18. Why Is My Business Not Growing? With Dr. Lori Kendall

Has the growth of your company stalled, leaving you feeling stuck? With decades of experience as a founder in Silicon Valley, and now teaching at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, guest Dr. Lori Kendall walks Jim Barnish through the three dimensions of addressing the challenges of early and growth stage companies.

From clearly seeing the market you’re playing in, to identifying areas you’ve neglected, to understanding the life cycle of your clients, Lori and Jim discuss how founders can get unstuck.

They also explore how to view life through the lens of a portfolio rather than a balancing scale, and the value of learning how to fail, especially for young entrepreneurs.

3 Key Takeaways

• Clearly recognize the market you’re actually playing in, not the market you think you’re playing in.
• Identify the areas of your business that you’ve neglected. Does your marketing need a revisit? Do you need more salespeople or other team members?
• Understand the whole life cycle of your customer so you can manage and meet their needs. Don’t miss opportunities because you don’t know where their friction points are.

Resources

Lori Kendall’s LinkedIn

Unlocking Us Podcast with Brené Brown

Amicus Podcast with Dahlia Lithwick

How Will You Measure Your Life? By Clay Christensen

Getting Things Done By David Allen

Lori’s email: kendall.185@osu.edu

About

As a Silicon Valley alumna, Lori has worked primarily with technology companies in software, hardware, and networking sectors. Her expertise is tackling new venture incubation and acceleration through hyper-growth and pivoting stalled firms through major inflection points. She has held executive and staff R&D and marketing positions for networking and computer equipment public firms and venture-backed AI and data mining startups. She is a mixed methods researcher focused on organizational dynamics related to innovation practices, sustainable value creation, and net positive impact.