Rapid Response

Latest Episodes:

Leading with your gut, w/Lifeway Foods CEO Julie Smolyansky May 21, 2020

Show notes

Tapping both personal experience and intuition, Lifeway CEO Julie Smolyansky has embraced action amid uncertainty. Before the pandemic reached full throttle, Lifeway stockpiled seven weeks worth of product, secured supply chains, and reached out to all their customers. Mask on, Smolyansky personally visited her Chicago warehouse, made in-person donations to the food pantry at Wrigley Field, and went to dozens of stores across the city searching for thermometers for her team. The crisis, she says, has evoked her early years in the Soviet Union and her family's fight, as immigrants, to live the American Dream.

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Future-proofing, w/Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg May 16, 2020

Show notes

Data streaming, videoconferencing – even phone calls are way up at Verizon amid Covid-19, as digital interaction steps in for IRL. But boom times don't mean easy times for CEO Hans Vestberg, who moved over 100,000 employees remote in two weeks. As coronavirus hit and pressure on the Verizon network skyrocketed, Vestberg split his leadership team in two: one to deal with the specifics of the crisis and one to focus on pursuing present-and-future business goals. From new customer initiatives (like free bandwidth and FIOS-in-a-box) to future bets (like the acquisition of video conferencing service BlueJeans), Vestberg has championed that meeting customers' needs today – even if not fully compensated for them – will pay off for the business tomorrow.

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Operating in a fishbowl w/76ers & Devils CEO Scott O’Neil May 09, 2020

Show notes

In sports, everyone has an opinion on every hire, every trade, every price change. That’s the reality – and also the privilege, says Scott O'Neil, CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. When the NBA dramatically shut down its season MID-PLAY, O'Neil's life changed in a very public way. He has faced new leadership challenges that include missteps, like the decision (and sudden reversal) of cutting employee salaries, and discoveries, like knowing it’s ok to tap out when you need to recharge. With no players on the court or fans in the arena, O'Neil is shifting his focus on what the new era of sports and entertainment can look like.

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Crisis lessons from inside the ER, w/physician Dr. Bon Ku May 07, 2020

Show notes

In the Covid-19 storm, treating hospital patients requires constant iteration, creative information-sharing, and worst-case-scenario planning. Dr. Bon Ku, an ER physician and director of the Health Design Lab at Jefferson University in Philadelphia, takes us inside the practice and mindset required to perform under extraordinary pressure. He offers on-the-ground business insights we can all learn from, as he looks toward the future and reflects on a possible second wave of infections and the faulty incentives in the medical system.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Food security in a pandemic, w/Gro Intelligence founder and CEO Sara Menker May 05, 2020

Show notes

Will the U.S. run out of food? Can the world's food supply chains survive coronavirus? Sara Menker, founder and CEO of Gro Intelligence, which parses 650 trillion agricultural data points daily, shares eye-opening insights based on real-time facts. Learn about the hidden forces that impact what we see on shelves -- and why we might be worrying about the wrong things.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the frontlines of scale, w/AAMC CEO Dr. David Skorton May 02, 2020

Show notes

Hospitals are facing overwhelming challenges they weren’t equipped for – and in many cases, they’re now innovating their way toward solutions. Today we're talking with Dr. David Skorton, CEO of the AAMC, the Association of American Medical Colleges. David isn’t a founder or an entrepreneur but he has a bird’s eye view of what health institutions are grappling with, how they need to rethink the way they operate, and what all of us – in any kind of organization – can learn from this moment.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Inside a pandemic pivot, w/Panera CEO Niren Chaudhary Apr 30, 2020

Show notes

What do you do when you can’t serve customers in cafes and carry on business as usual? You try unusual things, says Panera CEO Niren Chaudhary. Forced to close cafes and restructure teams, Panera is leveraging its advantages (like a robust e-commerce system) to launch a slew of initiatives, from Panera Grocery to contactless delivery to Together Without Hunger, providing 500,000 meals to food banks across the U.S. It’s not the same Panera, says Chaudhary, but a Panera that will make it into the post-pandemic world.

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A crisis leadership session, w/General Stanley McChrystal Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

Everyone's looking for a box of crisis tricks. But the hard truth is that it simply doesn’t exist, says retired General Stanley McChrystal. Instead of looking for a new style, McChrystal says, lead with the same things that motivate people on a normal basis: Be honest about the path ahead, communicate clearly and build your team up. With calm reassurance, he encourages founders to keep their eyes on the future. Prepare for the post-pandemic world now, so you and your team can spring to action when the time comes. Retired General McChrystal is now the founder of the McChrystal Group.

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Pet adoptions: Up. Delivery business: Up, w/Chewy CEO Sumit Singh Apr 25, 2020

Show notes

Pet adoptions have soared during the coronavirus lockdown, as people seek companionship and solace. For Chewy, the pet-supply company, that’s driving unprecedented demand. Ultra-rapid growth has its own set of challenges that CEO Sumit Singh is responding to by: hiring (at 13,000 employees, with plans to add another 6,000 to 10,000 by end of year.); setting up a COVID task team that meets daily; instituting health and safety checks; rolling out customer-facing innovations in a weekend, and more. Why? Because a leader's job during a crisis, Singh says, is to first communicate with the team, and then innovate for a post-pandemic world.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Neighbors are the frontline of support, w/Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar Apr 24, 2020

Show notes

A neighborhood is more than just the people who share a common address, says Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar. It’s every space that makes up your daily life. So Nextdoor is jumping in, rolling out new features like Help Maps and Groups so residents can connect and coordinate. Sarah says these products, some new, some in development pre-Covid, all help fulfill Nextdoor’s mission and help neighbors act as the frontline of support for one another.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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