Supply Chain Synchronization

An honest vision making a difference

As 2008 comes to a close and the economy is full of uncertainty I'm grateful for entrepreneurs who create new visions and continue to shape the future regardless of the challenges they face. Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff of Honest Tea are two such entrepreneurs.

In 1998 my brother-in-law discovered a new brand of bottled tea for sale at a small deli in Santa Barbara. After telling me how it was so different from virtually every other bottled tea on the planet, he sent a few emails to one of the founders, Seth Goldman, and professed his passion for Seth's product.

Upon learning from my brother-in-law that Honest Tea was just getting started, and was looking for investors, I decided to meet Seth and visit their office in Bethesda, Maryland. After a very short visit and a call back to my brother-in-law, we both decided to help in a small way support the vision that Seth was so passionately pursuing by becoming founding investors. My dad, likewise, was intrigued by the story and also invested in this very early-stage company. Over the past 9 years, Honest Tea has grown to become the nation's best-selling and fastest-growing organic bottled tea company. Honest Tea sources from organic and fair trade tea estates, and has partnered with community development groups ranging from the Crow Reservation in Montana to organizations in South Africa and Guatemala. Earlier this year, Coca-Cola bought into Honest Tea's vision and acquired a 40% stake in the company. Rather than Honest Tea selling out, all of us believe, instead, that Coca-Cola has bought in to a transformative way of doing business that can make a big difference. It has been a pleasure to see Seth and Barry take their passion and deliver such outstanding results. In a recent interview with Wharton Seth shares his vision and his experience. I encourage you to listen to the interview here, or read it here.

If you aren't yet familiar with Honest Tea, try their Black Forest Berry -- it's my favorite. And, especially in these uncertain economic times, find other entrepreneurs who are trying to make an honest difference and offer them your support.

Happy New Year.

A time for gratitude and a time for action

As an extraordinary year comes to an end and the holiday season is upon us, I've been reflecting on all of the changes taking place in the world. In particular, I've been thinking about how in times of turmoil and uncertainty there is often a societal instinct to retreat and pull back when what is most needed is a stronger vision and a stronger call to action.

A recent interview with John Wood by Wharton captured a key element of what we need more of during these challenging times. John was a director of business development at Microsoft when he, during his travels abroad, became acutely aware of the extreme poverty and illiteracy that deprives so many from reaching their full potential. In 2000, he left his position at Microsoft to found Room to Read. He has developed this into an award-winning international education organization with the goal of helping 10 million kids in the poorest parts of the world to get educated.

It only costs $250 to put a girl in school for a year and do everything that that she needs, from school fees to her uniform to a bicycle to school supplies to mentoring and tutoring. So far Room to Read has helped more than 1.7 million children in the developing world to gain access to enhanced educational opportunities. Room to Read to date has opened 725 schools and 7,000 bilingual libraries, and funded more than 7,000 scholarships for girls.

While we are working to improve our economy, it is also important that we take time to share our gratitude and to take action in ways that make a profound difference to those less fortunate. John's work is an inspiration.

The complete Wharton interview can be read here: Room to Read's John Wood: Bringing the Power of Education to Children around the World

Happy holidays.

Bob Rubin and Larry Summers talk about the economy

The past several weeks have been unsettling for U.S. and global markets - the federal rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the collapse of Lehman, the merger of Merrill with BofA, the federal takeover of AIG. Former Secretaries of the Treasury, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers, offer insights into what is happening in the economy, historical precedents, and some ideas for moving forward. This conversation with Rubin and Summers helps to rationally put the issues in context and bring focus to what is important.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded - A conversation with Tom Friedman

Tom Friedman offers his latest insights into the major challenges facing the world in his new book: Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America.

Hot = global warming.
Flat = astonishing growth of the world's middle class through globalization.
Crowded = rapidly growing populations.

Friedman articulates that these three are contributing to a dangerously unstable planet. He believes that if we don't find ways to work together and address these challenges within the next few years, it will be too late to fix things. As has also been argued by Paul Hawken, Amory and Hunter Lovins, William McDonough, and others, this presents a great opportunity to fundamentally transform our economy and to make it more secure, more sustainable, and more profitable with clean energy, energy efficiency, and conservation. All of these challenges have a direct impact on the management and coordination of supply chains.

Those in the supply chain industry who help lead this transformation will have the opportunity to establish global competitive advantages. Friedman does a masterful job of explaining the challenges and the opportunities.

China transforms -- with implications for all of us

During the holidays I've been spending some time thinking about the rapid changes going on in China and India. When it was first published several years ago I read Ted Fishman's book China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World. Although I spent seven years in China during the late 80s and early 90s, I was transfixed by the data Fishman presented that demonstrated just how much China has change since I left.

In this interview with Charlie Rose, Fishman shares many of the key insights from his book. The scale and speed with which China is transforming is beyond anything the world has seen before. For those of us in the supply chain software industry, this transformation presents opportunities not just for partnering with talent to develop and deploy software, but also to work with businesses in China to assist them as they work to more effectively utilize resources. The sooner we can engage with Chinese companies to improve their supply chains, the sooner we can have a positive impact in reducing the pollution that is choking their environment even while growing their business.    

A second conversation with Thomas Friedman

About two years after first writing his book The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century, Tom Friedman updated his book for the second time. His two main new ideas are: 1) What can be done will be done, so companies can't wait; 2) Imagination is essential to the creation of value -- we must imagine further and faster than anyone else. Therefore, the countries that will benefit most are those that are most open to doing what can be done as rapidly as possible. Friedman believes that the U.S. is the dream-factory of the world, and this is the most important thing we have going for us.

A first conversation with Thomas Friedman

I've always found Tom Friedman to be insightful and provocative. When his book, The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century was first published several years ago (it was just updated this summer), I enjoyed reading his take on the world. I found that the world he depicted was much the one I was intimately engaged in. Having spent seven years in China in the late 80s and early 90s, and then starting a software company with partners from China and India in 2001, the world Friedman depicted was the one that I had been living in for almost twenty years. I was surprised, honestly, that Friedman's book was such an eye-opener for the general public because with each page I thought, "Yup, that's been my experience". As the year comes to a close, I'm going to revisit two conversations that Charlie Rose had with Friedman about this book. This first one was recorded on the day the book was first published. The second occurred about two years later when Friedman updated his book.

A conversation with Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett talks about his company, his life, his gift to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and how he sees the world. He has run Berkshire Hathaway for 42 years. This, he says, is "the ultimate luxury in life."

Conversation with Warren Buffett, Bill & Melinda Gates

When Warren Buffett announced in June, 2006 that he was donating most of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world of philanthropy was surprised. As usual, Buffett had carefully thought through how best to leverage his life's work, and this interview done with Charlie Rose on the day of the announcement provides insights into his thinking. The ideas shared here foreshadow the commencement address that Bill would give at Harvard one year later and which I wrote about a few months ago.

A conversation with the Secretary of the Treasury

Secretary of the Treasury, Hank Paulson, shares insights about the seismic changes taking place in China, and why we all need to better understand what these changes portend for the future.