Post by Danilo Tauro, PhD

There is one thing Procter & Gamble didn’t prepare me for in entrepreneurship. P&G teaches you two things at the same time, and that combination is powerful. 1️⃣ Play-to-Win: Challenge convention. Benchmark relentlessly. Seek leadership results in everything you do. 2️⃣ Purpose, Values, Principles (PVPs): Do the right thing. Be intellectually honest. Do what you say, and say what you mean. That combination is rare: ambition anchored in values. At P&G, it felt normal. You compete hard, but with integrity. You push for results, but within clear boundaries. You win, but not at any cost. Then you step into the entrepreneurial world and realize those boundaries are not always shared. Not everyone plays straight. Not everyone says what they mean. Not everyone treats trust as something to protect. That realization was one of the earliest shocks of entrepreneurship for me, and in many ways, it still is. If anything, it has made me value even more what P&G gave me. Because beyond the brand, beyond the training, beyond the career foundation, it gave me a code and a clear sense of how I want to operate. In the end, your values are tested only when the environment around you doesn’t share them. That’s when values stop being slogans and become choices. So thank you, P&G. Your culture is still one of the most powerful things I carry with me, and one I try to honor every day 💙 Picture: P&G Towers, GO Cincinnati