Creating A Talent Hub In The Era Of Remote Work

Plus: Inside The Most Elite Club In America: How The Forbes 400 Has Gotten $4 Trillion Richer Since The 1980s

Greetings from Detroit, where we are hosting the 2021 Forbes Under 30 Summit on October 11 and 12. This is our 10th year of celebrating entrepreneurs, innovators and others who have achieved excellence in their fields before the age of 30. (The 2022 list will come out in December.) While we have limited in-person attendees to previous listers this year to maintain safety protocols, anyone can register to watch the virtual experience for free.

I’m moderating three conversations that intrigue me. First up will be a discussion of the future of tech hubs with Aunt Flow founder Claire Coder (who’s from Columbus, Ohio), Phoenix-based Levi Conlow of Lectric eBikes, and Bob Walters, President & COO of Rocket Companies, which is based in Detroit. Among other things, I’m curious if remote work is conducive to creating vibrant tech hubs.

Tech hubs often spring up where you have a center of academic excellence that draws talent [Stanford begets Silicon Valley] or adjacent businesses [fintech in NYC or biotech in Boston], along with access to capital. With the decentralization of talent and money, can you create a hub by being a nice place to live? Do we even need physical hubs? I suspect we do. Among other things, a recent survey of executives conducted by World 50 and G100 found that more than half of respondents felt remote work was bad for productivity.

I’m also interviewing John Chambers, the former chairman and CEO of Cisco, who is now mentoring and investing in start-up leaders through JC2 Ventures. John helped Cisco grow from a $70 million-a-year router company to generating $48 billion in revenue by getting ahead of disruptions and staying true to some core values. (I helped John write his 2018 book, Connecting the Dots.)

While I don’t know what he’ll say when we speak at 4 p.m. ET today, I can share one aspect of his approach that always stuck with me: disrupt or get disrupted. He learned that while growing up in West Virginia. He saw his beloved home state evolve from being the chemical capital of the world and a mecca for top talent to being left behind as production shifted to Asia and more young people left for opportunities elsewhere. (He’s now investing in education and opportunities to help nurture the startup culture there.) It’s a motto that helped him survive a devastating dot-com crash and grow Cisco from a $70 million-a-year company when he joined in 1991 to one with $47 billion in annual revenue when he stepped down as CEO in 2015.

Tomorrow, I will be speaking with Alexandra Cooper, who recently minted a $60 million deal with Spotify for the Call Her Daddy podcast. Is she controversial? At times. Has she also connected with her audience in a way that few others have? Absolutely. I can’t wait to speak with her about her experiences and insights from building a successful podcast. Hope you can join us for the conversation.

Comings & Goings

Mark Fields, the former CEO of Ford, has been tapped to serve as Hertz’s interim CEO as the embattled car rental service emerges from pandemic-induced bankruptcy. Paul Stone, who led Hertz starting in May 2020, will stay on with the company as its chief operating officer.

Citrix Systems CEO David Henshall stepped down on Friday, prompting the cloud computing company to appoint Bob Calderoni, the board’s chairman, as its temporary executive. The news comes nearly a month after Bloomberg reported that the company was exploring a sale, and just weeks ahead of its Q3 earnings report.

Leadership & Strategy

While racism and discrimination have been front-and-center for businesses in the past year, a recent survey produced by Columbia University has found that white employees are still significantly less likely to pay attention to information presented by their Black peers, even to the detriment of their organization.

McKinsey and LeanIn's latest study on workplace equity, the seventh annual “Women in the Workplace” report, found that despite more women entering senior positions, women are still not fully recognized for their work and navigate uneven paths to leadership.

By The Numbers

52%

Percentage of executives who believe remote work has had a negative impact on corporate culture.

A new survey from World 50, a membership group for senior executives of major companies, captures some of the dissatisfaction business leaders have had with the effect of remote work on their employees. Few however, are willing to invest resources in greater employee benefits to improve morale.

The CxO Profile

Across Forbes

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