The Pacific Northwest is home to its fair share of public companies—but what’s truly remarkable is that nearly half of them are leaders in their respective domains. Many have become household names, which is an unusually high ratio. Personally, I don’t recognize the names of even a quarter of public companies more broadly.

In our discussion, we explored how some of these companies rose to leadership: by imagining something distinctive and having the courage to bring it to life. There are others in the region who exhibit similar traits, but I chose not to cover them—either because I compete with them in my day job, or simply because I don’t have enough perspective to speak meaningfully about them.

Finally, I’d like to thank Haresh and his team for inviting me to share my views—and the thousands of you who took time to read. I also want to thank Taryn, who encouraged me to expand what was originally one blog post into a series. Of course, I also apologize if I spoke too harshly about any company or its leaders.