The Reboot Chronicles with Dean DeBiase

With a 90% startup failure rate and many Fortune 1000 companies unknowingly being on

I have interviewed to hundreds of CEO’s over the years, many sharing their stories on how they rebooted themselves and their organization to adapt to and thrive in the future. Strategically, Rebooting your organization focuses in on three key area of transformation: People, Platform, and Passion. Operationally it requires infusing organizations—especially large ones—with the speed, thrill and attitude of a hectic entrepreneurial startup, combined with the urgency, focus and results of a disciplined turnaround.

As an operation partner, board member and serial CEO, I have led my share of reboots (and turnarounds), and often look to organizations like the TMA (Turnaround Management Association) for support. With 10,000 members and 58 chapters globally, the TMA is a helpful resource for struggling companies when they need it most—from industry titans to scaleups.

When CEO’s ask me, about the difference between a Reboot and a Turnaround, I advise them that: you reboot an organization before you need it, before it’s too late, before the ‘turnaround guy’ shows up. To unpack this and more, we invited CEO Scott Stuart for this episode of The Reboot Chronicles. With 30 years of restructuring experience, Scott has some pointed stories and tips, from his front row seat watching companies fall and helping them climb back out of the muck.

Sports are a massive part of global entertainment and global fashion, from the top of your Cheese Head hat to the bottom of your cleats, sports and fashion are a pair. One brand we all know is a giant in one of those fields and is now going under a reboot to become a titan in the other. That company is the USPA - U.S. Polo Association, and if you are an athleisure enjoyer you have some of their apparel. But the logo is more than just an iconic merchandise brand that consumers call Polo. Behind the scenes is a massive organization with a dynamic plan that will soon pass the $3B in annual revenue mark.

The global landscape of architecture and design is going through a generational transformation, imagining and creating new spaces that are redefining how we live, work, shop, play, stay and travel. A driving force leading these trends is Gensler, the world’s largest architecture, and planning design firm. Founded in 1965, it has expanded into a global powerhouse with 53 locations and 33 practice areas which serve thousands of clients in 100 countries, with 6,000 employees that delivered over $1.8 billion in annual revenue last year.

In a previous episode, we talked with Jeffrey Scott Miller about how a mentor can be a huge help for entrepreneurs and businesses alike, with a focus on how to make the most out of a mentor/mentee relationship.   Taking Scott’s book to the next level—how would you like to have an entire ecosystem chalk full of supportive mentors and coaches to help you on any topic or business challenge.  Well that’s what you will find in Chicago—especially at 1871.

As the top private incubator in the world, 1871 helped drive a tech renaissance in Chicago over the last decade. As a cofounding board member, I delivered a Ted talk about it at the UN, providing a blueprint for cities to reboot themselves. Now, with thousands of startups and 17 unicorns that raised over $3.5 billion in capital, 1871 is on a roll once again.

Under the remarkable leadership of CEO Betsy Ziegler, 1871 and its partner networks, have continued to pivot toward creating the future of growth and innovation—building the next generations of ventures in the region. We invited Betsty on for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles, to unpack what’s working, what needs rebooting and what’s next for global entrepreneurial ecosystems.

When was the last time you felt yourself grow as an individual? I mean, a time when you truly felt a eureka moment of having gained a new insight or finally understood another perspective that helped you thrive. We found something to help you do just that.

Under their CEO, Chris Rondeau’s, leadership, Planet Fitness was rebooted and grown into a market leader that many of you have experienced firsthand. What we like most about them is 90% of the locations are owned and operated by entrepreneurs—independent businessmen and women like many of you. Recently,

Chris was fired and the board installed former Gov. Craig Benson, a longtime company board member, as interim CEO. Prior to being let go, Chris joined Dean DeBiase for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles to discuss his journey, from the front desk to the CEO’s office, and what’s next in the health and fitness club space—a market which is projected to soon reach $136B.

Ever wondered how a company can maintain a strong culture of loyalty and employee-first policies amidst in today’s global business climate? India based multi-national Zoho Corporation is doing just that, along with a mission to make “technology more affordable”. And, at $1 billion in annual revenue—they are doing it at scale.

Deep rooted in its culture, values and convictions, the leadership team takes pride in being able to serve Small & Medium Businesses’ (SMB) technology needs in what they believe is “an era of  humility for technologists”.

Another refreshing strategy, for a tech. brand, is that they have stayed away from the typical IPO track, and instead focus on being a profitable privately held company—with a rapid growth trajectory.

With 15,000 employees and 100 million users in 150 countries—Zoho has built (not acquired) a diversified product portfolio that offers customers simple solutions, in a market crowded with complex platforms.

At their annual Zoholics conference in Austin TX, Dean DeBiase caught up with Vijay Sundaram, one of Zoho’s top leaders and Chief Strategy Officer. A serial tech. founder, Sundaram spearheads strategy, runs their global partner programs—and is pushing the envelope from SMB into the large-enterprise sector.

Tune in as we unpack what’s next for them—from scaling their unique culture and long-term sustainability strategy, to secrets behind their employee-first and customer wins mantra.

Almost 75% of cities in America lost some form of air services, with over 100 cities having lost more than 25%. 

Responding to this huge decline in regional flights, with many markets underserved or left behind by United, American or Delta, Breeze Airways Founder and CEO David Neeleman saw an opportunity to reboot the travel industry—for the 5th time.

An airline pioneer, David started multiple commercial airlines including Azul—Brazil’s largest  Airline—which transformed the country’s travel and logistics network, WestJet in Canada, Morris Air—which he sold to Southwest, and JetBlue—which broke records as the fastest growing airline.

Breeze now operates more than 150 routes in dozens of cities—and in just two years has already been ranked as one of the country’s best domestic airlines by Travel + Leisure magazine. 

I invited David to join me for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles podcast to unpack how he is once again rebooting the airline industry—and bringing travel back to underserved communities and beyond.

When looking for answers on moving forward, a look back on how top leaders led can be pivotal to your organization and career. Few leaders provide life lessons about their successes and failures that can help us personally and professionally.  One CEO, who can see around corners about what’s next, with more muscle memory lessons from building The Internet under his belt than most, is silicon Valley’s John Chambers, who has timely advice for leaders of organization, from Fortune 500’s to startups—about where to focus, how to scale and countries to engage with, like India and France, or avoid, like China.

A friend and industry colleague, John led Cisco at a record pace, exceeding expectations for 40 straight quarters, growing from $1.9B to $49.2 billion in annual revenue, while expanding from 400 to 75,000 people—10,000 of which became millionaires from Cisco stock.  Listen in to this action packed episode of The Reboot Chronicles and hear about where we are going in the digital future ahead, and how John is helping 21 global startups—9 that are unicorns—create the next-generation of organizations and leaders at JC2 Ventures.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is all the rage in business and social circles—but its meaning and capabilities are often misunderstood.  Some people think about the movie I, Robot, and how AI Robots will turn against humanity, while others think of Chat GPT and how it can help them through their school assignments. One company, Turing, is rebooting the meaning of AI as a tool to transform your business—one engineer at a time.