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Business Design School

Sam Aquillano

A twice-monthly newsletter for the creative-business-curious. I call it a school because we’ll learn to master the art of business design together. We’ll explore creative entrepreneurship and leadership, how to design things like culture and operations, and consider ways to accelerate business success and impact by design.Sam Aquillano is a business designer and writer. In 2009 he founded Design Museum Everywhere, an online, nomadic museum with the mission to bring the transformative power of design everywhere. His new book, Adventures in Disruption: How to Start, Survive, and Succeed as a Creative Entrepreneur, chronicles his team’s startup journey and is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books and more. samaquillano.com

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Business Design School 011— Opportunity Farming

Opportunity Farming Identifying & Framing Possibilities Welcome back to Business Design School, a twice-monthly newsletter for the creative-business-curious. I call it a school because we’ll learn to master the art of business design, together. First up: I’m so excited to announce that PRINT Magazine has picked up Business Design School as a regular column! PRINT honored me as one of their “Twelve Creative Voices to Follow in 2024,” and now you’ll be able to catch all my issues on...

2 months ago • 23 min read

Interview with a Venture Builder A Conversation with High Alpha Innovation’s Ryan Larcom Watch the full video on our new YouTube channel. Welcome back to Business Design School, a twice-monthly newsletter for the creative-business-curious. I call it a school because we’ll learn to master the art of business design, together. First up: As the year comes to a close I wanted to say thank you to you all for being part of this community of learning focused on business design. I love writing these...

4 months ago • 19 min read

If You Can Design a Building, You Can Design a Business Toward a Business Design Framework Business Design Framework Welcome back to Business Design School, a twice-monthly newsletter for the creative-business-curious. I call it a school because we’ll learn to master the art of business design, together. In this issue: What is business design? I hear this question from time to time — I thought I’d take a crack at an answer. But first: It’s official! My book, Adventures in Disruption,is now...

5 months ago • 13 min read

Financial Strategy for the Creative Industry An Interview with Aardvark’s Jamie Odegaard Aardvark Founder/CEO Jamie Odegaard Welcome back to Business Design School, a twice-monthly newsletter for the creative-business-curious. I call it a school because we’ll learn to master the art of business design, together. Reader Response: In the last issue we talked about decentralized decision-making and new ways to organize teams of people to put the people closest to the work in charge of how it...

6 months ago • 13 min read

Decentralized Decision-Making Responsibilization in Practice Credit: VectorMine Welcome back to Business Design School, a twice-monthly newsletter for the creative-business-curious. I call it a school because we’ll learn to master the art of business design, together. In this issue: Responsibilization, the concept of breaking the traditional hierarchy and putting decision-making authority and accountability in the hands of people closest to the work. But first: Business Design School is made...

6 months ago • 12 min read

Question Storming Curiosity is the Beginning of Everything Credit: Pixel Shot Welcome back to Business Design School, a twice-monthly newsletter for the creative-business-curious. I call it a school because we’ll learn to master the art of business design, together. Reader Response: New top section! I love hearing from you, learning what resonates, and how your replies build on what I’m sharing in this newsletter. Our last issue was about Shared Capitalism and how companies are rethinking...

6 months ago • 9 min read
9 pie charts

Shared Capitalism Employee and Customer Ownership Credit: Elena Garder Welcome back to Business Design School, a twice-monthly newsletter for the creative-business-curious. I call it a school because we’ll learn to master the art of business design, together. In this issue: What if you shared company ownership with your employees? Or even your customers? But first: Business Design School is made possible by generous sponsors like our friends at Aardvark. Aardvark is a financial strategy...

7 months ago • 11 min read
Illustration of human head with warm colored triangle pattern, superimposed on head is a fingerprint.

Self-Disruption Design Yourself Out of Business, Before Someone Else Does Credit: Paul Craft Welcome back to Business Design School, a twice-monthly newsletter for the creative-business-curious. I call it a school because we’ll learn to master the art of business design, together. In this issue: Designing yourself out of business by self-disrupting. But first: Hi! This is issue four of Business Design School, and I wanted to do a pulse check. I brought this community together from some of the...

7 months ago • 10 min read
Illustration of human head with warm colored triangle pattern, superimposed on head is a fingerprint.

The Core Business Loop Design the Heartbeat of your Business Welcome back to Business Design School, a twice-monthly newsletter for the creative-business-curious. I call it a school because we’ll learn to master the art of business design together. We’ll explore creative entrepreneurship and leadership, how to design things like culture and operations, and consider ways to accelerate business success and impact by design. In this issue: Designing your core business loop by thinking like a...

8 months ago • 11 min read
Illustration of human head with warm colored triangle pattern, superimposed on head is a fingerprint.

The Excellence Reflex Designing Leadership with Mantras The Om Symbol Welcome back to Business Design School, a twice-monthly newsletter for the creative-business-curious. I call it a school because we’ll learn to master the art of business design together. We’ll explore creative entrepreneurship and leadership, how to design things like culture and operations, and consider ways to accelerate business success and impact by design. In this issue: Designing your leadership by defining your...

8 months ago • 8 min read
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