 Steps
There are a few decisions that are so critical you need to get them right! There is a four-step process I learned from a top Russian PhD candidate at MIT who researched good and bad decision making at the senior level. Here is how to know if the decision is good or not:

1. Ask yourself/team if you feel like you have 70% of the information needed to make the right decision. You’ll never have 100%. In the case of Coastal Contacts (case in Scaling Up) I could tell they didn't and assigned the senior team a priority of interacting with the clients (4Q questions) for 3 months -- then they came back and made the right decision
2. Next, literally put yourself in the alpha state (for me, in the shower or while meditating)
3. Speak out loud the decision (don’t just think it) in present tense i.e. "we are launching..."
4. Literally check in with your gut – does it feel right in your stomach or did you get a squeezy feeling.

Verbalize the Opposite Decision
Repeat steps 3 and 4 by verbalizing the present tense of the opposing decision. The key is NOT to use the word “not.” So, an opposing decision is not “we are not launching…”. Instead, you would want to verbalize the alternative “we will delay the launch and focus on…”. Does that feel better or worse. BTW, it works!! You can trust your gut if you have sufficient first-hand information, quiet your mind, speak your decision, and check in with this powerful sixth sense.

4-Steps for Dealing with Zoom Fatigue – Stanford Research
Adam Grant’s blog pointed to this Stanford News article  by researcher Vignech Ramachandran on a 4-step approach to dealing with zoom fatigue:

• Increase mobility: give permission to walk around
• Reduce eye contact intensity: sit farther away
• Reduce self-consciousness: turn off the self-view
• Reduce cognitive load: hold audio-only sessions

Please take 2-minutes to read the article to understand additional specifics behind these 4 important steps.

The Innovation Stack – Crushing Your Competition
The theme for next Thursday’s complimentary virtual Scaling Up Summit is “Innovation”. Specifically:

1. Billionaire Square co-founder Jim McKelvey’s approach to beating Amazon, detailed in The Innovation Stack
2. Ron Lovett’s keys to Scaling Culture (the title of his new book)
3. Eric Partaker’s simple system for personal performance base on his new book The 3 Alarms; and
4. Liz Wiseman’s breakthrough book written for employees titled Impact Players

4 top authors, 24 minutes each – then a “Happy Half-hour” with Song Division. 90 minutes of outlearning the competition – invest in you and your team and “sharpen your saw” as you continue to scale. Oct 21, 2021, 3:21pm – 5:05pm ET. Register for free and get the replay.

Forbes 400 Wealthiest – Fun Facts
A record net worth of $2.9 billion is required to make the cut, $800 million more than a year ago, as the fortunes of the nation’s wealthiest rise a collective 40% over the last year. Jeff Bezos #1 on the list for 2020; but you’ve seen the news that Elon Musk has overtaken him, for now. Fun list to scan this weekend. https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/

Weekend Countdown – 1-Minute of Wisdom
Enjoy this kickoff to your weekend – some bits of wisdom from a fresh set of wise teachers, updated each weekend.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/weekendcountdown

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

Planning to Exit?
It’s the most critical decision a business owner will make in their lifetime – and over my 40 years of helping firms I’ve seen owners taken advantage of time and time again – leaving tens of millions on the table. You’re up against 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. Seeking help, owners find 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). They are not your friend in the process, just another transaction. Email me to get a white paper on what to avoid when exiting verne@scalingup.com.

TECHNOLOGY: 
ScalingUp Scoreboard
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!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

We’re still in business coaching and training firms:
Annapolis, MD - Oct 26, 2021 (Virtual)
Vancouver, BC - Oct 27, 2021
West Chester, PA - Oct 27, 2021 (In-Person)
Lowell, Michigan - Nov 4, 2021
Sydney, Australia - Nov 17, 2021 (In-Person)
Salisbury, England - Nov 18, 2021
Melbourne, VIC, AUS - Nov 23, 2021 (Virtual)
London, UK - Nov 25, 2021 (in-person)
Dallas, TX - Feb 24, 2022 (In-Person)

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.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

COACHING:
Ready to scale but looking for guidance?
Work with a Coach! Scaling a company is hard, but you don’t have to go it alone. Our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Operating system, all with a custom and diagnostic approach to each unique company. 

Learn more about what it’s like to work with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™ by scheduling a complimentary, personal follow-up. CLICK HERE! Or check out our FAQ’s. Additional questions can be sent to coaching@scalingup.com. 

Did you miss previous insights? - read here

Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI 

Follow Verne on Instagram: @scalingup2.0

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

A Tribute to Steve Jobs – 10th Anniversary of His Passing

I want to put a ding in the universe
                                                      Steve Jobs

Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them.
                                                       Steve Jobs

10^th Anniversary of Steve Jobs’ Passing 
A decade ago, today, the world lost one of the greatest entrepreneurs ever! I remember hearing the news and tearing up, like I am right now as I write this sentence. Jony Ive, Apple’s iconic designer, penned a beautiful piece in the Wall Street Journal yesterday recounting his memories of Steve. Thank you to Nick Alexos for sharing the article.

Steve Made Being a Young Entrepreneur Legitimate
It’s so personal for me because it was Steve who gave legitimacy to being a young entrepreneur. It’s hard to fathom today, but back in the early 80s when I launched the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs (ACE), it wasn’t cool to be a young entrepreneur. Parents were like “that’s cute, but when are you going to get a real job.” Then Steve Jobs came on the scene and proved someone in their 20s could scale to $1.9 billion in revenue (not just market cap) before age 30.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates
Both 29 when I released our ACE 100 list of the top young entrepreneurs under the age of 30 for 1985, Bill Gate’s (Microsoft) revenue came in #4 on our list at $256 million – 1/8^th the revenue of what Steve had achieved at Apple by the same age. Important perspective on their lifelong love/hate relationship.

Steve the Reason for EO
And Steve was the inspiration for the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization (YEO, now EO). I remember the day like it was yesterday. Steve was gracious to keynote our ACE conference in 1986 in Los Angeles (Bonaventure Hotel), his first public speech after being fired from Apple. Nick Alexos (mentioned above) and almost 1200 other collegiate and young entrepreneurs were there – including Michael Dell (who’s latest book published today), Mark Cuban, Neil Balter (California Closets fame), Kevin Harrington (the other original Shark Tank judge with Mark), Julie and Bill Brice (I Can’t Believe it’s Yogurt), etc. It was a magical evening.

Steve Standing in the Corner
Steve then stayed for the after party and I remember looking over and seeing him standing in the corner, alone. At that moment I recalled Joe Mancuso’s mantra “It’s OK to be independent, but no reason to be alone.” I turned to the great sunken treasure hunter, Greg Stemm (his wife Laurie also an accomplished entrepreneur) and exclaimed, “there needs to be an organization for the Steve Jobs’ of the world” and that’s the evening the idea for YEO was birthed. Greg went on to be my perpetual Vice President, signing the official documents along with me as President that legally launched the organization in 1987.

Steve’s Wilderness Years
It was Steve’s time at Pixar that taught him a different way to scale – the power/focus of having only one priority, Toy Story. So, when he returned to Apple he decided his baby would launch one new product every two years like Pixar. Pulling Apple out of most of their product lines (handhelds, scanners, printers, etc.) he launched a great computer, then the iPod/iTunes (2001), iPhone (2007), iPad (2010), and then he knew he was going to die.

Steve’s Apple University 
If you want to guarantee your baby will not only survive, but thrive, education has always been the ticket for the entirety of the human race. So, after he started to dwindle in 2008, he hired the dean of the Yale School of Management and launched Apple University. Unfortunately, I bet against Steve, thinking Apple would also dwindle after his passing, after reaching the pinnacle of business as the highest market cap firm two months prior to his untimely death. However, Apple, still today, holds that distinction, being the first company to surpass $2 trillion in market value ($2.31 trillion today). If the true measure of a leader is the performance of your organization when you’re not there, Steve’s legacy is clear!

Steve’s/Apple’s Greatest Business Decision of All Time
Raghoo Potini and I were at the top of a hotel in New Delhi when the news came of Steve’s passing. After raising a toast to his legacy, we started talking about what an amazing decision it was for Apple to bring Steve back as iCEO after being ousted 10 years prior – something that had never happened before in Fortune 500 history. How did it really come about, was our question? And what were some of the other greatest business decisions of all time. That night we made a list which became the basis of my second book The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time. Again, Steve was the inspiration.

Steve, Thank You
Steve’s willingness to come to LA in 1986 to share his heartbreaking and inspirational story was a pivotal moment. That act of kindness and vulnerability helped me bring together a group of entrepreneurs that evening who served as the founding board for YEO (EO) – and today, there are tens of thousands less lonely entrepreneurs. Thank you, Steve, for all you’ve given to us.

Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow
Steve’s final words.

100,000 Acres; Best Employee Book; Southwest Endorsement; Oct 21 Virtual Summit – No Charge

Either you run the day, or the day runs you.

Jim Rohn

A business is simply an idea to make other people's lives better.
                                                  Richard Branson

Impact Players – For All Employees – Oct 21, 3:21pm ET
Liz Wiseman, author of Multipliers (one of the best leadership books ever written) has done it again!! Her new book Impact Players addresses the other side of the equation – how employees can bring their A-game – a book for all your employees. Rather than just going through the motions of doing their job, instead:

• While others do their job, Impact Players figure out the real job to be done. 
• While others wait for direction, Impact Players step up and lead.
• While others escalate problems, Impact Players move things across the finish line.
• While others attempt to minimize change, Impact Players are learning and adapting to change. 
• While others add to the load, the Impact Players make heavy demands feel lighter.

Liz Wiseman 24-minute Presentation
Liz is presenting, along with billionaire co-founder of Square Jim McKelvey, for our virtual Scaling Up Summit Oct 21, 3:21pm – 5:05pm ET  – 90 minutes of fresh insights. Have ALL your employees tune-in for at least Liz’s segment 3:51pm – 4:15pm ET – but they need to register to get their own link. No charge – our gift to you to keep “outlearning the competition.” I promise these short presentations will get right-to-the-point and not waste your time with needless fluff!

Raised $10 million, Scaling to $1 Billion Galvanic Energy (Scaling Up Case Study)
We’re compiling a list of all the firms our coaching partners have helped scale to a billion revenue/valuation and beyond – and it’s substantial. This latest Scaleups.com article highlights how coach Stacy Eads’ client Galvanic Energy has a unique process for extracting lithium and has a source enough to power 50 million electric vehicles. The Scaling Up tools have brought what founder Brent Wilson calls a scientific approach to scaling a business. Using quarterly themes, they achieved their 100,000-acre acquisition goal for Q2. Please take 2-minutes to read the details.

Scaling Up Compensation – Southwest Airlines Endorsement
I’ve presented the new Scaling Up Compensation: 5 Design Principles for Turning Your Largest Expense into a Strategic Advantage to several CEO/CXO audiences the past few weeks, including the YPO Southern 7 chapter. And the reception has been excellent – I think we really nailed the content/concepts with specific examples from multiple industries and size firms. And we just received this endorsement:

Doing everything differently is a hallmark of great firms – and that includes a company’s approach to compensation.  This easy-to-read book is an essential primer in getting you to ask the right questions in designing a compensation plan that is right for your organization. 
Shari Conaway, Senior Director People, Southwest Airlines

YPO/EO Chapter and Association Presentations
Thank you to Caroline Caskey for recommending to this topic to her EO Austin chapter (which is aiming to be the largest chapter in EO!). I would appreciate the opportunity to present this fresh/new an important content to your YPO or EO chapter. Compensation is one of the hottest topics given the challenges of attracting and retaining talent – and getting it right can add significant energy to the organization and take hundreds of percent more to the bottom line. Email me verne@scalingup.com if you have such an opportunity – I want to help as many firms as I can with this topic.

Weekend Countdown – 1-Minute of Wisdom
Enjoy this kickoff to your weekend – some bits of wisdom from a fresh set of wise teachers, updated each weekend.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/weekendcountdown

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

Planning to Exit?
It’s the most critical decision a business owner will make in their lifetime – and over my 40 years of helping firms I’ve seen owners taken advantage of time and time again – leaving tens of millions on the table. You’re up against 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. Seeking help, owners find 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). They are not your friend in the process, just another transaction. Email me to get a white paper on what to avoid when exiting verne@scalingup.com.

TECHNOLOGY: 
ScalingUp Scoreboard
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!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

We’re still in business coaching and training firms:
Vancouver, BC - Oct 13, 2021 (Virtual)
Atlanta (Woodstock), GA - Oct 14, 2021 (In-Person)
London, England - Oct 14, 2021 (In-Person)
Los Angeles, CA - Oct 14, 2021
Annapolis, MD - Oct 26, 2021 (Virtual)
Vancouver, BC - Oct 27, 2021
West Chester, PA - Oct 27, 2021 (In-Person)
Lowell, Michigan - Nov 4, 2021
Sydney, Australia - Nov 17, 2021 (In-Person)
Salisbury, England - Nov 18, 2021
Melbourne, VIC, AUS - Nov 23, 2021 (Virtual)
Dallas, TX - Feb 24, 2022 (In-Person)

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.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

COACHING:
Ready to scale but looking for guidance?
Work with a Coach! Scaling a company is hard, but you don’t have to go it alone. Our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Operating system, all with a custom and diagnostic approach to each unique company. 

Learn more about what it’s like to work with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™ by scheduling a complimentary, personal follow-up. CLICK HERE! Or check out our FAQ’s. Additional questions can be sent to coaching@scalingup.com. 

Did you miss previous insights? - read here

Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI 

Follow Verne on Instagram: @scalingup2.0

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

Meet Square Co-founder; Languishing; Invisible Productivity; Oct 21 Virtual Summit

Quality is the best business plan.

John Lasseter, filmmaker Toy Story, etc.

To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.
                                                  Lao Tzu

Scaling Up Master Business Course Enrollment closes next week:
Doors are closing soon for my 3-month Scaling Up Master Business Course. This program is designed to help you overcome your biggest scaling constraints and use that momentum to practically raise profits, energy, and overall impact throughout your organization. More info (and what we’ve helped other business leaders accomplish) here: https://hubs.li/H0XNXRl0

Square Co-Founder Jim McKelvey Oct 21 – Complimentary
Billionaire Jim McKelvey, co-founder with Jack Dorsey (Twitter fame) of Square, is joining three other top authors for our fall virtual 90-minute Summit Oct 21, 3:21pm – 5:05pm ET. He’s author of The Innovation Stack (fantastic read). In the book and Oct 21 he shares how they took on Amazon and beat them. It’s a humorous and hugely insightful story with lessons for all of us wanting to dominate our industry and crush competitors! The summit is no charge – our gift to you – but you need to register . More practical ideas per minute!!!

Flourishing vs. Languishing – Adam Grant’s Latest TED Talk
Finding yourself laying in bed, knowing you need to go to sleep but you’re mindlessly surfing the internet? Many are languishing, as famous professor and author Adam Grant (Give and Take; Think Again) describes in his latest 15-minute TED talk. The start is a little odd, but push through the first minute – and for a huge laugh go to 7:45. In short, to move from languishing to flourishing/flow he suggests his Mario Kart theory of flow: mastery, mindfulness, mattering. Grab your favorite beverage and learn/enjoy.

Invisible Productivity – Adding Psychological Safety to a Team
Serial entrepreneur, modern elder at Airbnb, and luxury hotelier Chip Conley shared an interesting stat this week in his blog -- Older American’s (60+) Accounted for All the Net Employment Growth the Past 20 Years! In this 3-minute video he goes on to detail how adding a “modern elder” to your team can provide the psychological safety that Google’s Project Aristotle found was the #1 key to team productivity. At 2:45 he takes 15 seconds to describe this person, giving you an idea whom this might be. Invisible productivity is real!

Weekend Countdown – 1-Minute of Wisdom
Enjoy this kickoff to your weekend – some bits of wisdom from a fresh set of wise teachers, updated each weekend.

*As an Amazon Associate, I may earn revenue from qualified purchases made through this link.

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

TECHNOLOGY: 
ScalingUp Scoreboard
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!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

We’re still in business coaching and training firms:
Ann Arbor, MI - Oct 6, 2021
Vancouver, BC - Oct 13, 2021 (Virtual)
Atlanta (Woodstock), GA - Oct 14, 2021 (In-Person)
London, England - Oct 14, 2021 (In-Person)
Los Angeles, CA - Oct 14, 2021
Annapolis, MD - Oct 26, 2021 (Virtual)
Vancouver, BC - Oct 27, 2021
West Chester, PA - Oct 27, 2021 (In-Person)
Lowell, Michigan - Nov 4, 2021
Sydney, Australia - Nov 17, 2021 (In-Person)
Salisbury, England - Nov 18, 2021
Melbourne, VIC, AUS - Nov 23, 2021 (Virtual)
Dallas, TX - Feb 24, 2022 (In-Person)

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.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

COACHING:
Ready to scale but looking for guidance?
Work with a Coach! Scaling a company is hard, but you don’t have to go it alone. Our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Operating system, all with a custom and diagnostic approach to each unique company. 

Learn more about what it’s like to work with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™ by scheduling a complimentary, personal follow-up. CLICK HERE! Or check out our FAQ’s. Additional questions can be sent to coaching@scalingup.com. 

Did you miss previous insights? - read here

Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI 

Follow Verne on Instagram: @scalingup2.0

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

 

Broke Billionaire; "Free" Replay; Two CEOs; Kits.com

Hope it’s been a productive and purposeful week for you. Here are some insights to help you outlearn/outthink our reaction to the virus.

Maybe the problem is we don’t have enough capitalism.

Gary Hamel, yesterday's Summit 

“Free” replay of Summit 2.0 –
4476 CEOs and CXOs from YPO, EO, and our database participated in yesterday’s Summit 2.0. At the last-minute Roger Hardy, founder of Kits.com, offered everyone a free pair of glasses if they were registered for the Summit. So, if you purchase the replay (Branson, Blecharczyk, Friar, Galloway, Grant, Hamel, and me) you’ll get the code for a free pair of glasses (up to $69), worth almost the cost of the replay. Consider the optional blue blocker lens for your children (and you), given all the screen time. Learn and enjoy!

Kits.com and Roger Hardy –
You might recognize YPOer Roger Hardy’s name from my book. Roger founded Coastal Contacts (highlighted in Scaling Up) which he scaled and sold as the largest e-commerce deal in the history of Canada. He’s at it again – Kits has scaled from $60 million to $100 million run rate in 2020 given their phenomenal pricing and service. Enjoy your free pair on us and Roger for registering for the Summit replay!

Airbnb’s Stakeholder Letters --
Airbnb’s co-founder Nate Blecharczyk shared so many rich ideas yesterday in his final interview of the Summit – how the senior team went into a 7-day per week daily huddle; set four rules (which he shared) for dealing with the crisis; and how their specific (including KPIs) focus on supporting all stakeholders is being implemented. Here are links to the two open letters regarding Airbnb’s commitment to serve all stakeholders and become a “21st Century Company:”

January 2018: https://news.airbnb.com/brian-cheskys-open-letter-to-the-airbnb-community-about-building-a-21st-century-company/
January 2020: https://news.airbnb.com/serving-all-stakeholders/

Please grab some time this weekend and read through – and then consider writing a similar letter to your community. 

Is CEO a Two-Person Job? –
Nate also addressed how he and his co-founders Joe and Brian handle their joint executive roles – and the real power that three co-founders provide Airbnb. I feel it’s a real strength and why co-founders scale further/faster than a lone entrepreneur. This Sept. HBR article digs into this topic and asks “Is CEO a Two-Person Job” written by the co-CEOs of The Harris Poll organization. Very thoughtful and well written – pls read if your CEO! 

Broke Billionaire – As He Wished –
You want inspired? Good news to counter all the bad being promoted? Please spend 3-minutes to read this excellent Forbes article how Chuck Feeney, co-founder of Duty Free Shops, made and then gave away $8 billion – and couldn’t be happier! Accolades from Buffett, Gates, Jobs (Lauren), and others included in this inspirational story. And it was Chuck’s story (and the book The Billionaire Who Wasn’t)that inspired our One-Page Personal Plan (OPPP) and the ultimate measure of success – the number of people you’ve helped in your life – the KPI that matters most. Thank you for Scaling Up Certified coach Chuck Kocher for suggesting the article. 

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books –
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link. 

Write Your Own Book –
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you!

Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

EDUCATION: 

We’re Still in Business Coaching and Training Firms:
Brisbane City, Australia - Sep 23, 2020
Georgia – Sep 24, 2020 (Virtual)
New Orleans, LA - Oct 1, 2020 (Virtual)
Wellington, New Zealand - Oct 1, 2020
Waltham, MA – Oct 6, 2020
Charlotte/Raleigh NC - Oct 7, 2020 (Virtual)
Adelaide, Australia - Oct 7, 2020
New York, NY & CT - Oct 7, 2020 (Virtual)
Colorado Springs, CO - Oct 8, 2020 (Virtual)
Vancouver, BC, CAN - Oct 14, 2020 (Virtual)
Stockholm, Sweden - Oct 15, 2020
Phoenix, AZ - Oct 15, 2020 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia - Oct 15, 2020
Louisville, KY - Oct 15, 2020 (Virtual)
Tampa Bay Area, FL - Nov 18, 2020 (Virtual)
Columbus, OH - Oct 21, 2020 (Virtual)
Lancaster, PA - Oct 27, 2020 (Virtual)
San Antonio, TX - Oct 27 (Virtual & In-Person)
Colombia - Oct 27 & 28, 2020
Franklin, TN - Oct 29, 2020 (Virtual)
Salisbury, England - Nov 3, 2020
Chicago, IL - Nov 10, 2020 (Virtual)
Costa Mesa, CA - Nov 10, 2020
Melbourne, Australia - Nov 10, 2020
Mexico City - Nov 10 & 11, 2020
Grand Rapids, MI - Nov 11, 2020  (Virtual)
Phoenix, AZ - Nov 12, 2020 (Virtual)
Guadalajara, Mexico - Nov 12 & 13, 2020
Sydney, AUS - Nov 19, 2020
Franklin, TN - Dec 3, 2020 (Virtual)
Atlanta, GA - Dec 9, 2020
Sydney, Australia - Dec 10, 2020
San Diego, CA - Dec 16, 2020
San Francisco, CA - Dec 17, 2020 (Virtual)
Waltham, MA – Jan 14, 2021
Salisbury, England - Jan 14, 2021
Salisbury, England - Feb 18, 2021

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 coaching@scalingup.com

TECHNOLOGY: 

ScalingUp Scoreboard
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!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

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.

Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

Did you miss previous insights? - read here 
  
Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI 

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

 

Sell Different; Largest Reg A; Lever Style; Lake Tahoe

Everything I learned in business school was either wrong, dated or incomplete… There’s a shift, a realization that whatever we’ve been doing for the last 40 years has caused a lot of the problems that we have now, and we have this urgent need for the reformulation of business.

Hubert Joly, former Best Buy CEO

Reformulating Business
Hubert Joly’s thoughts (above), author of my favorite biz book in 2021 so far, frame perfectly the outcome of our CEO Boot Camps. A seat has opened up due to an attendee selling their firm (CEO and #2) for the Sept 28 – Oct 1 CEO Boot Camp in Lake Tahoe, CO. Spend 3 days with Bill Gallagher (has helped several unicorns and dozens of mere mortal firms) and me with 7 other CEO/CXOs working “on” their businesses in prep for 2022 and beyond. For more info www.ceo-bootcamp.com…and additional dates for YPO-only and 2022 boot camps.

Sell Different! Lee Salz’s New Book
Released two days ago, Lee’s book Sell Different!: All New Sales Differentiation Strategies to Outsmart, Outmaneuver, and Outsell the Competition is excellent – and he’s offering a free chapter download so you can test drive before purchase! Pass along to your head of sales/sales coach.

How Small Businesses Go Public
Coach Kris Kluver helped to take public EXODUS, on their own platform.  This is the largest REG “A” in history, the first fully exclusive on the blockchain only offering that was completed on EXODUS.com. It is pretty cool and has the potential to be a massive shift in how small companies go public and who is allowed to participate in the offerings. This article details the transaction.

Hong Kong-based Lever Style (Scaling Up Case Study)
Going public in 2019, Lever Style supplies the fashion industry. This video addresses how Stanley Szeto, Executive Chairman of Lever Style Ltd used Scaling Up to build the discipline (rhythms) and focus (KPIs/Priorities) to scale the business after he transitioned out of a manufacturing business model to a platform model in 2015 (he explains this at the 2:13 to 4:23 min mark about the lack of discipline and focus that was holding him back and how Rockefeller Habits was the solution). Coached by our Singapore-based partner Jeremy Han and Shanghai-based partner Scott Pollack, it’s a story that blends the power of luxury branding and using the public market to fuel growth.

Acquisition and Discipline Key
We see it all the time – Scaling Up (Rock Habits 2.0) gave Lever Style the discipline and focus to execute their strategy through a major transition all the way to a successful IPO in 2019. If you look up their stock, you’ll note revenues were down in 2020, but not by the 50% they were initially projecting due to orders frozen in Q2 and Q3. They bolted on an acquisition that helped them weather a bad year for their industry – with the tools helping to integrate the acquisition as well. And clients find when they go public or are acquired by a public company that the quarterly disciplines of Scaling Up help with these transitions. Large public firms often comment that our clients are better run than they are (which they are!).

Weekend Countdown – 1-Minute of Wisdom
Enjoy this kickoff to your weekend – some bits of wisdom from a fresh set of wise teachers, updated each weekend.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/weekendcountdown

*As an Amazon Associate, I may earn revenue from qualified purchases made through this link.

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

TECHNOLOGY: 
ScalingUp Scoreboard
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!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

We’re still in business coaching and training firms:
Brisbane, Australia - Sep 22, 2021 (In-Person)
Lowell, Michigan - Sep 22, 2021
Ann Arbor, MI - Oct 6, 2021
Vancouver, BC - Oct 13, 2021 (Virtual)
Atlanta (Woodstock), GA - Oct 14, 2021 (In-Person)
London, England - Oct 14, 2021 (In-Person)
Los Angeles, CA - Oct 14, 2021
Annapolis, MD - Oct 26, 2021 (Virtual)
Vancouver, BC - Oct 27, 2021
West Chester, PA - Oct 27, 2021 (In-Person)
Lowell, Michigan - Nov 4, 2021
Sydney, Australia - Nov 17, 2021 (In-Person)
Salisbury, England - Nov 18, 2021
Melbourne, VIC, AUS - Nov 23, 2021 (Virtual)
Dallas, TX - Feb 24, 2022 (In-Person)

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.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

COACHING:
Ready to scale but looking for guidance?
Work with a Coach! Scaling a company is hard, but you don’t have to go it alone. Our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Operating system, all with a custom and diagnostic approach to each unique company. 

Learn more about what it’s like to work with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™ by scheduling a complimentary, personal follow-up. CLICK HERE! Or check out our FAQ’s. Additional questions can be sent to coaching@scalingup.com. 

Did you miss previous insights? - read here

Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI 

Follow Verne on Instagram: @scalingup2.0

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

Hagerty Public; Tragedy to $100m; Evacuation Over; Sept 21 – 23 Vegas

To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others; use your heart. 

Eleanor Roosevelt

 

In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.

Warren Buffett

Evacuation Orders Lifted – One Seat Open Lake Tahoe
A seat has opened up due to an attendee selling their firm (CEO and #2) for the Sept 28 – Oct 1 CEO Boot Camp in Lake Tahoe, CO. Spend 3 days with Verne Harnish, Bill Gallagher and 7 other CEO/CXOs working “on” their businesses in prep for 2022 and beyond. For more info www.ceo-bootcamp.com

Hagerty Insurance Going Public Via SPAC
Announced a few weeks ago, I wanted to chat with CEO Boot Camper McKeel Hagerty (former YPO International Chair) before announcing, which I did this week. Valued at $3 billion, one of the key benefits to going public, as noted in my new book Scaling Up Compensation, is to attract top talent. McKeel shared that the compensation reason was initially 5 or 6 on his list – but now #2 if not the #1 benefit. Being public (symbol HGTY around Thanksgiving) gives him the liquid currency to reward the kind of talent he needs to scale beyond his current revenues and reach. And the Scaling Up methodology already provides the quarterly rhythm needed to be public, so he’s not worried about the reporting requirements.

For More on SPACs – a Better Way to go Public
There were many reasons McKeel chose a SPAC to go public – one being that you can share forward looking projections. He was also able to utilize a follow-on PIPE to raise additional funds. This Deloitte whitepaper provides an excellent primer on SPACs. And Fortune reported how a recently announced SPAC deal could award billionaire status to the founder of a company projected to be generating $0 revenue this year. In Scaling Up Compensation we share a firm that went public at $3 million. It’s the hot trend – and a useful tool!

From Tragedy to $100 Million (Scaling Up Case Study)
4^th generation Chicago area Home Run Inn, a family pizzeria chain and frozen pizza business, was languishing. Their CEO had a sudden heart attack so Dan Costello stepped in and immediately sought out Scaling Up Certified coach Jill Belconis. Speed forward 2 years and the $100 million 500-employee firm is thriving and profitable. This Scaleups.com article  details how they nailed their flywheel, established an effective meeting rhythm with KPIs cascading through the organization, and a commitment to remain multi-generational. Jill, BTW, is also a former YPO International Chair and led her own family owned, generational business, to new heights.

Brian Scudamore’s Latest Daily Huddle Video
In addition to helping Home Run Inn scale profitably, O2E (1-800-Got Junk, etc.) has been using daily huddles for decades – CEO Brian Scudamore and his team are masters. Want to see a daily huddle in action and hear from participants the value? Share this 3-minute video with your team. Thank you to Scaling Up Certified coach Roberto Erario for sharing.

Scaling Up Master Class with Verne – Las Vegas Sept 21 – 23

Twice a year I lead a full in-person Scaling Up Master Class – a deep and comprehensive dive into the tools and techniques that have helped over 80,000 firms around the world scale easier and more profitably – like those mentioned above. There are hundreds of case studies from all size firms and industries at www.scaleups.com showing the immediate and long-term positive impact of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) on the trajectory of your firm. Invest two days (and an evening before for the CEO) and join me in Las Vegas Sept 21 – 23 co-hosted by YPO Las Vegas.

Weekend Countdown – 1-Minute of Wisdom
Enjoy this kickoff to your weekend – some bits of wisdom from a fresh set of wise teachers, updated each weekend.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/weekendcountdown

*As an Amazon Associate, I may earn revenue from qualified purchases made through this link.

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

TECHNOLOGY: 
ScalingUp Scoreboard
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!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

We’re still in business coaching and training firms:
Brisbane, Australia - Sep 22, 2021 (In-Person)
Lowell, Michigan - Sep 22, 2021
Ann Arbor, MI - Oct 6, 2021
Vancouver, BC - Oct 13, 2021 (Virtual)
Atlanta (Woodstock), GA - Oct 14, 2021 (In-Person)
London, England - Oct 14, 2021 (In-Person)
Los Angeles, CA - Oct 14, 2021
Annapolis, MD - Oct 26, 2021 (Virtual)
Vancouver, BC - Oct 27, 2021
West Chester, PA - Oct 27, 2021 (In-Person)
Lowell, Michigan - Nov 4, 2021
Sydney, Australia - Nov 17, 2021 (In-Person)
Salisbury, England - Nov 18, 2021
Melbourne, VIC, AUS - Nov 23, 2021 (Virtual)
Dallas, TX - Feb 24, 2022 (In-Person)

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.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

COACHING:
Ready to scale but looking for guidance?
Work with a Coach! Scaling a company is hard, but you don’t have to go it alone. Our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Operating system, all with a custom and diagnostic approach to each unique company. 

Learn more about what it’s like to work with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™ by scheduling a complimentary, personal follow-up. CLICK HERE! Or check out our FAQ’s. Additional questions can be sent to coaching@scalingup.com. 

Did you miss previous insights? - read here

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