Fireside Chat, Conference Presentation, Panel
10,000 Small Businesses - New York Conference: Michael Bloomberg and Lloyd Blankfein
Goldman SachsMichael Bloomberg, Lloyd Blankfein, Warren Buffett, Dr. Michael Porter, Mike Bloomberg, May Gorilla, Pete Wendell, Theresa Lawrence, Rhonda Jackson, Jessica Johnson, Ray Rupp, Kenneth Coates, Jason Burns, Navjot Vajwa, Raj Thakur, Elizabeth Colon, Reece Powell, Saudia Davis, Amy Voloshin, I.M. Tucker, Brian Custer, Mike Brown, Male Presenter 1
- The program aims to expand reach to cities lacking critical mass or infrastructure by leveraging partnerships and hosting residents at Babson College, with the network currently comprising 10,000 businesses across 23 cities.
- Graduates from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program report significant financial and operational growth, including revenue increases ranging from 25% to over 600%, with specific examples citing growth from $2.3 million to $5.5 million, $400,000 to over $3 million, and 3.8 million to $5 million.
- Employment impacts are substantial, with participants reporting added staff ranging from 13 to 1,000 jobs and aggregate statistics showing 44.8% of participants added new jobs within six months of graduation.
- Specific business plans include regional expansion into the Midwest, opening new divisions such as a language academy in August, and scaling operations to $15 million in revenue through software development and capital raising.
- Strategic market opportunities are identified in the $200 million New York healthy school food market and the $2 billion national market, alongside the addition of new service lines like food transportation and e-commerce fulfillment.
- Long-term outlooks involve acquiring other businesses to establish additional sales offices, growing capacity to meet demand, and fostering a transactive alumni network that facilitates commerce among graduates.
- Organizational risks discussed include the tendency of large companies to become trapped in narrow innovation paths, the potential for hiring decisions to become overly channeled toward traditional candidates, and the danger of leaders making decisions without implementation strategies.
- Leadership and operational challenges involve avoiding second-guessing, managing mid-course corrections, and balancing the need to fill jobs with the desire to hire specific qualified talent while maintaining loyalty and trust within the workforce.
- The program expects to continue growing faster and better by encouraging risk-taking, learning from mistakes without vilification, and promoting a culture where failure to achieve results stems from a lack of trying rather than rational experimentation.