Dr. Bon Ku, an ER physician and director of the Health Design Lab at Jefferson University in Philadelphia, takes us inside the practice and mindset that medical professionals — and all of us — require to perform under extraordinary pressure.
It’s never too late to join the entrepreneurial party. We’ve all heard the stories of young geniuses, but plenty of influential entrepreneurs founded companies in their 30s, 40s, 50s. There’s value to being a late-stage founder — like the fact that you’re bringing along all your life experience. That’s what Gwyneth Paltrow did when she launched Goop. Paltrow transitioned from Hollywood star to startup founder with her lifestyle brand, which now has over 8 million subscribers — and she did it by leaning in to what she knew, embracing what she didn’t, and coming up with strategies to fill the gap. With cameo appearances by Sara Blakely (Spanx), Brian Chesky (Airbnb), Boyd Martin (Olympic horse rider), and Ruben Harris (Career Karma).
No organization that’s entirely closed – or entirely open – can scale as successfully as an organization that combines both. Yes, organizations that are open invite a bit of chaos – but that chaos breeds innovation. Knowing which aspects of your organization should be open and which should be closed will set you on a path to rapid scale. No one knows this better than Joi Ito. He has spent his career championing radically open systems, from Creative Commons to cyber currency. Now as Director of the famed MIT Media Lab, he’s focused on facilitating open conversations so we can keep pace with the shifting challenges we face in our companies, institutions, and societies. Cameo appearance: Megan Smith (former U.S. Chief Technology Officer).
To find your big idea? Look for it. And look for it. And be ready to act. Spanx founder Sara Blakely was actively seeking a business idea when she thought of Spanx. Then she moved fast, found help in the right places, and went all-in. The result: A billion-dollar company & women’s wardrobes transformed.
To move from one success to another — learn to un-learn. Take everything that helped you win the first time, then discard it and learn a new way. That’s how Barry Diller, titan of “old” media (ABC, Paramount, Fox), mastered the new dot-com world. His company IAC owns everything from Expedia to Vimeo to Match.com.
You don’t need a scaleable idea from day one. You might not know what your product will look like, or how you’ll get to market, or how you’ll make money. It’s OK. The most scalable ideas often come at you sideways. We talk to Diane Greene, who brought us into the age of cloud computing as the founding CEO of VMWare and now the head of Google’s cloud division. Learn how she leaned sideways into a market of boundless potential.
Your goal isn’t to beat the competition — it’s to escape the competition altogether. No one knows this better than Paypal founder Peter Thiel. “Competition is for losers,” he’s been known to say. Thiel is a former colleague, frequent co-investor and long-time intellectual sparring partner with Host Reid Hoffman. Enjoy the sparks.
The best business ideas often seem laughable at first glance. So if you’re hearing a chorus of “No’s” — it may actually be a good sign. So don’t be discouraged by rejection. Instead, learn the different kinds of “no.” That’s what Tristan Walker did. After stints at successful startups, he launched Walker & Company, makers of the Bevel razor, and learned the secret of how to talk with investors who may or may not share your vision.