The speed and severity of changes emanating from COVID-19 are unprecedented. In some cases, these tectonic shifts reflect an acceleration of trends already underway. In others, these changes have permanently destroyed or severely affected many large and long-standing sectors. Even the savviest business leaders and investors were caught flat-footed and are today baffled as to how the future will unfold.

I wholeheartedly agree with how NYU professor and best selling author Scott Galloway, who in a recent podcast described the largest fields of opportunity: “healthcare and education is literally a deck of cards thrown into the air.” …

The horror and heartache emanating from the senseless murder of George Floyd shook us to our core. Like many others, the onslaught of emotions that we felt watching this brutality and the proliferation of protests initiated soul searching. Ringing in our ears was a fundamental teaching and tradition of Judaism: “thou shalt not be a bystander.” We didn’t want to be passive or ambivalent but wondered — what could we do to really have an impact?

For us, the not-so-distant atrocities of the Holocaust remind us what can happen when racism permeates, and justice, let alone equality, is not fairly…

This article was originally published on Addicted2Success

Nearly two decades ago, Amazon’s now-iconic CEO explained why he chose to leave a cushy, secure banking gig on Wall Street and roll the dice on founding an online bookstore. We know now that Jeff Bezos’ gambit would ultimately pay off — but back then, such a pivot was dangerously risky. Bezos was aware of the potential for failure, but in his mind, the potential for regret was far greater.

During a rare interview, Bezos shared the philosophy that drove him to chance disaster — a decision-making approach he calls the regret minimization…

As tragic events unfold across our country, we at The Lab embrace the Black community with outstretched arms. Our hearts are broken for the families of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and so many more. We strongly affirm that BLACK LIVES MATTER. We are ashamed that our country not only permits, but has created, institutional racism and systemic cycles of poverty — and that our society has ignored blatant bigotry and persistent bias for far too long. We, at The Lab, want to be part of a process of redemption for our country. …

Today the commonly accepted conclusion of Charles Darwin’s seminal work, The Origin of Species, is that the bedrock of evolution is “survival of the fittest.” In actuality, this interpretation represents a morphing of what Darwin proclaimed centuries earlier. His key theory was that evolution favored the survival of the most adaptable, not the fittest. The distinction is subtle yet profound, and particularly relevant when thinking about businesses since the onslaught of COVID-19.

Life and business are unpredictable and rarely follow a straight line or work out as anticipated. Things that aren’t supposed to happen actually happen more than statistics predict…

Perhaps the most mind-boggling aspect of the Theranos debacle is how many smart investors fell under the spell of Elizabeth Holmes and ignored the importance of transparency. For a company whose technology has been described as “comically vague,” it’s amazing how the company managed to raise $700 million from investors without ever once being asked to provide independently audited financial statements or peer reviewed studies validating the efficacy of its underlying science. In fact, after all was said and done with the Theranos scandal, it became evident that the company was the antithesis of transparency on numerous fronts.

There is…

As our community, state, country and the world grapple with the Coronavirus and its destructive ramifications on multiple fronts, I am drawn to the wisdom of one history’s greatest teachers. Over two thousand years ago, Rabbi Hillel taught a lesson that has never been more relevant and powerful:

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
But if I am only for myself, who am I?
If not now, when?

Countless commentators far more educated than I have, over the centuries, interpreted these words; however, I find they are simple enough for everyone to understand and internalize…