The Business Trendsetter Podcast

Only 6 weeks into the new administration and many small and mid-size business leaders are giving up on planning.  With Musk at DOGE sending out cost cutting measures, while other real department heads appear to be doing nothing – or doing something equally outrageous – it’s easy to say “there’s no reason to plan. Who knows what will happen next?”   That would be wrong. This podcast explains how th...

Starbucks succeeded for years by building out a fantastic Value Delivery System supporting its Value Proposition.  This podcast explains how leadership allowed a focus on the VDS to drift the company away from its VP, and recently hire a new CEO who’s doing enormous harm to long term value by implementing short-term VDS improvements. This podcast also overviews what SMB leaders need to know about...

Netflix just blew out expectations for new subscribers, and the stock – one again – is at all time highs.  To understand why Netflix is so successful is to understand that the company keeps investing in entirely new markets and solutions, which drives new revenue streams.  Rather than focusing on how to do more of the same better, faster, cheaper Netflix keeps using trends to find new growth oppor...

The episode of the Business Trendsetter Podcast Innovators Series features Manny Teran interviewing Frank Vidal, a development manager and founder of the Tucson Thrive virtual mastermind group. Frank shares insights into his community-building efforts through Tucson Thrive, which fosters open, vulnerable discussions and authentic relationships among members. The conversation explores mentorship ga...

The administration is changing in 2025, and it’s sure to impact businesses. But you can plan for change. Looking backward, all the way to Kodak and Xerox and Amazon we can see that it is possible to plan your way to success, while avoiding pitfalls, decline and failure.  It’s important to plan for trends, rather than just looking at the past, realizing that big trends transcend politics offering t...

Molly Gravatt, the inspiring founder of Radiant Dev, shares her remarkable journey from a career in volleyball  to trailblazer in technology staffing. Her story is a testament to the power of perseverance, people, and purpose. With over a decade of experience at Allegis Group, Molly honed her expertise in building connections and understanding what drives businesses forward: their people. A life-c...

Spark Partners is excited to introduce the Innovators Series, a special mini-series within the Business Trendsetter Podcast. In this new series, Manny Teran will sit down with entrepreneurs, business leaders, and bold innovators to uncover the stories behind their journeys—exploring their triumphs, challenges, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. Meanwhile, the core Business Trendsetter...

After almost a decade, and investing $10B, GM has simply quit the Robotaxi effort.  It joins a long list of big-time investors who wrote off more billions – Uber, Lyft, Ford and even Apple. Why were they so wrong?  This podcast explains how the lack of a Value Proposition meant these efforts were unlikely to succeed, even with “all the money in the world.”  Lacking a clear reason for their existen...

We often think of risk and uncertainty as the same thing. We say “I don’t  know what to do,” concluding doing something (often anything) seems risky.  But that is wrong.  Just because you’re uncertain what to do doesn’t mean it’s risky.  And you can be certain about what you do while taking actions (often doing the status quo) that incur a lot of risk.  It’s important to know the difference so you...

The election results are in, and it’s assured that America – which means the globe – is going to be dealing with change.  Are you prepared?  Hoping these changes won’t affect your business is foolhardy, and luck is not a strategy!   Long-term trends are not affected by this election.  The upside-down demographic pyramid isn’t going to change, nor is climate change and awareness thereof, nor is the...

AI chip maker Nvidia is replacing Intel on the Dow Jones Industrial Average this week.  This may seem irrelevant to your business.  But it is, in fact, pretty meaningful.  There is an important lesson in this podcast for all leaders about maintaining relevancy, following trends and smartly investing your resources.   The DJIA members are supposed to be the 30 most secure, powerful and safe public...

During the pandemic we learned how to work very effectively outside the office.  Work From Home became the trend, and it has persevered more than 5 years later.  But some leaders want to go against the trend and make employees return to the office full time.  It is never a good idea to fight trends, and this podcast explains why full time return to office is a very bad idea.   1) Employees are les...

Every business owner wants to know the secret to great success.  It’s really more simply than most think – because it’s all about growth. Years ago we researched the sources of wealth creation, and nothing was even close to being as important as revenue growth.   This podcast explains why 10%/year revenue growth is crucial to remaining relevant, and why just 2 quarters of declining revenue can be...

Not so amazingly, we now know that people no longer stay at their jobs as long as they once did.  Few stick around 10 years, and most leave a job every 4.  Likewise, we know that warmer oceans have led to warmer gulfs, so hurricanes are more frequent and stronger – as are other bad weather events like floods and tornadoes.  Despite knowing this is true, too few people build these facts into their...

23andMe came on the scene as Time magazines “Invention of the Year” in 2008.  The silicon valley DNA testing company went public with a $6B valuation in 2021. Now it’s worth $150M and sinking fast as the Board has resigned and the company appears directionless.  What went wrong?   MOL Group in Hungary thought of itself as an oil & gas developer and retailer.  But today it is doing wildly better, g...

Recent headlines could have easily persuaded you that the long term trend to sustainable energy was being upended. Yes, coal generation is closing, and nuclear plants are being reopened.  Yes, the demand for electricity is expanding faster than ever due to the growth of AI. But headlines don’t try to explain trends, and the trend to sustainable energy will continue.    This podcast explains how im...

The “Mandela Effect” is a term describing large numbers of people believing something is true, when in fact it is not true.  The term originated from large numbers of people believing Mandela was dead almost 30 years before he died. There are lots of examples, such as most people think they can buy “Jiffy” peanut butter when the real name is Jif.  Or thinking Tupperware is non-existent when in fac...

A decade ago Microsoft was well on its way to irrelevancy. Forbes mag christened Ballmer was the worst CEO in America.  The Board fired him, and today his replacement has led Microsoft to pre-eminence in tech, atop the AI heap.  His lessons for how to turn around a behemoth are relevant for organizations large and small. This podcast explains how Nadella immediately de-invested in the “core” Micro...

Spark Partners has been coaching clients for almost 30 years on how to achieve long-term success.  But despite the research, the books, the Forbes (and other) articles and interviews, people are still getting things wrong.  The failure cases of 30 years ago are forgotten (Multgraphics, Kodak, Xerox) while new cases – with identical patterns to the old – are happening right now in 2024 – Boeing, In...

Intel is looking more like Kodak, Hostess Baking, ToysRUs and GE every day.  People wonder “How can a company that is so successful, so innovative screw up its business so badly?”  There really is a pattern to what these companies did wrong, which you can avoid.  Listen to this podcast, using the Intel case study to explain how leaders fall into the bad decision-making trap.  Learn how you can be...

Shockingly, YouTube is now the #1 streaming service on televisions – bigger than Netflix – and bigger than broadcast TV.  For 17 straight months YouTube has been the winner, with ad sales growing at double digit rates and exceeding $50B/year.  This podcast tells the phenomenal story of how Google kept tinkering with the platform until it figured out how to profitably monetize those users.   An eve...

Intel was once the leader in semiconductors by a huge margin.  They were half of the “wintel” platform that was the PC business for over 20 years.  But now, Intel is on hard times.  Sales are down over 30%, profits are down (losses in semiconductors), and plans are to lay off 15K employees while discontinuing the dividend.   This podcast delves into what went wrong with the innovation engine at In...

Most people focus on operating their business better, faster, cheaper.  They look for efficiencies in doing what they’ve done.  But that is NOT the road to long-term success.  That’s just making sure you have an effective Value Delivery System. Success requires knowing your customers’ needs, and then understanding the value you can provide by fulfilling your needs.  Yes, there will be a delivery s...

Lots of people somewhat glaze over when told they need to be more involved in AI.  The tendency can be to think of AI as requiring very hard core, high end, difficult technology skills that take years of education and application.  It’s easy to think that most of us are simply incompetent when it comes to AI, and it’s a challenge beyond most of us. This podcast explains the top skills needed to su...

Do you ever wonder how a business as successful as Kodak could invent digital photography, and then completely lose it and all relevancy?  Or how Blockbuster could dominate home video sales, and end up bankrupt?  It happens because leaders don’t move early enough to understand customers, and don’t move quickly enough to react to customer needs. This podcast uses the Biden crisis to demonstrate how...