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Bold Vision

Excited to join the MBA case study style webinar on WeWork tomorrow from Scott Galloway (Prof Galloway, NYU) and Section 4. The balance between visionary storytelling (Amazon), willing a company to success through reality distortion fields (Tesla, Apple) and fraud (WeWork) is fragile. Paraphrasing Prof Galloway, the Characteristics of a Bold Vision include:

  1. Aspirational – must be compelling. Shareholders and Stakeholders want to go there with you;
  2. Believable – must have substance. Is it conceivable, achievable, doable;
  3. Does the company (or you, if creating an individual vision) bring unique assets or resources to deliver on that vision.
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Three Levers to Manage Cash for Growth

Resonating deeply right now:

Lever 1: Speed up cash flow. Work on collections (if you don’t have solid credit policies, get that dialed and stick to it to make sure A/R is collectible) and forecast better (reduces unnecessary, rushed cash outlays).

Lever 2: Reduce costs. Negotiate with vendors, hire to real need, look for savings in the value chain, know your unit economics.

Lever 3: Raise prices. Make sure you have the value proposition before you work this one.

Simple, but not always easy if the team isn’t aligned and doesn’t understand the levers.