19 Jan January 19, 2024 – Thrift Books Ken Goldstein and Team Building Justin Follin
Ken Goldstein – CEO of Thrift Books – Largest Used Book Store Online and Author of
What bothers me are unfinished products. I don’t like the idea of a
minimum viable product that you’re going to just dump on your
customers and let them suffer with. I know that it has worked for an
awful lot of entrepreneurs, I know that it is a buzzword that people
care about, but going back to my Disney experience and Broderbund
games when we were building Carmen San Diego and Mist, it’s all
about the details. It’s about getting it right. Not being at 90%or 95%
but being at 100%.
Ken Goldstein
Ken Goldstein has enjoyed an extensive career in senior management roles driving innovation in technology, media, entertainment, and e-commerce. He is currently chairman and chief executive officer of ThriftBooks Global, the largest online seller of used books in the world. He is also board chair of The Good Men Project, an expansive content site offering perspectives on social issues in the 21st century. Ken writes the popular business blog CorporateIntel.us and is the author of three novels set in the business world, all published by The Story Plant: This Is Rage (2013); Endless Encores (2015); and From Nothing (2018). Ken served as chairman and CEO of SHOP.COM, a pioneering e-commerce marketplace that created the patented OneCart platform, later acquired by Market America. Previously he was executive VP and managing director of Disney Online, the business unit of the Walt Disney Internet Group that produced the leading entertainment web destination for kids and families. Key achievements developed by his teams at Disney included the first massively multiplayer online game for kids, Toontown, as well as Movies.com, Family.com, and the syndicated broadband service Disney Connection. Prior to Disney, Ken was VP of entertainment at Broderbund Software and founding general manager of the company’s Red Orb Entertainment division. Before the formation of Red Orb, he was responsible for all aspects of development on Broderbund’s acclaimed Carmen Sandiego series. He also worked as a designer/producer at Philips Interactive Media and Cinemaware Corporation, and for several years as a screenwriter and television executive. Ken is active in children’s welfare issues and has served on the boards of Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles, and Full Circle Programs. He and his wife Shelley, who teaches English as a Second Language, live in Southern California. He received his BA from Yale University.
Justin Follin – Co-Founder and Managing Partner of BLUECASE and Author of
Many meetings are not doing what they are intended to do. Whether you’re
having one meeting a quarter or one meeting a week, have the basic building
blocks for what makes a great meeting. Do you have an agenda for the
meeting? Is there a clear stated purpose for the meeting? Are the people
in the meeting clear why they are there?
Justin Follin
Justin Follin is a lifelong student and teacher of what brings out the best in people, and a trusted advisor to CEOs and leaders in fast growth business sectors. As the co-founder and managing partner of BLUECASE Strategic Partners, Justin has successfully coached top leaders in fast-growing companies ranging from $50 Million and $2 Billion in annual revenue, and led hundreds of Executives, Directors, and Managers through cross-functional leadership development. Throughout his career, he’s coached public and private CEO’s, business leaders, TEDx presenters, poker players, musicians, academic professors and athletes to perform at optimal levels. Justin graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill with a degree in Philosophy focusing on business and morality. He currently resides in Austin, Texas, where he plays music in his free time, does yoga, and beats the heat as often as he can at Barton Springs pool.