Over the weekend, I listened to the audiobook: The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Bob Iger
Bob had quite the run as CEO of Disney, and he recently stepped down altogether.
Some interesting learnings and tidbits >>
Bob had quite the run as CEO of Disney, and he recently stepped down altogether.
Some interesting learnings and tidbits >>
2) Bob acknowledges luck in his career. Interestingly, he got a job at ABC (which was later acquired by Disney) through his uncle in a weird way.
His uncle was in the hospital and shared a room w a guy who worked at ABC. Bob was able to get a job interview through that cxn!
His uncle was in the hospital and shared a room w a guy who worked at ABC. Bob was able to get a job interview through that cxn!
3) This reminded me so much about how you're always pitching.
Whether it's for your startup or your fund or getting a job for yourself. You just never know where an opportunity might exist. Your uncle's hospital mate.
Whether it's for your startup or your fund or getting a job for yourself. You just never know where an opportunity might exist. Your uncle's hospital mate.
4) The audiobook talks a lot about company culture, and if you're a founder or past founder, you'll get some great insights here.
5) ABC was acquired by a PE firm and then later acquired by Disney, which is how he ended up at Disney. He worked closely with Michael Eisner, who was then Disney CEO.
6) Michael did a number of things right for Disney, but at a certain point, competition in the entertainment industry became stiff.
Innovate or Die became Bob's motto. Michael was not able to do this for Disney.
Innovate or Die became Bob's motto. Michael was not able to do this for Disney.
7) Eventually Michael was basically let go, and Bob had to advocate for himself to become the next CEO.
This was hard, because everyone felt like he had already had a chance as COO under Michael. And that he wouldn't be able to change the company trajectory.
This was hard, because everyone felt like he had already had a chance as COO under Michael. And that he wouldn't be able to change the company trajectory.
8) During that process of advocating for himself, Bob ruthlessly prioritized in his strategy plan for Disney.
He picked 3 things to focus on:
-invest in quality content
-adopt new technology
-expand in international markets
Anything more than 3 things was too many things.
He picked 3 things to focus on:
-invest in quality content
-adopt new technology
-expand in international markets
Anything more than 3 things was too many things.
9) He realized at this time that Disney had not made a hit animation film in the last decade!
And he realized that since quality content was the lifeblood of everything at Disney, they needed to rectify that immediately.
And he realized that since quality content was the lifeblood of everything at Disney, they needed to rectify that immediately.
10) He couldn't see a way to do that internally, so he wanted to buy Pixar who was producing hit after hit.
This was tricky, because the prior CEO Michael Eisner had severed the relationship with Steve Jobs to the pt where Pixar declared they would never work w/ Disney again.
This was tricky, because the prior CEO Michael Eisner had severed the relationship with Steve Jobs to the pt where Pixar declared they would never work w/ Disney again.
11) Bob received a lot of pushback on his acquisition plan because Pixar was too edgy to win & Steve Job was too difficult.
Ppl felt Disney animation would win because they always had.
But Bob firmly believed that trying new things was impt in a changing world.
Ppl felt Disney animation would win because they always had.
But Bob firmly believed that trying new things was impt in a changing world.
11) Bob Iger was big on reading ppl and didn't let his ego get in the way. He went back to Steve and started befriending him despite the rocky situation with Disney.
Eventually, he brokered a deal with his Board and Pixar that led to Disney being able to acquire Pixar for $7b+.
Eventually, he brokered a deal with his Board and Pixar that led to Disney being able to acquire Pixar for $7b+.
12) With this strategy, Bob went on to acquire more great content: Marvel + Lucasfilms (Star Wars).
Quality content -> merchandising -> theme park attractions / hotels -> etc was his plan. And that was the right strategy.
Quality content -> merchandising -> theme park attractions / hotels -> etc was his plan. And that was the right strategy.
13) Acquisitions can be tricky and large companies can easily stomp all over small companies.
One of his promises to Pixar was granting them a lot of autonomy so they could continue thriving.
One of his promises to Pixar was granting them a lot of autonomy so they could continue thriving.
14) With Marvel, he realized there were a lot of great characters but room to introduce new characters that could expand their portfolio.
In particular, he noticed there were really no female or underrep minority lead characters.
In particular, he noticed there were really no female or underrep minority lead characters.
15) He pushed hard to create new characters from different backgrounds. He was met w resistance. He was told studios don't create these characters because they didn't make $$.
He strongly felt that doing new things & reaching new audiences was an opportunity.
And he was right.
He strongly felt that doing new things & reaching new audiences was an opportunity.
And he was right.
16) Beyond content, he pushed for Disney to own its own distribution channels direct to consumer.
Disney didn't have tech & would lose a lot of $$ by pulling their content from Netflix.
But he felt that this was a risk worth taking to continue to reach new audiences directly.
Disney didn't have tech & would lose a lot of $$ by pulling their content from Netflix.
But he felt that this was a risk worth taking to continue to reach new audiences directly.
17) At some point in figuring out what tech platform to acquire, they had settled on buying Twitter in 2016.
But at the last moment, Bob felt they didn't know how to manage hate speech, fake news, and bot accts, so they didn't go through with it.
But at the last moment, Bob felt they didn't know how to manage hate speech, fake news, and bot accts, so they didn't go through with it.
18) They ended up buying a majority stake in BAMtech which would spin up the Disney+ app so they could compete with Netflix.
And he used a lot of the new content and characters he purchased to create new content for Disney+.
And he used a lot of the new content and characters he purchased to create new content for Disney+.
19) tl;dr
-the world changes quickly & Bob had seen many companies fall behind
-he felt you need to make bold bets in order to keep up & reward your team for taking risk
-and relentlessly prioritize so your team knows what is impt
I really enjoyed the audiobook. Good mgmt tips.
-the world changes quickly & Bob had seen many companies fall behind
-he felt you need to make bold bets in order to keep up & reward your team for taking risk
-and relentlessly prioritize so your team knows what is impt
I really enjoyed the audiobook. Good mgmt tips.
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