Thank You
Nine years of creating Business Evolution. None of it happened alone.
This is the eighth version of my innovation framework. It will be the last one built this way. The next will be built by AI.
Nine years of self-funded work. I got here because of the people listed below: customers, teams, colleagues, leaders, mentors, friends, and family.
None of it was possible without their emotional and operational support and the lessons I learned from them along the way.
Thank you!
Customers
To my consulting and coaching clients: watching you and your business grow validated the approach.
To the hundreds of thousands of innovators, entrepreneurs, executives, teachers, and students who use HowDo.com’s free resources: your feedback and support motivated everything.
Team
Over eight years of development, I worked directly with over a hundred people to build and manage HowDo. All of that help was valuable.
A few team members were consistently present: Angela, Ben, Bilaal, Carol, Lil, Luis and the Meraki Team, Parimal, Tom and the Sagence Team, Tony, Rey, and the E25 Team. I couldn’t have done this without you.
Thank you for your help. I am grateful for your belief in the mission and your support.
Mentors and Leaders
The insights I’m sharing are the result of my 25-year career that several mentors and leaders shaped.
During that time, I had several mentors who shaped how I think about impactful leadership: Two are still here: Dudley and Sandra. Two passed this year: Don Kingsborough and Sam Shrauger. Thank you all.
Thank you to all the leaders who trusted me with real opportunities: Bill, Brian C, Brian E, Cameron, Carey, Casey, Dave, Don, Glen, Jamil, Jason, Jeff, John, Joseph, Malte, Mariano, Peter, Scott, Shawn, and Steve. I learned something from every one of you.
Teammates
To my peers over the last several decades: there are thousands of you. A few I had the opportunity to deeply work with and learn from: Asok, Becky, Cary, Charlie, Chris, Dan, Deb, Doug, Eleanor, Gregor, Itamar, Joel, Laarni, Mark, Marcus, Natalie, Nishant, Priya, Ray, Raymond, Renato, Ron, and Tim.
Authors
There are many authors whose work inspired me, including but not limited to:
Alexander Osterwalder, Angela Duckworth, Benjamin Barber, Benjamin Graham, Bill Aulet, Bob Dorf, Clayton Christensen, Daniel Kahneman, Douglas Adams, Eric Ries, Frans Johansson, Geoffrey Moore, John Wooden, Kara Swisher, Malcolm Gladwell, Michael George, Michael Porter, Mohamed El-Erian, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Peter Drucker, Ray Dalio, Richard Foster, Ryan Holiday, Sarah Kaplan, Seth Godin, Shane Parrish, Simon Sinek, Steve Blank, Sun Tzu, Tom Clancy, Walt Whitman, and Yves Pigneur
I learn from your work. It inspires me. Thank you all.
Extra special thanks to H. Ramsey Fowler and Jane E. Aaron who wrote The Little, Brown Handbook. This book lived on my desk for decades.
Friends
To my friends, who are absolutely tired of hearing about my mission to democratize business evolution: Andrew & Lauren, Chris, Didier, Dave & Missy, Dave & Rachel, Elizabeth, Jeremy, Joel, John, Johnny & Meghan, Jules, Fin, Hugh, Ken, Kyle & Ari, Lou, Matt H, Mike & Justin, Mike & Ivy, Nathaniel, Natalie, Neil & Maja, Reeves, Robie & Shawna, Ryan, Shawn & Stephanie, Sam, Stewart, Todd, and Tim.
I’m not done talking about it. Thanks for putting up with me.
Family
Uncles, aunts, and cousins - you know who you are. Thank you for encouraging me and supporting the journey. Special thanks to Jack.
Dad and Nanny: you’re not here to see this version. I wish you were, it’s the best one yet. Thank you for your support from the other side. I feel it.
My furbabies: Princess Leia and Rey Rey. You didn’t sign up to be entrepreneurial emotional support cat. But you’ve been there all day, every day. I love you both.
You
Thank you for joining me on this journey to accelerate business evolution powered by AI.
- West