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Robert Lyons and the arithmetic of patience
After 14 years as GATX’s CFO, Robert Lyons moved closer to the railcars. Now, a roughly 101,000-car acquisition is testing the value of everything he learned along the way.
Jesse Gary and the price of turning the power on
Jesse Gary went from corporate lawyer to running Century Aluminum. His next test is helping turn an Oklahoma smelter proposal into metal, jobs and a power supply that makes the numbers work.
Heath Sorenson and the business of keeping promises
From Midland’s trust business to Associated Trust Company, Heath Sorenson has worked where family expectations meet financial operations. His next chapter is taking shape across the Midwest, one team at a time.
Steve Cunningham and the art of knowing when to brake
Before he became Enova’s CEO, Steve Cunningham examined banks, managed risk and kept the funding flowing. His first year at the helm has tested how those experiences translate when a bank deal falls away and the lending business keeps growing.
William Boeglin and the work nobody applauds
A reporting macro, a seventh employee, and a $48.5 million round. William Boeglin’s path through TimeDoc Health is a story about getting the practical things to work - and knowing when to change chairs.
Pete Kadens and the second seat in the classroom
After building businesses in solar energy and cannabis, Pete Kadens began funding college for students and their parents. His two-generation promise has a simple ambition: give opportunity another person to travel with.
Christopher Skinner and the price of a promise
Before TopBloc’s $340 million sale, Christopher Skinner learned the machinery of Workday. Then he helped build a company around a precise offer: a deadline, a fixed fee and fewer repeated tasks.
Maria Christopoulos Katris and the Art of Being Found
Before a candidate applies, someone has to make an introduction. From a nanny-placement agency to Built In’s global platform, Maria Christopoulos Katris has built businesses around what people need to know about one another.
Felipe Capella and the price of a promise
He left a legal career, slept on a friend’s couch, and helped put a price on moving a truckload with a click. Building Loadsmart taught Felipe Capella how much work comes after the quote.
Anil Kumar and the problem of remembering what worked
From Fieldglass and Quinnox to QyrusAI, Anil Kumar has built businesses around the work that keeps large companies moving. His latest venture asks what happens when software modernization, testing and operations finally share a memory.
Kushal Nahata and the letter that never arrived
An exam card went to the wrong address. Years later, the FarEye co-founder is still working on the same question: what happens between a promise and a doorstep?
Gary E. Holdren and the business of starting over
When Arthur Andersen unraveled, Gary E. Holdren helped turn a group of displaced consultants into Huron. The company grew quickly; its accounting crisis and his later investment career make the story more complicated than a founding legend.
Brian Mandelbaum wants to see the receipt
From video ads to the weekly shop, Brian Mandelbaum has spent his career asking what advertising actually accomplishes. At Attain, the answer starts with what people buy - and who benefits from the data they leave behind.
Aji Abraham's case for keeping the day job
A decade at Motorola helped Aji Abraham learn how to build. With Armia and CodeVentures, he has made a business of helping other founders begin before they have a technical team of their own.
David Schreiber and the People Behind the Numbers
He co-founded Compass Health Center with a team of 11. As the organization spreads across states, David A. Schreiber’s story keeps returning to partnership, parenthood, and the people behind the numbers.
Catherine Kleinmuntz and the business of what happens next
She started Strata Decision Technology in a Champaign basement and led it for 15 years. Her next chapter asks how other people’s ideas make it out into the world.
Tony Svanascini and the business of changing your business
A fax-machine repair call is an unlikely starting point for a digital agency story. For Tony Svanascini, it helps explain three decades of following customers into whatever comes next.
Don Kleinmuntz and the problem of putting good ideas to work
From a Champaign basement to the business analytics classroom, Don N. Kleinmuntz has kept returning to one question: how do you turn a sound analysis into a decision someone can use?
Tony Olson and the secret life of a shopping basket
He spent more than two decades helping brands understand what people buy. Now the former SPINS CEO is backing businesses built around what customers remember.
Jared Golden’s bet on the shop next door
Before Leap, Jared Golden helped community groups find sponsors. Then he and longtime business partner Amish Tolia took on a different matchmaking problem: getting brands from a website to a working store.
Dhruv Saxena and the business at the back of the queue
A photo-mailing side project kept sending Dhruv Saxena to the post office. The people waiting beside him helped reveal the business that became ShipBob.
Wendell Jisa and the lesson in the rearview mirror
His first job involved delivering legal copies. His father’s gift was a warning to watch who was catching up. After building Reveal through years of acquisitions, Wendell Jisa is choosing a different seat.
Edward V. Szofer and the value of saying no
From Chicago’s West Side to teams across the U.S. and India, SenecaGlobal’s co-founder has built a career around a practical conviction: good software starts with people who can listen, question and take responsibility.
Matt Maloney and the trouble with getting dinner
An apartment-search programmer helped put takeout online. Two decades after co-founding Grubhub, Matt Maloney is back with familiar colleagues, applying lessons from dinner delivery to drivers waiting for roadside help.
Frank Gaspari and the business of starting over
He sold two Chicago businesses, moved to Arizona, and built FlexPrint around the work that happens after a printer is sold. At FlexTG, Frank Gaspari has kept returning to the same question: what needs to change next?
Andy Rubenstein and the business of being nearby
A liquor retailer saw an opening in Illinois gaming. Seventeen years after founding Accel Entertainment, Andy Rubenstein has handed over the CEO job - with a national business built around the neighborhood.
John Holmes and the two-year job that kept going
He arrived at AAR to work on acquisitions and expected to stay two years. A quarter-century later, John Holmes is reshaping the aviation services company around parts, repairs, and software - with a few DJ sets along the way.
Jesse Singh and the second life of ordinary things
At AZEK, Jesse Singh pushed to turn more discarded plastic into decking. Now the Fortune Brands Innovations CEO is bringing a career spent between factories and familiar brands to the doors, taps and locks of everyday life.
Timothy Fitzgerald and the art of a smaller kitchen
He helped assemble Middleby through decades of acquisitions. Now Timothy Fitzgerald is reshaping the company he helped build, with a familiar conviction: the people and the kitchen have to work together.
Dan Zortman and the business of staying close
After 24 years at Roche, Dan Zortman took the top job at Sysmex America. His next chapter connects expansion across the Americas with a closer look at the people who make a company work.