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The Owner's Box @WashU Olin

The Owner's Box @WashU Olin

Hosted by Peter Boumgarden, WashU Olin Business School

Episodes

36

Latest episode

May 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

What does it mean to be a strategic owner? How might it matter if something is owned in the public market or, by a founder or family? What about the time horizon, and what does it mean to say you are invested for the long term? Beyond a single business’ success, do the patterns of ownership of businesses across the country make a difference in the ways these businesses run, whether mom-and-pop shops or multi-national corporations? These hidden patterns of ownership are an invisible current with implications on the products we buy, the companies we work at, and the communities we live in. This podcast, “The Owner’s Box” is about telling that story.

Listen to episodes

36 recent
May 26, 202655 min

Founding Values, Evolving Leaders with Chip Wade, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group

For the final episode of this season's Owners Box, we talk to Chip Wade about how the unique approach to ownership of Union Square Hospitality Group, from its founding to its current capital stack, shapes how they go to market.Special Guest: Chip Wade.

March 31, 202647 min

Follow Your Frustration: Jim McKelvey on Originality and Innovation

Today on The Owner’s Box, we are joined by Jim McKelvey. Jim is probably best known as the co-founder of Square, the payment technology company he built alongside Jack Dorsey that went on to reshape how small businesses accept payments. You may not know that Square is in a very small cadre of companies that Amazon tried to copy and couldn't, which Jim illuminates in his recent book, The Innovation Stack.  On today’s episode, Originality and Impact with Jim McKelvey.Special Guest: Jim McKelvey.

February 19, 20268 min

Tactic's from the Owner's Box: Sustaining a Mission-Driven Media Company

The Washington Post just announced it was laying off 30% of its workforce. 300 newsroom journalists told to put down their pens, entire sections gutted. How did we get here? What does it take to sustain a mission-driven media company? At the Owner's Box, we are interested in how ownership shapes a company's behavior and nowhere is that more interesting than in an industry with a mission to provide a public good.

January 27, 202639 min

S3: E5: Balancing Ambition in a Culinary Portfolio with Nina Compton

Today we have an opportunity to chat with my friend, Chef Nina Compton, the owner of the acclaimed Compère Lapin in New Orleans. Nina's journey from cooking Christmas dinner for her family in St. Lucia to competing on Top Chef and winning the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South is remarkable. But what makes her story particularly interesting from an ownership lens is that she and her husband, Larry, have thoughtfully built a portfolio of projects, all while trying to live a life worth living. On today’s episode, Balancing Ambition in a Culinary Portfolio with Nina Compton. Special Guest: Nina Compton.

December 23, 202543 min

S3: E4: New Growth from Deep Roots with Tad & Ben Edwards

Today’s guests are a father-son duo who have been on a fascinating journey of growing up with the family business, exiting that chapter, and deciding to start a new one. Tad Edwards was part of a multi-generational family business in the financial services industry, A.G. Edwards, that was ultimately acquired by Wachovia and then Wells Fargo. Tad took the pen on the next chapter of the family legacy by starting the firm Benjamin F. Edwards, and is now joined in the business by his son, Ben. On today’s episode, New Growth from Deep Roots with Tad and Ben Edwards of Benjamin F. Edwards. Special Guests: Benjamin (Ben) F. Edwards V and Tad Edwards.

December 11, 20258 min

Tactics from the Owner's Box: The Family Mission Statement

In October, Juliet Chung of the Wall Street Journal wrote a piece titled "Wealthy Families Are Writing Mission Statements to Avoid Fights, Lost Fortunes." If no family – happy or unhappy– is simple, what does it mean for a family to be intentional? Today on the Owner's Box, the power and limitations of a family mission statement, and what lessons are worth mining from multi-generational family business owners.

November 25, 202543 min

S3: E3: 4 Hands & Voltron - Balancing Creativity with Commercialization

On today’s episode, we hear from the two St. Louis entrepreneurs who made this collaboration happen: Kevin Lemp, owner of 4 Hands Brewing Co., and Bob Koplar, who manages the Voltron franchise that his father created. In developing a special Voltron beer, they’ve launched a creative partnership that is both commercially successful and a whole lot of fun. In today’s episode, Voltron Beer and balancing creativity with commercialization.Special Guests: Bob Koplar and Kevin Lemp.

November 6, 20257 min

Tactics from the Owner's Box: Ownership Overhaul at OpenAI

OpenAI's ownership redesign has the potential to shape how the technology on our screens and in our pockets affects our economy and our society. Can they deliver benefit to the public and profit to the few at the same time?

October 24, 202537 min

S3: E2: Business as a Mechanism of Change with Hatch Africa's Dave Ellis.

Straight out of college, today's guest wanted to make an impact on the African continent. For him, the best way to do this was through policy or the work of a nonprofit. But early into that work, it was the pull of business and its potential to drive social value that pulled him in. Today's guest, David Ellis, is the founder and CEO of Hatch Africa, a company seeking to bring a new business model to sub-Saharan Africa to, in their words, bring eggs and chickens to every household.Special Guest: David Ellis.

September 30, 20256 min

Tactics from the Owner's Box: Control Beyond the Grave: Giorgio Armani and Ownership

One week before his passing, Giorgio Armani sat down with the Financial Times to talk about control, something he knew a thing or two about. In this episode, I unpack how Armani designed one of the most fascinating succession plans I’ve ever seen. Balancing legacy, leadership, and the hard question of when control becomes… too much control. Special Guest: Stuart Weitzman.

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