The Owner's Box @WashU Olin

For those of you playing along at home.... while this season has highlighted a number of different voices, there is at least one that is characteristically missing -- that of a female owner taking over leadership of their family business. Our discussion with Carolyn Kindle at St. Louis CITY SC hit on pieces of this work, but this was in the context of starting something new -- a soccer club in the MLS. There is something different about stewarding something that already exists. How do you lead that well? What does it mean to own something from a deep understanding of who you are. And so with that, we queue up, Cindi Bigelow of Bigelow Tea.

Special Guests: .

In the space of ownership, the vision of building, scaling, and selling has become a shared mantra of success in the world of business schools formed in the shadow of Silicon Valley. But to suggest all businesses must follow this path is like assuming all runners need to be marathoners. Let’s put this in context by focusing our attention on the owner-operator. How does one approach an attempt to own something for the long run? How does one prepare to steward a legacy throughout the inevitable and yet unexpected changes coming down the pipe?

Welcome to Episode Five of the Owner’s Box by WashU Olin’s Koch Center for Family Enterprise. This week, we learn from Michael and John Kennedy on how they have worked together as siblings and a broader family to build out Fraiche Wine Group.

In today’s tactics from the Owner’s Box, we introduce the four critical questions for strategic owners – questions of What, How, When, and perhaps most importantly, Why.

The brand is a celebrity favorite no matter the occasion. Lorde. Gigi Hadid, Jessica Alba, Blake Lively, Selena Gomez, the list goes on. Today's episode looks at how Stuart Weitzman built his company and what we can learn about owner strategy from the various twists and turns of his brand's evolution over time. This is ultimately Stuart Weitzman's gift to us. There is hard won wisdom gained by an entrepreneur who has gone through all these different shifts in and around the owner's box.

Today on “Tactics from The Owner’s Box,” we explore the meaning of legacy and how it plays into the design of a business and philanthropy over time.

Today we discuss how a multi-generational family enterprise has brought soccer back to St. Louis, and their hopes and plan to make an impact far beyond the pitch.

Special Guests: Andrew C. Taylor, Carolyn Kindle, Jason Thein, Lee Broughton, and Neal Richardson.

In the business world, you hear a lot about why and how a business plans to balance social and business good. Ultimately, how much overlap you see between the financial maximization of returns and the non-financial drivers of business likely shapes what you see as possible. So, how might one think about this relationship, and can we bring rigor to the assessment? Explore this question and more with host, Peter Boumgarden, Professor and Director of the Koch Center for Family Enterprise in our latest mini-session focused on tactics from "The Owner’s Box."

Today, we explore the tension between commercial and creative objectives, and what we can learn from a culinary entrepreneur preparing for his third act. Does the owner's box need a creative tension between commerce and creativity? Without the constraints of commerce, the creative impulse can easily become unbounded from market potential. But lacking imagination, do we merely replicate previous successes, with all restaurants looking like carbon copies of surefire but vanilla hits, and all films becoming superhero replicas? Tune in to hear Jeremy King talk this through in his experience transforming the London restaurant scene.

If you sit in the owner’s box or sit in a position of leadership, how might your assessment of those coming behind you be shaping how much control you are willing to give up? How does your assessment of the capability and willingness of the next-gen shape your willingness to step outside of the owner’s box?

Today in Tactics from “The Owner’s Box,” we explore succession through the lens of control.