Understand Your Competitive Edge: Interview with Christopher Volk, Founder and Former CEO of STORE Capital

I recently went one on one with Christopher Volk. Chris was instrumental to leading and publicly listing three successful companies, two of which he co-founded. The founder and former CEO of STORE Capital, Chris is the author of The Value Equation: A Business Guide To Creating Wealth For Entrepreneurs, Investors And Leaders.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Christopher: Adam, It’s great to be here.  I got here because of setbacks.  When I graduated from college in 1979 with a degree in History and French Language, I was unable to find a job.  Part of it was the economy.  There was a major recession going on.  Part of it was me.  I had no idea how to sell myself.  Part of it was my work experience. I had some great summer jobs, but they were irrelevant to business.  And part of it was my course of study in which I basically failed to take a single business course.  I literally applied to more than 300 companies, handwriting letters and sending our resumes.  The experience was defining.

I narrowed my search to commercial banking while entering night school to start taking business classes.  I began with accounting. Meanwhile, I found a job selling clothing to pay the bills.  Ultimately, I got a bank to hire me and then set about to work insane hours to be as good as I could be.  I had been rejected hundreds of times and was not going to have that happen to me ever again.  The work ethic, plus a commitment to eventually be in leadership, were essential to get me on my journey.  When speaking with other business leaders, I have found that we tend to have work ethics in common.  I believe most business leaders and founders work that hard in part because they are out to prove something, either to themselves or to others.  I know that was the case with me.       

Adam: What do you hope readers take away from your new book?

Christopher: The Value Equation may be the only book written on the simple financial business model mechanics behind how companies create wealth.  This is so important because roughly two-thirds of millionaires made their fortunes in business.  And the percentage of business millionaires rises the greater the net worth.  So, the book shows you how this is done and I hope will influence entrepreneurs and leaders for years to come.  

Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business? 

Christopher: All businesses require what I term “business investment” to get started.  As I explain in The Value Equation, this is the net amount that needs to be funded with borrowings, lease proceeds, equity and any other money seeking a return.  Once the initial business investment is made, some companies can grow with minimal business investment increases.  This is called operating leverage.  A software developer might be a good example of this.  Others will require near-proportional increases to business investment to grow sales.  Think of a restaurant company or fitness club operator.  To grow sales, their best path is to expand their locations.  Many companies have economies of scale, which means that their profitability rises as sales growth kicks in.  Basically, their fixed costs are covered and their incremental variable costs are small.  A great example here is the asset management industry, which boasts about a quarter of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans. On the other hand, consulting firms or advertising agencies have comparatively little economies of scale, having to add employees as they add customers.  

Companies have divergent paths to growth and scalability.  But they all must constantly adjust their organizational structure and leadership approach to accommodate their increasing size.  Rapidly growing companies are often in a constant state of corporate reengineering.  There is one essential ingredient here:  Hiring the right people with diverse and complementary skill sets that can get you to where you’re going.       

Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?

Christopher: The tone from the top is critical.  The effective leader must foster a potent corporate culture that encourages open communication, constant problem-solving, and employee empowerment.  This means that the effective corporate leader must have humility and be open to discussions and even debates with staff about how best to solve company problems.  Through collective communication, the leader must then be able to lead in the creation of a corporate vision having broad employee buy-in. At a high level, the leader has six financial levers that collectively deliver shareholder returns and are defining to corporate value creation.  Leaders need to be intimately familiar with these tools.  These represent the essential tools for benefitting corporate stakeholders.          

Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level? 

Christopher: All successful leaders I have known have benefitted from mentorship and constant learning.  Mentorship and influence can come from individuals, peer groups, peer companies, books, employees, suppliers, shareholders, and more.  Over many years, I have been influenced by countless people.  Great leaders also take time to reevaluate their priorities.  We live in a culture where being busy is generally viewed as being productive.  But sometimes the best thing a leader can do is simply sit at their desk with a blank sheet of paper, reevaluate personal and corporate priorities, and think.  

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders? 

Christopher: Never be afraid to ask for help.

Set ambitious, well-conceived goals.

Make time to evaluate your progress and reevaluate your priorities while not getting over-extended. 

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?

Christopher: First, select the right people.  Second, take a strong hand in guiding the team so they understand the ropes.  And then, third, step back to let them run with it on their own while receiving regular progress reports.

Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales, marketing, and branding?

Christopher: On Sales: No company ever went out of business because they had too many sales.  I also like this one: The best customer is the one you already have.

On Marketing: Time spent on a marketing plan, targeting your customers, is time well spent.  Understand your competitive edge.  Understand why people invest in your company or buy your products, given their alternatives.  

On Branding: Successful branding confers pricing power and adds to your competitive advantage. 

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

“You should marry that girl.”  My wife and I have been married 42 years.

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Christopher: Just one thing.  Choosing a business career entails so many options relative to the many life paths we can take.  Selling our first company was an emotional experience because my identity was so wrapped up in it.  Then, as I was departing, I had a solid job offer that I declined in order to try my hand at being an entrepreneur and founding a company.  I did this, willing to make less as an entrepreneur than more as an employee. I wanted to take a shot.  I did not want to look back on my business career with any regrets about not having tried to start a company.  This was the best personal business decision I ever made.


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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