Peloton co-founder Graham Stanton doesn’t want his employees to have all the answers.
During the early days of the stationary bike startup, the team’s inexperience was one of the company’s biggest assets, Stanton said Wednesday during a virtual interview hosted by Cedar, a health care technology company.
“When I look back at my journey of Peloton and my colleagues, the ones who really succeeded were the ones who put in all the effort to learn,” Stanton said. He added that asking questions such as “How do I do my job today, because the way I did it yesterday no longer applies?” is key to getting ahead.
Founded in 2012 in New York City, Peloton launched with a Kickstarter campaign for its at-home stationary bikes that stream virtual spin classes on monitors. The product tracks workout metrics that can easily be shared on social media. Peloton gained traction quickly from a loyal customer base and went public in 2019. The fast growth required the company to reinvent itself repeatedly. Read More >>
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders are increasingly focused on organizational resilience. Organizational resilience is the ability of an organization to anticipate, prepare for and respond to incremental change and sudden disruptions.
While it’s easy to see the value of this concept, it’s more challenging to identify the concrete actions and skills necessary to make an organization more resilient.
People often associate organizational resilience with the ability to “pivot” and be “agile” (words we’re all sick of hearing after the last year). But resilience is about survival, which doesn’t always entail change.
Overreaction is as potentially damaging as underreaction, especially if leaders make 15 changes at once without a strategy to evaluate their individual impact. It’s usually smarter to flex just enough to weather the current scenario, rather than overhaul the entire organization.
APQC identified six capabilities that help organizations meet the current moment and build for the long-term. Read More >>
The BBC’s weekly The Boss series profiles different business leaders from around the world. When Abigail Forsyth first came up with the idea of making and selling reusable coffee cups, one of the first designers she approached to help was utterly dismissive. Rather than being upset or deterred by the initial negativity they faced, Abigail says it made them determined to work as hard as possible to make the business a success. “It was a real wake-up call,” says the 48-year-old. Fast forward to today, and KeepCup has now sold more than 10 million cups around the world. The company estimates that this has prevented some eight billion disposable ones going into rubbish bins. Looking behind coronavirus, Abigail says she wants KeepCup to be seen as the business “that kick-started the demise of the disposable cup”. Read More >>
Laszlo Bock has become a household name in terms of HR due to his strategic take on the common department. Two and a half years ago, Bock co-founded a company, Humu, that helps executives ensure that teams are as productive and happy as possible. He leveraged his experience at Google and GE to develop what “nudges” or reminders, timed at just the right time to impact behaviors in a positive fashion. Bock describes the genesis of Humu, the technology behind these nudges, and the impact he intends to make at companies as a result of Humu. He believes that we are on the cusp of a revolution in human resources akin to the operations and manufacturing revolutions of a century ago. He takes inspiration from his parents, who immigrated from Romania and inspired change with their businesses in America. Read More >>
Memphis Meats, a California based company, plans to build a pilot production facility to grow meat from animal cells. They have funds raised from high-profile investors including Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Kimbal Musk, as well as two giant players in the animal protein and feed space: Cargill and Tyson Foods. The company says its latest funding round has brought in $161 million in new investment. Memphis Meats is still technically made from animals, but helps fight against the environmental impact of livestock agriculture. Read More >>
Venture capitalists sit through hundreds of pitches a year. Entrepreneurs can make the most out of the opportunity by having their pitch stand out and have enough information to be taken seriously. If executed properly, entrepreneurs can obtain enough capital to jump-start their businesses. By cutting to the chase, investors can lean-in and gain interest right away. Having a specific potential market will increase the venture capitalists’ confidence in the company. Endorsements from fellow team-members in the company is endearing, and something investors like to hear. Automating demonstrations can prevent awkward glitches that can arise. The secret to funding is to have a buffer: ask for double the amount needed. Read More >>
Hiring remote workers gives access to talent and cost savings. Remote workers tend to accomplish more in less time, experience lower levels of stress, feel more connected with their colleagues, and are less likely to quit their job. Today, no matter the location, budget or the skills needed, as long as there is an internet connection, a team can be built and managed. Remote employees can come with challenges as well. Without proper management, transparency, low reliability, poor communication, low productivity, and security issues can arise. Drawbacks can be avoided by hiring to delegate, having expectations quantified and qualified, and by shortening evaluation cycles. Read More >>
The majority of new ventures fail prematurely. A lot of this failure is due to a lack of collaboration within founding teams. Important, early decisions are prone to conflict. Examples of these decisions include funding, development, etc. Because tensions are so high, investors often look at the team-dynamic as much as the start-up product itself. Strong teams can overcome and navigate turbulence, leading them to success. Founders of start-ups are in a unique situation, as they can build and craft their whole team from the ground-up. Teams should be made of both unique skills, and people with interpersonal skills. The culture that the originating team sets usually lasts long after the staff rotates out. Read More >>
The new trend within tech start-ups is giving offering potential talent equity shares. Giving worthy job candidates a share of equity could be the difference of them picking your company over someone else’s. This also motivates workers, and decreases employee turnover. Equity encourages employees to stay long-term, because they are motivated by the idea of the company enters the public stock-market, or if it is sold in the future. Equity acts as a foreign currency, and the amount depends on timing, need, and expertise. It is also very good for attracting potential advisors to the company. Advisors can triple the value of a company, so the equity would eventually pay for itself. Read More >>
While teamwork may have been fostered in youth, it is an incredibly useful skill in the workforce. A study generated over five years of 19.9 million scientific papers and 2.1 patents showed that people produce more work in teams than as individuals. Teams are more important than they used to be because there is much more to learn within a given field. When it comes to building the teams themselves, team-members’ ability to coordinate effectively trumps the individuals on the team’s respective talent. Additionally, teams have their own level of intelligence, which is measured by a group’s ability to perform tasks. Read More >>
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