Think Like an Owner

David Dodson, investor, professor, former CEO, and author of The Manager's Handbook, discusses strategies and tactics learned from studying high-performing CEOs. Topics include writing a book for busy people, challenges for CEOs to read, breaking down skills for better understanding, effective time management, importance of proper onboarding, and enhancing productivity in communication tools.

Ep.202: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Scott Barstow (@ScottBarstow). My guest today is Scott Barstow. Scott has founded and led tech companies and teams throughout his career. He now supports the Pacific Lake portfolio as an operating partner focused on building great software product and engineering orgs. I've had the pleasure of getting to know Scott through my Chief of Staff role with HW Media and Pacific Lake's executive leadership program, and I think highly of his perspective on software and team construction. Scott has spent years thinking about what makes high-performing product orgs work, and in this episode, we dive into key characteristics of high performance and how software CEOs can implement them in their product teams. We talk about key fundamentals like culture, communication, ICP, to more complex topics like Conway's law, the role of leadership, and recruiting tactics and strategies. I want to tell you about our audience survey we are currently running. These surveys help us create the best content for listeners and better understand your needs and interests. Thank you in advance for sharing your feedback, we greatly appreciate it. After 30 days we are giving $250 cash to 4 survey responders, just add your email at the end of the survey. Take the survey here: https://bit.ly/3QLBB1N Links: Pacific Lake Scott on LinkedIn The Alliance by Reid Hoffman Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:14) - Framing the goals of a Product org and key roles (00:07:53) - Defining Product Software companies and key differences between product and engineering (00:14:16) - Who determines the priorities of features and creates a product roadmap? (00:16:48) - How to effectively communicate across an organization (00:23:04) - How the CEO's role plays in prioritization (00:25:43) - Building trust in an organization (00:33:19) - Benchmarks for timing from idea to shipping (00:39:15) - How $5-$10m ARR product orgs scale (00:47:34) - Keeping teams independent and autonomous (00:56:41) - Recruiting (01:07:18) - Final thoughts

Gary Walter Jr., CEO of Infutor, discusses building great sales teams, developing 5 year plans, empowering your team, and finding your zone of genius. They also explore creating a sales-driven culture, handling disagreements, and finding inspiration in others.

Justin Mazeka Vogt, passionate and thoughtful about thinking bigger, gaining leverage, and designing the ideal life for ourselves. Topics include thinking bigger, Charlie Munger's influence, envisioning compounding, developing repeatable processes for efficiency, and reflecting on the past and looking towards the future of the podcast.

Ann Rhoades, former VP of People at Southwest Airlines and founding executive at JetBlue Airways, discusses building values-driven cultures. Topics include tying values to behaviors, hiring based on values, employee retention, and the connection between company culture and performance outcomes. This episode provides real-life examples from successful brands like Southwest, JetBlue, Nordstrom's, Chick-fil-A, Zappos, FedEx, and Apple.

Joel Peterson, former CEO of Trammell Crow and Chairman of JetBlue Airways, discusses topics such as building trust, designing a fulfilling life, skills for growing CEOs, leadership transitions, lavish communication, and building value-focused organizations as a CEO.

Ep.197: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Jason Anderson (@andersonjasone). My guest today is Jason Anderson, CEO of Arizona College of Nursing and former CEO of VRI. Jason brings an extensive range of experience as CEO to this episode and we dive into critical skills he's developed to be effective at each step. One of my favorite parts of our discussion was on how he is constantly on the lookout for talent in everyday life, always in "recruiting mode" for his company. We also talk about hiring executive talent and using recruiters, tough situations like losing a large customer, leadership transitions, and connecting with your team. Please enjoy my conversation with Jason Anderson. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/ I want to tell you about our audience survey we are currently running. These surveys help us create the best content for listeners and better understand your needs and interests. Thank you in advance for sharing your feedback, we greatly appreciate it. After 30 days we are giving $250 cash to 4 survey responders, just add your email at the end of the survey. Take the survey here: https://bit.ly/3QLBB1N Links: Arizona College of Nursing Jason on LinkedIn Tru Recruitment Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:45) - Jason's previous career in Sales and it's impact on his role as a CEO (00:07:02) - What skill have you improved upon since operating as a CEO? (00:11:16) - Involving families of team members in business events (00:13:18) - Talent recruitment (00:16:24) - Using recruiters and hiring executives (00:20:49) - Evaluating executives and leaders within the company (00:23:33) - Refining communication styles (00:29:09) - Improving your performance at work, outside of work (00:31:30) - Setting boundaries (00:32:45) - Challenging experiences as a CEO (00:39:59) - The unique experience of running a PE-backed company (00:45:00) - Building effective Sales teams (00:48:00) - Inorganic growth (00:51:34) - Being more aggressive in your career path

Shikhar Saxena, CEO of Milan Laser Therapy, shares his growth story, obsession with customer experience, and the market for med spa businesses. They discuss the origin story of Milan, pursuing verticals in the med spa space, improving customer experience, and studying companies like Chick-fil-A for consumer experience ideas. They also talk about private equity ownership in the medspa industry and reflect on lessons for becoming a strong leader.

Mahesh Rajasekharan, CEO of Cleo, talks about building a transformative software platform for supply chain system integrations. Topics include evolving the business, identifying customer needs, growing and coordinating a product team, building and scaling a sales organization, defining profitable growth, and advice for software CEOs on growing and scaling their businesses.

In this final Launch episode, Coley Andrews and Mitch Cohen discuss the spirit of search and the collaboration and mentorship within the search community. They also delve into what makes a good board member, the evolution of search as a model, and the challenges in the search fund industry. The conversation highlights the impact of mentors, creating a culture of mentorship, and the involvement of boards in hiring decisions.