Think Like an Owner CEO Series Ep.2: Adam Ilowite and Michael Upex - Ep.160
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This episode is the second in our CEO series with early career search CEOs in their companies. Today I’m joined by Adam Ilowite and Michael Upex, CEO and President of Axero Solutions, respectively. Axero is a digital workspace platform for internal communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing that was acquired by Adam and Michael in July 2021.
We discuss the timing of making changes in the business, creating a budget from scratch, talent planning, and managing an incredibly steep learning curve, among various other operations topics.
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Links:
Frank Slootman on Invest Like the Best
Topics:
(4:47) - What was your experience Searching and how were the first few months after the acquisition?
(7:14) - Were there any skills from your careers in Consulting or Investment Banking that played a role in your Search?
(8:55) - What advice did you get from investors or peers on how to handle your first year within the business?
(11:04) - Was there any challenge or learning curve that stands out from that first year?
(16:52) - How did you go about learning ideal process implementation?
(22:52) - What lessons on change management have you learned?
(23:51) - How has your mindset changed as you navigate your second year of ownership?
(26:51) - What are your top 3 priorities?
(28:07) - What’s your philosophy for putting together budgets and hiring plans?
(29:44) - How do you decide on edge-case expenses when you’re structuring a budget?
(31:49) - How did you think about what positions were needed when creating your hiring plan?
(34:38) - What are some common errors or omissions you’ve seen in budgets that you try to avoid?
(36:05) - What are your thoughts on filtering advice and who you should be listening to?
(38:18) - How does industry factor into the types of people you reach out to for advice?
(40:10) - Have you found value in going to industry conferences or trade publications?
(42:28) - What excites you the most about running this business in 2023?
(45:05) - What strongly held belief have you changed your mind on?
(48:33) - Are there any entrepreneurs or CEOs that you study and admire?
(49:49) - What’s the best business you’ve ever seen?