BEHIND THE SCREENS

Sharing data dashboards across your organization securely has always been a challenge. At ScreenCloud we are about to unveil an entirely new approach for sharing dashboards securely with anybody in your organization. No longer will you have to sacrifice scale and flexibility to meet security requirements for presenting critical company information. In this episode, David and Mark deep dive into how ScreenCloud dashboards evolved and the upcoming launch.  --- Show notes: Details of the launch event on the 25th Feb: Launch Event Link Check out ScreenCloud Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn

Levelling up your business is much more than earning more money and gaining new customers. In order to truly level up any business, you have to take a deep dive into how your teams operate and how they perform.  In this episode, David and Mark talk about the challenges of levelling up a business and how best to approach this going forward.  --- Show notes:   Check out ScreenCloud Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn

HR teams have seen a seismic over the last few years in how they function. The classic HR team has been replaced by the more modern 'people' operations team. In this episode, Mark and David discuss how modern people teams are not too dissimilar to marketing teams when it comes to owning the employer brand. They also explore the relationship between marketing and people teams the argument of who is best equipped to own the space of employer branding within an organisation.   Show notes:   Check out the video People Ops as a Product by Jessica Hayes Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

In the world of SaaS, churn rates refer to the percentage of customers who tried out your service and decided to leave in a given period. To outweigh churn, you have expansion revenue, which you gain from upselling and cross-selling to your existing customers. A SaaS company needs to understand, measure, and address these two key growth metrics to thrive and succeed.   In this episode, David and Mark talk about churn and expansion at ScreenCloud. David admits that there wasn’t much effort put into these two metrics in the early days. Instead, the focus was on new businesses and customer support. However, as ScreenCloud got bigger and expanded into the enterprise market, the founders realized they needed to shift their approach. Listen to the full episode to learn about the different phases Mark and David have implemented to scale and drive growth at ScreenCloud.       --- Show notes:   Check out ScreenCloud Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn

In the world of business, there’s a constant focus on the next best thing, the coolest apps, the sexiest features. People want to solve gnarly problems and build sophisticated products, they aren’t excited about mundane work. However, in today's episode, Mark and David argue that it’s vital to get the “boring” basics done right and elegantly first before you start working on smart, shiny things. The basics are essential in creating a solid foundation for your business. Ignore them, and your company is in danger. Mark and David also discuss why they think documents run a business. --- Show notes: Check out ScreenCloud Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn

We’ve talked a great deal about how, as a startup grows and builds out new departments and structures, there will be more chaos and disconnection. So how do you solve this problem and get more organized while scaling your business? This is where the Cadence comes in. It’s an operating philosophy coined by David Sacks, Founder of Yammer and former COO of PayPal.    The Cadence synchronizes major functions of a SaaS startup and runs them on a quarterly cycle so that teams can better communicate and collaborate. Under this concept, Sales and Finance are on one calendar, while Product and Marketing are on another.    In this episode, Mark and David explain why they decided to adopt the Cadence for ScreenCloud, what is working for us, and where the Cofounders think this approach can improve upon. They also promise a more detailed review of ScreenCloud's implementation of the Cadence in six months, so stay tuned! ---          Show notes:   Learn more about the Cadence via this article or video Check out ScreenCloud’s first virtual event, Reboot Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn

Writing a book is a nerve-racking leap into the unknown. In Kurt Vonnegut’s words, we have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.    A few months ago, two of our founders David and Mark decided to take the plunge. They’re writing a business book about modern approaches to connecting and engaging with employees effectively.    Today’s episode deep dives into their writing journeys, including the ah-hah moment that inspired them to write the book, the book’s structure, how they divide the workload, how we’re going to promote the book, and the potential outcome. The real gem of this episode is their honest struggles with writing a book (captured in an upcoming video docu-series), their different writing processes, and how they’re balancing these differences to achieve promising end-results. Show notes:   Check out Scribe Media, co-founded by Tucker Max. Follow The Connected Company book’s journey and be the first to hear when the book is published. Learn more about The Conversational Marketing by Drift.   Check out Remote: Office Not Required by David Heinemeier Hansson & Jason Fried.   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com    

Pricing is hard and don’t tell anyone this, but in the early days of ScreenCloud, pricing was basically a “pull a number out of a hat” exercise, as Mark explains in today’s episode.   As your startup grows and expands however, your pricing strategy needs to adapt and evolve with it, and continual experimentation and testing is essential. In this episode, David and Mark discuss their experience and challenges with pricing at ScreenCloud, as well as what they’ve learned from well-respected experts in the industry, including the three tiers of B2B SaaS customers and the four myths of bundling. And how above all, your pricing should be simple and aligned with the value you create for your customers.   Show notes:   Check out the EnterpriseReady podcast episode featuring Adam Gross. Check out the Invest Like the Best podcast episode featuring Shishir Mehrotra. Read more about the four myths of bundling.  Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

Staff are arguably the most expensive “line item” on most companies’ budget sheet. Yet, the lion’s share of effort, resource and creativity is spent on our customers, and far less is given towards creating a truly effective employee experience. That’s what today’s podcast episode is all about, as David and Mark question why we aren’t more focused on our biggest asset. From why “HR” is often tactical, reactive and responsive and not considered at a Leadership level, to why top-down announcements in real-time aren’t the only way to share information. Suggesting that companies who apply the same approach that revolutionised customer success in recent years, to changing employee engagement, could be the ones who win.  ---   Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com   

During the current crisis and the almost certain financial downturn that will ensue, many companies are going back to basics. Questioning their positioning, who their core customers are, what their offering is, and perhaps most importantly of all, how this is still relevant to the world today. In this episode, Mark and David talk about revisiting our positioning at ScreenCloud and what questions this has brought up. How serving everyone and being a generalist can lead to short-term profit, but why niching to one expert area could unlock an underserved need in the market. With examples of category leaders like Drift, who found a way to change the entire system by specialising in one area, and why looking back to what worked isn’t the way to determine what could be.   ---   Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com  Drift’s Conversational Marketing 

With so much change happening in the world right now it can be difficult to not get caught up in the immediate effects without considering which dominos will fall later down the line. Also known as second and third order thinking. In this episode, David and Mark discuss the theory in light of the current coronavirus pandemic and question: what will the second and third order effects be on the way we work? Sharing examples from their own history running an agency, where focusing too much on the first order had a detrimental effect in other ways. Plus, looking at how remote work and social distancing will affect the future office, where people choose to live and how access to WiFi could even change how we perceive each other. ---   Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com   

As we enter week six of lockdown in the UK we’re starting to question what the future may hold. Like how long can you respectably justify as a “blip” and if this isn’t a blip, then what does life and work look like as we start to return to a new normal? In this episode David and Mark discuss some of the mental and physical changes the lockdown period has had on them personally and what they might do differently should there be advance warning of a second period. What a return to normal might look like for office workers and how the rapid adoption of remote working and video conferencing might change the future of work.    ---   Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

We’ve always been distributed with the requisite that anyone can work anywhere. But now we’re working fully remote, we’ve seen a huge amplification in the amount of content in our communication channels. We’re also spending an increasing amount of time on Zoom calls, with some of the team and friends we’re speaking to, reporting that they feel less productive. In this episode, David and Mark discuss some of the methods they’re using to overcome this, like implementing short daily stand-ups and how to do this well. Why long Slack threads should often be quick calls, and how we can lean into the medium of live and recorded audio or video, in order to be heard. Plus a quick note on the side product ScreenCloud Signal we’ve created to help separate what’s most important from Slack or Microsoft Teams, into one consumable content queue.    ---   Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com  Get an early look at Signal: screen.cloud/signal  Study on employee video-watching habits

As the world sits 10-feet deep in the coronavirus pandemic, how do you navigate these uncertain waters as an entrepreneur? In today’s episode, David and Mark share their past experiences of running businesses during turbulent times, how their priority at ScreenCloud has shifted, and what’s helping them stay sane and clear-headed.    Key takeaways? Stick with a realistic goal and long-term vision. Have a plan, but allow circumstances to help you evolve that plan. Leaders will naturally emerge in crisis. Bad things happen—it’s all about what you choose to do next. Above all, show gratitude, appreciate how far you’ve come from your initial starting point, and help your fellow humans when you can.     Show notes: Check out Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts  Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

Every front page in the world is talking about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Many nations are in lockdown and governments are enforcing social distancing rules to help fight the alarming spread of coronavirus. Work from home (WFH) is now the new normal for most businesses. In today’s episode (recorded remotely, of course), Mark and David chat about how the coronavirus outbreak has affected ScreenCloud as well as their WFH experiences and the challenges of staying connected. Even though remote work has been around for a while, most companies aren’t set up for it. It can be a challenging adjustment due to the loss of face to face interactions with colleagues as well as the necessity of being online at all times.  The founders also discuss the steps ScreenCloud has taken to help staff and customers during this difficult time. This includes crediting accounts for clients who have had to close their premises and building out a new WFH solution to help individual employees easily consume information while working from home - outside of already oversaturated channels. It's undeniable that we're dealing with a tough situation, but might we be hopeful that many organizations will come out of this stronger and realize that working from home has real benefits?    Show notes:   Check out Uber: uber.com Check out Zoom: zoom.us Check out Slack: slack.com  Check out Remote: Office Not Required by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried Check out the webinar featuring Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder of SaaStr, and Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKL0gyuf7bY   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

In the early days, internal communication is a walk in the park for startups. When your company’s only 10 or 15 people, everyone knows every detail of the business and can collaborate effectively to achieve a shared goal.  But what happens when a startup reaches 100 or 200 people and everyone is a specialist in their own department? There’s simply too much information to know everything. Do you err on the side of transparency and risk overloading people with irrelevant details? Or do you restrict communication and risk creating silos and duplicate work? At this point it can seem like the magic of the early days is lost. This transition is something Mark and David are currently wrestling with at ScreenCloud. In this episode, they talk openly about the challenge of communicating effectively in detail. While they may not have figured out a concrete solution for it yet, it’s definitely something scaling startups are, or will, grapple with. Feel free to join the conversation and share with them your thoughts on LinkedIn or by email.  Show notes:   Find out about Point Nine: pointninecap.com Check out ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

This episode is all about mistakes. We often think of successful companies as a series of great decisions played out as a perfect highlight reel. But this can lead to a dangerous mindset among first-time entrepreneurs that they can’t afford to fail. However mistakes are not only inevitable, but they are also incredibly valuable! In this episode, Mark and David discuss mistakes they've made, why we should use failures as opportunities to reflect and grow, as well as the importance of hiring people who've made many mistakes. David also candidly shares five mistakes he’s made during his journey at ScreenCloud and how they've helped him. With the ultimate message being, you should never be ashamed of your mistakes, as long as you learn from them.  As J.K. Rowling put it: It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default.   Show notes: Find out about Mind Candy: mindcandy.com Check out Calm: calm.com Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

At ScreenCloud we have a distributed model, which means some employees work in one of our four hubs, some work fully remotely and some do a mix of both. This isn’t unusual in companies that want to be able to hire the best talent, unrestricted by geography. But what is quite different, is how we work as Founders, in order to successfully lead a mixed-model company. In this episode, Mark and David discuss the different approaches they’ve taken to ensure they have some face time with each of ScreenCloud’s four locations. From Mark’s approach which means traveling often, in short bursts, to David and Luke who are both planning to uproot in order to spend more time in our L.A. and Belfast offices. Plus the question of, is this the best approach, or is it possible to rely on digital communication completely?  ---  Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

Despite what conventional wisdom might suggest, your to-do list as a Founder becomes longer, and not shorter, the larger your company grows. Which means organization, and how to prioritize your time, is always front of mind. In this episode, David and Mark discuss their somewhat different approaches to prioritization and particularly “inbox zero”. With Mark sharing his actionable tips on how to organize email and how different tools like Slack, email, CRM and task lists, can work together to free up more mental headspace. Along with why it’s important for founders to work “inflow” to avoid becoming a bottleneck, and the true value of the “15-minute coffee” and why it’s important to put time, over money.    ---   Show notes:   If you’re interested, you can check out what we mean by the Oddball Couple ! Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com

Coming to you from LA this week, all three Founders catch up to share a 2019 retrospective on what we learned in a year where we doubled in revenue size and 2X the number of people in the company. On performance, why we created a “churn task force” to double down on this area, and the delicate balancing act of new revenue, churn and expansion. Why 2019 was largely “year of the build” as we ramped up to launch the new version of ScreenCloud. Plus learning that product-market fit is a continual process, as both your product and your customers mature. On the people side, senior hiring decisions that worked, and also didn’t, and the surprising ways this podcast has helped towards our recruitment efforts. Plus, some fun predictions from David, Luke and Mark for 2020.    Thank you to everyone who has tried ScreenCloud, worked for ScreenCloud or listened, shared and featured on Behind the Screens in 2019. Your support means a lot!   ---   Show notes:   The video from our annual offsite ScreenCloud Together 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt_R3tpbz7s  Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn, or Luke Hubbard on Twitter. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

In today’s episode, Mark is joined by Georgina Bale and Emma Hatto, who started recruitment agency Bower Talent five years ago because, as EA’s themselves at the time, they were having bad experiences with existing recruiters. Their business has since branched out into a training platform and an on-demand virtual assistant business called ibLE that caters for smaller companies who don't yet need or can’t afford full-time support staff.    Georgina and Emma discuss who’s to blame for the still-existing stereotyping of administrative support. They also talk about the definition of ‘the modern PA’ and how automation in support roles is freeing up time for further training and development, which in turn can have a profound effect on a business and on support careers.    ---   Show notes:   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: https://youtu.be/iuD8pQzn0XA Connect with Mark McDermott or Emma Hatto or Georgina Bale on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com    Emma and Georgina’s recruitment platform for support staff: Bower-talent.com Don’t want to commit to a full-time hire? Get a virtual assistant by the hour here: Ible-it.com    

The winners at this year's Cannes Lions advertising awards show a clear trend towards brands needing to be at the forefront of innovation. Agencies are creating their own incubators to tap into innovative startups, offering investment and access to clients and creative services in return. But for startups this can mean being pressured to change their roadmap to fit their product to one campaign. That one campaign might win awards and create great PR, but is it worth it in the long run? And once an agency has used an execution on a campaign, can they ever use it again? In today’s episode, Mark and David are joined by Matt Jukes, Creative Director at advertising agency Cheil, to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of startups collaborating with ad agencies.   --- Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU4b4vfXPu8 Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott or Matt Jukes on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com  Matt’s art: mattjukes.ink or https://www.instagram.com/mattjukes/?hl=en   Examples of innovation in brands: APPee. Antarctica beer collaborates with AirBnB to provide restrooms for desperate carnival goers: https://vimeo.com/301363203 Home Pro’s 7:1 Furniture Collection. Home furnishings retailer designs furniture that can be seen by visually impaired people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6yb5nZBX9U Overconfidence Cover. Pet insurance company advertises through design collaborations on vet medical supplies: https://youtu.be/jPEGpZjx8v4 Foxtel Alert Shirt. Australian broadcaster creates a jersey that lets fans feel rugby tackles in real-time: https://vimeo.com/92022678 The Traffic Jam Whopper. Burger King deliver burgers to your car when you’re stuck in traffic: https://vimeo.com/335165476 Whopper Detour. Get a Whopper for 1 cent if you use the Burger King app near a McDonald’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6uuEQmn5vQ

Investors often suggest to founders that they should aim to hire people who are more experienced than them in a specific discipline. Doing so raises the experience bar for the whole company and allows them to solve problems faster. But is there something to be said for making space in your company for raw talent too? Can you justify the extra time you would need to train them on the job? Conversely, can you give experienced talent enough of a challenge to want to stay with you for a while? And if they’re just repeating what they’ve already done before, will you end up repeating a playbook that by definition will mean you aren’t innovating? In today’s episode, Mark and David weigh up the pros and cons of both conventional and unconventional hires and talk about the benefits of getting founders more involved in the hiring process.  --- Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: https://bit.ly/2NYRWzQ Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

The digital transformation of workplaces has brought about an incredible amount of freedom for people and companies, but it’s also contributed to increased interruptions, and a difficulty to switch off from work. In today’s episode, Mark and David discuss the dangers of businesses racing towards digital transformation without a strategy or an idea of best practices. They also talk about the role that digital signage can play in reducing information overload by allowing people to pick up and absorb information in a more ambient way, and what they learned about screen engagement from a two-month behavioural study.    --- Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/digital-transformation Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com  Cal Newport’s book is called Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World  

What counts as a side project? And how do you know when it’s commercially viable to make it your main project? One well-known example is gaming company Tiny Speck, who applied what they learned from building Glitch, which failed, to a business comms tool side project. They named it Slack. In today’s episode, Mark and David talk about the various side projects they were involved in while running an agency, how they funded them, and how one of those projects became ScreenCloud. They also talk about side projects being great tools for learning and validating ideas, but that taking something to the next level can’t just be about making money but requires true passion and commitment.  ---   Show notes:   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/side-projects Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get your cat amazing organic food: https://www.purrform.co.uk/ Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

Unlimited holiday is a company perk that’s becoming increasingly common in startups. Some companies say it’s amazing for productivity, work-life balance, physical health and general happiness. Others say it creates injustice when some people take more holiday than their colleagues, who are left to pick up the slack. Then there are people who don’t take enough, maybe because they’re worried they’ll look less committed. In this episode, Mark and David discuss why ScreenCloud decided to offer unlimited holiday and the pros and cons that have come out of implementing the policy. They also talk about how flexible working hours can help employees strike a good work-life balance while still keeping your business going.    --- Show notes:  Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/unlimited-holiday Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

Today’s episode is brought to you from L.A., where David is joined by Sofia Quintero, Co-Founder and CEO of customer research software startup EnjoyHQ. Sofia has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, from selling flowers made of toilet paper as a child, to running a skateboard shop in her home country of Venezuela in the Noughties, to eventually founding EnjoyHQ. She talks about the challenges of raising capital and the level of confidence it takes, especially as a woman pitching to mostly men, the importance of finding investors who are aligned with your vision, and why skateboarding is a lot like running a business.   ---   Show notes:   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Find out more about EnjoyHQ: https://getenjoyhq.com/ Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/sofia-quintero Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott or Sofia Quintero on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com  We also reference the book: “Let my people go surfing”, by Yvon Chouinard

In today’s episode, Mark and David are joined by Kate Thrumble, Head of People at ScreenCloud, who joined the company in April 2019 after a corporate HR career in fashion, recruitment, and advertising. Kate talks about making the transition to startup culture and how it’s possible to implement structure and processes without “going corporate” or slowing down an agile business. They discuss why cracks tend to appear when a startup nears 50 employees and how HR might seem like an expense at first but soon turns into a cost saving thanks to things like excellent onboarding and career development, which improve people retention.   --- Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com  Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/HR-at-50-people Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott or Kate Thrumble on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

Conventional wisdom suggests that if you haven’t hired a Head of HR in your startup by the time you reach 50 people, it’s too late. In this week’s episode, Mark and David talk about the events that led them to hire a Head of People at ScreenCloud and how Mark skilled up on his interviewing technique for this very important senior role. They also discuss the difference between the “Head of People” and “Head of Recruitment”, two key HR titles that tend to attract two quite different personalities. --- Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/hiring-head-of-HR Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com

One of ScreenCloud’s company values is trust, which means we hire independent, ambitious grown-ups who are self-starters, happy to take initiative and ownership. In this episode, Mark and David discuss the challenge for Founders to move from having done everything themselves to inspiring confidence in others and their ideas. They talk about the difference between ownership and accountability, and the valuable lessons that can be learned from giving people permission to make mistakes.  --- Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/encouraging-team-ownership Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

Every startup will inevitably experience both highs and lows, but how you deal with those highs and lows as Founders can make a big difference. In this week’s episode, Mark and David talk about when the going gets tough and how important it is as a leader to keep your personal insecurities in check to avoid causing panic and paralysis. And what to do if panic sets in anyway. Including when David shared a negative financial report with the whole team, causing several people to think they were getting fired and what this taught him about communicating bad news.    --- Show notes: Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/panic-things-go-wrong Connect with David Hart or Mark McDermott on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com

In today’s episode, Mark and David are joined by Dr Carlos Saba, Co-Founder of The Happy Startup School, whose manifesto is that there is a healthier and happier way of doing business. They discuss the origin of The Happy Startup School, what building a business without stress can look like and how to “lift the lid” as a Founder to achieve personal growth. How structureless events might be the key to providing value, plus reflections from our own experience organizing our annual ScreenCloud Together event and what we’d do differently next time.      ---   Show notes:   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Find out more about The Happy Startup School: thehappystartupschool.com Watch the video:https://youtu.be/P-bSml5OQRM   Connect with David Hart, Mark McDermott or Dr. Carlos Saba on LinkedIn.   Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

In today’s episode, Mark and David are joined by Paul Joyce, Founder & CEO of digital dashboard tool Geckoboard. They discuss how SaaS has changed since the first wave in 2011 and why sometimes it’s best to not take advice, even if that means living through failure. How ScreenCloud and Geckoboard have both had to work to change the perception of data visualization, alongside topics like re-platforming, the importance of “ethical engineering” and what they view as the future of data when things become meaningful.   ---   Show notes:   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Find out more about Geckoboard: geckoboard.com/ Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/to-do-with-data   Connect with David Hart, Mark McDermott or Paul Joyce on LinkedIn.   Get in touch: hello@screencloud.com 

As we near almost 60 people, the roles we hire for today look increasingly different from the roles we prioritized when we first started ScreenCloud. In this week’s episode we discuss how these roles have changed, or in some cases have become redundant, as we’ve grown. The consequences of hiring specialists too early and why generalists are often your best first hires, when the priority is getting the product out the door. Along with why fluidity and reducing silos between teams is so important as we grow.   ---   Show notes:   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV_Ge5lsDhg&t=913s hello@screencloud.com

Nowadays, fully or partly remote teams are becoming more commonplace but when Luke, ScreenCloud’s 3rd CoFounder, originally moved to Bangkok, distributed companies weren’t really a thing. In this episode we discuss what having your CoFounders spread across different continents meant for us in our early days. How this affected some of the initial decisions we made about ScreenCloud's team and product setup, and what the value of hindsight has taught us about what we might have done differently.   ---   Show notes:   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/episode-27-distributed-founders   hello@screencloud.com

There’s a lot of talk in product companies about “eating your own dogfood” i.e. getting your team to use your product in their everyday lives. But unless you’re Slack or Facebook, you just might not have the capability, or the capacity, to use your product in the same way that a real customer might. In this episode, David and Mark discuss how they combated this at ScreenCloud by coming up with something called “the employee challenge”. Discussing their experience of what it means for an employee to go under the hood of a product, in a real-life scenario, with a real customer. The challenges that arose alongside around confidence and availability and the hidden benefit of getting employees to fall in love with not just the product, but the problem that product solves. ---   Show notes: If you fancy being part of our employee challenge and getting free help setting up ScreenCloud for your company, give us a shout on hello@screencloud.com   Read Mark’s thoughts on how to get your employees to fall in love with the problem you’re solving here: https://medium.com/screencloud-journey/how-to-get-your-team-to-fall-in-love-with-the-problem-youre-solving-4964773ec3da   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/episode-26-employee-challenge   hello@screencloud.com

Part of every Founder’s journey as you grow a SaaS business is moving from doing all of the things, to distributing responsibility until you’re left with just the things you do really well. In this episode Mark and David discuss what restructuring a company looks like as you move upstream and how to split out responsibilities so that you grow, work and hire more efficiently. Particularly when it comes to sales and providing ultimate value to your customers. ---   Show notes:   We’re hiring! Check out our open positions or get in touch here: https://screen.cloud/careers   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/episode-25-scaling-sales   hello@screencloud.com

  There’s often no off-switch when you run a startup and that can lead to the temptation to be working all of the time. But if all you think about is work, does that make you better or worse than someone who has a more multifaceted life? We believe that having something you do with some regularity outside of work can actually make you better at your day job. In this episode Mark and David discuss their side gigs, from having a second job as a Les Mills Bodypump instructor in Mark’s case, to why David runs 3-4 times per week even when it’s raining. How a hobby or side hustle can give you more time to problem solve and, what going back to basics in a different discipline shows to an onlooking team. ---   Show notes:   If you’re in London and fancy joining one of Mark’s BODYPUMP classes you can find him at various locations: https://www.markmcdermott.co/bodypump/   Read David’s blog on the importance of always going running, even when it’s raining: https://medium.com/@david_81548/always-go-for-a-run-even-if-its-raining-4f2ea4f14b8d   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/episode-24-hobbies   hello@screencloud.com

Next to running out of money, recruiting talented staff members is one of the biggest challenges a startup faces. In this episode we talk to Kristian James Founder of Hawkwood Partners, a recruitment consultancy, on what startups can do to attract the best talent they can afford.   Topics include why credibility is crucial for early-stage startups competing for talent, why hiring from your competitors can actually be a disadvantage and the changing role of HR. Particularly in startups where the position is increasingly viewed as a value-adding role, rather than one that’s there to mop up the mess.   ---   Show Notes:   Kristian James is the Founder of Hawkwood Partners, a recruitment consultancy specialising in HR professionals for the creative and technology sectors. For more information on Hawkwood Partners visit http://www.hawkwoodpartners.com/   You can connect with Kristian on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristian-james-669b892b/   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/episode-22-attracting-talent   hello@screencloud.com

When we started ScreenCloud we launched a MVP and reiterated quickly. Then two years in we realised that the original product had reached its limit and we needed to either carry on building on top of it, or we needed to re-engineer the product completely. In this episode we discuss why we made the decision to re-engineer despite this going against “best practice” startup advice. What it feels like to put 18 months of investment, resource and work into a product which no customers have seen yet and how we communicated this to get buy-in from our board. Plus where we’re at today, about to launch the new version of ScreenCloud at the largest digital signage expo of the year, DSE 2019. ---   Show Notes:   We’re at DSE! Check out the New ScreenCloud preview and book an appointment with us here: https://get.screen.cloud/dse-2019   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/episode-22-reengineer-your-product   hello@screencloud.com

In this episode we’re having a bit of fun and talking about some of the things that really grind our gears i.e. wind us up. Like people who say they’re going to do something and don’t do it and how delightful when the opposite is true. Elements when pitching a startup that push our buttons and some examples from our agency days, like being asked to work for free and why the moment you say “just pushing this to the top of your inbox” you’ve lost.   We’d love to hear if you resonate, let us know on Twitter - @mr_mcd and @davidhart.   ---   Show Notes:   Mike Monteiro's F*ck You, Pay Me video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=jVkLVRt6c1U   LinkedIn with Mark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhmcdermott/   LinkedIn with David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhartcodegent/   ---   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/whatgrindsourgears   hello@screencloud.com

Next to running out of money, Founder fallouts are one of the most common reasons why startups fails. In this episode Mark and David discuss, what they believe, is the most important factor of managing a company together: shared Founder values. From examples of where their own shared values have helped to propel ScreenCloud, and previous companies, forward and what it looks like when Founder values aren’t aligned. Why values are more than just the things you agree on and how actually, they can be a compass for decision making.   ---   Show Notes:   Mark, David and Luke’s original agency and product studio Codegent: https://www.codegent.com/     David wrote a blog on the topic of Founder alignment here: https://medium.com/screencloud-journey/founder-alignment-more-crucial-than-you-think-a3b970f3cbde   ---   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/episode-20-founder-values   hello@screencloud.com  

Our policy at ScreenCloud has always been “treat people like adults” which means focusing on output rather than the time an employee gets to the office, or the amount of hours they sit behind their desk. Recently, a question from a new employee made us question whether there’s more to this than just hiring smart, responsible people. Should you innately trust people until they give you a reason not to and what are the consequences when this goes wrong?   In this episode, Mark and David discuss how and why they tend to trust employees, despite being burnt in the past. Their thoughts around unlimited holiday policies and taking time off. Also looking at why some business leaders are more predisposed to lead with rules rather than trust and how this might affect staff retention.   --- Show Notes:   A blog David wrote on trusting your employees: https://medium.com/screencloud-journey/should-start-ups-trust-their-employees-4cc839ce695b     Learn more about ScreenCloud’s culture and current job vacancies here: https://screen.cloud/careers ---   Find out about ScreenCloud: screencloud.com   Watch the video: youtube.com/screencloudio/episode-19-staff-trust   hello@screencloud.com

There is a change in mindset required from anyone who has run a service-based industry (such as a consultancy), who moves into a fast-growing SaaS business. The key difference is 'margin' vs 'growth'. There is little point in raising money if all it does it sit in the bank. But there is a balance. How do you manage the demands of growth and efficiency? And does your background mean that you might veer towards being too risk averse at a time when you should be pushing harder? Mark and David discuss how they've dealt with this from their persepctive.To an extent, until you at least get to Series A and several $millions in ARR, you probably need to be in cash conservation mode as you are still experimenting and trying to prove your assumptions. But at the same time, the aim isn't to conserve enough cash that you become profitable too early. --- Show Notes:Not mentioned in the podcast, but for those interested, there is a really good slide presentation here from David Skork about the different phases of a Startup, and when you should move from 'burn avoidance mode': https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/saas-north-2017/ --- Find out about ScreenCloud: screen.cloud hello@screen.cloud

Storytelling is a great tool within a business for solving problems and communicating with your team. Why? Because it clearly conveys your 'intent'. Sharing your intent means people understand where you're heading and why. Telling a story from a company perspective that illustrates your intent also means that everyone knows the direction you are heading. A story is so much more identifible and easy to engage with than a list of objectives, or a mission statement. Who remembers their company's 10 Values if it's presented as a list of bullet points with no narrative around it, anyway? As usual we meander off into a few other 'stories' to make the point.  --- Show Notes:Debbie Wosskow's network for working women in the UK: https://www.allbrightcollective.com/ Secret Entrepreneurs Podcast: https://www.secretleaders.com/david-buttress --- Find out about ScreenCloud: screen.cloud hello@screen.cloud

Ever had that feeling where you are so overwhelmed with everything that you end up in a state of mental paralysis where intstead of chopping away at the tasks ahead of you, you end up doing nothing? Us too. It's not easy when you feel as if no matter what you do, you can't make a dent and you end up doing lots of things badly. David and Mark talk about what they do when it happens to them: truth is, they don't have a single strategy, but rather a series of coping mechanisms. Maybe you have some better ideas? Let us know if you do! --- Show Notes:Navy Seal speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6OoCaGsz94 Calm meditation app: https://www.calm.com/ Rich Roll podcast about Transcendental Meditation: http://www.richroll.com/podcast/bob-roth-372/ --- Find out about ScreenCloud: screen.cloud hello@screen.cloud

 In this episode, we talk about some of the mistakes we've made along the way and what we learnt from them. You can broadly group them around structuring the business, investment and staff. --- Find out about ScreenCloud: screen.cloud hello@screen.cloud

When you first start, the idea of a Reseller in multiple territories selling your product seems like a perfect solution. You don't need to hire your own sales team and you only pay on results - what's not to like?Unfortunately, the reality is that Resellers aren't particularly incentivised to sell your product and might just want to have you in their back pocket in case someone asks. Unless you are an established brand, or your reseller have clients with immediate pain that only you can solve, chances are you won't suddenly have a proactive sales force helping you scale your business. But amongst the chaff, there will inevitably be some wheat which you really do need to nurture. How do you identify these people and how do you make sure you are in the right place to work with them when your offering is mature enough to help? It's not easy. Here, we talk about the good, bad and the ugly of working out your Reseller Strategy in the early stages of a SaaS business's evolution. --- Find out about ScreenCloud: screen.cloud hello@screen.cloud

Investors are the life blood of your company, especially in the early years, yet entrepreneurs are hopeless at communicating with them. This seems crazy to us. Your investors can be really helpful to you beyond just giving you cash, and don't you have some sort of ethical obligation to tell them what you have been doing with the company that they co-own? In this episode, David and Mark talk about how ScreenCloud communicates with its investors and why it's worked for them. We also talk about how to create something that looks great without it taking loads of time (and money). The key is to keep it honest and authentic and don't just share good news. And the good news is that because the bar is so low, it's not hard to do something impressive that cuts through and keeps you front of mind with your investors. The structure of ScreenCloud's investor updates (referenced in the podcast) is: Introduction Video from Founders Key Metrics Financial Snapshot Highlights Lowlights Sales  Marketing Product Find out about ScreenCloud: screen.cloud hello@screen.cloud

Most SaaS people are a little obsessed by numbers. But do they really matter that much and do we run the risk of focusing on the wrong things if we ignore our gut? Mark and David take opposing sides on the debate with Mark supporting the motion that "numbers are crap", with David sat in the opposing corner.  What do you think?  Find out about ScreenCloud: screen.cloud hello@screen.cloud

Should exercise be high on your list of priorities when you are launching a start-up? Is exercise really a nice-to-have that might have to wait until things have calmed down, or is it a vital part of preparing you and your team for greatness? We think the latter. Actually we know the latter, from personal experience as well as from numerous bits of research. However macho you like to think you are, the fact is exercise makes you stronger mentally and working too many hours makes you less productive. We talk about:- The evidence that all work and no play makes Jack more than just dull, it makes him sick and less good at his job.  - How motivation with all the other pressures of running a business is the hardest part of maintaining a regular exercise regime - What life hacks you could use to keep the discipline of regular exercise - How establishing a culture of 'being healthy' comes from the top If you want you and your team to have less self-esteem and energy, be less productive and be at a higher risk of depression and cardiovascular disease, then make sure people work every waking hour with no time for exercise. If you think the opposite, you know what to do! Find out about ScreenCloud: screen.cloud hello@screen.cloud