CEO Tradecraft

Ken Holmen leads a $2B health system with 12,000 employees across rural Minnesota. After 30 years as an anesthesiologist, he's now managing 70% government revenue growing at 2-3% while costs climb 5-7% annually. That 4-5% gap compounds every year.This conversation covers the shift from clinician to CEO, why technology hasn't bent the cost curve despite massive investment, what AI is actually doing in imaging and diagnostics, and how Minnesota's collaborative health culture produces different outcomes. We also get into rural workforce strategies, group purchasing leverage, and the structural math every health system CEO is navigating.If you're leading through structural headwinds, managing stakeholders with opposing interests, or building long-term infrastructure in short-term policy cycles—this one's for you.Key Takeaways:• Why clinician CEOs have an edge (and why it doesn't guarantee success)• The high-tech vs. high-touch paradox: Epic delivered features, not savings• AI in production: DAX Copilot smart rooms, imaging inference, diagnostic algorithms• The "Cadillac problem": patients demanding care that isn't best practice• US vs. nationalized systems: different cost buckets, different outcomes• Minnesota's secret: collaboration + public health investmentChapters:00:00 Intro & rural roots01:05 Small-town hurdles & "bumper bowling" mentors03:23 Path to CentraCare: becoming CEO05:00 Do clinician-CEOs have an edge?07:42 Leading the "parts & the whole" of an integrated system09:34 Scale vs. personal care; today's healthcare headwinds10:50 Rural labor & demographics: the double whammy12:41 Building the pipeline: colleges, training, staying local13:35 Beyond the hospital: community health & rural economy14:58 North Star: "Making rural life healthier"15:59 Minnesota outcomes, collaboration & "Minnesota nice"17:48 Fighting complacency: change management & urgency18:33 Has tech delivered? EHRs, vaccines, robotics19:15 High-tech vs. high-touch—and why costs haven't fallen20:37 AI examples: imaging, labs & EHR inference21:25 Smart rooms & DAX co-pilots in clinic22:08 Consumer demand vs. best practice (the "Cadillac" problem)25:16 Comparing systems: U.S. vs. nationalized care26:37 Panda Health & CAPTIS: buying tech and "stuff" better27:30 5-10 year outlook: workforce first29:52 How the CEO role changed: ambiguity & discernment31:05 Career advice for future clinicians & administrators32:23 Wrap-up & takeawaysGuest:Dr. Kenneth Holmen: President & CEO, CentraCareLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-holmen-26149a10/About CEO Tradecraft:Real operator stories. No coaching, no hype, no media-trained narratives. Jason Radisson (founder-CEO of Movo, operator behind five unicorns across three continents) talks with CEOs and senior leaders about decisions under pressure, scaling teams, and navigating power, performance, and politics. The plays that actually matter—the ones that rarely get talked about or passed down.Subscribe & Follow:• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ceotradecraft• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ceo-tradecraft/id1813247648• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0FYJ70l99fRrw9S1oWWRzf#HealthcareLeadership #CEOTradecraft #HealthSystems #RuralHealth #HealthTech

A private-equity inside-look at running multi-billion-dollar casinos, saving $100 M p.a. with data, and turning Vegas hospitality into a revenue lab.What you’ll learnThe playbook that added $100M to slot profits in one yearInside a $31 B LBO: weekly flashes, board pressure, and a $260M room renovation debateHow hotel yield algorithms became the backbone of modern ML systemsWhy Caesars pivoted from gaming to hospitality—and wonTranslating high-volume P&L skills into tech leadershipGuest bioEileen Moore Johnson spent 21 years at Harrah’s–Caesars, rising from VP of Revenue Management to Regional President over four Strip resorts during the one the largest LBOs in U.S. history.Chapters00:27 Welcome & Stakes — the Future of PE-Backed Operations01:42 Hotel-Kid to Cornell: Early Path to Data-Driven Ops02:32 Rolling Out Yield Management at Hilton → Fairmont04:17 Bringing Revenue Algorithms to the Vegas Strip05:08 $31 B LBO Inside View, the Caesars-Harrah's Playbook07:19 $100 M in One Year: Slots & Segmentation Playbook09:20 Post-Katrina Turnaround11:45 ‘Hospitality Pod’: Four Resorts, One P&L, on the Las Vegas Strip13:38 PE Pressure: $260M Renovation & the Iron Debate18:20 Cromwell Launch: How a 200-Room Hotel Prints Cash19:55 Casino Math → SaaS: Why Ops Execs Should Consider a Rotation in Tech23:46 Gaming × AI — What’s Next & Wrap-UpIf you run high-volume ops or scale companies under PE pressure, hit Follow. Want to pay it forward on the show? Reach out.#PrivateEquity, #Hospitality #Operations, #RevenueManagement, #Casino Analytics, #ML, #CaesarsLBO, #AgentNative #TechCEOs #FutureOfWork #HospitalityLeadership

Mary Brainerd led 26,000 employees as CEO of HealthPartners, the largest consumer-governed healthcare system in the U.S. She also served as Board Chair of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve.In this episode, she and Jason talk through:– “Alignment, not sameness”: how to drive bottom-up change– What cancer taught her about fear, empathy, and patient care– How a co-op hospital model built real accountability– Why AI is a lifeline to healthcare– The Itasca Project and lessons from civic leadershipIt’s the rarely discussed side of CEO work: culture, empathy, governance, and what it really means to lead at scale.🎧 Full video version available on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ceotradecraft⁠#Leadership #Healthcare #Governance #WomenInLeadership #CEOTradecraft

Rich Williams (former CEO of Groupon) joins Jason Radisson to talk about the realities of hypergrowth, what it takes to become a product-driven CEO, and why curiosity, conflict, and decision speed are non-negotiables in leadership.This episode of CEO Tradecraft breaks down what most leadership conversations gloss over—operational scars, inflection points, and the actual skill set behind the title.Subscribe for new episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@ceotradecraftFollow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ceotradecraft/Connect with Jason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-radisson/Chapters:00:00 - Intro01:44 - Welcome + Why Groupon Was a Hot Mess (in a Good Way)06:46 - Inside the Founding Team: Andrew, Eric, and the Samwers08:32 - IPO, Chaos, and the Three-Legged Stool Problem11:28 - Is Hypergrowth Just What Tech Does?14:56 - Operational Rigor, Manual Systems, and Scaling Pain17:56 - Forward-Deployed Teams and the Future of Work23:05 - Reflections on the CEO Skillset Groupon Built25:36 - Seeking Out the Hard Stuff: Intentional CEO Pathing28:28 - Becoming a Product Leader (Even If You Start in Marketing)31:33 - What Great Product Managers Actually Do34:34 - From Technical Co-Founder to CEO: The Next Generation37:36 - CEO DNA: Curiosity, Conflict, and Rapid Decisions43:40 - OutroCEO Tradecraft goes deep with founders, operators, and executive decision-makers. Real stories. Real strategies. Real tactics.

This show isn’t coaching. It’s not hype. It’s not media-trained narratives.CEO Tradecraft is about what it actually takes to lead a company when the answers aren’t obvious.Hosted by Jason Radisson—founder-CEO of Movo and operator behind five unicorns across three continents—this show digs into the hidden playbooks, sharp decisions, and hard-earned lessons from founders and senior operators who’ve been in the chair.If you’ve ever had to scale through chaos, manage power under pressure, or carry the weight when no one else would—this podcast is for you.