FTD Turnaround CEO's Survive to Thrive Lessons for Startups

The Breakout Growth Podcast

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Charlie Cole, Chief Executive Officer at FTD Flowers. In March of 2020, it was day one of a global pandemic, and day one of Charlie’s new job at a 110-year-old, global flower delivery company that had recently gone through a bankruptcy. The odds seemed stacked against him, but in this conversation, we discover that whether you are managing a startup or a turnaround there are fundamental similarities that power a winning approach.

Most startup leaders–under tremendous pressure to hit promised numbers or simply to not run out of money–make a common mistake; they try to do everything all at once. Similarly, in a turnaround situation, Charlie explains that “there is so just so much that is broken,” but the only way to fix everything is really to just focus with intensity on a very few of the most important things.

If you enjoy unfiltered honesty, you are probably going to love this conversation. When we asked Charlie why he delivers flowers himself on Valentine’s Day, he admitted that at first it was just because he didn’t know what else to do. And when we asked him about starting his role in a pandemic he says, ”I was completely unprepared . . . but I think if we're being honest, anyone would be completely unprepared!”

Delivering flowers helped him better understand the florists and customers FTD served and helped him to create a new culture that would put FTD back on solid footing. And starting in chaos forced him to find new pathways to build trust with employees and customers. It has not been easy, but Charlie says it is the most fun he has ever had.

If you listened to last week's Growth Snack, you will know just how inspired Sean and Ethan were by this discussion. So jump in with us and Charlie Cole as he shows us another side of breakout growth success.

The Breakout Growth Podcast is also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured

We discussed:

* FTD’s origins as a wire service: “the first peer-to-peer network” (05:05)

* Charlie’s biggest surprise coming into his new CEO role (09:36)

* “There's just so much broken”–ruthless pragmatism, because you can’t fix it all at once (20:32)

* What does success look like when you are rebuilding? (32:36)

* Differentiation is important, but it's equally important to know how you're not different (39:02)

* Walking the walk; why Charlie delivers flowers himself and what it’s taught him about customers and suppliers (37:51)

And much, much, more . . .

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