12 Cuban lessons; 5 ways to avoid commoditization; 2 employees needed; and a bonus chapter

"…insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Wisdom from Mark Cuban — Shark Tank judge; investor in over 150 companies; and sports team owner closed-out our Growth Summit last week. Here's a link to 5 biz lessons from Mark. Below are a dozen more, but first…

It's Strategic Planning Time — … and there is a bonus Scaling Up chapter to download on how to prepare and run a strategic planning session, including a sample One-Page Strategic Plan. Go to www.scalingup.com. And below under EDUCATION are the Scaling Up workshops near you.

5 Ways to Avoid Commoditization — my latest Venture column in Fortune addresses a universal problem — commoditization driven by increased competition in almost every industry. To maintain healthy margins, here are five strategies:

1. Create a third market place
2. Target the right customers
3. Add a dose of expertise
4. Don't keep them (customers) waiting
5. Amp up the personal touch

Please take 1 minute to read through the details. Thank you to Steve Hall, driversSelect.com; Dave Monahan, Smart Dolphins; Chris Parker, Innvision Hospitality; and Dr. David Michael, North Shore Pediatric Therapy for sharing their best practices.

Friction-Free Economy — "Why Every Aspect of Your Business is About to Change" is the title of an insightful article in Fortune this month. Notes writer Geoff Colvin:

He goes on to note:

Colvin concludes, as Tom Peters suggested decades ago, that all of us will eventually work in…:

So how might you transform the nature of work in your company/industry? How will you prepare/create the next future? This is why strategic thinking is so important – with time to read and reflect and reinvent your world.

Vision for EO and Others — BTW, I agree with John Chambers, quoted at the beginning of this insight. This was always my vision for the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) and my own organizations – that they would eventually be run by just two people. Save this article for the weekend.

Wrap-Up Day 1 — Over 900+ CEOs and executives of scaleups gathered for a meet-up in Dallas at our two-day Growth Summit presented by Fortune. A record number of standing ovations were received by our world-class faculty. I'll share one short interview from the Summit each week that will give you a couple practical tips for scaling up your business, along with reasons to read their book.

Ron Kaufman's Uplifting Service — Here is a 4 minute interview with Ron Kaufman, author of Uplifting Service. The guru that helped Singapore become known for customer service, Ron shares a simple definition of service that makes it very operational (2:25 into the video) and reminds us that outstanding customer service is a key way to de-commoditize the business. FYI, our next Summit is May 24 – 25, Atlanta with an optional May 26 Rockefeller Habits 2.0 user conference.

Mark Cuban's 12 Keys to Success — capping off our Growth Summit was an unscripted hour with Mark Cuban. My favorite insight, when asked about his biggest failure and the lessons learned, he thought for a moment and then noted that he's failed a lot – and the one thing in common with all his failures is "thinking he was too smart." Leaders must continue to listen and learn, something Mark does by being a voracious reader and making it a point to sit in the cheap seats and talk with fans. Here's a link to 12 more practical tips from Mark, succinctly captured in Kevin Daum's Tuesday Inc. column – it's worth the 2 minutes to scan his bullet points.

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if your company would be a good candidate to work with an executive growth coach? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients.

TECHNOLOGY:

Align Software puts everyone on the Same Page – Literally! See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progress on their priorities – alongside how these Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.aligntoday.com– on your computer and on your phone.

Better Book Club — What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.