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Robert Rosenberg is a legendary entrepreneur CEO and author who has helped change the world today. He also has a brand new book, Around the Corner to Around the World: A Dozen Lessons. In his book, he talks about how he ran Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins.

Today, we have a real conversation with Robert about his story and the lessons that he has learned through the successes and setbacks in his life. He lets us in on the real story behind one of the most legendary marketing campaigns of all time. He even shares with us the story of how munchkins a.k.a doughnuts holes came to be, and so much more exciting topics!

The Best and The Brightest

Robert specifically talks about David Halberstam’s book: The Best and The Brightest. The book made him realize the importance of humility and listening, rather than talking. He discusses how this has led him to place processes and policies that have helped strengthen and grow the business even further. 

“It was a learning moment, I was maybe 35. So it was 10 years, I’d love to say I came into the job at 25 and was all grown up, but I wasn’t, clearly. This was a grown-up moment, and it was essential for the next four or five years, each with different responses, different strategies. Basically, we never look back and we were well on our way not to make that mistake again. I’m forever thankful and that came out of a book, but a lot of things for me came out of books.” – Robert Rosenberg

The Story of Munchkins

An interesting part of the conversation is when Robert shared how munchkins came to be. He also shares his amazement on how this Halloween product turned into the phenomenon that it is today.

“That was the beginning of a product that now when you look back 50 years later is still a mainstay on the menu. And a treat for people all the time. Not just for Halloween, but 24/7 and 12 months a year.” – Robert Rosenberg

Aspiration and Superior Strategy

The ability to build the value of the brand, through a real commitment to product quality, and through great organization and an incredible team has led Dunkin Donuts into the industry it is today. Robert even shares his 3 P’s: good planning, great people, and a real commitment to products.

“You don’t necessarily pick the times it comes. Believe me, for 35 years, it’s gone, come and you have to be prepared for that because day to day activities, things come in over the transom constantly at you. It’s easy to get waylaid and in my view, if the strategy isn’t spot on, if the organization isn’t appropriate and spot-on, this little else you can do in terms of activity that can save the day and create success.” – Robert Rosenberg

To know more about Robert Rosenberg and his story and Lessons Learned From Running Dunkin Donuts For 35 Years, download and listen to this episode. 

Bio:

Robert M. Rosenberg (born 1938) is an American businessman, professor, and author. He was the chief executive officer of Dunkin’ Donuts for thirty-five years from 1963 to 1998 and also served on the board of directors of Sonic Corp and Domino’s Pizza. He was also an adjunct professor at Babson College’s F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business.

In 1963, at the age of 25,[9] Rosenberg assumed leadership of his family business, Universal Food Systems, as CEO and president. At the time, the company consisted of several small businesses grossing $20 million per year, including 100 Dunkin’ Donuts locations in the U.S., generating $10 million in annual sales. Rosenberg transformed Universal Food Systems to focus on Dunkin’ Donuts.

On February 6, 1968, Rosenberg took the company through its initial public offering. In September 1983, Rosenberg became chairman while continuing to serve as CEO of Dunkin’ Donuts. The company remained publicly traded until 1989, earning investors a 35% compound rate of return. During his tenure as Dunkin’ Donuts CEO, Rosenberg served on the board of the International Franchise Association. In 1970, he served as the association’s chairman.

In late 1989, Dunkin’ Donuts announced its acquisition by Allied-Lyons PLC, a large UK food and beverage group which also owned Baskin-Robbins. Rosenberg continued to lead the company that became known as Allied Domecq Retailing (later Dunkin’ Brands) which also acquired Togo’s sandwich shops. By the time Rosenberg retired in 1998, the company had about 6,500 locations around the world.

Following his retirement, Rosenberg went on to become an adjunct professor at Babson College’s F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business. He also served as a trustee of the college. In addition to teaching at Babson, Rosenberg was on the board of directors at Sonic Corp., from April 1993 to 2016, and Domino’s Pizza, from 1999 until April 2010, where he served both companies as chairman of their compensation committees.

Links:

Linkedin: Robert Rosenberg

Book: Around the Corner to Around the World: A Dozen Lessons I Learned Running Dunkin Donuts

 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!

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We continue our run on legendary authors with our guest today, Annie Duke. She’s got a new book out called How To Decide: Simple Tools For Making Better Choices. In this episode, she teaches us about how she thinks about decisions, and how building stronger decision skills can make a difference at a time of crisis, particularly like the kind of time we’re living in now. 

She was one of the world’s top professional poker players. She tells us how to think about the possible and the probable, how to think about the different futures that could occur. Anne’s got a very provocative point of view about luck that I think you’ll find fascinating. In addition, I would suggest you pay close attention to her thoughts on the power of a hedge. 

Every Decision Is A Bet

Annie briefly tells us what has been going on in her life and family, especially during the pandemic. She shares her personal journey and professional background on how she got into poker. Take note where she shares how to decisions while facing massive amounts of uncertainty.

“The point is to hold all those possibilities in your head at once. To be thinking when you should be making the decision. What does that look like under different futures that might occur? So how much money might you win or gain under those futures, or I might be setting up a play. If one of those futures were to occur, you might do something now that allows you to do something later. You have to be thinking about all those things at once. So you always have to have it in mind that the future is uncertain.” – Annie Duke

Hedging Bets

On this topic, Annie discusses the companions to bets, which are called a ‘hedge’. This, diving in deeper, can refer to the different ways the future can unfold and the negative impact it can have in life. Annie shares with us further its meaning as well as examples to help set the tone of the message.

Further, she advises to mitigate and weigh in the cost that comes with the negative outcomes. She then connects hedging with what she calls ‘the paradox of experience’.

“It fits into this broad category of something I call the paradox of experience, which is that you need experience in order to become a better decision maker. Any single experience could interfere with the lessons that you learn. There’s many, many possible futures, but only one past. Once we know the past that occur, we sort of think of it as inevitable. Then we regret having done anything that would plan for any other future.” – Annie Duke

Good Decision Process

Annie discusses how choosing different options can contribute to the likelihood of receiving luck. This luck can influence life in different ways, whether for the good or bad. In addition, she discusses beliefs as a foundation of the decision making process and how the information gathered from this can contribute to the decisions made. 

“There’s different probabilities of each option occurring. It could be that you have the same set of possibilities, but they have different impacts. The magnitude of those things is different. So this kind of tells you now if you can think about those two options. You want to understand what that set looks like. And then when you choose an option, what you’ve done is you’ve decided on the set of possibilities, and how probable each of those things is to occur. Which thing actually happens.” – Annie Duke

To know more about how to make better decisions and the challenges that come with it, download and listen to this episode.

Bio:

Annie Duke has leveraged her expertise in the science of smart decision making to excel at pursuits as varied as championship poker to public speaking.

Annie’s latest book, How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices, is available on September 15, 2020, from Portfolio, a Penguin Random House imprint. Her previous book, Thinking in Bets, is a national bestseller.

In the book, Annie reveals to readers the lessons she regularly shares with her corporate audiences, which have been cultivated by combining her academic studies in cognitive psychology with real-life decision-making experiences at the poker table.

For two decades, Annie was one of the top poker players in the world. In 2004, she bested a field of 234 players to win her first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet.

The same year, she triumphed in the $2 million winner-take-all, invitation-only WSOP Tournament of Champions. In 2010, she won the prestigious NBC National Heads- Up Poker Championship.

She retired from the game in 2012. Prior to becoming a professional poker player, Annie was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship to study Cognitive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her master’s degree.

Annie now spends her time writing, coaching, and speaking on a range of topics such as decision fitness, emotional control, productive decision groups, and embracing uncertainty.

She is a regularly sought-after public speaker, addressing thousands in keynote remarks at conferences for organizations ranging from the Investment Management Consultants Association to the Big Ten Conference.

She has been brought in to speak to the executive teams or sales forces of organizations like Marriott, Gaylord Resorts, and Ultimate Software, among others. She is a sought-after speaker in the financial sector, with clients such as Susquehanna International Group and CitiBank.

Annie regularly shares her observations on decision making and critical thinking skills on her blog, Annie’s Analysis, and has shared her poker knowledge through a series of best-selling poker instruction and theory books, including Decide to Play Great Poker and The Middle Zone: Mastering the Most difficult Hands in Hold’em Poker (both co-authored with John Vorhaus).

Annie is a master storyteller, having performed three times for The Moth, an organization that preserves the art of spoken word storytelling.

One of her stories was selected by The Moth as one of their top 50 stories and featured in the organization’s first-ever book.

Her passion for making a difference has helped raise millions for charitable causes. In 2006, she founded Ante Up for Africa along with actor Don Cheadle and Norman Epstein, which has raised more than $4 million for Africans in need.

She has also served on the board of The Decision Education Foundation. In 2009, she appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice and raised $730,000 for Refugees International, a charity that advocates for refugees around the world.

In October 2013, Annie became a national board member for After School All-Stars. In 2014, Annie co-founded The Alliance for Decision Education to build a national movement that empowers teachers, school administrators and policymakers to bring Decision Education to every Middle and High School student. In 2016, she began serving on the board of directors of The Franklin Institute, one of America’s oldest and greatest science museums. In 2020, she joined the board of the Renew Democracy Initiative.

Annie currently resides in the Philadelphia area.

Links:

Annie Duke

How to Decide – Free Chapter

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!

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This is a giant one! Our prediction is that this episode will break the internet. Today, the second part of the series, we go deep with the Forbes reporter who, in all likelihood knows more about President Trump’s business, than anyone outside The Trump Organization, Dan Alexander. He’s got a deeply researched book called Whitehouse Inc. How Donald Trump Turned The Presidency Into A Business.

We think it is important for every American voter, whether you love President Trump or not, to know what kind of business person he is. President Trump has promoted himself as an entrepreneur, so now we get to go deep into his business.

Stunning Revelations

There are many stunning revelations in this first part of the series. Dan answers the question, is the President actually a billionaire. He examines for us how well or how poorly the president businesses are currently doing, where he makes money, and loses money. He also dives deep into how much the President would have made if he had sold all of his assets, and put them in a blind trust and whether or not that would have been a better move for him. 

“I believe it was 1982. Donald Trump was on the first one [Forbes 400]. He should not have been, but he snuck his way onto that list. His father deserves to be on it. He did not. He sort of conned his way onto the list.” – Dan Alexander

Owning Complex Businesses

Also, you’re going to discover what happened politically, after the Government of Qatar rented office space in a building in San Francisco, that the President owns 30% of. We also get into the potential conflicts of interest the President faces as he owns such a complex business organization. Further, we get Dan’s take on the New York Times report on Mr. Trump’s taxes. 

Conversation with Eric Trump

You can also find in this episode about Dan’s conversation with Eric Trump and what Eric Trump told Dan, about his father’s involvement in the business during the presidency. Eric also revealed to Dan, what the Trump organization’s real business strategy is, and a whole lot more. 

Dan and Christopher try to unpack this information as best as possible. 

“I asked Eric about it. I said, ‘what are your plans here?’ He told me, flat-out, that he planned on updating his dad on the financials of the business. This was like a month or two after his dad said the exact opposite. So right there, upfront, one of the core promises falls by the wayside. Then you have Trump promises that he’s not going to do any new foreign deals. He does limit some of his foreign deals, as I mentioned earlier. He does do new foreign deals, he ends up selling land in the Dominican Republic while he’s in office.” – Dan Alexander

To know more inside information on President Trump’s Business, Taxes & More and for more information about the author of Whitehouse Inc., Dan Alexander, download and listen to this episode.

Bio:

Dan Alexander is a Senior Editor at Forbes where he covers President Donald Trump and he’s the author of White House, Inc.

Links:

Book: White House, Inc.

Linkedin: Dan Alexander

Twitter: @danalexander21

Forbes.com, Yes, Donald Trump Is Still A Billionaire. That Makes His $750 Tax Payment Even More Scandalous

Sfchronicle.com, SF’s 555 California, partly owned by Trump, could be sold

Forbes: Dan Alexander

NY Times Book Review: White House Inc.

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!

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This is a giant one! Our prediction is that this episode will break the internet. Today, the first of two episodes, we go deep with the Forbes reporter who, in all likelihood knows more about President Trump’s business, than anyone outside The Trump Organization, Dan Alexander. He’s got a deeply researched book called Whitehouse Inc. How Donald Trump Turned The Presidency Into A Business.

We think it is important for every American voter, whether you love President Trump or not, to know what kind of business person he is. President Trump has promoted himself as an entrepreneur, so now we get to go deep into his business. 

Stunning Revelations

There are many stunning revelations in this first part of the series. Dan answers the question, is the President actually a billionaire. He examines for us how well or how poorly the president businesses are currently doing, where he makes money, and loses money. He also dives deep into how much the President would have made if he had sold all of his assets, and put them in a blind trust and whether or not that would have been a better move for him. 

“I believe it was 1982. Donald Trump was on the first one [Forbes 400]. He should not have been, but he snuck his way onto that list. His father deserves to be on it. He did not. He sort of conned his way onto the list.” – Dan Alexander

Owning Complex Businesses

Also, you’re going to discover what happened politically, after the Government of Qatar rented office space in a building in San Francisco, that the President owns 30% of. We also get into the potential conflicts of interest the President faces as he owns such a complex business organization. Further, we get Dan’s take on the New York Times report on Mr. Trump’s taxes. 

Conversation with Eric Trump

You can also find in this episode about Dan’s conversation with Eric Trump and what Eric Trump told Dan, about his father’s involvement in the business during the presidency. Eric also revealed to Dan, what the Trump organization’s real business strategy is, and a whole lot more. 

Dan and Christopher try to unpack this information as best as possible. 

“I asked Eric about it. I said, ‘what are your plans here?’ He told me, flat-out, that he planned on updating his dad on the financials of the business. This was like a month or two after his dad said the exact opposite. So right there, upfront, one of the core promises falls by the wayside. Then you have Trump promises that he’s not going to do any new foreign deals. He does limit some of his foreign deals, as I mentioned earlier. He does do new foreign deals, he ends up selling land in the Dominican Republic while he’s in office.” – Dan Alexander

To know more inside information on President Trump’s Business, Taxes & More and for more information about the author of Whitehouse Inc., Dan Alexander, download and listen to this episode.

Bio:

Dan Alexander is a Senior Editor at Forbes where he covers President Donald Trump and he’s the author of White House, Inc.

Links:

Book: White House, Inc.

Linkedin: Dan Alexander

Twitter: @danalexander21

Forbes.com, Yes, Donald Trump Is Still A Billionaire. That Makes His $750 Tax Payment Even More Scandalous

Sfchronicle.com, SF’s 555 California, partly owned by Trump, could be sold

Forbes: Dan Alexander

NY Times Book Review: White House Inc.

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!

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We have another super special episode for you today. Recently, Christopher was lucky enough to get an opportunity to start a new podcast with Navin Chaddha, who leads Mayfield, one of the top venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. What you’re about to listen to is a recent episode of the brand new podcast called Conscious VC. It’s with an extraordinary man named Sal Khan.

In this episode of Conscious VC, Naveen and Christopher have a riveting conversation with Sal, he takes you into why his mission is free education for everyone in the world. He unveils some of his biggest learnings in building an incredible education nonprofit, the Khan Academy, and his key learnings for entrepreneurs.

Free World Class Education

Navin, Sal, and Christopher discuss Sal’s professional and personal achievements, as well as, Khan Academy, its mission and what it stands for. Sal goes into detail about Khan Academy’s mission not being about profit, but rather establishing free world class education for anyone anywhere. He hopes that this platform can lead to various opportunities for the children. Whether that be through college admissions, apprenticeships, and job opportunities.

“You know, I think these days, it’s very easy to beat up on public education. There’s a lot of things that are imperfect, a lot of things that need to be fixed. We’re trying to work in partnership with school districts and teachers to help address some of that. I think it is worth it. Giving credit for how much the world has transformed because of this very aspirational public education.” – Sal Khan

Be Authentic and Honest

Sal and Navin dive deeper into the factors that have contributed to Khan Academy and Mayfield’s success. Sal shares his key learnings and advice for entrepreneurs who plan to follow in his footsteps. It all starts with the vision, mission, and key insight. These all bring back to the question of how one can make the world a better place. He continues to discuss how content should be based on what you’re excited about and what you truly believe in. Sal hopes Khan Academy can fulfill this potential and create a legacy that can help shape the world.

“My role is to make sure that Khan Academy can really stay true to the vision. Now, while hopefully I’m alive for many decades. I want to retain it, that focus on a mission, which historically, nonprofits can be reasonably good at. At the same time, I want to stay nimble. There’s one fear that Khan Academy disappears, and it’s not able to fulfill its potential. There’s another fear that it fulfills its potential, but then it becomes the legacy, it becomes the entrenched interest.” – Sal Khan

Creating Pathways to Learning

Navin and Sal share more about Mayfield and Khan Academy as well as the programs they offer to help expand the students opportunities for learning and growth. He discusses his fascination on these innovative models and how they have paved a way to the hybrid online world. Sal then goes on to talk about how these programs are truly a fast track opportunity for the students. In addition, he shares the struggles that they have been facing combining both the platforms of education in the midst of the pandemic.

“I think from my perspective, we need more people like what Sal has done with his life. People who are helping build businesses, for better and are making a positive impact in the world. I hope many people and entrepreneurs who don’t need to do this, including VCs like me, use our time, money, ideas and access. We can even start with 1%. And that’s what Mayfield has started with the pledge 1%. And my belief is, each smaller drop in the bucket fills buckets that can fill in a pond, and then sky’s the limit. So we have to just get started and have role models like Sal and others who are showing us the way. I think we have endless possibilities.” – Navin Chaddha

To know more about the mission and vision of Khan Academy and Mayfield, download and listen to this episode. 

Bio:

Navin Chaddha

Navin Chaddha leads Mayfield. He has ranked on the Forbes Midas List of Global Tech Investors 12 times, including being named a Top Five investor in 2020.

During his career as a venture capitalist, he has invested in over 50 companies, 17 of which have gone public and 20 have been acquired. Some of his investments include Lyft, Poshmark, SolarCity, Hashicorp, Elastica, CloudGenix, and CloudSimple.

As an entrepreneur, he has co-founded or led three startups including VXtreme, a streaming media platform, acquired by Microsoft to become Windows Media.

Navin is a committed philanthropist who directs Mayfield’s 50-year tradition of philanthropy to support many causes including diversity, health, hunger, and education.

Interests: Cricket, Bollywood.

Salman Khan

Salman Amin (Sal) Khan (age 42) is a New Orleans educator, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former hedge fund analyst. He is the founder of the Khan Academy, a free online education platform and nonprofit organization. From a closet in his home, Khan has produced over 11,500 videos, teaching a wide spectrum of academic subjects, mainly focusing on mathematics and the sciences. As of August 2019, the main Khan Academy Channel on YouTube attracted more than 5,017,000 subscribers.

Being founder and faculty means Sal’s busy setting the vision for the Khan Academy and expanding our library of educational videos.

Before quitting his job as manager of a hedge fund to run the Khan Academy full-time, Sal also found time to get three degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard. – Khan Academy

Links:

Follow Your Different Episode 168

Conscious VC Podcast

Khan Academy

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!