I thoroughly enjoy watching movies about business. There are several films this year that portray the facts around several pivotal companies.
Blackberry is the story of the rise and dramatic fall of the first smartphone, the Blackberry.
Personally, I want Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu to make a movie about the company Zume Pizza and their CEO and founder, Alex Garden. I was an advisor to the CEO and it remains one the craziest experiences of my career.
Air tells the story about the origin of the Air Jordan, a basketball shoe named after Michael Jordan. What makes the movie interesting is the depiction of how Nike founder Phil Knight, was willing to delegate and keep an open mind about ideas that he didn’t particularly like. The Nike Swoosh? Phil wasn’t sure he liked it. The Air Jordan shoe? Phil wasn’t sure he liked it either. However, he trusted those around him enough to listen, take their advice, and trust them.
Phil wanted to name his company Dimension Six. When an employee had a dream and came up with the name of Nike, Phil wasn’t sold on the name but those who worked for Phil were. Phil agreed to call the company Nike and the rest is history.
Whereas Phil Knight trusted and listened to others, far too many CEOs don’t trust anyone and they only listen to themselves. I’ve written multiple articles about Peloton Interactive, Under Armour, Theranos, Meta, etc., where due to the CEOs unwillingness to listen to others, a company failed or made terrible strategic blunders.
In defense of most of the CEOs working today, however, and based on my own experience, many CEOs have struggled to find the talent they need with the skills and judgement to warrant trust from a CEO.
I believe we are witnessing a situation at Amazon where CEO Andy Jassy isn’t receiving the best advice regarding physical retail.
For example, Amazon Go. I believe Amazon should kill the stores but keep selling the technology.
I’ve made the argument multiple times that Whole Foods Market, who Amazon acquired for $13.7B, has a reputation for having the freshest fruits and vegetables. Why then did Amazon launch Amazon Fresh stores? (I believe Amazon should rebrand Amazon Fresh to Whole Foods+, or another name, but leverage the Whole Foods brand.)
Individuals inside Amazon are concerned with the lack of a coherent grocery and physical retail strategy. There is concern that Amazon is going to invest billions to open more Amazon Fresh stores, and a new store format to compete against Target.
Does Andy have anyone he can trust regarding a strategy for stores? If Jassy makes the wrong decision regarding physical retail, Amazon will waste billions.
Walmart is considering an acquisition of TikTok. Should the CEO agree to it? Who can he trust for advice?
The lesson I take from Nike is this: Trust is important but trust must be earned.
I trust most CEOs will agree with me.
