Business Built Right

Shah M M, Industrial Designer, Business Strategy Consultant. mmshah8@gmail..com

Welcome to Business Built Right, where strategy meets execution and leadership drives results. Join us as we dive deep into the foundations that separate thriving companies from those that merely survive. In each episode, we explore the critical pillars of successful business: crafting winning strategies that actually work, building brands that resonate and endure, fostering organizational cultures that attract top talent, and developing leadership skills that inspire teams to achieve extraordinary results. Ready to build something that lasts? Let's get started.

  1. May 22

    The Tragedy of Analytical Correctness

    Matt Maloney saw DoorDash coming. He predicted the losses, questioned the subsidies, and called the unit economics broken — years before the market proved him right. So why did Grubhub finish last? In this episode, we unpack one of the most underappreciated traps in business strategy: the difference between being analytically correct and being competitively correct. Being right about the market and winning the market are not the same thing — and the gap between them has killed more companies than bad strategy ever did. If you run a business, lead a team, or make decisions under competitive pressure, this one is worth your full attention.

    21 min

  2. May 17

    The Ear Behind the Lens

    For four hundred years, some of the greatest minds in human history could not figure out how to keep spectacles on a face. They tried hats, ribbons, wigs, handles, and nose bridges. The answer was sitting on the side of their head the entire time — free, available, perfectly shaped, completely ignored. In this episode, we trace why they missed it, what it reveals about how every business gets trapped staring at its product instead of watching its people, and what Andy Grove, IDEO, Kodak, and a pencil tucked behind an ear all have in common. The ear was always there. The question is whether your business is looking at it.

    23 min

  3. May 17

    The Candle Strategy for Businesses

    The candle should have died in 1879 when Edison lit the world. It didn't — and the reason why is one of the most overlooked strategy lessons in business history. In this episode, we trace how a simple stick of wax outlasted gas lamps, kerosene, and electricity by doing something most disrupted businesses never think to do: it stopped competing and started meaning something. From birthday cakes to Diwali to a ₹8,000 luxury candle that sells out every season — this is what product immortality actually looks like.

    17 min

  4. May 16

    The Destination Dilemma: Deconstructing the Jim Collins' Bus Metaphor

    Jim Collins' "First Who, Then What" is the most repeated principle in leadership — and one of the most misused. In this episode, we dissect why putting people before strategy sounds wise but gives executives a peer-reviewed excuse to avoid making hard directional calls. From Apple's 1997 turnaround to SpaceX's founding logic, the evidence keeps pointing the same way: great companies were built vision-first, talent second. We make the case for a better framework — and explain why Collins himself quietly violated his own rule.

    22 min

  5. May 5

    Why the Most “Transparent” Companies Have the Most Secrets

    Radical candour is one of the most celebrated ideas in modern leadership. But does it actually exist — or is it a story organisations tell themselves while the hardest truths stay unspoken? This episode examines Pixar, Bridgewater, Apple, and Uber through one uncomfortable question: when the most powerful person in the room is the problem, does your candour culture have a way to say so?

    17 min

  6. Apr 19

    The Rival in the Room: The Price of Competitive Fear

    What if the biggest threat to a great decision isn't bad information — it's a rival sitting across the table? Today we're talking about how competition quietly rewrites the decisions we think we're making rationally.

    22 min

  7. Apr 10

    The Grey Zone: The Hidden Cost of Ethical Leadership

    The Grey Zone — Some of the most damaging business decisions in history were made by leaders who were genuinely trying to do the right thing. This episode unpacks why ethical decisions have invisible victims, what leaders owe the stakeholders who never get a seat in the room, and why doing right is never enough if you don't know who you're doing right by.

    20 min

  8. Jan 16

    How DOMS Won India’s Pencil War?

    How a simple triangular pencil from a small Gujarat town disrupted India's ₹4,000+ crore stationery market and built a ₹15,000+ crore empire. Discover timeless business strategy lessons from DOMS that beat giants like Natraj & Apsara.

    14 min
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About

Welcome to Business Built Right, where strategy meets execution and leadership drives results. Join us as we dive deep into the foundations that separate thriving companies from those that merely survive. In each episode, we explore the critical pillars of successful business: crafting winning strategies that actually work, building brands that resonate and endure, fostering organizational cultures that attract top talent, and developing leadership skills that inspire teams to achieve extraordinary results. Ready to build something that lasts? Let's get started.

Information

  • Creator
    Shah M M, Industrial Designer, Business Strategy Consultant. mmshah8@gmail..com
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    99
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Shah M M, Industrial Designer, Business Strategy Consultant. mmshah8@gmail..com
  • Show Website
    Business Built Right