Mike KoenigsAi Accelerator and Superpower Accelerator

Business Growth Secrets - Restore Relevance and Energy

Name: Business Growth Secrets - Restore Relevance and Energy
Uploaded: 2026-03-23T21:00:54+00:00
Duration: 1 min 32 s
Channel: Mike Koenigs
Description: In this interview segment, Mike Koenigs and a co‑speaker explore why brands and founders fear losing relevance and how that loss erodes momentum. They…

23 Mar 2026 · 2 min

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1:32

In this interview segment, Mike Koenigs and a co‑speaker explore why brands and founders fear losing relevance and how that loss erodes momentum. They illustrate the concept with the "barista handshake"—the subtle thumbs‑up from a barista that signals a personalized, high‑quality coffee experience—and ask what question could be posed to Howard Schultz to help restore that original energy. The co‑speaker proposes a Dan Sullivan‑style reflective question: ask Schultz to identify a ten‑year period when he loved how the company was growing and to pinpoint three aspects he liked most. This question is intended to refocus the founder on past successes, reignite passion, and guide a strategic reset to regain relevance.

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Let's say you, you had an opportunity to talk to Howard Schultz and he came to you and you could ask him a question that would help him restore the barista handshake experience. Because when you were chatting earlier, you're talking about you'd get the thumbs up from the barista, which meant they know what your coffee is and they'd have it there. And you got, you know, the extra creamy foam. And you increased the quality of the experience could restore that. Is there any restoring a brand that loses its relevance? If your business isn't maintaining relevance, it loses momentum. And that is the fear I think every founder has. If you have a strong personal brand, the moment you start losing relevance, it's like, uh-oh, that's a fear. And when you see a brand losing your relevance and it's like, you just know it, it's like the herd starts to abandon its leader. Something gets lost. Lost. And so, what's a super powerful Dan Sullivan question that could restore relevance or restore the original energy that existed before?
Yeah. I think the question I would ask him, Howard, when you started it at— if you had to pick a 10-year period when you loved how your company was growing, what was that 10-year period? And what were the 3 things you liked most about that? Period. So I'd get him fixated again. My favorite thing is going back to people's past.