Tag Archive for: Tips

Is Aaron Levie Really Thinking Outside the Box?

/in , , /by

box-blog427Silicon Valley CEO Aaron Levie dropped out of college ten years ago to start his company, Box. Providing cloud computing services, Levie’s company is currently worth $2.1 billion and services over 40,000 paying customers which includes about half of the Fortune 500. However, it is not meeting growth projections and is counting on creating an ecosystem just as Apple and Microsoft have with their products. Levie argues it can be the center of a new industry “by helping other companies and third-party consultants create applications that can quickly draw off Box’s cloud-based collaboration technology.”

Despite these ambitions, Box has lost $167 million on revenue of $216 million which is still an improvement from the year before. This year, revenue is expected to grow by another 30 percent, “a marked slowdown that Mr. Levie hopes the new developer strategy may also turn around.” These losses scare not only Box, but also the generations of young tech ventures that never experienced the massive downturn that took place between 2000-2001.

Seasoned investors worry that newcomers may not take the risks as seriously. Ultimately, the losses faced by Box and newer tech companies as they rapidly grow are starting to catch up with them, and may be the beginning of a new downward trend in Silicon Valley.

Read the article here on The New York Times

Marketo and LinkedIn Team Up to Offer Personalized Ads

/in , , /by

14257556613_4cfd6d3aa7_oMarketo, a digital marketing automation software company, has struck a deal with LinkedIn to use its metrics and database to target ads specifically to LinkedIn, allowing marketers to better hone in on their target market. With GE as its first customer, it is looking forward to engaging consumers with a brand in a more professional context which was previously unavailable. Here are some key points from the article:

  • LinkedIn and Marketo are partnering up: “Marketo brings to the partnership software that automates digital marketing across the Web, email and social and mobile channels. That’s being integrated with LinkedIn’s new ‘Lead Accelerator’ product, which helps marketers deliver more relevant ads by combining data about what part of the brand’s website the person browsed with demographic information from the person’s profile on the LinkedIn professional networking site.”
  • How is this different from LinkedIn’s previous advertising? “The integration essentially bridges paid advertising on LinkedIn with the digital marketing that Marketo is known for and helps advertisers tell a consistent story across those channels, said Marketo Chief Executive Phil Fernandez.”
  • Consumers respond to ads that are consistent through multiple devices: “‘Consumers are expecting relationships to follow them around as they move through all those places,’ Mr. Fernandez said in an interview. ‘We move around devices and apps without thinking about it, but what brands are saying to us doesn’t.’”
  • This advertising strategy adapts for consumers who may take several paths when researching a purchase: “There are multiple paths a customer might take to research and make a purchase decision, including a combination of online channels and offline interactions, like conversations with an actual salesperson, said Andy Markowitz, general manager for GE’s Performance Marketing Labs.”
  • Marketo will not stop with LinkedIn: “For Marketo, the LinkedIn partnership is the latest in a series of deals that aims to help marketers create continuous conversations with customers across digital channels. The company recently reached a deal to integrate its software with Google AdWords and Google Analytics products as well as Facebook’s custom audiences.  Marketo this week is also rolling out new products to help marketers reach customers across all major digital channels through a single software platform.”

LinkedIn and Marketo are sure to make waves with this new service, and will open the possibility of advertising B2B product and services through social media. There is no denying that personalized ads are the future of advertising, and with Marketo and LinkedIn becoming bigger players in the game, we can expect many more changes to come.

For the full article on The Wall Street Journal, click here.

Play to Your Team’s Strengths

/in , /by

02-CORNER-master495Deborah Harmon is the chief executive of Artemis Real Estate Partners, a real estate investment management company headquartered in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. In a recent interview with Adam Bryant of the New York Times, Harmon discussed her personal managing tips, her hiring process, and how she got to where she is today. Here are some of the most salient points from the interview:

  • Become a problem-solver and a fixer: “If you have that attitude, it encourages people to bring you their problems early and often, and that’s good. But if you’re a fixer, then you risk spending your whole day fixing other people’s problems.”
  • Play by peoples strengths: “rather than trying to shore up their weaknesses. Because if you play to people’s strengths, you create a team of complementary skill sets. It’s like a puzzle. ”
  • Chance favors the prepared mind: “I use that in our company with young people because they have to be so detailed-oriented, but also in seeing how people prepare for the interview. 

Click here to view the full article from the New York Times.

How an Entrepreneur’s Passion Can Destroy a Startup

/in /by

ed1f976c57a0a486b5616b5a95fef913

Passion can function as a double-edged sword. Often the very thing it takes to ignite a business can be responsible for ruining it. Even the most promising startups can be destroyed by too much passion. It blinds entrepreneurs, leading to overconfidence and bad decision-making at the worst possible times. Entrepreneurs within this category of over-zealous, blind-sighted optimism are often so impatient to move forward with their new ideas that they lose perspective on how would-be customers and investors will view their product.

Noam Wasserman, a professor at Harvard Business School, identifies three major areas prospective founders need to take into account when they’re thinking about kick-starting their new business:

1)   Market Circumstances: A founder who is passionate about an area is more likely to misread whether a large potential customer base for their venture exists.

2)   Career Circumstances: Passion often blinds founders into thinking they already possess the full skill set they need to build their business when in fact they’re poorly prepared. Many entrepreneurs eventually realize they don’t have the connections or resources necessary to find co-founders, investors, or even employees.

3)   Personal Circumstances: Many aspiring entrepreneurs discount the toll a start-up will take on their family, and they are more likely to sugar-coat scenarios to a spouse in an attempt to attain their support.

While passion and optimism are great when building a business, founders should be encouraged to find effective ways of tempering their passion with a hefty dose of realism. As Steve Jobs famously warned: “[f]ollow your heart, but check with your head.” We couldn’t agree more!

Click here to view the related article in The Wall Street Journal (8.25.14)

7 Popular Pieces Of Business Advice You Should (Politely) Ignore

/in , /by

giving-advice-4

 

Ever heard the phrases ” think big” and “the customer is always right?”

While this advice may be applicable to some businesses, such comments may be dangerous when applied to all scenarios.

Here are some suggestions from the Business Insider on which pieces of advice to (politely) ignore when it comes to your small business: click here to view the article.