Problem Solvers

What's the secret to making something great? It's a combination of predictability and surprise — and a healthy Rule of Rules. To find out what all this means, listen to this, our special 250th episode of Problem Solvers!

In 2006, a debate raged inside of Nintendo: Do they bundle their new Wii console with the game Wii Sports, or sell the game separately? Reggie Fils- Aimé was president of North America at the time, and he argued yes — because even though it meant giving up revenue upfront, it would lead to more Wii sales later. Here, he explains the battle and how he won it.

John de Lancie, best known as Q from Star Trek, gives fantastic advice on how to find inspiration. It's not something to seek; it's a habit to build. (John was recorded at ciLive! in Des Moines.)

Sometimes an idea won't work until it's bigger. So how can you start thinking bigger yourself? A conversation with Summit cofounder Elliott Bisnow, coauthor of "Make No Small Plans".

Are you prepared for new opportunities? Here, I offer a new way to approach your goals, and a plan for you to achieve "calendar zero."

If you lead a team or organisation, your daily demands may suck all your time — leaving no space for strategic thinking. How can you fix that? I talk to Richard Medcalf, founder of Xquadrant and an executive coach, about four mindshifts you can make now.

In this episode, a candid conversation with a 16-year-old entrepreneur and an important lesson for us all: To identify what makes us special, we need to dig deeper — not just into who we are and what we do, but into who we’re trying to appeal to.

We hear a lot about self care, but what does it really look like and how can entrepreneurs put it into practice? Here, an inspiring conversation about taking care of yourself with Rosie Acosta, author of the new book "You Are Radically Loved".

How The Tonight Show host built his career and an entertainment empire — by first identifying his most important mission. This is a reading of the January/February 2022 cover story in Entrepreneur magazine, plus a special behind-the-scenes story about the interview.

If you want to put AI to use in your business, you have to stop focusing on the whiz-bang cool stuff — and start focusing on the really boring, really useful stuff. Sam Ransbotham, a professor of information Systems at the Boston College (and host of the podcast Me, Myself, and AI) explains.

Best-selling author Nicole Lapin, author of the new book Miss Independent, shares tips for investing and negotiating your way to wealth.

As supply chain issues harm so many businesses, we look at how one startup proactively avoided problems: It is Bartesian, and it made hard decisions more than a year ago that are paying off now.

How do you build a sustainable business? Figure out what you’re great at, and then how to build a great team around you. Jon Bier did it; he now runs multiple companies, including Jack Taylor PR, and advises many others. But it did not come easy. Here, he shares the hardest lessons he learned. (Also, check out Jon’s podcast, One Day with Jon Bier.)

It feels like everyone's just one hack away from disaster, but cybersecurity expert Adam Levin (host of the podcast What the Hack) says things are going to get better. Here, he explains how we're going to solve this problem — or at least adapt to it.