How to ... make your mark once the founder steps away
Lululemon's new cEO may be the most low-key boss the company has ever known–
but investors and employees alike seem to think that's a good thing by Matt O'Grady
BcBusiNEss.ca NOVEMBER 2015 BCBusiness 43
f there was any hint that the
new guy would be di¥erent
than the old guy, it was made
on December 9, 2013. That's
when Lululemon announced
that unassuming French
executive Laurent Potdevin
would be the company's new
CEO—and that outspoken
board chair Chip Wilson
would be stepping away from
the company he had founded
some 15 years prior.
That same day, the Van-
couver-based yoga apparel
retailer released a video to its
YouTube channel introduc-
ing people to the new guy,
who had previously served
as president of Toms Shoes.
The video, all 62 seconds of
it, features a series of moody
vignettes: the alarm clock
ringing at 6 a.m.; Potdevin,
in loose-ˆtting clothing and
Toms shoes, walking to the
kitchen to grab his morning
