The Future Is Now: Kashyap Deorah Of HyperTrack On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up…

The Future Is Now: Kashyap Deorah Of HyperTrack On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

It doesn’t become easier. My fourth startup was the hardest. The market was there, and the product was right. The technology risk was underestimated. We developed the tech architecture right on the third attempt.

As a part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kashyap Deorah, founder and CEO of HyperTrack.

HyperTrack’s founder and chief executive is fourth-time entrepreneur Kashyap Deorah, who previously sold companies to OpenTable and Future Group. He is also a best-selling author and investor. Kashyap started his first company as a college student at IIT Bombay and sold it to a Silicon Valley firm. Since then, he has operated in the US-India corridor and done business in China, South-East Asia, and Northern Europe. Kashyap has written for leading print and online publications and made keynote presentations at Internet technology and ecommerce conferences. He is the author of 2015’s The Golden Tap — The Inside Story of Hyper-Funded Indian Start-Ups.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I have been curious about the convergence of physical and digital commerce for over a decade. I sold a mobile commerce startup to a leading physical retailer to become their digital commerce subsidiary. At the time telecom operators and handset makers decided what apps we use on our phones. The invention of iOS and Android changed everything, app developers could now distribute directly to consumers. Soon after, mobile Operating Systems allowed apps to use device location to power local experiences with the user’s permission. This led to the birth of Uber and then Uber-for-X, or the on-demand economy.

The convergence of physical and digital commerce that we had only imagined a few years prior had now revealed itself. Consumers would press a few buttons in a mobile app and the physical world would conspire to bring products and services to them. The world at your fingertips if you will.

This was a powerful metaphor for retail consumption. Startups and incumbents alike wanted in. Except, the technology for location infrastructure spanning mobile, cloud, and map technologies was proprietary to only a few large on-demand apps who invested billions of dollars each. It became my mission to level the playing field and democratize that technology for everyone else.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I built an app for restaurant diners to pay and go without waiting for a check at the end of their meal, think of it as an Uber for table service restaurants. Once it was installed at about 50 restaurants in the Bay Area, I began to demo it to companies that had both sides of the marketplace, consumers and restaurants. At the time, these were Paypal, Yelp, Groupon, and OpenTable. We would invite them over to their favorite restaurant of choice and show them the magic firsthand. OpenTable loved it so much that they intercepted the upcoming Beta release and offered to buy us. They were a public company at the time and we had not raised any money, so this added up to a good chunk of change. Since the company was still young, we all held on to our OpenTable stock to have enough holding period to save on capital gains taxes. As luck would have it, the Booking.com group bought OpenTable just a year later, bumped up the stock by 50 percent, and cashed us out a year earlier than expected. I decided to take that year off to travel the world with my family and write a book that ended up becoming a bestseller!

Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?

Location-based services were built by the mobile OS to power location-based experiences on the user’s device. Maps were built for consumers to find places and navigate to them. However, simple location-based logistics use cases like dispatching an order to nearby drivers and live tracking orders with ETA require stitching these technologies together in the cloud, followed by building and operating complex cloud and data infrastructure. It becomes a square peg in a round hole. HyperTrack built this infrastructure out and offered it up as simple APIs to plan, assign and track orders. In addition, we use this data to build custom logistics maps for our customers so they know where their customers are, how much time it takes to service them, how long it takes to get to them, and so forth.

Democratizing this technology for developers worldwide helps them build logistics tech that was previously not possible for them to build. Unlocking the imagination of entrepreneurs, creators and builders has a meta effect of bringing more income opportunities for the workforce and awesome experiences for consumers. This in turn leads to better run businesses with high trust and low emissions.

How do you think this might change the world?

Anytime you can make something that was previously challenging really easy, a new generation of businesses is unlocked. In the case of HyperTrack, there are three larger trends that seem to benefit from our APIs. One, consumers want things here and now. Second, the workforce is going gig and flex. Third, businesses are automating their logistics more than ever. It is rare for three large trends to converge into one business in such a direct way. If HyperTrack can accelerate the logistics tech market from its present $25 billion to $100 billion within a decade by empowering developers to deliver higher income to the workforce and greener fulfillment to consumers, it would be a worthwhile mission.

Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks of this technology that people should think more deeply about?

My personal view is that consumption is the source of many of the world’s problems. Insatiable and gluttonous consumption. Be it climate change, mental health issues, or extreme inequities. While I believe that shortest path logistics powered by location and mapping intelligence can increase worker income and reduce carbon emissions, I worry that it may multiply consumption of what people want but really do not need.

Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?

The idea of starting a fourth company, and then of HyperTrack, came about in the process of writing The Golden Tap (The Inside Story of Hyper-funded Indian Startups). After selling three companies, I was experiencing a new sense of financial freedom. My options were to become a VC, a CEO of a high-growth startup, or activate a new line of business for fast growing decacorns, or start my own company. After much deliberation, I found there was unfinished business and I wanted to build a lasting company. Given my instinct to build products and embed them into existing networks, the API economy resonated with me on many dimensions. Building an API for the future of commerce seemed an obvious place to be. Location and mapping were clearly the bridge between physical and digital commerce, so it was only a matter of time that the mission found me.

What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?

Thousands of users who find HyperTrack to be exactly the API they were looking for and then use it to build what they have imagined. Even if a hundred of them become successful, some being insanely successful, we will successfully impact millions of workers and hundreds of millions of consumers. Logistics tech builders are the heroes who will win the best actor award while we get to be the best supporting actor.

What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?

For the first few years, we spent close to zero on marketing. We wrote technical blogs, published open source repos, and great documentation. This brought us early adoption who then evangelized us to their friends and audiences. We earned our first million in revenue with that inbound and word-of-mouth.

With our new VP Marketing, Gaurav Deshpande, who joined us in the summer, we have now begun reaching builders in enterprises and high-growth startups through events and account-based marketing, while doubling down on content and inbound. In a world with low attention spans and withering mindshare, any effective marketing needs to be creative so it stands out. Gaurav and the HyperTrack team are doing a great job of getting the mindshare of our potential customers.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

The late Naren Gupta. I knew of him as a veteran Indian entrepreneur and VC. When we first met at the end of 2016, I was surprised that he knew of me too. He had read my book and thought highly of it. It took him about 15 minutes into the meeting to understand the power of HyperTrack. I was not looking to raise VC money until the following summer, and he convinced me to raise right away. Business was off to a flying start after the raise, but soon after we hit a wall because our tech did not work. This was my first time building an infrastructure software business and I learned my lessons the hard way. My tech co-founder left, the first team I had assembled in India imploded, and re-building out the team and re-architecting the product was constantly flailing. My confidence in myself as a leader was at an all time low. During this two year period, any other VC partner would have written us off and moved on. Naren supported me deeply and helped me find answers. HyperTrack owes its survival and revival to Naren. His passing on last Christmas has only increased my resolve to fulfill this mission we started together.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I started giving back in a more meaningful and deliberate way last year. My family and I believe that the best way to contribute to society is to bring equality of opportunity. Outcomes will never be equal, it is the law of nature. Though it is only fair that we all get equal opportunity to succeed. Most of us have what we have today because someone helped us get our break that we would otherwise not get. Education, climate, and gender are three areas where I see the opportunity to make an impact with philanthropy.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

  1. It doesn’t become easier. My fourth startup was the hardest. The market was there, and the product was right. The technology risk was underestimated. We developed the tech architecture right on the third attempt.
  2. APIs are infrastructure software. There is a difference between a product having an API and an API being the product. When the product has an API it is a way for two applications to talk to each other. When the product is an API, other applications are built on it, thus making it equivalent to an Operating System. Building an OS is different from building an app.
  3. Bottom-up and top-down GTM are not mutually exclusive. Everyone wants to build a Google or Stripe. Though it takes a set of unique events, including many external ones–including some that are once-in-a-lifetime. Pure bottom-up adoption cannot be built as a plan. It has to be chanced upon as serendipity. Bottom-up adoption for the first set of users provides a strong signal for what users really want so you can build a high fidelity product. Once the product-market fit is achieved, it becomes critical to augment that with sales and marketing motions to deliver predictable revenue.
  4. Selling to developers is necessary but (almost always) insufficient. We were fanatical about selling to developers in the early years of HyperTrack. While we earned positive uptake, we ran into two issues. One, developers were not great at building the right workflows and experiences for other users. Two, developers were not great at selling the business value to their executives. Working with their colleagues and finding solutions for their users helped them be successful.
  5. Sell to customers whose business is healthy (duh!). Obvious in hindsight, though it is always hard to look away from the incoming business. Tech startups are typically the first adopters of an API product. As a result, well-funded high-growth startups often end up dominating the book of business. However, high-growth startups with unhealthy businesses are the first to go when markets turn or the next round of funding gets tight. This brings undue pressure on the business. It is important to focus on the right markets and to diversify to enterprises.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Practice meditation. There are several paths to mindfulness. After picking the one that calls to you the most you would wish you did so sooner. The best things in life are free, monetarily. Yet the best things in life take the most amount of work. Find your path and get on it today.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“What you resist persists” — Carl Jung

In a world where we are asked to do what we love, follow our passions, stand our ground, be unbreakable, and predictably repeat success, I have learned that the biggest superpower is to learn to let go. It is increasingly hard to listen to ourselves and understand what gives us joy, what we truly love, and what we experience as success. The path to that discovery is our ability to let go of things, especially the ones that we naturally resist, thus giving it significance and perpetuating it. Losing that baggage helps us move on to what we actually want to do.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Twitter

Linkedin

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

The Future Is Now: Kashyap Deorah Of HyperTrack On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Data-Driven Work Cultures: Abhishek Mehta Of Tresata On How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take…

Data-Driven Work Cultures: Abhishek Mehta Of Tresata On How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your Company To The Next Level

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Distribute Data Assets: When you’ve connected all your data and linked their one-to-many relationships, the assets aren’t limited to a single use but can benefit many parts of the business. This usable data must get distributed across your many customer, business and enterprise systems and processes. In essence, you liberate the data so every last bit can be used and monetized to achieve transformational results. For instance, we’ve helped one global bank attain usable data from 300 million entities across its transaction and payment systems. From these assets, the bank has powered over 30 use cases — from cross-selling and ESG monitoring to fraud detection. In the first year alone, the bank has seen three times the return on investment.

As part of our series about “How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your Company To The Next Level,” I had the pleasure of interviewing Abhishek Mehta, Chairman and CEO of Tresata.

A radical technology expert, disruptor, and in-the-trenches, outspoken leader, Abhishek founded Tresata in 2011 with a mission to help businesses harness the power of data to Enrich Life for every customer. He has since grown Tresata into the first profitable unicorn company in analytics with successful software implementations in nearly every major industry for the Fortune 100. In the following interview, we sit down with Abhishek to discuss how companies can leverage data to become digital businesses.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I am fortunate to have the luxury to call two of the world’s largest democracies home — I was born in India and bread (as in earned my bread) in America.

I have always believed that life is better lived when manifested in decades, which is how I live mine. Since I was very young I have had a burning desire to build something and I was willing and able to seek experiences that have allowed me to do so.

In my twenties, I experimented and challenged myself to learn as broad a variety of skills as I could so that I could leverage them to build what I wanted to build in my thirties. These experiences allowed me in my forties to help others build what they wanted to, leveraging all I have learned.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

One of my favorite life lessons comes from a Charlie Chaplin quote: “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.”

With that, and in hindsight, everything seems funny in those early days. If I was to pick one moment, it would be the first three months when we decided to raise capital. It was like the Sand Hill Shuffle episode in the show “Silicon Valley” had been scripted based on us. It’s Season Two, Episode One, in case anyone’s wondering — minus the Hollywood-hyperbolic additions.

The funny part was we decided not to raise money from VCs at that early stage but we learned so much in the process so I don’t know if I’d call it a “mistake.” The lesson learned from it was simple: Believe in your vision as no one else will — but also don’t be obstinate. Use questions and critiques as inputs to bulletproof your plan.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

This may sound nuts, but the movie I bring up the most when reflecting on entrepreneurship is “The Croods.”

The entire movie is summed up in this one scene when the family is trying to escape the destruction of the planet. The father, who has been resistant to his daughter’s risk-taking, adventure-seeking, and ‘dreaming of new possibilities’ ways, finally realizes that the only way to survive the explosions is to make a leap through the fog to the other side that may not have solid footing…but “THERE’S A CHANCE.”

This sums up the life of every entrepreneur — the willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice and do everything it takes to realize a dream, not knowing what lies on the other side…simply because it represents a chance to do something no one else would.

To me, the fact that there are few among us who, like all of us, were also taught to not play with fire, not jump off cliffs, not dive into the unknown and play it safe, but are still willing to make that ultimate sacrifice is deeply humbling. It’s a reminder that these few brave souls deserve our ultimate respect, compassion and pride, as without them, we wouldn’t evolve.

Are you working on any new, exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

I’m very excited about the new technology that Tresata is introducing in the market, our Digital Business Platform. DBP, as we lovingly call it, was designed to deliver to every company in the world the ability to use data to better understand and serve their customers, employees, partners and products as a unique segment of one.

DBP enables companies to obtain usable data faster and more affordably and of a much higher quality. And it does so by alleviating the pressures that companies of all sizes and scale face today: lack of talent, a massive influx of data, and rapid technological shifts to becoming “digital.”

We believe that the best in the ‘digital business’ biz are data-first companies, like Google and Netflix. By accelerating the rate at which more traditional companies can create usable data, DBP allows for the creation of data assets that are critical to the foundations of building and evolving successful businesses. For instance, what would take a company two to three years to deploy through traditional, manual data engineering can now be delivered, with DBP, in just a few months.

For organizations struggling with talent shortages in data engineering, analytics and sciences, DBP has the added benefit of both (a) maximizing the productivity of existing talent and (b) freeing up existing talent to focus on higher value delivery. Moreover, DBP is delivered via an extremely cost-effective consumption-based model, where companies only pay for the data that is made usable.

We believe that DBP can usher in a new Data Engineering as a Service (DEaaS) paradigm that has the ability to help enterprises brace for all economic cycles, by helping to control the rising costs that we are all facing in the race to become more data- and digitally driven.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion about empowering organizations to be more “data-driven.” For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what exactly it means to be data-driven? On a practical level, what does it look like to use data to make decisions?

In October 2010 I announced in a speech at Strata that the world was about to enter a new Industrial Revolution, the raw material for which would be data.

While I was the first to go on record with this proclamation, the concept of data being the new fuel for organizations to transform or build businesses has since become ubiquitous.

Today, being data-driven isn’t a matter of choice. It’s existential. To become data-driven, organizations must do three things:

  1. Understand what data they are creating in their business, across all products, processes (sales and service) and people.
  2. Engineer capabilities that can use that data as the key to unlock the “secrets of their business” — and enable the understanding of customers, employees, partners and plans better, cheaper and faster.
  3. Apply that intelligence to build and create products and services for their customers that help enrich, simplify and improve the quality of their lives.

Organizations that can achieve that level of “data IQ” have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fundamentally transform their business models. Just look at what the MAANA’s (Meta, Alphabet, Apple, Netflix, Amazon) have been able to do in their industries. They have fundamentally transformed advertising, retail and entertainment. Operating with a data-first model is what has enabled them to dominate and disrupt entire markets.

The secret sauce to the success of these “digital-natives” is their ability to capture and use all of their data — as it’s generated — to gain dynamic insights about their products, processes, people, supply chains and most importantly customers. Think of how Netflix knows what shows to not just recommend but script so you continue to binge watch…or how Amazon knows what products to suggest at checkout based on not just price, but the time of delivery, so you add even more to the shopping cart.

For companies that want to be more data-driven like the MAANA’s and evolve into digital businesses, I always say the foundational step is to create “segments of one” of their customers. Only then can you optimize every process and interaction to serve each customer — not as target segments — but as unique “segments of themselves.” This drives better decisions, builds more meaningful relationships and inspires unparalleled customer loyalty.

Which companies can most benefit from tools that empower data collaboration?

I don’t necessarily agree that companies need more data collaboration tools. The problem is we have too many collaboration tools and processes, and not enough usable, good quality data to collaborate on.

Practically any company can benefit from having real-time, quality usable data ready to support their business. In fact, regardless of industry, many organizations face the same data challenges. They have these raw bits of data riddled with errors, duplication, inconsistencies and other variabilities that make it incredibly hard to extract any actionable intelligence from them. And most of it exists in many, siloed systems. The sheer volume and variety of data is overwhelming — for businesses of all shapes and sizes, from the smallest ones to the global behemoths.

Trying to capture, clean, reconcile and understand the inherent relationships between these vast, disparate bits is an enormous obstacle. Organizations have tried to overcome it by pouring money into massive storage platforms and data discovery and preparation tools. Or, they’ve tried hiring departments of people to do the cleansing and integration manually, only to come up short on available skilled talent and variability of output.

When you have a dearth of human resources and a daunting task that needs to keep up with the speed and scale of your business, automation is the only answer.

At Tresata, we were one of the first to recognize the challenge and decided to solve it by applying AI to automate the entire data engineering lifecycle — from collecting raw bits of data from multiple systems to creating data assets that are instantly usable and relatable for immediate business value. It’s the same technology principles that have empowered the MAANA’s to reign supreme. We’re bringing these principles to traditional industries and helping businesses become digital.

We’d love to hear about your experiences using data to drive decisions. In your experience, how has data analytics and data collaboration helped improve operations, processes, and customer experiences? We’d love to hear some stories if possible.

A stateless bit of data on its own doesn’t provide much value. But when you link all of the bits to find the relationships your data can show you — across customers, products, services and interactions — then you start to uncover intelligence about your business.

The trouble is most companies assign each bit to a single use case at a time, which limits the insights that can be gleaned, causes massive duplications in effort and not much re-usability. In addition to being unscalable, this limitation leads to many one-off exercises where data teams need to start from square one with each project.

DBP breaks that cycle of inefficient data processing. Instead of using one bit for one use case, DBP allows for raw bits to be assigned and used for multiple use cases. For instance, we allow raw bits of data to be linked to create a common, unique and tokenized customer identifier across multiple systems and data feeds. Not only does this allow for efficient movement of data, but also protection and privacy that meets and exceeds regulations and customer expectations.

This also allows organizations to take their analysis further, by linking duplicate accounts, multiple accounts, family and business relationships etc. The result is a complete, secure and multidimensional understanding of each customer that can be applied to multiple use cases and analytics processes.

Take for instance an airline that has fragmented information about its passengers in different sources like their ticketing, payment, frequent flier and baggage check-in systems. Small nuances in how their name is entered into the systems (e.g., Jane Doe vs. Jane W. Doe) or if a passenger doesn’t enter their frequent flier number can prevent an airline from connecting the dots that the records all relate back to the same customer.

We helped one of the world’s leading airlines weave together 4 billion daily records to capture 102 million unique customer profiles. From these profiles, the airline provides every passenger with a positive and personalized experience based on their recent activity and demonstrated preferences — even if they’re not part of the frequent flier program. Customer support representatives can easily get up-to-date travel information on each passenger to assist with rebookings or refunds. Gate attendants have been able to proactively contact passengers to assist with sudden schedule changes and mitigate frustrations. The airline is treating everyone like they are royalty to inspire a different level of loyalty.

And I say often — loyalty IS royalty.

Has the shift towards becoming more data-driven been challenging for some teams or organizations from your vantage point? What are the challenges? How can organizations solve these challenges?

I think becoming data-driven has been challenging for some because so much emphasis has been placed on one aspect of it — CLOUD. Some have come to believe that having all your data in one place will make it instantly ready for analytics. But in fact, as highlighted in a recent TDWI Research study, 76% of the companies said they’re seeing most of the same challenges with their cloud data warehouses and lakes as they did on-premise. This isn’t surprising because the cloud only addresses the issue of data storage and access. What’s more, companies often just port their data as is — with all of its existing issues and siloes — straight over to the cloud. It’s like pouring the same wine into a new bottle and expecting it to somehow taste better.

To become data-driven and evolve as a digital business, companies need to not just move their raw data, they need to now integrate, enrich and distribute it via these cloud frameworks and automate the creation of usable data — in the cloud.

Given the speed and scale of data generation in the modern enterprise, automation is the only way forward. Only then can you link and make sense of all the information from across the enterprise at absolute scale and gain a deeper, richer understanding of your business.

Ok. Thank you. Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are “Five Ways a Company Can Effectively Leverage Data to Take It To The Next Level”? Please share a story or an example for each.

Great question — I believe there are five things that a company needs to do to effectively leverage their data:

  1. Be Intentional With Your Data: There should be a clear intention for why you want to leverage this data. What ultimate goal do you want to achieve? What value do you want to derive from these assets? Setting a prescribed goal helps to map out the steps for success. For instance, in 2021, Tresata launched a free tool Bad Actor Discovery as a Service (BADaaS) with the goal of applying our record linkage technology to uncovering hidden financial crime networks. We knew what data we needed, scanning and linking trillions of data points on beneficial owners sourced from legal, corporate, offshore leak and sanctions data. We made BADaaS totally free to aid governments, banks and journalists in exposing the hidden tracks of bad actors and preventing further exploitation of the world’s financial resources.
  2. Don’t Overlook the 80%: In the data analytics lifecycle, companies get excited about the last 20% of the journey — where you’re extracting intelligence from the data. This last 20% is viewed as the sexy part of analytics and where you get the most returns on investment. The preceding 80% of the journey — all the unsexy data discovery, preparation and plumbing work — gets less attention because it’s frankly arduous. But I would argue that it’s even more vital to get this 80% right because otherwise, you’ll be making critical decisions based on incomplete or inaccurate data. At Tresata, we developed our DBP solution to automate that 80% of the analytics lifecycle and simplify the process down to three steps: ingest, enrich and distribute. DBP gathers data from all enterprise sources, fuses them together for instant usage and makes it available on demand for analytics processes to empower digital businesses.
  3. Go All In With Your Data: To be data-driven, it’s not enough to leverage piecemeal versions of your data or to make decisions based on the information in a single system. Think of the many parts of a business and supply chain that go into the launch of a smartphone. There’s the raw materials supplier, the manufacturer of the phone’s components, final assembly, marketing to promote the phone, shipping, sales and distribution. Contextualizing such a supply chain and making decisions to optimize processes upstream and downstream requires data from all of these sources. Currently, one of our important projects is “susAIn,” where we’re taking financial data and overlaying digital, physical and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) data to understand supplier relationships across supply chains. Our goal is to use the data to help companies know if their suppliers are following ESG best practices and improve accountability and sustainability for the future of our planet.
  4. Don’t Get Lost in the Hype: Every few years a new platform or approach emerges that purports to be the solution to the world’s data management woes. First came enterprise data warehouses, then cloud data warehouses, lakes and lakehouses, and now the hype is all around data fabrics and meshes. With so many approaches to choose from, it can be difficult to narrow down what’s best for your organization. Anything hyped up and new naturally appears enticing. My advice is to not get lost in the hype. Don’t lose sight of the fundamental fact you ultimately need a way to integrate and make sense of all your bits — whether they’re housed in a data lakehouse or data mesh. You will always need a usability layer within your data stack to reap the full benefits of your digital investments.
  5. Distribute Data Assets: When you’ve connected all your data and linked their one-to-many relationships, the assets aren’t limited to a single use but can benefit many parts of the business. This usable data must get distributed across your many customer, business and enterprise systems and processes. In essence, you liberate the data so every last bit can be used and monetized to achieve transformational results. For instance, we’ve helped one global bank attain usable data from 300 million entities across its transaction and payment systems. From these assets, the bank has powered over 30 use cases — from cross-selling and ESG monitoring to fraud detection. In the first year alone, the bank has seen three times the return on investment.

The name of this series is “Data-Driven Work Cultures”. Changing a culture is hard. What would you suggest is needed to change a work culture to become more Data Driven?

Change is a human superpower. But it is also the only constant in life (or so said, Heraclitus). To create a culture that is truly data-driven, people across the organization (whether they are customers, employees or partners) must be educated and bought-in to adopt a data-first mindset.

And I believe this is a unique mindset where it must be engendered across all levels of an organization. It definitely needs complete, unanimous buy-in at the very top (the C-suite and the board). But equally, it needs the creation of capabilities where access to good quality data is democratized across all levels, processes and teams, with a clear, defined vision of how intelligence from data can help improve, simplify and enrich the day-to-day lives of employees, partners and eventually customers.

The key is to invest in capabilities that don’t rely on large human efforts to create usable data, as those efforts will fail and thus become demoralizing. Secondly, it should show quick value so the investment needed to enable this change has a ready supporter in the CFO.

Everyone can agree that putting data-driven intelligence in the hands of employees and customers should result in positive outcomes for all — across every interaction, transaction and business decision. I believe once one person or team starts to demonstrate the impact of having usable data on demand, then it’s easy for a data-driven mindset to go viral as everyone wants to win.

The future of work has recently become very fluid. Based on your experience, how do you think the needs for data will evolve and change over the next five years?

From online shopping and food delivery orders to social media, so much of our daily interactions are happening in the digital world. Over the next five years, I expect 95% of all human activity will leave a digital footprint — and bring with it an exponential proliferation of data.

At that point, unless businesses of all shapes and sizes are adept at using this digital exhaust of data, they will “drown” in their own data lakes.

Does your organization have any exciting goals for the near future? What challenges will you need to tackle to reach them? How do you think data analytics can best help you to achieve these goals?

One of Tresata’s biggest goals is to bring our technology and intellectual property to the masses. We want to empower every business — not just the Fortune 100 — to become data-driven, digital businesses. This includes your neighborhood mom-and-pop stores, local restaurants and every other small- to medium-sized business. Many of them were already forced to become digital during the pandemic, across POS systems, delivery platforms, social media, mobile apps and the like. These platforms contain a veritable treasure trove of customer data that belongs to the businesses, not the platforms, and can help the business understand and better serve each customer. They just need an easy, affordable way to connect all those bits and bytes. That way, for every customer that walks into a corner coffee shop, the barista already knows if their go-to order is the chai latte or the vanilla americano.

How can our readers further follow your work?

To learn more about how Tresata is powering digital business of tomorrow, I invite all interested readers to check out tresata.com and explore our resources section. You can keep up with what’s happening in our global offices on Twitter at @tresata or follow me at @ab_hi_ and on LinkedIn. Here’s to unleashing the power of data to enrich life!!

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

Data-Driven Work Cultures: Abhishek Mehta Of Tresata On How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Neal Sarin of sona Labs On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Trust your gut. Data is important but sometimes your instincts are everything you need to make the right decision.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Neal Sarin.

Sona Founder, Neal Sarin is an entrepreneur, music executive, record producer and screenwriter. He is currently the Founder and CEO of sona labs, music-based digital therapeutics company that uses research-backed restorative music to relieve anxiety naturally and efficiently.

Previously, he served as Head of A&R at JioSaavn — South Asia’s leading music streaming platform (100+ million MAUs). He co-founded the company’s in-house record label and led creative strategy towards ‘artist-friendly’ deals, while producing cross-continental hit records with artists like Nas and Marshmello. After developing the careers of independent South Asian artists, JioSaavn was selected as India’s Most Innovative Company by Fast Company in 2019.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”?

I’m an entrepreneur, A&R executive, and music producer from the Bay Area, California. When I was sixteen, I knew I wanted to develop artists as a profession after interning at Universal Music Group in London. Before founding Sona Labs, I was the Head of A&R at JioSaavn — a South Asian music streaming service based out of New York City. I joined the team to start the company’s in-house record label, which focused on signing South Asian artists. I oversaw the production of cross-continental records with established acts like Nas and Marshmello and signed Prateek Kuhad, Sid Sriram and Zack Knight’s ‘Bom Diggy’.

What led you to this particular career path?

I started learning focused-based meditation back in 2010. It helped reduce my stress, but it also took time, practice, and money to see results. I became inspired to create music that could generate benefits similar to meditation and began composing demos in my home studio in 2015. Over the course of four years, I developed a few songs using a series of composing and sound mixing techniques. I would listen to the music for 10 minutes and it felt like I just had a meditation session. It was also having a similar effect on my friends and family. That was the moment I decided to leave my job and start the company in 2019. I started signing composers in the restorative music space, gave them the composition process as guidelines and worked with them to create their own music.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

At sona, our music is designed to facilitate neural entrainment, which shifts the listener’s brainwaves from an active beta (waking) to alpha (relaxed). We’ve conducted research with leading institutions like UC Berkeley and Nielsen Neuroscience, highlighting our music’s efficacy. We are now working towards becoming the first FDA-approved music-based therapy solution for anxiety, so that sona can be prescribed as treatment by a doctor or psychiatrist.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting?

Our sona co-founder Dennis Hauser was completing an MBA at UC Berkeley and we didn’t have an app yet. Instead of browsing the internet to find developers, we put up flyers around campus to build an MVP. We paid and recruited a young undergrad who quickly developed a working prototype, but none of the code he used was proprietary so we had to rebuild the entire app from scratch.

Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Do your due diligence before hiring someone.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors?

I’ve been fortunate to have learned from inspiring friends, co-workers and family throughout my life.

Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

In 2017, a well-known producer introduced me to his son who was working at Snapchat at the time. I had just signed a record called ‘Bom Diggy’. We worked together to create the first Snap music lens for South Asia, which helped the song go viral and generate over a billion streams.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’?

Being disruptive should be a positive thing to ensure that it benefits society. In our case, we’re creating science-backed music for anxiety as an alternative or supplement to current solutions like prescription medication, CBT, and holistic alternatives like exercise and meditation.

Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’?

It depends on the lens you’re viewing it from. There’s always an audience that resists change. But if you’re helping people with the intention of positively impacting culture, I think it’s worth pursuing.

Can you share some examples of what you mean?

We are working with neuroscientists and GRAMMY-winning producers at the cross-section of music, health and tech. Our solution is a therapeutic app that plays science-backed music that’s been shown to reduce stress and anxiety. We aim to provide a natural, efficient and affordable solution that’s passive and intuitive.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey?

  1. Enjoy what you do. When you’re passionate about something, it helps you get through the inevitable hard times you face as a founder.
  2. Take your time. I view life as a marathon, not a sprint. It’s important to take time for reflection and making important decisions.
  3. Freedom is currency. At sona, we are a fully remote team and part of our culture is to empower one another to maximize the time we have to achieve a balanced lifestyle.
  4. Selling is storytelling. I learned this lesson while raising money. People really do ‘buy’ for emotional reasons.
  5. Trust your gut. Data is important but sometimes your instincts are everything you need to make the right decision.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

At sona, we are conducting research to better understand how sona’s music affects the brain and develop new music-based therapy solutions.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

I recommend Sir Ken Robinson’s talk about creativity and divergent thinking. The link below is an example brought to life through animation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHMUXFdBzik

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?

“Simplicity is the key to brilliance.” — Bruce Lee

Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

It’s a helpful reminder when things get complex.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

At sona, we are incubating a new genre called restorative music, which we believe can help people improve their mental health efficiently, intuitively and affordably.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Meet The Disruptors: Neal Sarin of sona Labs On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Alex Abelin Of PlantBaby On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t take it personally — this can be a tough one for a Founder because your business is personal, but there’s a reason it’s one of the four agreements. Create separation between you and your business and don’t wrap your entire identity in it.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Abelin, Co-Founder of PlantBaby.

Alex Abelin is an innovative entrepreneur, perennial optimist, and spirited connector. He has the unique ability to take big visions and bring them to life. He has founded three companies in diverse categories: PlantBaby in food & beverage; LQD WiFi in communications; LiquidTalent in technology. He spent over seven years working for Google, and two years for Verizon Smart Cities through its acquisition of LQD WiFi. He’s a proud alumnus of UC Berkeley and has called California, New York, and Hawaii home. As a new Dad, Alex is working harder and smarter than ever to make tomorrow’s world better for his son’s generation.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Ever since I was a young boy, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to walk my own path, trailblaze, create, and do something that’s never been done before. My career started at Google because at 22, I wasn’t ready to be a founder. Google was an incredible experience and I ended up spending over seven years at the organization. As my 30th birthday approached, I knew it was time to take the leap of faith. I gave my notice, went on a solo backpacking trip around Southeast Asia, and returned with a full tank of creativity and motivation.

Upon my return, I immediately started building. My first company was LiquidTalent, which was a modern job marketplace. We matched developers and designers with short-term gig projects through a beautiful web and mobile app. My second company was called LQD WiFi, where we re-designed and modernized the payphone into a digitally enabled 13 foot tall kiosk. We sold LQD WiFi to Verizon in 2016.

Now, I’m building my third company, PlantBaby. This time is different, because this company’s origins come from a personal pain point. The pain that my wife Lauren and I felt when we couldn’t find a suitable infant formula for our then six- month year-old son was all encompassing. He had colic and we needed a dairy-free and soy-free formula to supplement my wife’s breast milk. Turns out, it didn’t exist. In March of 2020, we rolled up our sleeves and have been working on family-focused, plant-based solutions ever since.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Most food companies cheat. The next time you’re at the supermarket, look around and read the ingredient labels and nutritional panels. Most of the so-called foods within those paper and plastic and metal containers aren’t actual food. We’re being disruptive because we only use certified-organic whole foods. No fillers, no additives, no weird stuff. We third-party lab test for glyphosate and heavy metals, and our products are carbon-neutral. Our brand is honest, personal and trustworthy. These things may sound simple, but in today’s world, they are very disruptive.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

As mentioned, we started PlantBaby to design the first USA made plant-based infant formula. We are still very committed to this product, but it was naive of me to think that we can just make an infant formula and get it to market off a pre-seed round of funding. Infant formula is one of the most highly regulated products and the FDA is deeply involved. So, looking back on it, my first VC pitch was funny because it didn’t take into account the real costs of getting this product to market. But it was in the aftermath of this now humorous pitch moment we paused, broadened our vision, and developed a product portfolio that includes formulas, beverages, foods, and supplements. That funny pitch opened the door to more than we could ever imagined.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

One of our mentors is Julia Collins, the Founder of Planet FWD and Moonshot Snacks. Julia is a leading voice in the sustainability movement and has been instrumental in helping us think about Planet Earth in every decision we make. We launched Kiki Milk as a climate-friendly product at the end of 2021, and shortly thereafter took it a step further and made it carbon-neutral. Julia has this incredible way about her, a tone that is warm yet authoritative, professional yet personal. We are very grateful for her guidance and support over the years.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Sure, disrupting for disruption sake can be harmful and take you backwards. But those businesses never make it through the gauntlet. True disruption leads to value creation, making a product or service healthier, better, easier, faster. When you think about disruption, think about your end customer’s quality of life rather than from a place of an egoic founder and good things will follow.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

  1. “You’re going to do great.” My wife Lauren tells me this every time I head into a big investor pitch. The stakes are high and nerves are firing, so hearing this very soothing and positive affirmation from her makes all the difference.
  2. “Picture yourself entering the building with your new key fob and badge, and sitting down at your corporate desk on the first day of work.” This visualization technique was offered to me by my friend Colin when we were discussing whether or not I should build my third company or take a more cushy 9–5 job. The feeling of future disappointment settling for a job during that exercise pushed me and inspired me to take another entrepreneurial leap.
  3. Some balls are glass and some are rubber… you don’t have to juggle it all. Find out which ones are rubber and let them bounce so you don’t drop ALL the balls at once.
  4. Don’t take it personally — this can be a tough one for a Founder because your business is personal, but there’s a reason it’s one of the four agreements. Create separation between you and your business and don’t wrap your entire identity in it.
  5. Don’t be penny wise, pound foolish — it’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae and grip everything too tightly. you want to make sure you’re managing the things that actually move your business and not hyper focus on the little things that can be distracting and actually not that important. I also like the 80/20 rule as a compliment to this advice.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

How are we going to shake things up? Well first off, because real food separates, you have to really shake your Kiki Milk! Ok, kinda lame joke. We’re going to shake things up by doing some experiential marketing campaigns (Kiki Milk Ice Cream Truck anyone?!) and offering new products under the Kiki umbrella. We have some very big things planned in the plant-based space in early 2023 so keep an eye out!

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

My favorite books are Journey of Souls, Shantaram, and Harry Potter. I also love The Four Agreements, The Power of Now and most recently, Animal, Vegetable, Junk.

A few years ago, Lauren and I saw Eckhart Tolle speak in New York (the author of The Power of Now, A New Earth, and more) and it was fascinating to witness an enlightened human being. His presence, pace, tone and energy were all just different. One of my favorite things about Eckhart is how we came to reach enlightenment. His depth of struggle, agony and pain was the catalyst that ultimately set him free and into the light and bliss. It’s amazing how interconnected things are, that pain and bliss are two sides of the same coin. I try to remind myself that startup life may have plenty of struggle and pain but it also leads to so much joy, levity and growth.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Savor the moment. I love this life lesson quote because we can often find ourselves living in the future or past. So much mental energy away from the now. Savor the moment reminds me that all we have is now, that today is a precious gift to be celebrated, remembered and enjoyed and not taking anything for granted. In startups, we’re constantly looking ahead at future growth and projections that we can often miss the gems in the moment, the milestones worth celebrating on the journey. Smell the roses.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’m doing this as we speak with PlantBaby and Kiki Milk! We’re on a mission to nourish, inform and empower future generations with access to real food. We care deeply about the health of humans and the planet, and we intend to be one of the organizations that ushers all of us into a brighter, more healthier future.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can find me online at my website: https://www.alexabelin.com/

My businesses can be found here: https://www.plantbaby.co/ + https://www.kikimilk.com/Thanks for reading!

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Meet The Disruptors: Alex Abelin Of PlantBaby On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Richie Frieman of Brand U Sports: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And Beloved Brand

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Know who you are. Wanting to be a “jack of all” can be exhausting and also dilute your brand’s efforts. Being niche and dedicated to a vertical is valuable. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with punching out of your weight class and trying to be a greater than you are but don’t take a fight too early.

As part of our series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand, I had the pleasure to interview Richie Frieman.

St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Publishing dubbed Richie Frieman a “Modern Day Renaissance Man” due to a career that spans life as an author, illustrator, artist, entrepreneur, screenwriter, cartoonist, and even a champion professional wrestler. He is a #1 best selling and award winning author and illustrator of seven books in multiple genres, with work being sold worldwide.

Outside of the arts, Frieman is the Co-Founder/CEO of Brand U Sports, an innovative sports marketing firm dedicated to connecting brands with NCAA student athletes through brand ambassador programs for Name Image Likeness (NIL) sponsorships.

Over the years, Frieman’s success has landed him on media outlets across the globe, appearing live on numerous radio and TV shows, including MSNBC and FOX News Entertainment, and featured in Time Magazine, Money Magazine, Yahoo, Martha Stewart, Forbes Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, Huffington Post, Fast Company, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Parade, Story Monsters Ink, and many more.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I call myself a “professional tryer” in that I’ve been able to chase — and accomplish — careers or aspects of my personality that had a career path to them. From art, to wrestling, to the corporate world, whenever I found something I was interested in, I reached out to anyone I could find to learn more. I networked, I asked around, I took meetings, and then was able to capitalize on my hustle. The backbone of everything, really comes down to marketing though, which is what led to the development of Brand U Sports. To make it anywhere — in any career — you have to market yourself and your abilities, or else no one will care. So, when the Name Image and Likeness (NIL) law was passed (which I had been following), my two partners and I (both long time marketers) saw a niche where we could help out these college athletes expand their brand in a positive way. It’s been amazing to see the growth of the industry and of Brand U Sports. I was able to use my love for sports, working with people, and business background to create a firm place in a very growing industry.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I love this question because I know for a fact that everyone has that one “oops” moment but doesn’t like to talk about it. Not me! I love a good laugh at my own expense. Without giving names, I was presenting a product/opportunity to a very important client and when I went to pull up my presentation on my computer, it had disappeared. Apparently some virus hit my computer and zapped what I had on my desktop. I had backups but not on me, so, I improvised. I played it off like that was a part of the plan all along. “Everyone shows you slides… I want to show you with my actions!” Pulling into my professional wrestling background, I put on a show of energy, excitement, and turned my presentation into some whimsical form of performance art, acting out my concept. Big hand gestures, movements, you name it — I pulled out all the stops. I was actually sweating too and not from the nerves.

But it worked and we got the client. From that day forward, I always have a backup file or plan just in case. That was exhausting! However nerve racking it was, it gave me the confidence to believe in my abilities to work off my feet and handle tough issues with some creative grace.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Brand U Sports takes our brand-first model to become an outlier in the sports marketing world. We know what brands want and we know how to meet those needs. What makes Brand U Sports stand out is that we’re the only company in the sports marketing realm that made it a mission to “play nice” with everyone by carving out a unique niche in the sports marketing world. We know our industry better than anyone and understand that the real influence lay in h If you’re an athlete, we’re here to help you get exposure but don’t “own” you any longer than the contract of the campaign. So, we give the athlete their freedom and they give us their commitment. If you’re an agent, we’re going to bring deals to you, to give your athletes’ opportunities.

Here, we’re not trying to take their clients, but rather give the agent proof to show their clients that they can bring the athlete opportunities. If we’re working with your brand, we’re the best consultants and connectors for your team, doing all the heavy lifting and working the tough corners of NCAA sports marketing they’re not used to. And if you’re a marketing firm who is hired by a brand, we’ll work with you, under you, so you keep your brand happy. We don’t ask for the attention but rather make you look good for your brand. It’s an overall win-win. We aren’t trying to be anything we’re not and take over other lines of business that don’t involve our mission — regardless of how attractive it may appear.

As a result, we have essentially created a marketing machine that works as a connector to every facet of the NCAA sports world; not stepping on anyone’s toes, playing well in others’ sandboxes, and creating long term value to athletes, agents, and other marketing firms.

We’re everyone’s best friend and they know we can deliver… because we do. Not many people can say that.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

A recent project we worked on was with Dr. Scholl’s and The University of North Carolina Tar Heels football team, along with the legendary NFL football coach, Rex Ryan. We had 8 players, promoting two of their new products. The reason that has been so fun is because we’re working with the entire UNC sports team from compliance office, to coaches, to players, to the alumni who are making sure that UNC gets the attention they deserve. When it’s a full-campus, it always makes it more fun. Plus, we were able to bring an international brand, that was designed to help athletes, to a group of individuals who use it in real time to remain in top shape.

The campaign we created allowed the product to be showcase in real time, to real athletes that have a very busy schedule, which make balancing their health difficult at times. The life of a D1 athlete is challenging and although they have many cool amenities in the facilities, it’s up to each individual player to do what they can for their body. It was an eye opener for all of them and we loved how it came out!

Ok let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

The way I see it, brand marketing (branding) is about the entirety — culture, audience, and beliefs — of the company/persona. Product marketing rather, is an extension of the brand that is being presented to the public. For example, an entertainer or influencer is a brand unto themselves (LeBron, Nike, Vineyard Vines, etc.) but their new custom shoe is a product they’re marketing. The products will come and go, or be one of many for a brand, but the brand as a whole and entity is what is the real driver for a long standing relationship with the public. Rolex will always have the brand image of class, status, and wealth, regardless of how many products they market. This is because they have invested in curating their brand to a certain standard that has become the standard in our culture.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

It’s important to invest resources and energy into building a brand because it’s the foundation of your public structure. Without a solid brand, there is no sustainability for long term success, which includes commitment from the public. Yes, general marketing and advertising are essential, however everything comes back to how the public or consumer views the messenger of those marketing and advertising efforts. For example, you can advertise how great your clothes are and how fashionable they appear but if you find out the brand is running a sweatshop paying people pennies, and the corporate office is a disaster of a work environment, then no one will buy those fancy clothes.

Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand? Please tell us a story or example for each.

  1. Don’t rely on the gimmicks. Gimmicks are good to get some hype and attention but if a gimmick gets old it becomes tacky and untrustworthy. You may get lucky for a while but eventually people will see through the holes of a brand’s shtick and you’ll lose credibility.
  2. Know who you are. Wanting to be a “jack of all” can be exhausting and also dilute your brand’s efforts. Being niche and dedicated to a vertical is valuable. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with punching out of your weight class and trying to be a greater than you are but don’t take a fight too early.
  3. Always be authentic. People can see through a façade easily. They may not come out and say it but the minute you’re looked at as phony or pretentious, people will start to look elsewhere. Being true to your brand’s values and core areas makes you essential for the long run.
  4. Don’t be a jerk. At the Baltimore Ravens games, the saying, “Don’t be a jerk!” is shown on the big screen to remind rowdy fans that the Ravens’ stadium is not a place for hooliganism. This notion is true in creating a trustworthy and believable brand. Stand up for yourself, take on an argument when you have to, but don’t be a jerk. Don’t treat people like they’re less than you or use improper humor at their expense to show your dominance. No one is ever that good that others will tolerate being rude.
  5. The butt you kick on the way up, is the butt you kiss on the way down. When I was training to be a professional wrestler, one of the veterans told me that saying and I will never forget it. It means, don’t step on people with your climb to the top because eventually they’ll catch up, and they will remember how you treated them. A brand is an lifestyle commitment and similar to “don’t be a jerk”, people’s memories of how you didn’t play well with others, will tarnish your brand with serious consequences.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

One of my favorite brands is Ralph Lauren (Polo) which has created a culture of class, comfort, elegance, and American heritage, that has crossed not only generations but geographics as well. Whether it’s pajamas, their legendary polo shirt, suits, dresses, accessories, even coffee at Ralph’s Coffee in New York, when you see that brand you automatically know it’s high quality and timeless class. For example, the RL polo shirts could very well be one of the most iconic fashion pieces that hasn’t changed (much) in decades. To this day, I have RL polos that are over ten years old and when I go into a RL store now that same polo is there; same look, same feel, same level of class. RL is timeless and because of that, they have remained on the top of the game for almost sixty years.

The way you can replicate the heritage and culture of Ralph Lauren is make sure that everything you do has the same messaging throughout. Whether it’s a clothing brand or a food truck, stick to your style and be consistent; your message, your photos, your tone, your color pallet in designs, etc. People will catch on — and commit — when they know something is classic.

In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand building campaign? Is it similar, is it different?

Measuring success isn’t always about dollars. Of course, if you’re not making money, you don’t have a business but sometimes the ROI on a campaign isn’t necessarily about the monetary return. What your ultimate goal should be is dedication and commitment from your customers. That commitment will convert into sales overtime and multiply for years to come. That customer commitment is what makes a brand legendary and superior in their marketplace.

What role does social media play in your branding efforts?

Today, without a shadow of a doubt, social media plays the most essential role in your branding efforts. Social media is the most cost effective, convenient, and timely form of branding any company can maintain. The ROI on a social media engagement is not only more valuable but it’s the safest way for trial and error. Everyone spends more time on their phones/devices than anywhere else and the social aspect of marketing is the fastest way to provide your desired conversion. With that, don’t feel like you have to master all platforms 100%; try the ones that work best for your brand and blow it out that way. Work the channels that your audience is likely to use and they’ll join in.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

If I had my choice, one movement would be to give more attention to the arts. I’ve been an artist my whole life and it’s a form of self expression that has allowed me to become who I am today. Sadly, the arts are being cut in schools and kids are being pushed away from the arts for other professions. Regardless of what medium (theater, painting, music, etc.) the arts are a way to handle anxieties, self expression, and build your confidence. Plus, there is not “wrong” in art and that allows for people to find their way, while stumbling around to gather their footing in life.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Crazier things have happened than my dreams coming true.” If I had a nickel for every time someone told me I was going to fail or an idea was too whacky, I could outbid Elon Musk for Twitter. It’s remarkable every time someone tells me something won’t work out and it took many years for me to stop listening to that nonsense. Remember when those two goofy brothers in North Carolina wanted to build a “flying machine” made out of timber covered with fabric? How many times did they hear “You’re nuts!” When you think about all the insanely wild things people have done and then think about what you want to do and how it compares to that, it puts things in perspective. Plus, it’s always the doubters that are the first to look for a handout once you have any success.

We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Wow, that’s a tough one. But if I’m really going pie in the sky, and can pick anyone it would be Paul McCartney. I’m a huge Beatles fan and his influence was so immense globally (or across the universe) and generationally. But as a writer, I’m always fascinated about the story behind the art and what made someone create what they did. Although I’ve heard many of those stories in his interviews, to hear him talk in person, over lunch or breakfast, would be insane!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Yes, @RichieFrieman on Twitter and Instagram and @BrandUSports on Instagram

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

Richie Frieman of Brand U Sports: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And Beloved Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ulli Appelbaum Of First The Trousers Then The Shoes: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And…

Ulli Appelbaum Of First The Trousers Then The Shoes: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And Beloved Brand

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Give meaning to your brand beyond product features and specs. Unless you are an innovation leader and are able to maintain a competitive advantage via product features you should try to create brand associations that transcend features. But even if you can do so (focus on features) it is hard to maintain this approach in the long run.

As part of our series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand, I had the pleasure to interview Ulli Appelbaum.

Ulli Appelbaum is the founder of brand research and strategy firm First The Trousers Then The Shoes Inc. (www.First-the-trousers.com) and the author of the award winning “The Brand Positioning Workbook: A simple how-to guide to more compelling brand positionings, faster”. He lives in the US but works globally.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

When in business school, I initially wanted to do my Master thesis about supply chain management and
“just-in-time” manufacturing, a concept developed in Japan by Toyota, if I remember well. But as I learned more about the subject and talked to more people, I realized that I was more interested in the cultural aspect and the people side than the logistics and manufacturing side. At the same time, I came across Trout & Ries’ book on Positioning and was hooked right away. A few internships confirmed my interest in the subject and led to a career as account planner and brand strategist in various agencies in Europe and for the last 20 years in the US.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I was in the process of moving to the US to work for one of the most creative agencies in the world at the time. We were pitching a very important and significant piece of business. I had been hired because of my experience with this type of business and client.

The final and all decisive presentation took place in a conference room in the Waldorf Astoria in NYC. There were around 20 senior international executives on the client side, all the senior executives of the agency that had just hired me as well as the CEO of the holding company to which this agency belonged. I was probably the most junior person in this room.

Everything was timed to the second and I remember I had 7 minutes for my part. We rehearsed and rehearsed. At the end of my part, I was supposed to play one of the client’s commercials and show them a tag we had added to the commercial. We wanted to add this tag to all their ads around the world, so it was a big deal and an important part of the recommendation.

My part went great and was coming to an end, and 6 minutes and 10 seconds into my presentation I pressed “play” on the AV system. But I was so tense and nervous that I pressed “stop” at the end of the commercial and before the tag. The second I pressed “stop”, my world switched to slow motion. I realized my mistake and saw the global chief creative officer raise in slow motion screaming “nooooooo……” leaping across the room and taking over the control of the AV system. I remember thinking, “well I might as well not unpack my suitcases and just fly back to Germany. Goodbye dreams to live and work in the USA for one of the best advertising agencies in the world.” Luckily my immediate reaction was to say “and THIS ladies and gentlemen is how we do NOT recommend building your brand around the world. Our global chief creative director will now show you what we ACTUALLY recommend doing”. The one advantage of my mistake and the commotion it created was that it woke up half the client executives who were slowly dozing off allowing us to get their full attention for the closing section of the presentation.

At the end of the meeting and once the client had left, the CEO of my new agency came over to me and gave me hug (he must have known how devastated I felt even though I maintained my professional composure), the chief creative director decided to affectionately call me “button” for a month following the presentation and the CEO of the holding company promised to send me to AV training to learn the difference between “play” and “stop” while shaking my hand with a smirk.

A week later we had won that global business.

I learned a few lessons that day:

  1. Mistakes are human. They make us likable and are not the end of the world. Since then, I’ve significantly improved my presentations not by being perfect but simply by embracing my own style and having fun with the mistakes I still make.
  2. The unconditional and non-judgmental support of your executive leadership team is priceless in making you feel valued and an important member of the organization.
  3. The difference between “play” and “stop.”

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

The name of my company, First The Trousers Then The Shoes Inc. says it all. We are a brand research and strategy firm that believes in strategy first but also that the strategy development process is first and foremost a creative problem-solving process. As such we combine analytical rigor with tools and techniques that promote divergent thinking, the key to coming up with truly novel ideas. For our positioning development methodology, for example we leverage the insights of 1,200 case studies of effective brand building to stimulate and inspire our thought process when working with a client on a project.

The outcome is that we often help our clients reframe the way they look at their business and uncover a world of new opportunities. After a large segmentation and positioning project leading to over 60 new product ideas, a senior client walked up to me and said “I’ve worked in this category for over 20 years but have never thought about our business in this way. And yet the way you helped us reframe it makes so much sense.” These are the moments I live for as a consultant.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I recently helped an online fundraising platform understand its market and define its positioning. During the pandemic the online fundraising market had exploded, and while the company saw tremendous growth it wasn’t in control of its growth. In addition to that, their customer base was extremely diverse. By helping them frame the very chaotic and complex market of donations, quantify their business opportunity, and help them understand their core consumer segments, we were able to help them focus on their core strengths and provide the clarity they needed to better allocate their limited resources. I had also added to my team a DE&I expert allowing us to really understand the needs and perspectives of their diverse customer base. As a result, not only did the strategy and positioning coming out of this project crystallize the brands core values and strengths, carve out a unique and appealing positioning in this very cluttered market, it also allowed us to extend the access to this platform to under-privileged communities that otherwise would not have had access.

Ok let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Let’s start by defining what a brand is. In my perspective a brand is the sum of all the associations a specific offering has in the mind of its core target audience. The associations are the sum of what the consumers experience themselves, what their friends and family say about the offering, what media and culture in general say about the offering and what the company itself claims about its offering through new product development, marketing and advertising and so forth. These brand associations also need to be rooted in the product or service (or idea), else the company will not be perceived as genuine and risk a consumer backslash. A typical example would be for a brand to claim to be sustainable even though it is not (using advertising to try to create a sustainability brand association).

As such a strong brand should always start with a great and unique product or service or idea and bring it to life in a compelling and differentiating marketing program (the 4 Ps of marketing) including advertising. A great example of that is Chobani which started with an amazing product (Greek yogurt) and a purposeful approach to business and marketing.

The role of marketing and advertising should then be to 1. Reinforce the desired brand associations (brand positioning) and 2. To keep those desired brand associations relevant and contemporary over time.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

Investing in a brand, or more specifically investing in clear and differentiating brand associations, is comparable to compound interest. Over time and if invested in regularly, these associations will grow stronger and more distinctive making the brand less vulnerable to competition and less sensitive to price variations.

There is a whole body of research that shows that strong and distinctive brand associations lead to better brand salience (the likelihood that a brand will be thought of at the moment of purchase), that brands with strong and differentiating brand associations are less price sensitive and more profitable and that companies that continue to invest in their brands during recessions will grow faster than brands that do not invest during those times. Investing in your brand means creating an intangible value to your consumers that competition cannot replicate.

Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand? Please tell us a story or example for each.

Understand the people buying your brand. I am purposefully not saying the “consumers” as most consumers do not think about your brand as much as you do. Yes, it is important to understand the category dynamics and purchase drivers in your specific market, but it is equally If not more important to understand people’s broader values and perspectives, their rituals, and the role your brand plays in their lives. One brand that understood the people buying its brand is the candy bar Kit Kat in Japan. In fact, Kit Kat is Kitto Katto in Japanese, which roughly translates into “You’re bound to win” or even, “Never fail.” As a result, one in three Japanese students are said to purchase Kit Kats before an entrance examination and one in five reportedly bring Kit Kats to where they take the test! Nestle, the company owning Kit Kat has even developed special packaging for this occasion. Thanks to its name and the brand team’s savviness, Kit Kat has become an essential part of the Japanese preparation rituals for taking entry exams, a unique position no competitor can aspire to claim.

Understand that brands are networks of associations in the mind of the people buying your brands and that your job as a marketer is to create and reinforce those associations. You would run away if your doctor told you, “oh I am not sure how your body works, but please entrust me with your health, I ‘ll take good care of you and make sure you live a long and healthy life”. As such, you should either create your own brand associations or borrow associations from something else. The National Pork Board for example closely associated itself with chicken by claiming that pork is “The other white meat”, clearly positioning itself as an alternative to what is perceived as a healthier alternative to red meat, while taking full advantage of all the positive associations created by the idea of “white meat”. This “reframing” led to an increase in pork sales of 20%.

Define the 3 or 4 associations you want your brand to stand for (positioning) and focus all your resources on building these associations without distractions. Geiko has spent the last twenty years single-mindedly telling us what it stands for so that when we hear “15 minutes could save you..” we all say “15%” in unison.

Give meaning to your brand beyond product features and specs. Unless you are an innovation leader and are able to maintain a competitive advantage via product features you should try to create brand associations that transcend features. But even if you can do so (focus on features) it is hard to maintain this approach in the long run. Think about Gillette. First, they offered one blade for a cleaner shave, then 2, then 3, then 4. How many blades does one need for a clean shave? Same with the iPhone. Is there really a significant difference between the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 13? One example of a brand that did it well is Beats by Dre, which became the leading brand of headphones with a claimed 70% market share. It was intentionally associated with the pre-game moments where athletes try to focus on the game by blocking out all the noise, criticism, and self-doubts, and basically get mentally ready for the game. By doing so, it took the category generic functional benefit of “noise cancellation”, created an association with this very specific and relevant listening occasion, and turned it into a relevant consumer benefit of “achieving focus”. All without claiming any superior functional benefit.

Create distinctive brand assets and continuously communicate them across touchpoints: some of these brand associations are brand assets, the logo or brand mark, the primary colors, the shape, a character or spokesperson, a jingle, everything that makes your brand distinctive. Brand assets are often underrated and typically ignored by advertising agencies. And yet research firm Quantar has shown that strong and distinctive brand assets lead to a 57% increase in brand salience, i.e. your brand is 57% more likely to be thought of when the consumer is making a purchase decision when you have strong and distinctive brand assets. That doesn’t mean that your communication needs to be boring. Brands that excel at this include McDonald, Heinz Ketchup, Veuve Clicquot, Apple and basically every brand you immediately recognize even without seeing the logo.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

One brand that has done a fantastic job is Heinz Ketchup. Over the decades it has stood by its positioning and core product values. For example- one of the negatives associated with Heinz’s Ketchup has always been its slow pour (before the introduction of the plastic squeeze bottle). But instead of ignoring the issue Heinz has regularly embraced it to justify the richness and quality of its product, an unwavering commitment to its positioning and the brand associations it had created. It even went as far as to tilt the labels on its bottles so that the label would be perfectly horizontal when held in the position that ensured the best pour angle. Heinz turned a perceived negative into a positive by justifying it with the product’s richness and quality.

In addition to that, Heinz Ketchup has built iconic brand assets (the shape of the bottle and the color red) which are immediately recognizable around the world. As a result, any other ketchup brand around the world -and there are a lot- is only seen as a “second best”.

In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand building campaign? Is it similar, is it different?

Sales is ultimately the only success metric. However, from a branding perspective brand equity is the second. What is brand equity? Simply the combination of two elements: brand awareness (how many people know of you) or to be more specific brand salience (how many people think of your brand at the moment of purchase) and strength and differentiation of your brand associations (sometimes also called brand image). As such, the metrics you want to track include brand salience as well as the strength and distinctiveness of the brand associations you want to create.

What role does social media play in your branding efforts?

Social media is typically an amplifier of an existing communication plan. Again, research shows that a campaign will be more effective when spread across a variety of communication channels, including social media. I do not believe in this popular saying that the consumer owns your brand and that social media is a great channel to have “conversations” with consumers. When was the last time you actually had a conversation on Facebook or Instagram with your preferred brand of mayonnaise? My point exactly.

Social media can also be a great source of learning for a brand and a great way to be in touch with culture by observing and monitoring what resonates with consumers. The trick is to listen to a brands’ real consumers and not to the armchair activists that have a loud voice but don’t buy the product. Research showed for example that in the case of a social media backslash (for example Peloton a year or so ago or Chick-fil-A a few years back) the loudest complaints came from people who have never or will never buy the brand. Those are obviously not the people you want to listen to.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I live in a bicultural, biracial household. I’ve lived in nine countries and cultures across three continents. I really consider myself as a citizen of the world even though I really enjoy my suburban lifestyle in Minnesota. If I could inspire a movement, it would be a movement about promoting global understanding and tolerance and about valuing and celebrating our cultural differences. And while this may sound ambitious, I started small by creating a set of game cards called “The 26 Most Popular Children Games From Around The World” which teaches children in a playful way about other cultures. I only sell the cards over the holidays on Amazon and donate the proceeds to charity. It is not much, but a little contribution and a first step.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

As I mentioned, I grew up in different cultures and was strongly influenced by this variety and diversity. The quote I always come back to thanks to this experience is Marcel Proust’s “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” You could say that this “life lesson” has guided me in everything I do, in my consulting practice, when writing my Brand Positioning Workbook and in the way I approach life and every day.

We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

I would love to have breakfast with Ryan Reynolds to understand how he found his voice and lunch with Kim Jong-un, yes, the leader of North Korea, not because I admire him but to get a glimpse into his world views (beyond politics and geo-politics).

How can our readers follow you on social media?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ulliappelbaum/

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

Ulli Appelbaum Of First The Trousers Then The Shoes: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Austin Rolling Of Outfield: How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Break up emails are the best. You’ll be surprised at how often customers respond stating that they would like to move forward.

As a part of my series about how to be great at closing sales without seeming pushy, obnoxious, or salesy, I had the pleasure of interviewing Austin Rolling.

Austin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Outfield, a web and mobile based CRM that specializes in data driven revenue and efficiency solutions for organizations with an Outside Sales force. Outfield’s League Play app is the first of its kind, bringing together sales and gaming. It is designed for sales reps to showcase their talents in a friendly and competitive way, while ultimately contributing to their company’s main goal: driving revenue performance.

Thank you for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to this career path?

I started Outfield to solve a problem that I had personally experienced working for several different companies as an outside sales person. The tools these companies provided to us were supposed to support our workflow requirements and expectations. However, they did just the opposite. The complex UI/UX arrangement instead made our jobs more difficult and tedious.

Essentially, I believed I knew what a better solution could look like for the specific job function. And when given the opportunity, I sought out to build on my ideas. The rest is history.

Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?

Probably the most interesting thing about my career deals in launching Outfield. For the first year and a half I was homeless. I would couch surf and sleep on the floors of various friends and family.

I learned three things from that experience: Focus on your vision. Manage your mental health. And see failure as an opportunity.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

We are working on the Closer’s app, which is going to be the world’s first globalized sales league! It’s set to be launched in the next few weeks.

Based on its focus on enhancing the utilization of CRM, It will help various parties. This includes sales reps, sales managers, and the company in general.

Sales reps can expect more recognition and potential for advanced career opportunities.

Sales Managers can expect better CRM adoption, improved reporting, data entry, data output and less of their CRM budget going to waste.

For companies, once systems are properly adopted and the sales organization is equipped with the appropriate information, they now have the two most important foundations for success in driving revenue.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Manish Patel is a friend and mentor of mine. He is the individual who sold the initial code of Outfield to us and essentially became our first partner and customer in the process. Partnering with him in the beginning is what ultimately led to our sustainability early on.

For the benefit of our readers, can you tell us a bit why you are an authority on the topic of sales?

Why some might consider me an authority in sales would be most likely based on my experience. I’ve worked in sales for over 20 years in various roles. I was a high performing sales person across various industries. As well as a sales manager responsible for leading over 80 sales reps at once. And now I’m co-founder and CEO of Outfield, which is a Gaming CRM and solution to sales professionals around the world. I’ve built a platform that serves thousands of sales people.

Now I’m working to build the world’s first digital sales league where’s sales rep around the world compete for prizes, recognition, and awards.

Ok. Thanks for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. As you know, nearly any business a person will enter, will involve some form of sales. At the same time, most people have never received any formal education about how to be effective at selling. Why do you think our education system teaches nearly every other arcane subject, but sales, one of the most useful and versatile topics, is totally ignored?

I’m not really sure why that has been the case. It might be a chicken and an egg type problem. Are universities not offering sales programs due to low demand? I’ve actually never come across someone with a degree in sales. Most people I know just fall into the role of a sales professional.

However, I believe it is changing. I’m seeing more universities offering sales training courses. For example, The University of Houston has a program called the Sales Academy, which teaches college students selling techniques. More specifically, they offer training in SaaS selling. I do not see this trend slowing, as the demand for quality sellers is increasing every day.

This discussion, entitled, “How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy”, is making an assumption that seeming salesy or pushy is something to be avoided. Do you agree with this assumption? Whether yes, or no, can you articulate why you feel the way you do?

In all of my career as a sales professional. I never used “being pushy” to close deals. Yes, you want to nudge and suggest respectfully, but at the end of the day I always wanted to be guilt free in any deal that I made. For me that meant articulating value to the best of my ability in a way that addresses the needs of the customer. If I’m unable to do that, then it means it wasn’t the right option or time for the buyer. You can not dwell on a missed opportunity. Move on.

The seven stages of a sales cycle are usually broken down to versions of Prospecting, Preparation, Approach, Presentation, Handling objections, Closing, and Follow-up. Which stage do you feel that you are best at? What is your unique approach, your “secret sauce”, to that particular skill? Can you explain or give a story?

The discovery call is where I’m at my best. That’s primarily because I put the most emphasis on this phase. It’s the most important in my opinion. Everything you learn from the customer at the initial stage will help you convert each of the following sales steps properly, ultimately leading to a sales conversion.

The “secret sauce” to discovery calls is my ability to switch my persona. I choose a different hat to wear. Rather than conducting the call as a sales person, I approach the call as if I was interviewing the person. When you wear the hat of an interviewer you instantly become way more curious, conversational, and exude having less of a sales agenda. As a result, the prospect is less guarded and you wind up learning more valuable information.

Lead generation, or prospecting, is one of the basic steps of the sales cycle. Obviously, every industry will be different, but can you share some of the fundamental strategies you use to generate good, qualified leads?

Our focus has been primarily on leveraging proper SEO practices in order to drive warm leads to us. We also have referral targets that each sales person should hit a month.

Roughly 90% of our leads are generated from inbound marketing efforts and word of mouth.

In my experience, I think the final stages of Handling Objections, Closing, and Follow-up, are the most difficult parts for many people. Why do you think ‘Handling Objections’ is so hard for people? What would you recommend for one to do, to be better at ‘Handling Objections’?’’

Overcoming objections becomes way easier if you conduct a proper discovery call. The reason why so many have challenges in closing is because they don’t really know enough about the customer’s pain points to target them. If you drive the dagger into a pain point deep enough, you’ll get the sales. You just need to know where to target.

Something else I tell my guys is to use both logic and emotion in your proposal delivery. Not only do you target the pain point with a dagger, you make a financial case for your offering. Use numbers as proof.

‘Closing’ is of course the proverbial Holy Grail. Can you suggest 5 things one can do to successfully close a sale without being perceived as pushy? If you can, please share a story or example, ideally from your experience, for each.

Assume the deal will close.

Offer more than one option so that the customer feels like they have some control.

Reiterate the customer’s pain points (use their words as they were communicated to you) at the start of the call. Follow up with how your product or service solves for their pain point.

Remain professional, while being assertive. Do not get bodied by the customer.

Give off the impression that you’re okay with walking away from the deal. Don’t come off as desperate.

Finally, what are your thoughts about ‘Follow up’? Many businesses get leads who might be interested but things never seem to close. What are some good tips for a business leader to successfully follow up and bring things to a conclusion, without appearing overly pushy or overeager?

Break up emails are the best. You’ll be surprised at how often customers respond stating that they would like to move forward.

Sometimes the timing just isn’t right for the customer. In a final email or phone call steer clear of coming off as passive aggressive. This will put a sour taste in the mouth of the prospect and surely ruin any potential deals for the future.

Be respectful and move on.

As you know there are so many modes of communication today. For example, In-person, phone calls, video calls, emails, and text messages. In your opinion, which of these communication methods should be avoided when attempting to close a sale or follow up? Which are the best ones? Can you explain or give a story?

Do not attempt to close a deal via email or text. It’s lazy and will prove to be ineffective. Moreover, tone is oftentimes difficult to sense in these forms of communication.

In-Person and video calls are my favorite. It’s easier to present and have prospects follow along to your business proposal. It also helps with capturing the full attention of a prospective customer. Overcoming objections is easier because you hear tone, vocal inflections, body movement, etc. These are all clues to what the person might be thinking.

Ok, we are nearly done. Here is our final “meaty” question. You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

There needs to be more economic resources driven in the direction of entrepreneurs who come from underserved communities. Oftentimes, minorities are overlooked for investment opportunities even when their ideas are brilliant. Venture Capital, historically, has had a type of face they’ve gravitated to with their resources. Purposely. It’s unfortunate for the groups of people who are left out.

My goal is to eventually become a founder of a VC firm with the focus on serving African American entrepreneurs.

How can our readers follow you online?

Linkedin

Thank you for the interview. We wish you only continued success!

Austin Rolling Of Outfield: How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Agile Businesses: Josh Berman of C2C Global On How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant In The Face…

Agile Businesses: Josh Berman of C2C Global On How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant In The Face of Disruptive Technologies

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Build an intentional culture. Be transparent. Be honest. Encourage open feedback in both directions. Don’t feel like you need to stand in front of the room or stand in front of the initiative.

As a part of my series about the “How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant In The Face of Disruptive Technologies”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Josh Berman.

Josh Berman is President of C2C Global and an expert in community building with a long track record of establishing connections between technology companies and their target audiences.

In his role at C2C Global, Josh curates and facilitates timely industry discussions for cloud users — oftentimes having representatives from partner organizations take part to provide expert commentary on how to use the cloud for success. He brings together thousands of users a day to collaborate to solve problems such as cybersecurity, data management, cloud storage and management and eCommerce issues.

As the largest community of Google Cloud users, C2C has helped forge relationships and develop new, cutting edge approaches to problem solving. For example, it recently launched its Google Cloud Startups group after seeing many startups join the community struggle to learn how to best leverage Google Cloud for their business. C2C serves a host of startups at various stages, from those who just launched, to startups in the trenches of scaling their business. No matter what phase of business they are in, these businesses seek this community to make connections, share ideas, ask questions, and contribute.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I got my start in tech. In the late 90s and early 00s, I was doing hands-on work with applications and IT products. For the last decade-plus, however, I’ve made community my specialty. I’ve had the fortune to stand up user communities at some of the biggest companies in today’s tech and innovation universe. Including Oracle and Palo Alto Networks. Going into my current role at C2C, I knew I was entering a customer ecosystem with amazing potential for growth.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

I remember standing in front of a group of a couple hundred people in an airplane hangar in Dallas, Texas. I looked at some rocketship looking thing, and something made me think of Houston and NASA, and I’m like, “Hello Houston.” The dude in the front seat’s like, “We’re in Dallas, man.” That reminded me to be in the moment and really shift as hard and fast as I can to active listening.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I learn most from the teams I work with. I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to hire many people I’ve built lasting relationships with. There is really no substitute for that. Some of my closest colleagues are people I’ve brought with me through several initiatives, even at different companies, and some of those people are still with me today at C2C. Mentorship is important, and I try to give as much as I take, but it also moves in all directions.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?

What’s old is new again. In the 90s the original OEMs that had amazing software, like IBM, Oracle, they didn’t have great call deflection strategy. People just struggled when they had a problem, so what they did was they found each other and formed user groups, and then software got better. The need for what I consider the user group 2.0 or community has become incredibly valuable again, critical. It’s like an open source. You need to recognize that you only can do and know so much internal to your company. You have to be able to have your people connected outside to a larger ecosystem to stay relevant, stay on top of things, keep a good healthy relationship with the next hires, all that.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you tell our readers a bit about what your business does? How do you help people.

Everyone needs their customers’ feedback, advocacy, and I think everywhere, getting connected, staying connected, finding your peers, whether they work with you in a company or just do something similar in other companies, other industries, finding them and connecting to them is critical, especially as we’re all working from home, we’re working elsewhere. The need for community is stronger than it’s ever been. C2C is here for that reason: to fill that need for Google Cloud’s customer base.

Which technological innovation has encroached or disrupted your industry? Can you explain why this has been disruptive?

There’s been a confluence of shifts in the market in the last couple of years. Nobody is going to anyone’s website to ask and get their opinions of themselves. Everyone goes to Opentable or Yelp when they go to Chicago, and they want to pick the best deep dish pizza because there’s twelve of them. Same thing in B2B. A customer a peer-sourced platform is a critical path for any large tech company, for their customers to be talking about what it’s like to work with them.

What did you do to pivot as a result of this disruption?

When I had the opportunity to jump on to C2C, one of the things I asked for was the ability to get to know the current team, and ultimately to blow it up. We need to over-hire, we need to hire people who really could operate at the next level. I don’t know marketing. I like marketing, I have an opinion often, but I’m no marketer. I’m not a CFO. I’m not an events czar. So seeking permission, which I was super fortunate to get to do, to hire a very strong leadership team.

Was there a specific “Aha moment” that gave you the idea to start this new path? If yes, we’d love to hear the story.

I think my team can relate to me saying yes to certain things and going, “What the hell?” So making sure you’ve got the support of them team and you’re delivering back to the client, whatever that client looks like, like whether it’s a community or a classic vendor relationship, what they need and not what they want.

So, how are things going with this new direction?

We’ve got the teams. We can operate at scale. We’ve built templates and frameworks and a philosophy and an approach. We’re not perfect, and we’re subject to change, but I think in many ways getting a strong leadership team in place has been a lesson I’ve learned.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this pivot?

I have this deep personal learned philosophy which is, go meet people in person. For me, personally, sitting at home was tough. I learned a lot, and I adapted, I evolved. As we’ve gotten this thing off the ground in the past year and a half, I’ve tried very hard to get on every airplane I possibly can to get to these events, to meet all of these important people, whether they’re team, Googlers, partners, customers, and I did that before, when I had an opportunity to help launch the Palo Alto Networks Fuel community.

What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during a disruptive period?

I think it’s making sure that you’re building a very intentional culture. Everyone’s treated the same way to the degree that it’s reasonable and possible and consistent with the way the organization is laid out. I think companies can be really short-sighted with their hiring strategy. Going back, I would rather hire from the top down than just be putting out fires by hiring one thing after another based on what’s on our plate.

When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?

A company always needs to invest in research and development, always needs to invest in professional development, continuous learning, has to be hard-wired to any person’s day, week, month, year, at any level of the company.

Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?

I think change is the new constant variable. I don’t know when that started to be the case, but that is certainly the case. There’s been more innovation in the past year, in the past five years, in the past fifteen years, than there probably was in the past hundred years, in terms of how we all interact, how we buy, how we sell, so deeply believing in change and, to the degree that we can, all becoming comfortable with a dynamic fluid environment. The quicker you get there, the less anxiety you have, whether you’re leading a company or you’re an individual contributor.

Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make when faced with a disruptive technology? What should one keep in mind to avoid that

Catering to rock stars who ultimately erode from the culture, from the team. I think that’s a terrible mistake a lot of companies make, where they get trapped. Maybe there’s a salesperson who does really well in terms of revenue generation, but is a toxic personality. That’s no way to grow a company. It depends on what you’re doing, but in the business of community, not good. Overcommitting resources early on to go get great people that you know can run with you is pretty key. I see a lot of hiring based on limited budgets, which I think makes sense, I get it, but it’s a short-term approach that I think nets pretty weak long-term growth and health and all that. Going to back to general leadership, saying yes to your customer over and over again without really thinking, bringing your team in, challenging what they’re asking for. Maybe they’re asking for what they want versus what they need, I think that’s a huge long-term mistake a lot of people make, companies make. It can be terrible on morale.

Ok. Thank you. Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to pivot and stay relevant in the face of disruptive technologies? Please share a story or an example for each.

1 — Keep everyone’s skills up. It helps to constantly learn. Bring back new ideas, better skill sets, more innovation, more ROI.

2 — The grass is always greener. I think we all have that sometimes in our heads, and I think the more exposure we all get the more we really respect and appreciate where we are.

3 — Build an intentional culture. Be transparent. Be honest. Encourage open feedback in both directions. Don’t feel like you need to stand in front of the room or stand in front of the initiative.

4 — As opposed to hiring from the bottom up, I’d rather hire from the top down, which not all leaders would get behind. That’s an expensive approach, but I think it’s a much more resilient approach toward long-term healthy growth.

5 — I try not to take myself too seriously. I do think having a light friendly positive culture is often quickly dismissed. Work-life balance, having fun, enjoying work, not taking yourself too seriously. Take yourself seriously, take work seriously, but ultimately it’s a moment in time. It’s not the story.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I say it a lot, but the hokey line is, “My genius is I know I’m not a genius,” and what I mean by that ultimately is: be as self aware as possible, test for self-awareness frequently, be confident, and ultimately make sure to surround yourself with talent, ensure the talent feels like they’re in a very healthy environment to bring ideas, good or bad or otherwise, and then get behind them.

How can our readers further follow your work?

I’m very active on LinkedIn, and make a point of updating there when something exciting is happening. However, right now, what’s top of mind for me is always what’s newest and of most essence to the C2C community. To keep up with what’s happening there, go to c2cglobal.com, or better yet — join us as a member. We’ll come to you.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

Agile Businesses: Josh Berman of C2C Global On How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant In The Face… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Making Something From Nothing: Nicole Alexander of Ivy Alexander On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Surround yourself with organized and talented people. Thankfully, I have been doing this for a while now because I recognize my strengths and weaknesses.

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nicole Alexander Dunlea.

Nicole is the Founder & CEO of Ivy Alexander, a luxury accessories company that launched with it’s flagship product, handbag hooks so your handbags and other personal items never have to sit on the floor. Nicole is an attorney and an adjunct professor teaching among other things, Legal Ethics. She sits on many charitable boards and has recently founded the Ivy Alexander Foundation, dedicated to supporting organizations and initiatives that foster equity for women and girls.

Ivy Alexander will be launching more products in the upcoming months and proceeds from Ivy Alexander sales go towards the Ivy Alexander Foundation.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

I was fortunate enough to have spent a ton of time with my grandparents when I was younger. I actually named the brand after my grandmother, Ivy who was from England. She taught me how to sew and how to make a great cup of tea but more importantly, she had a career at a time when women were not a staple in the workforce. My mom also had a career. She was emphatic that I get the best education so I would never have to be dependent on someone else for income. My whole family encouraged me to be independent and to work hard. I’m not sure that they loved it when I moved from Southern California to the east coast for law school but in the end, they were very proud.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Everything is negotiable.” One of my bosses taught me this and it is true. For instance, just because a price is listed for a product or an advertisement, or a sponsorship, doesn’t mean that the price is set in stone, particularly when a sales associate needs to make a quota. Heck, we have all been car shopping and know the drill. But I think the art of negotiation is very important for a person looking to start their own business. For instance, I was having a hard time justifying the contract price for one of our photographers. So I picked up the phone and asked if we could work out something closer to my price range. She was very amenable. We worked together to adjust a few elements et voila! The price point was reasonable and the pictures were stunning. I continue to be grateful for the kind people who have helped me along the way.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

JOY starring Jennifer Lawrence. Joy Mangano threw herself into her business. She struggled at first, then found success, then struggled, and ultimately succeeded in building an empire. After doing so, she supported and sponsored other inventors paving the way for their success. Starting a business has its ups and downs and you need to roll with the waves and have faith. A lot of hard work helps too. Her dedication to helping others also resonated with me.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

Prior to the launch of Ivy Alexander, I lost my grandparents and my parents within a two-year period. It was devastating. As part of the estate process, I was going through my parents’ things and found a large cardboard box with the words, “Nick’s Box of Broken Dreams” scrawled across it in black marker. In the box, I found unpublished books my father (Nick) had written, architectural drawings for buildings that hadn’t been built, and patents for products that never made it to a store shelf. It hit me like a ton of bricks. My dad was brilliant. I was heartbroken that this box even existed and I vowed I would never have a similar one. So I started to keep a list of my ideas while doing my day job and one day, I had a little epiphany. Midway through the pandemic, when restaurants started to open for outside dining, I brought a random purse hook with me because I couldn’t fathom leaving my bag on the ground. Strangers kept approaching me asking about the hook and where they could get one. The thought occurred to me that now more than ever, people would want a product like this to keep their belongings off the ground. And what if I made a better, more stylish version? Even better, what if I marketed the hell out of the product so that people knew that something like this existed? And then Ivy Alexander was born. Sometimes you have to take an educated leap and have confidence in yourself. Don’t end up with a box of broken dreams.

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

Just because a product may already be in existence, doesn’t mean you can’t improve upon it so long as you are not infringing on any patent. A deep dive on the internet will usually yield results. There are also search engines developed for patent and trademark applications.

For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.

First, you need to do some research to see if the product actually exists elsewhere. If it does, can you make it better? Then you need to look at your funding and realistically create a budget you can stick to. Then, you should probably set up an LLC for the company’s brand and/ or an umbrella company so that you can also do the necessary tax filings. But before you select a name, do some more research to ensure that you will not be infringing on any copyrights. Assuming this is a “no”, you will need to file your own application for copyright protection. Because I am an attorney, I did some of this on my own. I also have a gaggle of fabulous attorney girlfriends who filled in the gaps.

Next, comes the website. You will need to purchase URLs that can be linked to your website. Even if you are not conducting eCommerce, this is still a good idea. You will also need to have a website developer on hand or you can develop one on your own using the vast resources online.

Now, you will need to find a manufacturer if you are not going to make the products yourself. You can also do this research online and there are platforms where you can send out an RFQ (Request for Qualification) to potential vendors. You will also need to determine how the products will be fulfilled once ordered. That brings me to packaging, which in the luxury business is “très important”. Oftentimes, packaging can be very expensive, adding costs to the bottom line.

Once you link the product to the website, you need a strategic plan for launch and you better have a killer social media component of this plan. That is critical. Next, you have to spread the word and consider hiring a PR/marketing consultant to help you meander your way through this new media world. It is constantly evolving and as a business owner, you have to keep evolving too.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?

  1. Don’t expect overnight success. I really believed that once we launched, I could immediately expand the company. But it takes time, patience and a willingness to be flexible and make changes when necessary.
  2. Networking is everything. There are no coincidences. You never know who is going to lead you to your next product, next vendor, or next fruitful connection.
  3. Surround yourself with organized and talented people. Thankfully, I have been doing this for a while now because I recognize my strengths and weaknesses.
  4. Delegate to those organized and talented people. You cannot do it all and when you spread the wealth, you can do more and do so more efficiently.
  5. Don’t just sell the product, sell yourself. I am still learning this. Consumers want a story and they want to buy into a brand. Thus, if you let them know more about you, a brand bond is created. I used to think that including pictures of me with my product was egotistical. I was wrong.

Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

Research, research, and more research to see if the idea is already in existence and as I have said before ask yourself whether you can create a better version. Then do a survey of your friends and family about the idea. Is this something that would be appealing to them? Be careful though. You might need a form Non-Disclosure Agreement in hand. You don’t want someone stealing your ideas. (Not that your friends and family would but you get the gist.)

These are just the beginning steps you should consider before you go to the next level.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

I think consultants can be very helpful, particularly when you are learning your way. I would just be mindful of the price and find a consultant through a reputable and trusted referral source.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

I cannot tell you how many people have told me I should go on Shark Tank. I think each person has to make the venture capital decision on their own. Currently, I am providing all the financing for this venture and it’s challenging and scary at times but this way, I maintain creative and financial control over the company. I am not putting venture capital completely out of the picture, but I do think it depends on the product, how quickly you want to expand and whether you are willing to relinquish some control. If you do choose to outsource funding, consider having ironclad contracts in place to protect your interests.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

Late last year, I started the Ivy Alexander Foundation. Proceeds from Ivy Alexander go to the Foundation which in turn supports organizations and initiatives that foster equity for women and girls. I have had a lot of help through the years — scholarships, great mentors, and opportunities. I would like to give back in the same way that I have been blessed.

You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Kindness. Sometimes the world seems to be lacking in it. Last spring, I had the wonderful opportunity to interview acclaimed author Tayari Jones for an event entitled, “Women, Power & Promise” at the Newark Museum of Art. She talked of her love for Stevie Wonder and in particular his album,, “Songs in the Key of Life.” The songs on this album resonated with me because Love is in Need of Love Today. Oftentimes people get so mired in their worlds that they keep dodging ahead without being mindful and thoughtful of others. Small acts of kindness can make all the difference. They also make you feel more grounded during this very colorful time.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Tory Burch. I love her style and what she is doing with her foundation. I have participated in several programs the foundation has hosted and would love for Ivy Alexander to participate in her foundation programs in the future.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Making Something From Nothing: Nicole Alexander of Ivy Alexander On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ibi Montesino Of Herbalife Nutrition: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And Beloved Brand

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Connecting on a personal level. Advancements in technology have impacted how we interact with each other at home, in school — and certainly in business. Consumers buy from people they trust. Many of us rely on recommendations from friends and family, customer reviews, and even endorsements by influencers. There’s a social element in the buyer’s journey — and more so when that purchasing decision affects our health and wellness.

As part of our series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand, I had the pleasure to interview Ibi Montesino, executive vice president of Distributor and Customer Experience and Chief of Staff at Herbalife Nutrition.

As executive vice president of Distributor and Customer Experience, Ibi Montesino helps global nutrition industry leader, Herbalife Nutrition, deliver on its purpose to nourish the potential in everyone for a healthier future. She oversees functions that develop and deliver tools and programs that support the Company’s independent distributors and their customers. Her responsibilities also include serving as Chief of Staff, coordinating the work of the Company’s executive committee and interaction with the Board of Directors.

Previously, Ms. Montesino served as senior vice president and managing director for North America, where she was responsible for all business, strategic, sales and marketing functions across the region, which includes the U.S., Canada, Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Prior to my current position, I’ve been fortunate to hold several positions within the company, which has helped me understand how to best support the heart of Herbalife Nutrition — our independent distributors. I joined the Company in in 1998 as an assistant to the vice president of personal care training, and then went on to become a global product marketing manager before joining the North America regional team. During my tenure with the North America regional team, I served in multiple capacities; first as manager of the West Coast and then director, senior director, vice president of sales and marketing for the U.S. Latin market.

The most rewarding part of my job, and I believe what has led me to the position I am today, was the passion I developed over many years of helping the Company and independent distributors offer healthier lifestyle choices to people in a wide range of socioeconomic conditions.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Herbalife Nutrition is a global nutrition company that not only manufactures and sells science-backed nutrition products, but also aims to enhance the overall wellbeing of its consumers by nourishing them physically, emotionally, and with a financial opportunity through the company’s direct selling business opportunity.

We may not think about it often, but nutrition is complex. Many people struggle to form healthy habits like keeping up with a well-balanced diet, exercise program, or supplement regimens. Our direct sales channel helps consumers around the world pursue their diverse nutrition and wellness goals through a personalized experience provided by our independent distributors, who have already experienced their own personal success with the products. Additionally, they receive education and training support from our corporate nutrition and fitness experts on coaching principles to aid them in creating trusting relationships with their customers, so they can provide the daily motivation, accountability and guidance their customers need to achieve their healthy lifestyle goals.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Yes, there are a few things our corporate team has been working on to support the success of our sales force:

  • This past year in Mexico, we initiated a new weekly commission payment system that enables our independent distributors to receive their commissions on a weekly basis instead of monthly. This payment system is the first of its kind for our company, and it’s an exciting opportunity for our sales force to receive their income more frequently and expedite their cash flow patterns. We’ll be analyzing this program’s success, including its impact on distributor metrics, and evaluate the possibility of extending it to additional markets in the future.
  • In North America, we are planning our first-ever vegan product line to launch in 2023. While our products have always been primarily plant-based, we believe this new line will allow us to better meet the needs of conscious vegan consumers seeking certified vegan and organic nutrition products and dietary supplements.
  • From a corporate perspective, we are also refreshing our brand to help consumers better understand our company’s holistic approach positioning our science-backed nutrition products as self-care solutions to support the body as it ages and nourish one’s whole self.

Ok let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

A brand is the complete and distinct impression a company leaves in consumers’ minds. Brand marketing is creating a broader experience that can have several touch points, including advertising, which essentially support that brand.

Strong brands help drive preference, loyalty, advocacy, and attract and retain talent. Because we understand that a “brand” touches every part of the business, our re-brand project strategy will ensure consistency within our top touch points, including the science-backed nutrition products, the services we supply through our business opportunity, and the education and training provided to our independent distributors to better help their customers.

People are increasingly placing more value on personalized shopping experiences. They can make better educated buying decisions when guided by a product expert, or someone who has had successful first-hand experience and results using the product. That is why social selling or direct selling– selling products directly to people through trusted relationships — has proven to be an effective sales channel.

These trusting relationships are especially important when it comes to nutrition. Every person has unique health and wellness goals; achieving results can be difficult if you simply purchase products off the shelf, online, or without any guidance or support. Our independent distributors not only provide nutritious, high-quality, science-backed products, but they also serve as trusted coaches to their customers, providing the motivation and confidence to help their customers establish healthier habits and meet their health goals.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

While general marketing and advertising build brand recognition that brand recognition will quickly erode if you haven’t built trust with your customers. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 90% of consumers surveyed across 15 global markets said they are more likely to recommend a brand that they trust to family or friends compared to other brands; 88% of global consumers said they are willing to buy more of a trusted brand’s products or services — or buy them more frequently; 75% of global consumers with high brand trust say they will buy the brand’s product even if it isn’t the cheapest.

As a company, we don’t typically advertise, except through social media and minimal advertising in our regional marketing. Instead, we rely mainly on our independent distributor to build brand awareness and recognition, as they embody the brand and act as brand stewards. (or as brand ambassadors)

One of our main goals is to drive consumer lifetime value, or retention, and increase brand awareness, familiarity and trust. Thus, we are investing in Brand strategy work like building foundational tools to tell the compelling story of who we are, what we do and why we do it. These tools will also help upgrade our creative expression personalizing the brand experience for our independent distributors and their customers.

Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand? Please tell us a story or example for each.

  1. Connecting on a personal level. Advancements in technology have impacted how we interact with each other at home, in school — and certainly in business. Consumers buy from people they trust. Many of us rely on recommendations from friends and family, customer reviews, and even endorsements by influencers. There’s a social element in the buyer’s journey — and more so when that purchasing decision affects our health and wellness.
  2. Meeting the needs of your customers. In our case, this means our distributors and their customers. Trust is the confidence people have in our company and in our brand, and is impacted by whether we consistently deliver on our promises and stay true to our values. We continue to see an ever-increasing trend toward healthier food. And consumers are relying on science and technology to make more educated choices when selecting products to support their overall health and wellness goals. To aid consumers in this process, it’s our responsibility to ensure we’re providing a variety of products to meet consumers’ individual dietary needs including plant-based, gluten free diets, or those focused on building muscle through sports nutrition. It is our goal to ensure that consumers can easily personalize their programs by adding optimal amounts of protein, healthy carb sources, fiber, good fats, vitamins, and hydration that meet their needs.
  3. Delivering consistent product quality. Consistency in your product or service offerings allows your customers to know exactly what to expect every time they purchase from you. At our company, we invest in technology and staff that ensures consumer safety and ingredient transparency which has earned consumer trust by providing high-quality, science-backed products that deliver results.
  4. Educating yourself and your customers. Whether you’re an established company or opening a new business, customers and clients immediately see you as an expert in that field. Whether you are selling software solutions or nutrition products, people expect you to know your industry and to have effective solutions to their problems and educated answers to their questions. This is why it’s important to increase your knowledge and elevate your skills with ongoing education and personal development to make sure you are the pro that your customers expect and deserve.
  5. Committing to bettering our planet and social responsibility. While companies and business owners are focused on building their business, they also need to connect with and be active in their community. Your ability to connect over a shared passion or cause creates an opportunity to provide support and expertise without a heavy sales motive. We’ve made our commitment to global responsibility by partnering with organizations that nourish economic empowerment, nutrition, and a thriving planet to continue improving the health and wellbeing of future generations.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

What makes a brand strong is its ability to stay consistent and relevant by evolving its offerings through deeply understanding it’s audience, pivoting to what they need and delivering consistent products and services that enrich the lives of their customers helping them meet their goals and or unlock potential to make changes they didn’t know they could. Driving that positive experience ultimately creates lifelong customers.

We’re inspired, obviously, by many of the larger, globally recognized companies who have successfully been able to consistently deliver on their promise to consumers and have ingrained themselves into our culture.

Apple, for example, has succeeded in building a brand based on strong insight that consumers are inspired to buy technology that empowers them. At their stores, they organize their products and services in a simple way to help customers find, select, and buy, offering a single holistic experience from interface to packaging, retail store to website, Genius service to content — driven by simplicity, inspiration and empowerment to enrich customers’ lives.

Another example is Nike. Their vision is that everyone has the potential to be an athlete, and everyone should have the chance to maximize that potential, no matter who they are or where they come from. They lead their brand with a strong purpose: to unite the world through sport to create a healthy planet, active communities and an equal playing field for all.

In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand building campaign? Is it similar, is it different?

Everyone who leads a company or runs a business wants to make sure they are profitable — but what’s even more important for sustainable success is building brand awareness, familiarity to ensure you retain repeat-customers.

As a direct-sales company, our success is measured by the retention of both our customers and independent distributors. We are committed to creating and improving resources for our distributors based on market needs and consumer demand, as well as partnering with them on safe product use and customer retention strategies. These efforts allow them to build confidence in their communities as they prioritize their customer’s safety and well-being — ultimately retaining those customers and attracting new ones.

This past year, our global retention of sales leaders hit a record 68.9%, which was up from last year’s prior record of 67.9%. We believe this reflects the ongoing sustainability of our business and the business opportunity that we offer.

What role does social media play in your branding efforts?

Connecting through social media allows our company, as well as our sales force, to establish connections based on similar interests and new people who are looking to lead a healthier life.

From a corporate perspective, we use social media to engage our audience through nutritional tips, company news and creative recipes using our products. We also use social media as an opportunity to leverage our internal nutrition and scientific experts, and our executive leadership, to educate people about the company.

Especially during the pandemic, our independent distributors were able to use social media to maintain one-on-one interactions with their customers, which is critical to running their businesses. Whether sharing weekly meal plans on Instagram or talking about wellness journeys on Facebook Messenger, our distributors have continued to connect with their customers around the world, from anywhere in the world, using these digital tools. The relationships they support daily are a huge part of building and maintaining a successful business.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

We’ve all faced challenges during the pandemic. Covid-19 wasn’t just a virus that took the lives of many, it became political and divided us as a nation. We all learn lessons through challenges and hard times, and it taught me that we must always lead with love, because if we do, it reduces the friction, frustration and anger and helps us to understand that we have more in common than we think. Life is so much better when we put our differences aside and start looking people in the eyes and have real conversations and take more time to listen. So, my movement would be called “Lead with love movement”.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“To whom much is given, much will be required.” My faith sustains me and reminds me that I have been blessed throughout my life. Yes, like so many of us, I have experienced heartache, fear, anger and loss, but I have also been blessed beyond compare.

I left Cuba when I was four years old with my parents and grandparents. Like many immigrants, my parents wanted a better life for me and that meant leaving their country and coming to America. They didn’t speak the language and had a handful of relatives that were settled in Los Angeles. They worked hard all their lives to give my sister and me the opportunities that we wouldn’t have had back in Cuba. I credit my parents for my work ethic and integrity.

When I found Herbalife Nutrition, I started working as an assistant, and now almost 25 years later, I have been given a platform to lead, guide and mentor our employees and our independent distributors. I have a passion to always give back and give more than I have received to ensure that others are given the same opportunities in life — because, to whom much is given, much will be required!

We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Given the opportunity, I would love to meet Sara Blakey. Talk about someone who started from nothing and built an empire. But more than that, she and her husband are always giving back to communities and helping other entrepreneurs. She also started “the sisterhood of the traveling wedding dress.” When the pandemic began, she decided to loan her wedding dress to brides who had to make last minute changes to their wedding. I mean, doesn’t get better than that!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

To see what we’re doing at my Company, follow @Herbaife on Instagram!

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

Ibi Montesino Of Herbalife Nutrition: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And Beloved Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Jordan Wexler Of EarlyBird On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Meet The Disruptors: Jordan Wexler Of EarlyBird On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Lead with inspired curiosity.

Hire people smarter than you.

Don’t shy away from the uncomfortable conversations.

Find the biggest problem and tackle it.

Always learn from your users.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jordan Wexler.

CEO, Jordan Wexler, is a serial entrepreneur, who built and sold his first company at 24-years-old. Prior to EarlyBird, Jordan served as COO at a global software development firm called Agility.io

Jordan is a loving uncle to two beautiful children and a godparent of twins. It was when he welcomed these children into the world and showered them with gifts that he first saw the core problem EarlyBird needed to solve — that there was no simple and meaningful way to gift a financial asset or invest in the children we love most.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I have always been entrepreneurial, as I love finding problems and working on solutions. Prior to starting EarlyBird, I had already founded two businesses, but this was the first idea that I knew deep down would truly have the impact that we are going to have.

It all started when my baby niece, Isadora, was born. I was head over heels in love, and I found myself wasting hundreds of dollars on the most ridiculous stuff that she would never use or grow out of. In wanting to make a bigger impact on her life, I grew frustrated by all of the wasteful gifts, and instead, decided to start the Jordo Fun Fund. I committed to putting away $500 every year into an assortment of ETFs that would grow as she grows older. The challenge I faced was that there was no easy and meaningful way to do this. I really had to hack together a solution to make it work — and that is when everything clicked and the journey with EarlyBird began. Sometimes it takes just a tiny spark in your everyday life to change your entire trajectory.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

The wealth inequality gap has never been larger as the rich keep getting richer and the middle class and lower class are left behind. Most American adults live paycheck-to-paycheck and are financially anxious. Just over half consider themselves financially literate, and the jury is split on where to go for solid financial advice: A professional advisor? A family member? A spouse or trusted friend? The Internet?

Almost a third of millennials have overdrawn their checking accounts at least once, and over 80% have one or more forms of long-term debt. This has to change.

Historically, large-scale financial institutions have catered to the wealthy and restricted easy access to fundamental wealth creation tools like investing in the stock market. Over the past decade, fintech platforms have been disrupting this intentional exclusion, and now we are seeing the boom of the retail investor. This is a great step forward, but making true generational wealth takes time, and if we want to change the world for the better, we have to start from day one.

That’s where EarlyBird comes in. We’re on a mission to make generational wealth a reality for ALL American families, starting at the earliest age. With EarlyBird, parents, family and friends can collectively invest in the kids they love — even before birth! Alongside the child’s growing nest egg, a time capsule of love is created — with photos, videos, and special messages that preserve the most meaningful moments and celebrate the child’s milestones as they grow. Today, this intersection of financial capital, emotional capital, and community has inspired over 50k families to start their investing journeys with EarlyBird.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

As any great startup, we have made a fair share of mistakes, but that is the key to success. Fail fast, learn, pivot, and grow.

One early mistake that we made was going all-in on an opportunity to be on the Ellen Show back when we first launched. Long story short, we worked for months to be able to make an appearance and had an amazing campaign all planned out, but had to pivot at the last minute due to new advertising regulations that the SEC had just passed at the time. We ended up being able to collaborate in a different way, which was ultimately a big win for EarlyBird, but we did learn a lesson: You can never predict what’s going to happen, so don’t put all of your chips on one bet. That said, roll with the punches, since there is often an alternative solution if you have the resilience to discover it!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

My co-founder, Caleb, and I are extremely lucky to be supported by an amazing community of mentors. We don’t shy away from asking for help and have made sure to surround ourselves with a network of resources whose expertise and experience we can rely on to help guide us in every vertical.

One tangible example of their impact came when we founded the company. All startups have to get started somehow, and generally that is by raising a friends and family financing round. At EarlyBird, we looked to raise $500k to get off the ground. Of course, at that time, all we had was an idea and the extreme unwavering passion to solve this problem. It takes a lot of trust and belief in the founders to raise money early on — and along those lines, the majority of our raise ended up coming from mentors that we had cultivated over the past 10 years of our professional lives. These mentor-investors now continue to guide us forward.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Disruption without purpose can cause chaos. Disruption with clarity, vision, and a mission for improving the world has historically been the way that humanity has continued to push forward.

At EarlyBird, we aren’t looking to disrupt how people invest their money, as that is a system that has proven to work and ‘withstood the test of time’. We are looking to disrupt how large-scale financial institutions offer their services, so that ALL American families have equal access to the tools of wealth creation.

Generally, when people set out to disrupt an industry, it primarily involves creating more access for people to engage and take ownership. I genuinely believe this is a powerful approach to creating progress.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

  • Lead with inspired curiosity.
  • Hire people smarter than you.
  • Don’t shy away from the uncomfortable conversations.
  • Find the biggest problem and tackle it.
  • Always learn from your users.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

We want EarlyBird to be in the household of every American family. It’s our goal to ensure that every child is fully invested in a modern, holistic portfolio that encourages dollar cost-averaging and guarantees that no child gets financially left behind. This financial freedom will create endless opportunities for kids whose dreams and outcomes might otherwise be restricted.

Earlier this year, we added crypto as an addition to our offering — and as we learn from our customers and collaborate with incredible partners like BlackRock and Gemini, we’ll continue to find ways to evolve and support the youngest generation of investors.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

This is considered to be one of the most foundational books on early-stage startups and how to approach your business in an agile, iterative way. The concept of build, measure, learn might sound simple, but when put into practice can change the entire way we operate and approach innovation. Almost no one gets anything right on the first go. It takes continuous cycles of learning and breaking to finally carve the path forward that solves the problem you are working on.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”

– Reid Hoffman

With EarlyBird being a product-driven company, this has been a critical phrase for our team to live by. Most of us are naturally perfectionists who strive to deliver a flawless experience. Unfortunately, delivering value is a lot more complicated than we think. It is so important to get something out fast and early, so that we can receive direct user feedback and learn in an efficient manner. Until a real person is engaged with your product, everyone is still operating under hypotheses and assumptions.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

The movement that I deeply believe in is the one that I have committed my life to — and that is fighting to ensure that the next generation grows up financially literate and financially empowered, so that they can truly experience financial freedom.

How can our readers follow you online?

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Meet The Disruptors: Jordan Wexler Of EarlyBird On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.