Actionable Insights For Business Punks
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The Storm After The Calm
My wife has been fighting cancer since January. It’s been really hard to care about anything else. In this edition of the newsletter I share everything that’s happening for me.
How to dismantle a (corporate) propaganda bomb
There’s a fine line between healthy corporate culture and toxic corporate propaganda.
Like Handing Out Speeding Tickets At The Indy 500: The Attack Against Francesca Gino
Elite MBAs have been dysfunctional for a long time. Their dysfunction is spilling over now with Harvard’s attack against Francesca Gino.
I’m Bitcoin. I’m a digital duffel bag of cash
This week, as bitcoin hit an all time high of $66,000, people started selling it on Craigslist.
“Everything you hate about me is what I love about myself”: The James Baldwin MBA
No writer impacted my entrepreneur life more than James Baldwin. Baldwin is the voice that encourages us to live in the power of our own truth - even if it’s scary or unpopular.
AI Is The Average Of The Internet: WPP, Don’t Become An AI North Korea
When a struggling company announces that it’s making a huge investment in AI, you should immediately think of North Korea - a struggling country that makes huge investments in nuclear weapons. In both cases, the technological investment is an expensive and elaborate decoy that masks stagnation and decay. It’s a sign that they’ve run out of ideas to fuel prosperity and growth.
The shiniest toys mask the darkest dysfunction: Why Alphabet X is Failing
Innovation labs are like a 68 year old man who buys a customized Ferrari: It’s supposed to signal virility and prowess, but usually it’s a signal that his kids haven’t spoken to him in 6 years. What is true for Italian sports cars is true for corporate innovation labs: The shiniest toys mask the darkest dysfunction. There’s a better way to innovate. I talk about it here.
“Fight For Me, Don’t Sell To Me.” Brewdog: A Business Punk Case Study
Brewdog is a testament to Punk as a business strategy. It is the only company in UK history to increase sales by 90% for 6 consecutive years. It was so irreverent, provocative, and outlandish that it built a movement rather than just a hoppy beer. We explore more in this article.
Life Is Too Short For Corporate Conformity. Happy Second Birthday, Punks & Pinstripes.
Life is short. So…
Build Epic Shit
Speak Truth to Power
Be The Truest Version of Yourself
Seek Solidarity
Corporate Conversion Therapy: Your Performance Review Says A Lot About Your Life
December is the season of holiday parties and performance reviews. We offer some perspective about whether to stay or go.
“What’s My Trade, A$$hole?” - Innovate Like Wall Street is Watching
In June, 2007, I had my first F U Pay Me innovation meeting. It showed me that every intrapreneur needs to be defend their ROI to an innovation-agnostic investor.
First, Fix Your Culture: Why Amazon And AI Will Disrupt Investment Banking in 2024
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mike Bloomberg all quit or got fired from banks before becoming entrepreneurs. The culture of banks spits out brilliant innovators and negates their investments into technology. AI is no different. Here’s how to fix banking culture.
Ethics vs. economics: What happened at OPEN AI is why ESG is doomed
Ethics almost never wins a fight against economics. But sometimes they are totally interdependent. I talk about it more in this week’s edition of the newsletter.
Microsoft Just Got Pregnant With Altman AI
The mismatch that OPEN AI experienced as a disruptive tech juggernaut trapped in the body of a non-profit will morph into a new challenge at Microsoft: a disruptive tech startup trapped in the body of a huge, political, bureaucratic corporation.
Urgency With Optimism: The Hubert Joly Turnaround Doctrine of Human Magic
From 2012-2019, Hubert Joly led Best Buy from the precipice of bankruptcy to a 3X increase in market capitalization, in one of the most remarkable turnarounds in corporate history. He did so through a doctrine of ‘human magic’ which depended on empowered, energized solidarity among Best Buy’s workforce. His doctrine is essential reading for anyone leading massive change in an emotionally messy company.
The biggest AI headline this week was McKinsey not Open AI
When CHAT GPT went public a year ago I predicted that it would be more of a threat to McKinsey, BCG, and Bain than to Google. Two disparate headlines this week indicate that this prediction is coming true.
Like Sex Therapy From A Nun: Simon Sinek and how to tell a thought leader from an expert
When you really need help, you need an expert - not a thought leader. Experts are survivors - thought leaders are observers. In this article I show you how to spot the difference.
Richard Branson and the Sex Pistols Disruption Doctrine
In 1977 the most notorious punk band on Earth, The Sex Pistols, was fired by EMI records and signed by a fledgling independent record label, Virgin, led by a struggling, young magazine publisher named Richard Branson.
Sir Richard Branson is now worth approximately $7 billion.
How Punk was the cornerstone of Richard Branson’s business empire.
The Musk Disruption Doctrine Pt. 2: Launch A Product - Not A Powerpoint
In 2009 a team of Daimler executives visited Silicon Valley as part of a global innovation expedition to explore electric vehicles. The team visited Fisker, Think City, BYD, and a struggling Silicon Valley startup called Tesla.
Tesla’s eccentric CEO, Elon Musk, did something different from everyone else. When he came out to greet them, he asked if they wanted to test-drive an electric Smart car.
What happened next is a masterclass for anyone trying to innovate in the face of corporate resistance.