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history and mission of birthing of giants

Incubated in the halls of M.I.T., with the partnership of Inc. Magazine, Birthing of Giants has had several of the leading entrepreneurs of its day pass through its doors.

Today, the tradition has been passed to founders of Inc. Magazine’s Business Owners Council and with much of the original faculty that made Birthing of Giants a legend originally, now back as experienced, post-exit entrepreneurs. Only this time, they’ve returned as our Board of Experts.

Our Mission: We believe in entrepreneurial capitalism. Business owners who create, nurture and scale companies are the most dynamic and impactful contributors to domestic and global economies; their companies, teams and supply chains represent the purest form of innovation and capitalism.

We know, from decades of research, that wherever capitalism thrives, poverty is diminished. The companies we serve generate wealth, employment and tax revenues and the owners and executives we teach create supply chains that generate work globally. As a result of their efforts, poverty is reduced worldwide. Less poverty means:

• Greater access to education and healthcare
• Longer life spans and higher quality of life
• Reduced violence, particularly against women and children
• And many other poverty-reduction measures and outcomes

At Birthing of Giants, we are inspired to play a small role in creating better capitalists which leads to the reduction in poverty and their attendant attributes. It’s what motivates us every day to create better, more effective programs on behalf of our students. 

HOW BIRTHING OF GIANTS BUILT THE BRIDGE THAT NO ONE ELSE DID

The Operator’s Greatest Threat: Alone, and At Odds With Their Ambition

 Owners typically possess a mastery of their own business systems but pay less attention to external market forces influencing their industry. For example, when they hear stories about private equity moving through their peers as if they were chess pieces, they may worry they are playing yesterday’s game but, out of sheer practicality, conclude “if I don’t understand it and I can’t control it, then I won’t deal with it right now.” Ultimately they return to what they’re best at — commanding day-to-day internal operations. 

 However, as they scale, each critical decision becomes more complex — and more consequential — than anything that came before. When they discover that achieving their legacy runs through the high stakes world of capital and exit strategies, they realize that their focus on the company’s tactical layer was at odds with their greater ambition. At this point, their options narrow and they may fall back on bravado (“I built this business, I can sell it, too.”) or defensive skepticism (“I’ve hired a team who knows what they’re doing.”), committing unforced errors that can cause a lifetime of work to unravel. 

No More Accidental Exits: Cracking the Code Before The Crisis

When it comes to incorporating the language of capital into their annual planning, owners have had limited choices: join a peer group that holds disconnected conversations about finance alongside an assortment of other business topics or treats money like a taboo topic; listen to podcasts from newly-minted post-exit influencers; or take on complex market moves with advisors who are paid to get the deal closed no matter what. Either way, any real engagement with capital feels disorganized, opaque and lonely.

Birthing of Giants replaces these inadequate choices with a proven process. Across eight sessions over two years, Cohort Members become capital-ready by design not by accident. Alongside experts who have navigated these crossroads before and peers who share your ambition, Members proceed on a journey that:

• Is built on the track record of other owners who have successfully navigated scale
• Leverages a capital access decision-making process (should I, shouldn’t I? If so, how?) purpose built for the lower-middle market business owner; and, 
• Engages capital market sources in an educational and intentional way, at your pace, on your terms, and never alone.

How Birthing of Giants Became The Bridge That No One Else Has Built

Other growth assistance solutions either ignore the role that capital markets play in scaling or assume you’ve got an advanced degree in finance. Birthing of Giants Owners Value Creation Stack provides the business owner with the safe space to design the next version of their company — one that’s more valuable, more profitable, and easier to run. Today’s business owner must understand the four levers they pull to grow — money, model, market and management — in a way that builds on their operational strengths in order to scale, exit, or step back without sacrifice.

SWIMMING LESSONS FOR CLAYTON

The Story of a Business Owner Who Nearly Drowned

A new book by Lewis Schiff, Chairman of Birthing of Giants and author of Business Brilliant and The First Habit.

Not many business owners will ever meet a mentor like Mr. Gi. In Swimming Lessons for Clayton, Mr. Gi appears when Indiana business owner, Clayton Thomas, needs him most.

During their friendship, Mr. Gi shows Clayton how to build a great business. As the reader discovers, Mr. Gi has a good reason for helping Clayton that goes beyond simple generosity — a connection between their two families that spans generations and continents.

Why Lewis Wrote It

Someone once asked me, “Who needs swimming lessons most of all?”

“Someone who’s drowning,” I replied.

“And who has the least time for swimming lessons?”

“Someone who’s drowning.”

That’s the story of every business owner — measuring every day by whether they drowned a little, managed to tread water, or actually swam somewhere. And that’s where the story begins.

Learn more about Swimming Lessons for Clayton