Fortune

Khozema Shipchandler, CEO of the software company Twilio, moved from CFO to COO to president to chief executive in less than six years. Shipchandler joined Twilio as CFO in 2018, after a more than 20-year career at GE including serving in several CFO roles in GE Aviation. Shipchandler’s major takeaway for CFOs wanting to become CEOs: Get operational experience. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ejMkNp8z

Don’t let their bombshell Shark Tank appearance from 2014 fool you. Randy Goldberg and David Heath weren’t an overnight success. https://lnkd.in/eV8vM_4H The duo are the co-founders of Bombas, the brand best known for donating one pair of socks (or underwear, or slippers, or T-shirt) for each pair purchased. It’s the all-time best-selling product to appear before the panel of Sharks, and received an investment from Daymond John, the Shark with the strongest track record of apparel success. The pair says they prepared for Shark Tank by rehearsing 200 questions they imagined the sharks would ask. In an interview with Fortune, Goldberg and Heath detailed their winding road to the top—which began with layoffs and dead-end jobs, and ended with the conviction to address a universally pressing need. (Their idea to start the company came from learning that socks are the most requested clothing item in homeless shelters.) Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eV8vM_4H

One of Japan's largest employers is switching to a four-day workweek to combat low birthrates and labor fears. The Tokyo Metropolitan government will begin to allow staffers to work four days a week beginning in April of next year. That’s particularly significant in light of the fact that it’s one of the country’s biggest employers. The agency is also beefing up its childcare leave benefits, allowing some people to work fewer hours a day in order to better balance their household responsibilities. “We will continue to review work styles flexibly to ensure that women do not have to sacrifice their careers due to life events such as childbirth or child-rearing,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said in a speech last week, the Japan Times reported. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e8Y4ZsnK

It’s an interesting moment in generative AI. There is cautious optimism about the potential of generative AI, but a sense of realism reigns: The companies that have gone all-in on generative AI now need to see results, and they are becoming more skeptical of hyped-up promises and predictions. Here are some of the key themes and issues that were covered at Fortune #BrainstormAI: https://lnkd.in/eg4pm--r

With New Year’s around the corner, plenty of people are looking to change up their diets. Whether the goal is to lose weight or just eat healthier, many will likely turn to two popular tips circulating social media: eat more protein and fewer carbs. Those ubiquitous tips define two of the trendiest diets: keto and paleo. Their popularity stems from the weight loss success that people often see when they first go on the diets, which experts say is because of their restrictive nature. When you restrict your caloric intake in any way—in this case, specifically by limiting carbs—you are likely to see weight loss, says Federica Amati, head nutritionist at the U.K.-based health science company, Zoe, known for its at-home blood sugar and gut health test kit. But is one better than the other? Here’s how keto and paleo compare, and what experts think is best for overall health. Read more from Fortune Well: https://lnkd.in/em7e54jh

Following hot on the heels of Amazon’s seismic RTO, telecoms giant AT&T has ended working from home for good and is now demanding its staff return to the office five days a week beginning in January. But will the company actually be able to house the sudden influx of staff? At Amazon, the tech conglomerate swiftly realized that it doesn’t have the space to follow through with its return-to-office order—and it isn’t the first firm to face a desk shortage. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eXR8ky2w

It turns out that long inescapable office leases—rather than work output—might be the most powerful force in the return to office (RTO) push so many companies have been making or threatening to make. One-third of companies surveyed in a recent report from Resume. org said that their company’s lease agreements are the anchoring force behind their return-to-office policies. More than half of the leaders who lease an office told the online resume-writing company that the lease itself underpins the mandates Read more: https://lnkd.in/eTfbCPxx

In a world where climbing the corporate ladder often follows a predictable script, Peter Jelkeby stands out as a true exception. His road to management took a radical detour from the well-trodden paths of graduate programs and senior executive mentorship. It all started when he stepped on the bustling shop floor of IKEA at the age of 19. “I was the guy handing out the trolley and picking things from shelving or storage for customers,” he recalls to Fortune. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eVJiztJ6

With seven Super Bowl rings to his name, NFL legend Tom Brady is universally regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Brady credits his drive to an intrinsic motivation. “You wake up and do something you love, and you don’t want to look at the person in the mirror and fail them,” he told Fortune. Here's his advice to unlock greatness, even if you’re not a natural star: https://lnkd.in/eeFHJHyK

For some, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. For some holiday revelers, that is. But for others, no matter what traditions they plan to observe this winter, the season is more of a stress fest. The majority of Americans (56%) say adequate alone time is a critical component of their mental health—yet nearly half (46%) don’t get it during the winter holidays. That’s according to a new survey fromThe Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eJjj6Mgp