The Owner's Box @WashU Olin

In today's episode, I talk to a craftsman who has explored the tradeoffs inherent in an over attentiveness to scale when developing a business – David Stine of David Stine Furniture. At the core, David is a craftsman, and this attention to the craft shapes everything from his approach to debt and growth, how he thinks about creativity, and even the rich life, broadly defined. Whether you run a small business, dream of starting one, or just want a fresh lens on work and meaning—this episode is for you.

What does it take to be an entrepreneur? What is the skill set that separates the entrepreneur from the rest of us? Might there even be a personality or gene that helps people be especially gifted here?In today's episode we get to listen in to a short snippet of a recent conversation I had with John McDonnell, the leader and owner behind McDonnell Douglas which eventually sold to Boeing about what he says at the start of the company, and what it might imply for the rest of us. Special Guest: John McDonnell.

In today's episode, Peter Boumgarden sits down with Anna-Lisa Miller, Executive Director of Ownership Works. Her organization is built on a bold premise: that employee ownership—typically seen as separate from private equity—might actually enhance the impact of a private equity deal. It's a rare intersection of two ownership models, and Anna-Lisa provides a peak beneath the hood of this design. Listen in as we explore how these approaches can work together—and what that could mean for the future of finance-led ownership transitions in the middle market. Special Guest: Anna-Lisa Miller.

For some people, a gig is a short-term step to something different, something bigger, an unspoken plan still not yet disclosed in the space unknowing between the front and back seat. To gain some insight into this space, I want to introduce you to Margarita Tsoutsoura, my colleague in the finance department of Olin Business School. Margarita's research reminds us that the path toward starting something isn't always getting a degree in entrepreneurship or spinning something out of an established company. Sometimes, the path is about being young, flexible, and willing to tinker within a flexible career path—the gig economy—that didn't exist in the same way 20 years earlier.

To be a healthy leader means to step back... and let other voices or instruments rise to the top. Today's short “Tactics from the Owner's Box” takes us back to another clip from a recent episode—this one with the founder of KIND Bar, Daniel Lubetzky as he discusses the entrepreneur as orchestra director. Special Guest: Daniel Lubetzky.

In today's episode, we learn from Katie Ford all about how one company shaped the modeling business, and what that means for the person holding the reins. Special Guest: Katie Ford.

If you have a company that strives to be, in their own words, “Kind to one's tastebuds, body, and the world” -- can you tease out when it pays to be kind, and what you do when you have to assess that mission pragmatically? What about when you bring that novel supply chain to market. What works in the market, and how does it shape your path to getting there? In today's episode, we look at the balancing act between Business and Social Good with Kind Snacks Founder Daniel Lubetzky. Special Guest: Daniel Lubetzky.

Over the past few years, I've had the privilege of listening to, learning from, and working alongside an extraordinary group of private business owners. These are the kind of people who, in their own quiet way, steer the course of the American economy all the while wrestling with the big, messy questions that come with running a business. Today, on "Tactics from the Owner's Box," I want to tackle one of the trickiest challenges these leaders face: how to build a business that lasts by finding--and incentivizing--the right balance between purpose and performance.

Today's episode, gets inside the mind of an inventor, and seeing how that work applies to community development in a small town in rural Missouri.

In today's tactics from "The Owner's Box" -- we are going to revisit a few voices from Season 1 to learn how they approached partnership, and what it might mean for your own venture. Special Guest: Jeremy King.

In 2021, the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association and the American Frozen Food Institute inducted Richard Graeter into the 2021 Frozen Food Hall of Fame. His company is beloved by ice cream aficionados all around the country. So, what is it that makes Graeters Graeters, and how is this linked to the way this 4th generation family business operates? Special Guest: Richard Graeter.

A few weeks back, Peter Grant from the Wall Street Journal reached out with a question. How do families with real estate approach this investment differently than a fund? For Grant, the Wall Street Journal commercial real estate writer, his focus was on commercial real estate in New York. He had started to note something unusual in this space -- those families who had long committed to never sell were doing... just in fact that. Special Guest: Susan Fitzpatrick.

In 2024, Peter Boumgarden had the opportunity to lead a group of researchers and commissioners in a shared venture between Washington University in St. Louis and the Brookings Institution looking at the shifts of ownership for privately held firms. Because of the amount of these that are owned by baby boomers, it is often called a kind of silver tsunami. Today, you are going to hear pieces of that story from a few members of the team.

For those of you playing along at home.... while this season has highlighted a number of different voices, there is at least one that is characteristically missing -- that of a female owner taking over leadership of their family business. Our discussion with Carolyn Kindle at St. Louis CITY SC hit on pieces of this work, but this was in the context of starting something new -- a soccer club in the MLS. There is something different about stewarding something that already exists. How do you lead that well? What does it mean to own something from a deep understanding of who you are. And so with that, we queue up, Cindi Bigelow of Bigelow Tea. Special Guests: .

In the space of ownership, the vision of building, scaling, and selling has become a shared mantra of success in the world of business schools formed in the shadow of Silicon Valley. But to suggest all businesses must follow this path is like assuming all runners need to be marathoners. Let's put this in context by focusing our attention on the owner-operator. How does one approach an attempt to own something for the long run? How does one prepare to steward a legacy throughout the inevitable and yet unexpected changes coming down the pipe?

Welcome to Episode Five of the Owner's Box by WashU Olin's Koch Center for Family Enterprise. This week, we learn from Michael and John Kennedy on how they have worked together as siblings and a broader family to build out Fraiche Wine Group.

In today's tactics from the Owner's Box, we introduce the four critical questions for strategic owners – questions of What, How, When, and perhaps most importantly, Why.

The brand is a celebrity favorite no matter the occasion. Lorde. Gigi Hadid, Jessica Alba, Blake Lively, Selena Gomez, the list goes on. Today's episode looks at how Stuart Weitzman built his company and what we can learn about owner strategy from the various twists and turns of his brand's evolution over time. This is ultimately Stuart Weitzman's gift to us. There is hard won wisdom gained by an entrepreneur who has gone through all these different shifts in and around the owner's box.

Today on “Tactics from The Owner's Box,” we explore the meaning of legacy and how it plays into the design of a business and philanthropy over time.

Today we discuss how a multi-generational family enterprise has brought soccer back to St. Louis, and their hopes and plan to make an impact far beyond the pitch. Special Guests: Andrew C. Taylor, Carolyn Kindle, Jason Thein, Lee Broughton, and Neal Richardson.

In the business world, you hear a lot about why and how a business plans to balance social and business good. Ultimately, how much overlap you see between the financial maximization of returns and the non-financial drivers of business likely shapes what you see as possible. So, how might one think about this relationship, and can we bring rigor to the assessment? Explore this question and more with host, Peter Boumgarden, Professor and Director of the Koch Center for Family Enterprise in our latest mini-session focused on tactics from "The Owner's Box."

Today, we explore the tension between commercial and creative objectives, and what we can learn from a culinary entrepreneur preparing for his third act. Does the owner's box need a creative tension between commerce and creativity? Without the constraints of commerce, the creative impulse can easily become unbounded from market potential. But lacking imagination, do we merely replicate previous successes, with all restaurants looking like carbon copies of surefire but vanilla hits, and all films becoming superhero replicas? Tune in to hear Jeremy King talk this through in his experience transforming the London restaurant scene.

If you sit in the owner's box or sit in a position of leadership, how might your assessment of those coming behind you be shaping how much control you are willing to give up? How does your assessment of the capability and willingness of the next-gen shape your willingness to step outside of the owner's box? Today in Tactics from “The Owner's Box,” we explore succession through the lens of control.

"Transitioning with Soul" -- is our first episode and features Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman's, Danny Meyer of USHG Acquisition Corp. Shake Shack and USHG, LLC, and Bo Burlingham of Forbes. Special Guests: Ari Weinzweig, Bo Burlingham, and Danny Meyer.