CEOFlow“Turn Your Employees Into Mini-CEOs”

CEOFlow Is For You If You Want To…

• Inspire your employees to care as much about your business as you do

• Create an environment where you employees always do a great job without you having to push them

• Make sure you have the right systems in place for your employees to generate predictable sales time and time again

• Ensure that your employees give your customers the level of service and care that your business promises

• Get as much free time as you desire to have fun with your family, travel, or just get away for an adventure

Three Pillars: Money, Freedom & Adventure

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Business Is Transforming

The Transformation Of Business

“Push” Management

• Employees pushed to do work as an obligation

• Hard-ass CEO• Employees difficult to

motivate• “Do as I say, not as I do”• Internal competition• Decisions pushed up to

highest levels• Employees sink-or-swim

“Pull” Management

• Employees “pulled” by the opportunity to contribute

• Authentic CEO• Inspired employees self-

motivate• Everyone in the same boat• Internal collaboration• Decisions made at the lowest

level possible• Nurturing people

Problems

• You feel like you’re working for your business, rather than having a business that works for you

• You feel like the business needs a lot of pushing and effort to make it work, it doesn’t flow easily

• More loneliness and stress at the top• Grudgingly motivated employees• High turnover• Sales and services challenges• Uncertainty about next steps, direction

My Story: Part 1

• Stanford Undergrad + GSB dropout• CEO of LeaseExchange: -$5 Million• Ironman Triathlon (+ a 3-day coma)• 28-day Boulder Outdoor Survival School field course

– Aka “The bug eating trip”

• Four years at Salesforce.com in sales & acquisitions– Created a sales lead generation process & self-managing team that sourced

$100 Million in recurring revenue for salesforce.com

• Sales book deal with Wiley (#1 business publisher)

My $100M Self-Managing Sales System

• I created a highly predictable sales lead generation process• Structure: 1 team lead for every 5 direct reports • Sub-teams managed their own:

– Quality control of sales processes (audit process)– Small incentive/marketing budgets– Hiring, training – Peer reviews

• Rotating responsibility for who managed the weekly “Salesforce University” team meeting

• Whole sales team involved in creating the team vision, comp plan & reporting and reconciling (transparent compensation)

• Team continued growing after I was promoted to acquisitions

A Day In My Salesforce.com LifeI never had fires to fight! I could spend my time investing in the long-

term success of my people and my own contribution to salesforce.com

• 7a: Wake up, workout, motorcycle to work• 9a: Get to work• 9a-10a: Email• 10a-12a: “Important, urgent” Walk around and do troubleshooting

coaching (such as sitting on sales calls)• Lunch• 1p-5p: “Important, not urgent”

– 1-1 coaching, walking around and talking with team– Work on a project for next month (such as a new lead generation experiment)– Win/loss studies on how to improve results– End-of-the-month reporting up

My Story: After Salesforce.com• ‘Entrepreneur-in-Residence’ at Alloy Ventures ($1B)• On 10 advisory boards + investor in six companies• Founded PebbleStorm, for clients who want to love

their work and its rewards:1. Aspiring entrepreneurs looking to grow a business around

their Unique Genius (who then hire people and turn into…)2. CEOs who want to turn employees into mini-CEOs

My ‘Big Wave’: Project 20571. Help 100 million people make money through enjoyment 2. Help them create $1 trillion in new wealth3. Find ways to measure & increase their happiness with work

Still Adventuring ‘07-’09

• A month in Nepal/Bhutan/Tibet• A month in Bali • A month in Buenos Aires• A month in China/Japan• PebbleStorm Retreat in Kauai• 10-day Silent Vipassana Meditation

Retreat• Burning Man• Hoffman Institute• Motorcycling

Zappos, Salesforce.com, Facebook, Google…

CEO As The Pebble In The Pond

Example: Zappos!

• Ranked #23 on Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For• Zappos’ revenue was more than $1 Billion in 2008

• “Zappos avoids serious titles & uses parties, parades and decorations to open up trust and communication between depts…and to bring customers in on the fun.”

CEO Sweetspot

Proven CEOFlow Track Records

• Gore & Associates• Semco• Zappos• IDEO• 1-800-Got Junk• Patagonia• USAA

• Nearsoft• Sea Smoke Cellars• AES / Dennis Bakke• Joie de Vivre Hotels • MindValley• Menlo Innovations• Axiom News

Extreme CEOFlow: Semco & “The Seven Day Weekend”

• Semco is a $300 million+ company, growing 25% per year.• Semco has no organizational chart. • No one approves reports or expense accounts. • There's no business plan or company strategy, no two year or

five-year plan, no goal or mission statement.• There’s no long-term budget. • The company often does not have a fixed CEO. • There are no vice presidents or CIOs. • There are no standards or practices. • There's no human resources department. • There are no job descriptions or employee contracts.

What Is CEOFlow? The Systematization Of What The Founders Of These

Successful Freedom Companies Have Organically Created

CEOFlow’s Puzzle Pieces

• CEOFlow includes: – A “CEOFlow System”, delivered through individual

and group coaching • Including how to create predictable sales & revenue

– A community of peers– Tools, case studies, CEO interviews– Fun adventures! (Local and world)

• Future: a book

Aaron’s Golden Rules Of An Employee-Led Business

1. You work for your employees2. Create a culture of no surprises and no blame3. Let go of those who don’t belong4. Allow your employees to stumble5. Take baby steps 6. Get a coach or mentor7. Find a community of like-minded CEOs

5 Myths About Getting The Most Out Of Your Employees

1. You must always seem strong, in control and have all the answers

2. Employees don’t need to (and shouldn’t) know everything that’s going on in the business

3. You have to sacrifice a lot of your own enjoyment and fun for your business to succeed

4. Mistakes and failures are bad 5. The more you work, the more successful the

business will be

The Step-By-Step CEOFlow System

1. CEO Gets Clear2. Choose Your Next Adventure3. Create A Shared Vision4. Set Up Your Rhythms (Your Drumbeat)– What kinds of meetings & events, when

5. Share The Journey6. Share The Results• Gratitude, Profit Sharing• Help Choose A Next Adventure

Example: Set Up Your RhythmsTransparency & regular communication are essential to creating flow &

mini-CEOs

• Morning Team Check-Ins (3 Goals Habit)• Weekly Staff Meetings• Regular anyone-is-invited “Meeting Of The Minds” sessions – for

anyone who has ideas & wants to help solve problems• Friday CEO Updates / Q&A• Monthly All-Company Update & Conversation

– Best: share the board slides with the company• Quarterly (Inexpensive) Offsites For All Teams• Monthly Internal Coaching / Mentoring Sessions

– Forget annual performance reviews

CEOFlow Surveys To Measure Flow

Creating Predictable Sales

1. Ideal Customer Profile2. Leads: Seeds, Nets, Spears3. (Spears) Outbound selling4. Funnels5. "Selling To Success" sales process6. Inbound lead management7. Key Performance Indicators8. Sales org design & roles9. Sales talent: hiring, training10. Sales management best practices

Mini-CEO Adventures: Treasure Map Hike

Bigger CEO Adventures

A motorcycle trek across Europe

Bigger CEO Adventures

A family friendly yoga and hiking trip to Machu Picchu

Sales Consulting, Freedom Coaching, Adventures

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Benefits To CEO, Employees, Investors

• Inspired mini-CEOs who want to make a difference and contribute like partners– More practical revenue-generating ideas– More practical cost-saving ideas– Lower turnover– Attract high-quality new talent

• Happier customers = more profit & growth– Faster, more sustainable sales– Reduced support costs and problems

• Sustainability: a company that is not dependent on the CEO or single employees

• More revenue: A CEO and executive team that is more creative, strategic and energized

One Bundle Idea: Sales + Freedom + Adventure

• Sign up for a CEOFlow group adventure (motorcycle trek in Europe, Machu Picchu, etc)

• Now you’re committed to developing your business• In preparation for the trip: a 6-month program to

– a) Turn your employees into mini-CEOs, and – b) Systematize sales/results

• The mini-CEOs get mini-adventures of their own• 2 Levels of service

– Gold: Mastermind/Group – Platinum: Gold + Private Aaron Sessions

• Success metric: “The CEO enjoys their adventure and the company performs better in their absence”

• Start January 2010

Another Idea: A La Carte

• A focused Sales program, or• A focused Freedom (“mini-CEOs”) program, or• Just sign up for Adventures

• Two levels:– Gold: a 6-month Mastermind (group) program

with regular content and Q&A calls, a 2-day live retreat, etc.

– Platinum: Gold + Private Aaron Sessions

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