Charles Watson
chief development officerTropical Smoothie Cafe and Tin Drum Asian Kitchen
The Mistake: When I was working with our CEO around 2012, I was the vice president of franchise development for Tropical Smoothie. This was when we...
If I Knew Then...
Even born leaders have learning curves. In this feature, local insiders share their wisdom and talk about mistakes that shaped their business philosophy.
Michael Traub
CEOSerta Simmons Bedding
The Mistake: The mistake we made was that we totally ignored the culture of a company we took over. When I look back at my career, I had the...
-
Tropical Smoothie Cafe and Tin Drum Asian Kitchen -
Keith Scandone
Partner and CEO
O3 WorldThe Mistake: My mistake was relying too heavily on one account or client. When a client knows you’re relying so heavily on them, they have...
-
Steen Knigge
director of U.S. marketing
BoConceptThe Mistake: Wearing myself out. When I started my career with Procter & Gamble in 1989, I often heard two things: Lunch is for losers, and you...
-
Patrick Sugrue
President and CEO
SaladworksThe Mistake: My mistake was coming into a changed management situation thinking I could win over stakeholders with just a smile and a strategy. As a...
-
-
Nicole Stanton
Managing partner
Quarles & Brady LLPThe Mistake: Believing people's explanations about why they're leaving the company. I typically trust people. I take them at their word until I’m...
-
Doug Butler
CEO
Reward GatewayThe Mistake My mistake was not valuing human resources as a strategic business asset. We’re in the HR business, and our business mission is to make...
-
Bob Elfanbaum
Co-Founder and General Manager
World Wide Technology Asynchrony LabsThe Mistake: Not having a leadership plan in place that accounted for rapid growth. Our company really started in 1999 as a dot-com when rapid growth...
-
Daniel Levitt
Co-founder and CEO
BiozThe Mistake: I learned from direct experience that raising money is a very difficult thing for some entrepreneurs. They come up with an idea and go...
-
Jon Carson
CEO
CollegeVineThe Mistake: Back at another company that I had been a co-founder of ... I made three bad hiring decisions. I think the talent was mostly there but...
