Why not theft?, "very demure," and the glorious rise of the midmarket

FWD: Edition 106

I don't know what's happening where you are, but here in the heart of flyover country, the dog days of August have been replaced by salad days of low 80s weather, mild humidity and a breeze with promises of October in the air.

From a business standpoint, you and I are still in that fantasy that 2024 has so much yet to offer before the fall's "holy crap there's only 16 real work days left in the year." We shall all enjoy it while we can.

I'm finding that these inflection seasons are prime time for leaders to ask that all-important question, "What don't we know that we should know?" and the deluge of clarity that comes with that. It's in that spirit that I offer up this week's FWD.

Let's proceed.

Also, I've done some rehabilitation in the "NOW" section of FWD, with an all-new stockpile of good things. I hope you enjoy it.

YES to the humble leader

Often lauded, rarely tried, the truly humble leader is a game changer in any organization. My definition of a humble leader:

• self-aware,
• courageous,
• teachable,
• with a bias toward transparency.

For any growth project (all growth requires change) that I lead, I'm looking for these four things because, without them, the capacity to grow will be short-lived and stunted. It's been an embarrassment of riches lately at CultureCraft, as we are working with incredible leaders who literally check all the boxes. One founder set last week blew my mind with their willingness to see themselves as both the problem and the solution. What an inspiration.

To help you, we'll be launching a Change Readiness self-assessment prior to all of our Growth Check engagements. Is your organization and is your leadership ready to grow? Growth Check is how we find out—and also where that growth should happen.

We're also now offering "Growth Check Leader" alongside "GrowthCheck Venture," so you can do a less-than-30-day look into what's accelerating and holding back your growth as a leader or as an organization.

NO to monopolies

The DOJ is as active as it's been in many years—perhaps decades—in addressing monopolistic behaviors in America's largest companies. No one should be more interested in this than the middle market. As major industries like tech, travel, CPG, and media have been whittled down to a very few very powerful players, the playing field's slant hasn't been this bent in a long time.

The latest is a DOJ threat to break up Google, which, in a practical sense, is like breaking up America into regional fiefdoms. The implications are massive for sub-$100M businesses regardless of industry.

MAYBE, ask the story

Many of you know Katie Lukashow, the operational and strategy guru behind some of CultureCraft's most impactful work. (If not, you should.) One thing about Katie is that she's endlessly curious and has a passion for founder-led businesses. These last few years, she's been discovering the best of her home turf on the Western slope of the Colorado Rockies, asking questions, meeting people, and collecting stories.

Last week, she met the founders at Restoration Vineyards, a winery that embodies the best of community, connection, renovating the good, and of course... vino. Hearing her recount the founders' journey was a reminder that the most powerful thing in business is a good story well told.

SERIOUSLY, love the midsize

The midsized city (like mine, ❤️DSM) is having a moment, showing economic expansion, housing resiliency and even some price stability not seen in the big metros.

New data now shows that in 38 of the 50 largest American cities later generations were worse off than their parents where in the same city, on average. We've known for a while that the "children having it better than their parents" economically was a suffering promise, what now seems clear is that its also moving geographically.

For those of us hanging out at the unsung metros, we know the real deal... This must be the place.

NOW, what you missed

I never have enough time in the YES, NO, MAYBE, SERIOUSLY sections to cover all the things I found fascinating, inspiring, and downright comical in the week's zeitgeist. So, in that spirit, I'm converting the NOW section to a speed round of hot topics that connect back to founding, leading, and building community-driven enterprises like yours—what's working for us and—all too often—the madmen standing in our way. Enjoy.

• For those just catching up: Marketers love a bandwagon, and this summer has been a lot of brat and demure everywhere. If you're not sure why this Summer was Brat or why everything is very demure, very mindful... you're primers are linked above.
• The irresistible mind of Ezra Klein: The left booed his early call for Biden to abandon the election, and his "is the internet broken" spurred wave of knockoffs. Semafor digs deep into the brand of Ezra.
• Speaking of generational figures: Phil Donahue, creator of the TV talk show and revealer of affairs and love children, has died, leaving a world of gossip-driven junk food TV he would have never imagined in his wake.
• Just steal stuff and lawyer up: Google's long-tenured ex-CEO Eric Schmidt said the future of entrepreneurship is going into AI and stealing stuff, without a hint of irony(?). That was cool and didn't reveal anything about why Google is the way it is. /sarcasm
• Solo, a journalist's story: Oliver Darcy, the wunderkind former host of CNN's Reliable Sources and media/politics muckraker, has joined the throngs of reporters going solo, launching Status_. I smashed that subscribe button as fast as I could.
• A method to Elon's (you fill in the blank): Whatever the result of the ridiculous lawsuit against advertisers, Musk's plans for X as a vehicle for his newly right-leaning political motivations are showing.
• A ringless circus: On that note, X's suing of companies who don't want to work with him for <<<reasons>>> is currently judgeless, as NPR hints the case is "forum shopping" for Elon's vengeance.
• The Internet is going to Internet: King of YouTube Mr. Beast is facing waves of allegations, cracking the brand and hitting his subscriber count. Don't worry, though. He hired Harvey Weinstein's lawyer. Everything should be fine.
• Streaming in Vertical: For the first time, the DNC will stream to TikTok and other platforms in vertical, playing to the preferred style of internet influencers and TikTokizens. This is a reminder that while the "government" wants to shut down the medium, they're happy to use it in the interim.