The Owner's Box @WashU Olin

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What does it mean to be a strategic owner? How might it matter if something is owned in the public market or, by a founder or family? What about the time horizon, and what does it mean to say you are invested for the long term? Beyond a single business’ success, do the patterns of ownership of businesses across the country make a difference in the ways these businesses run, whether mom-and-pop shops or multi-national corporations? These hidden patterns of ownership are an invisible current with implications on the products we buy, the companies we work at, and the communities we live in. This podcast, “The Owner’s Box” is about telling that story.

Peter Boumgarden, WashU Olin Business School


    • Mar 27, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • every other week NEW EPISODES
    • 22m AVG DURATION
    • 21 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The Owner's Box @WashU Olin

    Tactics from the Owner's Box: Entrepreneur as Orchestra Director

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2025 5:56


    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.

    S2: E5: Stewarding Potential with Katie Ford

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2025 34:37


    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.

    S2: E4: Quantifying Kindness with Daniel Lubetzky

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2025 36:28


    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.

    Tactics from the Owner's Box: Purpose and Profit

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2025 5:52


    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.

    Episode 7: Ownership and Invention with Jamie Siminoff

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2025 35:36


    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.

    Tactics from the Owner's Box: Navigating the Complexity of Partnership

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 2, 2025 6:21


    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.

    S2: E2: Scooping for Success with Richard Graeter of Graeter's Ice Cream

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2024 38:06


    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.

    Tactics from the Owner's Box: A Cabin in the Woods

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2024 7:17


    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.

    S2:E1: Main Street's Tidal Wave of Ownership Transition

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 19, 2024 37:59


    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.

    Episode 6: All That We Bring to the Table with Cindi Bigelow

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2024 43:52


    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: .

    Tactics from the Owner's Box: The Discipline of Long-Run Ownership

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2024 6:34


    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?

    Episode 5: Episode 5: Brothers in the Vineyard: Growing Fraiche Wine Group

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2024 49:16


    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.

    Tactics from the Owner's Box: The Four Critical Questions of Ownership

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 11, 2024 7:01


    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.

    Episode 4: Creativity and Continuity with Stuart Weitzman

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2024 28:55


    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.

    Tactics from the Owner's Box: The Psychology of Legacy

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2024 5:53


    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.

    Episode 3: The Beautiful Game

    Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2024 34:17


    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.

    st louis beautiful game enterprise mobility neal richardson lee broughton
    Tactics from the Owner's Box: Social Discount

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2024 9:22


    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."

    Episode 2: Creative Control with Jeremy King

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2024 36:39


    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.

    Tactics from the Owner's Box: Succession

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2024 6:15


    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.

    Episode 1: Transitioning with Soul

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2024 33:36


    "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.

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