The Multiplier Effect

Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Co-founder of Gilt Groupe, GlamSquad, Fitz, and Clerisy Growth Fund, shares her secrets to scaling and exiting successfully. Gain insights into the mindset and strategies needed to build three successful companies, lead two to exits, and create a growth fund that focuses on helping companies scale, moderated by Claudia Duran, Managing Director at Endeavor Miami.

How companies can improve their hiring, culture, and training to fill the most in-demand positions.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated a shortage of one million software developers in 2020 and expects the demand for software developers to grow 22% per year through 2030. In today’s funding environment, technology companies are growing faster and paying more than ever. But most of us are competing for the same talent pool. This session brings together leading educators and entrepreneurs in tech education, culture, and recruiting to discuss how we, as leaders and executives, can solve this growing problem and fill our most in-demand positions.

For many growing companies, processes fine-tuned for a small team can start showing cracks as the companies undergo rapid transformation, leading to misalignment of business operations and organization design and sometimes preventing teams from reaching their strategic goals. Diana Callaghan, Managing Director of Endeavor Detroit, sat down with Anontio Ortiz, CEO/Co-Founder of Connect Assistance, and Karina Sobeiski, Human Capital Director of Advent International, to explore what founders of high-growth companies can do to scale their leadership team as they scale their business and how they can preemptively solve some of the most common executive team growing pains. 

Today, Scott Miller, Managing Director of Endeavor Colorado sits down with Kent Thiry, Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DaVita Inc. to learn how he was able to cultivate a distinctively engaged culture that has a global reputation for developing well-rounded general managers and leaders so much so that his techniques have been the subject of leadership and culture case studies written by both Harvard and Stanford.

During his leadership at DaVita, the company grew revenues from approximately $1 billion to $11 billion, emerged as the leading clinical innovator in the kidney care community, and a leader in clinical outcomes generally, and grew equity market value from approximately $150 million to $10 billion, and a stock price of approximately 70 cents to $100.

Kent made a public pledge in 2015 that DaVita would be one of the first Fortune 500 companies to have a majority diverse board, and they fulfilled that pledge in 2016.

Today, Aaron Hurst, Managing Director of Endeavor Atlanta, sits down with Dawn Whaley, President, Chief Marketing Officer of Sharecare, to get her insights on how to design healthcare programs for high-growth companies and the best metrics to track when building an inclusive employee healthcare and wellness strategy to retain top talent. Sharecare is an Atlanta, Georgia-based health and wellness company that provides consumers with personalized information, programs, and resources to improve their health. 

Today on the show, Scott Miller, Managing Director of Endeavor Colorado sits down with Liz Giorgi, co-founder, and CEO of soona to discuss implementable strategies to prioritize diversity throughout the hiring process, and how a diverse workforce is not just a social obligation, but also a real advantage in the scaling of a business. After the successful acquisition of their first business, Mighteor, Liz and co-founder Hayley Anderson founded soona to combat the ever-growing demand for professional media for the e-commerce ecosystem. In 2019, soona was offering streamlined photo and video shoots with the promise of high-quality content in just 24 hours. COVID-19 forced soona to pivot, however, and they adopted a completely remote-shoot experience where clients ship their products and observe the shoot virtually.  A welcome side effect of the efficient remote-shoot model, soona saw 400% growth in 2020 and now has 3 locations with over 4,000 customers. With their quick growth came the addition of more than 50 new employees and the creation of an 81% diverse workforce.

Chris Coy and Joshua Stanley, cofounders of Cartwheel Studio, share how leaders, employers, and benefits providers can make benefits equitable for all employees, enhancing culture connectivity among essential workers and remote working teams. 

Cartwheel is a startup studio that creates B2B SaaS (software as a service) companies. Their focus is on essential workers and distributed teams, choosing Northwest Arkansas as their headquarters. The region’s impact on the world of work is undeniable: Walmart, Sam’s Club, J.B. Hunt, Tyson Foods, and other frontline workforce leaders call the heartland of America home.

In today's episode, Jay McHarg, CEO of Aerosafe Global joins us with Alan Rosenhoch from Endeavor Western New York to share how Aerosafe's talent acquisition strategy has shifted to attract the best talent during the pandemic. He also speaks to future strategies for physical space and how this compliments his plans for growth as Aerosafe is nearing completion of a significant expansion of their Rochester HQ when many companies are cutting back their footprint. 

Claudia Duran, Managing Director of Endeavor Miami sits down with Sion Tesone, Founder and CEO of Tissini to discuss his strategies for managing 24,000 independent salespeople and how his passion for empowering women led him to launch Tissini as his second venture.

Today on the show, Lynda Applegate, Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School, sits down with Diana Callaghan, Managing Director of Endeavor Detroit to share what high growth companies should do when scaling their leadership team and how founders can preemptively solve some of the most common growing pains in the face of significant industry, technological, and regulatory turbulence. Lynda serves as the Chair of the Advisory Committee for Harvard University’s Masters’ of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies degrees in finance and management. She also plays a leading role in developing and delivering HBS Executive Education Programs for entrepreneurs and business owners.