Explore every episode of the podcast The Reboot Chronicles with Dean DeBiase

The systems built around work, retirement, and aging were designed for a world where people lived to their seventies. That world no longer exists. A 70 year old today has the same mental and physical acuity as a 53 year old in the year 2000. The fastest growing group of new entrepreneurs in the United States and across Europe are first time founders over 50, who are three times more likely to succeed than their younger counterparts. And 75 percent of global wealth is held by people between the ages of 50 and 70, yet only 5 percent of advertising targets that demographic. Lyndsey Simpson saw this mismatch before most people were talking about it. After scaling one of the UK's largest HR and recruitment outsourcing firms, she made a deliberate pivot and launched 55 Redefined, an age inclusion platform now working with more than 300 global corporate partners including Amazon and Warner Brothers. Her mission is straightforward: add ten productive years to people's lives while helping companies unlock the commercial value of experience. Her new book, The Age Rebellion, is a practical manifesto for rejecting outdated assumptions about aging and designing the second half of life with intention.

On this episode of The Reboot Chronicles Podcast, we sit down with Lyndsey Simpson, CEO of 55 Redefined, to unpack the business case for age inclusion, why retirement is a trap most people do not see coming, how self limiting beliefs about aging are literally shortening lives, and what it means to be an age pioneer in a generation that has no playbook to follow. Simpson also shares the unexpected moment that sparked her company, the data behind the return on experience, and the practical framework she uses to help people design what comes next.

Identity has become the most critical perimeter in enterprise security, and no company is more focused on that reality than Okta. As President and Chief Operating Officer, Eric Kelleher has helped steer Okta through multiple reboots, from solving the functional problem of employee access management in the early cloud era, to repositioning the company as a core security platform, to now tackling what may be the most consequential challenge in enterprise technology: securing the identities of AI agents operating autonomously inside corporate networks. With nearly 3 billion dollars in revenue, more than 6,000 employees, and over 20,000 enterprise customers across every major industry, Okta is the infrastructure layer that organizations rely on to verify that the humans, systems, and now agents acting inside their companies are who they say they are and authorized to do what they are attempting to do. Before Okta, Kelleher helped write the SaaS playbook at Salesforce, scaling the company from roughly 50 million to 4 billion dollars in revenue, and built LinkedIn's first customer success organization, growing the talent solutions business to 2 billion dollars.

On this episode of The Reboot Chronicles Podcast, we sit down with Eric Kelleher, president and COO of Okta, to unpack how identity became the new security perimeter, why the agentic AI wave is creating an entirely new category of security risk that most enterprises are not yet prepared for, how Okta's open standard for cross-app access is designed to give the industry a baseline for securing agents regardless of which vendor built them, and what the next five years of identity security will look like as the workforce shifts from human to machine. Kelleher also shares the personal reboot story behind his career, including what he learned from bankrupting a SaaS company during the dot-com crash while house poor in Silicon Valley with his first child on the way.

The future of journalism is being reimagined real time, with rising stars like Morgan Brennan leading the way. As anchor of CNBC's Morning Call and host of Manifest Space podcast, Brennan brings a rare combination of editorial instinct, policy fluency, and operator-level curiosity to one of the most consequential shifts in modern media history. Having covered defense and emerging space economies for CNBC and produced shows with world leaders and elite entrepreneurs, she has operated at the intersection of markets, technology, and national security for more than a decade. Today, she is applying that experience to CNBC's mission to build the next generation of business news, one where trusted information moves at the speed of a retweet.

On this episode of The Reboot Chronicles Podcast, we sit down with Morgan Brennan to unpack the Reindustrialization of America, the rise of defense and space as ground zero for industrial policy, and the future of morning news. She breaks down how CNBC is evolving from a linear television network into a multi-platform ecosystem. Why the developing world of retail investors is leading the next wave of financial media adoption and how defense spending and space commercialization are reshaping the American industrial base. Plus, we explore innovator's dilemma for traditional media companies slow to respond to the next generation of content consumption.

Donating to charities is something that most Americans probably would like to do but are not sure when or where to start—or who to donate to. And outside of a fundraising call, a Sarah McLachlan commercial, or unfortunate event of a natural disaster, people may never think to donate. Well luckily for the average household, some organizations are making this process easier and easier, and even trying to make giving a habit.

One company bringing generosity into the 21st century and to the next generation is Daffy, a non-profit creating community hubs for finding charities and donating to them by making Donor Advise Funds available to the rest of us.

To talk more about how he is making giving into a habit, we invited Adam Nash to this episode of The Reboot Chronicles Show. Adam is a Silicon Valley veteran, helping people access over 1.5 million charities and rebooting an old model industry along the way.

Cancer is not an easy topic to discuss. It is a devastating disease that takes over 10 million lives a year—600 thousand of those in the U.S. alone. To anyone who has gone through it or has loved ones who have fought cancer, it helps to know that you are not alone in that fight. Hundreds of organizations around the globe are focused on researching cancer from different angle—in the hopes of helping people through all stages of the process. One of those organizations working on discovering easier and less intensive ways to detect cancer is Guardant Health. They are a precision oncology company focused on reducing those numbers across all stages—from screening to find cancer and monitoring for recurrences in early-stages to helping doctors select treatments for patients with more advanced-stages. The half a billion-dollar public company has been making strides in cancer screening accuracy and accessibility through blood tests versus biopsies. We invited the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Guardant Health, AmirAli Talasaz, for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles, to unpack how their simple blood tests could be the best and easiest way to fight the war on cancer.

The U.S. banking industry began in 1780, when the Bank of Pennsylvania was started to fund the American Revolutionary War. Banking is not what it used to be, when just a few decades ago you probably had a personal relationship with a banker who knew your business—and could even provide advice fundamental to running your business. Some say banking hasn't changed much, and the main thing business banks provide is (hopefully) security, which is important—but today companies need more.

There are no shortages of companies trying to reboot this sector into the 21st Century. Part of the neobanking sector of fintech,  companies like Nubank, SoFi, Chime, Revoult, and  Highbeam provide  integrated banking, capital and cash planning platforms, to help small businesses (SMB’s) operate with more agility and insights so they can make smarter decisions.

To discuss how he is rebooting old school banking, we invited Highbeam’s CEO, Samir Shergill, to The Reboot Chronicles Show. An ex-Microsoft engineer turned banking CEO, Samir is creating a bank that manages your money and assists your business endeavors.

How do you find companies driving market-making moves with AI? Look for strong focused leaders that are on an impact mission—but aren't afraid to pivot. For years I have been speaking on, writing about, advising, and running AI-related ventures. But with Generative AI (GAI) at the peak of the Gartner Hype Cycle, we still find ourselves in the too much talk and not enough impact phase. This “all hat, no cattle” dilemma reminds me of the famed Wendy’s “Where’s The Beef” ad campaign.

 Sure, there are some wins on the board since the AI sector got a turbo boost with the introduction of ChatGPT at the end of 2022. This innovation continues to drive endless hype, competition, and investment into the AI sector, specifically for Large Language Models (LLMs) and GAI. But beyond the novelty cocktail party chatter, that will come and go like most hyped cycles, I’ve been looking for phase two AI organizations that can transform companies, industries, countries and even societies. One way to spot those, or find the beef, is to follow the smart money.

At the forefront of this wave, helping others develop and integrate generative AI for their needs, is Kore.ai. With over 200 partners and working with 400 Fortune 2000 companies across the globe, Kore.ai helps all of them decide what AI strategy would best benefit their needs. Kore has even made building AI easy through their no-code system, where even I can build, train, and test your AI in a drag-and-drop builder called XO.

One of the fastest growing companies in the sector, Kore has chatbots and co-pilots deployed by 100s of partners and thousands of large corporations, who are automating conversations  and streamlining customer and employee experiences. They just closed a $150M investment from FTV Capital and NVIDIA (NVDA). It’s not the largest round we’ve seen, and Kore may not be a familiar name for some of you. But the round is significant for the sector and provides leaders lessons/insights about how to get to this level and what’s next.

To talk us through the reboot of the generative AI industry, we invited Kore’s Founder and CEO, Raj Koneru, to The Reboot Chronicles. A serial CEO and strong/focused leader, who has been at the helm of Kore for the last decade, Raj unpacks how generative AI can revolutionize customer and employee experiences—and more.

In an era dominated by venture capital-fueled growth, the story of Zoho stands out as a model of the future. Led by visionary CEO Sridhar Vembu, Zoho has carved out a niche in the enterprise software sector, with a platform suite that provides almost everything SMB’s need to run their business. But what sets Zoho apart isn't just its expansive product portfolio; it's the company's journey of scaling to be on track toward a multi-billion-dollar brand without reliance on external funding. This milestone deserves a deeper look into the strategies that have positioned Zoho in a market crowded with messy, complex platforms.

At the recent Zoho Analyst Day in McAllen, TX, Reboot Media’s Chairman Dean DeBiase had a one-on-one with Vembu, who leads a team of 15,000 employees who delivered $1B in revenue last year, serving 700K customers and 100 million users in 150 countries. Their remarkable journey provides a teachable moment for leaders, from revealing the mechanics of smart scaling to executive relationships that promote a modest and innovative growth culture.

Video streaming is valued at $500 Billion and will explode into a $2.0 Trillion market by 2030. With billions of hours streamed per month, 99% of American households subscribe to a streaming service, like Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Disney, Fubo, Hulu, Max, Paramount, Peacock, Roku, Sling, and YouTube. Americans spend approximately 13 hours per day consuming digital media, ugh, with 3 of those hours spent streaming video. At the center of this massive traffic, making it all happen behind the scenes, are companies like Brightcove. Partnering with thousands of companies in 70 countries, to stream and monetize content inside and outside of their organizations, Brightcove helps build connections between companies and their audiences. To explore how to reboot the streaming industry, we invited Brightcove’s CEO, Marc DeBevoise, to The Reboot Chronicles Show. A two-time Technology and Engineering Emmy® Award winner, Marc unpacks how he and his team are pushing the boundaries of what video can do for our companies and our lives.

When you think of propane what comes to mind? Is it a famous cartoon character who sells propane? Or even the propane appliances or grill on your patio or deck? Or is it perhaps the unique propane trucks you may have seen driving around—leaving you to wondering what the heck are those and where are they going? One companies with thousands of those trucks is Suburban Propane. The company was founded by necessity in 1928 when founder Mark Anton and his wife Adele moved to a suburb that had no gas lines. So Mark ordered the equipment for production and installation of propane, making his wife the first customer. Almost a century later, Suburban Propane is a $1.4 billion company, with 3,300 employees, and 700 locations serving millions of customers around the country. We invited Suburban’s CEO Michael Stivala, to this episode of The Reboot Chronicles to unpack what’s working and what’s next in the sector—including renewable energy startups.

With a 90% startup failure rate and many Fortune 1000 companies unknowingly being on the brink of irrelevance, obscurity, and decline, “Rebooters” are needed now more than ever. In short—leaders need to think about Ubering themselves before they get Kodaked!

I have interviewed to hundreds of CEO’s over the years, many sharing their stories on how they rebooted themselves and their organization to adapt to and thrive in the future. Strategically, Rebooting your organization focuses in on three key area of transformation: People, Platform, and Passion. Operationally it requires infusing organizations—especially large ones—with the speed, thrill and attitude of a hectic entrepreneurial startup, combined with the urgency, focus and results of a disciplined turnaround.

As an operation partner, board member and serial CEO, I have led my share of reboots (and turnarounds), and often look to organizations like the TMA (Turnaround Management Association) for support. With 10,000 members and 58 chapters globally, the TMA is a helpful resource for struggling companies when they need it most—from industry titans to scaleups.

When CEO’s ask me, about the difference between a Reboot and a Turnaround, I advise them that: you reboot an organization before you need it, before it’s too late, before the ‘turnaround guy’ shows up. To unpack this and more, we invited CEO Scott Stuart for this episode of The Reboot Chronicles. With 30 years of restructuring experience, Scott has some pointed stories and tips, from his front row seat watching companies fall and helping them climb back out of the muck.

Sports are a massive part of global entertainment and global fashion, from the top of your Cheese Head hat to the bottom of your cleats, sports and fashion are a pair. One brand we all know is a giant in one of those fields and is now going under a reboot to become a titan in the other. That company is the USPA - U.S. Polo Association, and if you are an athleisure enjoyer you have some of their apparel. But the logo is more than just an iconic merchandise brand that consumers call Polo. Behind the scenes is a massive organization with a dynamic plan that will soon pass the $3B in annual revenue mark. At the helm of this organizational and brand reboot, on this episode of the Reboot Chronicles, is J. Michael Prince - President & CEO USPA Global, to talk about the fascinating world of Polo on and off the field, his remarkable story, and his plan for the decade ahead.

The global landscape of architecture and design is going through a generational transformation, imagining and creating new spaces that are redefining how we live, work, shop, play, stay and travel. A driving force leading these trends is Gensler, the world’s largest architecture, and planning design firm. Founded in 1965, it has expanded into a global powerhouse with 53 locations and 33 practice areas which serve thousands of clients in 100 countries, with 6,000 employees that delivered over $1.8 billion in annual revenue last year. The company has a unique way of running their business—with the power of two. In key positions they often have “co” appointments for the same job, up to and including the CEO’s office. We invited the newly appointed Gensler Co-CEOs, Julia Simet and Jordan Goldstein, for this inspiring episode of the Reboot Chronicles, to talk about how they are redesigning and rebooting the future of work through physical and digital environments, how spaces should inspire, connect, and adapt to our needs—and how it can transform societies around the world.

The global financial system is being rebuilt from the ground up, and Heath Tarbert is helping lead that effort As President of Circle, the company behind USDC, the world's second largest regulated stablecoin, Tarbert brings a rare combination of regulatory authority, legal prowess, and market experience to one of the most consequential shifts in modern finance. Having served as Chairman of the CFTC, Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury, and Chief Legal Officer at Citadel Securities, he has operated at the center of global finance for decades, representing the United States at the G7, G20, the World Bank, and the Financial Stability Board. Today, he is applying that experience to Circle's mission of building the infrastructure for a global internet financial system, one where dollars move as easily and instantly as an email.

On this episode of The Reboot Chronicles Podcast, we sit down with Heath to unpack the rise of stablecoins, the passage of the Genius Act, and what it means for banks, businesses, and consumers around the world. Heath breaks down how Circle has evolved from a stablecoin issuer into a full-stack internet financial platform, why the developing world is leading adoption, how ARC, Circle's new purpose-built blockchain, could become the economic operating system of the next generation of finance, and what the innovator's dilemma means for the banks that are slow to respond.

In a previous episode, we talked with Jeffrey Scott Miller about how a mentor can be a huge help for entrepreneurs and businesses alike, with a focus on how to make the most out of a mentor/mentee relationship.   Taking Scott’s book to the next level—how would you like to have an entire ecosystem chalk full of supportive mentors and coaches to help you on any topic or business challenge.  Well that’s what you will find in Chicago—especially at 1871.

As the top private incubator in the world, 1871 helped drive a tech renaissance in Chicago over the last decade. As a cofounding board member, I delivered a Ted talk about it at the UN, providing a blueprint for cities to reboot themselves. Now, with thousands of startups and 17 unicorns that raised over $3.5 billion in capital, 1871 is on a roll once again.

Under the remarkable leadership of CEO Betsy Ziegler, 1871 and its partner networks, have continued to pivot toward creating the future of growth and innovation—building the next generations of ventures in the region. We invited Betsty on for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles, to unpack what’s working, what needs rebooting and what’s next for global entrepreneurial ecosystems.

When was the last time you felt yourself grow as an individual? I mean, a time when you truly felt a eureka moment of having gained a new insight or finally understood another perspective that helped you thrive. We found something to help you do just that. On the heels of his popular “Master Mentor” book series, best-selling author and top global thought leader, Scott Jeffrey Miller, has created your next go to book, “The Ultimate Guide to Great Mentorship”, a very practical guide that provides the top do’s and don’ts to consider when mentoring. This book covers everything you need to know on both sides of the table—like setting boundaries with your mentee, goal setting, and the various roles a mentor plays depending on the situation—and much more. Intrigued by the need for better mentoring and how it can help people grow, Dean DeBiase invited Scott to join him for another action packed episode of The Reboot Chronicles to talk about his life journey, and unpack how to capture eureka moments, through the lens of mentoring.

Founded in the 1990’s Step Aerobics era, Planet Fitness (PLNT) has seen its share of reboots. They went public in 2015 and today the $1B company is one of the largest and fastest-growing fitness brands, with 18 million members who “work out” in over 2,400 locations around the world.

Under their CEO, Chris Rondeau’s, leadership, Planet Fitness was rebooted and grown into a market leader that many of you have experienced firsthand. What we like most about them is 90% of the locations are owned and operated by entrepreneurs—independent businessmen and women like many of you. Recently,

Chris was fired and the board installed former Gov. Craig Benson, a longtime company board member, as interim CEO. Prior to being let go, Chris joined Dean DeBiase for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles to discuss his journey, from the front desk to the CEO’s office, and what’s next in the health and fitness club space—a market which is projected to soon reach $136B.

Ever wondered how a company can maintain a strong culture of loyalty and employee-first policies amidst in today’s global business climate? India based multi-national Zoho Corporation is doing just that, along with a mission to make “technology more affordable”. And, at $1 billion in annual revenue—they are doing it at scale.

Deep rooted in its culture, values and convictions, the leadership team takes pride in being able to serve Small & Medium Businesses’ (SMB) technology needs in what they believe is “an era of  humility for technologists”.

Another refreshing strategy, for a tech. brand, is that they have stayed away from the typical IPO track, and instead focus on being a profitable privately held company—with a rapid growth trajectory.

With 15,000 employees and 100 million users in 150 countries—Zoho has built (not acquired) a diversified product portfolio that offers customers simple solutions, in a market crowded with complex platforms.

At their annual Zoholics conference in Austin TX, Dean DeBiase caught up with Vijay Sundaram, one of Zoho’s top leaders and Chief Strategy Officer. A serial tech. founder, Sundaram spearheads strategy, runs their global partner programs—and is pushing the envelope from SMB into the large-enterprise sector.

Tune in as we unpack what’s next for them—from scaling their unique culture and long-term sustainability strategy, to secrets behind their employee-first and customer wins mantra.

Almost 75% of cities in America lost some form of air services, with over 100 cities having lost more than 25%. 

Responding to this huge decline in regional flights, with many markets underserved or left behind by United, American or Delta, Breeze Airways Founder and CEO David Neeleman saw an opportunity to reboot the travel industry—for the 5th time.

An airline pioneer, David started multiple commercial airlines including Azul—Brazil’s largest  Airline—which transformed the country’s travel and logistics network, WestJet in Canada, Morris Air—which he sold to Southwest, and JetBlue—which broke records as the fastest growing airline.

Breeze now operates more than 150 routes in dozens of cities—and in just two years has already been ranked as one of the country’s best domestic airlines by Travel + Leisure magazine. 

I invited David to join me for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles podcast to unpack how he is once again rebooting the airline industry—and bringing travel back to underserved communities and beyond.

When looking for answers on moving forward, a look back on how top leaders led can be pivotal to your organization and career. Few leaders provide life lessons about their successes and failures that can help us personally and professionally.  One CEO, who can see around corners about what’s next, with more muscle memory lessons from building The Internet under his belt than most, is silicon Valley’s John Chambers, who has timely advice for leaders of organization, from Fortune 500’s to startups—about where to focus, how to scale and countries to engage with, like India and France, or avoid, like China.

A friend and industry colleague, John led Cisco at a record pace, exceeding expectations for 40 straight quarters, growing from $1.9B to $49.2 billion in annual revenue, while expanding from 400 to 75,000 people—10,000 of which became millionaires from Cisco stock.  Listen in to this action packed episode of The Reboot Chronicles and hear about where we are going in the digital future ahead, and how John is helping 21 global startups—9 that are unicorns—create the next-generation of organizations and leaders at JC2 Ventures.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is all the rage in business and social circles—but its meaning and capabilities are often misunderstood.  Some people think about the movie I, Robot, and how AI Robots will turn against humanity, while others think of Chat GPT and how it can help them through their school assignments. One company, Turing, is rebooting the meaning of AI as a tool to transform your business—one engineer at a time. I invited Turing's CEO, Jonathan Siddharth, to join me for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles to unpack how technology services companies, like Accenture, must reboot themselves—in the AI era of automated software developer platforms.

Travel is often described as painful. You’ve been there—from overcrowded terminals to late, overbooked and canceled flights—travel experiences can often make or break your day. Luckily, there are hacks that can help you get through the grinding terminal experience—from reimagined restaurants and bars to spa services and even TV’s. One company, ReachTV, is rebooting travel media, with captivating entertainment for business and consumer audiences in airports around the world.

On my latest trip, while waiting on a very delayed flight, I checked out ReachTV, and was encouraged by the fresh targeted programming.  So intrigued, we called the CEO, Lynnwood A. Bibbens, to join me for an episode of the Reboot Chronicles to unpack how the company survived the anti-travel COVID era and how he is upgrading travel experiences—one TV at a time.

Ever wondered how a company can pivot from a mere analyst tool to a global enterprise-grade platform? Harnessing the power of AI doesn't hurt—and that’s precisely what Alteryx, Inc. (NYSE: AYX) did.

The company has rebooted itself into a low-code/no-code cloud, with hundreds of thousands of community members tapping into an analytics platform that quickly turns massive data into breakthrough insights.

From harnessing the power of AI to democratizing data for the rest of us, CEO Mark Anderson and I unpacked it all in a recent episode of the Reboot Chronicles.

In a new age of cybercrime, online theft is far surpassing home thefts, and protecting yourself, your family, and your friends is harder than ever—and it is about to get worse—especially for kids.

I invited Hari Ravichandran to The Rebook Chronicles, the founder and CEO of Aura, an intelligent, proactive platform that protects online identities, accounts and devices to remain safe, private and protected. We also unpacked his new book, Intelligent Safety: How to Protect Your Connected Family from Big Cybercrime, to learn what you can do now.

Eric Winter didn't take one path. He took all of them.  At once. The actor, best known as the no-nonsense Sergeant Tim Bradford on ABC's smash hit The Rookie, was once a pre-med student at UCLA on track to become a doctor. Then nearly a paramedic with the LA Fire Department, then a model, a soap opera actor, parallel paths until something clicked. While producing TV movies, pitching shows, and spinning up a podcast, another story was unfolding.  On a trip to Puerto Rico to meet his future father-in-law he discovered an unexpected obsession with premium rum. That obsession became Palm Republic, an award-winning premium rum brand, 20 years in the making, now redefining what rum can be in one of the most crowded and competitive spirit markets in the world. But the headline in Eric’s story isn’t that he succeeded — it’s that he juggled it all at the same time without a playbook.  Just the ambition to be a creator and build something to influence a category grounded in family and culture.  

On this episode of The Reboot Chronicles Podcast, we sit down with Eric Winter, actor, producer, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Palm Republic Rum, to unpack one of the most multidimensional reboot stories we've heard. Eric breaks down how a pre-med student from LA ended up on one of network television's fastest-growing shows.  He explains why he built a rum brand instead of chasing the celebrity tequila wave.  We discuss how patience and rejection prepared him for entrepreneurship better than any business school could.  We explore his ambition for the brand and where he wants to take Palm Republic next.

UKG is a global provider of HR, payroll, and workforce management solutions and one of the largest private software companies in the world. Famous for its workplace culture, this award-winning company is consistently ranked as one of the best places to work by its 15,000 employees, who serve over 75,000 organizations with 120 currencies in 160 countries.

Following a massive merger of two equals, UKG’s new CEO, Chris Todd, has rebooted the company into a $3B (headed to $4B) global leader, developing the next generation of HCM (Human Capital Management) cloud solutions. Chris joined me for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles, to give us some powerful insights and lessons, from a first time CEO, on how he brought two companies together to drive this multinational company and industry forward.

AI personalization platforms—like Revieve—are transforming consumer Healthy, Beauty and Wellness journeys, by partnering with brands and retailers to help consumers reboot their discovery, purchasing and relationship complexities at scale. On the heals of a very popular episode with Ron Gee, President and CEO of Shiseido Americas, who has been leading a dynamic reboot of both that company and himself, we take a look at where the industry is going next. To best do that, I invited industry veteran and BeautyMatter CEO, Kelly Kovack to join me for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles to unpack the latest industry developments, mishaps and trends. Whether you are a global brand, retailer, startup, entrepreneur, or consumer—listen in for a remarkable discussion with diverse perspectives about what’s hot now and what’s next—from global industry players, creators and influencers to Web3, AI and the consumer.

Shiseido was Japan’s first Western style pharmacy, founded 150 years ago in 1872, that has transformed itself into a global beauty giant operating in 120 countries and regions, with 39,000 employees that generated $8 billion in revenue last year.

At the helm of Shiseido Americas is Ron Gee. As President and CEO of Shiseido Americas he has been leading a dynamic reboot of both the company and himself. With a Chemical Engineer degree from Columbia and MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business, Ron is a uniquely qualified hybrid leader. A veteran of the beauty industry, having served in various leadership positions at L’Oréal and Coty, he clearly gets the potential of this massive global sector.

With a vision to become the personal beauty and wellness company, and the world’s No.1 skin beauty company by 2030, Ron joined me for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles to unpack how he and his team are playing to win.

The auto industry has had its share of problems over the last decade and needs yet another reboot. During that time, carparts.com Inc., (NASDAQ:PRTS) has become a force to reckon with, when it comes to parts and accessories. They’ve grown to become one of the leading e-commerce providers of auto industry after-market parts—and a one-stop shop for vehicle repair and maintenance needs. With 1500 employees and revenue over $660 million last year, up 14% year over year (YOY), the company saw a strong Q1 23—reporting net sales increase of 6% YOY to $175.5 million vs year ago, and an increase of 20% on a two year stack. David Meniane, the company’s fifth CEO, is on a mission to reboot the company, using data driven decisions to enhance customer experiences. He joined me for an episode of the Reboot Chronicles to explain why he’s placing so much emphasis on data for growth and innovation—and how they’ve channeled their efforts toward seamless factory-to-consumer online shopping experiences for everyday drivers—like you.

Raoul Pal, “looks at the real world picture and sees how it’s playing out and tries to place bets accordingly.” Co-founder of RealVision, Exponential Age Asset Management, Global Macro Investor, and Science Magic Studios, he has a different take on the state of the financial industry and how you can play in it to win.

Raoul joined me for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles, to explore investor optionality in the roaring 20’s—from crypto and Bitcoin to NFT’s, alternative assets, and more.

Like many of you, I was an early reader of Entrepreneur Magazine. First published in 1976, it has been a go-to source for small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs for decades—and is now read by millions of people around the world. The groups thoughtful and talented Editor in Chief, Jason Feifer, has been rebooting Entrepreneur into a broader platform, while hosting two podcasts—Problem Solvers and Help Wanted—and writing a new book, Build For Tomorrow. Jason joined me for an episode of the Reboot Chronicles to talk about his journey and the future of thinking and entrepreneurship.

As tax season hits its peak, and Intuit’s (NASDAQ:INTU) 100 million customers scramble to meet deadlines across the globe, the company is rebooting itself to leverage technologies that will make it easier.

After a Core Reboot was initiated four years ago, they began to focus on building the next-generation AI enabled capabilities—transitioning from customers doing most of the work to an AI generative platform that does work for customers. They seem to be hitting on the big three cylinders I look for in smart growth/innovation BBB Reboots: Building (R&D) their own new tech./capabilities, Buying (acquiring), Borrowing (partnering).

Leading that charge is Intuit’s CEO, Sasan Goodarzi. With all the hype about leveraging generative AI, like Open AI’s ChatGPT, many companies—even Google and Facebook—are frantically scrambling to deploy it before it disrupts them. Since Sassan and his team were already on a mission to build an AI expert driven platform, they were ready for the coming data revolution.

Sasan joined me for an episode of the Reboot Chronicles to take an inside look at how they have developed their growth and innovation roadmaps—and how it may position them strategically in a Crypto/Web3 world.

On the heels of the pivotal collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), I recently talked with Henrique Dubugras, the Cofounder and Co-CEO of Brex, an integrated corporate card and spend management software company that has raised $1.5B in capital. 

 As companies frantically exited their SVB accounts at a record pace, in one of the world’s largest bank runs, Brex moved quickly to attract and support startups by fast tracking applications, maintaining card credit limits, and more than doubling FDIC insurance levels to $2.25M through their partner bank network.  

Smart moves, as Brex has since received billions of dollars of deposits from thousands of SVB clients—and is now looking to potentially raise billions more to help companies with emergency operational and payroll bridge loans.  

Henrique joined me for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles for a fascinating discussion about how they are rebooting the sector, what’s next in FinTech, and provide an exclusive look inside Brex.

America’s largest Black-owned enterprise and one of the world's largest private companies, World Wide Technology(WWT) has grown from a small product reseller into a top global technology solutions provider.

Under the leadership of Co-founder and CEO Jim Kavanaugh, and Founder and Chairman, David Steward, this Missouri based company has experienced several reboots over the years.  Today WWT has over 55 locations across the globe and 9,000 people that delivered $17B in revenue last year. With Silicon Valley heavyweight partners like Cisco, HPE, Dell, NetApp, F5, Intel, VMware, Microsoft, IBM, Juniper, and dozens more–WWT has grown into a trusted solutions provider to over 70 Fortune 100 companies.

Jim Kavanaugh joined me for a remarkable episode of The Reboot Chronicles to share his fascinating growth journey that is chalk full of stories and tips leaders need now.

How would you like the pope to be your mentor? Imagine applying to be in the Swiss Guard and landing a gig as Pope John Paul II's Bodyguard. That’s what happened to Andreas Widmer when he was a teenager.  Today, as the founder and director of the Art & Carlyse Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship, at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business, he aims to promote a new kind of entrepreneur—one focusing on Principled Entrepreneurship.

Andreas is an entrepreneur, associate professor, business coach, speaker, multiple book author, including the acclaimed “The Pope & the CEO”, chock-full of leadership lessons he learned as a Swiss guard protecting the pope. Andreas has recently authored “The Art of Principled Entrepreneurship”, a book that teaches businesses to be both virtuous and profitable.

Andreas joined me for an extremely engaging and personal episode of The Reboot Chronicles to unpack his book and uncover what principled entrepreneurship means—and how you can tap into it.

Jamie Siminoff had bet everything; his savings, his family's security, and his reputation, on reinventing a device from the 1800s. At the time, he had no salary, almost no cash, and a company on the edge of bankruptcy. He had been rejected on Shark Tank with only days of runway left, not to mention a court-enforced restraining order from ADT effectively halting sales. He had $187,000 in the bank to barely cover operating expenses and needed just short of $1Million dollars to secure a four-letter domain name that could carry the brand. He was certain he was making one of the biggest mistakes in entrepreneurial history. And yet, Ring survived, and what followed became one of the most unfiltered, hard-earned comeback stories in modern entrepreneurship, ending with an acquisition by Amazon for over $1 billion with more than 100 million cameras deployed in homes worldwide.

On this episode of The Reboot Chronicles Podcast, we sit down with Jamie Siminoff, inventor, and founder of Ring, to unpack one of the most unfiltered founder stories in modern tech. From the sleepless nights and bold bets to the mission-driven stubbornness that turned a simple doorbell into a global security platform. Jamie shares how he survived rejection, lawsuits, and the edge of bankruptcy. Why mission consistently outweighs money as his core motivator, and how Ring is positioning itself at the center of the AI economy by transforming more than 100 million cameras into an intelligent home platform. He opens up about his new book, Ding Dong, describing it as part business memoir and part therapy session, and one of the most honest accounts of what building a consequential, mission-based company is all about. 

Listen and subscribe wherever you get podcasts or at RebootChronicles.com

When Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann retired as a U.S Army Green Beret, he did all the “right things”, until one day he took his 45 caliber pistol into his bedroom closet—with no intent of coming out alive.  

Dark times for sure. In his nearly two decades of Special Forces experiences, Scott’s military journey took him to Colombia, Peru, Iraq, Ecuador, Panama and multiple tours to Afghanistan. Today Scott has completely rebooted himself into a top Storyteller, Actor, Playwright, Podcaster, Author, Speaker and Coach. Inspired by his tough journey, he founded Rooftop Leadership, to help leaders tackle the anomalies around low trust and how to  build human connections in high stakes environments. 

His brutal transformation is an inspirational story for all of us—from the battlefield, to the  boardroom—and even theater with his new partner Gary Sinise.  As a warrior storyteller, he shares his remarkable rapport-building skills from combat, to help leaders navigate “now-or-never” scenarios, with a focus on relationship building techniques. A replica of how he inspired local tribes in Iraq and Afghanistan, to make game-changing decisions with low resources—“Rooftop Leadership"  is helping teams avoid conflicts by nurturing trust.   

Scott joined me on an amazing episode of The Reboot Chronicles to reflect on how his decades of Special Forces deployments are changing civilians lives—they may even change yours.

When you mention GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY), most people instinctually say, ‘that’s where I got my website URL'. As a pioneer during the early stages of the Internet, GoDaddy quickly became the go-to domain provider as the world rushed to name and claim their stake on the web.  

Today—with over 9000 people who deliver $4 billion in annual revenue—this broad-based web enablement company provides the world’s entrepreneurs and SMB’s a portfolio of products and services that have everything to do their growing their businesses. GoDaddy empowers people and organizations, providing practical guidance and tools to manage their work and succeed online—from offering services to build professional websites, to attracting viewers and selling products and services to their customers.  

A key new leader on senior team is CLO (Chief Legal Officer) and Corporate Secretary Michele Lau, who is rebooting the company’s approach to legal, compliance, audit, sustainability, ESG, governance, and government and industry affairs. Michele brings a refreshing take on strategy, culture and growth that is engaging stakeholder groups across the company and industry. We had an insightful discussion on this episode of The Reboot Chronicles and unpacked how she is helping to take the iconic brand to next-level of growth and innovation.

Almost 80% of Americans live within 5 miles of a Walgreens.

Founder Charles R. Walgreen Sr. established the brand in 1901 as a single location pharmacy in Chicago, which grew into an integrated healthcare, pharmacy and retailer—which filled approximately 820 million prescriptions and immunizations in the US last year alone.

Now part of Walgreens Boots Alliance, the largest retail, health, pharmacy and daily living destination across the U.S and Europe, the brands serve millions of walk in customers, patients and omni-channel shoppers’ every day. The combined entity was founded 170 years ago, is an index component of the Dow Jones sustainability indices (DJSI), with 13,000 locations and 325,000 people that delivered $130 billion in revenue last year.

Heading the multibillion-dollar Beauty, Personal care & Seasonal category at Walgreens is Group Vice President and General Merchandise leader Heather Hughes, a trained pharmacist—a rare profile for a retail executive. Her unique background is just what the doctor ordered, as Walgreens looks to reboot the category and take health, beauty, and wellness to the next level of growth and innovation. Heather joined me for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles, to give us a behind the scenes view of what’s new and what’s next.

Over 1.5 billion people observe and celebrate Lunar New Year—symbolic of prosperous times, warding off evil spirits, and sharing meals with loved ones. Red lanterns for Chinese New Year, lighting of firecrackers, and spreading joy with culinary abundance, are all traditions that span thousands of years throughout Asia—from China and Vietnam to Korea and Thailand.  

 Newly rebooted P.F.Chang’s is honoring its roots in Asian tradition by celebrating the Year of the Rabbit, offering unique experiences to guests in their kitchens featuring dishes prepared using age old wok centric cooking style. The company has seen its fair share of reboots and restructuring over the years, transitioning from a private, to public, and back to a private equity owned enterprise again. Now, with 300 or more restaurants, in 24 countries and growing, the brand employs about 20,000 people that deliver over $1billion in annual revenue.  

 One of America’s favorite restaurant concepts, offering sit down Asian cuisine, and well known for their iconic warrior horse outside their locations, P.F.Chang’s is growing into a more dynamic brand under the leadership of CEO Damola Adamolekun. His reboot-in-progress is creating new experiences and consumer loyalty that is accelerating growth—and he is just getting started. We unpacked his global expansion strategy on the eve of Lunar New Year—of The Rabbit—who are also known to be witty, quick-minded, and ingenious.

Social media has deteriorated—especially for women—and the media oligopolists love it. These media landlords—better known as Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, Google and Apple—have taken control of most everything we do, say, share, post and buy online—and they are not very excited about the future of Web3. Why? Because the promise of Web3 flips the ownership model, the money and the power back to, well, we the people.

Enter media entrepreneur, Kellogg/Northwestern Alum, and one of the world’s most thoughtful rebooters, Tarun Katial. Tarun co-founded coto (come together), to create a next generation social community platform that empowers women to fight back.

An entrepreneur and global CEO, Dee Robinson is civic leader and board member of non profit organizations and corporations, including Revieve.com. Moving from the corporate world, to restaurants, to retail, Dee unpacks her entrepreneurial journey on this episode of The Reboot Chronicles, with stories on following her dream, deploying the power of AND—as well as facing down fear and naysayers that were holding her back.

Not many know CEC Entertainment, but they know Chuck E.Cheese. This globally recognized entertainment and dining brand has seen it’s fair share of reboots since its founding days in Silicon Valley back in the 1970’s.  A company that hosts half a million birthday parties and two billion game plays every year, their slogan, “Where a kid can be a kid everyday ®” has been repeated (or sung) in most every American household with kiddos. Part of a system of family destinations under the bigger umbrella of CEC Entertainment, the brand boasts over 600 restaurants around the globe.  

 With a new CEO joining in January 2020, David McKillips jumped headfirst into a Chuck-E Ball Pit—just as the global pandemic forced all of their locations to close. His decades of experience in family entertainment at Six Flags, DC Comics, Sea World and Sesame Place, were just what the doctor (or the board) ordered for this hands-on transformation and financial restructuring.   

A nightmare of a situation for a first-time, location-based entertainment CEO to encounter on day one, David led the company from an ineludible Chapter 11 filing to quickly launching Pasqually’s Pizza—all while (more importantly) rebooting the iconic brand into a global platform. Together with Chuck E.Cheese, Peter Piper Pizza (a growing regional fresh-made pizza restaurant), and Pasqually’s Pizza and Wings(one of the first virtual kitchen delivery-only brands) the group employs 13,000 people in a market that’s projected to be over $40 billion by 2027.  

To uncover and unpack some of CEC’s  reboot story, David and I had this fascinating chat on The Reboot Chronicles podcast.

A professional career from Disney to America’s top leadership company, Scott Jeffrey Miller’s journey, in a nutshell, has been an impactful story—from the front lines to the C-suite. Along the way, learning the habits of people who made it to the top, Scott elevated himself from salesperson to Executive Vice President at Franklin Covey. 

 He is a multiple best-selling author, radio and podcast host, leadership coach, columnist and a killer keynote speaker. A huge proponent of “OWN YOUR MESS”—and the fact that we learn more from our messes than our successes—Scott leverages his unfiltered style to ignite creativity with his coaching. He is the host of the popular On Leadership podcast, iHeart Radio’s Great Life Great Career show, author of Management MESS to Leadership Success and Everyone Deserves a Great Manager, and writes a column for Inc.  

Deriving essence from his profoundly thoughtful and impactful conversations on his podcast, Miller wrote “Master Mentors” and has now released “Master Mentors Vol. 2”, to help professionals strategize better and reach their pinnacle. A life-long learner like me, Scott presents practical and relatable experiences for others to implement in their lives. He’s currently globetrotting on his book/speaking tour; yet I got him to pause and join me again on The Reboot Chronicles, to reflect on personal stories and his latest work!

A popular retail brand serving American customers in home, apparel, jewelry, and beauty merchandising categories, JCPenney has had many reboots over its 120 year history. Most recently, emerging out of bankruptcy and recruiting Marc Rosen to be CEO, the company has rightsized to 650 stores and 50,000 employees who generate about $9 billion in annual revenue.

With decades of retail and e-commerce experience at world renowned brands like Levi’s and Walmart, Marc is rebooting this iconic brand into the future, with a simple, hyper-focused strategy based on what customers want now. Hype-focused indeed—from targeted private label and popular national brands to enhancing omni-channel capabilities and in-store experiences. More simply put, how to meet customers ever-evolving needs—where they are, with what they want.

To get a first hand perspective on how his team’s transformational journey is shaping up, I invited Marc to the Reboot Chronicles podcast to take us through JCPenney’s “stabilizing in an unstable world” phase.

In my recent Forbes article about living longer, I talk about how personalization is rebooting  the global health, beauty and wellness market—empowering individuals and impacting their well-being journeys.

As a science driven company targeting consumers, athletes, health professionals and organizations,  Thorne HealthTech (NASDAQ:THRN) is part of that impact, redefining what it means to live healthier for healthier longer lives. Their Artificial Intelligence (AI) approach helps deliver personalized, proactive and actionable solutions to people at most every age and stage in life. From the very early days when they were a natural supplement provider, to a direct to practitioner model, and subsequently a direct to consumer (DTC) provider, Thorne has positioned itself as an innovative leader in the personalized health and wellness space.

Their CEO and co-founder Paul Jacobson, joined me for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles podcast. A serial CEO, his own reboot journey includes serving as co-founder and CEO of Thorne Research Inc., Health Elements, LLC and WellnessFX. Listen in as we unpack some  reboots his company has undergone over the years and how they are transforming an industry…or two.

The warning signs were there, but the fall was still dramatic. A telecom powerhouse that once traded at $50 had slipped to nearly a dollar, burdened by debt, declining revenue, and a legacy architecture that couldn’t keep pace with the data-driven world emerging around it. Internally, the mission narrowed to survival — renew contracts, slow the erosion, hold the line. But survival mode doesn’t win in an AI-accelerated market.

So Lumen hit reset. It shed non-core assets, restructured its balance sheet, and made the hard pivot from preserving the old to building for what’s next.

On this episode of The Reboot Chronicles, Kate Johnson, CEO of Lumen Technologies, joins us to break down how she’s leading one of the boldest reinventions in modern infrastructure. We explore the cultural reboot she prioritized on day one, the shift from telecom to platform, and how Lumen is rebuilding itself to power the AI economy for the long haul.

https://youtu.be/wgHoZWKKnP8

One of America’s first tech companies, HP - Hewlett Packard Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) was started in a Palo Alto garage by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939—kicking off the lab coat era of Silicon Valley.  

The company has been through many reboots, M&A events, and market headwinds filled with leadership challenges over the decades—and was even split into two companies in 2015. Today, fresh off its $3B+ acquisition of hybrid-work leader Poly, the company employs over fifty thousand people in 170 countries, who generated over $63B in revenue last year.   

With recent investments by Warren Buffett, the acquisition of Poly and other emerging brands like Z, Omen, Hyper and Arize, the tech giant continues its rebooting journey, stepping up in the market and doubling down on gaming and peripherals, hybrid work solutions and more.  

I invited Stephanie Dismore, HP’s head of North America to join me for an episode of The Reboot Chronicles to unpack their latest go-to market strategies across a portfolio of expanding products and services in the commercial, consumer and public sectors.

A rebel wih a cause, CEO of SEAT, Wayne Griffiths is on a mission to reboot the EV auto market, by taking ‘boring’ out of the equation with cool CUPRA models that will reach over 500,000 units a year.

Part of 250B EUR Mothership Volkswagen, the Barcelona based EV brand was launched in 2018 to make sporty performance cars—but they are also committing billions of dollars electrifying the car market in Spain, other parts of Europe and beyond.

Pioneering the biotech industry back in the 70’s, Silicon Valley based Genentech is one of the world’s most innovative pharmaceutical companies and a leader in breakthrough lifesaving drugs, treatments, and technologies. Now part of Roche the combined entities have tens of thousands of patents and employ over 100,000 people in 100 countries who delivered over $68 B in revenue last year.

Their transformational discoveries include the first targeted antibody for cancer, and the first medicine for primary progressive multiple sclerosis.  Early 2022 saw Genentech get FDA approval in ophthalmology, with a bispecific antibody for two leading causes of vision loss; underscoring their commitment to people living with retinal conditions - age related macular degeneration (AMD), and diabetic macular edema (DME).

In a world consumed by the pandemic over the past few years and the long-term ramifications ahead, a conversation with Genentech’s CEO, Alexander Hardy, on the Reboot Chronicles show was imperative, to say the least.