1: “Our bread wasn’t good enough,” Ron Shaich writes in Know What Matters: Lessons from a Lifetime of Transformations.

This was a real issue for Ron because he was CEO of Panera Bread.

“Bread” was in the company name.

And, one of the company’s guiding principles was: “Bread is our passion, soul, and expertise.”

Ron knew he had to fix this problem. The stakes were high.

And it … continue reading

1: There are two traps CEOs and leadership teams fall into regarding innovation.

Trap #1: “The minute we think we truly understand the customer and can take our attention off discovering what matters, we’re dead,” Panera founder Ron Shaich writes in Know What Matters: Lessons from a Lifetime of Transformations.

“Sooner or later,” Ron notes, “even the most brilliant and innovative concept will fall behind the times and become … continue reading

1: “Top-down innovation gets a bad rap,” Panera founder Ron Shaich writes in his terrific book Know What Matters: Lessons from a Lifetime of Transformations.

“The popular business press abounds with criticism of initiatives that come tumbling down from the peak of the org chart,” Ron observes.

“And yet, take a closer look at most companies, and you’ll find that organizations are still doing it that way.”

Why is … continue reading

1: “So tell me this,” the young executive asked, “Is Panera almost as good as Donatos?”

“Is he joking?” Panera Bread CEO Ron Shaich thought to himself.

It was the early 2000s. Ron was sitting in an executive boardroom at McDonald’s headquarters outside Chicago. Ten years earlier, he had purchased the St. Louis Bread Company and renamed it Panera.

On the other side of the table were members of McDonald’s … continue reading

1: “What are we not doing?”

That was the question Opsware CEO Ben Horowitz added to the agenda of his weekly staff meeting.

After several near-death experiences during the dot-com bust of the early 2000s, the company began to show signs of life.

“Now that we’d improved our competitive position, we went on the offensive,” Ben writes in his wonderful book The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business … continue reading

1: Yesterday, we looked at the wild story of Opsware’s acquisition of Tangram.

Which saved Opsware.

Because it allowed them to retain EDS as a client.

Which accounted for 90% of Opsware’s revenue.

“During acquisition talks,” Opsware CEO Ben Horowitz writes in his book The Hard Thing About Hard Things, “both sides had agreed that Tangram’s CFO, John Nelli, would not become part of Opsware.”

2: But, … continue reading

1: The two Opsware leaders sat in a sterile conference room at the EDS headquarters in Plano, Texas.

EDS was their largest customer.

“Largest customer really understates it,” Opsware CEO Ben Horowitz writes in his book The Hard Thing About Hard Things.  “EDS accounted for 90 percent of our revenue.”

On the other side of the table sat Frank Johnson (not his real name)—“a big guy who grew up … continue reading

1: In the middle of the dot-com crash, against all odds, Ben Horowitz had succeeded in finding a buyer for Loudcloud, the cloud computing company he had founded.

EDS agreed to acquire the firm for $63.5 million in cash, along with the associated liabilities and cash burn.

Not only that, “we would retain the intellectual property, Opsware, and become a software company,” Ben writes.

“EDS would then license … continue reading

1: Today we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., perhaps the most influential American of the 20th century.

And yet, the greatest American civil rights leader was at first unwilling.

In September 1954, at age 25, Martin had just completed his doctorate at Boston University. Soon after, he and his wife, Coretta, moved to Montgomery, Alabama, so he could pursue his goal of becoming a pastor. … continue reading

1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about.

Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. On Fridays or over the weekend, I try to share some wisdom or something I’m thinking about or working on.

May 4th will mark seven years of writing RiseWithDrew every weekday.  Haven’t missed a day except for holidays.

For the last several years, I’ve done … continue reading