Past Chapter Commander Promotes the Mission and Value of DAV at the Annual Founders 2.0 Conference in Las Vegas
Dr. Carl Forkner, Past Chapter 8 Commander
April 9, 2026
We live in an era where attention is cheap and trust is expensive. Every product now comes ‘with AI.’ Every organization claims to be ‘disrupting’ something. And every founder is tempted to chase the wave instead of doing the harder work of solving a real problem.
But here’s what we know: the businesses and organizations that last aren’t the ones that got the loudest — they’re the ones that got the closest. Closest to their customers. Closest to the real pain. Closest to the truth about what people actually need.
So that’s what we’re here to unpack: How do you build something of substance in a world that rewards hype? How do you know you’re solving a real problem — and not just riding a trend? And once you’ve built something real, how do you make sure the world knows about it?
John Pohl, Durrell Coleman, Manoj Thakur, and Dr. Forkner
Here are some of the questions our panel discussion addressed:
Most leaders assume they understand the people they serve. But assumptions aren’t insights. What happens to a business or organization that builds around what it thinks people need — instead of what they actually need?
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Has there been a time when the person you thought was your customer turned out not to be — and the real customer was someone you hadn’t considered?
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Getting the first sale or the first client is one thing. Keeping them is another. What does
follow-through look like in your work — and why do most organizations drop the ball after the initial win?
It takes years to build something of substance. But it can be destroyed quickly when an organization abandons what made it work. What does it look like when a business or organization loses focus or starts to chase hype over substance — and what’s the cost?
We’ve been talking about hype like it’s the enemy. But can a business or organization with a genuinely great offering survive without any of it — or does substance alone not get you far enough?
You can have the best offering in the room — the most substantive product, the most impactful service — and still lose because nobody understood what you had. Why is communicating substance so hard, and what separates the organizations that do it well?
Last question — one sentence each. A leader in this room has built something of real substance but can’t break through the noise. What is the one discipline that separates organizations that endure from organizations that fade?
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My answer? Ensuring that the organization continues to align with its mission and resources, and meet clients where they are--don't expect them to come to you...