Jason Sisneros 
The rise of e-commerce in the late 1990s and early 2000s ushered in a major shift in consumer shopping habits and revolutionized retail. As more people began shopping online, brick-and-mortar chains struggled to keep pace with the demand for internet retail. Many were unable to effectively adapt their business models for the digital age. Walmart … Read more
Running a business is like learning a new language – call it “Corporatelese.” Navigating the world of business has its own dense lexicon that must be decoded to foster effective communication between entrepreneurs, managers, and stakeholders. Though corporate jargon often perplexes the uninitiated, taking the time to unpack these concepts is essential for any aspiring … Read more
Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and the Genius of Reverse Engineering When Boeing set out to design the 787 Dreamliner in the early 2000s, they wanted to create an airplane that would provide exceptional passenger comfort and long-range capability at greater fuel efficiency than any previous wide-body aircraft. Essentially, they asked – what would the ideal next-generation … Read more
When Indra Nooyi returned to her native India in 2007, newly appointed as PepsiCo’s CEO, she noticed something deeply moving. At every turn, people congratulated not Indra herself but her mother, recognizing her role in nurturing Indra’s journey to success. This awakened something in Indra. She realized that behind every leader, there are often unseen … Read more
When Netflix launched in the late 1990s, it disrupted the movie rental industry by offering a DVD-by-mail subscription service without late fees. It was a novel idea that found an eager customer base. In the early years, Netflix aggressively invested in optimizing its DVD rental operations. They refined the movie recommendation algorithm, expanded their distribution … Read more
The first and most important choice a leader makes is the choice to serve, without which one’s capacity to lead is severely limited. – Robert Greenleaf In 1970, Robert Greenleaf, a former AT&T executive and researcher, developed the theory of servant leadership, a radical perspective on leadership that teaches that the best leaders are those … Read more
You’ve conceived a brilliant idea. It’s amazing. A game changer. You can’t wait to share it with the world. You quit your job. Borrow money from grandma and pull out the last penny from your kid’s piggy bank. You’re convinced it’s going to work. Hold your horses … you missed a step. The Common Trap … Read more
You’re at a concert. The curtain rises. The maestro bows and takes his place. As he opens the folder that holds his sheet music, you can tell he’s starting to panic. The folder is empty…. He lifts his baton, and the orchestra starts to play. For a minute or two, it sounds fine. And then… … Read more
If you expect your journey as a business person to be a pleasant mountain hike — think again. For most entrepreneurs starting out, the business journey is more like a jungle expedition…on foot. Sometimes you’re crawling, sometimes you’re sprinting, and you never know what’s lurking in the bushes. Because the unexpected can happen so, well, … Read more
You’ve known for weeks this isn’t working out. But you can’t bring yourself to cut the cord. After all, you’ve invested so much into this. You had dreams. And the thought of starting over scares the crap out of you. It’s called the “Sunk Cost Fallacy.” The “Sunk Cost Fallacy” is a cognitive pattern that … Read more
