Summary

In this conversation, Marques Colston, a former NFL player transitioned to leading the boardroom playbook, dives into the dynamic world of sports and business ventures. Marques discuss his innovative investments in the sports value chain, including sports medicine, technology, and fan engagement. The conversation covers Marque's insights on the socioeconomic impact around stadiums, the rising popularity of lacrosse, and his hands-on approach to parenting. He also opens up about coaching his son's football team and the importance of instilling resilience in his children.

Marques also shares his football crossover strategy to finding sustainable and scalable investments, his philosophy on team dynamics, and the challenges athletes face when transitioning from professional sports. From founding Champion Venture Partners to raising a $100 million fund, Marques Colston's story is a testament to innovation and resilience.

Takeaways

• Marques’ investment portfolio focuses on the sports value chain.
• From athlete to investor, Marques seamlessly transitioned from the field to venture capitalism.
• Marques introduces his three levels of awareness—self, peripheral, and situational.
• Understanding team dynamics and individual roles can maximise collective performance.
• A focus on democratising investments, making it more accessible for others.
• Marques shares his parenting approach to build resilience.

Chapters

(00:00) From Football Field to Business Strategy with Marques Colston.

(03:43) Run down of Marques Colston’s 10-year football career.

(06:13) Introducing Champion Venture Partners, a fund that invests in sports companies.

(07:00) Democratising private investments for average investors.

(12:51) Humble beginnings and embracing challenges to strengthen growth.

(14:37) Sports teach resilience and self-awareness through adversity.

(16:59) Marques Colston’s career highlights include consistency.

(20:04) Motivation as an internal standard.

(21:50) Transitioning from professional football to next career.

(23:36) Early career investments built skills and confidence for the next steps.

(30:16) Evaluating scalability and sustainability of businesses.

(35:37) Creating access to opportunities in alternative investments.

(37:27) Changes to opportunities in the pandemic.

(40:10) Taking football team experience into executive coaching.

(45:12) Culture and leadership impact performance and rewards.

(46:06) Quick fire questions with Marques Colston.

(49:12) Book recommendations.

About Marques Colston

Marques Colston is a former NFL star now leading wins in the business field of venture capitalists. He is a Founding Partner at Champion Venture Partners, a fund dedicated to innovative investment opportunities that generate meaningful returns in the sports ecosystem.

Marquesis humble about his outstanding 10 year career as a wide receiver for New Orleans Saints. He was the Saints all time leader in receptions, receiving yards, touchdowns, and he played a key role in their super bowl victory in 2009. Since stepping off the field, he's seamlessly transitioned into the world of business applying the same Creating Separation mindset that defined his football career.

Over the last 15+ years, he has become a trusted leader in business strategy, private equity, and sports business, driving sustainable growth for companies across various sectors. He's passionate about supporting athletes in navigating the shift from professional sports to business, creating a pathway and holding the door open for those coming up behind him.

Marques wants to democratise investment capability or the ability of people to invest in early stage businesses. His current $100 million fund...

Summary

In this conversation, Minette Norman, a seasoned leader and author, explores psychological safety, leadership myths, and managers' real impact on employee wellbeing. Minette shares her journey from technical writer to leading an enormous team of 3,500 engineers at Autodesk without learning any code.

Minette has a genius way of simplifying the complex. She shares insight from her two books, The Boldly Inclusive Leadership and The Psychological Safety Playbook, giving you tangible how-to’s. Minette successfully navigated resistance to collaboration in her long-held position in Silicon Valley. From book recommendations to actionable insights for creating safe and productive work environments, this episode is packed with wisdom for aspiring leaders and curious minds alike.

Takeaways

• Debunking leadership myths and offering a model of vulnerability.
• Psychological safety fosters an environment where team members can openly ask questions, make mistakes, and share ideas without fear.
• Career pathway options for leaders and individual contributors.
• Building an inclusive workplace with the tipping point percentage.
• Offering the How-To guidance leaders are seeking.
• The importance of having an open mind in business.

Chapters

(00:00) Collaborating Ideas With An Open Mind With Minette Norman.

(03:08) Minette’s Journey From Technical Writer To Leader.

(04:59) Transforming Workspace Culture and Unify Teams.

(06:54) Overcoming Resistance To Collaborative Coding and Internal Competition.

(10:57) Importance of Yearly Summit In-Person Gathering.

(12:01) Adapting Meetings to Equalise Space & Include Quieter Individuals’ Insights.

(14:52) Reasons Behind The Boldly Inclusive Leader.

(17:36) Conceit of Leadership.

(21:47) Psychological Safety, Inclusion & Interpersonal Risk Taking.

(24:28) Co-Authoring Focused on How To Increase Psychological Safety.

(26:27) Asking For Other Points of View With An Open Mind.

(28:16) Learning From Mistakes.

(31:59) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Conference.

(35:17) Overcoming Affinity Bias To Embrace Diverse Groups.

(38:49) Loneliness in the Workplace.

(41:39) Quickfire Q&A with Minette Monkhouse.

(47:02) Book Recommendations.

About Minette Norman

Minette Norman is an author, speaker, and leadership consultant who previously spent decades leading global technical teams in the software industry.

Minette has extensive experience leading internationally distributed teams and believes that when groups embrace diversity in all its forms, breakthroughs emerge, and innovation accelerates. Before starting her consultancy, her most recent position was as Vice President of Engineering Practice at Autodesk. Responsible for influencing more than 3,500 engineers around the globe, she focused on state-of-the-art engineering practices while nurturing a collaborative and inclusive culture.

​Minette is a keynote speaker on inclusive leadership, psychological safety, collaborative teams, and empathy. Named in 2017 as one of the “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business” by the San Francisco Business Times and as “Business Role Model of the Year” in the 2018 Women in IT/Silicon Valley Awards, Minette is a recognised leader with a unique perspective.

​Minette is the author of The Boldly Inclusive Leader and the co-author of The Psychological Safety Playbook.

Minette holds degrees in Drama and French from Tufts University and studied at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris.

Follow Minette Norman

Website: https://www.minettenorman.com/

LinkedIn:

Summary

In this conversation, Alan Miltz, a renowned financial analysis and business strategy expert, shares insights into scaling up a business and improving its cash flow. He dives deep into the intricacies of financial management, from optimising cash flow and managing working capital to the fine art of pricing strategy.

Alan keeps the conversation simple, outlining how small 1% changes in one day can revolutionise a company's financial health. He offers his understanding of The Magic Number 200 and practical tools for improving cash flow and sustaining growth, even in challenging economic climates. Finally, Alan provides some excellent book recommendations for anyone looking to find hidden value in their business segments.

Takeaways

• Mastering the seven financial levers to enhance cash flow.
• Understand the power of incremental 1% improvements.
• Ensure your financial strategies are aligned with your bank's focus.
• Keep financial reports simple and relatable.
• Manage meetings so everyone understands the company’s story.
• Overcome the hesitation to raise prices.
• The Magic Number 200 explained simply.

Chapters

(00:00) Discussing Cash Flow, The Power of One and More With Alan Miltz

(05:13) Cash Flow Is Crucial In The Current Economy

(9:58) Seven Levers and Four Chapters In Business

(13:53) Management Team Responsibilities

(17:08) Cash Flow Burn

(20:42) Relationship of Price vs. Volume to Cash Flow and Profit

(25:37) Identifying Profit Segments Using Cash Flow Ladder

(34:12) Magic Number of 200

(38:58) Cash Flow Story Software Tool

(41:02) Book Recommendations for Improving Business

About Alan Miltz

Alan Miltz has dedicated his life to helping business leaders and everyone in their team love the numbers. Revenue is vanity, Profit is sanity and Cash is king (or queen) are usually his opening words.

Alan is a co-author of Verne Harnish’s global best-selling book Scaling Up (having written the financial component of the book).

Alan believes that running a business is like managing a sports team: Everyone needs to know the score. Every business wants to scale up its profit, cash, and value. The Power of One, developed by Alan and the team at Cash Flow Story, is your company’s code. How many 1% or 1-day changes do you need to make to achieve your desired financial results?

Everything Alan has developed has had one common theme – to make the complex simple. As a founder of Inmatrix (known as Optimist software) in 1998, which is now the global standard for over 500 banks in more than 90 countries. More recently co-founded Cash Flow Story allowing non-financial individuals to easily analyse and improve business Profit, Cash & Value. This has helped 1000’s of businesses to scale 2xProfit, 3xCash and 10xBusiness Value.

Alan has been voted best speaker in Australia for TEC (the world’s largest CEO forum) and continues to speak at many CEO conferences globally, including the CEO syndicate in Australia, Entrepreneurs Organisation, and YPO. He also sits on the boards of 15 well-recognised companies globally.

Follow Alan Miltz

• Website
• LinkedIn

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