Founder's Mentality: The CEO Sessions

How do you grow a billion dollar business in the face of extreme turbulence? 
  
Bruno Lasansky is CEO of Localiza&Co, a Brazilian car rental company that began with just six secondhand VW Beetles in 1973. From surging interest rates to industry altering government policies, there are few companies that have faced adversity quite like Localiza. But for Bruno, turbulence is not something to be scared of. Under his leadership, Localiza&Co has become  South America's largest mobility network, and today, it has more than 600,000 cars. 
  
Join host Jimmy Allen of Bain & Company and Bruno as they discuss Bruno’s playbook for the perfect storm: how to unleash the power of the unvarnished truth, how to balance pace and strategy to address turbulence face on, and the importance of culture in fuelling growth that will last for the long run. 
  
Bruno emphasizes the fact that success is not all about winning. Why should a leader shift their mentality away from winning, and towards valuing what they will learn along the journey? 
  
This is a conversation about transparency, discipline, and becoming a leader that not only guides teams through unforeseeable adversity, but sets them up to thrive before turbulence even arrives. 
  
https://www.bain.com/founders-mentality/ 
  
EPISODE CHAPTERS 
00:00 Introduction 
02:03 The perfect storm 
03:05 The turbulence Bruno was facing 
04:43 Resisting the typical temptations 
06:55 Strategy starts with a reality check 
07:39 Next comes the point of arrival 
09:38 How Bruno leads through turbulence 
10:13 The importance of adapting fast 
11:19 Responding to the unvarnished truth 
12:43 The importance of transparency 
13:55 Be prepared to exit when it’s necessary 
14:28 Never forget the customers or the team 
15:57 The power of people, culture, and the mission 
17:43 Bruno's acid test 
19:05 Entering turbulence with a full battery 
21:13 Bruno’s biggest lesson 
23:32 Winning is a consequence, not the main goal 
25:24 The things that drive Bruno 
26:43 Bruno's perfect storm playbook 
  
LINKS 
The Fifth New Rule of Scaling: Fall Back in Love with Process - Jimmy Allen - Blog [https://tinyurl.com/FallBackInLoveWithProcess] 
Bain & Company LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/bain-and-company/] 
Bain & Company X [https://x.com/BainandCompany] 
Jimmy Allen LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-allen-3442b/] 
Bruno Lasansky LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brunolasansky/] 
  
About the Host: 
Jimmy Allen is an Advisory Partner at Bain & Company with over 35 years’ experience advising leading organizations. He’s the author of multiple best-selling books on growth and leadership and the host and founder of Bain’s Global CEO Community Forum. Jimmy is a regular speaker at global business events, including the World Economic Forum, and serves on the Botswana Economic Advisory Council. Outside of consulting, Jimmy started his own record label [Abubilla Music] in 2008 and supports Singing Wells, a project dedicated to preserving Kenyan village music. 

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When did showing up become optional? 
  
In 2009 Michelle Zatlyn co-founded Cloudflare, a tech startup that powers 45% of all Fortune 500 companies through solving problems that were keeping their leaders up at night. The surprising thing is, Michelle had no background in engineering. She developed an expertise through showing up, leveraged her own strengths to build a billion dollar business, and wrote a playbook all founders can learn from in the process. 
  
Join host Jimmy Allen of Bain & Company and Michelle as they discuss the importance of solving problems that people care about, how to build teams that thrive off cross-functional collaboration, and how to balance delivery and development agendas throughout moments of hyperscale. 
  
Michelle’s story highlights the importance of showing up. Not all leaders start off as experts, but they can become one through being in the room where it happens. How can founders push themselves to show up, even at times where they don't initially have the expertise? 
  
This is a conversation about balancing delivery with growth, building a team that will drive progress through collaboration, and becoming an expert through showing up in the process. 
  
https://www.bain.com/founders-mentality/ 
 
EPISODE CHAPTERS 
00:00 Introduction 
00:48 No founder has the perfect skillset 
02:31 Finding the right problem to solve 
04:19 Building a customer-led tech company  
06:42 How Michelle became an expert 
08:15 The importance of showing up 
12:37 Navigating moments of hyperscale 
15:18 Scale demands decentralization 
16:20 Empowering cross-functional collaboration 
17:13 Protect the steady state, disrupt the status quo 
18:30 Balancing delivery and development 
19:35 How Cloudflare delivers and develops 
21:43 Scale changes a founder's role 
22:40 Recruiting for spiky capabilities 
24:39 The Cloudflare way 
26:10 Michelle's playbook 
  
LINKS 
A Beginner's Mindset: The Art of Showing Up - Jimmy Allen - Blog [https://tinyurl.com/TheArtOfShowingUp] 
Bain & Company LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/bain-and-company/] 
Bain & Company X [https://x.com/BainandCompany] 
Jimmy Allen LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-allen-3442b/] 
Michelle Zatlyn LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellezatlyn/]
 
About the Host: 
Jimmy Allen is an Advisory Partner at Bain & Company with over 35 years’ experience advising leading organizations. He’s the author of multiple best-selling books on growth and leadership and the host and founder of Bain’s Global CEO Community Forum. Jimmy is a regular speaker at global business events, including the World Economic Forum, and serves on the Botswana Economic Advisory Council. Outside of consulting, Jimmy started his own record label [Abubilla Music] in 2008 and supports Singing Wells, a project dedicated to preserving Kenyan village music.

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What does it take to build a business that can pass the purpose-driven test? 
 
Before becoming group CEO and Office of the President at Mars, Poul Weihrauch led a generational transformation of Mars Pet Care that was defined by the things he didn’t do. Poul didn’t pursue a rapid integration or underestimate complexity, and he refined financial strategies by rejecting synergy. Through these unconventional leadership decisions Poul doubled Mars Pet Care’s size, and tripled its organic growth rate. 
  
Join host Jimmy Allen of Bain & Company and Poul as they discuss the value of embracing complexity in the name of the customer, how growth doesn't necessarily require synergy, and how Poul built a leadership development program which not only strengthens his leaders but also underpins the company’s growth. 
  
Poul’s story sets a powerful example for any CEO aiming to build a successful purpose-driven business. How can leaders enable a company to stay true to its purpose even during the most testing challenges? 
  
This is a conversation about the importance of CEO restraint, embracing the complexity that comes with growth, and the role of a leader in building a company that can pass the purpose-driven test. 
  
https://www.bain.com/founders-mentality/ 
  
EPISODE CHAPTERS 
00:00 Introduction 
02:40 A trip to the graveyard 
03:48 Moving purpose from the walls to decisions 
05:54 Restructuring the leadership team 
07:35 The role of communication 
09:02 The engine one, engine two problem 
10:46 Navigating complexity 
12:31 Focus wins over synergy 
14:53 Poul’s philosophy 
16:12 Refusing synergy is a financial strategy 
17:45 The founder dilemma 
19:02 Poul’s pathfinders program 
20:18 The value of cross-functional collaboration 
21:20 Embracing complexity for the customer 
23:00 The cyber attack 
24:25 Living up to their purpose 
25:56 What it means to be purpose-driven 
27:25 Organization first, self last 
29:45 The lessons Poul learnt 
30:51 Poul’s most important stakeholders 
32:03 The things Poul didn’t do 
  
LINKS 
A Graveyard of Good Intentions - Jimmy Allen - Blog [https://tinyurl.com/agraveyardofgoodintentions] 
Bain & Company LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/bain-and-company/] 
Bain & Company X [https://x.com/BainandCompany] 
Jimmy Allen LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-allen-3442b/] 
Poul Weihrauch LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/poulweihrauch/] 
  
About the Host: 
Jimmy Allen is an Advisory Partner at Bain & Company with over 35 years’ experience advising leading organizations. He’s the author of multiple best-selling books on growth and leadership and the host and founder of Bain’s Global CEO Community Forum. Jimmy is a regular speaker at global business events, including the World Economic Forum, and serves on the Botswana Economic Advisory Council. Outside of consulting, Jimmy started his own record label [Abubilla Music] in 2008 and supports Singing Wells, a project dedicated to preserving Kenyan village music.

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What does it take to lead a fragmented business through disruptive transformation? 
  
When she joined The Economist as Group CEO, Lara Boro faced a divided company, metaphorically, and physically. She quickly won the confidence of the board, by writing off a £12 million, four year long transformation project, and showing that its replacement wouldn’t need a single pound of investment. It could actually fund itself. Through strategic and purpose-based leadership, Lara solidified her legacy of being the person who was able to finally bring two sides of the business together. 
  
Join host Jimmy Allen of Bain & Company and Lara as they discuss the importance of striving for simplification at pace, how culture helped her team embrace an ambitious digital transformation, and how she brought the business together through dissecting one foundational question: what is The Economist? 
  
Lara’s journey also highlights the value of building for the customer. How can analyzing customer data shape budgets and provide strategic direction? 
  
This is a conversation about the role of a leader in guiding teams through positive disruption, leveraging customer data to shape business strategy, and ensuring every part of a team strives for success together. 
  
https://www.bain.com/founders-mentality/ 
  
EPISODE CHAPTERS 
00:00 Introduction 
01:19 Arriving to a cultural divide 
02:53 The gap between the editorial and the business 
04:36 Understanding the issues from both sides 
05:37 Journalism is independent, but not from the business 
06:27 Lara's playbook - reframing the business strategy 
07:35 Starting by understanding the customer 
08:30 Customer data helps improve efficiency 
09:42 Writing off £12 million and four years of work 
11:50 Why Lara used the phrase "self funding" 
13:19 The when, the how, and the little wins 
14:25 Momentum matters most 
15:35 Mixing pace with simplicity 
16:44 Building a culture that eases tension 
18:06 Maintaining principles in the face of AI 
19:35 Discovering new perspectives through debate 
20:44 Expression may change, but culture stays the same 
21:40 What is The Economist? 
23:32 Convincing the right people to join 
24:27 Lara’s legacy: bringing The Economist together 
25:22 The people who believed in Lara 
26:44 The grand reframe 
  
LINKS 
The Most Successful Cultural Change Programs Never, Ever Discuss Cultural Change  - Jimmy Allen - Blog [https://tinyurl.com/CEOCulturalChange] 
Bain & Company LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/bain-and-company/] 
Bain & Company X [https://x.com/BainandCompany] 
Jimmy Allen LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-allen-3442b/] 
Lara Boro LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lara-salameh-boro-4a16405/] 

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How will AI impact the business I have spent years building? 
  
When Sal Khan, CEO and founder of Khan Academy, was confronted with this question in 2023 he didn’t wait for someone to answer, he learned quickly and built the outcome he wanted. The result was a personalized learning model that enhanced education for 200 million users across the world. 
  
Join host Jimmy Allen of Bain & Company and Sal as they discuss how to embrace the discomfort of navigating disruption, the importance of relearning how to learn, and how CEOs can use AI to strengthen their competitive positions. 
  
Sal also reveals the promise he made to his team - if they’re creating AI that can automate their roles they won’t be replaced, they will be promoted. How can leaders find new ways to drive productivity amid the uncertainty surrounding AI? 
  
This is a conversation about turning disruption into new opportunities, how curiosity can help us navigate the unknown, and how leaders can leverage AI to set their businesses apart. 
  
https://www.bain.com/founders-mentality/ 
  
EPISODE CHAPTERS 
00:00 Introduction 
02:22 The astonishing ability of emerging AI 
03:21 Experimenting with an early AI model 
04:14 Turning fears into features 
04:56 Sal’s quick decision to adopt AI 
05:46 The concerns of AI in education 
07:04 Sal’s symbiosis with AI developers 
07:57 Why Khan Academy had to understand AI 
08:32 How Sal seized the opportunity of disruptive technologies 
09:22 Getting the team on board through confronting risks 
10:05 Preparing to launch 
10:34 The need for a responsible actor becomes clear 
11:56 How Sal built his tiger team 
13:17 How Sal’s mentality helps embrace AI uncertainty 
15:23 Learning how to learn again 
16:11 Helping people learn in the right ways with AI 
18:05 How AI facilitates a deeper education 
19:08 The choice: to thrive with AI, or to be replaced by AI 
19:55 Three key things about learning with AI 
20:36 Sal’s promise 
20:55 A CEO’s guide to using AI 
24:03 The fundamental question answered by Sal’s journey 
25:28 What is personalized mastery education 
28:21 How AI facilitates Khan Academy's personalized learning model 
28:50 Gaining the conviction to adopt AI 
29:54 When conviction turns into validation 
30:37 What we can learn from Sal’s journey 
  
LINKS 
A Scorecard on our 3 AI Journeys - Jimmy Allen - Blog [https://tinyurl.com/AIJourneyScorecard] 
Bain & Company LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/bain-and-company/] 
Bain & Company X [https://x.com/BainandCompany] 
Jimmy Allen LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-allen-3442b/] 
Sal Khan LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/khanacademy/] 
  
About the Host: 
Jimmy Allen is an Advisory Partner at Bain & Company with over 35 years’ experience advising leading organizations. He’s the author of multiple best-selling books on growth and leadership and the host and founder of Bain’s Global CEO Community Forum. Jimmy is a regular speaker at global business events, including the World Economic Forum, and serves on the Botswana Economic Advisory Council. Outside of consulting, Jimmy started his own record label [Abubilla Music] in 2008 and supports Singing Wells, a project dedicated to preserving Kenyan village music.

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Fill out our short listener survey, and help us form the future of the show
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