sari

US child care is a $57 billion market (60% in-home, 40% in-center). An additional $22 billion is spent via government subsidies, and the amount of time spent and forgone wages by parents and family members providing unpaid care is orders of magnitude larger than the actual dollars spent.

What’s really worried me over the years is not our stock price, but that we might someday fail to take care of our customers, or that our managers might fail to motivate and take care of our associates. I also was worried that we might lose the team concept, or fail to keep the family concept viable and realistic and meaningful to our folks as we g... See more

Snapchat was not a text messaging app. Snapchat was not a social network. Snapchat was something new. Words escaped it because it was novel—beyond our vocabulary at the time. Old, referential language failed to explain Snapchat.

As one brand leaves its curiosity gap open for a particular consumer, another comparable brand is able to swoop in and fill the gap quickly thus acquiring the customer away from their competition. Over long periods this dissonance and operational thrash fracture both the customers’ contract and affinity with the brand.