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Episode Summary
You sold the company you built. The check cleared. Now you’re watching the new owners run it differently than you would, and you don’t know whether to feel proud, betrayed, or just done. Gary Kusin has been on every side of this. He co-founded GameStop (back when “software” still sounded like women’s intimate apparel), built Laura Mercier cosmetics, then walked into Kinko’s bleeding $11M of EBITDA and walked out three years later with $240M of EBITDA and a $2.4B sale to FedEx. We got into the part most operators never resolve: the moment you sell, you don’t own it anymore, and your ego is not what makes the company better. We dug into how Gary turned around Kinko’s by listening at 2am town halls in 42 districts before changing a single thing, why he fired five international country managers in one meeting, how he gave his senior team the deal of their lives (“my job is to make you a CEO”), and the Milestone 13 — Strategic Plan moment where he told 150 leaders: align in 30 days or I will personally help you find your next job. Real numbers, real stakes, and a different way to think about what you’re actually building.
Top 10 Takeaways
- The moment you sell, you don’t own it anymore. Pay your nickel, do your dance. Your ego doesn’t make the company better.
- Your customers carry your DNA forward whether you’re there or not. The GameStop fans who took on Wall Street were proof.
- Command-and-control and entrepreneurial cultures are different organisms. Drop the wrong heart in and the body rejects it.
- Before you change anything, go look. Run town halls on every shift in every district. The front line already knows what’s wrong.
- Accountability without authority is failure. Spell out what you need, then hand over the hiring, firing, and capex to deliver it.
- Build a one-page dashboard with the metrics that actually matter. Manage to it monthly. Everything else is pablum.
- Nobody should ever be fired and surprised. Miss the plan once, we talk. Miss it twice, we both already know what’s next.
- Hire only people who say they want your job. Then make it your job to get them there.
- Toxic culture is a math problem. The store with the closed blinds and the screamer manager is the store losing money.
- Build the principles you wish your old bosses had. Honesty, integrity, and respect aren’t soft. They’re the operating floor.
Sound Bites
“If you buy my company and you pay me what I decide is a fair price, you got, you paid your nickel, and you’re gonna get your dance. It is your company. It is not my company.” (@TBD) — Gary Kusin
“You brought in an incredibly good command and control CEO, but you brought him into the People’s Republic of Kinko. That doesn’t work, guys.” (@TBD) — Gary Kusin
“Anyone who is not fully aligned with this plan, give me a buzz. I am gonna be a one-man whirling dervish to help you find another job. On the 31st day, I will find you and I will weed you out personally.” (@TBD) — Gary Kusin
“I will never in any company I’m involved in allow accountability without responsibility, because that’s failure.” (@TBD) — Gary Kusin
“You don’t have to remember what you told someone if you told them the truth.” (@TBD) — Gary Kusin
About This Episode
Gary Kusin is the co-founder of GameStop (originally Babbage’s), the founder of Laura Mercier Cosmetics, the former CEO of Kinko’s, and a longtime senior advisor in private equity. He’s mentored hundreds of executives and is the author of Always Learning: Lessons on Leveling Up from GameStop to Laura Mercier and Beyond (April 30 release). His career spans the full arc most middle-market owners are trying to understand: founding, scaling, professionalizing, selling, and integrating into a strategic acquirer. Mentored early by Ross Perot, with quarterly business reviews under Jack Welch and an eventual sale to Fred Smith at FedEx, Gary has seen how the people at the top either make the company or break it.
Resources Mentioned
- Always Learning: Lessons on Leveling Up from GameStop to Laura Mercier and Beyond — Gary’s book, released April 30. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books in hardcover, softcover, ebook, and audio.
- GameStop (originally Babbage’s) — The first software-only specialty retailer, founded May 1983.
- Laura Mercier Cosmetics — Global makeup brand Gary co-founded after GameStop.
- Kinko’s — Where Gary turned ($11M) EBITDA into $240M EBITDA in three years before the $2.4B sale to FedEx.
- Ross Perot — Founding investor in Babbage’s; Gary’s first mentor.
- Jack Welch — Quarterly business reviews with Gary for three years at Kinko’s.
- Fred Smith — FedEx founder who acquired Kinko’s.
Connections
Phase + Module:
- Module 1 — Ownership Goals — The “you don’t own it after you sell it” mindset and what role you actually want to play
- Module 5 — Predictable Revenue — Strategic plan as the flag on the distant hill the team agrees to take
Milestones:
- Milestone 1 — Time & Role Goals — Gary’s pattern of building, handing off, and starting again
- Milestone 13 — Strategic Plan — The Kinko’s turnaround as a worked example of alignment-first planning
- Milestone 17 — Operational KPIs — One-page dashboard with target, above standard, below average, and unacceptable bands
- Milestone 20 — Leadership Roadmap — Hire only people who want your job, then build the path
Concepts referenced:
- The Owner-Operator Trap™ — Identity tied to the company, and what changes the day you sell
- Quarterly Boardroom Rhythm™ — Monthly operating reviews driven by the dashboard, not the inbox
- Budget vs. Actual (Variance Analysis) — Welch’s rule: miss once we talk, miss twice we both already know
- Visionary-Integrator Framework — Founder-DNA cultures versus command-and-control structures