158: Doug Walner — Scale Efficiently with Align
Release Date: 07/17/2019
Ingraining Culture with a Manifesto
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this episode Bill emphasizes the significant impact of crafting a company manifesto as a foundational tool for embedding cultural elements deeply and swiftly into the organizational fabric. This manifesto should articulate the company's purpose, its emotional core, the vision for the future, the values guiding its operations, promises made to customers, and a long-term transformational goal, commonly referred to as a "big, hairy, audacious goal" (BHAG). By doing so, a manifesto provides a comprehensive overview of why the company exists, its direction, how it plans to get there, the...
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Culture, creating a strong one
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this episode, Bill delves into the significance of creating a powerful and positive company culture as a foundational strategy for scaling businesses effectively and sustainably. He likens the ideal company culture to a "good cult," emphasizing the need for intentional, cult-like qualities within a company to foster unity, commitment, and shared values among team members. By drawing parallels with companies like Disney and Apple, known for their strong, cult-like cultures, Bill outlines how such a culture can significantly contribute to a company's success by enhancing...
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Managing a Positive Cash Flow with Peter Kingma
Scaling Up Business Podcast
If maintaining positive cash flow is keeping you up at night, this is the conversation you need to hear. Once you’ve got cash figured out, everything runs more smoothly. Peter Kingma works with multinational clients and leads EY Working Capital services in the Americas. Corporate leaders entrust him to help liberate cash through operational improvements, which help in reducing costs and improving service quality. His new book, Cash Is King, discusses why your company’s cash position should be on an equal footing with sales, cost, and service, and how to make that happen. ...
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Core Values, how to develop and use them
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this insightful episode, Bill delves into the essence and significance of company core values, demystifying how to get them right and why they are so crucial for creating a thriving, scalable business. He emphasizes that core values are not mere aspirational statements or the embodiment of desired traits but rather a reflection of how a company operates at its best. Bill argues that core values should guide the behavior and decisions within a company, ensuring it grows in a way that remains true to its founding principles without becoming overwhelming or diverging into something the founder...
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Delegating as a Leader with Dave Kerpen
Scaling Up Business Podcast
Effective leaders know how to delegate the things they don’t do well — or don’t want to do well — so that they can focus on their strengths and move the company toward greater success. Dave Kerpen is currently an advisor to many companies and is the CEO/Co-Founder of Apprentice, a platform that connects entrepreneurs and business leaders with smart and motivated college students looking for real-world experience and mentorship. Dave’s new book, Get Over Yourself, shares the roadmap for how you can shift your mindset (and your workload) to focus on the things most important for...
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Perfecting your pitch
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this episode, the focus is on mastering the art of pitching within the context of growing a company, emphasizing the importance of engaging people effectively despite their inherent complexities and irrationalities. Recognizing that people, including ourselves, operate in ways that might only make sense to them, the episode delves into how to craft a pitch that resonates and leads to more affirmative responses. The key lies in sharing a compelling vision of the future that addresses a problem or gap and depicts an improved future state. This approach not only demonstrates an understanding...
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Don't Self Sabotage with personal worries
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this episode, Bill delves into the psychological barriers that hinder our ability to secure affirmative responses in business interactions, emphasizing the detrimental impact of personal concerns and self-doubt. He identifies common worries, such as fearing one is too salesy or arrogant, and illustrates how these internal fears can prevent effective communication and diminish the enthusiasm in pitches or proposals. Bill proposes a solution to shift focus away from oneself and towards understanding and addressing the needs and interests of the other party. By acknowledging and setting aside...
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Designing a Company That Can Get Rich with Christopher Volk
Scaling Up Business Podcast
The ultimate goal of building a company is to build its value. Designing a company that can get rich is not always top-of-mind for business owners, but it should be. Christopher Volk is the author of The Value Equation. Christopher was instrumental in leading and publicly listing three successful companies, two of which he co-founded. A 2019 regional winner of EYs’ Entrepreneur of the Year award, Christopher is a frequent university lecturer and serves on multiple non-profit boards. Not all companies are created equal. While many companies focus on their goods or services that...
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Talent Assessment and Development
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this episode, Bill introduces a comprehensive approach to talent assessment aimed at enhancing team performance and fostering a positive work environment as businesses grow. He emphasizes the critical importance of assembling a team that not only performs well but also aligns with the company's values and culture. Bill introduces the concept of a talent assessment tool and process that focuses on two main criteria: fit with the company's values and performance in their current roles. This straightforward assessment provides a clear strategy for managing team members, highlighting the need...
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Dignity in The Modern Workplace with Ari Weinzweig
Scaling Up Business Podcast
Does dignity in the workplace really matter? Plenty of companies seem to get by without upholding dignity, but with over 40 years of experience and $60 million in annual sales, today’s return podcast guest knows there is a better way. Ari Weinzweig is the co-founder of Zingermans Delicatessen. Ari, alongside his co-founder, Paul Saginaw, started Zingerman’s in 1982 as a restaurant and specialty food retail space. Now the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses has 23 partners, employs over 750 people, and generates over $60 million in annual sales from ten separate businesses. ...
info_outlineAs your company gets bigger, business owners discover a tough problem — you become less and less in touch with what your employees are doing and you don’t know if you’re on track with your goals. And if you do regular quarterly meetings, another problem that arises is that your actions are not tightly aligned to your goals between the day-to-day. Today’s guest has some answers on how to become more involved and aware of where your company is going.
Doug Walner is the CEO of Align Technologies Corp, a growth management tool to help develop, track, and measure your progress. He has over 25 years of technology business management and his background includes human capital management, consumer production, aviation, and media.
When Doug was in the process of selling one of his companies, the diligence and amount of paperwork involved to show buyers and investors his company and his staff were on track with their goals were extensive and tedious. When Align came along, things really changed for so many entrepreneurs, especially when it came time to sell.
One of the amazing features about Align is that employees can now see what everyone in the business is in charge of doing, and how they’re doing. It creates transparency and accountability within the company. Due to its interface, buyers and investors can also quickly log into Align and see progress reports, priorities, and have historical data for the business in an instant.
It’s just good business to track as much as you can about the company. This opens you up for so much more when you’re ready to sell or get more financing. When businesses rely on the founder to ‘keep things going,’ it becomes very difficult for an investor to fund you when they cannot realistically see if your business is even scalable.
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