Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘startup’

Shop to Stop Diabetes, a Win-Win-Win Scenario

Posted in Digital Marketing, entrepreneur, tagged , , , , , , on February 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Here’s a real sweet deal. You can buy $100 (or more) worth of retail gift certificates for $20 and most of that money goes to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). So, you get great products at substantial discounts while a worthwhile cause receives a new stream of donations. That is a good deal!

The concept has been tested successfully over the last month on the ADA website. This week ADA will launch a Valentine’s Day special where you can purchase flowers at a discount, with most of the proceeds going directly to ADA.

You can find these specials on ”Shop to Stop Diabetes“.

Participating brands such as 1-800flowers.com, ShoeBuy.com, Shutterfly, Qresolve, Nordstrom, among others gain new customers through these campaigns at a fixed CPA (Cost Per Acquisition). In digitial marketing terms, paying for CPA eliminates risks unlike paying for CPL (Cost Per Lead) or CPM (Cost Per Thousand impressions), neither of which guarantees a conversion to a new customer.

The consumer benefits from receiving a discounted gift certificate bundle, while getting to donate to a worthy cause. If you are going to purchase flowers for Valentine’s Day, why not get a discount and have your money help the ADA at the same time?

The American Diebetes Association obviously wins from securing new streams of donations. It really is a win-win-win.

The concept works because of Seattle startup company Kozfor, which provides the hosting and manages the campaigns for ADA. The company brought together all the necessary players to create this win-win-win scenario, including TrailPay that provides the payment engine for the campaigns.

Brad Furber, the founder of Kozfor, is a long-time participant in the Seattle startup community. In fact, he was the subject of my very first blog post when he was the President of Xeriton Corporation. Now, he is committed to helping organizations like ADA with his win-win-win approach to cause marketing.

I personally love the idea. Kudos to all business plans that are not just about the bottom line but also about doing good. I hope many of you may be interested in ADA’s Valentine’s Day special.

Read Full Post »

Understanding the Stair Step Pattern Of Company Growth

Posted in business, entrepreneur, tagged , , , , , , on January 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Company building is a unique experience. An entrepreneur can experience a huge gyrations of emotions in any given day: ‘Wow, we’re going to do this!’  ’Oh, we’re going to crash and burn’.  ’My employees hate me’.  ’My customers love me’…

With experience, however, you come to expect these twists and turns. In fact, you kind of get some enjoyment out of it. Despite these varying emotions, certain principles are generally true. Growth, for example, is almost never represented by the infamous hockey stick graph.

Growth for a startup usually happens in stair steps. A startup moves along a horizontal line (with some variances) until hitting a wall. That wall represents the barrier to the next plateau for the company. It could be that a startup has launched and found some anchor clients. The principles in the business are so occupied by the demands of the anchor clients that they cannot focus on business management. Yet, the word of mouth effect from servicing those clients is putting some pressure to expand. Well, you’ve just hit that wall leading to the next plateau. The company can only take the next step in growth by addressing these pending issues. Once resolved and perched on the next plateau, the same pattern will most likely be repeated with a new set of challenges — the next level of company development.

Understanding the ‘stair step’  pattern of growth will help start-up companies understand why everyone seems to be running faster but the company is not still growing properly.

I’m always wary of business plans that have a linear growth projections. That sounds logical in a business school classroom or it looks good on a spreadsheet, but I haven’t really experienced such growth in my past. Things are difficult to start, then you get in a rhythm with your first customers. Eventually the business beat changes. There are new and unfamiliar pressures on the business. It takes leadership at that point to scale to the next level and return to a comfortable (but more sophisticated) rhythm.

Read Full Post »

Entrepreneur’s Job is Putting Together the Right Team

Posted in business, entrepreneur, management, tagged , , , on December 16, 2009 | 4 Comments »

As an entrepreneur of a startup company, I imagine myself as a general manager of a professional baseball team. My main job is putting together the RIGHT team.

Many think an entrepreneur’s first task is to come up with a killer concept. Yet, it’s been said many times that  ”ideas” can be a dime a dozen, but execution is where most fail. Who executes? The team. As Jim Collins points out in his book, “Good to Great”, first the Who? then the What?

Maybe it’s also because I’m not a technical whiz kid, or a genius financial mind that I keep stressing the team. Or, I’d like to think it could be that I’ve been involved with six startups and figured out what helps in success.

So, as I’m admiring the work of Seattle Mariners’ GM Jack Zduriencik this off season in putting together a more competitive professional baseball team, I’m reminded about my primary job of finding the right people for the the right jobs in my company. Like a baseball team, a startup environment requires everyone to be cohesive and supportive of one another.

Sometimes an entrepreneur needs to take risks on inexperienced people, or on an experienced person who has never been in a startup environment. You build such a team with an unwavering core philosophy about the type of team you want.  And when the team members need guidance, you coach them; when they prove themselves, you give them control. You always keep scalability and performance in mind.

In the end, it’s my job to look at ways to improve my team continuously based upon our performance against the competitive environment out there. If this means possibly bringing in more capital or merging with a complementary team or hiring faster, I will do so, always making sure that each new player within the company are complementary with one another. It’s my responsibility to ensure that the sum of the parts really make a much more compelling whole.

The character and performance of the team will ultimately be my scorecard as the founder of Lift9.

Read Full Post »

Simple Risk-Aversion Test to See if You can Make it as an Entrepreneur

Posted in business, entrepreneur, tagged , , , , , on November 20, 2009 | 6 Comments »

Often I meet people who tell me about their dreams to start their own business. They don’t want to work for the man all their lives. They ask me what it takes to start your own business.

It’s a difficult question to answer because there are so many elements to being an entrepreneur. First, you need to be passionate about something. It has to be in your core. For many immigrants, they are passionate about their children and providing an opportunity for the next generation that they themselves never had. That drives many to amazing accomplishments. For others, the passion is about green energy, mobile technology, global health issues, and so forth.

Entrepreneurs also need a good support network of family and friends because owning your own business is not easy. It’s extremely time-consuming and emotionally draining.

Another very important component is the right personality. An entrepreneur cannot be risk-averse. In the type of businesses I’ve been involved with, I hire many very bright individuals with great business ideas. Some of them want to start their own businesses, and I know they have the intelligence and skills to be successful entrepreneurs. Yet, they lack the personality to actually be entrepreneurs. They are too risk-averse. And that’s fine because they can have fulfilling and financially rewarding careers within the corporate environment.

One time, a friend who is successfully climbing up the partner latter of a prestiguous consultancy asked me about entrepreneurship. I could tell he was thinking about possibly doing something on his own. Then, one night while driving together he started to panic because the gas gauge needle had just started touching the red empty mark. I laughed, and told him that making partner at his firm is a fantastic goal for him.

Since then, I’ve used that example with others who ask me about entrepreneurship. And a few have smiled and admitted they would panic as well. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Unfortunately many find out after an unsuccessful venture. Just do the “am I comfortable running on empty test” first.

Read Full Post »

In the Zone Week

Posted in business, social media, tagged , , , , , on August 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

I’ve had an “in the zone” type of a week, where things just fall into place. The Lift9 research center in Vietnam is now set up. Our web site will soon be launched (sorry, but with so many execution points, this has taken a back seat).

Now, more good news seem to be on the way as Lift9 is moving fast toward an automated solution to accessing information from additional  ”closed” forum and review sites. Our social media analytics solution will encompass results from the best social media listening tools as well as from a specialized Lift9 web data aggregating tool, all manned by our own highly trained research center. The clients will receive accurate insights in the form of automated dashboards, report templates, as well as social media engagement and strategy support.

Stay tuned, more to come. I need to be somewhat discreet for the time being.

I hope you are all enjoying  ”in the zone” days as well.

Read Full Post »

Lift9, Making Sense of Social Media Data

Posted in business, entrepreneur, social media, tagged , , , , , on August 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »

lift9 logoTime to share a little more information about our new startup, Lift9.

The era of social media is just beginning. Digital information is doubling every 18 months, with social media data leading the charge. Unfortunately, this data is mostly fragmented and unstructured. Content is coming from all directions and impossible to control.

While leading the marketing strategy, analytics and planning group for the digital agency Ascentium, I realized that making sense of this growing data would be an increasingly difficult task. Social media listening and monitoring tools pull mostly unstructured data and cannot access every social media platform. To really get a true picture of social media conversations, human research and analysis are crucial to providing relevant solutions.

That was the genesis of Lift9. We leverage leading social analytics tools and incorporate the “human” element of research and analysis that help make sense of the available data. We are a team of senior marketing and public relations experts with a research center focused on structuring and validating social media data around a set of best practices and reporting templates.

Information is truly powerful, but only if it is understandable and useful. Our mission is to make social media data relevant and powerful for all client brands.

Our vision is to overcome the cost barriers of the labor-intensive nature of research and analysis. We have made relevant social media data affordable to all brands by building our research center off-shore.

Today, we are filling a critical niche by making sense of social media information for our clients. Tomorrow, we hope to be a market leader when social media research and reporting will be an essential marketing discipline for all brands.

Read Full Post »

Simplicity in Business Plan a Good Start

Posted in business, entrepreneur, tagged , , on June 18, 2009 | 1 Comment »

I’ve been running around meeting different people with my new business plan. I’m pitching to experienced entrepreneurs and businessmen mainly for constructive feedback.

I work best under an iterative process, trying to refine my pitch AND plan after each presentation. Many times the oral presentations and critical exchanges really take my written thoughts to another level. It’s been an exhilarating experience as some excitingly predict the next slides, while others ask probing questions, and some add interesting perspectives to the idea.

The idea needs further refinement. However, one very encouraging sign is that my audience so far have understood the concept rather quickly. It’s simple, and that’s always been a big point when I review other people’s business plans. The barrier to entry is obvious. The revenue model is easy to understand. The competitive advantage is clear. The target market is broad.

Of course, many good and simple ideas have not succeeded to plan. But clarity and simplicity in a plan that tries to approach an obvious need in a unique manner is a good start.

(I will be sharing more of the business plan after the launch of the company – if indeed that were to happen)

Read Full Post »

KAC Networking Social Highlights Need for Innovation

Posted in entrepreneur, tagged , , , , , , , on April 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, I had the privilege of MC’ing a professional networking social event in Seattle. This event, organized by KAC (Korean American Coalition), highlighted entrepreneurship.

I gave the following perspective on the importance of entrepreneurship:

We live in a time of exponential changes. Advancement in technology continues to redefine our lives at a rapid pace. China is now the third largest economy in the world, having surpassed Germany last year. Experts predict that China will surpass the US as the largest economy in 18 years. China and India have more honor students than we have children in the US. What does that mean for the future?

To me, it means that innovation is what will continue to give America its edge. We excel in ideating new visions and new inventions. The book-smart Chinese and Indian look to America for innovations. That’s high-value advantage that we need to protect.

As for Korean-Americans, or Asian-Americans in general, we tend to gravitate toward professional livelihoods such as law, medicine and sciences. These are honorable professions, and honor is particularly important to the first generation Asians.  However, the exponential changes in our world today demand that we also cultivate innovation and creative thinking. We need to develop more entrepreneurs, along with lawyers and doctors within our Korean-American communities.

A survey showed that 47 percent of all venture-backed companies in the US have a founder or a co-founder who was not born in the US. What a testament to America’s standing as truly a land of opportunity. Yet, Korean-Americans represent a poor percentage of these venture-backed founders, far behind the Chinese, Indians and even the Israelis, among others. 

One part of the explanation, I believe, is because Korean American parents still push their children to be study and become lawyers and doctors. Also, the Korean culture is generally averse to risk-taking.  

So, we need to change because change is all around us. We need to cultivate an environment that creates more venture-backed start ups with Korean American founders. 

At the KAC Professional Networking Social, four local startups got to introduce their companies:

Guppy Media:  A cutting edge mobile and online advertising network, currently with distribution presence in over thirty countries.

Rice N Roll:  Serves fresh sushi rolls. Three locations throughout greater Seattle, and three locations at Safeco Field. Franchises offered.

Eggsprout: Social networking for professionals with focus on job searches.

Presalepassword: Subscription-based information web site for the secondary ticketing industry.

I’m looking forward to more such events.

Read Full Post »

Josiah Johnson Starts Job Mob

Posted in business, entrepreneur, People, tagged , , , , , , on October 7, 2008 | 3 Comments »

 

 

Meet Josiah Johnson, a man about town y’all!  Josiah is one of those cool persons that everyone wants to befriend.  He knows, so it seems, e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e.  At least, he knows anyone who went to Western Washington University and now lives in the greater Seattle area.

Josiah is the consummate networker, which has made him an effective salesperson in the service sector.  I was once his boss, but it was actually him who recruited me to be the VP of Sales at Endeavor Consulting where we first worked together.  Later, we came up with an automation web analytics concept called “ZeroDash1” that eventually sold to Ascentium.

Now, he has recently left Ascentium to start his own technical consulting and staffing agency with a few of his old colleagues.  He and his partners have the title “Boss” at Job Mob, but all specialize in different areas.  Of course, Josiah will be on the front-end of sales, working his broad and deep network.

Job Mob wants to leverage Web 2.0, Online Community and Social Networking-based platforms to discover and solicit pools of technical talent.  Very kewl… after all, he worked at ZeroDash1, a web analytics and optimization company.

So, how about the timing of starting a new company in the midst of the current economic downturn?  “Well, one, there is never a good time to jump off a cliff,” he says.  “Two, I feel there is still a shortage of technical talent in the Pacific Northwest.    The advantage of starting a company such as ours, with very little overhead and a pretty achievable profitability mark, is that when the market upswings you are in a prime position with a good reputation and the right contacts.”

I will miss working with Josiah, and certainly wish him well.  After all, he was the one who strongly suggested I redo my wardrobe during a “dress for success” intervention.  No matter what clothes you put on me, I will never be as kewl as Josiah — that’s for sure.

Please comment if you have your own stories about the man, Josiah.  Or just give him input.  

 

Josiah Johnson, BOSS at Job Mob

Josiah Johnson, BOSS at Job Mob

Read Full Post »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 39 other followers