In this episode, we are joined by Brendan Rosseau and Matthew Weinzierl co-authors of Space to Grow: Unlocking the Final Economic Frontier. This episode is a journey, metaphorically speaking, into the beyond: outer space itself.

Matthew is a Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and the Senior Associate Dean and Chair of the MBA program, where his award-winning research and teaching focus on economic policy and the business of space. He is the founder of the Economics of Space project at HBS and serves as an adviser on space to government agencies, companies, and investors.

Brendan is a recognized leader in the space industry. He works in strategy at Blue Origin (the space company wholly owned by Jeff Bezos). He previously served as a teaching fellow and research associate at Harvard Business School and as a consultant to the U.S. Space Force. He is dedicated to using space technologies to bring about a more prosperous, peaceful, equitable and exciting future.

In this episode, we explore the boundaries, and intersection, of fundamental laws of economics within the context of the rapidly developing space industry or market. We also glean insights on how other markets have and will evolve: the automobile industry, ecommerce, precision farming and potentially the economies around AI or blockchain.

If we understand these underlying economic forces, we can more accurately anticipate when and how such new markets will emerge and, in the case of space, it may be coming much sooner than most of us outside of the space industry think.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How the space industry and space technology have the potential to—and will—disrupt many business industries as we know them today
• The fascinating evolution of NASA as a government-funded R&D entity to a private sector ‘market creator’ acting as a “customer among many customers” so they can pave the way for space innovation
• The fundamental economic laws that govern how the space industry will evolve—and how markets here on earth will evolve as well
• The near-term financial opportunities you may not be thinking of that are providing a kind of economic bridge from private sector actors (who need near-term profit) and long-term players (like the government or large corporations who have the funding to pursue the opportunities offered by the moon and Mars)
• How the rapid formation of a space industry will directly impact companies in nearly every sector, even those with no obvious connection to space

Episode Timeline:
00:00—Highlight from today's episode
01:28—Introducing Matthew and Brendan + the topic of today’s episode
05:37—If you really know me, you know that...
07:03—What is your definition of strategy?
09:14—What are near-term opportunities the space industry will open?
12:15—Some use cases of revenue opportunities from space
17:39—Introducing the Evergreen '7 Ps'
19:40—How has the role of NASA changed over time?
29:26—What are things that need to be in place to realize the market of space?
32:14—The governing laws of space
37:32—How will competition of the space markets unfold?
40:17—What mov

Thank you to our guest. Thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.

Follow us at outthinkernetworks.com/podcast

Dave Whorton is a tech investor and founder who spent 20 years of his career at the highest levels of Silicon Valley venture capital and tech startups. At the preeminent tech venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, he worked directly with John Doerr for several years. He cofounded four companies, including drugstore.com and Good Technology.

This episode is longer than our usual shorter format—and with good reason. It's about companies that last longer. We dive deep into the world of evergreen businesses—those built to adapt and grow profitably for 100 years and more. Think of these as the direct juxtaposition to venture capital-funded enterprises—where those are built with the sole intention of selling, going public or shutting down if not performing, evergreen businesses are built to endure.

In 2013, Dave founded Tugboat Institute to connect, support, and inspire purpose-driven leaders of these businesses, and this upcoming May 2025, Dave, with Bo Burlingham, releases Another Way: Building Companies that Last...and Last...and Last. In this episode, we uncover some of the most profound insights from his book, so many of which fly in the face of current, common, dogmas around innovation and entrepreneurship, including:

• Why the companies VCs most often tout today as exemplars of greatness (Google, Microsoft) took very little VC funding—and why you should probably avoid VC investors as well
• The fact that the size of venture capital market has exploded multifold since 1999 and what that means for nature of how businesses are built and operate today
• The “Evergreen 7Ps” that characterize these companies, and specific case studies and examples of companies that live these values. Two of my favorites:
  • They pace their growth—and avoid hyperscaling
  • They pursue pragmatic innovation, rather than radical breakthrough innovation

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Episode Timeline:
00:00—Highlight from today's episode
01:02—Introducing Dave + the topic of today’s episode
03:19—If you really know me, you know that...
06:23—What is your definition of strategy?
09:00—Explaining the evolution of venture capital in the past 50 years
12:02—The pitfalls of taking venture capital
17:39—Introducing the Evergreen '7 Ps'
24:12—How to know if a business' pace of growth is healthy
26:50—People as a critical part of your strategy
33:58—Pragmatic innovation in evergreen businesses
38:53—What public companies could adopt from the 7 Ps to behave more like evergreen businesses
45:00—How can people can keep learning from you?
______________________________________________________________
Additional Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davewhorton/
Link to book: https://www.tugboatinstitute.com/anotherway/

The Tugboat Institute: https://www.tugboatinstitute.com/

Thank you to our guest. Thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.

Follow us at outthinkernetworks.com/podcast

Cindy Anderson is the Chief Marketing Officer/Global Lead for Engagement & Eminence at the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV). Cindy has co-authored research reports, published numerous articles, and delivered presentations on thought leadership, diversity, strategy implementation, project management, and technology to global audiences.

She is a founding board member of the Global Thought Leadership Institute at APQC, a new association that advances the practice of thought leadership, and as you heard in the highlight clip, she is passionate about helping organizations quantify the tangible benefits and critical role of thought leadership. In this episode we dive into her just-published book The ROI of Thought Leadership: Calculating the Value that Sets Organizations Apart, which she co-authored with Anthony Marshall. As you know, almost every guest we have on this podcast is a thought-leader in some form and in this episode we get to actually explore the topic of thought-leadership itself.

In this episode we discuss the role of thought leadership, and its interrelation to an organization's various branches through highlights from her book The ROI of Thought Leadership.

In this episode, Cindy shares:

• How thought leadership is in fact, quantifiable, and what her organization’s research reveals are the top metrics that indicate the value delivered
• How organizations can leverage thought leadership to grow their brand’s authority and credibility—and what to avoid in damaging it
• The types of content you can deliver in thought leadership, with pointed markers of what makes good content (as well as what formats are in or out among content consumers)
• The role of GenAI within thought leadership—and why it cannot (and to a degree must not) be taken as thought leadership itself

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Episode Timeline:
00:00—Highlight from today's episode
01:14—Introducing Cindy + the topic of today’s episode
03:55—If you really know me, you know that...
06:05—What is your definition of strategy?
07:20—Quantifying thought leadership
11:30—Three core metrics for evaluating thought leadership
13:40—Thought leadership’s role in reaching ecosystems and partners
15:40—Placement of thought leadership in organizations
19:01—Key aspects of good content
21:18—Independence and trust as critical success levers
24:05—The enduring value of PowerPoint, books, and print for executives
26:55—The role of AI in thought leadership
33:05—Content portfolio for thought leadership
36:45—Individual vs. organizational thought leadership
39:35—Key takeaway on thought leadership’s value
______________________________________________________________
Additional Resources:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/clwanderson48
Link to book: Thought Leadership

Thank you to our guest. Thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.

Follow us at outthinkernetworks.com/podcast

Faisal Hoque is recognized as one of the world’s leading management thinkers and technologists. He is an award-winning entrepreneur and innovator, and a #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author with close to thirty years of cross-industry success.

Faisal is the founder of SHADOKA, NextChapter, along with a host of other companies, and serves as a transformation and innovation partner for CACI, an $8 billion company focused on U.S. national security.

Along with his extensive successful career in technology and innovation, and with ten previous bestselling books under his belt, his newest book, Transcend: Unlocking Humanity in the Age of AI, dives into the philosophical and far-reaching implications of the evolution of AI alongside humanity.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The metaphorical evolution of AI from being another technological tool to becoming a strategic partner—working alongside humankind as an extension to it
• Faisal’s complementary OPEN and CARE frameworks, which work in tandem to provide clear guidelines for how to both adopt and harness AI
• The pitfalls to watch out for, and risks we may encounter as AI becomes even more integrated into society than it is today—as well as how to mitigate these and approach the future with proper guardrails in place

_______________________________________________________________________________
Episode Timeline:
00:00—Highlight from today's episode
01:21—Introducing Faisal + the topic of today’s episode
04:03—If you really know me, you know that...
05:36—What is your definition of strategy?
06:37—Purpose as an authentic calling creating value
08:15—Creating vs. discovering purpose
09:37—The myth of top-down strategy
11:32—On the book 'Transcend'
15:26—Evolving metaphors for AI
16:50—Humanity's reaction to AI
20:04—The OPEN/CARE framework
26:08—Creating a human future
28:35—How can people follow you and continue learning from you?__________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources:
Personal website: faisalhoque.com
LinkedIn: faisalhoque
X: faisal_hoque
Link to book: Transcend: Unlocking Humanity in the Age of AI

Thank you to our guest. Thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.

Follow us at outthinkernetworks.com/podcast

JoAnn Garbin is a sustainability and technology innovator with a 25-year track record of leading teams “from nothing to something to scale,” creating numerous innovative products and profitable businesses. Her career predates the concept of climate change, and her long career in sustainability combined with her tenure at Microsoft as Director of Innovation in Microsoft’s cloud business, have given her ample insight, into how innovation can and should be a repeatable scalable process.

In this episode, we discuss highlights from The Insider’s Guide to Innovation at Microsoft, a book co-written between Joann and Dean Carignan, who among his long and rich career has spent 20 years at Microsoft, guiding new businesses—including the early internet division, Xbox, and multiple AI efforts—through the critical growth phases to their first billion dollars in revenue. More than just insights and case studies into how Microsoft has woven innovation into the fabric of their ecosystem, Joann shares with us a proven framework to innovation.

In this podcast, we discuss:

• How innovation cycles mirror nature’s adaptative processes—constantly regenerating from the ashes, much like companies must continually innovate to curtail disruption
• A breakdown of the four innovation patterns that each provide specific tools and strategies for effective innovation
• How innovation is—contrary to common belief—beyond technology, able to happen through business models, customer experience, and non-tech-oriented areas
• Some fascinating insider examples of how Microsoft learned critical lessons through successes and failures in various products lines—like the Xbox, Bing, and more

_______________________________________________________________________________
Episode Timeline:
00:00—Highlight from today's episode
01:28—Introducing JoAnn+ the topic of today’s episode
03:35—If you really know me, you know that...
05:12—What is your definition of strategy?
07:01—Why the book isn’t just about Microsoft
09:10—The four patterns of innovation
10:31—JoAnn's background in sustainability
13:01—The meaning of regenerative sustainability?
13:50—Is having a bold goal necessary for innovation
16:13—Pattern I: Innovating every day means
17:52—How to innovate every day in practice
20:35—Pattern II: Innovating over the years
23:55—Pattern III: Innovating with everyone
26:54—An example of innovating with everyone
29:05—Enabling boundary crossers to connect
32:04—Pattern IV: Innovating beyond technology
33:38—Going against conventional wisdom
36:22—Defining BXT (business experience technology)
37:50—How can people follow you and continue learning from you?__________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources:
Personal website: www.joanngarbin.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joanngarbin
Link to book: The Insider’s Guide to Innovation at Microsoft

Thank you to our guest. Thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.

Follow us at outthinkernetworks.com/podcast

Peter Compo is the author of The Emergent Approach to Strategy: Adaptive Design & Execution. Unlike many strategists from universities and consulting firms, Compo builds his groundbreaking work first as a musician and a scientist (he holds a doctorate in Chemical Engineering), and then gained experience in the “corporate trenches” at DuPont.

Hired as a research scientist, he held leadership positions in product, marketing, supply chain, and business management where he served as the Director of DuPont Ventures, focusing on new business ventures, and later as the Director of Corporate Integrated Business Planning, where he was responsible for overseeing the company's strategic planning processes. His varied background and passions inspired his unique perspective that business—particularly business strategy—often mirrors science and music, inspiring him to write The Emergent Approach.

Peter’s mission is to create a new level of clarity on strategy by debunking the idea that strategy is cascading and top-down. Instead, his concept of “emergent” strategy proposes that strategic planning is agile, constantly transforming as new information and situations present themselves.

In this podcast, we discuss:

• How strategy, similarly to evolution and scientific breakthroughs, isn’t just selecting what works, but rather a series of discarding what doesn’t work
• How execution isn't just about following a list and getting good results — but rather adhering to a strategy until new information proves the hypothesis or framework is wrong
• How leaders can help facilitate and guide strategic direction across teams and functions without putting too many constraints that hinder performance
• A preview of techniques and tools from his book that leaders can apply to jumpstart the emergent approach in defining your strategy

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Episode Timeline:
00:00—Highlight from today's episode
01:23—Introducing Peter + the topic of today’s episode
04:30—If you really know me, you know that...
06:20—What is your definition of strategy?
07:44—Can two organizations with the same goals have different strategies?
08:51—The meaning of "Emergent"
09:40—How did your background in music and science lead you to strategy?
13:22—Peter's musical background
14:25—Strategy mirroring music: structure precedes improvisation
17:24—Strategy is more than just goals and execution
18:26—Trade-offs between departments require strategic guidance
23:05—Strategy helps resolve conflicts between business functions
27:22—Lessons from sports: the role of strategy in team coordination
31:32—Strategic adaptation and innovation
33:37—Entrepreneurs and scientists share an obsession with solving bottlenecks
35:34—Strategy should focus on internalization
38:24—Five disqualifiers to test if you really have a strategy
42:35—How can people follow you and continue learning from you?__________________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources:
Personal website: https://emergentapproach.com/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/petercompo/
Link to book:

Thank you to our guest. Thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.

Follow us at outthinkernetworks.com/podcast

Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez is author of Powered by Projects, Leading Organizations in the Transformation Age, the Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook, the featured HBR article The Project Economy Has Arrived, as well as five other books. Antonio coined the concept "the Project Economy," on which his book is based. His research and global impact have been recognized and included in the top 50 most influential management thought leaders by Thinkers50. He is the fellow and Former Chairman of the Project Management Institute, currently VP of the APM Association, he is the creator of the Brightline Initiative, founder of Projects&Co, and co-founder of the Strategy Implementation Institute.

Antonio is a prominent advocate of the idea that our business model paradigms are quickly changing—the future of work is the Project Economy, the idea that instead of companies based on hierarchy and operations, they will be dominated by project-driven teams and environments.

This premise has a profound impact on every area of a business—and strategy, management and every department of each enterprise will need to adapt accordingly.

In this episode we discuss:

• How digitalization and the acceleration of AI has compounded this quick change from a focus on operations and repetitive work to quick execution, project-driven teams
• How by 2030, 70% of work will be project-based work, fundamentally changing how businesses are structured and managed.
• How the era of hierarchal org structure hinders growth in this new era, as successful project execution depends on co-creation and stakeholder buy-in
• How the role of the PMO will change from being operations-driven to more strategic, and how you can best support these roles in the transition

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Episode Timeline:

00:00—Highlight from today's episode
01:31—Introducing Antonio + the topic of today’s episode
04:14—If you really know me, you know that...
05:03—What is your definition of strategy?
06:12—The difference between strategy and execution
07:40—Understanding the project economy
10:43—The shift from operations to projects in organizations
12:18—The cross-functional nature of projects
14:44—The future of the PMO office
17:20—Creating intensity in organizations
20:36—Common mistakes leaders make in executing strategy
24:06—Motivation for writing "Powered by projects"
26:36—Key insights from Antonio’s leadership sessions
28:30—How can people follow you and continue learning from you? ______________________________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources:

Personal website: antonionietorodriguez.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/antonionietorodriguez
Link to book: Powered by Projects

Thank you to our guest. Thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.

Follow us at outthinkernetworks.com/podcast

Devin DeCiantis is the co-author, with Ivan Lansberg, of the 2024 book THE ENDURING ENTERPRISE: How Family Businesses Thrive in Turbulent Condition. He is a Managing Partner at Lansberg Gersick Advisors (LGA), an advisory and educational partner trusted by many of the world’s largest family enterprises.

Devin’s work and focus is on the financial, organizational, and strategic aspects of this business structure—the family enterprise. Devin brings his background in corporate strategy, economic analysis and investment banking to his work with these family businesses, family offices and family foundations.

Several unique attributes family businesses set them apart from the various corporate forms, public or private, corporations or LLCs or partnership. Many of these differences build a natural immunity and competitive advantage of sorts that traditional corporations struggle to build.

In this episode, we discuss some the key findings in his book, including:

• What enduring lessons family businesses can teach regular corporations about planning for not just quarters, but quarter-centuries
• The unique advantages—and weaknesses—of family businesses, whose longevity often span decades, or even centuries
• The unique role family businesses play in economies, especially in markets like South Asia, East Asia, and Latin America
• The 7 stabilizing strategies that these businesses employ effectively, as they often are built amidst emerging and frontier economies where basic infrastructure and resources are often lacking

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Episode Timeline:

00:00—Highlight from today's episode
01:31—Introducing Devin + the topic of today’s episode
03:29—If you really know me, you know that...
04:20—What is your definition of strategy?
06:30—Historical context of family owned businesses
08:55—Examples of major family owned businesses
10:58—What motivated Devin to study family businesses
13:08—Family owned businesses in more volatile environments
16:06—7 stabilizing strategies family owned businesses consistently deploy
17:51—Differentiation strategy
20:31—Resilience in family-owned enterprises
23:08—Modularity as core driver of growth and stability
26:33—How family owned businesses benefit from modularity
29:26—How non-family-owned organizations can leverage modularity
31:24—Strategic redundancy in family owned businesses
33:44—How can people follow you and continue learning from you?

_______________________________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devindeciantis
Link to book: THE ENDURING ENTERPRISE

Thank you to our guest. Thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.

Follow us at outthinkernetworks.com/podcast