Ten years ago, I interviewed Jay Walker, the man with 650 patents, including Priceline.com (Thomas Edison had 1,093). When I asked Jay what the secret to building a great company was, he told me, “You have to identify a universal need and solve it.” As I thought about the 1,000+ CEOs I’ve interviewed on The CEO Show, three visionary entrepreneurs came to mind who embody Jay Walker’s principles: Ron Scheich, Scott Cohen, and Larry Conner. I hope their stories will inspire you to come up with your next big idea.
Know your moat
Ron Scheich not only founded one of the world’s most beloved companies, Panera Bread, he also founded one of the best-performing stocks, outperforming Berkshire Hathaway, Starbucks by two times, and Chipotle by four times. With a 25% annual shareholder return, a $10,000 investment in Panera stock would be worth over $1 million in 20 years. Ron has numerous strategies, and in fact, four specific stages of growth that he outlines in his book: Know what’s importantOne of the secrets Ron told me was that his moat was actually bread: “He knew no one could make fresh bread and deliver it to hundreds of locations.”
Shaikh continued about his strategy: “Successful companies find a point of differentiation that makes service buyers (consumers or businesses) choose them over others. For Panera, it started with bread and evolved over time as they gained customer trust. The key to success is to stay true to your end destination, but not get fixated on how to get there. There are many paths to get to your destination, and many unexpected turns along the journey. Staying flexible is key.”
Ron Scheich and Robert Rice
Solving a Key Market Need
Scott Cohen, along with co-founder Blake Johnson, created Alter, the world’s first home fitness system that leverages the power of a customer’s DNA, biometrics, and AI to generate highly personalized, individualized fitness programs that were previously only accessible and affordable to the wealthiest 1 percent. Cohen knows the secret to dramatic growth, as the duo’s latest company, clear aligner dentistry company Byte, sold for over $1 billion less than two years after launching – without any outside funding.
Cohen co-founded Alter with a transformational approach to revolutionize personalized fitness by bringing together multiple fitness and stress management products in one. Cohen explains his strategy for launching any business: “Ford, Target, McDonald’s, these brands have been successful by bringing in demographics that were previously excluded. They’ve taken something that was previously accessible and affordable to the 1% and made it affordable for everyone. That’s what we did with Byte and what we’re doing with Alter.” And when we asked Scott how generative AI and advanced technology fit into entrepreneurship, he replied: “No matter how predictive or accurate technology becomes, human nature still thrives on personal interaction, live feedback and collaboration.”
Finding a clear market for reform
Larry Conner entered a specific sector of real estate — luxury apartments — with a new way of thinking. Rather than the standard approach of simply expanding assets, he created a unique deal model focused on generating superior returns for investors by purchasing underperforming apartment communities and improving their physical amenities to reduce costs.
Using this model, he has grown his company, The Connor Group, from zero in 1992 to $5 billion today, with 15,000 luxury units in 51 buildings across 12 states and an annual return of 30.4% for investors since inception. When I asked Larry about his philosophy of success, he told me, “If you’re not failing, you’re not pushing your limits. And if you’re not pushing your limits, you’re not reaching your full potential. If you’re flexible and self-responsible, there’s very little that can stand in the way of your success.”
In addition to pushing the envelope, Larry attributes Connor Group’s success to two key elements: culture and community. On culture, Larry further said, “The strongest organizations have the strongest cultures: winning with purpose and purpose.” On the topic of community, he founded Connor Kids and Community Partners, which have committed $152 million since 2016 to lift children out of generational poverty. Over the next 10 years, they plan to commit $800 million to this work.
To sum up the secrets of entrepreneurship, we asked entrepreneurial guru Len Greene, author of best-selling books: Entrepreneur Playbook Green, a top entrepreneurship professor at Babson College, enlightened and reinforced the message of these three visionary entrepreneurs: “Every entrepreneur should have this quote posted on the wall of their office: The real failure is not losing money, it’s not learning from your failure and not pushing yourself beyond your normal limits.”
To listen to these and other CEO interviews, check out The CEO Show.
