Posts by Christopher Lochhead
113 Are you Crazy or Mission Driven? Musing on Play Bigger’s 5th Anniversary
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Welcome to this very special episode of Lochhead on Marketing, on what is the week of Play Bigger, my first book’s fifth anniversary of publication.
Recently on Follow Your Different, we had on Captain Paul Watson, who is the co-founder of Greenpeace and the founder of Sea Shepherd. Sufficed to say, Captain Paul is vey mission driven. Some would call him a saint, while others call him an eco-terrorist. What I could tell you for sure is that Captain Paul, like almost every other legendary person, is “kind of crazy”.
We also want to share with you something that Churchill famously said, and that is to “Never give up on something you can’t go a day without thinking about”. Now, what Churchill didn’t say is what you should do if the thing that you can’t stop thinking about makes you batshit crazy.
Even worse, what do you do if the thing that you can’t stop thinking about isn’t really something that you think about? It’s something that thinks you that is to say, it owns you.
So in this episode of Lochhead on Marketing, the fifth anniversary of Play Bigger coming out, let’s talk about the difference between being passionate and possessed and what that means.
What Comes After Thinking It
Churchill once said,
“Never give up on something you can’t go a day without thinking about.”
What he didn’t say is what you should do if that thing drives you nuts. Is this thing that’s driving you nuts? The difference between choosing a passion and being possessed? Now that you’re thinking about it, what if you really can’t stop thinking about it all the time?
In the end, all you could do is embrace it and call it your own. What happens after that? What happens if when you share it with people eight out of 10 times, they think you’re nuts or you fail? Now imagine if that something causes you to fail 8 times out of 10 for 30 years, then what do you do?
It’s daunting, right? So what if I tell you that this is a big part of my story?
For me, my something was Category Design. This week is actually the 5th anniversary of my book Play Bigger, which introduced Category Design to the world. What I have rarely talked about is the fact that Play Bigger was my last-ditch effort to try to make category design land. It was my last effort to try to make it have value and impact at any kind of scale for entrepreneurs, for creators, for innovators of any kind.
I figured it would fail. I didn’t want it to fail, but I figured it would be because 30 years of a two hundred batting average would kind of give that to you. Well, it turns out Play Bigger didn’t fail. If you read it or shared it, I want to thank you very much, because your efforts put Play Bigger into the top one percent of books in the business book category.
There is No Cheat to Success
I wish I could tell you that having a legendary product will automatically lead it to success. It doesn’t. This was also the case when I talked about Category Design before. Entrepreneurs and other business leaders would either misinterpret it as just another marketing or watered-down messaging, which is actually one of my least favorite words in marketing.
What also irked me is when Hustle Porn Stars sell you the idea of how to be successful instantly. You just need to follow X, Y, and Z to achieve your goals.
Based on experience, it never is as easy as that. Take it from someone who fell for it and have learned his lesson the hard way.
“There is no shortcut to success. There’s no such thing as a 4-hour work week. All that stuff about hacks and hustle porn, motivational garbage is a lie, and I’m no liar.” – Christopher Lochhead
Sure, there are some people who get born rich or born beautiful and there are some people who win the lottery. But success in life is not about that. So I wanted to share with you what it really took, what it took to make Play Bigger and everything that’s come since then successful was approximately two thousand five hundred and fifty five days. That’s seven years.
Play Bigger
Wait, seven years? Didn’t you say it was the 5th anniversary just now?
You see, even though Play Bigger came out five years ago, we started work on it two years before that. Since Play Bigger came out, we’ve produced about 500 of our own podcasts, I’ve given somewhere between fifty and seventy-five speeches.
There’s a bunch of us, the authors who Play Bigger and the team that works on Follow Your Different, Lochhead on Marketing, who have done a shit ton of work making Play Bigger, Niche Down, Follow Your Different, Lochhead on Marketing and now Category Pirates successful.
We took the following 30 years in the trenches. Real seven years of hard work support from countless legendary people who contributed to the ideas, who lent their advice, their experience and encouragement, who pushed us, who fought with us, who argued with us.
To hear more From Christopher Lochhead and how to toe the line between crazy and mission driven, download and listen to this podcast.
Bio
Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down and Play Bigger.
He has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups; a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO and an entrepreneur.
Furthermore, he has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “off-putting to some” by The Economist.
In addition, he served as a chief marketing officer of software juggernaut Mercury Interactive. Hewlett-Packard acquired the company in 2006, for $4.5 billion.
He also co-founded the marketing consulting firm LOCHHEAD; the founding CMO of Internet consulting firm Scient, and served as head of marketing at the CRM software firm Vantive.
Links
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on Apple Podcast! You may also subscribe to his newsletter, The Difference, for some amazing content.
222 America’s Time of Great Questioning with Pastor Quentin M. Mumphery
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We are living in a time of historical, cultural, and racial consequence in the United States. People are asking very big questions about fundamental design points around their life. How do they want to work, live and play? Many thoughtful Americans are also asking themselves about our country’s design, and the kind of future they want for themselves and their family.
In this episode of Follow Your Different, we talk about all these and more with Pastor Quentin Mumphery. Pastor Quentin is a native of Chicago’s South Side and is the founder and senior pastor at New Hope covenant church.
Pastor Quentin is also the co-author with Eddie Yun, Pastor Dave Ferguson and myself, of a Harvard Business Review post about justice deposits, encouraging people, people in companies for that matter to move some of their cash deposits to black owned banks. If you want to learn more about it, stay tuned to this episode.
Being a Pastor in Today’s Society
Pastor Quentin shares how he grew up on the south side of Chicago, and some of his influences growing up. He muses that Chicago has always been a great yet troubled city, and has the best and worst of everything.
Everyone is exposed to the same extremes, though their reactions can be quite different. People clamor for change and a better future, while at the same time focus on finding ways to live at the moment. This dynamic tension of sorts is the reality that each of us is living with at the moment, and which Pastor Quentin hopes to understand.
“I’m a believer that people want the best, but sometimes do the worst. And I think that part of that is just the human condition.” – Pastor Quentin Mumphery
Serving God in Different Ways
Pastor Quentin talks about his inspirations in church, and how they approach serving the Lord and the community in different ways. As a teen in a youth ministry of the church, they would go where the hurting people were. Whether it was the best place in town or places where you wouldn’t normally expect a man of cloth to be in, they would go and pray.
“Part of what I believe it means to be a man of God and a man of faith is that we don’t just run and turn our head when trouble is there. The scriptures call us to be soft and light. And I believe part of that is showing up where light is needed.” – Pastor Quentin Mumphery
When given the example of St. Christopher, Pastor Quentin wholeheartedly agrees and states that there are a lot of ways you can serve God. You just have to find the best way you can do it.
Taking Things into Perspective
Pastor Quentin talks about the theological and philosophical sides of being good or bad. We often see people do bad things and justify them because they are doing it for a good cause. But according to who though? If you flip that and see it from the other side’s perspective, you’re the bad one doing the awful things to them.
“I tell this to people all the time, too. I said, every one of us are the villain in someone’s story. The thing is when we tell our own story, we’re always the hero. We’re always the hero, right? Anything bad to happen, it’s always someone did this to me.” – Pastor Quentin Mumphery
So Pastor Quentin tells us to keep this question in mind: “Who determines whether you’re good?” It will help in considering other people’s perspective, and prevent the mindset of always having the moral high ground on things.
To hear more from Pastor Quentin Mumphery and his questions for America, download and listen to this episode.
Bio
A native of Chicago’s south side, Pastor Quentin M. Mumphery is the Founder and Senior Pastor of New Hope Covenant Church, A contemporary urban church with classic experience in a modern environment, located on Chicago’s south east side.
Pastor Mumphery previously served as Lead Pastor of Windsor Park Lutheran Church, as well as Associate Pastor of New Life Covenant Church Southeast, under the leadership of Pastor John Hannah. Pastor Mumphery received his foundation in the Kingdom at the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago, where he accepted his call to ministry as a teen in the Youth Church.
In addition to his pastoral role and civic leadership, his servitude extends extensively in the field of education. Pastor Mumphery serves as a Vice President for a national education management organization, working with high-risk youth in many of the most challenged communities in the country. Pastor Mumphery is a graduate of Whitney M. Young Magnet H.S and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also received his Master’s degree from North Park Theological Seminary.
A prolific preacher and teacher, Pastor Mumphery is committed to excellence in preaching through strong biblical exposition, powerful demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s power, as well as relevant ministry outside of the walls of the church to uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed.
Links
Website: New Hope Covenant Church
Follow Pastor Quentin Mumphery: New Hope Covenant’s Pastor
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!
112 Maybe The Only Career Advice That Matters
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These days, we hear a non-stop barrage of career advice. Some of them is good, but a lot of them are not. In this episode of Lochhead on Marketing, let’s talk about what might be the only career advice that matters.
Relationships, Marriages, and Divorce
By now, you may have heard of Bill and Melinda Gates are getting a divorce, and that Jeff Bezos and McKenzie Scott got divorced a couple of years ago. You might be wondering why we brought this up.
You see, these people are some of the wealthiest entrepreneurs and biggest philanthropists ever. According to hustle porn stars and business advice gurus, these are the people we should aspire to be. Yet for whatever reason, their marriage didn’t work out.
While there is merit to saying that sometimes divorcing doesn’t mean it failed, but just ran its likely course, it does make you wonder.
“The reality is if your personal life isn’t working, all the money in the world can’t save you.” – Christopher Lochhead
Living a Legendary Life
Which brings us to the second point: the decision about who your significant other or partner is going to be is arguably the biggest decision that you will make.
Because when it works, it is the foundation for designing a legendary life. If it doesn’t work, everything just seems out of place.
So we should ask ourselves: are we designing our life around our work or our work around our life?
While this is not necessarily a binary decision, most people would want to live a legendary life.
“I think what most of us want is we want to have a legendary life. And whether we’re working or in our marriage, our primary relationship or with our family and friends, we want to have what you might think of as a 360-degree life.” – Christopher Lochhead
Getting Things Right
Herein lies the question: is it possible to get everything right all the time?
Of course not. Though in general, it is what most of us are trying to do. In that context, our work sits inside of our non-work life.
So if you’re somebody who’s been working too hard, work 80 to 100 hours a week and travel two to four hundred thousand miles a year on a plane, here’s a career advice. Ask yourself: what am I working for?
We’re living at a time of massive personal self-examination that has been brought on by the pandemic. We recently wrote a Category Pirates about this, how people are going YOLO, YOLO being an expression for you only live once.
Now is a time for consideration. And I think what these high-profile divorces tell us as somebody who’s been divorced myself, is that it’s time to consider our work in the context of our lives.
Links
A Very “Different” Approach To A Legendary Career: YOLO And Achieve Your Personal IPO
Bio
Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down and Play Bigger.
He has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups; a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO and an entrepreneur.
Furthermore, he has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “off-putting to some” by The Economist.
In addition, he served as a chief marketing officer of software juggernaut Mercury Interactive. Hewlett-Packard acquired the company in 2006, for $4.5 billion.
He also co-founded the marketing consulting firm LOCHHEAD; the founding CMO of Internet consulting firm Scient, and served as head of marketing at the CRM software firm Vantive.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on Apple Podcast! You may also subscribe to his newsletter, The Difference, for some amazing content.
221 How To Be A Mission-Driven Pirate with Co-Founder of Greenpeace & Founder of Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson
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According to NOAA, the US National Ocean Service scientists estimate that 50 to 80% of the oxygen production on earth comes from the ocean. Furthermore, the ocean absorbs 50% more carbon dioxide than the atmosphere does. Scientists also estimate that about 1 million species of animals live in our oceans. So to say that the oceans matter is an understatement. It’s a fact that our oceans are the reason for life on our planet. Our guest today Captain Paul Watson says, “We are the ocean.”
In this episode of Follow Your Different, Captain Paul Watson shares his experience as a Sea Shepherd and what it takes to dedicate your life to be on a cause that matters to you. Captain Paul Watson is the founder of Sea Shepherd, a nonprofit focused on saving marine wildlife through direct interventions with poachers and the like. He was also a co-founder of Greenpeace, and talks about why he parted ways with the organization.
That said, whether you love him or hate him, every second of this dialogue is riveting. So stay tuned.
Dedication to His Cause
When asked about how he got started in his cause, Captain Paul shares that even as a child, he had always helped animals that needed it. He would free them from traps that he found around his hometown.
Captain Paul then took it to the next level by cofounding Greenpeace Foundation back in 1969, and eventually established Sea Shepherd in 1977.
As for the challenges he has faced, there was a particular one that stuck with him. This was back in 1973, when he was a volunteer medic for the American Indian Movement. Even as they were surrounded and overwhelmed, Russell Means said this to him:
“Well, we’re not concerned about the odds. And we’re not concerned about winning or losing, we’re here because it’s the right place to be the right thing to do in the right time to do it. Don’t worry about the future, focus on the present, what we do in the present will define what the future will be.” – Russell Means
The Sea Shepherd Society
Captain Paul talks about the activities of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and their partnerships with several countries to protect marine wildlife. As most of their activities tend to cross over country boundaries, cooperation and coordination with local authorities is important in having an effective campaign.
He then further explains that 40% of the fish that is caught in the world is illegally caught. By illegal, it either was caught by fishing vessels crossing country boundaries without permission, by illegal or unsustainable means, or by overfishing certain species of fish due to demand.
Yet no one questions how their favorite fish arrives in the market. Worse still, not all of the fish that are caught are for human consumption.
“The other problem we have is that a good percentage of the fish caught isn’t even eaten by people. It’s fed to animals to pigs to chickens to house cats, to domestic salmon to fur bearing animals. 2.8 million tons of fish go just for cat food all the time.” – Captain Paul Watson
Plundering the Oceans
Captain Paul points out that it’s sad that not a lot of people seem to understand how devastating it would be for everyone if we continue this way. Plundering the oceans is causing incredible diminishment in both its biodiversity and interdependence.
As he said before, we are the ocean. If the ocean dies, we die. Simply put, the ocean is the life support system of our planet.
The ocean plays a huge role in our lives: from providing many households with food, down to the air we breathe. Did you know that 70% of the oxygen we breathe are generated by Phytoplankton? Yet since 1950, we have lost 40% of our phytoplankton populations in the sea. This means less oxygen for everyone. This also means less food for certain marine life, which then provide nutrients to phytoplankton to thrive. Hence the destructive cycle continues.
“The real problem that we have is we have this anthropocentric point of view, we look on the planet, as it’s all about us. Everything is here to serve us, we have dominion over everything, nothing is more important than we are. But the reality is, is that many species are far more important than we are because we can, we can exist without them, they can exist without us.” – Captain Paul Watson
To hear more from Captain Paul Watson and how to be a mission-driven pirate, download and listen to this episode.
Bio
Paul Watson is the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society – an organization dedicated to research, investigation and enforcement of laws, treaties, resolutions and regulations established to protect marine wildlife worldwide.
Over the years, Paul Watson has exhibited a remarkable diversity in his activism, including:
- Co-founder of Greenpeace in 1972 and Greenpeace International, 1979
- Founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, 1977
- Field Correspondent for Defenders of Wildlife, 1976 to 1980
- Field representative for the Fund for Animals between 1978 to1981
- Representative for the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals, 1979
- Co-founder of Friends of the Wolf, 1984
- Co-founder Earthforce Environmental Society, 1977.
- Director, National Board of the Sierra Club USA, 2003 to present
Watson majored in communications and linguistics at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. He has lectured extensively at universities around the world, and was a professor of Ecology at Pasadena College of Design from 1990 to 1994. He was also an instructor in UCLA’s Honors Program in 1998 and 1999.
Currently, Watson is a registered speaker with the Jodi Solomon Speakers Bureau of Boston, and regularly gives presentations at colleges and universities in the United States and at special events throughout world.
In 2000, Watson was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the environmental heroes of the 20th Century.
Links
Follow Captain Paul Watson:
Website: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
LinkedIn: in/CaptainPaulWatson
Twitter: @CaptPaulWatson
Check out the Netflix Documentary Seaspiracy
Here are a few articles related to Captain Paul Watson and his work:
NYTimes: Germany detains Activist Captain Connected with Whale Wars
The Guardian: A handful of corporations could hold the answer to crisis in the seafood industry
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!
220 Think Like Amazon with John Rossman
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In 2020, Amazon.com became an essential service in America. The company is now worth $1.6 trillion, and has become one of the greatest B2B companies in history, the Category King of E-commerce. Amazon Web Services is also the fastest growing B2B tech company ever.
It’s shocking that one company is dominating on both the consumer and enterprise technology side in a way that we’ve never seen one company do before.
On this episode of Follow Your Different, our guest today is the expert on the Amazon Way. As a matter of fact, he wrote the book on it. John Rossman is an extraordinarily sought-after author, speaker, and thinker in business, because he is teaching all of us how to be like Amazon.
John Rossman is the author of The Amazon Way, a former Amazon Leader and Managing Partner at Rossman Partners. In his new book, John breaks down the Amazon leadership principles and how we can learn to innovate and compete in the digital era. So if you’re interested in learning more, you’ll love everything about this conversation.
Compete Differently
John Rossman shares what his inspiration was to making the book. For him, it was a matter of getting the word out and letting people know what you can learn from Amazon’s business strategies. You can then use these to incorporate into your business culture and leadership approach so you can better compete in the market.
“That’s kind of the fair way that I play. And I just love the notion of like, we got to compete differently and that is what you Amazon is teaching us. That’s what I try to take away and give to my readers.” – John Rossman
The American Story
John talks about a bit of history on how Amazon came to be, and thinks that it doesn’t get highlighted enough that Amazon and Jeff Bezos is the American Story people aspire to have. He’s someone who bet on himself, left his cushy job and went all in on his idea.
It took Amazon literally two decades to become the juggernaut we know them to be right now, and it was not without its problems. Though despite these problems, Amazon continued to push on and in these bad times came the leadership principles that they continue to follow to this day.
“Those are the leadership lessons I learned so much from and his consistency in beliefs, like them or not, at least they’re consistent, and they’re super well-articulated. And so I think that that is a big story that that doesn’t get told enough.” – John Rossman
Pushing On Despite Criticisms
John recalls how it was like in the early 2000s, particularly on how media and the public perceived Amazon. Other entrepreneurs and business leaders didn’t believe that they could succeed, and they were always doubted.
Yet when you look at Amazon today, it’s as though it is an essential service for everyone. That’s saying a lot for something that is owned by a private entity.
He also shares how Amazon handled the situation once the pandemic hit. Unlike other businesses and services that bided its time and waited, Amazon focused their attention on how to deliver the best service they could despite the on-going situation.
To say it paid off would be the understatement of the year.
“All you remember the days of like, the grocery store shelves being barren and everything, right? Amazon was the answer, dude on toilet paper for Fox, and food and things like that. They did an amazing job at quickly shifting, and the thing I was pointing out to everybody is like, it didn’t happen by accident.” – John Rossman
To hear more from John Rossman and on how your business can be like Amazon, download and listen to this episode.
Bio
John Rossman
Digital and Innovation Advisor
Mr. Rossman is an expert at digital business models, operations and organizing programs. He has led engagements on developing innovation processes, Internet of Things strategies, marketplace and API driven platform business models.
He is a sought-after speaker on creating a culture of operational excellence and innovation.
Mr. Rossman has worked with clients across various industries, including retail, insurance, education, healthcare, consumer products, industrial products and transportation.
Mr. Rossman’s notable assignments include The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft, Nordstrom and several of the world’s leading retail and insurance organizations.
Prior to Rossman Partners, John was a Managing Director at Alvarez and Marsal, a performance improvement consulting firm.
Prior to A&M, John was an executive at Amazon.com where he launched the Marketplace business and third-party selling platform, and ran the merchant services business.
Links
Connect with John!
Website: The-Amazon-Way.com
LinkedIn: in/John-Rossman
Twitter: @JohnERossman
Get the Book: The Amazon Way: Amazon’s 14 Leadership Principles
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!
111 Mike Maples, Jr. On How Legendary Entrepreneurs Create Categories
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Welcome to a special episode of Lochhead of Marketing. What you’re about to hear are the thoughts of one of the smartest people in Silicon Valley on Category Design. He is the entrepreneur turned venture capitalist Mike Maples, Jr.
Mike Maples, Jr. Is the co-founder of Floodgate Capital. Floodgate has led early-stage investments in companies like Twitter, Lyft, and much more.
Recently, I had the pleasure of showing up as a guest on Mike’s podcast. Usually after the guest podcast, he does a shorter episode where he synthesizes what he thinks he has learned from the guest.
Today’s episode is just that. Listen to Mike Maples, Jr. as he shares his thoughts on category design for entrepreneurs. With that said, let’s get into it.
Being a Legendary Entrepreneur
“Why do I, as an entrepreneur, want to begin category design at the beginning? Because you want to be 80 percent of a multi-billion dollar market that you created, that you design. And that makes you almost impossible to catch.” – Christopher Lochhead
Mike starts off by quoting a quote from the episode. This quote pretty much sums up why someone aiming to be a legend should do category design right from the onset. Legendary companies are born from extraordinary startups building breakthrough products that change the future.
Though you don’t always have to start from scratch. Few entrepreneurs and businesses realize that there’s a third lever to pull on the path to greatness: creating a category to add to the confusion.
Category Design vs Branding
Mike is aware that a lot of people are still not clear as to what Category Design is. Some confuse it with branding; some marketing ploy that can help your product resonate without actually changing the product.
“Category design could be confused with getting the right marketing slogan or the right three letter acronym like CRM or ERP or some other type of message that will hopefully resonate. Or we make the mistake of believing it’s a message you use to describe your business after you’ve achieved product market fit. But it’s far more than that.” – Mike Maples, Jr.
Traditional Marketing vs Breakthrough Startup
Mike gives a brief explanation of how Traditional Marketing works. Simply put, they are more concerned on fighting for market share of their current category. Think marketing battles between Pepsi and Coke. Conventional Startups tend to think along the same lines.
Whereas Breakthrough Startups try to create new categories to dominate in, making sure that they are the Kings of the Category before anyone else grabs a share of the market.
In a world of marketing slogans blaring at you left and right, having your own category lets you avoid the need to seek attention to compete. All you have to do is to show people that your new category is worth it, and the market will do the rest.
“All of us, including your future customers, employees and any potential believers, live in a very confusing and noisy world. Your startup won’t have a chance to get people to remember much about you and why you matter. So you have to be really clear on what you want people to know about you and only you, why it matters and why they should join your cause. The way to do this is not to talk about jargon, buzz words, or what Christopher Lochhead calls why my carbondigulator is better. Category design is about avoiding the comparison game. It’s not about being the best, it’s about being the only one in the category.” – Mike Maples, jr.
To hear more from Mike Maples, Jr. and his insights on category design for entrepreneurs, download and listen to this episode.
Bio
Mike Maples, Jr. is the Co-Founder and Partner at Floodgate, the host of the Starting Greatness podcast and a Co-conspirator with awesome Startup Founders.
Links
Connect with Mike!
Twitter: @m2jr
LinkedIn: in/Maples
Podcast: Starting Greatness
Website: Floodgate
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on Apple Podcast! You may also subscribe to his newsletter, The Difference, for some amazing content.
219 Be Where Your Feet Are: Scott O’Neil, CEO of Philadelphia 76ers & New Jersey Devils
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In this episode of Follow Your Different, we continue our run of legendary authors with today’s guest, Scott O’ Neil. He is the author of a hot new book called Be Where Your Feet Are: Seven Principles to Keep You Present, Grounded, and Thriving.
Scott O’Neil is the CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment. Which makes Scott the CEO of:
- The Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA
- The New Jersey Devils of the NHL
- The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey
- Dignitas, a pioneer in eSports
- A number of minor league teams
- A Venture Fund
- Real Estate developer / investor
- An Innovation Lab
Today, we get to hear what it takes to manage not one, but two of North America’s elite professional sports teams, and how they have dealt with COVID and its effect on the category. We also dig in to Scott’s view on what sports role is in society, and how leaders should deal with social change and justice.
Of course, we’ll have Scott pop the hood on how they turned the 76ers around and make them a winning team again. So if you love taking the long term in business and trying to figure out how business can make a difference as well as be successful, you’re going to love everything about this episode.
The Role of Sports in Society
Scott talks about his enthusiasm on work, and being able to do so in areas that could use the work generated by his businesses. Though at the end of the day, he says that he is more of a “run to work, run home” type of guy.
He also shares his thoughts on the role of sports in a society. While there are some that argue that it shouldn’t have that much of an impact and influence, it is undeniable that it’s there. The question now is, how do you use that influence to make the world a bit better than before.
“The argument is, sports shouldn’t have this kind of influence and impact. And I say, great, it does. I actually have an opportunity to help people and drive change in communities and bring people together and create community.
Coming off a pandemic, where we’ve had a year of being isolated, I don’t think there’s a better platform to build and deliver what we need more than anything else in the world right now, which is connection, and a bit of escapism, and community. And to do that where I get to do it every day is quite a blessing.” – Scott O’Neil
The New Roaring 20’s
When asked about how some companies are already gearing up for the end of the pandemic, Scott thinks that we are on the verge of a new Roaring 20s, much like what happened in the 1900s.
He is not far off the mark on this. Wall Street Journal has reported that companies today have more cash on hand than at any point in history, and the US consumer is wealthier now than at any point in US history. Which sounds so insane in the heels of this pandemic.
As the desire of people to reconnect and the mental health strain of being isolated escalates, there will be a huge demand for the category that builds up community and togetherness in the future, as everything opens up again.
“So you can imagine to watch an NBA game and be the only fan which I was at the game. I had this incredible boost of mental health, which I think is going to be the next great challenge over the decade. I think all this isolation and separation and anxiety that that we are feeling is going to put quite a bit of strain on us as leaders, as dads and moms, and people in the community.
As we’ve set out to define what that new normal is, I just felt the boost of of kind of happiness and energy and connection. I will say that I think these roaring 20s are going to be coming at us just like they were in the 1900s.” – Scott O’Neil
Being Role Models
Scott then shares his insights on players and executives as role models for the future. While he thinks that our Frontliners make for better role models, players should not disparage themselves in this regard.
Being in a sport that has a massive reach, whether you are an NBA player or an eSport star, means that you have an audience that you can influence one way or another. So be a great role model for them, so that they in turn can be role models for their community.
“The reality is the world has changed. Those of my peers who scoff at TikTok influencers, or YouTube stars, or Instagram famous people, I got to tell you: you guys are missing the boat. The reality is, they have as much or more impact and influence, then the athletes that were playing that they’re playing on our courts and skating on our ice. And the reality is, is it’s about scale and audience and messaging, and in our players having to do a phenomenal job.” – Scott O’Neil
To hear more from Scott O’Neil and his insights on business and the Roaring 20s, download and listen to this episode.
Bio
Scott O’Neil is the Chief Executive Officer of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, an organization with the mission of building passionate, high-performing teams that inspire people to enhance the communities where its teams live, work, play and win.
O’Neil is responsible for the organization’s leadership, strategic vision, operations and global ambitions, including the pursuit and acquisition of sports, entertainment and consumer-facing properties.
He is the acting Chief Executive Officer over all properties within the organization’s portfolio and under the ownership of Managing Partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer, including: the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), the New Jersey Devils (NHL), Prudential Center, a top five-ranked performance venue in the U.S. located in Newark, New Jersey; Team Dignitas, an internationally renowned esports team, NBA 2K League’s 76ers Gaming Club, the Sixers Innovation Lab Crafted by Kimball, the GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center, the Delaware 87ers (NBA G League), and the Binghamton Devils (AHL).
Scott O’Neil is an acting Co-Managing partner for Elevate Sports Ventures, a sports and entertainment agency created in partnership between HBSE, Live Nation, the San Francisco 49ers and Oak View Group.
With more than 20 years of experience in the NBA, NHL and NFL, O’Neil has earned a reputation as a leader of leaders and is one of the most connected, dynamic and driven executives in the industry today.
Previous executives whom he has mentored and managed run many of the top organizations in sports and entertainment today; those he currently manages are poised to lead the industry into the next generation.
O’Neil’s reputation for authentic leadership, unparalleled drive to innovate, and emphasis on the importance of corporate culture has placed him at the forefront of the industry vanguard. In merely six years overseeing operations for the properties in HBSE’s portfolio, O’Neil led the Philadelphia 76ers to sign the first jersey patch sponsorship in “Big Four” sports history; construct the most technically advanced training complex in professional sports, the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex; establish an industry-leading Innovation Lab, and become the first U.S. professional sports franchise to acquire a world-renowned esports team.
In that same period, under O’Neil’s ambitious and aggressive leadership, Prudential Center has become a top seven and top five most-played venue in the U.S. and the world by Billboard and Pollstar, respectively, and welcomes over 1.75 million fans and event attendees through its doors annually.
Of his professional accomplishments, O’Neil considers his organizations’ corporate culture and dedication to community service his greatest successes and future legacy. The Philadelphia 76ers have been named one of the “Most Innovative Companies” in the world by Fast Company magazine (2018), one of the “Top 50 Cultures” in the U.S. by Entrepreneur (2017), three-times named a “Best Place to Work in Philadelphia” by the Philadelphia Business Journal (2016, 2015, 2014), twice named a “Best Place to Work in Pennsylvania by the Central Penn Business Journal (2018, 2017) and named one of the “50 Best Companies to Sell For” by internationally-renowned Selling Power Magazine. Prudential Center was named a “Best Business” by NJBiz (2016). O’Neil’s belief that those who steward iconic sports and entertainment brands have the responsibility and privilege to use those platforms to mentor the next generation of leaders and make the world a better place is the driving force behind HBSE’s community engagement initiatives.
Recognizing the important role HBSE’s properties play within its communities, O’Neil’s employees individually volunteer 76 hours of service annually in the communities where their fans and patrons live, work and play, resulting in more than 30,000 hours of dedicated community service each year. The Philadelphia 76ers’ charitable endeavor, the Sixers Youth Foundation, has additionally raised more than $1 million for Philadelphia-area youth last year alone and is leveraging sports to help children in need.
A former President of Madison Square Garden Sports, O’Neil was the key architect in some of the largest venue sponsorship deals in history while overseeing iconic sports properties including the New York Knicks (NBA) and New York Rangers (NHL). O’Neil spent seven years as the Senior Vice President of the NBA’s renowned Team Marketing and Business Operations group, where he advised NBA, WNBA and NBA Gatorade League teams on all business operations, CRM Department and NBA Canada business. Earlier in his career, O’Neil served as the President of HoopsTV.com and held positions with the Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) and New Jersey Nets (NBA).
For almost a decade, O’Neil has served as an Alternate Governor for the NBA and NHL. In 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 the Philadelphia Business Journal named O’Neil to their “Power 100” list of the “most influential people” in the greater Philadelphia region; he additionally received Philadelphia Business Journal’s “Most Admired CEO” honor in 2018. Sports and technology outlet, SportTechie, named O’Neil as 2017’s “Most Innovative Executive”; in 2016, Philadelphia Magazine declared him one of the “Most Innovative Leaders” in Philadelphia. As a young executive, O’Neil was thrice recognized at Sports Business Journal’s acclaimed “Forty Under 40” Awards; launching him into the publication’s renowned “Hall of Fame.”
He additionally received “Forty Under 40” honors from Adweek and Sporting News in 2006 and 2005 respectively.
O’Neil’s influence and experience has earned him a place at the podium at some of the largest industry conferences in the world, delivering keynotes at events such as: Leaders in Sport, Beyond Sport, Sports Business Journal’s World Congress of Sport, the IEG Pivot Conference, the Ivy Sports Symposium, Sport Marketing Association’s Conference and more.
O’Neil’s leadership practices have been chronicled and applauded in The Outward Mindset by the Arbinger Institute, publishers of The New York Times Best Seller, Leadership and Self-Deception, The Orange Revolution by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, and Potato Chip Ticket Sales by Kathy Burrows.
Scott O’Neil has made numerous appearances on CNN, CNBC, FOX Business Network, and has twice co-hosted Bloomberg television’s Bloomberg.
He also interacts daily with his more than 18,000 and 30,000 followers on Twitter and LinkedIn, respectively.
Scott serves on the boards for the March of Dimes, Zoomi Inc., the Sixers Youth Foundation and the Sixers Innovation Lab Crafted by Kimball.
O’Neil earned his bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Villanova University and his master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
He currently resides in New Jersey with his wife, Lisa, and three daughters.
Links
Follow Scott O’Neil on:
LinkedIn: in/Scott-O-Neil
Twitter: @ScottONeil
Read his book: Be Where Your Feet Are: Seven Principles to Keep You Present, Grounded, and Thriving
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!
218 Legendary Musicians’ Insights on Innovation with Panos Panay and Michael Hendrix, Authors of “Two Beats Ahead”
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Creativity, innovation, and collaboration. These are words that get thrown around a lot in business. Yet too many business environments and company culture cultivate the exact opposite. In this episode of Follow Your Different, we discuss what business leaders, entrepreneurs, and creators of all times can learn from some of the greatest musicians in the world.
Our guests today are Panos Panay & Michael Hendrix, the authors of a rockin’ new book called “Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation”. Dr. Deepak Chopra says,
“For a long time, researchers have that musical intelligence can awaken the non-linear mind to healing, creativity, and innovation. This book is a roadmap for innovators, entrepreneurs, and those seeking new avenues for exploring and reimagining the future.”
You’ll want to stay tuned for this dialogue about the power of music as an insight to innovation and creativity. Pay close attention to why musicians are constantly creating and not editing, the power of curiosity, and their thoughts on how to build a legendary team.
Music is Everywhere
When asked why music seems to be all around and how it affects us, Panos Panay thinks it’s because music is primordial. Even as we are in our mother’s womb, our sense of hearing develops before everything else and we get exposed to our mother’s heartbeats.
For him, there’s something really elemental about music that is unlike anything else.
“It’s the most basic human sense. It’s what connects us to our humanity. And I would say what connects us to the broader universe. That’s the universe is made of sound. Ultimately, we are made of sound.” – Panos Panay
Building Designs that Delve into the Unconscious
Michael Hendrix talks about Embodied Cognition. Simply put, it is the understanding of the world though our bodies, specifically through our five senses.
What got him interested on the topic was when he started to wonder why some designs do better than others. What he found is that it all boils down to how it feels when using said design. If you are given two tools with the same functionality but one feels more weighted or balance, chances are you’ll buy that one over the other.
“There’s been plenty of studies that show that we humans give importance to thing that have weight. So in design, and we that’s translated, for example, the tension on a car door is increased to make the car deal for heavier when you shut it. So you feel safer in the car, because they’re actually been valued. They’ve been engineered to be so light to make the fuel efficiency better. But if you didn’t have that tension, you wouldn’t have the resistance. And you would go, oh man, this thing’s too flimsy.” – Michael Hendrix
Panos adds that this was a problem with the early designs for electric vehicles, which they discussed in the book. They were designed to be lightweight for energy efficiency, but that backfired on itself. People thought it was too light, therefore it might not be as safe as traditional vehicles. So that’s one more thing to think about when creating your product designs.
Something Different
Michael talks about their book, Two Beats Ahead, and their thought process when writing it. First and foremost, they didn’t want it to be like most business books out there. While they are informative and helpful to some, it’s not exactly fun reading them.
So they are committed to not writing one of those books. They want something that is not repetitive and redundant to the point of making you exhausted by the end. Their aim was to write a book that was full of surprises and fun to read from cover to cover, while sharing their thoughts and insights at the same time.
“As we were talking about beginning, the first chapter is about listening. It’s about opening yourself up to the things or the unexpected around you, not prejudging them. So we thought what a better way to start the book than to start the book with 12 blank pages. That before you read anything, they force you to confront this idea. And then if you confronted it, and you’ve been confused by it, you’ll get into the book and you’ll sort it out. We wanted that to be the first thing you experience.” – Michael Hendrix
To hear more from Panos Panay & Michael Hendrix and their legendary insights, download and listen to this episode.
Bio
Panos Panay
Panos A. Panay is the founder and current managing director of the Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (BerkleeICE) as well as a passionate entrepreneur, educator, and startup mentor.
As the founder of Sonicbids, he created the leading platform for bands to book gigs and market themselves online, building a subscriber network of 550,000 bands and 35,000 promoters from more than 100 countries.
He led the company as CEO for 13 years, from its inception until after its successful acquisition in a deal backed by Guggenheim Partners.
Panay is also the cofounder of the Open Music Initiative, which has brought together more than 200 leading music, media, technology industry organizations, and academic institutions to create a blockchain-based open protocol for uniform identification of musical rights owners and creators.
At Berklee, his work and approach to entrepreneurial and innovation pedagogy builds heavily on the concepts of music thinking, and in particular jazz, as a catalyst for creative breakthroughs in business, life, and art; and he has spearheaded multi-disciplinary collaborations between Berklee and MIT; the design firm IDEO; and Brown University.
He writes frequently about startups and entrepreneurship for blogs and publications such as Forbes, WSJ Accelerators, and Fast Company; and guest lectures and speaks at many universities and events around the world.
Awards include Fast Company‘s “Fast 50” honor; Inc Magazine‘s “Inc 500”; Mass Hi-Tech All Stars; Berklee College of Music’s Distinguished Alumnus Award; Boston Business Journal’s “40 under 40;” and BostInno‘s 50 on Fire. Sonicbids and Panay were also profiled in a chapter in the Financial Times-published book Outsmart by best-selling author Jim Champy.
Panos Panay is a native of Cyprus and holds a Music Business/Management degree from Berklee College of Music.
Michael Hendrix
Michael Hendrix is a Partner and Global Director of Design at IDEO. As a member of the senior executive team, he collaborates with the firm’s studio leaders and teams to advance IDEO’s creative culture and world-class design capabilities.
A natural trailblazer and collaborator, he co-founded an art school for high schoolers, a professional design curriculum for undergrads, two professional design clubs and three small businesses, the last of which, Tricycle, was recognized by Businessweek and Fortune as a thought leader for sustainable design, and purchased by Shaw Industries, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, in 2017. This diversity of experience has informed his leadership roles at IDEO and his work with leading brands and organizations including Target, Converse, Tempur+Sealy, Steelcase, the DIY Network, and the Department of Homeland Security. In 2015 he served as an advisor to the White House’s global entrepreneur initiative, SPARK.
His 25-year career has made him a sought-after speaker, delivering keynotes at WIRED, SXSW Interactive, SXSW Music, AIGA, FUSE, HOW, Design Management Institute, Sonar+D and Moogfest. He is an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music and a regular guest lecturer at universities including Harvard, Mass Art, RISD and his alma mater, the University of Tennessee.
As a graphic designer, Michael has received more than 50 awards from major U.S. design associations and publications. He is an AIGA Fellow—acknowledging his contribution to raising the standards of excellence in graphic design, a Marshall Memorial Fellow, and a BMW Foundation Alumnus, both acknowledging Trans-Atlantic leadership for civic issues. Michael continues pursuing this interest as a board member of IDEO.org.
He is co-authoring a book about the shared mindsets of musicians and designers, to be published August 2020 by Public Affairs, an imprint of Hachette Book Group.
Links
More on:
LinkedIn:
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!
217 Madoff Talks: Uncovering the Untold Story Behind the Most Notorious Ponzi Scheme in History with Author Jim Campbell
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There’s scams, crimes, and frauds. Then there’s what Bernie Madoff did.
CNBC says that he committed the nation’s biggest investment fraud. The Wall Street Journal called it “the biggest ponzi scheme in history.” At sentencing, Judge Denny Chin called Madoff’s crimes “extraordinarily evil”. In the end, many people lost everything they had.
For those who are unaware, Madoff stole $19.5 billion, which he said had grown to $64.8 billion. Though not a single dollar or penny was ever invested in anything. He stole it, plain and simple.
Jim Campbell joins us in this episode of Follow Your Different, as we cover his book about the topic. His book, Madoff Talks, is already being considered as an authoritative source on this massive crime committed by Bernie Madoff that impoverished thousands of investors around the world.
What you are about to hear is a deep, shocking, and riveting dialogue that takes you through it all. From how Madoff did it, to the systemic problems with US regulators and the ongoing failure of the SEC.
The Hows and Whys of the Book
When asked how the book came to be, Jim talks about how he had built a connection with Bernie Madoff. What started as a simple correspondence culminated in over 400 pages of communication over several years.
Jim figured that with all the information he has, it would be a shame to not do anything with it. So began his mission to investigate and sort out the truths and lies about Madoff’s claims.
As to why he wrote the book, he had 3 major motives for it:
- He wanted to know how Bernie’s mind operated
- The architecture of the whole failure: It was not just Madoff acting alone, but the system enabling him to do so
- Whether or not Madoff’s family knew about it
“The mission to expose the failure of the system is the real takeaway of the book. People were interested in the sexy part: Bernie talking, what did Ruth know, and how the heck did he get away with it. Which is all fascinating and riveting stuff, but the takeaway is this is what had happened and how it happened.” – Jim Campbell
How Madoff Exploited the System
Jim shares how Madoff worked his way around the system, subverting 5 SEC investigations before someone finally figured it out.
Madoff did so by exploiting the system itself, in small ways to keep it unnoticeable. What surprised Jim is how Madoff ran a legitimate, squeaky-clean company to hide his other dealings. So while the company took the brunt of investigations, they couldn’t catch him on anything. Simply because there was nothing to catch on that front.
He further explains that the SEC did not have the right examiners on the case. They kept exonerating him on the wrong crime, which was Frontrunning. The final piece of it was the examiners were never allowed to talk to anyone else in the firm except for Bernie or his right-hand man.
“So he blocked them, he took advantage of the silos, and they kept investigating the wrong (thing). They chased the wrong rabbit.” – Jim Campbell
Penalties, or Lack Thereof
Jim goes on to iterate how Bernie Madoff gamed the system and played to its weaknesses. By studying how individual silos operate and the lack of communication thereof, he got away with a lot of things.
What’s fascinating and horrendous at the same time is that he could’ve easily been called out on his subterfuges had people been more thorough in their line of work. Yet Bernie had a trick for this as well, by usually calling in right before the weekend or after trade hours and seemingly burying details in “paperwork”, or having to check in a foreign office that doesn’t really exist.
When asked if heads rolled after the whole ordeal was made public, here’s what Jim Campbell had to say:
“The SEC reports were excellent reports. None of them were censored, so you got to give them credit. Except they issued it on a Labor Day weekend, with hardly any coverage. Eight people were demoted at the SEC, none at the management level. So yeah, nobody was penalized.” – Jim Campbell
To hear more from Jim Campbell about Bernie Madoff and the damage his actions has wrought, download and listen to this episode.
Bio
Jim Campbell is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show Business Talk with Jim Campbell. He is known for his hard-hitting interviews of leading figures from the worlds of business, politics, and sports.
Known for “firsts,” Campbell snagged the first extensive interview with former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer after his resignation, the first interview with former Tyco CEO Denis Kozlowski after his release from prison, and the first broadcast interview with former stock analyst Roomy Kahn, a government informant in one of the biggest insider trading busts in American history.
Campbell’s extensive corporate, consulting, and entrepreneurial business background includes roles at KPMG Consulting, Dean Witter Financial Services (now Morgan Stanley), and IBM. He is founder and president of JC Ventures, Inc., a management consulting business.
Links
LinkedIn: in/JimCampbell
Book: Madoff Talks: Uncovering the Untold Story Behind the Most Notorious Ponzi Scheme in History
More about Bernie Madoff and Madoff Talks:
Wall Street Journal: Bernie Madoff Dead at 82
CNBC: Bernie Madoff dies, Mastermind of the Nation’s Biggest Investment Fraud
The Guardian: Madoff Talks Review
CBS: Madoff Talks by Jim Campbell
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!
