What's Next! with Tiffani Bova

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova. My guest this week is Kipp Bodnar, CMO of HubSpot, where he spent more than 15 years helping scale the company from startup to a global customer platform. He is also the host of Marketing Against The Grain. He also released a new book with Kieran Flanagan, Loop: Outlearn. Outmarket. Outgrow. where the authors explore how AI is changing the ways customers discover, evaluate, and ultimately choose. THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…marketers, CMOs, and business leaders looking to rethink their growth strategy and adapt to AI. TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…AI is making it easier to create and distribute content at scale, but it's also raising the bar for what actually makes a brand stand out. Kipp explains why marketers need to move beyond chasing website traffic and instead focus on depth, faster learning, customer understanding, and distinctive ideas. Kipp argues that the future of marketing isn't about producing more but about knowing what matters and doing it exceptionally well. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Website traffic is no longer a reliable indicator of demand or revenue growth. AI makes depth, focus, and faster learning critical sources of competitive advantage. Great personalization requires strong customer data and a clear point of view. The brands that stand out will earn attention through distinctive ideas, not simply by generating more content. WHAT I LOVE MOST…AI may change how marketing gets done, but it doesn't change what makes great marketing great. The advantage belongs to the marketers who understand their customers, have something distinctive to say, and know how to turn great ideas into action. Running Time: 29:15 Subscribe on iTunes Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X Find Kipp Online: LinkedIn Kipp's Book: Loop: Outlearn. Outmarket. Outgrow.

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova. Every once in a while, I get to sit across from someone who didn't just participate in an industry, but helped change what we expect from it. Ron Johnson is one of those people and I'm excited to have him as my guest. At Target, he helped bring great design to the mass market. At Apple, working alongside Steve Jobs, he created the Apple Store and helped reimagine a store as something much bigger than a place to buy things. He also has been the CEO of JCPenney and founder of Enjoy Technology. He has a new book out, Shop Different. THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…entrepreneurs, founders, and business leaders looking to challenge conventional thinking, create differentiated experiences, and turn bold ideas into lasting business impact. TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…great businesses are about more than selling a product. Ron shares what he learned at Target, JCPenney, Apple about creating experiences that make people want to come back. He also talks about why leaders need both conviction and an open mind, and why the right people and culture are so important when you're trying to do something new. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Conviction matters, but leaders need to stay close to customer feedback and remain open to changing course. The best customer experiences start with a clear vision and an employee experience designed to support it. Differentiation isn't simply about being different, it's about creating something meaningfully better. Transforming a business requires the courage to think beyond what has worked in the past. The strongest brands create experiences that go beyond transactions and give people a reason to come back. WHAT I LOVE MOST…the best innovations don't always start with a goal of changing the world. They start with someone willing to think differently, do the work, and create something people genuinely value. Running Time: 28:05 Subscribe on iTunes Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X Find Ron Online: LinkedIn Ron's Book: Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple's Genius

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova. I'm excited to welcome Caroline Webb to the show this week. She is an economist, executive coach, former McKinsey partner and senior advisor to the firm, and the best-selling author of How to Have a Good Day. She's also been recognized by Thinkers 50 as one of the world's top executive coaches. Her new book, Leadership Intelligence, draws on psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics to tackle 21 of the everyday challenges leaders face. THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…leaders and managers looking to lead more effectively under pressure, communicate with greater intention, and turn good leadership knowledge into better everyday behavior. TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…knowing what good leadership looks like is one thing; practicing it when you're tired, stressed, or under pressure is another. Caroline explains how stress affects our ability to think and respond well, and shares practical ways leaders can pause, ask better questions, give clear feedback, and stay connected to what matters. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Stress and fatigue can make good leadership much harder to access in the moment. Small habits can help leaders respond thoughtfully instead of reacting. Better questions create space for people to share concerns and different perspectives. Clear, specific feedback is a form of kindness, not a lack of empathy. Taking a pause can lead to better decisions and better leadership. WHAT I LOVE MOST…great leadership isn't about being perfect. It's about building the habits that help you respond with intention when it would be much easier to react. Running Time: 25:35 Subscribe on iTunes Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X Find Caroline Online: LinkedIn Website Caroline's Book: Leadership Intelligence: Science-Backed Strategies for Mastering 21 Everyday Management Challenges

Molly Bloom, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of Molly’s Game, recounts her journey from U.S. Ski Team hopeful to accidental poker entrepreneur. She explores designing an unforgettable high-stakes experience, building an exclusive network, confronting dangerous clients and federal charges, and reclaiming her identity through storytelling, accountability, and reinvention.

Scott Curran, a social impact lawyer and founder/CEO of Beyond Advisors, and former Clinton Foundation GC. He explores why focusing on doing better, not more, gives people agency. He discusses small actions creating collective change, how value-aligned businesses benefit, and the power of saying no to focus where you can have the biggest impact.

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova. This week I'm joined by Karina Mangu-Ward, organizational design expert and author of Teams That Meet The Moment. Karina has worked with organizations ranging from PepsiCo and Chanel to Planned Parenthood and the Sundance Institute. Her work challenges a fundamental assumption about performance: that the individual is the unit we should be trying to optimize. I'm excited to share this conversation with her. THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…entrepreneurs, founders, and business leaders looking to build stronger and more effective teams. TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…organizations often try to solve performance problems by focusing on individuals: hiring a superstar, coaching an underperformer, or replacing someone on the team. But Karina argues that the real issue is often the system surrounding those individuals. She explains why teams, rather than individuals, are the true unit of value creation and how shared language, clear decision rights, and better teaming practices can help organizations move faster and learn more effectively. In this conversation, we also explore what happens when AI agents become part of the team and why automating a broken process can simply make the problem bigger. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Teams, not individuals, are the true unit of performance. Consensus isn't always the goal; decisions need clarity and momentum. Clear decision rights can make teams faster and more effective. AI amplifies the need for strong processes, roles, and collaboration. WHAT I LOVE MOST…this conversation challenges the instinct to always look at the individual when something isn't working. Sometimes the most important thing to fix isn't the person, it's the way the team is designed to work together. And as AI changes how work gets done, that lesson is only becoming more important. Running Time: 26:55 Subscribe on iTunes Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X Find Karina Online: LinkedIn Newsletter Karina's Book: Teams That Meet the Moment: 9 Practices for Unlocking Performance and Growth in Uncertain Times

Bruce Cleveland, venture investor and former senior exec at Oracle, Apple and C3 AI, explains why markets must be intentionally built. He argues product engineering is table stakes. Short ideas cover CEOs owning category design, AI speeding product testing, and practical market artifacts like blueprints and messaging matrices.

Roger Martin, strategist, former business school dean and author of Playing to Win, explores how brands create worlds people want to belong to. He contrasts network effects with community-driven value. Short, vivid examples include TikTok, Hermès, Nike and Ford. The conversation spotlights why shaping belonging beats simply adding users.

Garrett Sutton, entrepreneur and author known for co-writing Sports Heaven and advising founders. He recounts ESPN's improbable start and talks about spotting unmet needs, timing and sequence as strategic advantages, the power of partnerships, and when outside funding can cost control. Brief takes on niche audiences and AI as a creative tool pop up too.

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova. My guest today is Dr. David Bach, founder and CEO of Optios. David is a physician, neuroscientist, serial entrepreneur, and someone who spent years studying how elite performers from military pilots and financial traders to professional athletes make decisions under pressure. His work draws on more than $350 million of DARPA-backed neuroscience research to explore how AI and humans can work together more effectively in real time. THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…leaders, technologists, and innovators who want to better understand how AI can enhance, not replace, human performance. TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…we've spent years asking how AI can become smarter, but David argues we're asking the wrong question. The next breakthrough won't come from AI knowing more. It will come from AI understanding the people it's working with. Drawing on neuroscience research and work with elite performers, David explains how context, physiology, and cognitive awareness can help AI become a more effective partner in learning, decision-making, and performance. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Context is essential for AI to become truly useful. Human-machine teaming outperforms either one alone. Physiological awareness can dramatically improve learning and decision-making. AI should augment human judgment, not replace it. The future of AI depends on understanding people, not just processing information. WHAT I LOVE MOST…David's Iron Man analogy perfectly captures where AI is headed. The greatest opportunity isn't replacing people with technology. It's creating a seamless partnership where each makes the other better. Running Time: 31:36 Subscribe on iTunes Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X Find David Online: LinkedIn