Create More Value

Greg Milano explains how the status quo in incentive target-setting unintentionally leads to destructive behaviors and decisions. From asymmetric risk exposure to a myopic focus on variances to “sandbagging,” typical corporate goal-setting and planning processes incentivize mediocrity and time-consuming target negotiations. Alternatively, setting ambitious, stretch targets can spur significant new sources of value creation. By emphasizing improvement over prior results, deploying incentives that are truly aligned with TSR, and adopting a structured process for setting challenging, yet achievable, goals, organizations can foster more growth and innovation. When managers are rewarded for thinking outside the box, the result is an ownership culture where leaders are always seeking the next catalyst for growth and outperformance.

Entrepreneur, investor, and innovation strategist Jonathan Aberman joins us to discuss how corporate leaders can turn AI from a short-term efficiency play to a long-term competitive advantage. Rather than viewing AI purely as a cost-cutting tool, Aberman suggests CEOs can assess where human differentiation truly drives pricing power and innovation and how to measure and strengthen it. Organizations can use structured assessments of “Original Intelligence” to understand how their people solve problems, predict who will effectively leverage AI, design better teams, and implement guardrails that prevent the erosion of differentiation. The conversation offers guidance on refining AI strategy using change management, governance, risk control, and talent deployment levers—helping leaders balance automation with true innovation. For executives navigating AI adoption, the episode reframes the challenge from “How do we reduce headcount?” to “How do we grow by leveraging the unique—and human—aspects that differentiate our business?”

Expert in the economics of organizations, Professor Richard Langlois, joins us to explore how and why firms decide between internal production and market transactions. Drawing on Ronald Coase’s foundational theory of transaction costs, Langlois explains that companies “make or buy” based on which option is less costly and more effective, a question that underpins the broader structure of firms, ownership models, and vertical integration. He argues that the dominance of large, vertically integrated corporations in the mid-20th century was less about inherent superiority and more a response to poorly functioning markets during the Great Depression, World War II, and heavy financial regulation. As markets—especially capital markets—improved through deregulation, many conglomerates unwound in what Langlois calls the “vanishing hand,” a shift back toward market coordination and specialization. The conversation also examines why today’s tech giants like Amazon and Apple succeed with integration, attributing it to scale, platform dynamics, modularity, and fine-tuning advantages rather than old-style conglomerate logic. Langlois further discusses innovation, the debate over whether transformative breakthroughs are slowing, and the importance of organizational knowledge and capabilities as the foundation for growth. The episode highlights how firms must strategically balance integration, outsourcing, and core competencies in a constantly evolving market environment.

Karl Pichler, CFO of Sourceability Global Holdings and former CFO of Rackspace, shares insights from more than 25 years as a public company executive, investor, and educator. We discuss Karl’s evolution from corporate finance expert to enterprise leader, covering his role in scaling Rackspace from $80 million in revenue to over $2 billion, through an IPO and eventual sale to Apollo Global Management. This episode features a practical discussion of capital allocation and value measurement best practices—exposing the limitations of EBITDA and ROIC—and discussing how corporate leaders can truly balance growth and return on capital to optimize long-term value creation.

J. Michael Bruff, CFO of Envision Healthcare and a veteran finance and operating executive, joins us to discuss the core attributes of effective CFOs. We discuss internal controls, Michael’s broad functional and operational experience, and the importance of a deep understanding of how financial statements work together to drive lasting value. Michael shares insights from his time at Varian Medical Systems, where the company shifted its capital allocation priorities from buybacks to life-saving R&D, ultimately quadrupling its compounded revenue growth rate and nearly doubling its share price in just three years. The conversation covers how value-based incentive and allocation frameworks lead to agile and disciplined decision-making. This episode offers practical guidance for leaders seeking to improve capital allocation, strategic clarity, and value creation.

Valuation and corporate finance heavyweight, Professor Aswath Damodaran, joins us to discuss what truly drives value creation. Damodaran challenges conventional wisdom around return on invested capital, cost of capital, and incentive metrics, explaining why accounting-based measures often mislead managers and investors. He explores the importance of connecting corporate narratives and numbers, treating R&D and brand-building as real investments, and recognizing bias and overconfidence in forecasts—especially in capital allocation and M&A. While he is openly skeptical of EVA due to its susceptibility to being gamed, this critique highlights the need for more robust and innovative approaches to measuring value creation. The conversation also covers corporate life cycles, why most companies struggle to earn returns above their cost of capital, and Damodaran’s perspective on the AI investment boom.

Fortuna partners Greg Milano and Marwaan Karame explore how an ownership culture fuels long-term shareholder returns in the final instalment of a five-part series on economic-profit-based value management. The discussion centers around an updated take on economic profit that shows a stronger relationship to shareholder returns, known as Residual Cash Earnings (RCE). By focusing on RCE, companies gain better insights into where value is created or destroyed, enabling smarter resource allocation and incentive compensation. The episode explains how this value management approach fosters five key traits of an ownership culture, as illustrated through real world case studies featuring corporate clients. This conversation offers valuable lessons for executives, investors, and business leaders aiming to enhance decision-making and build a true ownership culture within their organizations.

Expert in pricing strategy and value-based management, Patrick Furtaw, joins the podcast. Patrick shares insights from his background in strategy, corporate finance, and organizational change, explaining why pricing is one of the most powerful levers for driving shareholder value. The conversation covers common pitfalls such as overreliance on cost-plus pricing, insufficient executive ownership, and misaligned sales incentives, while highlighting solutions like value-based pricing, price realization metrics, and smarter sales compensation structures. We also explore the rise of subscription and outcome-based models across industries, with examples from tech companies, John Deere, and Caterpillar, as well as lessons from Amazon’s approach to price testing. The discussion reinforces a simple but critical truth: customers don’t buy your costs—they buy your value.

Valuation expert, author, and leader of McKinsey & Company’s strategy and corporate finance practice, Tim Koller, joins the podcast. Greg and Tim explore the critical drivers of long-term value creation, the risks of short-termism, and the essential role of CEOs and CFOs in overriding human and organizational bias to drive optimal corporate strategy. We cover the importance of granular resource allocation, organizational biases like inertia and groupthink, and the process-based discipline and data needed to sustain value creation. The discussion also covers the role of artificial intelligence in business—distinguishing between its potential as a tool for efficiency versus an enabler of competitive advantage. 

Most incentive plans fail to drive true value creation—they reward mediocrity, encourage short-term thinking, and reward sandbagging and gaming of the system. In the fourth instalment of a LinkedIn Live series, Fortuna partners Greg Milano and Marwan Karame share a better incentive compensation design using a modern take on economic profit: Residual Cash Earnings. We cover why traditional bonus plans fall short, the key traits of an ownership culture, and how true value-based incentives align management’s interests with those of long-term investors. We also feature real-world examples and simulations that demonstrate why this approach is so effective at creating an ownership culture at large public companies.