Above the Cloud

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Above the Cloud is a podcast from the Tech Adoption Index, a research, business intelligence and content platform focused on the small business shift to the cloud. The Tech Adoption Index is an initiative of the Local Search Association.

Above the Cloud


    • Dec 5, 2019 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 27m AVG DURATION
    • 36 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Above the Cloud

    Episode 36: "The Answers Evolution," with Duane Forrester

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2019 30:41


    This episode features Yext VP of Industry Insights Duane Forrester discussing the evolution of search ranking factors. We discuss how the search engines have evolved well past keywords to discerning user intent, and why this demands that business structure their data in order to remain relevant in a new search environment.

    Episode 35: "The Evolving Yellow Sales Channel" with Elise Balsillie

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2019 28:23


    Transformation has been a key challenge for legacy media organizations, and this challenge is arguably most acute in the sales organization. Elise Balsillie leads sales at Australia’s Yellow (aka Sensis) and discusses how sales has evolved in her organization with podcast host Charles Laughlin.

    Episode 34: - "Hearables, 5G and Des Moines" with the Localogy Analyst Team

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2019 14:54


    The LSA analyst team tore into a stack of hot button issues in part two of our most recent around the horn sessions. We cover the potential market opportunity for 'hearables", the real impact 5G will have on local, and why we should all think about moving to Des Moines.

    Episode 33: "Share of Ear, Unicorns, & More" with the LSA Analyst Team

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2019 25:01


    LSA's analyst team gathered for one of their periodical roundtable bull sessions last week. Among the topics they kick around include the future of privacy, why boards are the real villains in the demise of companies like WeWork, and why it makes sense for SMB software companies to treat small businesses like consumers.

    Episode 32: "The State of Retail," with Synup's Brett House

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2019 27:47


    The LSA talks to Synup SVP, Growth, Brett House about the company's "State of Retail 2019" report and generally how brands need to readjust their marketing to the new realities of the consumer path to purchase.

    Episode 31: "A drop in the Bucket," with Duda's Itai Sadan

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2019 22:05


    Duda CEO Itai Sadan talks about his company's ambitions after raising $25 million to fuel its innovation and growth.

    Episode 30: "Amplified Storytelling," with iHeartMedia's Eric Hadley

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2019 24:57


    iHeart Media is a giant player in terrestrial radio, with almost 850 stations and a dominant position in many major markets. But podcasting may be the company's future. This conversation covers the business of podcasting and how it integrates with all of iHeart's properties.

    Episode 29: "SEO is Never Going Away" with Boostability's Gavin Thorpe

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2019 26:03


    In this episode, we ask Boostability CEO Gavan Thorpe to talk about the state of local SEO. His company focuses on delivering SEO services at scale to very small businesses. One topic of note was how SEO firms like his are adapting to Google's progression to being a walled garden, where most search results produce zero clicks. We also ask if AI will eventually be generating SEO content.

    Episode 28: "The Convergence of Everything," featuring Dan Hight

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2019 23:23


    Dan Hight is a longstanding participant in the local digital ecosystem. Now he's moved into a thought leadership role as chair of the Local Search Association's Place conference, which takes place October 15-16 in Austin, TX. In the podcast, we talked about changes in the local digital ecosystem -- driven by data and technology -- and how they are informing the focus of this year's event.

    Episode 27: "Around The Horn with Charlie, Mike & Neal"

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2019 34:36


    Our semi-regular analyst roundtable features a conversation about WeWork's S-1, cloud kitchens, DoorDash's arrogance, Square's priorities and more.

    Episode 26: "LSM and performance are correlated," featuring Monica Ho

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 11, 2019 26:42


    Monica Ho is CMO of SOCi, a SaaS platform that helps brands and multilocation businesses do localized social marketing (GMB, reviews, social marketing and so on). We discuss the new SOCi/LSA report on Localized Social Marketing Benchmarking Report which found most brands do a poor job of optimizing their local pages. Those that do, however, reap the benefits.

    Episode 25: "Appify Your Business," featuring Bill Furlong

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2019 24:43


    SquareStack CEO Bill Furlong discusses his new book, "Appify Your Business", a primer for small businesses on how to use mobile apps to transform their day to day business life. This episode is sponsored by Mono Solutions.

    Episode 24: "Scheduling is like hosting," featuring Aksh Gupta

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2019 33:35


    Aksh Gupta runs Occasion, a marketing and scheduling platform for small businesses focused on delivering experiences -- zip lining, cooking classes and so on. This podcast focused on the decision process that goes into changing a business when the original plan isn't working. Aksh went through this and came out the other side with vastly better KPIs.

    Episode 23: "What makes AR fly or die?" featuring Mike Boland, ARtillery Intelligence

    Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2019 34:42


    Former Kelsey Group analyst Mike Boland talks to Above the Cloud about how augmented reality will evolve and develop more practical applications, including for small businesses, in the coming months and years. We also settle the question of whether Pokemon Go is really AR.

    Episode 22: "Turning customers into advocates" featuring Andrea Kayal, Upserve

    Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2019 33:38


    In this episode of Above the Cloud, Upserve CMO Andrea Kayal talks about Upserve's origins as Swipely, a company that collected insights from transaction data to its pivot to restaurants and rebirth as Upserve. We also cover competition, customer acquisition and influencer marketing in the hyper-competitive restaurant vertical.

    Episode 21: "Robot waitresses" featuring Alexander Fleiss, Rebellion Research

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2019 35:59


    Alexander Fleiss is CEO of Rebellion Research, a firm that applies AI and machine learning to investment strategy. He also lectures on AI at his alma mater Amherst as well as Yale and other leading universities. In this podcast, we have a wide-ranging discussion on AI, how it will transform small-business and the degree to which it will transform the economy. And we do talk about robot waitresses.

    Episode 20: "Happiness and efficiency in the workplace" featuring Jordan Boesch, 7Shifts

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2019 34:56


    Jordan Boesch is the founder and CEO of 7Shifts, a SaaS product that helps restaurants manage their staff. The product began as a tool to help his dad manage the work schedule at his Quiznos franchises. It has since evolved into one of the hottest companies in the restaurant vertical with a mission to "improve happiness and efficiency in the workplace."

    Episode 19: "How do you franchise an app?" featuring Matt Crowell, Get in the Loop

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 14, 2019 27:03


    Matt Crowell quit his job, sold his condo and his car to pour everything he had into his first startup, GetintheLoop, a mobile marketing SaaS platform he is taking to market through a franchise model. Interesting take on how to scale a digital marketing product. Get in the Loop started in Western Canada, has gone national in Canada and is poised to launch in the U.S. in 2019.

    Episode 18: "Glengarry Glen George", featuring George Leith, Vendasta

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2019 36:47


    George Leith runs sales at Vendasta, a digital marketing software company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. George has emerged as a prominent voice on sales excellence and a proponent of elevating the craft of selling into a profession. He does this through the Conquer Local podcast and sales academy, where he shares his sales knowledge and curates the best practices of other leading sales and marketing pros. We talk about using data to sell, how to hire a good sales rep, and how effective reps spend their days.

    Episode 17: "Think Like an App", featuring Neal Polachek

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2019 30:30


    Neal Polachek, the former Kelsey Group president and current LSA Advisor, has a new initiative called "Think Like an App." It's a talk he's crafted for small businesses that encourages them to create the customer experiences that technology has taught consumers to expect. He explains how that works in this podcast.

    Episode 16: "Question Time with Tolithia", featuring Tolithia Kornweibel

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2019 15:23


    This bonus episode of Above the Cloud is part of our continuing effort to leverage the amazing content generated at the November Tech Adoption Summit in San Francisco. This podcast was taken from the Q&A segment of Tolithia Kornweibel's well-received talk at the Summit, where she addresses customer acquisition strategy and Gusto's mission to empower small business to create great work environments.

    Episode 15: "The State of SMB Software", featuring Mark MacLeod

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 4, 2019 26:11


    Mark MacLeod is a regular guest on Above the Cloud because of his unique position as an investment banker specializing in small business software. Today's topic is his firm SurePath Capital's recently released State of Small Business Software report, which tracks all deal activity across the SMB software landscape, and from this data gleans insights on where the industry has been and where it may be heading.

    Episode 14: "Websites Aren't Dead" featuring Mono Solutions

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 11, 2019 24:53


    Matt Matergia and Jillian Als are two of Mono Solutions key players. They joined Above the Cloud from their offices in Copenhagen on a dark December afternoon to talk about the evolving role of websites for small businesses, where they are seeking new channel partners in a rapidly changing SMB environment and how younger business owners view websites.

    Episode 13: "SMBs Get Lied to A Lot" featuring Gene Marks

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2018 30:47


    Gene Marks is a dynamo. Every morning he gets up at 5 am to write on small businesses issues for Forbes, The Guardian, Inc., and other publications he contributes to regularly. Then he goes to work for his 10-person small business that resells and installs CRM software at small, medium and large businesses. Gene offers us both an analyst's and a business owner's perspective on how technology is transforming how small businesses operate.

    Episode 12: "Nobody Wants to Make the Wrong Decision" featuring Mark Canon

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2018 31:07


    This episode of ATC features an interview with Mark Canon conducted at the recent Tech Adoption Summit in San Francisco. Mark is a longtime fixture in the local/SMB space, having served in senior roles at Switchboard, AOL, Autobytel, and hibu. He is currently chairman of Boomtime. This conversation is a bonanza for sales methodology geeks. It's all about account based selling and how to break through in an environment where products are largely undifferentiated and SMBs are too busy to take your calls.

    Episode 11 - "Selling to SMBs is Hard" featuring Ted Paff

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2018 37:00


    This episode of Above the Cloud features a conversation between the Tech Adoption Index's Neal Polachek and Tedd Paff, an entrepreneur and founder of Customer Lobby, a business that he exited from successfully in 2017. The interview took place at the recent Tech Adoption Summit in San Francisco. The episode is sponsored by Boostability, Broadly, DexYP, Google, Mono Solutions and Vendasta.

    Episode 10: "Stop Talking About Your Product" featuring Costantino Caroppo

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2018 17:38


    In this episode, we interview Costantino Caroppo, founder of Hub-U, a new SMB OS start-up based in Italy. Costantino is a former CMO at Axelero and was the self-described "father of the Italian IYP" while at Seat Pagine Gialle. We talked about the new way to sell to small businesses while enjoying coffee outdoors at the Sofitel hotel in Hua Hin, Thailand, where we were both attending the AsiaComm conference. This episode was sponsored by DexYP, Google, Mono Solutions, Vendasta, Boostability, and Broadly.

    Episode Nine: "SMBs Have No Time" featuring Mark MacLeod

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2018 28:12


    This episode of Above the Cloud features an interview with Mark MacLeod, founder of SurePath Capital partners, a firm that helps SMB software companies raise money and find attractive exit opportunities. As a former executive at Freshbooks and Shopify, Mark has a solid perspective on what it takes to win in SMB software. This episode is sponsored by DexYP, Google, Mono Solutions, Vendasta, Boostability and Broadly.

    Episode Eight: "A Product First Go to Market Strategy" featuring Adam Blake

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2018 25:47


    This episode of Above the Cloud features an interview with Adam Blake, CMO of ThriveHive, a SaaS-based marketing platform for small businesses. Key focus of the conversation was ThriveHive's product-centric marketing philosophy, which emphasizes offering high value free products to build relationships with SMBs. Blake also discusses its latest example of a free service, ThirveHive Grader, which helps SMBs optimize their Google My Business listings. This episode was sponsored by Boostability, Broadly, Mono Solutions and Vendasta.

    Episode Seven: "A Completely Different Experience" featuring Abid Chaudhry

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2018 26:19


    This episode of Above the Cloud features an interview with Microsoft SMB channel strategist and product marketer Abid Chaudhry. The conversations centers around Microsoft's approach to the SMB channel, how it segments the market and what trends it is watching, including how post-Millennial generations see technology as an enabler of a more untethered style of work.

    Episode Six: "Humans Aren't Resources" featuring Tolithia Kornweibel

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2018 28:29


    This episode of Above the Cloud features an interview with Gusto head of marketing Tolithia Kornweibel. Gusto is one of the hot companies in SMB SaaS, having raised more than $300 million and unveiling a sleek new office in San Francisco's Dogpatch. We cover a wide range of issues impacting the cloud HR space in this interview -- including effective sales channels for bringing SMBs into the cloud, the real concern over SaaS overload and the backlash it could generate, and where Gusto may take its business beyond payroll and HR.

    Episode 5: "Age is a Moving Target" featuring Neal Polachek

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 28, 2018 22:46


    Will baby boomers starting businesses in lieu of retirement have the same tech adoption profile as millennial entrepreneurs? Is GrubHubs acquisition of LevelUp a move toward becoming the OS for restaurants? And what does eBay's entry into the small business lending wars mean? Tech Adoption index analyst Neal Polachek and your host kick it all around.

    Episode 4: "There Must Be an App for That" featuring Josh May

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2018 26:38


    This episode features an interview with Josh May, co-founder & CEO of POWr, a San Francisco based start up that builds website plug ins for self-service website users, mostly small business owners. Josh sees POWr's role as helping SMBs make their sites more competitive with big businesses. Josh started his first business at 18. He has built POWr into a profitable business on a $100K seed round and a $40 marketing investment. This episode was sponsored by Mono Solutions and Boostability.

    Episode 3: "Art Of The Demo" featuring Josh Melick

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2018 24:36


    The episode features Broadly CEO Josh Melick who shares some success tips for inside sales, makes the case that the "phone call is dead" in the local SMB space and offers a skeptic's view of the full stack of SaaS products. This episode was sponsored by Mono Solutions and Boostability.

    Episode 2: "Sell Them What They Need!" featuring Jackie Cook

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2018 29:43


    This episode of Above the Cloud features an interview with Vendasta CSO Jackie Cook, who talks about the company's new study, "Why Your Clients Churn" which delves into what it takes for digital marketing services sellers to retain small business customers. We start the podcast with a chat between the host Charles Laughlin and Neal Polachek all about the metrics driving the SMB SaaS business. Thanks to sponsors Boostability and Mono Solutions.

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    Episode 1: "Short Stacks and Shadow SaaS" featuring Ariel Diaz

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2018 33:47


    The inaugural episode of Above the Cloud features a quick review of how Mark Meeker's annual Internet Trends report sees trends in the SMB Software word. Plus a conversation with Ariel Diaz from Blissfully.com talks about his fascinating new report on how businesses are using cloud technology. This episode is sponsored by Mono Solutions, Boostability, Net-Linx and the 2018 Tech Adoption Summit.

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