Pattern Matching, Playbooks, and Winning Product Categories

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[00:02:04] – (First question) – Why companies need a near-death experience

[00:06:37] – The way his leadership changed between 1999 and 2003

[00:11:34] – His career before and leading to his time joining Cisco

[00:17:51] – What Cisco was like when he joined 

[00:21:02] – Role that pattern recognition plays in his management

[00:24:16] – Lessons learned from the spate of acquisitions they took on under his tenure

[00:30:46] – Pricing deals and using Cisco’s scale to be successful

[00:33:09] – Lessons he learned in terms of distribution

[00:35:10] – What he learned from his relationship with Shimon Peres

[00:42:08] – His role in helping young entrepreneurs

[00:46:00] – Transformation on his team-building trips to Alaska

[00:50:42] – Transitions in the world he is focused on right now

[00:52:54] – Kindest thing anyone has done for John