Jonathan Becher has always had the vision and passion to be a leader

Summary

In this conversation, Jothy Rosenberg and Jonathan Becher discuss various aspects of starting and running a company. They cover topics such as transitioning from theory to practice, the importance of customer-driven decision-making, the challenges of being a CEO, the significance of team building, and the role of strategic investors. They also emphasize the need for adaptability and retaining optionality in business. Jonathan Becher shares his experiences as an entrepreneur and executive, discussing topics such as board management, acquisitions, and the transition from tech to sports entertainment. He emphasizes the importance of smaller, trusted boards and the value of distribution in scaling a business. Jonathan also highlights the significance of time to value over time to market and the need to focus on the end users of a product. He concludes by promoting his blog and expressing his interest in discussing the concept of grit in a future episode.

Jonathan Becher

Jonathan Becher is president of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, the parent organization for the San Jose Sharks, the San Jose Barracuda, three Sharks Ice recreational facilities, and the Sharks Foundation. A long-time Sharks fan and season ticket holder, Becher is responsible for the organization’s overall strategy with a particular focus on the end-to-end experience.

Prior to joining Sharks Sports & Entertainment, Becher spent a decade at SAP in a variety of senior roles, including Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Digital Officer. A three-time technology company CEO, Becher is an advisor to early-stage companies and is on the Board of multiple organizations. He is the author of the popular blog, Manage By Walking Around.

Jonathan and Jothy met at Duke University when Jothy was a professor of computer science and Jonathan was a student. Jonathan got his Masters with Jothy and then they took off together for Silicon Valley and MasPar where they were the 12th and 13th team members. Four years later, the company changed its name to Neovista and Jonathan took over as its CEO.

Links

Please leave us a review: https://www.podchaser.com/AdventuresOnTheCanDo

Jonathan's blog: https://jonathanbecher.com/

The book Think Like a Startup Founder (early access): https://www.manning.com/books/think-like-a-tech-founder

Jothy’s site for speaking, podcasting, and ruminating: https://jothyrosenberg.com

Jothy’s non-profit foundation The Who Says I Can’t Foundation: https://whosaysicant.org

Takeaways

Transitioning from theory to practice is a formative experience in one's career

Customer-driven decision-making is crucial for building successful products

Being a CEO involves team building and adaptability

Choosing the right co-founder is essential for a successful partnership

Strategic investors can provide credibility and opportunities, but it's important to retain optionality Smaller, trusted boards are better than larger boards, regardless of whether they include observers.

Distribution becomes more important than the product itself at scale.

Focus on time to value rather than time to market, and prioritize the needs of end users.

Sports entertainment franchises can leverage data to drive revenue and make informed business decisions.

Jonathan Becher's blog, 'Management by Wandering Around,' offers insights into human behavior and lessons learned.

Sound Bites

"Transitioning from theory to practice taught me more about the realities of business than academia"

"Be prepared for your alpha or beta release to be the thing you're willing to walk away from"

"The person with the vision and the passion needs to be the leader"

"The more people on the board, the more advice I will get, the more introductions I'll have, the more money I can raise. It's almost the opposite."

"I'm buying you or I'm putting 100 in engineers to put you out of business. Take your choice."

"The best way to scale the pilot business was to sell to the SAP sales reps, not to the customers."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

14:38 The Challenges of Being a CEO

28:14 Choosing the Right Co-founder and Strategic Investors

37:20 Distribution and Scaling

48:36 Leveraging Data in Sports Entertainment