Arete Coach 1141 Philippe Bouissou "From Startups to Apple: A Journey of Innovation and Customer Delight" artwork
Arete Coach: The Art & Science of Executive Coaching

Arete Coach 1141 Philippe Bouissou "From Startups to Apple: A Journey of Innovation and Customer Delight"

  • S1E1141
  • 1:08:15
  • August 28th 2023

This is Arete Coach Podcast Episode 1141, with host Severin Sorensen bringing you an exciting episode with Dr. Philippe Bouissou. Philippe, is a man whose multifaceted journey through Silicon Valley is filled with invaluable insights. From being a best-selling author, TEDx speaker, and growth expert to an entrepreneur, CEO, venture capitalist, and board member, Philippe has donned many hats. His book "Aligning the Dots" presents a revolutionary approach to optimizing resource allocation for sustainable, profitable growth. As a managing partner and co-founder of Blue Dots Partners LLC, he focuses on accelerating top-line growth.

In his years as a venture capitalist, Philippe evaluated over 2300 startups and witnessed firsthand the common pitfalls that led to their demise. A key realization he shares is the critical importance of focus and self-awareness for a startup's survival and success. This episode dives deep into Philippe's entrepreneurial journey, the eye-opening lessons he gleaned from Steve Jobs at Apple, and the profound understanding that, ultimately, every business is in the business of 'manufacturing and delivering delight' to its customers.

We'll also discuss the lessons learned from failures, the humbling experience of studying physics, the crucial role of alignment within teams, the significance of having CEO experience before serving as a board member, and much more.

Philippe's career began as the founder and CEO of G2I Incorporated, a UNIX software company later acquired by Matra. He then joined Apple as the director of the Worldwide Internet Commerce Group, where he founded and managed the online Apple Store, catapulting its revenue from zero to 350 million. Post-Apple, Philippe transitioned into venture capitalism and co-managed the Milestone Group, a management consulting firm serving over 220 clients. Throughout his career, he has led 120 management consulting projects with giants like Cisco, Microsoft, SAP, and VeriSign, and served on the board of directors of 20 companies, including the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG).

Armed with degrees from Ecole Normale Supérieure in mathematics, a master's in physics, and a Ph.D. in nonlinear physics and chaos theory, Philippe brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table.

Join us for a stimulating 60-minute cognitive stroll with two new friends, as we traverse through a multitude of topics, each more enlightening than the last.

The Arete Coach Podcast aims to uncover the art and science of executive coaching. Learn more about the podcast at aretecoach.io.

This Podcast interview was recorded on June 22, 2023.

Copyright © 2023 by Arete Coach™ LLC. All rights reserved.

Arete Coach: Exploring the Art and Science of Executive Coaching

“Arete Coach Podcast" Explores the "Art and Science" of Executive Coaching hosted by Severin Sorensen. The “Arete Coach Podcast" is for executive coaches and anyone considering becoming an executive coach. The podcast is especially valuable to executive coaches who are lifetime learners with deep curiosity about the "art and science" of coaching. In this podcast, the ‘art of coaching’ is explored through engaging interviews with leading executive coaches from diverse backgrounds sharing their individual coaching journeys, learnings, methods, best questions, and situational approaches to executive coaching. Beyond best practices, the podcast will regularly mine research on the ‘science of coaching’ and explores ongoing scientific discoveries and studies looking for what works and why, with an aim to improve the core body of knowledge for executive coaches and the industry. Severin Sorensen has provided over 7,500 hours of paid executive coaching sessions and he holds the following coaching certifications: ICF/ACSTH Certified Executive Coach (CEC), Certified Organizational Development Coach (CODC), Certified Life Coach (CLC); and the IAC: Coach Masteries Practioner. Severin Sorensen has an M.Phil in Economics at King's College, Cambridge University, and undergraduate degrees in Economics and Political Science from the University of Utah.

The Arete Coach Podcast is the copyright of Arete Coach LLC.

Severin Sorensen avatar
Severin Sorensen
Host, Arete Coach Podcast

Severin Sorensen is host of the Arete Coach Podcast, where he interviews executive coaches and researchers with the aims to celebrate and explore the art and science of executive coaching today.

Severin is a senior executive coach, serial entrepreneur and lifetime learner with a passionate curiosity about people and businesses. Severin is the CEO of ePraxis LLC, a premier level retained search firm that provides executive headhunting, talent selection, and executive coaching. (www.epraxis.com)

Severin is a certified coach with an IAC Masteries Practitioner designation and 800+ hours of ICF/ACSTH and other advanced training in Executive Coaching, Organizational Development, EOS, Life Coaching, Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and Positive Intelligence (PQ). Severin has over 7,500+ hours of paid executive coaching working with high performing executives, owners, and operators of public and private companies throughout North America.Severin's coaching clients include boards of directors, CEOs, Presidents, GMs, COO, CFO, CTO, VP Engineering, VP Talent, and many other positions.

Severin lives in Park City , Utah and his virtual coach practice includes clients throughout the Americas.

From 2010-2018 Severin was a Vistage Chair where he coached three CEO and Key executive groups. In 2011, Severin received the "Rookie of the Year Chair Award" from Vistage. Since 2013, Severin has added international speaking for Vistage, CEO conferences, executive peer groups, and corporations on the topic of identifying and hiring difference making top talent.

In terms of the types of clients coached, Severin has coached new CEOs (with less than 2 years experience), large company executives (e.g., Managing Director of Rio Tinto), numerous high-growth entrepreneurs operating INC 5000 businesses, multi-generational family owned businesses, and primary-equity business owners who are still actively managing their companies. Severin has experience coaching both private and public company executives and their executive teams.

Severin's own coaching practice is tool based, using diagnostics, surveys, and Socratic questioning to get to root issues. You can learn more about Severin at epraxis.com (insights), LinkedIn, Quora, and Twitter. If you think you might be a good fit for executive coaching with Severin, he is happy to give you a free test drive coaching session to see if this would be good for you and your team. You can book a free test-drive 30 min coaching huddle at: calendly.com/epraxis.