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Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! Im Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Performance assessment matters: Research from McKinsey & Co. maintains that companies with a focus on employee performance see 30% higher revenue growth and lower attrition rates than their peers. In the past, though, top executives seemed to care mostly about the results of employee reviews: GE chief Jack Welch, for example, famously used performance appraisals to rank employees and fired those scoring in the bottom 10%. Performance reviews reviewed Dan Springer, CEO of Ironclad, makes the case that CEOs who care about culture should also dig into the quality of employee reviews. When he joined the 650+-person AI contract-management-software company, employees praised the culture but, he says, indicated that manager evaluation of their work was often lacking. When you asked if they were getting the kind of feedback that they needed to do their jobs, they didnt say no, but they were sort of bemused by the question, he recalls. Springer conducted a training session on how to do performance reviews, going as far as role-playing a review with chief financial officer Helen Wang, who delivered an unvarnished assessment of Springers first few months on the job. (Helens tough, Springer says. I think people really enjoyed seeing the CEO get reviewed.) The CEO then read one written midyear review from every frontline managerabout 80 in total. He says about 20% were outstanding. Another 60% were solidclear, metrics-driven, with specific examples. But roughly 20% missed the mark. Some featured long narratives that showed care for the employee but lacked actionable guidance. Others were short and vague. Springer tapped these managers for further training on how to give effective feedback. We really did try to make it fun and not boring, he says. A chance to fill in the gaps With a résumé that includes CEO roles at Docusign and Responsys, Springer notes that at Ironclad and many other tech companies first-time managers sometimes get promoted without proper training. The great news is, our people are really smart, he says. Some people had not been trained on these best practices. He says he believes Ironclads efforts to improve the quality of reviews will lead to better feedback in the long run and also send a powerful message to the organization. A number of employees feel that Ironclad has a kind and understanding culture, and while we have great company performance, they wanted to see our leaders raise the bar on addressing low [performance] and rewarding high performance, he says. So as CEO, I want to up the sense that were a performance culture by demonstrating that any chance I get. Privately held Ironclad says its annual recurring revenue is north of $150 million, and top line is growing about 40% a year. Springer says he aspires to take the company to another level. Why better reviews matter While Springer joined Ironclad in April, he opted not to rewrite corporate goals midyear. Now, he is focused on finalizing goals for the companys next fiscal year, which starts in February 2026. Springer says corporate goals will be centered on customer success, business and financial performance, innovation (particularly around AI), and employee success. Once theyre established, managers and employees will create objectives and key results that align with the companys priorities. Its a challenge to give good feedback if you dont have clear goals to talk about, he says. I asked Springer why hes been so engaged in performance management and why other CEOs might want to invest time in making sure their employees are dispensing constructive feedback. There are only two reasons why, I think, a CEO should really care, he says. One is that they want to have a high-performance company, and two, they want to develop their talent. Those are pretty important reasons. How are you raising the bar? How does your organization approach performance management? Are there ways your CEO is directly involved in the process? Share your insights with me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com, and well include some of the best reader feedback in a future newsletter. Read and watch more: feedback loop How top CEOs get better at giving feedback Can AI make performance reviews less terrible? Executives, heres the one question your employees should ask during reviews
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E-Commerce
Black, unassuming, about the size of a pack of chewing gum: On the surface, the Fire TV 4K Select stick released in mid-October looks just like any other streaming device made by Amazon. Plug it into your TV, and youll be greeted by Amazons tried-and-true living room interface, complete with icons for popular streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video. And yet, the Select streaming stick is unlike any of its predecessors. Thats because the device is running Vega a new, Linux-based operating system Amazon has quietly been building over the past couple of years as a replacement for its legacy, Android-based Fire OS. The company plans to eventually launch Vega across a wide range of devices, including smart displays, streaming devices, even car dashboards. The adoption of Vega represents one of Amazons most ambitious hardware-related initiatives ever since the launch of the first Fire TV device over a decade ago. It also prompted backlash from consumers and lukewarm reception from developers. But for the company, launching Vega may be worth the pain. Amazon has always wanted to create its own software ecosystem, says Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart. Betting on Vega allows Amazon not just to optimize the code running on its devices, but also to break free from Google and take control of its own destiny. Android was developed to run on phones When Amazon launched its first Fire TV streaming box in early 2014, it did so by using a version of Googles Android OS that the company customized to its own needs. For that, Amazon decided not to license Googles Play Store and other services available on officially Google-sanctioned hardware. Instead, it simply used open source Android code freely available to anyone, and built its own Fire TV app store and services on top of that foundation. Android [has] been and remains super, super important to our product lines – it is wonderful how Google has built and supported that platform, wrote the outgoing Amazon devices executive Robert Williams in a recent LinkedIn post, adding: However, we also felt that we could build something more purpose-built for consumer electronics devices that was faster and used more modern components and design. [Photo: Amazon] There are sound technical reasons for this approach: Android is, at its core, an operating system for mobile phones, and many of its components are either not required or not optimized for other kinds of devices. Thats why Google itself switched from Android to a new, custom OS called Fuchsia for its smart displays in 2021. Similarly, Amazon first launched Vega on a smart display, the Echo Show 5, in 2023, albeit without publicly announcing the switch. We started where we could have the biggest impact right away, explains Tapas Roy, Amazons vice president of device software & services. Vegas integration with our custom-designed silicon accelerates AI query response times, such as for Alexa+, making our Echo lineup ideal for joint development. An insurance policy against Google Other reasons for an alternative to Android are less technical. While Google has maintained the core Android code as an open source project, it has also long tightly controlled what device makers can and cannot do if they want access to the companys Play Store, and other commercial Android components. Google in particular frowned upon efforts to build alternative, customized distributions of Android, something thats known among open source insiders as forking. Fire OS is the most popular forked version of Android in Western markets, leading to significant friction between the two companies. The conflict came to a head when Amazon began approaching third-party consumer electronics companies about making TVs powered by Fire OS a few years after launching its own streaming adapters. At the time, Google told TV makers that they couldnt use Fire OS if they also were using Googles Android on other devices, including phones. Google justified this by arguing it was trying to prevent fragmentation, but the move also effectively kneecapped Amazons smart TV efforts. The conflict resulted in an antitrust investigation in India that got resolved with a settlement earlier this year. Google and Amazon separately came to an agreement on the issue, paving the way for manufacturers like TCL to build TVs powered by Fire OS. Despite this truce, Vega OS can be seen as a kind of insurance policy against Google. If the search giant were to further restrict the use of Android in the future, Amazon wouldn’t be left empty-handed. At least publicly, Amazon is committed to shipping devices with both operating systems for the foreseeable future. We’re not moving away from Android, says Roy. Were a multi-OS company, and Fire OS isnt going anywhere. Creating and managing our own operating system lets us innovate across the whole tech stack within our devices where we need it. Amazon has no plans to make Vega available to third-party device makers, Roy said. Pushback from developers and consumers Amazon has faced some pushback from consumers after launching the Vega-powered Select stick. While Android-powered Fire TV sticks are rated 4.6 stars and up on Amazons shopping website, the Select model currently has a 3.6 star rating, with a whopping 25% of reviewers awarding it just a single star. Part of the backlash has to do with the fact that prior Android models allowed consumers to install their own apps from sources other than Amazons official store a feature frequently used for apps designed to access pirated content. Vega does not offer a similar sideloading feature. Amazon has also struggled to gain support from app developers and publishers for the device. Smart TV app developers already deal with a very fragmented landscape, with devices made by Roku, Samsung, Google, and LG, all requiring them to build different versions of their apps. At launch, the Select Stick was missing native apps from a number of major publishers, including CBS, PBS, andBET. To make up for those shortcomings, Amazon adopted a novel approach: For the time being, it is simply running the existing Android apps for services like these in the cloud. In most cases, consumers will notice little to no difference to an app running on the device itself. Some functionality, however, simply isnt compatible with this approach. As a result, Select stick owners currently dont have access to a Spotify app on the device. Despite the initial extra investment, publishers could ultimately benefit from porting their apps to Vega. The operating system is based on technology that will, at least in theory, allow developers to consolidate their codebase across multiple operating systems. Developers can reuse their … code from one project to another, within or outside of Amazon apps, to make the most of their time and efforts, Roy says. Aside from those practical considerations, developers do have another factor to contend with: With over 200 million Fire TV devices sold to date, Amazon is a giant in the streaming hardware space. If the company keeps shipping new devices running Vega, publishers may just have to fall in line and rebuild their apps for the new operating system. There are likely to be growing pains, says Greengart, adding: I would give Amazon extremely high odds for success with Vega OS.
Category:
E-Commerce
Sunbridge appears to be a quintessential example of 21st century sprawl. A 27,000-acre residential mega-development taking shape outside of Orlando, Florida, its set to include more than 30,000 new homes in total when completea few neighborhoods, miles of trails, and a K8 school have already been completed. Its riding a growth boom in Central Florida; this fast-growing section of the Sun Belt has added more than 1,000 people every week in recent years. But within the different subdivisions being constructed at Sunbridge over the next 30 years, a landscape will emerge with each new home and green space thats much more wild, native, and sustainable than the stereotypical manicured, monoculture green lawns ringed with white picket fences. My spiel for Sunbridge is that you leave your house and in 10 minutes, youre immersed in nature, says Clint Beaty, senior vice president of Operations at Tavistock Development Company, which is developing Sunbridge. Im not talking about a single tree next to a retention pond. I mean a deer is going to walk up to you, and you may see bald eagles, all 15 minutes from the Orlando International Airport. Sunbridge was just named the nations first Homegrown National Park Community, a designation highlighting the projects focus on native plants, nature conservation, and sustainability focused on restoring a measure of biodiversity. Containing an array of different single-family homes, constructed by different developers, mostly ranging in price between $300,000 and $600,000, the larger development will feature a slate of standard suburban homes. According to Tavistock, a majority of the plants will be native, and interspersed with all those homes will be 13,000 acres that will be preserved as an interconnected network of natural habitats, including lakes, wetlands, and oak hammocks, a type of forest habitat native to Florida and the Southeast. [Photo: Scott Cook Photography/Tavistock Development Company] Conservation goes private Typical Florida developers often put the most expensive homes on the water and charge a premium; Sunbridge will leave those waterfronts open and wild for all to enjoy. In the long term, Beaty says, this philosophy will drive value; the challenge is, in the short term, getting homebuyers to understand that. The Homegrown National Park concepta marketing term, not an actual registered and protected public placewas cofounded by scientist and author Doug Tallamy, and aims to regenerate and restore 20 million acres of native habitat across the U.S., mostly on private land, in an effort to stem the biodiversity crisis. The pollution and the loss of habitat have put roughly 40% of animals, plants, and ecosystems in the U.S. at risk. The nation currently has 44 million acres of traditional green turflawn, which Tallamy calls dead space in terms of its ability to support diverse species and local ecosystems. Why should we develop property in a way that expels nature? And while Tallamy says there are parks and preserves for preservation of wildlife, if 78% of the U.S. is privately owned85% of land east of the Mississippi is in private handssomething has to make landowners take biodiversity more seriously. He hopes Sunbridge becomes the first of many such developments, and can help make the case to landowners that this strategy is both cost-effective and consumer friendly. If we dont do conservation on private property, were going to fail, he says. You cant say were not going to do conservation where we develop, because thats everywhere. [Photo: Tavistock Development Company] Landscaping the future While the Homegrown National Park focuses on flora and fauna, the team behind Sunbridge came to the idea while looking at water. Like other fast-growing parts of the country, such as Phoenix, Central Florida faces water shortages and hard limits on growth if business-as-usual development continues. The Central Florida Water Initiative predicts the region will face a 96 million gallon-per-day water shortfall starting in 2045. The landscaping philosophy of Homegrown National Parknative plants that require much less water, less maintenance, and less fertilizercan reduce irrigation and fertilizer runoff. Sunbridge developers estimate that when the entire project is complete and occupied in the coming decades, the planned Florida-native and drought-tolerant landscaping palette will save between 39,000 to 146,300 gallons of water daily, and help cut outdoor water use by 75%. In addition, it will contain whats called keystone plants, native species, such as live oaks, that support local insects and animals. Tallamy says that traditional American landscaping, which uses a variety of non-native plants for decorative purposes, doesnt feed local species and can disrupt the existing food web. Developers hope this plan not only allows the development to grow without bumping up against resource limits, but also proves to be a point of differentiation that attracts future buyers and even adds a premium to home prices. Theyve been aggressively marketing the developments trails, greenspace, lakes, and landscape, dubbing it a naturehood. Beaty, who grew up in Florida, remembers playing in backyards in July with brown grass as a kid, since it was so challenging to water. Ever since Disney came to Florida, he says, thats the (artificial) expectation people have of the Florida front yard. This is the horticultural challenge of our time, says Tallamy. How do we make ecologically accesible landscapes that are also pretty? [Photo: Scott Cook Photography/Tavistock Development Company] Finding the solution in sprawl It may seem counterintuitive to count suburban developments as part of the solution to the biodiversity crisis, since theyre a significant cause of the problem in the U.S. Sprawl development in the 21st century alone has eaten up more than two million acres annually in the U.S., according to the Center for Biological Diversity, leading to significant habitat and species loss: roads, fences and structures break up habitats; fertilizers and pollution harm plants; and light and noise pollution impact animal health. While Sunbridge remains the first large development to sign on, Homegrown National Park has also been busy with other collaborations, partnering with regional and state Native Plant Societies, including the Native Plant Society of Texas, to engage and support developers and HOAs that are interested in integrating the Homegrown National Park model. One of the challenges going forward will be maintaining the initial philosophy of native plantings and more sustainability minded landscaping. Since there arent necessarily strong ways to mandate lawn care or plant choicethere wont be an overarching homeowners association enforcing standardsBeaty hopes the good faith approach theyre taking, which favors carrots instead of sticks, will prove itself over time. This will include a number of resources and support, including publishing a curated list of native plants, and a variety of community programs to help with lawn care and to promote conservation. Residents will also be given digital water dashboards to help monitor their consumption, and messaging about how a healthier, more native lawn means fewer chemicals that aren’t good for your kids and a lower utility bill every month. Advocates say these kinds of development agreements, and efforts at urban rewilding in cities, can, along with the vital preservation of remaining natural habitat, help slow and ideally reverse the biodiversity loss being felt around the globe. Tallamy says that scientists already understand what needs to be done to fix the biodiversity crisis. Projects like Sunbridge, which seek to sell residents on the benefits of a more biodiverse landscape, can help get more momentum behind deploying those solutions. We know how to increase biodiversity, he says. What were fighting now are sociological problems.
Category:
E-Commerce
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