One of One

John Chambers (CEO of JC2 Ventures) ran Cisco for 20 years, from 1995 to 2015. He made 180 acquisitions, built the company into, at the time, the most valuable in the world, and in the year he stepped down, Harvard Business Review ranked him the 2nd best performing CEO in the world. He now runs JC2 Ventures, where he backs and mentors the next generation of founders. In those two decades, John faced the four hardest tests of a CEO: a market in transition, a bubble, the bureaucracy that comes with scale, and business model disruption. Most CEOs meet one or two in a career. John faced all four, and he and Darren mine the lessons from each. They also explore how John's dyslexia helps him detect patterns and capitalize on them before anyone else does.Find out more about the Trium Group at triumgroup.comOne of One is produced by Darren Gold, Emily Shaw, and Karen Welsh. Engineering by Aja Simpson.

Ben Goorin is the fourth generation CEO of Goorin Brothers, the family hat company founded in 1895, and the creator of The Farm, the animal trucker hats worn on heads all over the world.Ben and Darren met years ago in the same YPO forum, and he's one of the truest creatives Darren has ever seen occupy the CEO seat. Ben's company was founded the year hats peaked in America. Every year since has been a headwind. His father told him the business is what it is and would never be different. But Ben spent his career proving otherwise, interrupting the mundane, as he puts it, until one of those interruptions, a rooster hat with four small letters stitched beneath it, split the company's history in two.Ben and Darren explore what putting on a hat actually does to a person, the freedom and the price of leading without a playbook, and why Ben believes the moment for creators like him has finally arrived. Find out more about the Trium Group at triumgroup.comOne of One is produced by Darren Gold, Emily Shaw, and Karen Welsh. Engineering by Aja Simpson.

Over 13 years, Jack Conte has built Patreon into a platform that has paid out more than $10 billion to creators. When Jack was 10 years old, the cool kids wore Nike and Adidas. Jack didn't. He wore Court Classics from Costco. Not because they were better, because the brand worship simply didn't make sense to him. That same voice, the one that says this isn't right, has run through his entire life. Today, it fuels his fight to build a platform that truly serves creators in an industry he says plainly is bad for humans. In this conversation, Darren and Jack explore the public stance Jack is taking against industry orthodoxy, the business he has built to reflect them, the inner work that has shaped how he leads, and the choices and trade offs he has made over 13 years.Jack’s New York Times Opinion piece: “I’m Building an Algorithm That Doesn’t Rot Your Brain” text and videoRecommended Reading:The Courage to be Disliked by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro KishimiWhen I Say No, I Feel Guilty by Manuel J. SmithThe Power of a Positive No by William UryKegan’s Theory of Adult Development by Natali MoradFind out more about the Trium Group at triumgroup.comOne of One is produced by Darren Gold, Emily Shaw, and Karen Welsh. Engineering by Aja Simpson.

Doug Conant stepped into the CEO role at the Campbell Soup Company in 2001, inheriting a toxic culture and a workforce that had lost faith in its leadership. Over the next decade, he engineered one of the most remarkable turnarounds in modern business history. But what makes Doug's story so compelling is not just what he accomplished, but the inner journey that made it possible. A lifelong introvert who, after being fired at age 32, learned the importance of living his authentic life story, and in so doing, built a philosophy grounded in deep listening, relentless self reflection, and an unshakable belief that to win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace. In this conversation, Darren and Doug explore the crucible moment that forged everything, what it really means to be tough minded on standards and tender-hearted with people, and what 50 years in the arena has taught Doug about the inner work that great leadership demands.Find out more about the Trium Group at triumgroup.comOne of One is produced by Darren Gold, Emily Shaw, and Karen Welsh. Engineering by Aja Simpson.

Mark Pincus is one of the most distinctive founders and product builders of the past three decades. He has written a remarkable new book called Life at the Speed of Play: Launch Products People Love! Most people assume that the willingness to stand for what you know to be true, even when the world is calling you crazy, is a quality common to all founders. In Darren’s experience, it isn't. It is rare. And Mark possesses it in a form he’s encountered in very few leaders. Mark is also a man doing the harder, quieter, inner work, asking what his soul actually needs, sitting in what he calls “the abyss,” examining the relationship between the conviction that built his companies and the integrity he is now bringing to the rest of his life. They talk about where that conviction came from, the moral contract Mark made with the people who built Zynga, and what it means at sixty to keep showing up in pursuit of something your soul still needs you to build.Find out more about the Trium Group at triumgroup.comOne of One is produced by Darren Gold, Emily Shaw, and Karen Welsh. Engineering by Aja Simpson.