In the torrent of media about entrepreneurship, I’ve found a few shows that I really like. I like them enough to listen ongoing and to even buy a season or two! Most of the podcasts are 45 minutes to an hour, I like to listen while doing chores at home.
First up: The Profit – a reality TV show about Marcus Lemonis, a successful CEO who now invests in small businesses and gets hands on to resolve issues. He likes to focus on People, Process and Product. In some cases I wonder why he bothered to buy into an existing business because he so completely transforms it, but I guess starting with a customer base is worth something. I notice he tends to invest 200-700K in these businesses to make a difference. Re-branding is a big part of it; identifying and empowering high-performing employees is a theme; it also helps that he is building a conglomerate and can give the businesses access to prove-themselves-projects & media exposure. But it doesn’t always work, he’s done two different lighting companies, the first one didn’t seem to work out, I need to watch that episode; I saw the 2nd company which did (Hangout Lighting). The current (5th) season is available via Hulu and you could watch it with a 1 month trial subscription. I have found prior seasons on Amazon Prime.
After watching a few episodes and thinking about my own experience, it seemed to me that the number of businesses he was investing in would quickly become unmanagable. He figured that out already and did a show called The Partner to identify a business partner to help. I haven’t watched that yet.
At a recent alumni function a fellow BGI/Pinchot/Presidio grad turned me on to a food financing newsletter and podcast out of Wisconsin called Edible Alpha – how to successfully grow food/beverage/agriculture companies with outside capital. I’ve found the newsletter insightful and I enjoy the podcasts where entrepreneurs talk about their journies. The two I have listened to are small companies (<1M revenue).
I am a continuing fan of Open Book Management, which doesn’t have enough adherents yet in the Northwest that I’ve gotten to experience it directly. Zingerman’s Deli, a restaurant, catering and more operation in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a leading practitioner. They have their own training wing: ZingTrain. I spoke to trainer there this week about the possibility of bringing their two day OBM training to Seattle (if you’re interested, contact me or comment on this page!). She pointed out that a quick exposure can be had on their website where they offer all kinds of free recorded webinars. Elnian herself recorded the webinar on All About Open Book Management, and there’s a rich trove of other recordings about managing culture and performance.
Finally, let’s face it, what’s not to love about Planet Money? Short, fun, fascinating.
I’ll add a postscript bonus – a mindfulness podcast. I have come to like Dan Harris’s 10% Happier. He’s a media professional so he does a great job interviewing his guests, he seems to know his meditation spectrum well and he has great guests, from Robert Thurman who goes really deep on the roots of Vipassana to Catherine Price who talks about redefining your relationship with your phone.
Shaulablog 