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In this episode of We're Only Human, host Ben Eubanks connects in an insightful discussion with Debra Squyres from Bonusly and Hope Weatherford from Fountain. They delve into strategies to improve workplace performance and the evolving nature of performance management. The conversation covers the significance of real-time feedback, building trust between managers and employees, leveraging recognition platforms, and the importance of addressing the human element in work environments. Both guests share practical tips for managers to enhance employee engagement, foster personal growth, and create meaningful relationships within teams.00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction00:45 Hope Weatherford's Background and Insights01:55 Debra Squyres' Background and Insights04:08 Challenges in Current Performance Management07:08 Solutions and Best Practices for Performance Management12:03 The Importance of Real-Time Feedback and Recognition24:36 Engaging Managers in the Performance Process30:25 Final Thoughts and Top RecommendationsConnect with Hope on LinkedInConnect with Debra on LinkedInCheck out the 2025 State of Recognition report from BonuslySee the show archives and sign up for episode updates
Live from CultureCon, we're talking workplace magic with Debra Squyres, Chief Customer Officer at Bonusly!
In this season finale of CXO Conversations, host Michael Mitchel takes a moment to reflect on the remarkable year of 2023, revisiting the wealth of knowledge and diverse experiences shared by prominent executives, like Eric Lougher, David Cox, Craig Cummings, Janine Davidson, and many more. Michael's Key Highlights: Stephen Brown's journey to becoming a President at 32, emphasizing confidence, seizing opportunities, and continual learning. Rand Lewis's insights on the hallmarks of great leadership and his experience as a successful investor. Raphael Crawford Mark's transition from Founder to CEO at Bonusly, mirroring Michael's own transition in the nonprofit sector. As we bid farewell to this season, Michael teases the exciting lineup for the upcoming year, featuring notable guests like the Honorable Patrick Murphy, Grant Stanis, Christopher Lochhead, and Laura Ortman. Their forthcoming stories promise to bring fresh and inspiring perspectives to the podcast. Special thanks to the talented CXO Conversations team for their invaluable contributions throughout the season. Tune in and gear up for another year of engaging, insightful conversations that bridge the gap between ambition and achievement in the corporate world. Happy holidays, and here's to a new year filled with more inspiring CXO Conversations! Thank you to ACG Denver for being a sponsor of CXO Conversations Podcast. Association for Corporate Growth in its role as the hub of the middle market business community for quality networking, education and events. Connections are made, deals are formed and thought leadership is exchanged. Enjoy the show? Leave us a review on iTunes - thanks! Thank you Jalan Crossland for lending your award-winning banjo skills to CXO Conversations.
Instructions on how to rate and review How I Grew This on Apple Podcasts can be found here.
In this HCI Podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Raphael Crawford-Marks about creating a “culture of appreciation” in your organization. Raphael Crawford-Marks (https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelcm/) is the Founder and CEO of Bonusly, an enterprise platform that helps companies create high-performance, high-engagement workplaces. He founded the company as a side project in 2012, because he believed there was a better way to facilitate peer-to-peer recognition and appreciation. He grew Bonusly to the point where he was able to leave his job as a developer to work on the company full time, and, today, Bonusly serves thousands of customers around the world. Further explore the topics discussed in this episode with the new HCIConsulting Chatbot: https://poe.com/HCIConsulting. Check out the HCI Academy: Courses, Micro-Credentials, and Certificates to Upskill and Reskill for the Future of Work! Check out the LinkedIn Alchemizing Human Capital Newsletter. Check out Dr. Westover's book, The Future Leader. Check out Dr. Westover's book, 'Bluer than Indigo' Leadership. Check out Dr. Westover's book, The Alchemy of Truly Remarkable Leadership. Check out the latest issue of the Human Capital Leadership magazine. Each HCI Podcast episode (Program, ID No. 627454) has been approved for 0.50 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®). Each HCI Podcast episode (Program ID: 24-DP529) has been approved for 0.50 HR (General) SHRM Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCPHR recertification through SHRM, as part of the knowledge and competency programs related to the SHRM Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge™ (the SHRM BASK™). Human Capital Innovations has been pre-approved by the ATD Certification Institute to offer educational programs that can be used towards initial eligibility and recertification of the Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD) and Associate Professional in Talent Development (APTD) credentials. Each HCI Podcast episode qualifies for a maximum of 0.50 points.
Today I want to tell you about our sponsor for this episode, Olsen Dental Chairs!Imagine you're a dentist and you spend your whole day around the chair... Well, Olsen has over 40 years of experience in making those long hours as comfortable as possible for both the dentist and the patient! If you're a dental professional looking for high quality, cost effective, dental equipment, check out Olson dental chairs!Click this link and mention this episode for a limited time FREE installation with your purchase!Guest: Noel LiuPractice Name: Secure Dental GroupCheck out Noel's Media:Websites:Secure Dental - www.secure-dental.comSecure Dental Group - www.securedentalgroup.comNoel Liu DDS - www.noelliudds.com/DentVia - https://dentvia.com/Social Media:Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/noelliuddsInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/drnoelliu/?hl=enYoutube - https://www.youtube.com/c/drnoelliuLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drnoelliu.Twitter - https://twitter.com/DrNoelLiuPhone: 815-670-2923Other Mentions and Links:Wells FargoEBITDA - Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and AmortizationLevin Group - Dr. Roger LevinScheduling InstituteDEO - Dental Entrepreneur OrganizationDr. Marc CooperCardone VenturesBrandon DawsonFor more helpful tips, strategies, ideas, and marketing advice:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedentalmarketer/The Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041My Key Takeaways:If you're thinking about practice 2 and beyond, be sure to maximize your primary practice first!Plan out your revenue breakpoints and what you will do when you reach them. Without a plan, you will lose progress while growing!Know the numbers! KPIs, P and Ls, and Productions and Collections are essential to keep close tabs on for improvement of your practice.Expanding to a new practice is 80% mindset and 20% strategy. Don't get too bogged down in strategizing!Emotional and logical decision making BOTH have a place in business. If your decisions are too logical, it will be hard to take action. If your decisions are too emotional, you may lack to planning and strategy needed for success.Try getting to know your team and their individual goals, values, and aspirations. This will help when aligning with the practice's values and ensure a sustainable culture!Please don't forget to share with us on Instagram when you are listening to the podcast AND if you are really wanting to show us love, then please leave a 5 star review on iTunes! [Click here to leave a review on iTunes]Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)Michael: Alright, it's time to talk with our featured guest, Dr. Noel Liu. Noel, how's it going? I'm doing very well, Michael. Thanks for having me. No, thank you for coming on and being a part of the podcast. We truly appreciate it. If you don't mind me asking, tell us a little bit about your past, your present, how'd you get to where you Noel: are today?No, it's a great question. You know, it's like, um, when they say, when you climb the ladder, it's, it's this way. So this is how I, my, my whole journey with the whole career has been, so we started, I, I graduated back in 2007 from N Y U College of Dentistry and, uh, I was working for a corporate and I think I lasted about four and a half years.Stuck to one job, just stuck it out. Didn't quit, just, just kept going. And then we opened our first practice in 2012 in Peor, Illinois, and that's where we are based. So from there, we just, uh, my wife and I, so we are both dentists. She graduated in about, you know, 2011 ish. So, you know, I was in 2007, she was 2011.And then we just started, you know, our own little operation. And, uh, since then, I think it's been a, it's been a journey. Lots of ups and downs, lots of mistakes. And uh, right now we, we are, we are a few locations here in the Midwest. Nice. How many locations? So we're currently, we are operating out 11 locations.Wow. Michael: 11 locations then. Okay, man. So, real quick, rewind a little bit. You were working for corporate and you said you stuck it out for four years. What were you having to. Noel: Deal with. Yeah. Great. Great question. Because right now, when I look at some of the forums and I see some of the new guys coming out, they're like, in know, job hopping.They just, if they don't like something, they just quit. Mm-hmm. Right. For me, it was more about sticking it out my own principles, my own, uh, moral and ethical value and like, you know, whatever it is, we just take the most, extract the most out of it and, uh, just take it and, and just take it as a learning experience.I always saw positivity in whatever situation I was put in, so I. That was, you know, like one of those things. And the reason I emphasize on that part is because that is what I've been, the feedback I've been getting, they're like, oh wow, you stayed for five years. You know, you didn't, you didn't wanna quit, you didn't wanna go somewhere else.Because all my, most of my colleagues, I wanna say all, but most of my colleagues, they actually, they kind of like, you know, went from job to job. Michael: Got you. So what were the things you had to deal with? Noel: I mean, it was like, you know, when you come out of school, you are looking for mentorship. Mm-hmm.You're looking for somebody who you can hook onto and, and take your first year or two, maybe like, just write it out in a sense that under an umbrella, under somebody's wing, like you're not making any kind of mistakes, especially with the state boards, with the chart writing, with, you know, all the codes that we have for our dental, Time after time, I've seen like a lot of people make those same mistakes again and again with procedures and how efficient you need to be, what your KPI's supposed to be.So it's like none of those metrics were like, you know, like laid out. So we just went in and just gunned it down and just, just learned and just, you know, learn how to swim yourself. So that was a good experience. I think I, I took it as a positive thing for myself because it gave me lots of insights.Mm-hmm. You know, about like what kind of person you are and, and how do you withstand stress and, and multitasking. Michael: Hmm, that's true. From, from that corporate position, what were some systems that you decided like, oh, I like this, I'm gonna take it into my practice. And then what were some systems where you're like, I never wanna do this, to my team, to my own Noel: practice?Well, the system that I really loved about that place was, um, scaling and growing, all about the numbers production, And all the good aspects that would help you propel to the next level. That's what I liked about that place. And on the same token, if you look at what I did not like about the place was at what cost do you get that production at?What cost do you get that elevation? how are your staff treated? is like almost like a weighing kind of like a scale, if I were to say that way, because in order for you to do this, You gotta sacrifice this. So my whole mindset was, how do I do this without doing this?Right? So how do I get the good out of it without doing, without having to carry the baggage of the bad stuff? So that was the whole idea, and that's how when we found a secure nl, we wanted to make sure that our staff and our team are well recognized and they are well deserved, that they are there like, you know, for a reason.Michael: Mm-hmm. When was it where you were like, okay, I wanna start my own practice? Was that in dental school? Was that before or was that during Noel: corporate? Great, great question was way before, way before dental school. So I come from a family of dentists. my dad is a dentist from back home and I wanted to make sure that, you know, I carry on his legacy because he, we are four siblings, right?Mm-hmm. So he wanted one of us to be a dentist. And unfortunately, uh, three of my siblings, they, they hate dentistry. So they didn't, they don't want anything to do with dentist training to know where the mouth, right. So mm-hmm. I was like, all right, cool. I'll take the torch and I'll run with it. so I went to dental school and that's how I decided that I will, I will need my own practice because that is the, the mindset that was instilled when we were kids that you gotta have your own business and you know, with a lot of Asian people, they always want to make sure that you always have your own business, right?So, mm-hmm. So I always wanted to make sure, like, Hey, this is what I want to do during school. It just got even stronger. And then once when I got outta school, then that, that was like my mission there to get get, get my own. Michael: Get your own. How fast did you wanna, were you trying to get it like as soon as possible?Or did you know, like, no, I need to have some years Noel: under me? At first, yeah. I needed to, I needed to have some years under me. But you know, like when I graduated, I, it was like right before the financial crisis. So, long story short, I wasn't getting a loan. So I wasn't getting a loan.Everybody kept rejecting the banks kept stating that, no, you, you're not good enough. You, you, we can't, we can't lend you. So then we had to scale down our little idea of business plan, and then we had to go like, Hey, how, what do I need to start off with just two, two ops or maybe even three ops. So that's when we, uh, I came across Wells Fargo and that's where we got a first loan for de Novo from scratch.And uh, we just took it and run. that place, the first office that we did was, it was equipped for six ops, so we equipped the first three. So my wife and I, she joined us and, uh, you know, we became pretty busy. So then little did we know that we needed more space, so I borrowed money from my dad, and then I got the other three ops, to get going.So it was, it was a nice rollercoaster ride, but, you know, it was, it was good. It was good. Michael: Yeah. So your first practice, it was three ops. Noel: Plum four, six, but we started with three because that was the only allowance we got for in terms of budgeting from the bank. Michael: Okay. Okay. And so when it came to growing that, how was your marketing and advertising, how did that look?Noel: radio, tv, you know, like all the basic stuff, direct mail. handing off flyers myself, going out to parking lots. I even got thrown out, I think from one of the parking lots. They were like, Hey, no soliciting kind of deal. Okay. mean, you name it, Michael, I mean, we, we did almost anything and everything.Community, churches handing out, like sending a lot of boots and a table. All the organic stuff. Okay. You still do all that today or no? Oh, no, no, no. Things have changed quite a bit in marketing, you know? Yeah. just like dentistry. Right. Michael: Yeah. Today, normally, what are you kind of honed in on or focusing on when it comes to marketing?Noel: So, as far as marketing, we have our own in-house marketing manager right now. She does all the organic leads and, uh, we do like, you know, like those, uh, Facebook funnels that, that comes in, we are targeting, uh, basically on demographics, on age and uh, buying habits. And we are also doing like psycho demographics as well as the regular demographics.And, uh, just seeing like, you know, like personas from our own database. Who are, and then we are just mimicking out there in the market. a lot of ai, a lot of, you know, things have changed, evolved. I mean, what I used to do was, was at dinosaur time, you know? Michael: yeah. No, no, I get you. So a lot of it is more you delegating that to somebody specific in your team, right?Noel: Right, right, right. Absolutely. So my wife is really hands-on involved with her in terms of marketing. But, if you were to ask me, like, how do you do this? Uh, you know, I'm the wrong person, let's put it that way. Okay. Michael: Gotcha. Gotcha, man. But so Noel, you've, scaled a lot from the three ops to where you're at now, right?You have 11 locations. Are they all the same secure dental? Noel: Correct. They're all, they're all in the same name. Okay. Michael: So I feel like sometimes there's a couple things. First of all, it's hard to do your own startup, right? Especially like, like you mentioned, right from the ground up. And then sometimes we think, okay, I'm gonna do a startup.It's successful. I'm just gonna copy and paste and do the, the same thing on the second one. And we figure out, oh my gosh, that's not the way it's handled. Right? Yeah. So then how did you do this? How did you do, let's go with the first one. How did, what were some of the struggles, mistakes and everything from making your startup to trying to grow to Noel: number two?Oh, that's a great question. Because, you know, here's the thing. When, when I was, when we started off, I was looking at my ex-employer, I. And he still has about like 90 plus locations, right? So he is scaling like, like still pretty fast. Now. I wasn't in the mindset that, you know, once you open your first one, then jump to the second, and you could do the same and then jump to the third.You could do the same. Little did we know that it doesn't work like that because once when you open the second office, you have to split your time. So we were like, all right, cool. So we will split time. So she will work in one practice and I'll work in the other practice. Then we hired a, uh, an associate, uh, for the first time as a part-timer.And little did we know that how to handle associates, how to have the structure in place, the onboarding, we, we, we had none of that stuff there. doctor came in, we just gave them patience and, you know, here you go and, and start working. So that, that was a hit or miss, but I can tell you that much we learned a lot, you know, after the first and the second.So my mindset was all about. How do I open more locations? Just more locations And, and that's all it was in, in my head. And then sooner or later, like, you know, we found out we were on a third of the fourth location I think. you know, we all of a sudden, like, you know, the nuts bolts, everything of the organization started coming off because all of a sudden become cashflow negative because all of them were de Novos, all of them were startups.So, you know, if doctor a leaves from one practice, you need to make sure you staff doctor a mm-hmm. Is a replacement. Then you have all these startups coming up. So we need to staff all those offices. So Michael, you know, long story short, it was a lot, lot of ups and downs, a lot of sleepless nights, let's put it that way.we did not have any kind of like metrics to measure, like when do we open, where do we open? So it was just, you know, like going up and down there. today things are a lot more different. Talking about that is we, we needed to have some, what do you call it? Those guys? consultants. Consultants, we had actually a couple of consultants, but you know, some of them were good, some of them were not. the end of the day, those consultants will tell you what to do, but we gotta be the person that have to execute a plan, otherwise it's not gonna work.So when we, when we started scaling and we started to add more employees, we started to expand more, operation wise. As those offices started maturing, it started to get better and better because then the cash flow was like from negative to break even, and then slowly going into profit side. But the downside would've been if a, if a doctor left, then everything goes back to ground zero.How often did that happen when a doctor would leave? if they were like one at a time, that's not a problem. the problem was when we, in, when we had four doctors leave in 2019, so we were at location number six we actually did two denovos and we just acquired one more, which is not a Denovo, but more like an acquisition shell, let's put it that way.It was a dental office from before. It was all plumb. No patients though. But we just went in and we just took over. So when we had that, we had four doctors leave and then we had to supply these three offices. Cashflow dipped down. I mean, we were like literally down to our knees at that time. So no systems, again, no processes, no backup, none of that stuff.So I think that was a huge learning curve for myself and uh, you know, at that time I just told my wife that this is not gonna happen again. we need to make sure that, you know, we have, we understand where the market is, where is it expanding, and what kind of resources do we have, where our doctors are standing, where our team standing, and where are we standing in this way that we can all move as one.Mm-hmm. So are there gonna be challenges in the future? Absolutely. Absolutely. And I can see that I, I see the rough waters coming up again. Really? Yeah. Oh yeah. So then Michael: what systems specifically did you create to kind of get back up? Noel: it's a whole round, I call it a 360.So it, comprises of, let's say, your process and systems, so all the SOPs, everything else. let's put it this way. In business, there are different break points, right? So when you hit a certain revenue target, you hit a break point. You gotta know exactly what you have to do at that break point, even before it, you hit it.So system, you know, once you hit the first break point, the second break point, let's say revenue size from, you know, a hundred thousand to 1 million, that's break point number one. We gotta make sure, like the system in place would be all the standard operating procedures. Everybody follows the same script, everyone's there.And then once when we are ready for break point number two, which is like the $5 million mark, then you gotta know, like, you know, who are you working with. So the team dynamic becomes very important. So that's when the hr, People, culture, core values, all those kind of kicks in. Mm-hmm. And then we have the finances, then the financials.I mean, I can't stress enough like how ignorant I was with financials. I never used to look at p and Ls. But now everything is based on what happens at the end of the month and where are we standing week after week in terms of KPIs and production numbers. that metrics need to be factored in as well in in the whole circle.Of course then we need to have our, uh, the last one is marketing. Marketing is, is one of those biggest tool that can drive, you know, like any organization up or down. And depending on, you know, marketing. So like with marketing, we used to play marketing by how we feel. Right?Alright. You know this, I think this audience, this target is gonna be good. Let's, let's do this zip code, let's do that zip code. But, uh, at the end of the day, you know, there's gotta be a strategy in place. You gotta know what is your acquisition cost. You gotta know what is the lead cost. You have to know all this stuff before you even spend a single dollar on, on marketing.as business owners, as dentists, we are always looking at our, patients. Right? But we are not paying attention to any of the other stuff. And that's what I think drives a lot of people. out of control, like worries and sleepless nights. Yeah. Michael: I like what you mentioned.Once you hit a goal, you need to know what to do after. I feel like a lot of the times what I do is like, okay, I hit this goal hoo. And then Oh, oh wait, go back down. You know what I mean? And we're like, okay, we're here now what do we do? Kind of thing. So it's interesting, once you hit that benchmark, Noel: systems in place.'cause what happens is once you hit that break point and you're not prepared for it, you will roll back to the first, the previous break point. And God forbid, I mean, if you roll back two break points or three break points, you're out of business. So those are some of the parameters that, you know, one should always keep out for when they're running a business.what revenue break point are you on? Yeah. Michael: I feel like sometimes when a startup, right, you're like, okay, I wanna make a million in, let's just say a million in collections, right? you hit that. What should be the next system for that? Should, okay, let's go to 2 million or Or open another practice or, or what do you think?Noel: No, I would, I, I believe that one need to maximize their, their location, their office and the systems before jumping into location number two, because if you're not maximizing it, the only reason I can think out outside of that would be if there is a market opportunity where you really want to be in, and there is a great way you can add it to the bottom line, the EBITDA or the revenue of that current practice.Absolutely, by all means, but. If you're just gonna go out there and just say, Hey, I'm gonna shop for a new, new location, then I think the first location needs to be maximized. Yeah. Okay. Michael: Yeah. 'cause I feel like sometimes it looks like, okay, we've maximized it with ops, we're, we're scheduling patients out way until like three months, five months.Right. New patients. But would it be considered maximizing it if you're like, okay, well I, I still, I'm accepting all insurances, should I. Go down on that, that means I'm gonna lose patients, but I'm also gonna, you know, have more room now and have better, Noel: I guess better fees. Yeah, that's a very individualized kind of question because it all depends on the operator's goal.So let's say if I'm a dentist and I want to just have one location, and I do not want to take, my goal is not to take any more PPOs, my goal is to go fee for service, right? Mm-hmm. Then my maximizing, my definition of maximizing it would be if I have six ops, eight ops, depending on how many ops. If I can fill all those ops and those ops are producing, let's say, you know, like 30 to 35 grand a month in terms of production, and you times that by six and you're really killing it, and now you've got like 40 mil, uh, 40,000 to $45,000 a, a chair a month.I think that is where, where you're maximizing it. But in case of, you know, if you're trying to scale and grow to locations and revenue, once you hit a certain mark, we need to get an associate in there. and that time maybe you can talk to the associate about some equity in the, in the, in the deal where they can kind of hang around there so that they have some skin in the game as well.I think everyone has their own, metrics for what it means by maximizing. Gotcha. Okay. Michael: And Noel, you've mentored a lot of people, right? Uh, to do startups and, and Yeah. Also, and, and dentistry. Especially Noel: my, my associate doctors. Yeah. Okay. Michael: You, you mentor them mainly to, to own their own practice or just to, okay.Have you ever had to walk or, or run into a situation when you're, tell them Noel: you're not ready? most of the times. Yeah. Michael: So how does that look like, how does that look like when you, or if somebody's not ready? What, what does that Noel: mean? No, I mean, I'm not gonna stop them from leaving and, and opening their own.Absolutely not. But you know, if they came to me for advice to go like, Hey, Dr. Liu, you know, I got this here. How do I do it? You know, I got this location, where do I start first? And you know, I'll guide them. Absolutely I'll guide them. But you know, at the end of the day we'll just have a open conversation.Like, Hey, where is your mindset at? Because I always like, since from day one, from onboarding, I mean, the only thing that I discussed with these guys is 80% is mindset, right? It's all psychological. 20% is strategy. People tend to focus more on strategy than their, the psychological aspect.And that's where I feel a lot of people that struggle when they open up the practice because you know, they have to be true to themselves. Like, where do you stand in terms of work-life balance? Where is your wife gonna be? Where is the kids gonna be? Right? Or if you're single, how much effort and how much work hours are you gonna be able to put in?So those are all the questions. Are you gonna do a startup or an acquisition? We need to see like where they at with us. So in terms of the production, the metrics, like where, how much do they produce per hour, per month, and how many employees per production? So for us, a good metric would be like 200 K per, employee per year.So if they are anywhere north of 200 k, it's a profitable business. But if they are anywhere like a hundred with their production and the amount of, you know, the staff that's in the, in the building. I'll be upfront with 'em that you are probably not gonna make it with that numbers. and then of course then they're a clinical skill.And then if they're gonna be doing an acquisition, then the old doctor stays or they leave. So there, there's a lot of, you know, parameters. A lot of factors. Yeah. Michael: When, when you're talking with them. So it's really getting to know them as a, as a person. Right. Individual. I like what you said, like your mindset, because.I do feel like sometimes we're like, oh yeah, I want to have my own hours, do my own thing, be able to take off whenever I want. But at the beginning it's not like that Uhhuh. Yeah. So the mindset Noel: that they have. Yeah. Especially if there are doctors who wants to enjoy, you know, on weekends, weeknights, they wanna go on vacations, they want to spend time with their families, uh, I'll just be upfront with them.If you do that on your own practice, you might run in the red. Yeah. Initially at least you could do that later on, but not initially, Michael: Yeah. So then the mindset that they have to have is kinda like grit, right? Noel: Oh, yeah. But in the warrior. Exactly, exactly. Get that warrior mindset.I mean, he, they, they, they gotta treat like it, like they're in a battle. I mean, just go and get it done. Mm-hmm. Or for a better, uh, Michael: outcome Right Now, Noelle, I wanted to ask you, when it comes to your, 11 locations. What are some systems that are unique that you feel like you and your wife or you created mm-hmm.That each practice has, and whether it's maybe the patient, the back office, front office handoff, or the patient experience, like what are some of the unique systems? Noel: You know, we just stick by one thing, which is our core values. And our core values are, it's it's short form. We call it adapter. And adapter is, it's just basically nothing more than just a few words.Right. But they can say the core values, but they gotta believe in it. I mean, we make our team understand what the core value is. I mean, they need to understand that they're gonna be hired based on that. They'll be reviewed based on that. They'll get a raise based on that, and they'll get fired based on that.So they'll need to understand that, you know, what, where do we stand? So it's very simple. Alignment is one of them. disciplined. Disciplined in all aspects of dentistry. Not only like, you know, like for the doctors, but also like what these guys are doing. Then they need to be accountable.I mean, anything they do, they gotta be accountable, and then P is production. So we need to make sure we are always scaling this way and not flat, because anything flat, you know, gravity pulls you down later on, you know, as we've seen over the years, like what happens in the, in the past.then we have the T, which is transparent. Every single one's gotta be transparent, including ourselves. I mean, there's no such thing as, you know, we're operating without transparency. So we, we gotta let 'em know, you know, it's like, for example, if we are letting anybody go, just go in a room, just let 'em know, Hey, what's happening?You know? The sooner they let 'em know, the faster it is and easier it is. It's like none of the stuff that we do have been invented by us, by the way. Mm-hmm. It's all from learning, it's all from mistakes and it's all from consultants that we had in the past. And sometimes with these consultants, it's not only the dental specific, you sometimes we know we may have to go outside the industry to grasp ideas.What, what are other companies doing out there besides dentistry? Because dentistry is such a small niche, you may not get the whole thing. But once we explore outside, then you see a whole different world. And I think that's my message to a lot of dentists out there. And just don't look at dental consult, uh, consultants definitely look at outside the industry as well.And then, uh, yeah, I mean those are some of the things. And lastly, it's results oriented. It's gotta be results oriented. It's not like because you are, you are a manager or you are a front desk for X amount of years. You got, you got raised, you know, automatically we see results. You smash results, you got my attention.Hmm. Michael: I like that a lot. What are some of the consultants you've had in the past where you're like, they're, they've been amazing. Noel: let's start with the first one we had was, Levin group.Dr. Roger Levin. I mean, he is, he is a great guy. We learned a lot of stuff with them, especially when we started off. of course, you know, there's a, there's a substantial investment, but at the end of the day, like I was saying, beginning in, in the beginning of this podcast was.You gotta implement it. If you don't implement it, your team's not on board. It's not gonna happen. with a lot of these consultants, we have to ensure that, number one, our teams are involved, that our team has some skin in the game, and the way we have to work with a team is not by just top down order.We have to work with these guys to align them with our goals. Right. And how do you do that? Is basically you have to find out what your team's. Personal goal is what their professional goal is and what's their financial goal. We gotta find out what ticks for them. Right? Once we find out what ticks for them, then we have a conversation on how do we help you so that you can help me?And that's where I feel like that's where the mindset and everybody is on board on the same page at that time. Because when we were running our show before, I mean, we were like, Hey, this is how we, this is what we did with the consultants, now this is how it's gonna be like, you know, starting Monday morning.Doesn't work. Doesn't work. Gotcha. Okay. Michael: So the, the 11 Noel: group was one, right? Levin Group was one. Si institute, um, I'm sure you guys heard of that one, right? SI Institute or Scheduling Institute, I don't know what, whatever it's called, right? Mm-hmm. So that was the second one. That was a brief one. I mean, we literally lasted for like a couple of months and we are out.these are all in Michael: the dental industry. These are all Noel: in the dental industry. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. These all in the dental industry, I think. Uh, then once we started having a few locations, then I was with, uh, d e o Dental.Oh, okay. Entrepreneur. Michael: Organization. Noel: Organization, yeah. Uhhuh. Uhhuh, yeah. Yeah. It, it's run by Jake. When I joined, it was, uh, Dr. Mark Cooper. So he retired and then he, then, then Jake, uh, Jake, uh, took over. So I joined that. They were pretty good. the only thing I didn't like about them was because I was always being put with practices.That was one or two and they were, all they were discussing was like assistant problems, up front desk problems. Hmm. So I wanted to see like, how can I scale and grow rather than just having those kind of like discussions going on. So yeah. But that lasted about a year. Okay. And, uh, the latest one that we just came out of is Cardone Ventures.it's a pretty substantial investment. Mm-hmm. But, uh, I think it kind of got our groundwork set up pretty good. Card Michael: owned ventures. That's what is that all about? Noel: So they have, so some of the stuff that I was telling you, the 360, it's all been from, Brandon Dawson. So this guy.he was operating a A D S O or maybe a, a dental group called Stratus or something in his past life before he came on to card ventures. So they scale businesses and basically, you know, with Grand Cardone it's like all about 10 x, right? So he takes a business, works on a system, get everything in place, and get, gets the revenue up.So he works with that aspect. So that is what the whole, 360 and then we went through a whole platform and then we went through the whole, strategic business unit, you know, like the whole consulting thing. Great guys. Great guys, you know, I mean, you know, but for us, we were looking at something else, so we kind of like, you know, faded away last year and now we are with Polaris.Michael: Okay, gotcha. Hilarious. And there, how Noel: long have you been with them for? Oh, we just started, so Polaris, so this guy, what do you call it, the founders, Perrin and the Walker, they were guys from, uh, what's that company called? Ts Partners. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, so TSS partners, but they, they used to work with Kevin and then they, they separated and now they have their own stuff going on.Pretty much the same model, but, you know, it's just, I kind of like these guys because they're more down to earth in the sense that they understand numbers really, really well. And, uh, you know, my whole model is gonna be like around de novo. So that's what, that's what attracted me to them. So it's like, you know, you, before you even break ground, you know what your projections are gonna be, you know, what your numbers are gonna be, how much you need to spend on marketing.So, that's why we, we went with these guys. so yeah. So it's only been like about what, a month and a half I think, or two months. Mm-hmm. So we'll see how this plays out. Michael: Okay. Noelle, man, it sounds like you really. See this as like an, an investment, right? Where you're like, okay, I really need to find guidance all the time, right?Kind of thing. You don't know what you don't know kind Noel: of thing, right? Oh, you don't know what you don't know, right? Yeah. And, and it's like anytime when you have somebody who's on your side and they can see it from outside the box, because a lot of times when we are in the picture, we can see ourselves, right?Mm-hmm. So I treat my coaches, my consultants as they're outside of Boston, they can see a lot more. Michael: Mm Gotcha. Okay. And I like that. I like, so when is it then? 'cause I feel like you're scaling, you know what I mean? You have 11 locations. So to you, when is it like, alright, I don't think I need another one to scale anymore?A coach, consultant, or what are you thinking? Noel: For me, it's not about the location anymore, like how I used to be in the past. You know, more locations means more headache, more problems, more issues, right. For me now, it's all about the growth in a sense that how do we take care of the revenue or location?How do we maximize it? And that is, that is my new mantra on moving forward. And when I, I feel like, you know, we've grown wide, but now we need to grow vertical, grow deep, and once when we start growing deep, we can get quality people, we can get quality executives, we can get quality managers, regionals. I mean, that's where it all is.Because once when they're running a little bit, you know, wide and thin, That's how we were when we started. I mean, there's not a lot of room down there. So I mean, you're not getting quality people, but once when you start going deep and you grow wide, I mean that's where everything starts. Scaling. Yeah. Michael: To grow.Right. Growing like in your roots. I like that a lot because you're right, you can add more locations, but it's more headaches too sometimes, you know? Noel: Yeah. And, and for all the people out there who's thinking like more locations, like, you know, out of three to four or five, you know, they want to grow out.While it's good, but just have a reason and a purpose and a goal that why you wanna do it. If the why is bigger than, than, the, uh, actual reasoning, I mean, I think that it will always outlast any problems that, you know, one may have or any kind of like issues one may have once they start growing.The growing pains, I call it. Michael: Mm-hmm. Yeah, you're right. Growing pains, what have been, let me ask you that Throughout the time, from your first de novo to all the way to right now, today, right? Yeah. What have been some of your. Biggest struggles or, or, or fails or pitfalls that Noel: you've encountered? Not seeing the numbers.You know, not seeing the numbers, just going everything with an emotional mindset and going with a gut feeling. Well, as an entrepreneur, you need to have that gut feeling. You didn't have that instinct for sure. A hundred percent. I agree. But there are certain things and certain times where you need to look at the facts and numbers, because numbers don't lie.Right. So, If your numbers under red and you wanna open up a second location or a fourth location, whatever it is, it's probably not a good idea, even though the gut is telling you to do it. Mm-hmm. Right. So if I were to go back and do a lot of things, I would probably, number one, is to go invest in myself, get this right first, you know, once when this is right, then everything else follow. Okay. Michael: So, Be logical, right, when it comes to the numbers. Continue to always Noel: look at them logical. Okay. You know, we got two sides, right? We wanna be logical on one side, and then we want to be, I would call it like illogical or maybe like, you know, you go with your gut feeling kind of deal. So it has to have a compromise because if you're too logical then you never take any action, Then you become paralyzed with all analysis. But if you're too, like, you know, on the other side, then. It's like, you know, like myself, right? You're just a visionary without, without any kind of actual steps or actual concrete, uh, way how to get there. Mm-hmm. So I think both should go hand in hand. If, for me, if I'm not the way, if I'm not that like logical person, I need somebody on my team to kind of like, you know, put a check on me, let's put it that way.Yeah. Michael: No, it's good. It's good. It's good to do that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So then that's one of the biggest, uh, struggles that you've had. Numbers, right? What else? Mm-hmm. What else? Can you recall where you're like, man, that's been, that was a headache. Noel: not having this thriving culture.Because for me, it's all about people. Having the right people on the team, I think that is the utmost important because people make business. I always thought the other way around, and I think that was like, I had it backwards. You know, I was thinking like, Hey, let's, I'm the business and then we worry about the people.But it's actually, you take care of the people, the business goes up. that is one of the biggest mistakes that I did or we did in the past. So we learned quite a bit from there. Mm-hmm. Now, for us, it's all about how do we have this winning culture in, in, in, within our organization, and How do we model it? Mm-hmm. So me and my wife, we'll model it. How do we mimic it in terms in our, in our team members? All right. And then how do we master it? Because it's easy to know everything. Like you know it all, but how do you train another person to do it?that's the key to success for scaling because you can't just have it all up here. You have to pass it on. Yeah, Michael: that's true. So then your culture mm-hmm. You can tell us what does that look like Noel: in your team? So it's all about like, how do we pay them more by increasing the production.How do we all win together? so we have like a lot of like different bonus systems and then we have a lot of payoffs for these guys. We have a lot of team, uh, Cohesion. Kind of like, you know, games that goes on, events that goes on. And every Wednesday we have something called Wednesday, so it's called Win.Mm-hmm. So everybody wins. Everybody tells them about the wins. so we get all, get on a Zoom call and we are all sharing our wins for that that week. What do we do? And even something personal, like a personal stuff. So I'm on it, my wife's on it, and we are like, you know, participating in it. So we'll tell, share some personal stories.They'll share something personal so they know like, Hey, that guy, there is not just a figure who just comes in the office and wants every six months, right? Mm-hmm. So they can actually see us and, you know, they have interaction with us. So we, so we have a pretty good time. So it's all about, it's all about like, how do we have a cohesion kind of relationship with everybody and knowing everyone.Michael: And you do that normally, like the win Wednesdays, right? Is that like a morning huddle or team meeting Noel: or, yeah, you can call it a morning huddle. You can call it a morning huddle. You know, with, especially right now with like, you know, about 95 employees, I mean, it's hard to keep a, keep a tab with every single one.Mm-hmm. So we wanna make sure that we are in touch, that they see us the whole time. Gotcha. Michael: Okay. That's interesting. And you mentioned something about your bonus systems. How does your bonus system work? Because that's a thing we're all trying to like, you know what I mean? Structure. So how do you Noel: structure it?So our bonus system for our manager is pretty simple. It's quarterly goals that they have to meet. So there, there's a certain production number that they have to meet and of course they have to keep their employee count to a check. So we kind of strive for 200 to 250,000 per employee kind of deal.Mm-hmm. And these are all like metrics from card ventures by the way. It's not like I created those. Mm-hmm. So once we have those checks, then and you know, they have to meet those two metrics. And then of course the K P I, whatever they produced, it has to make sure, like what's in account, the actual account.Those are the three metrics that we look at. And then of course, then the last thing we look at is the p and l. are the numbers as high and are the expenses catching up? Or do we have another net profit? So those are for our, our managers. for the team members, it's very, very simple. we have something called bonus leave.It's pretty cool. It's like they have a little app and anytime, let's say they talk to a patient about a fluoride treatment where the patient pays out of pocket or if they have a. clear aligner case where the patient accepted treatment, they get a lot of kickback in that Bonusly app.So the app will show that, hey, they got so much, you know, like money in there and it's all tax free by the way. Because we, we, we carry the taxes for 'em, right. So they'll get like, let's say a $200 bonus or a $300 bonus right there just for, you know, like for a case acceptance, for a clear aligner or maybe for an implant.You know, they had like a big implant case, you know, there's gonna be like a five to $700, right? So they look at that and they love it. So, you know, that's like, you know, kind of a motivational thing for them to keep applying the same principles like how they did with this patient. A yeah, like, it's Michael: a good incentive.How do you determine the, the value of it or the money? So for example, like, oh hey, your implant case, here's 500 bucks. Or Noel: do they know? Oh, it's all on a dollar value? It's all on a dollar. Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. It's on a dollar value. It's a certain percentage and, uh, yeah, these guys, we started, actually, we started this thing pretty cool.We started in January. So before that, it was like all haphazard. It was all going up like in payroll and, and it was like, by the time they see it, they're like, oh, I don't care. You know, whatever it is. But since we started this, everybody's on a, on a, on a roll. Yeah. 'cause it's Michael: like right there, right? Like on their, it's right there and it's on their phone.So they immediately, they're just like, oh, okay, fluoride, I, I sold it. Boom. Right? And then they can, yeah. The office manager's job is to make sure that's, Kind of true at the same time, right. They're like, are they Noel: doing it? So there are two checks going on, so mm-hmm. Our office manager will check that patient and then, you know, our, our bookkeeper, they'll go back and say, okay, fine.This has been entered, this patient made that payment approved, and approval is usually within 24 hours. So we don't make sure we, we don't make them wait for too long. Michael: Yeah. And then they get that they can cash in that bonus whenever Noel: or whenever. So, you know, the, the app is pretty cool. I mean, you can actually get cash, you can use it at Starbucks, you can use it at Target.I mean, you can use it anywhere. Michael: Interesting. Interesting. Okay. Yeah, that's good. That's good motivation right there, man. That's awesome. Yeah. Noel: Awesome. I mean, think about it this way, right? If in a day they, they collected, let's say a hundred to 300 bucks. Now if you do the math, whatever hourly they get, you just break it down by eight hours.That $300 or $200, I mean, that's like additional boost in the per hour without paying Uncle Sam. yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. That's like strictly cash bonus. and what we do on the backend is we make sure like whatever bonuses went out, we'll cover the taxes for them. Michael: Okay. So that's good, man. That's really, really good.Oh yeah. Nice. So then one of the last questions I wanna ask you is, throughout this time, how is this affecting your Noel: personal life? So we have three kids, eight, seven, and two. my wife spends most of the time with them. I'm home like probably Sundays, you know, like depends Sundays or Saturdays. But we understand like, you know, she has this one thing you need to be out there.She tells me you need to be out there creating stuff, making stuff happen. Because at the end of the day, we may be sacrificing now, like I may be sacrificing now, like with a lot of times with my kids, but I know for a fact that as long as I'm present for the events for the little birthday parties, right.for their, like, you know, like, like theoretical, uh, uh, kind of shows or anything that is happening in school. And I'm away during the daytime, even evening times, even for days, sometimes when I have to travel. they get it. at the end of the day, for me, it's more about where as our future, how long do we wanna work and where our kids are gonna be down the road and how is it all gonna be turning out because.If I have to, let's say go for a long time, I'll tag the kids along with me. Mm-hmm. So if we are gonna go out scouting for an acquisition or for a place, the kids are coming with us. Right. They'll be like, Hey daddy, where are we going? Well, we gonna go check out an office. Let's go. that's where my work-life balance is, Michael.Michael: Gotcha. Okay. Nice. No, I appreciate it. Thank you so much for being with us. It's been a pleasure. But before we say goodbye, can you tell our listeners where they can find you? Noel: Yeah, absolutely. So I give all my personal numbers. Okay, so my number is pretty cool. 8 1 5 6 7 0 2 9 2 3. as long as it's not a scam, or a spam or you know, one of those three marketers, I'm cool.so again, it's 8 1 5 6 7 0 2 9 2 3, and we are@www.secure dental group.com. Or you can follow me on Instagram, Dr. Noel. Michael: Awesome. So guys, that's all gonna be in the show notes below as always. And Noel, thank you so much for being with us. It's been a pleasure and we'll hear from you soon. Noel: Thank you for having me.
We talk about engagement and what's changing with it, the impact of new ways of work, and what employees think about it all.
We talk about engagement and what's changing with it, the impact of new ways of work, and what employees think about it all.
We talk about engagement and what's changing with it, the impact of new ways of work, and what employees think about it all.
The Shred is a weekly roundup of who's raised funds, who's been acquired and who's on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
In a very honest conversation, onsite in Boulder, Colorado, we speak with Raphael Crawford Marks, who founded Bonusly over 11 years ago by accident. It was a off shoot of another project that has since taken off and recently secured it's Series B funding. Raphael speaks to several points: · The transition from being hands on to leading · Differences between being a Founder and CEO what it is like · How the role of CEO continues to evolve and the company setback of a bad hire Raphael discusses the challenges and learning moments moving from being a hands on start up Founder to a governing company CEO. His job as CEO is still constantly changing- it changes every three months. He also embraces hiring those who are smarter than himself, talks about why, learning new leadership skills, the value of a support network and mentors. Bonusly is an enterprise platform that helps companies create a high-performance, high-engagement workplace. Prior to founding Bonusly, Raphael was an early employee at several startups, a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras, and an instructor for Year Up. Raphael dropped out of high school to work as a software engineer in the mid-nineties, but did eventually earn his BA in cognitive science from Hampshire College, where he wrote his senior thesis on artificial intelligence. Also, in a Medium article, Raphael discusses “Five Things Business Leaders Can Do To Create A Fantastic Work Culture” Raphael also contributed to benefitnews.com where he discusses “Four Benefits of positive Recognition to Boost Employee Engagement” On Entrepreneur.com, Raphael has several articles discussing employee feedback, communications and how to harness staff evaluations. Enjoy the show? Review us on iTunes- thanks! Thank you Jalan Crossland for lending your award-winning banjo skills to CXO Conversations.
Raphael Crawford-Marks, CEO of Bonusly, talks about how they are helping HR departments make more informed decisions in allowing employees to recognize their peers' work. Bruce Hodges, co-founder and CEO of Parachute, shares how they help people consolidate their debt and give them tools to get them on a path towards financial wellbeing. Casey Donahue, CEO of Optiwatt, discusses the electric vehicle smart-charging pilot program in rural Alberta underway to help understand the impact EV adoption. In Socially Speaking, we talk about the future of trust online and whether people think you are a real person online.Links to this week's stories and discussion:[09:11] Raphael Crawford-Marks: bonus.ly[17:58] Apptastic[25:50] Bruce Hodges: myparachute.co[34:07] Casey Donahue: optiwatt.com[42:02] Trusting People If They Are A Real Person OnlineYou can also find both AmberMac and Michael B on Twitter.
The Shred is a weekly roundup of who's raised funds, who's been acquired and who's on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you by Recruitology.
Joel is haggard from 2,000 miles on the road this week, but that's nothing a beer, chicken tenders, a LIVE recording from a bar in Columbus Indiana, and BIG NEWS can't fix. What big news? Google for Jobs PAID ads present a serious risk to Indeed's new CPSA model ChatGPT presents a serious risk to Indeed's new CPSA model Indeed's model change wasn't timed well Workday's A.I. goes to court Mercer gets a shot of LeapGen botox and Buy or Sell with WorkLlama, Bonusly, and Gable... Sit back, pop a cold one, and enjoy what we do best - drink and talk. You're welcome!
WorkLLama, technology provider of an AI-driven, talent marketing, relationship management, and direct sourcing suite, today announced it has secured $50 million in investments, an indication of the market's demand for modern technology to access highly skilled, on-demand talent at scale. https://hrtechfeed.com/workllama-raises-50m/ Emissary.ai, a leading text recruiting platform, announced today a new technology partnership with UKG, a leading provider of HR, payroll, and workforce management solutions for all people. With more than 315 technology services partners, UKG provides one of the largest and most collaborative partner ecosystems in the HCM industry focused on creating better employee experiences to improve business outcomes. https://hrtechfeed.com/emissary-announces-technology-services-partnership-with-ukg/ Bonusly, an engaging recognition and rewards platform that connects teams and enriches company culture, today announced it has received $18.9 million in Series B funding led by Ankona Capital. https://hrtechfeed.com/recognition-and-rewards-platform-raises-18-million/ Well with advertising spending on the downturn Google may be changing its mind on letting you sponsor jobs inside the Google for Jobs interface. Hat tip to Tom Chevalier from Appcast who first spotted this on mobile. https://www.jobboardsecrets.com/2023/03/01/google-for-jobs-testing-sponsored
Joel is haggard from 2,000 miles on the road this week, but that's nothing a beer, chicken tenders, a LIVE recording from a bar in Columbus Indiana, and BIG NEWS can't fix. What big news? Google for Jobs PAID ads present a serious risk to Indeed's new CPSA model ChatGPT presents a serious risk to Indeed's new CPSA model Indeed's model change wasn't timed well Workday's A.I. goes to court Mercer gets a shot of LeapGen botox and Buy or Sell with WorkLlama, Bonusly, and Gable... Sit back, pop a cold one, and enjoy what we do best - drink and talk. You're welcome!
In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Gary Winter discuss:How practicing law is like flying an airplane.Must have technology to run your firm.Evolution of the legal industry.Working remotely and building a strong team. Key Takeaways:If you approach your practice of law as a business, it eases the stress of the business side, because that is what it is.Managing a team in a remote environment is different than when you're in the office.If you give your employees an opportunity to interact, they will do so, even if they aren't actively in the same office.If you're utilizing digital practice management, use the whole thing. Don't be partly on, partly off. "The practice of law is a business. It does need systems, it does need checklists, it does need organization. You have to approach it that way. It actually takes the stress factor down when you do that." — Gary Winter Thank you to our Sponsors!LegalEase Marketing: https://legaleasemarketing.com/Moneypenny: https://www.moneypenny.com/us/Practice Panther: https://www.practicepanther.com/ Episode References: The Client-Centered Law Firm: How to Succeed in an Experience-Driven World by Jack Newton: https://www.amazon.com/Client-Centered-Law-Firm-Succeed-Experience-Driven/dp/1989603327/Slack: https://slack.com/Bonusly: https://bonus.ly/Sweet Process: https://www.sweetprocess.com/Lawmatics: https://www.lawmatics.com/Case Status: https://www.casestatus.com/Clio Legal Trends Report: https://www.clio.com/resources/legal-trends/ Connect with Gary Winter: Website: https://lawvex.com/Email: gary@lawvex.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garylwinter/Twitter: https://twitter.com/garywinterlaw Connect with Steve Fretzin:LinkedIn: Steve FretzinTwitter: @stevefretzinFacebook: Fretzin, Inc.Website: Fretzin.comEmail: Steve@Fretzin.comBook: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more!YouTube: Steve FretzinCall Steve directly at 847-602-6911 Show notes by Podcastologist Chelsea Taylor-Sturkie Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
Andrew Brinkman, the VP of Product at Bonusly, joins Mada Seghete in this episode of How I Grew This. Andrew has over fourteen years of experience building product teams that drive outcomes from Sling TV, Hudl, PenLink, and IBM. He has a proven track record of building and leading high-performing products that customers love. In this episode, Mada and Andrew discuss how to validate customer desirability, leveraging existing organic demand to drive expansion, and how to build a company culture that inspires more dialogue, collaboration, and transparency.
Helping new hires feel welcome and valued isn't a new idea, but studies are showing that it could be more important than ever—especially in a remote working world, which has created unique challenges for new hires and people managers alike. In this episode, Rhys discusses the importance of onboarding and retention with two guests from Bonusly: Lisa Schmuttermair, a PeopleOps Specialist and Laura Saracho, a Content Marketing Manager who weighs in from the people manager perspective. As an engaging employee recognition and rewards platform, Bonusly strives to enrich company culture, so both Lisa and Laura share some thoughtful perspectives and tangible pieces of advice that will help you continue creating a vibrant workplace environment, both on and offline. They also touch on the value of designing a thoughtful and deliberate onboarding plan, timely communications, and pathways to connecting with other team members. Download your free copy of Oyster's 2022 Employee Expectations Report! Join us at Ascent by Oyster, a free virtual conference where anyone passionate about distributed work can connect to change the world of work, together. Save your spot here! This podcast episode was produced by Quill.
Continuing in our Daily Leadership Tip Challenge, this is Week #3 - How to Gain Cooperation from Your Team. And today's principle is #20 Show Sincere Gratitude.The Australian Institute of Family Studies recently published a paper called “Reasons for Divorce.” It said that the #1 cause of divorce was communication problems resulting in one or both spouses feeling unappreciated.A company called Bonusly conducted a similar survey of why people leave their jobs. They found that “almost half (46%) of respondents have left a job because they felt unappreciated. Another 65% admitted that they would work harder if they felt like their contributions would be noticed by management.”MOST PEOPLE ARE STARVING FOR APPRECIATION.We wouldn't dream of letting children (or employees) go for days without food. But we'll let them go years without something just as important, the feeling of being appreciated.A simple kind word of appreciation is a simple way to build trust, gain cooperation, and anchor positive behavior in others.Week #3: Gain Enthusiastic Cooperation.Principle #20: Show Sincere Gratitude.https://www.leadersinstitute.com/daily-leadership-tip-20-show-sincere-gratitude/
Can play and delight be an afterthought? Or must they be integral to a product from day one? Our guest today is Richard Ward, chief design officer at Otter.ai. You'll learn how to balance designing for delight and utility, how to bring joy to product users, ways to get design inspiration, and more.Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Podcasts.Show NotesOtter.ai — Richard's place of workFrog Design, MetaLab — famous design agenciesDonut, Bonusly — examples of playful toolsEpisode 91: Meaningful Motion in UX with Adrian ZumbrunnenPitch — a presentation design toolDribble, Product Hunt, Design Sprint Kit — resources for design inspirationOutline — Google's tool for VPNPage Flows — a collection of UX flowsRetool — a tool for quickly building internal toolsCareers at Otter.aiOtter.ai free trialToday's SponsorThis episode is brought to you by InVision. When collaboration thrives, work becomes more inclusive, creative and impactful. Whether it's strategic plans or spontaneous brainstorms, InVision brings all your people, tools, and ideas together in one real-time collaborative workspace. InVision makes it easy for teams to connect, align, and do incredible work–together. Try it for free at invisionapp.com/go/uibreakfast.Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here.Leave a ReviewReviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.
Two years ago, everything changed with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and truly, the world will never be the same. Now, two years later from those massive adjustments, morale could still be an issue. How can we as managers help boost morale and support the team during trying times? Today's guest is Linda McCarthy, one of 2022 VHMA Emerging Leaders. She started as an assistant in 2003 and has worked her way into the management role at Cats Corner in Oxford Connecticut. She brings to us some great actionable tips and strategies to keep spirits lifted in the practice even when days are hard. Show Notes: [1:58] - Linda's practice is still strictly curbside which makes things continue to be a bit stressful. [3:00] - People have been able to adapt and now flexibility is the norm. [4:18] - As many practices are adapting again to let clients in the building, there's more adjustment for teams to make. [6:15] - Linda shares some strategies to boost morale during particularly rough days. [8:14] - There are a lot of things that are unpredictable everyday. [9:20] - Acknowledge emotions and need for space. [11:03] - Attendance can be a struggle during trying times. [13:51] - One solution to knowing attendance issues during Covid is to overstaff. [14:47] - Bring team members together to discuss issues. [16:05] - We all have things in common. Get to know everyone to help build morale. [17:53] - Connections don't always happen organically. Managers need to put some energy into team building. [18:15] - Bonusly is a great app for supporting morale. [19:36] - There's a chain reaction in recognizing team members. [20:18] - Gas prices being up is a stressor for employees. [21:30] - Remember that employees spend 40 hours a week with each other. Personal problems might come into play as we are all human. [22:49] - Part of the manager's job is to praise and lift others up. Have a plan. Thank you for listening. Remember you are not in this alone. Visit our website for more resources. Links and Resources: VHMA Web Page VHMA Coronavirus Resources VHMA Facebook VHMA Twitter VHMA on Linkedin Cat's Corner Veterinary Hospital on Facebook Linda McCarthy on LinkedIn
Victoria Yang joins me this week to introduce you to Bonusly. Bonusly is a fun and easy-to-use employee engagement platform that has an incredible impact on motivation and morale. If you have been searching for a platform to help you to encourage frequent and timely recognition, then Bonusly is the one for you. Recently I shared my thoughts on compassion and empathy in the workplace in one of Bonusly's blogs, so I thought it would be great to learn more about them and share their platform with you. Victoria is their VP of People Operations, and so while we talked shop, we also took some time to discuss:
Amber joins the show to talk about how companies can improve culture through structured recognition programs. Bonusly helps incentivize people to call out the good they see in others. Enjoy!
You're sailing on choppy seas, and building your boat as you go. That's the vivid picture that Vicki Yang paints about tackling how to do hybrid work. It really emphasizes the situation most of us are in if we've chosen hybrid mode. We don't have the answers, we don't know what will work, and we've got to try something and see if it takes us forward. On the latest episode of People at Work Vicki chats about what Bonusly is doing to build their boat. It's a lot of trial and error, but three things are key: understand what individuals need and want, document everything to keep things clear for all, and stay as flexible as possible. Hear about this and much more with Vicki's generous sharing so that we can learn and adapt too. About our guest: A people leader who leads by helping build up people through coaching on matters relating to performance management, org development, recognition, and engagement. An avid reader, with current favourite reads: The Making of a Manager, Just Work, and Eloquent Rage. You can contact Vicki on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/victoriayang/. Resources: Life Labs for workshops and webinars (especially around hybrid work)
Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips
In episode #1787, we talk about the effectiveness of gamification and how it can be used to optimize the process of onboarding. The thing about gamification is that it motivates people and if you can tap into it to encourage a client as well as stand out from your competition this will aid your business immensely in the long term. Listen in today and learn how to break down your onboarding journey into a process involving levels with prizes. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today's topic: 3 Easy Ways to “Gamify” Your Onboarding Process. [00:30] Gamifying success in the workplace using Bonusly. [01:01] Breaking down an onboarding process into levels. [01:50] Dangling carrots in front of clients to motivate them to ‘level up'. [02:40] Encouraging referrals as a challenge in the onboarding process. [04:04] How blockchain will factor into gamification in the future. [04:38] Go to marketingschool.io/live to learn about our virtual and live peer groups. Get ad-free listening plus exclusive content with Marketing School Pro. Try for free at www.marketingschool.io/pro Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Bonusly Leave Some Feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with Us: Neilpatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu
Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips
In episode #1787, we talk about the effectiveness of gamification and how it can be used to optimize the process of onboarding. The thing about gamification is that it motivates people and if you can tap into it to encourage a client as well as stand out from your competition this will aid your business immensely in the long term. Listen in today and learn how to break down your onboarding journey into a process involving levels with prizes. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today's topic: 3 Easy Ways to “Gamify” Your Onboarding Process. [00:30] Gamifying success in the workplace using Bonusly. [01:01] Breaking down an onboarding process into levels. [01:50] Dangling carrots in front of clients to motivate them to ‘level up'. [02:40] Encouraging referrals as a challenge in the onboarding process. [04:04] How blockchain will factor into gamification in the future. [04:38] Go to marketingschool.io/live to learn about our virtual and live peer groups. Get ad-free listening plus exclusive content with Marketing School Pro. Try for free at www.marketingschool.io/pro Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Bonusly Leave Some Feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with Us: Neilpatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu
We welcome back Raphael Crawford-Marks, Founder and CEO of Bonusly. We talk about employee recognition in the time of COVID and how Bonusly had adjusted to address customer needs, what's coming up for the company, and celebrating Employee Appreciation Day. Raphael's recommendation: https://twitter.com/corprteUnicorn (Madison Butler) How to reach Raphael: https://twitter.com/raphaelcm https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelcm/ https://bonus.ly/ This episode is sponsored by Bonusly. To schedule a demo, visit go.bonus.ly/request-a-demo-sponsorship. Join us on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month at 7 PM ET for the #HRSocialHour chat on Twitter! Be sure to check out our storefront (all profits go to charity): https://www.teepublic.com/user/hrsocialhour
With fifteen years of HR leadership experience, Anthony Paradiso has become very passionate about Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace. He is the owner and founder of AllThingzAP, where their primary mission is for all to always be your authentic self. Anthony is a Human Resources Business Partner with Industrial U.I. Services and enjoys being on a host of boards and committees, such as the Diversity & Inclusion Director for the Garden State Council – SHRM (GSC-SHRM) and the VP of D&I with the North Jersey – Rockland Chapter SHRM. Additionally, he is on the Board of Advisors with the American Conference of Diversity and a Bergen County Human Relations Commissioner. Anthony has written a number of published articles for SHRM, WorkHuman, Workology, Rezoomo, Achievers, etc. and has been quoted in HR Magazine, Namely, & Bonusly. He has given a number of presentations and lectures about D&I, inclusion, being your authentic self, unconscious bias, employee relations and facilitated workshops surrounding diversity & inclusion that include the privilege walk. His education includes a BA from Binghamton University, MS in Human Relations & Business, and HR Certified. Serving as a Speaker, Influencer, Blogger, and Educator, Anthony is proud to have influenced the industry regarding unbiased and inclusive work environments. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Anthony discovered his passion for diversity, equity and inclusion work, and how coming out as a gay man fuels his passion for helping others Why, for the last 20 years, too many companies have focused on diversity without giving enough attention to inclusion for existing employees How sharing our stories are the necessary starting point for inclusion and equity, and why it is important to pay attention to leading indicators within organizations Anthony shares a story of a “privilege walk” activity and how a participant’s story made a powerful impact on the group Why sharing our unique stories helps connect us with the people we work with and can help us form strong, productive relationships based on commonality and empathy Why it is important to conduct a privilege walk activity correctly with the help of an experienced practitioner to avoid reinforcing participants’ bias How Anthony sharing his own coming-out story helps develop trust between himself and his audience Why all of our stories are valuable and worth telling, and why being a great orator isn’t necessary for sharing your story What advice Anthony has for HR practitioners with regards to developing their skills in diversity, equity and inclusion work Why mental health stories are important to share, and why mental health is becoming a growing part of diversity, equity and inclusion Additional resources: Website: www.allthingzap.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aparadiso/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/allthingzap/ Twitter: @allthingzap Instagram: @allthingzap
Sara Avery, account executive at Zscalr is our feature guest this week. News from: Vertafore, Otter, DirectDefense, Guild Education, Pax8, Ibotta, Bonusly, ChebaHut, TrackVia, Datavail, OneTrust, Stream, Coalfire, Optiv, Security Pursuit, and a lot more! Support us on Patreon! Fun swag available - all proceeds will directly support the Colorado = Security infrastructure. Come join us on the new Colorado = Security Slack channel to meet old and new friends. Sign up for our mailing list on the main site to receive weekly updates - https://www.colorado-security.com/. If you have any questions or comments, or any organizations or events we should highlight, contact Alex and Robb at info@colorado-security.com This week’s news: Join the Colorado = Security Slack channel Denver-based Vertafore acquired in $5.35 billion deal Colorado public companies are making progress on getting women on boards. See who's leading the pack. Keeping It Clean with OtterBox This School Year Meet the Colorado companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 list Boulder in-app messaging startup Stream lands $15 million Series A to grow staff After a small Colorado city paid cyber attackers a ransom, there’s concern about the rest of the state Coalfire - Key scoping factors when pursuing ISO 27001 certification Understanding Mobile Voting’s Opportunities and Challenges Optiv Releases 2020 Cyber Threat Intelligence Estimate Exploring Vulnerability, Attack Method and Vertical Industry Trends Security Pursuit - HOW BUSINESSES CAN PREPARE FOR THE COMING IOT SURGE Job Openings: University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus - Director of IT Security and Compliance CORHIO - Cyber Security Officer Ball Aerospace - Information Systems Security Officer Twitter - Staff Product Manager - Security, Privacy and Data Protection Blue Team Alpha - Senior Security Engineer – Incident Response Nelnet - Cybersecurity Engineer (Server) Zoom - Sr Security Analyst (SOC) Elevations CU - Information Security Engineer Charles Schwab - Senior Cloud Security Engineer Galvanize - Cybersecurity Curriculum Development - SME Upcoming Events: This Week and Next: CSA - August Meeting - 8/18 C.Springs ISSA - August Online Series – Session 2 - 8/20 Denver ISSA - A Behavior Centric Approach to Securing Data - 8/25 ISC2 Pikes Peak - August Chapter Meeting - 8/26 ASIS - WOMEN IN SECURITY COFFEE CHAT W/ KERI DARLING - 8/27 DC303 - August Meeting - 8/28 View our events page for a full list of upcoming events * Thanks to CJ Adams for our intro and exit! If you need any voiceover work, you can contact him here at carrrladams@gmail.com. Check out his other voice work here. * Intro and exit song: "The Language of Blame" by The Agrarians is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Employee Cycle: Human Resources (HR) podcast about HR trends, HR tech & HR analytics
Listen to Stacy Tumarkin, Head of People Operations at Bonusly, discuss how she’s working on keeping her workforce safe, healthy and in the right mindset. What you’ll learn from this episode: How to help your workforce come together when dealing with high profile racial injustice. How to respond to both the personal and collective needs […]
News from: Buderflys, Latitude, Bonusly, TeamSnap, Brandfolder, Coalfire, Webroot, Zvelo, LogRhythm and a lot more! Support us on Patreon! Fun swag available - all proceeds will directly support the Colorado = Security infrastructure. Come join us on the new Colorado = Security Slack channel to meet old and new friends. Sign up for our mailing list on the main site to receive weekly updates - https://www.colorado-security.com/. If you have any questions or comments, or any organizations or events we should highlight, contact Alex and Robb at info@colorado-security.com This week’s news: Join the Colorado = Security Slack channel Denver earbud startup wants you to listen to podcasts longer Colorado company creates tool to help stores manage lines online Boulder employee rewards startup Bonusly closes $9M funding Boulder sports-tech company sees uptick in business, raises $5.5M Getty Images Selects Digital Asset Management Platform Brandfolder to Power its Media Manager Coalfire - New HC3 report defines security assessments needed for healthcare organizations during and after COVID-19 Webroot - The Future of Work: Being Successful in the COVID Era and Beyond Zvelo - Lifecycle of a Website LogRhythm Wins SC Award’s “Best SIEM Solution” for the Second Year in a Row | LogRhythm Job Openings: Fastly - Sr Director of Security Operations CenturyLink - SR MGR INFORMATION SECURITY Transamerica - Assistant General Counsel, Privacy and Security Caterpillar - IT Analyst II – Multifactor Authentication (MFA) Kyrus Technology - Reverse Engineer Android applications ULA - Information Security Engineer 2 Charles Schwab - Sr. Security Engineer Twilio - Compliance Engagement Analyst FireEye - Senior Information Security Consultant Upcoming Events: This Week and Next: ISSA Denver - Priyank Nigam: Radio Frequency (RF) Hacking 101 - 6/9 ISSA C.Springs - June Online Series - 6/11 NoCo ISSA - June Chapter Meeting - 6/11 ISSA Denver - Zechariah Oluleke Akinpelu: Practical Approach to Application Security - XSS, SQL Injection and Web Shell Exploitation - 6/11 NCC (C.Springs) - 2020 Cyber Symposium - 6/15-16 CSA Denver - June Virtual Meeting - 6/16 ISSA Denver - Matthew Titcombe: DoD Contractors & Those Supporting Them…Are You Ready To Get Audited?!? - 6/16 ISSA Denver - Brad Rhodes: Using "Big Data" Tools to Understand Your Cyber Environment - 6/18 View our events page for a full list of upcoming events * Thanks to CJ Adams for our intro and exit! If you need any voiceover work, you can contact him here at carrrladams@gmail.com. Check out his other voice work here. * Intro and exit song: "The Language of Blame" by The Agrarians is licensed under CC BY 2.0
We’ll start in Denver: PAIRIN, a trusted technology partner to today’s leading workforce programs, governments and education systems, today announced the close of $2.1 million, the first tranche of its Series A investment round that will be used to support continued growth of the company and its My Journey platform. “Everyone should have the opportunity to define their own future, regardless of their background. During this period in our nation’s history, supporting the organizations and professionals helping people along their career journey is more important than ever,” stated Michael Simpson, CEO and co-founder of PAIRIN. “We’ve worked tirelessly alongside our partners in government and education to simplify the processes by which Americans enter and excel in the workforce. This funding will allow us to accelerate rollouts and key features that help connect people to critical resources, education and career assistance in an increasingly volatile job market. The enthusiasm and support we’ve received from investors are indicative of the widespread need for this technology.” The Series A funding will help support the company’s rapid growth and hiring initiatives. PAIRIN plans to grow its workforce by 33 percent in the next year with new hires in engineering, design and project management roles, among others. At this rate, the company expects to be cash-flow positive and double its current number of employees by the end of 2021. PAIRIN is a social enterprise company with a mission to make education relevant and hiring equitable. My Journey is a workforce process management platform that personalizes career exploration, job matching and skill development for education, workforce programs and governments. https://hrtechfeed.com/pairin-raises-2-1-million-series-a-funding-to-aid-american-workforce/ Salary.com, this week released Job Architect, a powerful job description management tool to keep job descriptions accurate and up-to-date — adding velocity to hiring the right people at the right pay. Job Architect can be used as a stand-alone product or as an integrated part of Salary.com’s leading CompAnalyst® platform. Job descriptions are often created and stored in silos throughout an organization, creating challenges to hiring velocity and the overall strategy of talent management that often leads to the inaccurate pricing of jobs. Worse yet, over time, poor job descriptions make it difficult to retain valuable talent because compensation structures and skills sets are misaligned with the organization’s needs or expectations of employees. “We’re seeing unprecedented upheaval in how companies are defining jobs and managing the work that people do,” said Kent Plunkett, founder and CEO of Salary.com. “Job Architect helps companies manage their job content library to get job descriptions right and optimize the performance of their people.” https://hrtechfeed.com/salary-com-releases-job-architect-a-powerful-job-description-management-tool/ Vetty, a fast growing provider of an AI-based employee verification platform for gig-economy marketplaces and enterprises announced it is raising a Pre-Series A round of $4M USD. The Pre-Series A financing builds on a successful year for Vetty which saw a rapidly growing roster of clients seeking a frictionless background screening option for verifying potential employees. Vetty is primed to capture market share in its fast growing industry sector by using these funds to grow sales and accelerate development of the platform. Vetty’s customers include industry leading companies such as Wag!, Bellhop and MASTERCLASS. “As an industry, we’re just scratching the surface of the background verification market,” Subrat Nayak, Founder and CEO of Vetty said. “We are working hard to truly dominate this fast-growing market and 3Lines has been more than an investor for us. They have created tremendous value by bringing in their expertise in the AI-enabled tech startup world and guiding us to steer clear of the pitfalls, and working with us on formulating key business strategies. We are confident, with their expert guidance, that we will continue to find success.” Vetty describes itself (https://vetty.co), as a fast-growing early stage company in the highly-fragmented background verification market with an AI-based employee verification platform for gig-economy marketplaces and enterprises to proactively manage hiring risks and enforce regulatory compliance. https://hrtechfeed.com/employee-verification-platform-raises-4-million/ iHire announces the general availability of its Virtual Outplacement Services. The recruiting technology provider’s Virtual Outplacement Services help companies assist laid-off and transitioning employees – including those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic – with finding new jobs. Drawing from more than 20 years of experience connecting candidates with the right jobs in 56 industries, iHire has combined personalized job seeker support with its best-in-class career management platform to add outplacement services to its solution suite. For employers, iHire offers affordable outplacement services to bring a unique, compassionate approach to handling layoffs as well as business closures, mergers, acquisitions, downsizing initiatives, and other situations that displace employees. All outplacement packages provide transitioning employees with one-on-one virtual coaching sessions with a certified career coach, a new resume written by a certified resume writer, unlimited access to iHire’s platform with advanced job matching technology, and a personalized job search plan covering goals, assessments, interviewing, networking, and more. https://hrtechfeed.com/ihire-announces-virtual-outplacement-services/ Bonusly, an engaging recognition and rewards platform that connects teams and enriches company culture, today announced it has received $9 million in Series A funding led by Access Venture Partners, joined by Next Frontier Capital, Operator Partners, and existing investor FirstMark Capital. Bonusly’s recognition and rewards bolster morale and motivation, foster collaboration, and build social links and a greater sense of purpose for teams — all outcomes desperately needed now. “When everyone in an organization participates in recognition and rewards, people feel a sense of purpose and see that their contributions are valued by their bosses, peers, and others on their teams,” said Raphael Crawford-Marks, co-founder and CEO of Bonusly. “Employee engagement and morale are more important than ever, and this round of investment validates the value of our solution in meeting the pressing people challenges of the current environment and into the future.” The Bonusly solution connects people to their work and each other in meaningful ways. Founded in 2013, Bonusly provides a fun and easy way to help people feel a greater sense of alignment and purpose, understand what it means to embody a company’s core values, and see how contributions of all kinds support an organization’s mission. https://hrtechfeed.com/bonusly-gets-9-million-for-employee-recognition-platform/ And finally… GR8 People, a breakthrough One-Experience Talent Platform for the enterprise, announces the company’s Virtual Recruiting Event Solution is now free for the first 60 days for all new users. “As the coronavirus outbreak became a global pandemic, GR8 People immediately provided talent acquisition with virtual recruiting event software at no cost as a way to support the profession during an extremely difficult time,” states CEO Diane Smith. “Initially, the program was to end in June, but given extremely high demand for the solution alongside continued economic uncertainty due to COVID-19, we are extending our support by giving customers their first 60 days free.” The solution is ideal because it pairs with an organization’s existing web or video conferencing platform, which avoids having to invest in a tool they already have in place, and enables talent acquisition teams to seamlessly market and manage their virtual recruiting initiatives and ensure successful hiring outcomes in today’s unique recruiting environment. Recruiters can automate registrations and reminders, pre-screen and invite priority candidates to self-schedule, engage top talent with post-event communications, and measure their recruitment marketing tactics and event performance—all in one spot. https://hrtechfeed.com/responding-to-market-demand-gr8-people-extends-free-virtual-recruiting-event-solution/ ########## Got a project that an HR freelancer can handle? From writing an employee handbook to freelance sourcers to HR bloggers you can find the right freelancer to handle your HR or recruiting needs right now on https://hrlancers.com/ - browse more than 500 freelancer profiles today
Daniel Ramsey is the founder and CEO of MyOutDesk, serving more than 5,000 clients with virtual assistants. Leading teams of remote workers has its own challenges. Working from home, even intermittently is growing with popularity. Daniel shares his expertise and vision he has learned from outsourcing a workforce. His key focus is on communication. Remote workers and the businesses they work for need that component to survive For more information about MyOutDesk (MOD): MyOutDesk Website MOD on Twitter MyOutDesk on YouTube Get Your Free Copy of Scaling Your Business 2 free months on Bonusly iTunes - Subscribe, Rate and Review Find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts
Laurie Guest is an award-winning customer service expert, Certified Speaking Professional and a good friend. This overarching conversation looks at customer service from common sense to generational differences. Laurie believes that success comes from a deep understanding that everyone comes from a different background. The more we understand the personalities of who we work with and respect those differences, customer service is enhanced. Laurie shares with us the 5 key attributes that create what common sense means to each of us: The environment you were raised What era you were born into The environment where you used to work Personality type Who you work next to today. For more information about Laurie: Laurie Guest's Website Laurie Guest on Facebook Laurie on Twitter Laurie on Instagram Laurie’s previous episode 10 Cent Decision - Free Chapter 2 free months on Bonusly iTunes - Subscribe, Rate and Review Find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts
In this episode I interview my guest, Tom Walter, Chief Culture Officer of Tasty Catering based out of Chicago. They produce over 10,000 events yearly. WOW! Tasty has been recognized as the Best Small Workplace in the US according to Forbes Magazine, Inc. Magazine, and the #1 Best Place to Work in Illinois. Tom is going to share with us the journey of Tasty’s millennial cultural revolt that happened over 13 years ago and the changes Tom and his leadership had to make. We might even get some information on the hedgehog concept and the Flywheel. Thanks, Tom for taking the time to share your expertise. Here is Tasty Catering’s Core Values: #1 always moral, ethical & legal #2 treat all with respect #3 quality in everything we do #4 high service standards #5 competitiveness: strong determination to be the best #6 an enduring culture of individual discipline #7 freedom & responsibility within the culture of individual discipline For more information about Tasty Catering and Tom Walter: Company Website Tom Walter on Facebook Tom Walter on LInkedIn Tasty Catering on Twitter 2 free months on Bonusly iTunes - Subscribe, Rate and Review Find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts
Can an accounting firm actually be a fun place to work? Years ago I interviewed Bill Hagaman, CEO and Managing Partner of WithumSmith+Brown. Since I’m a recovering accountant, I was very intrigued to have Bill on the show. We don’t think of an accounting firm as a place where people have fun, but they have established a business culture that is enjoyable and growth-oriented. Since including Bill in my book, I decided to revisit this culturally elite company and talk with one of their employees, Aaron Slaughter. Adam is a Senior Manager in Withum’s Washington, D.C. office. He specializes in providing top-notch assurance, auditing, tax, and accounting services to multiemployer benefit plans and labor organizations across the U.S. This is an interesting conversation because not only does he work for Withum, but the office he is in is one they bought to expand their territory. Adam, therefore, had to move into the Withum Way. I found out, WithumSmith+Brown really does walk their talk. As a refresher, here are the components of the Withum Way. The Ten Elements of the Withum Way Think Client Centrically Possess a Vision for Growth Welcome Innovation and Change Maintain a Cooperative Attitude Demand Integrity Cultivate Open and Honest Relationships Embrace the Family Spirit Work hard/Play hard Give Back Live Life Passionately Interview Links & Other Resources Withum.com The Withum Way Breaking Stereotypes of Accountants (Video) 2016 State of the Firm (Video) Follow Withum on Twitter 2 free months on Bonusly iTunes - Subscribe, Rate and Review Find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts
I have spoken with Max Pekarsky. He is a full-stack developer working at Bonusly. But he does more than that. He is a writer and that is how I came about his name. I was reading "The Overflow", which is the monthly newsletter from Stack Overflow and he was the author of one of the articles. As the theme of our second season of the podcast is about going beyond the code, he was a prime example of that and I wanted to find out how he got the opportunity to write for the extremely popular Stack Overflow website. So here it is. Enjoy this conversation which covers Max's career and how he became a self-taught full-stack developer, blogger and tech writer. Full show notes and links: https://SoloCoder.com/27
Rhonda Leeman Taylor is a native of Canada. She was one of the founding pioneers of woman’s Canadian hockey as it was being reborn in the 1980s. She is now involved in assisting companies with their marketing and recruiting with specialized software at Advos, the HR Marketers and Fuel 50. This is a candid conversation about women in the workplace, women in sports and women in the boardroom. Rhonda shares some incredible stories that you might think come from the dark ages, but happened not that long ago. Her experience in women’s hockey gave her more power to counteract the disturbing treatment that she experienced. Her perseverance will help generations of women in the future. For more information about Rhonda: Rhonda's Website Rhonda on Twitter Rhonda on LinkedIn Check out Fuel 50 Buy Offside, A Memoir 2 free months on Bonusly iTunes - Subscribe, Rate and Review Find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts
Gethin Nadin is the Director of Employee Wellbeing at Benefex. They believe that everyone deserves an exceptional experience at work, every day and they build workplace technology that makes this happen. They are the producer of OneHub which is an award-winning employee benefit, reward, recognition and communications platform. We are going to be talking with Gethin about how Benefex uses its own philosophies internally to create a superb workplace culture. That is where Gethin comes in. Think about how great it would be to get communication that was directed to you and not have to filter through 100 emails that don’t pertain to you. Benefex knows its employees and speaks to their needs. In this way, your employee experience is raised along with productivity and loyalty. Gethin is a psychology graduate who has been helping some of the world’s largest organizations to improve their employee experience and wellbeing for almost two decades. As a frequent writer and speaker on employee experience and employee wellbeing. In 2018, Gethin published his first book - the 5 star rated Amazon HR bestseller, A World of Good: Lessons From Around the World in Improving the Employee Experience We are going to be talking with Gethin about how Benefex uses its own philosophies internally to create a superb workplace culture. For more information about Benefex and Gethin Nadin: The Benefex Website Benefex on Twitter A World of Good on Twitter Gethin on LInkedIn 2 free months on Bonusly iTunes - Subscribe, Rate and Review Find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts
We're joined by Kayla Moncayo, Employee Relations Specialist with Solarwinds and creator of Let There Be HR in Austin, TX. We talk about how Kayla got into HR, her love of Employee Relations, what an "HR Firebreather" does, and Jon and Wendy consider what they'll do in retirement. We also make an announcement about the future of the chat. This is a great episode to wrap up 2019 and you should get to know Kayla! Kayla's recommendations: Brent Meers Melissa Garza How to reach Kayla: https://lettherebehr.squarespace.com/ If you're a listener to the show outside the U.S., contact us so we can send you a gift in celebration of having our 100th country join the download family. This episode is sponsored by Bonusly, a fun, personal recognition and rewards program that enriches company culture and improves employee engagement. Get a 60 day trial of Bonusly's offerings at https://bonus.ly/hrsocialhour. Join us now on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month at 7 PM ET for the #HRSocialHour chat on Twitter!
We're joined by Dawn Burke, Senior Consultant with Recruiting Toolbox and Founder of Dawn Burke HR in Birmingham, AL. We talk about leaving the corporate world, leaving a job at the right time, and what Dawn believes is the biggest issue Talent Acquisition professionals face. Dawn and Jon also talk about the greatness that is Duran Duran. Hang on for lots of laughs and learning in this episode. Dawn's recommendations: https://twitter.com/mattgrove https://twitter.com/paulbunda How to reach Dawn: https://www.dawnburkehr.com/ This episode is sponsored by Bonusly, a fun, personal recognition and rewards program that enriches company culture and improves employee engagement. Get a 60 day trial of Bonusly's offerings at https://bonus.ly/hrsocialhour. Join us the 4th Sunday of each month at 7 PM ET for the #HRSocialHour chat on Twitter!
Allison Pickens, COO at Gainsight, is an internationally known thought leader on driving subscription revenue growth and scaling teams. As the Chief Operating Officer, Allison is focused on generating excellence in company-wide strategy and execution, as well as new corporate development opportunities and evangelism. Allison was named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women and a Top Customer Service Influencer. She studied at Yale and Stanford so we know she is wicked smart. Allison built and scaled Gainsight’s post-sales functions, including a global team of more than 180 team members across Customer Success Management, Professional Services, Support, Customer Marketing, Value Consulting, and Customer Engineering. She also built Gainsight’s Corporate Development (M&A) function and is General Manager of Gainsight PX, an acquired business. Before that, she built Gainsight's Sales Development and Business Operations teams. Gainsight understands that business success relies on customer success. Their business model is to help businesses connect with their customers and build deep relationships. They practice that in-house too. Their culture is built on humanity first. They focus on creating and codifying their company values where it can live in their business daily. They believe in leading by example and, if possible, finding the best fit for each employee, understanding that it may change over time. Instead of tossing talent, they appreciate their gifts and work with them to keep the relationship alive. Or, they help them find another place where they can flourish. For more information about Allison and Gainsight: Company Website Gainsight on Twitter Allison on Twitter Allison on LinkedIn Get 2 free months of Bonusly iTunes - Subscribe, Rate and Review Find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts
We're joined by David Miklas, an employment law attorney based in Port Saint Lucie, FL. We talk about about what David sees clients struggling with currently, what he expects will be a concern in 2020, and what it's like to win over a crowd that may have preconceived notions about attorneys. David's recommendation: Leslie Mizerak How to reach David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-miklas-301861121/ https://www.miklasemploymentlaw.com/ This episode is sponsored by Bonusly, a fun, personal recognition and rewards program that enriches company culture and improves employee engagement. Get a 60 day trial of Bonusly's offerings at https://bonus.ly/hrsocialhour. Join us the 4th Sunday of each month at 7 PM ET for the #HRSocialHour chat on Twitter!
Raphael Crawford Marks is the founder and CEO of Bonusly. This program improves employee engagement and retention by providing a frictionless tool for employees to give meaningful praise and feedback. Chobani and Survey Monkey are just a few of the companies that think this is the path to take. Raphael shares the importance of engagement being, timely, frequent, specific, aligned with company core values, and inclusive. It's not enough to tell people once a year that they are doing well. And, connecting the benefit to the company with praise makes it more meaningful and long-lasting. Engagement is strongest when company values are an integral piece of everything the company commits to. The inclusive piece is for those giving and receiving praise. In addition, we talk about the importance of purpose, progress and belonging. At Bonusly, they live what they profess. They are very clear that culture is a continuous journey that can get better and better with an open mind to new ideas. In addition, the company provides assistance in the measurement of increases in engagement and productivity. For more information about Raphael and Bonusly Bonusly Website Bonusly on Twitter Raphael on LinkedIn 2 free months on Bonusly iTunes - Subscribe, Rate and Review Find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts
We're joined by Raphael Crawford-Marks, co-founder and CEO of Bonusly. We talk about why he decided to start a company focused on employee recognition, how Bonusly helps their clients with recognition, and how the perception of recognition has changed since Bonusly started in 2012. Raphael also surprises Jon with his favorite band as it's a group Jon's never heard before. Raphael's recommendations: Andrea Guendelman https://sounds.bonus.ly/ How to reach Raphael: https://bonus.ly/ https://twitter.com/raphaelcm This episode is brought to you by Bonusly. Go to bonus.ly/hrsocialhour for a 60 day trial of the platform.
We're joined by Jason Treu, Chief People Officer and Company Culture Expert with Unstoppable Workplaces in Dallas, TX. We talk about why companies struggle to develop high performing cultures and teams and what lead him to create "Card Against Mundanity." Jason also describes a decision he made in 30 minutes that changed his life and routine for the better. There's wine app talk and much, much more! Jason's recommendations: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilymarkmann/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dulinheather/ How to reach Jason: https://jasontreu.com/ http://cardsagainstmundanity.com/ This episode is sponsored by Bonusly, a fun, personal recognition and rewards program that enriches company culture and improves employee engagement. Get a 60 day trial of Bonusly's offerings at https://bonus.ly/hrsocialhour. Join us the 4th Sunday of each month at 7 PM ET for the #HRSocialHour chat on Twitter!
Jonathan Keyser used to be ruthless in the cut throat business of real estate. He’s living proof that selfless service will transform a business to new successful heights. His company, Keyser is the largest commercial real estate tenant representative firm in Arizona and one of the fastest growing in the country. Jonathan’s “selfless service” model resonates with corporations and individuals seeking a competitive edge to acquiring and maintaining clients. Jonathan is a best-selling author of You Don’t Have to be Ruthless to Win: The Art of Badass Selfless Service. The book is about Jonathan’s journey and the success of changing your attitude and perspective. Jonathan is here to share his journey, mission, and “selfless service” model to empower each of us to succeed. For more information about Jonathan: Jonathan's Website Follow Jonathan on Twitter Jonathan on LinkedIn Keyser Way on Facebook Book: You Don't have to be Ruthless to Win 2 free months on Bonusly iTunes - Subscribe, Rate and Review Find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts
Today my guest is Christopher O’Donnell, Senior VP of Product at HubSpot. HubSpot is a leader when it comes to inbound marketing and sales programs. Christopher was recently named one of the best product leaders of 2019. HubSpot is a developer and marketer of software products for inbound marketing and sales. Its products and services aim to provide tools for social media marketing, content management, web analytics and search engine optimization. Christopher shares how HubSpot manages and evolves their customer driven internal culture. When Christopher is not working, he is writing songs and playing guitar with his band, The Providers. For more information about Christopher and HubSpot: HubSpot's Website HubSpot on Twitter Christopher on Twitter Christopher on LinkedIn HubSpot on LInkedIn 2 free months on Bonusly iTunes - Subscribe, Rate and Review Find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts
Guest: Ryan Burke - SVP, International @InVision (Formerly SVP, Sales & Custome Success @InVision; Formerly @Compete, @Mainspring, @Goldman Sachs) Guest Background: Ryan joined InVision in 2014 as the Vice President of Sales. He quickly grew his remote salesforce of 3 to over 100 talented professionals responsible for identifying new market opportunities for collaborative design, developing new revenue streams and managing both enterprise and inside sales. Ryan was eventually promoted to SVP, Sales before taking on his current role as the SVP, International leading their international expansion efforts around the world. Prior to InVision, Ryan was at Moontoast as a member of the senior management team. He created and managed both enterprise and inside sales functions, selling both SaaS and custom solutions to clients including Toyota, P&G, GM, Microsoft and others. Prior to Moontoast, Ryan was the SVP of Sales at Compete which was acquired by WPP and later became Millward Brown Digital. He led all sales efforts, including a senior vertical enterprise team as well as an inside team selling the Compete.com SaaS product. Guest Links: LinkedIn | Twitter Episode Summary: In this episode, we cover: - The 3 F's to Build Your Sales Team from 1-50 - The InVision Story - InVision = 1,000 Remote Employees: How to Hire, Onboard, Manage and Communicate w/ Remote Teams - The Role of Sales in Creating & Cultivating a Global Brand & Community - Inside Sales vs. Enterprise Sales Full Interview Transcript: Naber: Hello friends around the world. My name is Brandon Naber. Welcome to The Naberhood, where we have switched on, fun discussions with some of the most brilliant, successful, experienced, talented and highly skilled Sales and Marketing minds on the planet, from the world's fastest-growing companies. Enjoy! Naber: Hey everybody. Today we have Ryan Burke on the show. Ryan Burke joined InVision back in 2014 as the Vice President of Sales. InVision has a $1.9 billion valuation and $350 million in capital raised. Ryan quickly grew his remote salesforce of three to over 100 talented professionals responsible for identifying new market opportunities for collaborative design, developing new revenue streams, and managing both Enterprise and Inside Sales teams. Ryan was eventually promoted to SVP of Sales before taking on his current role as a Senior Vice President for International @InVision leading their international expansion efforts around the world. Prior to InVision, Ryan was at Moontoast as a member of the Senior management team. He created and managed both Enterprise and Inside Sales functions, selling both SaaS and custom solutions to clients including Toyota, P&G, GM, Microsoft and others. Prior to Moontoast, Ryan was the SVP of Sales at Compete, which was acquired by WPP and later became Millward Brown Digital. He led all Sales efforts at Compete as the SVP of Sales, including a senior vertical Enterprise team as well as an Inside Sales team selling Compete.com SaaS solutions. Here we go. Naber: Ryan, awesome to have you on the show. How are you doing? Ryan Burke: I'm doing great. I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. Brandon. Naber: I've seen you with a beard without a beard and a lot of my research I've been doing in the last few hours here. I like the beard and without the beard. It's very rare you can say that about someone you like it equally, and I typically lean towards beard by, I really like both. Ryan Burke: And now it's the grey beard. Now it's the grey beard. Naber: It's like, you go from all bald on the face to some salt and pepper, to a lot of salt, and then you're just, it sinks in. This is just a grey beard. This is just a great, love it. Love it. You and I have gotten to know each other personally over the last few months professionally as well, which is quite cool. I'm happy that we get to, go through a lot of this, as content today with you. What I figured we could do is go through some personal stuff first. So start with Ryan Burke as a kid, what you're interested in. Then ultimately graduate into, pun intended, where are were in school with Baldwin the Eagle up in Boston, and then all the way through your professional jumps into your time at InVision. And in that time we'll just cover a bunch of superpowers as well as things that I know, people have said that you are very good at. And I know that you excel at given a lot of the places you've worked, and roles that you've had. Sound okay? Ryan Burke: Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Cool. Naber: So Westford, MA. What was it like for Ryan Burke as a kid? What were you like? What were you interested in? What were some of your hobbies? Let's go. Ryan Burke: Yeah, definitely, definitely. So Westford is about 40 minutes northwest of Boston. Typical New England town with the centre of town, and the old church, and the common, and all of that. And it was great. Kind of prototypical New England childhood riding a bike around the neighbourhood and doing that whole thing. It was funny, my first job actually was, snake busters. So my buddies and I, when we were, I don't know, maybe 12, decided that we were going to rid the neighbourhood of snakes. So we would walk to people's houses, knock on the door, and charge a dollar a snake. It went well, it went well. It went well. We made all these crazy tools and t-shirts. We ended up just grabbing them with our hands, harmless garter snakes. But it went well until my mother came home one day and found a giant trashcan in the garage that had about 40 snakes in it. That was the end of, that was the end of snake busters. Naber: Did you call it snake busters? Ryan Burke: Oh yeah, we did the tee shirts that we hand drew. I mean, it was right around, I mean, I'm dating myself, but it was right around the Ghostbusters days. So, that was, that was my first commercial endeavour. Got me started in, got me started in Sales. But. Westford was great. I was kind of the athlete, whatever, captain of the basketball and soccer teams in high school, it was great. National Honor Society, I got kicked out my junior year, and came back in my Senior year and won the leadership award. So, it was a fun time and nothing but good things to say about Westford. I had a great childhood. I stay in touch with a lot of my friends still from Westford, pretty close to the community. And the Grey Ghosts, which was our mascot, which I still think is a great name, and I was the 200th graduating class of Westford academy. So it was public high school, but 200. Naber: So, one more question then we'll, we'll talk about your move up to BC. What did your parents do, when you were growing up? And what were some of the hobbies and interests you had outside of sports? Because obviously, you were quite athletic. Ryan Burke: Yeah, definitely, definitely. So my dad was, that day and age was still the time of the long runs at companies. And so my dad was that a Digital Equipment Corporation. So he was at DEC for shoot, 30 years, I think, a long, long time. He ran manufacturing for a couple of plants there. My mom worked there as well for about 10 years. Naber: Is that how they met? Ryan Burke: No, they met outside of Hartford, Connecticut, in college. But my dad had a great run in Digital. My favourite thing was during his retirement ceremony, they renamed the big board room, the Bill Burke Board Room, and then they did a top 10 Bill Burke famous quotes. The number one quote for Bill Burke that I'm not sure what it says about him for his 30 years. There was f*ck 'em. I mean it was celebrated, and it was a quote on a plaque, and all of that. But for 30 years that was interesting, and it kind of describes my dad, in a nutshell, a little bit. Naber: It's funny because people that know your dad if you gave him 10 guesses, they'd probably guess it. People not knowing your dad, like myself, if you gave me a hundred guesses, that wouldn't have been it. I'm so glad that that just happened. Ryan Burke: Yeah. So, and then the hobbies. Like it's interesting, you grew up in Massachusetts, but for whatever reason, my brother and I got really into fishing. And so, that's become a lifelong passion. I actually started and ran a fishing tournament for about 13 years on Cape Cod, kind of post-graduation. The Headhunt. The Harwich Headhunt. And yeah, it just became a passion, and I still fish all the time, and I've gotten my kids involved, and all of that. But that was one of the things that my brother and I would sort of hike through the woods, and find little ponds, and build our little boats or whatever, and float out there, and catch bass and perch and whatever all day. And then we got the bug and started to get closer to the ocean and do some of the offshore fishing, which has been great. Naber: Wow. Very cool. All right, we're going to get into BC, but I have to go rogue on this one. If you're not heavy into fishing, what's the best part about fishing? Like, why do you love it? Ryan Burke: Yeah. I mean honestly now that we get out offshore and go out on the ocean, you're just so in such a different environment and a different mindset, and really things just kind of melt away. And just from the stresses of the world being 10-15-20 miles offshore in that type of environment, we go to tuna fishing, there are whales jumping, whatever's going on, it's just a real escape. The phone's half the time don't work, and so, it's just...a lot of times we'll go out for an eight-hour fishing trip and my wife will say, well, you didn't catch anything. What the heck did you guys do out there? You're in this small confined space with like three other friends. She's like, what do you guys talk about the whole time out there, not catching fish. And so, it is a fairly intimate experience as well with your buddies, and there are beers involved, and all of that. Yeah, I just liked the whole like mindset change when you kind of get out on the boat, and you're heading out, like everything else sort of melts away the further you get offshore, and I really enjoy that. Naber: Wow, that's great. And from your sons perspective, as they're growing up, that's so cool that you're bringing them into your headspace and that world, to truly disconnect like that. That's really special. All right, you're away from the Ghosts, you're moving onto the Eagles - Baldwin The Eagle, your best friend. Why Boston College? And maybe a couple of minutes on what you were looking like in University. Ryan Burke: Yes. So, it's funny, BC was the only local school that I applied to. I really want to go to Duke, didn't get in. I almost went to Wake Forest. For whatever reason, I wanted to go and explore another part of the country, but I ended up, going to BC. Obviously great school, a lot of fun. And I'll say I'm really happy with the decision based on what it was able to give back to my family. And so what happened at BC, the football games and the tailgates. And so my dad, my mom would get season tickets and they'd come to every game. And they just developed a great relationship with all of my roommates and friends. Sometimes inappropriately with like, the conversations, they would hear were just crazy. And they get to meet other parents. And so over the four years, like my parents were really involved in my college experience. And for them to be honest writing the checks, like I felt like that was an opportunity for me to give them something back. And I always cherish that, bringing them into that experience. And we still talk about the glory days of the football games and beating another game Notre Dame, or whatever. So it was a great experience, and being in Boston was a lot of fun. Even most of the friends that I had at BC, were actually from outside of Boston. But yeah, BC was great. We were sort of in the heyday of sports when I was there too. We had some good runs, they're obviously terrible now. But I also, all things considered, I liked having a team. Me and my wife went to Holy Cross, and I kind of give her crap all the time because, it was great school as well, but like having a team and a brand that you can sort of follow. And I'd still all way too close to I know every high school recruit that football team is right now and I read it every morning. And it's a little creepy, I know, but I'm pretty involved. Naber: That's a job because they come from all the country to BC obviously. Ryan Burke: And I did it, I did it as a job a little bit. So I got so involved after graduation that I actually started writing for a BC website that was all focused on recruiting. And so I did that for about three years, just on the side for shits and giggles, and go to the game, sit in the press box, interview Matt Ryan after the game on the field, and all of that. And I was when I was still trying to figure out if I was going to get into the sports, as a career. But it was a lot, it was a lot of fun to do that. Naber: You know, it's really interesting. We're going to get into your professional jumps. That's a really good segue. But what I find when I'm talking to a lot of these, a lot of folks in this podcast and a lot of the folks I really admire professionally with an entrepreneurial spirit, it comes out in so many different ways. And I actually don't think that the person talking about it really knows that it's coming out. So from snake busters all the way through to, like you have side hobbies you've turned into like organized things that you do. Like, getting into BC sports, writing about it, making an organized effort and project around that. Same thing with fishing, 13 years of running that tournament. Like, taking your hobbies and turning them into something organized, structured so that everyone can enjoy and you're the driving force behind it with your effort because effort is the great equalizer within entrepreneurship. I think that that entrepreneurial spirit always comes out in people's hobbies, and I don't think that most of the people talking about it often think about it like that. But it's coming out in your hobbies right now. That's pretty cool. Ryan Burke: Yeah. And if you want, I can do a quick sidebar into a hobby that turned into somebody that, did you hear about my book club? Naber: Oh, don't tell me, scorpion something. What is it? Ryan Burke: Scorpions. New Speaker: Scorpions. Yeah. Tell me about it. Ryan Burke: Something I'm proud of and something I will also say is potentially my biggest regret. But my wife was in publishing, and she'd go to these book clubs and she would come home have a couple of glasses of wine and saying, Hey, did you talk about the book? Nah, we just sorta talked, and chatted, and drank wine. And I was like, you know what, this is a bunch of BS. I'm going to go and I'm going to start a book club to spite your book clubs, and just show you that I can build a better book club than any of the book clubs you've been a part of. And she's yeah, yeah, whatever. And so I was all right, I'm going to call it the scorpions. I came up with a tagline that was "Read. Bleed.", and it was all sort of tongue in cheek. So in Boston, it was like the all hard guy book club. And so I got about seven or eight of my friends who were smart, a bunch of entrepreneurial folks as well, a few guys that have been CEOs and sold companies. And we all read. And so what we did was we would go to places like dog racetracks, or shooting ranges, but we would actually talk about the book. So we would actually talk about the book. We would do trivia about the book. And then we would typically end it with a physical challenge to see who could pick the next book. And so what happened was one of the guys that was in the book club worked with my wife in publishing, and he released a press release. Because my whole point was I'm going to create the Anti- Oprah Book Club. I'm going to create, where a woman can walk into a store and know exactly what book she should be buying her husband, boyfriend, or whatever with a scorpion stamp. And so we read a book, and then we released a press release just for fun and games. Scorpions select, I don't remember what the first book was. Scorpions select this book as their official monthly book club, Dah, Dah, Dah. And we did it a couple of times, and the next thing you know it starts getting picked up. And I get a call one day from The New Yorker. And the New Yorker says, Hey, we want to do an interview with you. We do a feature on a book club every month. And we read about the all hard guy book club, the Scorpions. And we're like, all right. And so, called and interviewed me, Dah, Dah, Dah. And they put it on their website. Called back the next day. Hey, this has gotten so, so many hits. We want to go front page tomorrow. we need more pictures. I'm like, I don't have any pictures. Like literally get up that morning with my wife, take my shirt off, put up World War Z, which we're reading the time up in front of me with a bottle of Jack Daniels, and she snaps a picture on her iPhone. And that next thing you know, that's on the front page of TheNewYorker.com next day. And so then it gets picked up, and Gawker picks it up, we had these magazines reaching out. And what happened was it snowballed very quickly where authors, I mean agents were calling me and saying, Hey, we want you to review our author's book. We want you to give it the scorpion seal. We made like a seal and all this stuff. And we're what is going on here? And we had people calling us from all over the country. Can we start a scorpions thing? A reality TV show reached out to us. My buddy called me at one point, my roommate from college, and he's like Hey, what did you start some stupid book club? I'm like yeah, the scorpions. He's like well I'm reading the 50th-anniversary edition of Playboy, and you guys are in here. And I was what? And so we picked up playboy and we're in there. So we almost got a book deal. We almost got a TV deal. And the whole thing sort of faded. It was at that stage, we're all just having kids. A couple of guys were going to sell their company, and so we really give it the attention. But finally I was able to go back to my wife and say, listen, I proved you wrong, I started a better book club. And now there's talk of bringing it back because I still think there's actually an opportunity in the marketplace for that sort of Anti- Oprah Book Club. And we actually read good, compelling books. And so that was my tie into the hobby question. Naber: You know, it's funny. One of the reasons I love doing the personal side before we jump into all this other stuff is, before you reach out to somebody, before you first have conversations and when you just look up on the pedestal of this person at this company with this title, and your background, your experience, I think it's quite intimidating before you start having conversations and humanize the experience. And that's one of the things I love about, about this section. But that's a perfect example. If you're hey, quick sidebar, I want to tell you about something and the entire Scorpion's book club, love it. It's great. So cool. All right. So that is, that is not a segue, but I'm going to create one, into, you're leaving Boston College. And so Scorpions Book Club, the best thing you ever did, but we'll talk about some of the second and third best things you ever did after, after that. You're leaving BC, and run us through your professional experiences, up through the end of when you're at Compete so we can jump into InVision. So just run us through, the companies you were at, and the roles that you're in, maybe like five to seven minutes so we can, we can get some detail on there as well. Ryan Burke: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. The first job I had out of college...I still get amazed at the jobs and internships that today...I'm really impressed. Like back in my day, it was kind of like, all right, we're going to travel to Europe, we're going to screw around after graduation, whatever. And so when I was midway through my Senior year in college, a buddy called me - this is 1996 the Olympics in Atlanta - and he said, hey, I work for a staffing company, Randstad, I've gotta hire like 20,000 people. Do you want to come work for the Atlanta Olympics for the summer? And I was sure, I got nothing going on. And I became known as the kid on campus that, like, I'd walk into any party and be like, hey Burke, I heard you can give me a job with the Olympics. And I'm like, yeah. So people giving me their resumes to work at the Olympics. So I think I got 40 kids from BC jobs at the Olympics. So we all went down there, and we all rented condos in the same little complex. And this was back in the Buckhead days of Atlanta too, the bars were open till five the morning before Ray Lewis ruined it. So worked for the Olympics. Great experience. I ended up staying there for a year, working for the Olympic Committee for a year. And it was just a really, it was a really cool experience. And then randomly, again, I was still trying to figure things out, and I had a buddy call and say, hey, you want to move to San Francisco? And I said, yeah. And jumped in the car, and we moved to San Francisco and slept on a floor for six months, and tried to figure it out. Did some temp things, and then I ended up getting into finance. So I got into a small kind of Muni Bond Equity House, which was, which was really cool. It was a really small, company. I touched so many different parts of the business. from the trading to the operational side and it was good. Series 7, Series 63 the whole deal. And then I use that as a springboard to get into Goldman Sachs. Worked in the private client services group in San Francisco, with Goldman. This was sort of during the heyday too. So, managing some of the early Amazon folks back in the day, and making some of those trades. I was what am I doing wrong? So it was great, and I had a good experience at, Goldman. And then it just, I got to the point where there were some family pulls back to the East Coast and at the same time I was at that stage where I was, on a pretty good trajectory in finance, but it was just something about finance that wasn't really getting my juices flowing. And I just knew. I mean just the culture of it. It very, obviously, money-oriented, and people are doing very well. And I just don't know, it just wasn't for me. And so I knew, okay, if I didn't get out then like I was just going to double down, sell my soul, and do the finance thing. And so I pulled the plug. I found a job back East at a tech consulting company. So this is the tail end of sort of the internet boom, and I got into a company called Mainspring, which was really interesting. It was a really smart group of folks from BCG, and McKinsey, and Bain that basically wanted to create a digital strategy consulting firm. And this is just at the time when all these companies are trying to figure out a digital strategy, nobody knew what it meant. And it was also interesting, in that they had a Sales function. So I joined as an Inside Salesperson, which was, your typical cold calling bullpen environment, and weird because you're dialling for dollars for high-end strategy consulting. And it actually differentiated us in the market a little bit, but I really cut my teeth in Inside Sales there, and just opening doors, and prospecting, overcoming objections. I really liked it. Mainspring actually had a pretty good run for a little while. We ended up going public. And then, the market sort of tanked. And then IBM ended up acquiring Mainspring. And so, it ended up working out in that, it was kind of offered a package. I could have stayed at IBM. It was another one of those decisions where similar to financial services, it was all right, I can take a job with IBM, but do I want to do that long-term at this stage of my career when I knew I wanted to be in something smaller and entrepreneurial. And I liked the small team environment, even at Mainstream when I started it was only 100 people or whatever it was. And that's when I got into Compete. Naber: You spent 11 years there. There's a lot of learnings here. So if you want to take your time and go through the next few minutes to talk about some of the things you learned as you're jumping through each individual step that you had, that's all right because that's probably helpful. Ryan Burke: Yeah, definitely, definitely. And so Compete was interesting because that was back in the incubator model days. So basically Compete was an incubated business. David Cancel, who's the CEO of Drift, was kind of the first employee founder there. And I journal joined early on. It was basically, we had a web-based panel that we aggregated data and sold back competitive intelligence to companies. So, Hey, my website traffic is this, how does this compare to my peers? My conversion rate is x on my site, how does that compare? And you know, there were some dark days early on. There was your typical start-up, really young management team, screaming matches in the glass-encased conference room that was like raised four feet above, so everybody could see it, you know. And there were a few turnovers of Senior Leadership early on. A few turnovers of the entire Sales team that I survived twice early days. And we did that for the first probably two to three years. I was kind of the top Salesperson. And worked with some really smart people. And again, that entrepreneurial environment that I like, we had trouble figuring it out. And then for us at that point, the inflexion point was really when we decided to go vertical. And obviously not something that I think every business needs to necessarily do, but from a competitive standpoint...I helped found a kind of the wireless practice, and this was back in the Nextel, Singular, AT&T days, and they were all so hyper-competitive. And so we had this really rich data set to show like, how much online traffic are each one of these sides getting. What is their conversion rate to get people to sign up for bill pay? What was their conversion rate for e-commerce? And really valuable data. And so we built some dashboards, we layered on a consulting component on top of that. And it was really, it was really interesting. And that started what was a pretty big catalyst. Wireless became the biggest vertical at the company. I sold the biggest deal with Sprint, which is $500k, when our ASP was like $30k. And it was interesting in the fact that as a Salesperson, what kept me there as well, is when I started that vertical, I was able to position myself as more than just a Salesperson. And I became a wireless expert. And I would go speak at conferences, I would write white papers because that always gave me the credibility when I wanted to go and sit in a room with Senior folks. I mean we would do crazy stuff like I had business cards made, different business cards for like the big wireless conferences, the CTIA's or even the CES's, and I'd get invited as press because I would write white papers, and so they would put me in as pressed. So like here I go to these things I get to sit down for 10 minutes with the CMO of Verizon and the CTO of AT&T to do briefings. And inevitably you share some data. And the other thing that we did at the time was we partnered with Bear Stearns, who was a big analyst in the Wireless space. And we created this really nice white paper that they distributed - a glossy cover, Bear Stearns, and it was all our data. And free data for Bear Sterns, whatever. But that became a little bit of every meeting we would walk into that was on somebody's desk. And so it was very easy to point to that and say, oh, that's our data in there. And they're like, oh really? We didn't know that. Tell us what you did. And so, building a brand beyond just being a Salesperson was really valuable to me from a career perspective. And partnering with somebody like Bear Stearns at the time was really powerful in the space from a wireless analyst perspective. And using that as a vehicle for content was just so big in building our brand at the time. And so, that was the kind of the earlier part of my career at Compete. And there are always times that thought about leaving, but every time it was sort of thinking about it, there was a new opportunity that would arise. And so then I moved into more kind of Sales leadership, and that was a new challenge. And building out sort of an Inside Sales and an Enterprise Sales team. Then `we were required. So the company was acquired by TNS, a big research firm. And then six months later by WPP, so essentially acquired by WPP, became part of that world. And that opened up a whole new world of opportunity and challenges, and that kind of put me into a new role. And then I became Head of Global Sales, SVP of Sales, across Compete. And that was within sort of the WPP, umbrella organization. So that was fun. So yeah, I was there a long time but worked with some really sharp people. My old boss Scott Earnst, I sort of followed him up as well, and he became CEO, and one of my mentors to this day. And so it was a really interesting ride. Definitely a really interesting ride. Naber: Very cool. And that brings, does that bring us to your jump into InVision at this point? Ryan Burke: I did have a quick move, between there, I went to a company called Moontoast. Naber: Oh, that's right. Yeah, Moontoast. So, hey, before you do that, I want to talk about, you mentioned managing Enterprise and Inside Sales Teams. You've done this at three different organizations if not more if you've done some advisory work on this. But you've done Inside and Enterprise Sales at the same time. A lot of the people listening will either start a business, have started businesses, will be the VP of Sales, VP of marketing, whatever. And they'll either inherit Inside Sales or inherit Enterprise Sales. And usually, they kind of tack one onto the other or they graduate from Inside Sales Leader into Enterprise Sales. You've managed both at three different businesses. Let's talk about that for a few minutes here. What are the main best practices or tips that you have in managing Inside Sales as a contrast to managing Enterprise Sales? And we'll get into the top tips and best practices for that, but Inside Sales first. Inside Sales, what are the biggest differences between managing Enterprise and Inside Sales teams? When you're talking about Inside Sales, what are the best practices and tips for doing that? Ryan Burke: Yeah, that's a good question. And I think the end of the day it's still, Inside Sales is obviously a lot more transactional and so it's a lot more around kind of that process. And Enterprises is around the process as well, but obviously very different motion, trajectory, timing, all of that. And so, with Inside Sales I would say one thing that's probably most important is figuring out what that customer journey is upfront, and really defining that path, and finding those friction points, and then building a process around what are the activities and behaviors that..like to me, everything kind of boils down to behaviors and activities when it comes to Sales. And that's relatable to Inside and Enterprise. And so performance in numbers is one thing, but you just need to figure out what the right activities are for Inside Sales. So break apart that funnel, figure out what those metrics are, and then really measure on those activity metrics. And that's been probably the most important thing. The other thing is, even when I started at InVision, we'll talk about it, making sure you have the operational infrastructure to define that for Inside Sales, whether it's hiring an operations person, like to me, you can never hire operations too early. I probably waited, I probably waited too long at InVision, and getting that in there early for Inside Sales, and building out, we even call them the leading indicators of what will drive you to a particular transaction. And so I think those behaviours and activities are incredibly important for Inside Sales. And then you just have to evolve it for Enterprise because that's a different motion, different ASP, whatever it is. And so same concept around leading indicators, behaviours and activities, it's just a different framework. And the hardest part is obviously, you sort of view Inside Sales as a stepping stone to Enterprise. And that's not really the case from a mindset standpoint. And that's, you almost have to break bad habits and rebuild them because the Inside Sales folks, currently really good at transactional, driving acquisition, boom, boom, boom. And then you move into Enterprise, you're like, whoa, slow down, let's talk. Now we're value selling, where before it's much more of a product sell. Inside Sales is much more of a product sell. Enterprise Sales is a value sell. And that's a big transition from a mindset standpoint where, step back, make sure you're asking these questions, figuring out obvious things like pain or whatever it is. And again, when we promote Inside Salespeople, sometimes there's that period where the onboarding for Enterprise is just as important as when you're onboarding them as a new employee for Inside Sales because it's a totally new framework and mindset. And if you're using the methodology like MEDDIC or Sandler or whatever it is, you've got to kind of break them down and rebuild them again. Naber: Yup. Yup. That makes a lot of sense. Okay. So moving from Compete to Moontoast, let's hop into why you moved to Moontoast, and then give us a summary of that, and then we'll hop into InVision and I've got a few questions on some of the superpowers that you have, some of the things you've done really well, and a couple that InVision has as well. Ryan Burke: Yeah. And so Moontoast was a social advertising, kind of rich media, social advertising - rich media within the Facebook feed predominantly, or any social feed. Part of it was at the time I was looking to get out of Compete. Moontoast came along, social was obviously very sexy, they just raised some money. Kind of wanted an opportunity to go in and be the guy from day one, and build it up. And you know, everybody's got a miss on their resume, and this was a miss. I came in, and we had some good momentum, really enjoyed the product team and sort of the position we had in the market. But we also existed within the Facebook ecosystem, which I don't care what you say, they just own everything. It's really hard to do exist. They make one change in their technology and like 20 companies go out of business. So I built a really strong team. I've hired my top guy from Compete, brought him over. Hired some really good Salespeople, a few who I've actually taken to InVision. But the product, we had to re-pivot product, and we ultimately had to re-platform it to try to fill the gap with services while we got the platform, then Facebook changes. We missed it. We just missed the window and things got a little ugly. It was one of those startup things where it was a little messy. And so I ended up leaving. I ended up just saying, you know what, and Moontoast not seeing their Future, we'll leave it at that. But I left. It was a good learning experience, met some really good people there. Social space was interesting, I'll never go back. Then I left there and then that was when I had the opportunity at InVision. And I can tell you kind of how that's how that started as well. Naber: Yeah. So this is good. So people are gonna want to hear the story. You joined really early. You're employee number 35, I believe at InVision, you've got upwards of almost if not above, around the thousand employees or so, shed load of them remote if not all of them remote. Exactly, all of them remote. Like the largest, that I know of, tech workforce in the entire world that is remote - it's unbelievable. So, tell us about the story. Run us through the journey that you've been on so far, and then I've got a question around building your Sales teams from one to 50 that we'll cover, after you kind of tell us what the journey is up until now. Ryan Burke: Sure, sure. And so the quick story of how I ended up at InVision was, I quit Moontoast so I was out of a job. I was in sort of this panic mode and got some opportunities right away. And I was I don't want to act, move too quick. And then, just really stressful at that time in life, couple kids, like the whole deal. I was like, what am I doing? And was really close, I had paper in hand to an offer as the CRO of another company in Boston. Ended up being out on a boat with a few folks for my old boss, Scott Earnst, goodbye from Compete, and was sitting with Dave Cancel, we're having a beer on this boat, and tell them about my situation. Naber: I've heard so many good things about Dave, by the way. So many good things through the grapevine. I'll meet him sooner than later. But as far as he's such a good guy. Ryan Burke: Yeah, he is. And just sitting on the boat, and he was like, Hey, don't sign that paper. I was like, why? He's like, you need to talk to Clark at InVision. And I was I don't know anything about InVision. And he's like, design prototyping software. I'm like, I don't know anything about it. Just talk to him. So I didn't sign the paper. We had a couple of conversations, he introduced me to Clark the next day. Had a couple of conversations with Clark, Clark Valberg, the Founder & CEO of InVision, who is just an incredibly interesting, inspiring person. And so the way it went down was, it was like a Wednesday night at probably 9:00 PM in Boston. And Clark, who was in New York, calls me and he's like, alright, I want you to come down tomorrow and meet with the board and meet with me. I'm like, alright, what time? He said, eight o'clock tomorrow morning in New York. And it's like nine o'clock at night in Boston. I'm alright, I'll make it work. And so I go down there, meet with a board member. Clark comes in, and I've never him met in person or anything, and he just sits down and he said, all right, I'm going to spend the next two hours convincing you that this is the wrong job for you. I'm like, interesting. And so we ended up having about a four-hour session on design space, and how Enterprise might not work for design, all of these things. I remember at one point he was like, oh wait, when is your flight? I was well, I missed, it was like an hour ago. He's like, why didn't you tell me? And I was like, well, I want the job, this is super interesting. And so it was great. So we hit it off. Quick background, InVision before me had two VP's of Sales - one lasted a week, one lasted a month. And so I was pretty intimidated, and they were clearly a rocket ship. Even from the early days, you could just see the momentum. And that transactional business, like I had done some the Inside Sales stuff, but like not to that scale before, and build on it from a freemium model. So it was a pretty big leap for both sides and forever grateful for, for Clark taking the chance. And obviously it's been a successful path so far, and a lot of fun. But that's kind of how the whole thing kinda started, which was interesting. Naber: Great. Great Story. And so tell us, tell us about how many people were there when you got there. Like, what the Sales team can seem consisted of, which I'm pretty sure was like two people plus you. And then give us maybe a couple of stats on where you are right now as a company, so we can understand that growth trajectory. And then I'll hop into how you did a lot of those things. Okay? Ryan Burke: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. So when I joined those 35 people, I think there were three people on the Sales team, that I inherited. And the Enterprise business really didn't exist at that point. It was kind of formally launched a few months beforehand, but really there wasn't, there wasn't much revenue there. But what we were doing is we were getting about a thousand people signing up for the product every day to the free service or the self serve plan .So just incredible product-market alignment, and that momentum, and those signals for the business. And so I came on, now we are about 900 employees globally. We work with 100% of the fortune 100. We are fully remote. Raised $350 million total. So it's been, it's been a ride, that's for sure. And it's been a lot of fun. Naber: Man. Unbelievable. You've got almost a $2 billion valuation on that $350 raised. You've been there for about five years now. Is that right? Ryan Burke: Yup. Naber: Wow. Amazing. First of all, congratulations on all the success you guys have had. I just think it's an iconic company, an iconic story. And I think you guys are can't miss, can't lose, badass product company who is, building so fast, doing it the right way, which is great...From the outside looking in, and that's even before you and I started having conversations, I'm so impressed. So let's talk about a couple of things. One, you have, you talk a little bit, in the past around building your Sales Team from one to 50. And you talk about it using the story of InVision, so let's use that story. But you talk about, building your Sales team from one to 50, you got to think about the three F's - the First Five, the Foundation, and the Future. Let's walk through each one of those bullets if you don't mind. Why don't we talk about the First Five, first? Actually, you know what, if you want to tee this up at all, that's fine. But I want to hear about the three F's for building your Sales team from one to 50 because it's an excellent framework. Ryan Burke: Yeah. And so, the way I was thinking about it when I kind of looked back and break it apart is really, figuring out the right people for each stage. Because it evolves and it changes. And then the customer journey changes as you mature, and the deals get bigger, and you move more into the Enterprise. And so you kind of have to chunk it up and hire the right people at each stage, address the customer life cycle at each stage, remove friction points. And so, the biggest thing for me early on was getting the right people in the boat early. And fortunately for me, my first two hires, two Salespeople, that one is now a manager for me in Amsterdam, the other one's the top rep in the US, still here. Which is good because right before I took the job, Mark Roberge from HubSpot, a buddy of mine, called me and he was like, on speed dial who are your two best Salespeople? And I gave him these two names because I have a job. And they both got offers from HubSpot. And they both turned them down. And thankfully...Roberge was like, what the hell? I'm like, I don't know man. And so then I got the job with InVision a month later, and it just worked out like, I called both of them, and I was like you guys are on the team, and it ended up working out really well. And I think, back to the First Five, I think some of the important traits for those folks early on is, they weren't necessarily just Salespeople. Like they were product managers almost at that stage and they just, they knew the product inside and out. And without having, proper Sales Engineer support, or any of that product support on calls, like it was a little bit of the wild west and we had to do our own thing. And InVision couldn't be further at that point, especially couldn't have been further from a Sales culture. Like it was a free product, free value to everybody, designers, it wasn't a push market, it was fully pull-motion, it was all bottoms up. And so we were definitely a little bit out there trying to figure it out. And so, hired these folks early on, that really could talk to the customer, understand their concerns, and their process, and their journey. And then ultimately we built the Sales process around that. And the other key thing about those first people are, you've got to get the people that are on the boat that want to join a company at that stage for the right reasons. If you want to make a lot of money as a Salesperson startup, like InVision at that stage and start, that's not the right place. It's just not, go work at Salesforce. And so, you need to find people that are there because of the opportunity. They want the career opportunity. They want to be co-owners and building something. And that's what the early folks on the sales team, I actually think to this day we still hire people with those profiles...with the trajectory of InVision, like it's still early. And um, that was really critical to find people that wanted to join for the right reasons and not just purely on the financial side. And so getting those builders in early, the ones that can have those product conversations, that was really important for us early on. Naber: Very cool. Yeah, I think in one of the talks that you do, you talk about focusing on key traits - resilience, adaptability and fighters; and then focusing on key motivations - opportunity, vision and ownership. Those six things I think are so important. Do you want to talk about that a little bit? Ryan Burke: Yeah. And I would say resilience is probably the biggest one because, at any startup, you're gonna have so many challenges. And so, I mean, I've even made some decisions where we've hired people that have had really good runs at really big companies and their resumes are great, and you hire them to a place like InVision, and it doesn't work out, and they're not ready for it. We probably hired them at the wrong time, the people that are better off, like I even tell our recruiters like, go find people that had a big run at a company, at a really successful company. Then went to a startup that ran out of money or a startup that went out of business. And they've gotten their nose bloodied, and they know what it feels like because your nose is going to get bloodied at a startup inevitably at some point. And so you need the people that can take the punches and be resilient and battle through that. Not only can do it, but want to do it. And some of the folks we hired, like they just didn't want to do it at that stage in their career. I don't blame them either. So, you just gotta figure out that profile and make sure that things like resilience that is so important for those early hires. Naber: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's incumbent upon the person hiring them to help those Salespeople to make that decision. Like oftentimes you don't know that you need to go get your nose bloodied, or you need to go have a failure somewhere else after your first jump from an organization or you've had a really good run or a long run. Like you have to go get that, that that failure, you have to go learn and have that learning experience. Like it is incumbent upon the person hiring those individuals to help those individuals realize whether or not it's the right time in their career to make the jump into that startup or not. Ryan Burke: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And so, yeah, that was really important early on. And then in, the only other thing was that I talked about is finding all of those friction points early. So, mapping out that customer journey and figuring out why aren't people buying your product. Is it the price? Did they not trust you? Not know who you are? They do not want to sign up for a longterm commitment? Is it particular features? Like, whatever it is, you've got a map that out, and then start to figure out how do you remove each one of those and address each one of those. And that's really important early on. And that will evolve once you move into the Enterprise, you're gonna have different friction points and you have to readdress them. Security and things like that all start to come in a little bit more, overtly. But early on, like just why don't people have the product in their hands? And do everything you can to remove those friction points to get the product in their hands. Naber: Yeah. Awesome. So there's a couple of examples that you use and some of your past content. Like, if the price is a friction point, using free trials and freemium, you are getting the product into their hands with free trials. Seeing the product in action, doing group Demos. You talk about understanding how they use it, pre-populating the assets and pre-populating the product. Lack of trust in your brand, building customer testimonials. Longterm commitments to a product, offer an opt-out, just get them on board. And then lack of features, sharing the roadmap for the product team, from the product team, getting them involved with that journey, and setting them up, setting the customers up with the product team to help evolve that journey. And I thought the examples you used and the solutions to them, I think those are extremely valuable as you're thinking about each one as different friction points, both as you get started and sometimes you don't solve those problem points with those solutions that you just talked about until mid-stage, late-stage and building Sales teams. So sorry to kind of steal some of that thunder. But I thought you've talked about this a bunch of times in the past and using those examples, I think that that's really valuable for people and it's just great content. Ryan Burke: You did your homework. You did your homework, Brandon. Naber: Hell yeah, brother. I'm always doing my homework. It's all about the prep in my world. So that's First Five. Now let's talk about Foundation. Ryan Burke: Yup. Yeah. And so the Foundation is sort of when really want to start building out the process, and that's when, like I said before, like that's when it's really important to hire operations because you're going to start to build out those leading indicators that I talked about - what are those activities that you want to measure? Because again, at this stage it's less about the results. I know that the results are important, but you really need to figure out like all of the specific activities and that'll lead to potential success. You can start to understand like what are the points, even in the Sales process, that you need to, that you're struggling with. And these aren't, these aren't things that are meant to beat the team upon. There's always like this head trash, and people are like, ah, I don't you to measure how many meetings I have a week, and I don't want you to measure many prospecting calls I'm doing, whatever. And it's like, that's not the point. The point is not to like manage you out if you're doing it. The point is to help identify the coaching opportunities for the managers to say, okay, you're not able to get people to respond to your emails. Like, let's go through those and evaluate. You're not getting enough meetings. Like, let's look at some of your other outreach. You're not converting meetings opportunities. Let's go through your talk track in those meetings. Their guidelines and they're really coaching opportunities is what they essentially are. Naber: Diagnostics. Exactly. Ryan Burke: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And so, building that Foundation. The other thing, for a specifically for a company like InVision early on, is, how do you offer value beyond the product? And I'm really sort of incredibly lucky and proud of what we do at InVision because we offer so much more beyond the product. But that's really important early because to some extent you need to build the trust and the credibility with your customers when your product doesn't always fulfil every promise. And that buys you time, especially early on. That's really important. So even when the Sales team, I never want somebody to prospect and try to set up a meeting to just talking about the product, it's like, offer something of value - a piece of content, whatever it is, but like offer value to somebody all the time. And you can, there are opportunities to do that beyond on the product. I mean, just a quick, a quick thing. I mean, our CEO is a brilliant marketer. And one of the things that we did is we made a movie. And so, even when I first started, Clark was Hey, we're making a movie. I was like, what are you talking about? And he's like we're making a feature-length film on design. It's like, you're crazy. And we hired this production company out of New York and flew around the country, and we made a feature-length movie called design disruptors. And it was an intimate look at companies that were using product design to disrupt entire industries. Google, Airbnb, Netflix, all of these, all of these companies. And we made this awesome movie, and we weren't in it. InVision wasn't in it, but it was brought to you by InVision. And so what we did was, we did a world premiere in San Francisco, Castro Theater, red carpet, press, the whole deal, VIP dinner after. Then we did one in New York, and we did one in London, and they were huge. And then what happened was, we were like alright, we're going to release the movie. But then people started emailing us and saying, hey, how can we do a screening here? I want my executive team at Uber or NBC or at Salesforce to see this. And so we sort of weaponized. And we didn't release it to the public. And we said, all right, if you want to do a screening or at your community, you know, wherever, we will host it. And I think we've probably done 500 screenings across the globe at this point. You name a company, we're doing...we're doing one next week in Europe with a company, and what an opportunity to one, reach out to somebody and say, Hey, we've got this incredible story that will help your management team understand the value of a design-centric approach. It's super entertaining. Why don't we come on, have some drinks, get a couple of hundred people in the room, whatever it is. Sometimes we'll even do a panel, we'll get people and product leads. We'll do a panel discussion after the movie. And it's been such a great a vehicle for us. I mean, now we have a full, we have a whole film team now at InVision, we did a documentary with IBM or called The Loop on their process, celebrated and evangelize their process, which, sort of strengthened our relationship with IBM. But again, offered value to the community, which the movie then ultimately did. Like it was a free offering from us to the community. Here's some really good content, best practices, examples, in an entertaining format that we are going to deliver to you as part of what our brand represents. Now we've got a new movie that we're releasing this fall. And it's been incredibly successful. It's just another example of how do you go ahead...And not everybody can make a movie, I get it. But although I've seen some good copycats over the last six months or the last year, it's coming. It's getting out there. But, Clark Valberg, this is yours. Valberg this is yours. It was a really powerful vehicle for us. Naber: Nice. Very good. And so you talked about adding value beyond your product. You talked about focusing on behaviours and activities. You talked about some of the activities. And you talk about hiring your first layer of management. You talk about hiring coaches, and not managers. Can you explain a little bit about that? Ryan Burke: Yeah, I just feel like early, early days you just, you need folks that are, they're not about coming in as a manager for title reasons. And you get people in there that are really good at coaching because that's what is so critical. Using those leading indicators, using those behaviours and activities, finding those opportunities to help coach the team. And that's why your first Sales Director, or whatever it might be, they've gotta be a really good coach. Because it's gonna be all about the failures, and the misses early on, and the objections, there's going to be so many objections you're gonna face, whether it's product, price, competitors, whatever it is. Like you really need to figure out how do you coach the team on overcoming those. And so that's why it's really important from a profile perspective that you really dig in when you're interviewing in terms of, talk me through, talk me through an example of where you identified something with a rep, and coached them through it to an improvement. What was the result? Those types of things are really important when you're building that Foundational team. Naber: Nice. Awesome. Okay. So that's that's the First Five, then we just talked about Foundation. Now let's talk about Future. Ryan Burke: Yeah, and the only other thing that I'll mention on the Foundation, now that you're kind of bringing up the topic, which is just one of the things that we did that was interesting at InVision, was it's so important to understand your customer and like everything about their customer. This evolves at every stage. And so, early on, like I hired one. And so I hired a designer onto our team instead of a Sales Engineer. I hired a designer, this person came on boards, still with the company, he's great, but just gave that credibility to the Sales team in terms of the day in the life of what a designer deals with. And could hop on calls and give us some credibility in terms of talking to designers, which is a very unique persona to sell to. They don't like to be sold to. They want to touch and feel the product, learn about it, and then use it, and if they like it they'll tell their friends about it. So, figuring out who your customer is and then hiring them was really important. The other thing that we do now, which is an interesting kind of nuance is around understanding the customer. We now have a program called delicious empathy. And every person at InVision anywhere, again, fully distributed company, we have people all over the world, and anybody at the company from Operations, to Sales, to Finance, has the ability to take a designer out to dinner once a month and expense it. And the only rule is you're not allowed to talk about InVision. And so it's just about, again, building those relationships, understanding the motivations, the personal motivations even of your customers. And that just feeds into everything that we believe in and do as a company. And so that's been another kind of interesting thing for us to do across the company to help people build empathy with our customers. Naber: Yeah. Yeah. It's great. You call it, I think you call it relentless focus on the customer. It's a pretty cool example. Delicious empathy. I love the Pun. Delicious, as in, take you out to dinner, that's good. I'm not usually a laggard on the jokes, that was a good one. Le's talk about Future. so you talk about a Foundation for building the Future. Go ahead. Ryan Burke: Yeah. So the Future is, I feel like, at this point, this is where, you built the Foundational team, you've got some infrastructure in place, you're moving into the Enterprise. Like this is when things will break. Like things are gonna start to break. And you've got to kind of revisit the overall customer journey. You've got to revisit the friction points as you move into the Enterprise, things like legal process, security, all of those are going to be new friction points that you're going to have to learn how to address. And this is also, in a lot of cases, this is also when you make that shift from a transactional product-focused sale to the value-based one. And that's when you've got to hire a different profile of Salesperson at this stage. You've got to have all your motion at this stage. And so, now is kind of when you're, when you're really selling, and you've got to get people that are, again, stewards of your brand. Along all of this, your brand is so important these days that just, I think people sometimes underestimate the impact of hiring the wrong Salesperson on their brand. And like, you gotta think about is this somebody that you would want in a room with 15 of your prospects, your customers? Would the be someone you would want presenting at a community event on behalf of your brand? And if the answer is no, they're probably not the right person. Even if they're the best seller in the world because they are representative of your brand. And you've got to create that value through your Salespeople and that represents the value that you want to project in your brand. That's really important. And the other part about this stage is you've got to find people that are really good storytellers. And that's so important. Can they tell a story? Because at this point, people don't really care about your product. Like this is when the transition switches on the customer side as well. They don't care about your product. They care about what the promise of your product can deliver. They care about the results, they care about the examples of what other customers have done to drive tangible business value from the product. And so there's that shift, and this is where you don't need the product experts in the Sales team. And this is where you can introduce things like Sales Engineers, or Product Specialists, or whatever it is to fill some of those technical gaps. But this is where you need people that can actually tell that story and sell the dream of what your products and more importantly what your brand represents. And that's really important at this stage as you kind of build out the team. Naber: Nice. Okay, so I want to hop onto a different topic or anything else you want to talk about before we conclude on that? Ryan Burke: No, I think that's good. Naber: Okay, cool. I've got two more topics I want to talk about and then we'll wrap. First one is, hiring, onboarding, and managing, remote Sales teams, and really remote workforces are what you guys have to manage as an entire business. But specifically hiring, onboarding and managing remote Sales teams. So there are a few different things that I'd like to cover. I think there's five in total. First one is hiring profile and hiring execution. How do you search for the right person that is a great person to hire as a remote employee. What are some of the things you look for in making sure that they can do that? And then what's your execution process look like considering you're hiring people all over the world, you're not necessarily sourcing them in one city or one industry. You're looking for them all over the place. So what's the hiring profile and how do you execute on the hiring process? Ryan Burke: Yeah, and I think we are the single largest fully remote company in the world now. It's a little crazy. There's definitely cracks at times and things. And just a little, a little bit of context. It started where our CEO wanted to hire the best engineering talent. So we started to hire folks in different places. Even when I started, he was like, Hey, if you want us to open up a Boston Sales office, you can. And I did the whole tour of real estate in Boston, and almost pulled the trigger, but then it just in part of our culture. And so we started to hire some people from all over, and you could kind of place people strategically in these maybe lower-tier markets, or whatever. And so it became really, really, valuable for us. And it's a big asset. On the hiring, you've got to find people, not everybody is ready for it. The last person you want is the person that found you on a remote job site, and you ask them what they like about InVision, and they say, oh, I want to work from home. Like, they're out. You do need to find people that are proactive. Like you need to find people who seek help because sometimes it's hard, and you can get lost or and you can hide. And you've got to find those folks that are very proactive in their approach and sort of ask questions around that in in the interview process. That's really important. But the biggest thing in one of the biggest lessons we have learned here is onboarding. Onboarding is so critical because it can be very intimidating your first day sitting there and not having anybody to talk to. And so we've evolved our onboarding process, pretty dramatically over the last couple of years to, we kind of map out everybody's first 90 days now. And they need to know exactly who they're talking to, exactly what they should be focused on, exactly what the expectations are. And we can still improve that. But even from things like time management, like I think there are still opportunities for us to improve there, especially for some of the younger folks that come in. And they're living with four other buddies in San Francisco, or they're off on their own somewhere, wherever, and they get up in the morning like, how do I spend my day? And so we're getting a lot more prescriptive in terms of just even time management training. And what percentage of the time per week should they be focused on these types of things? What percentage of the times did we focus on these things? Even like learning and development. And so the onboarding process is something that it's just so critically important for a remote team, and there are still opportunities to improve, but I think we're doing a pretty good job now. Naber: Nice one. So you just talked about hiring profile and some of the things that you need to assess to make sure someone's ready for that. You've talked about time management. And you also just talked about
In this pre-conference episode, we talk all things SHRM19 and Las Vegas. We'll let you know where we'll be hanging out, sessions we can't wait to see, and Jon shares his not so secret crush on one of the keynotes (don't worry, it's a good thing). Be sure to join us at the Namely booth 1702 Sunday, 6/23 at 7 PM ET/4 PM local time for the monthly chat! Check out the Bonusly article on conference prep here. This episode is brought to you by CareerArc. Jon will be speaking at their first Embarc HR Innovators Summit, October 16-18 in Los Angeles, CA! You can get a $250 discount on your registration for the event by using code HRSOCIAL. Learn more here.
The Secret We have to admire the bravery of those entrepreneurs on Shark Tank. They put their life savings, mortgages, and reputations on the line for the chance to launch a winning idea or innovative product. In a sea of products and services, they see themselves as uniquely capable of serving the need. But, how do they feel sure that they are the ones to disrupt an industry or to make the sales happen? Aside from the passion and grit, there are behind the scenes resources like EnventysPartners. Enventys Partners is a firm that combines product development and marketing services to help entrepreneurs, startups, and enterprise companies quickly bring their innovative products to the market. They've helped entrepreneurs raise over $175,000,000 using crowdfunding while advising global startups on digital marketing and growth. Among those clients are 18 entrepreneurs who have gone on to win partnerships from each of the Sharks and guest Sharks. Because his company consistently brings viable partnerships to the show, President and Co-Founder Roy Morejon has a direct line to the show's producers. However, to keep helping startups and inventors move their ideas, Morejon needs to foster that creativity in his own employees and culture. To glean insight into how an innovation leader navigates his own success, Bruce Holoubek, owner of Contracted Leadership, and Host of The Development Exponent Podcast talks to Morejon, exploring several key questions that include, how his innovators stay productively creative, what makes meaningful career, and what methods or tools he uses in his own company to achieve the rapid growth and success that has earned them regular features on CNN, Forbes, and Huffington Post. The Joy of the Why It's amazing to be the first people outside of the entrepreneurs' friends and family that have the opportunity to review the product idea and help them through the process of potentially bringing that idea to the market. Seeing the idea come from a napkin sketch, to making the molds or building out and doing the engineering and prototype work, to building out the assets, then running a campaign and having millions of people back the products, is the exhilarating joy of participating in the evolution of a startup. On the other side of that joy, is the heaviness of telling inventors that “the baby is ugly.” Most of the entrepreneurs' friends won't tell them the full truth, so we have to step in and have that uncomfortable conversation. This either leads to finding ways to improve the product or idea, or to advising the entrepreneur to sell the idea to a company that is already being successful with a very similar thing. The How Purposeful work environments are led by and enshrined in their core values. Core values define who we are as leaders and what we look for in employees, and have to be present in each new team member that joins the team. The values that prove to work as the fertile soil for in the startup space are: Fun. Enjoy working with each other. Assured. Have confidence in what we do. Innovative, we can apply ourselves to overcome obstacles. Reputable. Don't use black hat tactics or cut corners. Passionate. Believe in the mission of the company and believe in the mission of our work. Agile. Wear many hats and pitch in to help the whole team when needed. The results, of course, come from practice. A system that ensures that people throughout the organization are keeping these values top of mind is key. Part of that system are tools that foster thoughtful communication. Morejon uses Slack internally for communications within and between the teams. Everything has a channel. Into Slack he has incorporated Bonusly. Through Bonusly each employee receives 20 points that they can give to each other for embodying the core values. For example, there is a channel called Feedback through which a team member can comment that another team member did a great job with getting the news letter out, and then mark it with a hashtag that applies to a core value, such as #innovative or #agile. Everybody can see this channel throughout the company and across teams. They can see what each person and team is doing and see what values are being noted. At the end of the month managers can go in and see who is the top reputable individual, what core values they are being assigned, and then they reward that person with a monetary bonus. This engagement with core values translates into employees' personal lives as much as it aids in professional development. Everyone likes to be recognized and acknowledged, and it feeds into their motivation. We as bosses can see what our employees are working for. Are they doing what they want to be doing? Are they happy with their work? Are they being effective communicators? Are they using the channels often? We can have insight into these things through tools like Bonusly and get ahead of issues before they become too big, or we can steer someone towards a position they'd rather be in, or support a larger personal goal. Connecting Through Growth When a company is growing rapidly, there are more needs to pay attention to and it can be hard to keep an employee involved through all growth. But this is where communication is key. The way to achieve this is by having more frequent check-ins for establishing baselines. Ask your employees questions about how their lives are going, and if there is anything new. Then try to focus on if there is anything they are worried about or if there are any rumors they've heard, and ask how things are with their relationships, such as family or co-workers. End the conversation by focusing on their career goals. Ask if they feel they are achieving their career goals, and then, set goals for your next interaction-- things to focus on. In this way you act as an advisor and support person. When you have an open ear to the personal lives as well as professional goals of your employees, you can become a partner in their growth, and growth feeds invention and creativity. Creative Killed the AI Star Robots are doing so much work these days and are becoming more creative because they can scale. Give them a movie and they can pull out every single snapshot of what that picture is or what's happening there but they're not the best at writing or getting into the nuances of a scene. They can describe color or size of a product, but not why we need it. They don't understand the intuitive connection-- and that is what we need when we are launching a product. We need human creatives who understand how to write about a product that it will make your life better. As we move to the future, robots will take over the more route or repetitive jobs, but people who are creative will take on the roles of leadership. It's not spoken about enough-- but creativity is a leadership requirement. Creative leaders are the ones who can conceive the solutions for tomorrow. This is where innovation truly comes into play, where you have the ability to solve problems with relevancy and novelty. Because of this, creativity is one of the most important skills in the that emerging leaders must have. Though it may be an innate skill for some, it can also be a learned and developed skill. Your emerging leaders as well as your season executives can benefit tremendously from creative development. Workshops and tools that improve creative thinking are gaining popularity in recent years, and are showing fascinatingly positive results. One highly acclaimed tool is The Second City Works improvisation workshop. You can read about it in Kelly Leonard's Book, Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses "No, But" Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration--Lessons from The Second City You can also watch Kelly Leonard's Ted Talk, Learning Lesson Through Improv. Finally, it's encouraging to remember that creativity lives in different abilities within us. For some, it may be the way they design and connect systems, for some it may be visual art, while for others it may be the way they understand customer motivation and design incentivization. It really depends on the lens you look through. Overall, creativity keeps your teams inventive, agile, and able to think over obstacles, and that is something every business can use. Tweet This/LinkedIn Share That #Creative leaders are the ones who can conceive the solutions for tomorrow. This is where innovation truly comes into play, where you have the ability to solve problems with relevancy and novelty. Because of this, creativity is one of the most important skills in the that emerging leaders must have. #levelupyourleadership #leadership #contractleaders As we move to the #future, robots will take over the more route or repetitive jobs, but people who are creative will take on the roles of leadership. It's not spoken about enough-- but creativity is a leadership requirement. #levelupyourleadership #leadership #contractleaders #Write Write down your goals to have a vivid vision for everything-- especially for your business goals. Don't be a rudderless ship, make sure you plot your course. #levelupyourleadership #leadership #contractleaders #Fail Failure is an educational experience that didn't go your way. Take those experiences and learn from them. #levelupyourleadership #leadership #contractleaders #Grow Go and grow your network early and always be growing your knowledge. Open your mind and constantly challenge yourself because people don't know how much you know until they know how much you care. Groth is a critical component in life. #levelupyourleadership #leadership #contractleaders
In this episode of Engagement Zone we talk to Raphael Crawford Marks, Co-Founder & CEO of Bonusly about the following: The five principles to follow to implement a successful Recognition strategy The importance and impact of empowering your people How it seems the norm the world over to get into the garden when Spring finally arrives and much more We also explain how we have given up on time stamping each episode from news of the day as Brexit and Trump still dominate the daily news. Meaning it this Podcast could have been recorded anywhere between June 2017 or April 2019.
In this first ever recording of the Remote Show, It was my privilege to chat with Zack Onisko - CEO of Dribbble. In this wide ranging conversation we discuss his career in design and growth, the progression of Dribbble as an online community and tips for hiring and managing remote workers. Zack had some great insights about culture building in remote teams, hiring/retaining top talent and the importance of Emojis. For those who don't know - Dribbble is an online community for showcasing user-made artwork and serves as the go to resource for networking and feedback for web designers. They're constantly looking for ways to showcase top talent from around the world and help great designers with employment opportunities, support and much more! Please check out Dribbble.com and follow them on social media! Also follow @zack415 to see what he's up to. Thanks for listening! Transcript: Matt H.: Hello, everyone. My name is Matt Hollingsworth, and it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the first episode of The Remote Show. On this show, we will talk to professionals in a variety of industries in positions around the world about their experiences working remotely. The pros, the cons, and everything in between. Along the way, we hope that we can provide some unique insights that will help you on your remote work journey. The Remote Show is brought to you by weworkremotely.com, the number one place to find and list remote jobs. Without 220,000 unique users per month, it is the best place to find your new qualified candidate. [00:00:39] My first guest on my show today is Zack Onisko. Zach is the CEO of Dribbble, which is an online community for showcasing design work from some of the best designers in the world. It has grown to become an inspiration destination for hundreds of millions of people, now a go to resource for discovering and connecting with designers and creative talent around the world. Check out dribbble.com, that's D-R-I-B-B-B-L-E.com if you haven't already checked that out. [00:01:07] Previously, Zack was Vice President of Growth and interim VP of Product at Hired, Inc. Dribbble is now a 100% remote team with over 40 employees. With all that said, Zack, thanks for being on the show today. I'm not sure if you're aware, but this is the very first recording of The Remote Show. [00:01:24]Zack Onisko: Well, cool. I hope to make it worth it. [00:01:26]Matt H.: Yeah, I'm sure it will be, for sure, and we're super excited to talk to you today, so that's great. Thank you so much for being on. [00:01:33]Zack Onisko: Thanks for having me. [00:01:34]Matt H.: I'm sure most of our listeners have heard of Dribbble or know about Dribbble, but why don't we start with what you do at Dribbble and how things are going, and we'll go from there. [00:01:43]Zack Onisko: Sure, yeah. So Dribbble is a global community for designers. We're gonna celebrate 10 years this summer, so we've been around for a while. It's a global brand. We have designers all over the world who come to Dribbble for inspiration, exposure, feedback, job opportunities, and yeah. I took over as CEO about two years ago. [00:02:08]Matt H.: Nice, nice. So were you part of the community before you came on as CEO, or were you- [00:02:15]Zack Onisko: Yeah. [00:02:15]Matt H.: Yeah? Okay, cool. [00:02:17]Zack Onisko: Yeah, I mean, so just a quick background on me, I started my career about 20 years ago as a web designer. I started a little freelance business for a couple of years, and then got a formal design degree and thought I was gonna go the agency route. Was really into Flash and motion design at the time and really loved that stuff. Then ended up taking a job at a startup and then my role kind of quickly moved out of design into product management and to more of a growth, executive roles at numerous startups over the course of the last two decades. [00:02:54] Along the way, for one reason or another, my career trajectory has landed in companies that were either in the recruitment space or the design space, and so Dribbble's kind of in the middle of those two worlds. So anyway, kind of full circle. [00:03:11]Matt H.: Yeah, that's great. I think it probably helps with getting the jobs in the executive and marketing and growth that you had, the background that you did. Correct me if I'm wrong there, but it seems likes these things tie all together, so. [00:03:24]Zack Onisko: Yeah, I mean, when I met Andrew Wilkinson from Tiny, that was kind of how he found me, where he's like, "Hey, I found, I have this opportunity to run by you that I think is a perfect meld of your background and so forth." So far so good. I took over the company. We were eight people. We're 47 today, fully remote. The company has grown kind of all of KPIs are up into the right. Our traffic is up 100%, our users are up, user growth as community is up 300%, and revenue's up 400%, so. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun, yeah. [00:04:05]Matt H.: Nice. So since you came out, or since you've been part of the community for so long, how have you seen the Dribbble community change, because it was my understanding that it was invite only originally, and it was sort of a core group of designers that were wanting to show their work. Then it's morphed into what it is today, so where, from a business perspective, how has it changed since you've been on and over the course of the eight years? [00:04:29]Zack Onisko: Yeah, so it's still invite only. The community was really borne out of our co-founder. Dan Cederholm was writing a lot of books on web design and speaking in a lot of conferences, and he was really leaning over the shoulders of people at these conferences and saying, "Wow, that looks really cool. What are you working on?" That's really kind of the inception of Dribbble was this premise of being able to share what you're working on with a handful of designers. It was a closed community to start, just kind of a handful of top designers. Then the opened it up to the world via an invite system, and that was really just because Dan and Rich, the co-founders, were really just the two of them for many years. They were growing the business, so they had to be mindful of server bills and things like this. [00:05:22] So it was partly to kind of restrict growth and then partly was quality control, right? They just wanted to make sure that the company, the platform had a high bar in terms of the quality of work that was being shared. That's still true today. It's been this exclusive community for a long time, which has been great for the people inside, but for the people not inside, we have designers all over the world now. They might not know somebody in their personal network to be able to invite them to Dribbble. So we're starting to look at ways that we can move away from an exclusive community and be more inclusive as we grow and mature. Part of that is looking at our invite algorithms, how we can be more inclusive to geographies that are not representative today. Then also just by working on partnerships with different organizations who have populations of designers who are not necessarily familiar with the Dribbble brand yet. For instance, design conferences in other countries or design schools. Things like this. [00:06:33]Matt H.: Nice. Yeah, so it seems like what's so unique about Dribbble from my perspective is it has a long history and it still has the reputation, a very high reputation amongst the community that maybe other sort of forum style communities online haven't been able to sort of maintain. It seems like everybody still points to Dribbble, even though given your growth, things can potentially dilute, I guess, is the right word in terms of the quality and that sort of thing. So it's been really cool to see Dribbble maintain that. So how have you been able to do that outside of typical quality control? [00:07:06]Zack Onisko: Yeah, so the way we're looking at it today is that we want to solve quality control with technology and not by people gating. There's just a ton of amazing designers, like literally hundreds of thousands of amazing designers out there doing really interesting work, and there's a ton of designers who are doing lesser quality work, but a platform like ours has the ability through social signals to be able to rise the good work and bring that work to the homepage so it gets more exposure regardless of if you've been on the platform for ten years and have 400,000 followers or if you're brand new to the platform and have 400 followers. [00:07:47] So that's really the effort, how we're looking at the future is kind of this evolution and how do we grow the community. The community itself, like we have an internal kind of north star mantra, and it's that we'll be successful as a platform and as a community and as a business if we help designers become successful. So a lot of our focus over the past year has been around work opportunities and getting freelancers leads for projects, helping designers who are looking for full-time gigs get gigs. That's really delivering just a ton of value back to the community, and in turn, that's fueled out growth. [00:08:25] As we look to the future, we're very interested in investing in education with hundreds of thousands upon millions of up and coming designers visiting the site every month. Today, unless you have an invite, there's not really a product for you on Dribbble other than an inspiration destination. So we want to look at, okay, how can we help these designers get jobs, right? How do they get the education to at least get the baseline so they can start to grow and become better designers over time? There's a design shortage right now, so we're in a very interesting time where technology has flattened the competitive landscape, and it's more easy than ever before to be able to start a new business and compete globally. [00:09:07] The change, just as kind of a quick case study, there were about 150 SAS products in the martech space five, six years ago. Today, there's over 7,000. So as a consumer, as a business owner, to look at that landscape of potential marketing solutions, like its paradox of choice is super real, right? There's just all these different, discrete products. So the way that business owners are now looking at how they differentiate and how they compete in the market is by building better products, a better user experience, and that all stems in design. The old adage was just go throw more engineers at your product and build more features, and today it's really about just let's build a better product that will attract customers and retain them from leaving to go to a competitor that could have feature parity with your product. [00:09:56] So really, companies are looking to win on customer experience and quality. We've seen this in Silicon Valley for years, right? Dropbox and Airbnb and Lyft really doubling down and building this design centric culture, but now we're starting to see this in Fortune 500. We're starting to see this across all industries, not just the Apples or the Nikes who you think are design led on within the F500, but companies like McDonalds and Kohls and Ford Motor Company. [00:10:26] A great case study to illustrate the change in demand is IBM, old big blue, which you might envision being kind of a cube farm and they're actually innovating at a crazy pace. The ratio of engineer to designer at IBM has changed in the last five years from 72 engineers for every one designer to now it's eight engineers for every one designer. On their mobile teams, it's actually 3:1. So they're making mass investments, and we're seeing this kind of all across the landscape. There's just not enough designers in the market to facilitate the need. People used to talk about this demand problem and now there's companies who are raising their series A series B and a design manager has basically 20 job openings that they need to fill, and they just have difficulty finding talent. [00:11:13] So anyway, to kind of backtrack, so education is definitely a huge focus for us as we move forward, because we see that there's a lot of ambition, people who are very interested in design. There's just a lack of education and training available at a professional level. [00:11:29]Matt H.: Right. Right now, it seems like Dribbble is in a pretty unique situation to be able to offer those education resources given your region and given who is already on the platform. What would be the typical channel of a designer that wants to get the education and professional resources that you mentioned right now? Is that available easily for these people, or is it sort of, whether they go through the typical channels? [00:11:53]Zack Onisko: Yeah, I mean, there's design schools, right? That's the typical path that you go down. You go and you spend 50k a year to go to one of these top design schools, RISD, Parsons. These are great schools, but not everyone can afford it. Not everyone is in the states. There's quite a bit of barrier to entry for a mass population to be able to get access to this education, this kind of baseline education for the craft. So yeah, so that's where we see a big opportunity for us is if we can help facilitate that and bring this skillset to a much wider audience. [00:12:29]Matt H.: Interesting. I think just to circle back, so you mentioned that Dribbble is fully remote for the team. Is that correct? [00:12:36]Zack Onisko: Yeah, yep. [00:12:36]Matt H.: Nice. So for you, were you working remotely in your previous job, or is this the first one? [00:12:42]Zack Onisko: So I have, right? So to go back to when I was running growth marketing at Creative Market, we had part of the team in San Francisco. I'm born and raised in San Francisco, so just as the nature of the beast of so many companies being here, I just didn't have the ambition to work remote. I think going back to early days, like the mid 90s, there's this Sandra Bullock movie, The Net. She's like hacking on the beach, and I'm like, oh, she's like in her bathing suit and with her laptop open. I'm like, "That's what working on the internet is like!" [00:13:14]Matt H.: That's the dream. [00:13:14]Zack Onisko: But fast forward to reality, my last job at Hired, I was commuting two hours a day. I have a young family, so we moved out into the suburbs, so I was taking the train in to San Francisco every day. I had to work ten hours at the office, and then commute back home. So I was literally leaving the house before my kids were awake and coming home after they'd gone to bed. I just wasn't seeing my family during the workday. So that bummed me out. When I was at Hired, we were a 280 person team. There were about 100 people in San Francisco and the rest of the team was spread out all over the world in 17 different cities. [00:13:56] Of the people I managed in San Francisco, I would get people hitting me up every day saying, "Hey, can I work from home? Can I work from the coffee shop? Hey, I don't want to commute to work today." My stance was, we hire great people. We do great work. As long as you get your work down, I don't care if you work from the office or from the beach. That was kind of my stance on it, and it worked really well. It was kind of just this trust in our employees and they got the work done. [00:14:24] Of the folks who were in the office, the funny thing is is that there's a limited supply of conference rooms, and everyone has meetings all throughout the day. So we'd fight to get into these rooms and then we'd just flip open our laptops and hop on Zoom to talk to our remote workers. So it's funny. I mean, we were playing six figures a month for rent. Hired shared the same building with Uber and Square, so super expensive. So when I joined Dribbble, the team of eight were all remote, and so I had just done a remodel on my house and built out a home office, which I'm in right now. [00:15:02]Matt H.: Yeah, it looks great. [00:15:03]Zack Onisko: Yeah, thank you. I have a bunch of guitars here, like you have behind you. Kind of just built my perfect little work den, and the original plan was oh, this is gonna be a place where I would work a day a week as I commute to the city the rest of the time. So when I joined Dribbble, I'm like, you know what? Let's just do this remote thing. I'm friends with the team at Envision, the team at Automatic, and I saw them successfully grow their 100% remote teams into over 500 employees nearing like 1,000 employees now. For me, it was a huge mitigation of risk, right? If these companies can do it successfully, if they can figure it out, we can figure it out too. [00:15:49] So that was a pretty big decision early on. I think when I first joined, I was like, okay, should we get a WeWork? Then we started throwing some job reqs up and started to get these really great applicants from all over the place. So it just kind of snowballed. It was kind of on purpose and kind of accidental, to be honest, but we started to hire some really great people from all over. We had some folks in Canada, in BC, so we spun up a Canadian entity and we have a US entity, so I payrolled both countries. We literally had people spread out all over North America. We have a developer in the UK as well. [00:16:31] So we started to get folks coming in, and also coming from just areas that weren't super expensive to live in. You can live off of a national average salary, right? Our pay is actually very competitive. We're in this, everyone's kind of between the 75th and 90th percentile, but way less than hiring people from San Francisco and New York who demand 3x national averages. So it's given us this freedom and (inaudible) we don't have this crazy, two and a half million dollar lease on a fancy office space in San Francisco. That goes back to our bottom line, and it's allowed us to build a fast growing, profitable, and bootstrapped business. [00:17:23]Matt H.: Yeah. Something that I've come across quite often with companies that are starting out fully remote is that it wasn't necessarily their intention to go remote right off the bat. It was something that just sort of came naturally as you mentioned with the realization that there's all these benefits that come with having remote workers and just create a pool of applicants to pull from and this talent that wouldn't necessarily come across your plate. [00:17:44] So that's definitely a trend. Is there an area of remote work that you've had difficulties with in terms of team building? Is there some separation between the fully remote team and people that are in an office together, and how has that affected sort of the culture building at Dribbble? [00:18:01]Zack Onisko: Yeah, no, not to pat ourselves on the back too much, but we haven't had too much pain, mostly because we've gone in eyes wide open from the get go. So from the early team, we started to instrument kind of best practices in management, operations, organizational dynamics, these kind of management one on one stuff. Things like we weekly one on ones, so every direct report has a one one with their manager. No one feels like they're on a lonely island. They're not out of the loop in communication. [00:18:36] One of the things that we saw fall down at my last company was that because there were 100 people in San Francisco, there were a lot of decisions being made, a lot of communication was happening that was going undocumented, and the remote folks were just out of the loop. So they're hearing about this stuff secondhand, and they're like, "Okay, well, why wasn't my voice being heard? Why wasn't I part of this decision?" Or "Why wasn't I even told this thing happened with the company that's this major thing?" So kind of learning from that experience, we knew we didn't want to do a hybrid approach. We wanted to go completely, 100%, and that was gonna force us to, one is to over-communicate, and two, and to over-document. [00:19:16] So like I said, we do weekly one on ones. We do a team call, like an all hands call weekly, which gives every functional team an opportunity to do a deep dive into what they've been working on that week. We try to focus in on actual, visual demos of the feature versus going into bullet points where people can zone out and space out if they're not familiar with the project. So that's really brought us together as a company. At the end of that call, we open it up for personal stories. We just leave 15 minutes at the end of this call just for us all to interact as a team and as people. [00:19:51] We have also evolved our culture a bit. We really want to invest, because we don't have these crazy line items in our P&L, we can reinvest that back into the team and do some really fun things for culture. Our perks, our Canadian employees, we do an upgrade on benefits. With the US folks, we try to have some of the best plans out there. We pay for most plans 100% of not only the employee, but their entire family's medical/dental. We have three month maternity leave. So there's some interesting things to do, education funds, gym funds, coffee funds. There's a bunch of cool things we do just to kind of make sure that people are comfortable in their job. [00:20:31] But one of the interesting things we did recently is that we invested in a conference, and the idea here is that we knew we wanted to have FaceTime. As a remote company, we wanted to get together at least twice a year to just hang out and be able to bond as people in the same locale. So we made up a design conference, and it's called Hang Time. We bring in some of the top design leaders in the world to come share their stories and give workshops. We travel to a different city each time, and so we get the chance to invite the local community out to experience the conference, but also to meet our entire team, because the conference actually covers the T&E expense to fly out and put everyone up in hotels for a week. [00:21:17]Matt H.: Nice. [00:21:18]Zack Onisko: So that's an interesting thing that we do that's been a side effect of going fully remote. [00:21:24]Matt H.: One of the things that I wanted to ask you about was as a fully remote team, how has the hiring process changed for Dribbble or evolved as a fully remote team? Do you look for something specifically in the people that you hire that you wouldn't normally look for elsewhere? [00:21:40]Zack Onisko: Yeah, we do. So we try to screen for obviously skill set. We try to find people who are A players, top of their game, functional experts. We have a really high bar for culture, so it's a cliché of the no asshole rule, but we're kind of silly and goofy. We make a lot of puns and dad jokes and a lot of crazy emojis and gifs and that kind of stuff. It just makes work fun and so we want to find people who have that similar spirit. We look for people who have an affinity for the design community or have a creative background of some sort. A lot of us are musicians or have come from some other type of arts background, which just kind of helps you just hit the ground running and just understand our mission and our vision for what we're trying to build here. [00:22:30] The fourth thing is really just trying to weed out people who just aren't geared for remote work. We've only made a couple hiring mistakes, pulling people out of big companies where there's just a lot of, you come to work and you sit around, you do a lot of meetings and you play a lot of politics, and that's really the job is, in some of these larger organizations. For us, we're a startup. We're still a roll up your sleeves, get shit done type of an organization, so that type of vein doesn't really work in a remote environment or really any small company environment, but especially a remote, right? It's just a huge red flag culturally when you see just see people not pulling their weight. [00:23:19] So we're really just trying to find, trying to suss out that. We also want to suss out people who are just naturally just not into remote. There's kind of two types of people. There's people who working from home, they're like 3x more efficient and effective than if they were at a desk. In Silicon Valley, the wisdom is to have this open office with all the desks are doors on filing cabinets, and everyone, it's just this sea of people of clatter and people working. But if you go to one of these offices, everyone's wearing noise canceling headphones and they're just desperately just trying to focus on their work without being interrupted by their peers. [00:24:00] So we believe that's kind of a broken model, but there's a lot of people, they just need to be around people and in an office to be able to get work done. So we try to avoid those hires. They're people who, when they work from home, they can't help themselves, but they have to, they get distracted by the sunshine or they have to turn on the TV or they have to go clean their house. That's just not gonna, that's not gonna work for us. We try to suss out for those types of signals. [00:24:30]Matt H.: Right. Speaking of distractions and that sort of thing, is there anything that you do personally or you've seen sort of widespread across the Dribbblers to maintain focus and to make sure that they're in the most efficient workspace possible? [00:24:41]Zack Onisko: Yeah, I mean, for a lot of us who are either former entrepreneurs, former founders, former freelancers, consultants, that type of experience, you're working solo a lot and you're responsible personally to get your job done. So the way we've structured the company is just, people have responsibilities and they sign up for work to be done, and it's really kind of up to that person to find their sweet spot, whether that's a coffee shop, whether that's their home office, their bed, or if they need to go to a WeWork. [00:25:27] It just comes down to getting your work done. From our perspective, as a leadership team, the whole relationship's just built on a foundation of trust, and so if you have the skillset to do the job that you signed up to do, we trust you to go do it. If you don't do it, then we'll have a conversation about it, but for new people looking to work remote, to answer your question, I think it's really about finding your quiet place to be able to focus in and get good work done. [00:25:59] We've also been very mindful of building best practices for Dribbble. I have an HBR subscription. I read all these best practices from other companies, but it rarely works where you can kind of copy and paste from somebody else. So we've been very mindful of trying to develop best practices for Dribbble and working remote at our company as we've grown. So a couple things we've been very mindful of. Time zone, so we try to get people as much overlap as possible. We try to hire, we try to solely hire in North America whenever possible so that we maximize the overlap, right? There's about a three hour gap between east coast and west coast. We ask our east coast folks to, if they can, can they start later in the day? We ask our west coast folks to start early in the day, just to maximize the overlap. [00:26:56] What we don't want and where we see inefficiencies is if we have people working odd hours and someone on the team just can't get ahold of somebody and there's a whole day, 24 hour cycle passes before a project is unblocked. That's just an inefficient way to work. Another way is that we've, what we've been very mindful of is meetings and the number of meetings people are in. That's just a huge time suck, and so we developed a couple rules internally. One is that we have a no meeting Thursday and Friday policy. So that gives ICs time to go heads down and just focus on their work uninterrupted. People are free to close Slack and just go and plug in. [00:27:42] The other thing we do is we have a no agenda, no meeting policy, and so that means that whoever's spinning up a meeting needs to write an agenda ahead of that meeting and share it with whoever they're inviting. There's time to actually do the research and dig into whatever decisions need to be made and to help minimize the amount of meetings that people have. So anyway, just kind of, these are just a couple examples of ways that we started to just evolve and come up with strategy for us to work more efficiently as a remote team. [00:28:17]Matt H.: Did you find that when you first were starting to work remotely or when you first came on with Dribbble that there was a difficulty separating work from your private life? Was it just a matter of shutting off at a certain part of the day or turning off Slack or that sort of things? Was there a process that you had to put in place to make sure that people were getting their own time? [00:28:37]Zack Onisko: So people are pretty good about it. I wish I was actually better at it. I'm self admitted a workaholic, and I have a hard time turning it off, but this year in particular, I've been better at, this is silly, but carving out time to eat. So actually taking a lunch break, and I take the dog for a walk. I carve out time at the end of the day to go to the gym and actually, and just having a routine pulls me out of work mode and gets me to think about other things. But most days, around 6:00 o'clock when my family kind of comes home is when I turn everything off and like to spend at least a few hours with my wife. Helping my wife in the kitchen and helping the kids get ready for bed and all that stuff. Baths and that's super important to me. Then yeah, usually after the kids go to bed I hop back on online and do a couple more hours. [00:29:38] But for the most part, the team's really good about that work/life balance. One thing that we also have is just, again, just built on this foundation of trust. We provide everyone with a pretty flexible ability to plan their day however they choose. So we have no strict hours where you need to be in seat. We've had an employee who went half time to travel around in her van and live in her van for six months and camped and spent half of her day working and half of her day rock climbing. [00:30:17]Matt H.: Nice. [00:30:17]Zack Onisko: That was her jam. We have another employee who is a coach for his kids' sports teams, so he typically logs off at 3:00, goes and does that a couple days a week, and then comes back and makes up some time at the end of the day. So we want to provide these opportunities for people. It's a luxury of life to work remote, really. We can actually take our kids to the doctor or go get groceries or go do normal life stuff whenever, at a moment's notice. So that's cool. [00:30:49] We also want to make sure that people are always kind of recharged and have time to do great work and aren't burning out. So we have an unlimited PTO policy. People can take extended vacations and come back and we just ask the people to do great work and we're pretty open and flexible outside of that. [00:31:09]Matt H.: Yeah, it sounds like for you, and I think for a lot of other fully remote teams, it really comes down to trusting your employees and the people that you work with to be able to get their work done. [00:31:19]Zack Onisko: I mean, it's the way it should be, right? I mean, if I'm a manager in an office, there's no guarantee that just because somebody's sitting at a desk that they're doing work. Most of my employees at my last company were just spending most of their day on Facebook and Twitter anyway, so. [00:31:33]Matt H.: Yeah. So within the community of leaders in tech, it seems like it's definitely moving in the direction of sort of being open to remote work and flexible work and that sort of thing. Is there a common thread or a common theme of reasons why you wouldn't within the CEO and tech leadership community? What's something that you hear a lot for that? [00:31:54]Zack Onisko: Yeah, I think there's a lot of knee jerk reaction from investors, and from the mindset of an investor, they're just looking for a return on their investment at some point in the future. A lot of these funds are seven, ten years and they have to pay back to the investors in those funds. So the way that these portfolios are built are positioned to flip these companies and sell them to larger acquirers. I think the fear with investors is Google or Apple or Facebook, are they gonna want to acquire a remote team or are they only gonna want to acquire teams that are willing to move to Mountain View? [00:32:43]Matt H.: Right. Interesting. [00:32:45]Zack Onisko: So I think that's the big hesitation is really coming from the venture world. For us being bootstrapped, it's just not a problem. We have the investors, and so again, the landscape is quickly shifting. The ease to be able to start a company is becoming more and more easy and efficient to get something off the ground. So I think the entrepreneurial landscape is gonna shift as well, and less companies are gonna require seed funds and angel funds to get something going and more people will be able to work with talented people all over the world and not have to move to companies, to San Francisco to attend YC or whatever. [00:33:34]Matt H.: Right. It seems like something that I hear or come across quite often is that fear but in a different context of more aligned with how do I know my people are working when they should be working? How do I know? It just seems like it's more difficult to micromanage a fully remote team, and maybe I'm wrong in that, but it seems like that's something that people fear of letting go at least of the control a little bit there. [00:34:01]Zack Onisko: Yeah, honestly, I think that's just an immature management mindset. To be honest, I think any seasoned manager, you have goals that are set. You have milestones. You have weekly sprints. You have daily standups. It's really easy to see if work's not getting done or not. [00:34:23]Matt H.: Right, of course. Yeah, yeah. [00:34:26]Zack Onisko: So again, it's about hiring great people who are great at their functional skillset and just trusting people to do great work and do it on their terms and it works out. [00:34:37]Matt H.: Right, now what would you say to somebody who is maybe going to transition or is starting a company and wants to go remote or is part of a leadership team that maybe are thinking about considering remote work. What would you say would be something that you would want to start right away as your team disperses in terms of processes and practices and things like that? [00:35:00]Zack Onisko: I mean, I would say focus on efficiencies and unblocking inefficiencies. So kind of starting at the bare basics. Time zone is gonna be the big one. With Slack and Google Docs and Zoom, those tools would help facilitate some of the blockers that people complained about years ago. So it's much easier to get set up and running off the bat. Then it's really just about common tools for working as a web company, right? It's project management. It's Asana or JIRA or whatever your flavor is. It's having some kind of realtime collaboration, so chat, whether that's Slack or HipChat or whatever your jam is. [00:35:55] So anyway, there's all these tools, and that really is the biggest, that has been the biggest roadblock, I think, historically from allowing, except for bandwidth, right? To allow this type of work to happen. So I think that when you're small, there's just not a whole lot of process needed. There's not a whole lot of heavy lifting needed to get this going and to work effectively. As you grow and the teams get bigger, then you just need to lay down some best practices and processes, but we take a very light stroke to those sorts of things. [00:36:42] But it just keeps people on the same page. What you don't want is people feeling like they're out of the loop or not plugged into what's happening, so it just comes back to over-communication, over-documenting, just doing a great job of bringing the team together. [00:36:56]Matt H.: Yeah, and I think one of the things that you mentioned before that's super important is to try to make sure that you're getting the conversational interactions that aren't necessarily related to work and just making sure that you have that as a priority, your people and you work at a company and just to make sure that that's a priority. Because I think that kind of gets lost a little bit sometimes when you're only communicating about work related things. A lot of that stuff can get forgotten about, which I think is important. [00:37:25]Zack Onisko: Yeah, I mean, culturally for us, we try to prioritize fun. We try to prioritize a sense of humor and just keep work as light as possible. We have Chloe who heads up our people ops. She runs virtual happy hours, virtual book clubs, virtual movie clubs, virtual book exchanges. So we try to do a lot of fun stuff. We do remote gaming. [00:37:52]Matt H.: Oh really? Nice. [00:37:53]Zack Onisko: Role playing games, so yeah, there's just different ways that we try to connect and have fun. We're not over Zoom and video chat. Then that kind of fills the blanks before we get to see each other in person twice a year for Hang Time. That work is really kind of laptops down. We just spend a week just hanging out and eating and drinking, going to museums together, that sort of thing. [00:38:18]Matt H.: Nice. I can attest to the Dribbble team's use of emojis and things like that. Over Slack, you guys are real experts there, so kudos to you. [00:38:29]Zack Onisko: Thank you, thank you. [00:38:29]Matt H.: So I want to be cognizant of your time, Zack, and I really appreciate you being here with us today. I have a couple more closing questions for you. You kind of touched on one of them, but what is your favorite tool that you use for remote work, and you can take it in any direction you want to. [00:38:47]Zack Onisko: It's emoji, definitely. [00:38:49]Matt H.: Of course, that's right. I knew the answer already. [00:38:52]Zack Onisko: No, I mean, we're really big into Slack and Zoom, of course, but we use Bonusly, which is a plugin for Slack. We award each other points that can then be cashed out. Dribbbpoints, all one word. Three Bs. They can be cashed out for various things, whether it's Amazon gift cards or if you want to actually donate your points to charities. So the team really enjoys that. It's a lot of fun. We use a daily standup plugin for Slack that I am spacing on the name of right now. Is there a robot in it? Anyway- [00:39:32]Matt H.: Yeah, I think I know what you're talking about. [00:39:33]Zack Onisko: I'm drawing a blank, yeah. Sorry. But yeah, so we look at things like that just helps automate a lot of processes and make work a little more fun. [00:39:43]Matt H.: Nice. So my last question here for you is not related to work. What is your favorite unplugged activity? [00:39:52]Zack Onisko: Well, I do have some acoustics, but most of the time I plug in. [00:39:56]Matt H.: Oh yeah. [00:39:57]Zack Onisko: I like to turn up my amp here in my office and piss off my neighbors at least once a day. I don't play any bands anymore, but just kind of fiddling around helps release a lot of tension and helps me relax. [00:40:11]Matt H.: For sure. [00:40:11]Zack Onisko: Outside of that, it's just really just dad mode, taking the kids to soccer or ballet or whatever is super rewarding for me. [00:40:18]Matt H.: Nice. Well Zack, I really appreciate this. This is, I think, a pretty successful first recording of the show, so thank you so much for being here and we really appreciate it. [00:40:26]Zack Onisko: Yeah, thanks for having me. [00:40:31]Matt H.: Thanks. [00:40:31] Thank you so much for listening to the show today. Check out weworkremotely.com for the newest career opportunities and so you can start your remote work journey. We're looking for guests on the show, so if you have someone in mind you think we should talk to, please send us an email at podcast@weworkremotely.com. That's podcast@weworkremotely.com. Also if you have any tips and feedback, we welcome that as well. Just be nice, because this is my first time, so go easy. [00:40:59] Also make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn as well, and thanks again for listening.
Hey kids, it's The Shred for August 14, 2018, brought to you by Judge.com. Whether you're moving your systems to the cloud, building out a team for your next project, finding healthcare talent for your organization, filling that mission critical direct hire to lead your team, or training your employees on the latest technology, Judge.com can deliver to ensure your organization's long-term growth. To the news: Money is flowing. Last week, Chicago-based PerkSpot raised $50 million. It's the first time the company has raised money since being founded in 2006 as a home-based business. The company works with merchants to offer freebies and discounts to companies and their employees. The warm-and-fuzzy space is hot right now. Millennials are almost at a point where they expect perks from employers. And with competitors like Fond, Bonusly and Corporate Perks duking it out for marketshare, I suspect more money and startups in the months and years to come. Also making it rain, Boston-based ClearCompany announced a $60 million round of funding today – also its first raise since launching over a decade ago. The company says it's “the leading recruiting and talent management software solution that helps companies identify, hire and engage more A Players.” Stop me if you've heard that one before. Andre Lavoie, CEO and Co-Founder of ClearCompany said the investment will “allow us to continue to hire the best people and maintain our position as the industry growth leader and innovator in talent software.” Be sure to tune into the weekly show for deeper opinion on news you hear on The Shred. Once again, thanks to our sponsor Judge.com. With over 48 years of experience and success, Judge is an industry leader in technology, talent and learning solutions. Judge is a family-owned business which has grown globally with offices in the United States, Canada, India and China. Learn more at j-u-d-g-e-dot-com. Cheesman out.
Jack and Ben talks about rewarding and reinforcing your clinic’s values to your team members with an app called Bonusly. What it does is it encourages your team members to recognize one another and rewards any team member for when they’re living up to your values.QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE“When was the last time you recognized your team in a systemized way according to your values?”“What Bonusly does is it gamifies rewards and recognition among your team. Now, what we’re able to do in a systemized way is for my team to recognize each other according to our values that we’ve all collectively defined.”“The intention here is to have almost a social recognition model where your team members are recognizing one another. It doesn’t have to just come from the top down, and it’s based on the values of your business.”MENTIONSGrow My Clinic online courseBonuslySHOW NOTES[0:02:21.5] Learn how to define your clinic’s values to your team members[0:03:47.0] Introducing Bonusly, a tool to gamify rewards and recognition[0:05:07.4] How Bonusly works[0:07:15.4] Is there still a need to give out Christmas bonuses/gifts when you’re already implementing Bonusly?If you like this episode of the Grow My Clinic podcast, please don't forget to like, share, comment, and give us your ratings on iTunes and Stitcher. We appreciate your support and feedback!
Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips
In episode #599, Eric and Neil discuss how you can run a virtual marketing team. Tune in for tips on how to manage remote workers. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today's Topic: How To Run A Virtual Marketing Team [00:33] Neil was listening to Masters of Scale and the CEO of Zoom was talking about how 50% of their talent are remote workers. [01:05] Eric hires people from all over and they work remotely. [01:17] He does it not because remote workers are cheaper (they aren't), but because they are talented. [01:45] Eric and Neil have been tapping into the virtual market for 10-15 years. [02:07] When running a virtual team, people have to specialize. [02:31] Neil finds that communication is better when everyone is on site. [03:10] 1:1 meetings are key for direct reports. [04:17] When you want people to perform their best, give them KPIs and other marks to hit; goal-setting is key. [05:40] Eric's team uses Bonusly, which allows you to award points to people, which then translate to online dollars. It becomes a recognition tool that encourages a bit of competition. [06:15] On the agency side, they use HubStaff, which tracks the time of your employees. [06:36] It's important to have a record of the time your virtual employees are working. [06:54] This doesn't mean you should be a micromanaging snoop! [07:25] If you have to do this, they are probably not the right employee. [07:40] Virtual employees need to have a lot of discipline. [07:55] Eric and Neil operate their businesses using the Traction model. [08:24] Eric read The Coaching Habit and thinks it contained useful information for running a business. [08:52] That's all for today! [08:54] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu
Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips
In episode #599, Eric and Neil discuss how you can run a virtual marketing team. Tune in for tips on how to manage remote workers. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How To Run A Virtual Marketing Team [00:33] Neil was listening to Masters of Scale and the CEO of Zoom was talking about how 50% of their talent are remote workers. [01:05] Eric hires people from all over and they work remotely. [01:17] He does it not because remote workers are cheaper (they aren’t), but because they are talented. [01:45] Eric and Neil have been tapping into the virtual market for 10-15 years. [02:07] When running a virtual team, people have to specialize. [02:31] Neil finds that communication is better when everyone is on site. [03:10] 1:1 meetings are key for direct reports. [04:17] When you want people to perform their best, give them KPIs and other marks to hit; goal-setting is key. [05:40] Eric’s team uses Bonusly, which allows you to award points to people, which then translate to online dollars. It becomes a recognition tool that encourages a bit of competition. [06:15] On the agency side, they use HubStaff, which tracks the time of your employees. [06:36] It’s important to have a record of the time your virtual employees are working. [06:54] This doesn’t mean you should be a micromanaging snoop! [07:25] If you have to do this, they are probably not the right employee. [07:40] Virtual employees need to have a lot of discipline. [07:55] Eric and Neil operate their businesses using the Traction model. [08:24] Eric read The Coaching Habit and thinks it contained useful information for running a business. [08:52] That’s all for today! [08:54] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu
In the "Up and coming tools" series, I highlight a few tools that looked particularly interesting and great for the remote community. This week's episode features Collaboration Supercards, Dr. Clue's treasure hunts, Jurgen Appelo's Personal Maps, Linoit, and Bonusly. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpowers.com.
Kruze Consulting's Founders and Friends Podcast for Startups
Raphael Crawford-Marks has built a next generation employee recognition service called Bonusly (https://bonus.ly/). The Service's integration with Slack makes it quick and easy to reward co-workers for a job well done. Bonusly has become one of Kruze Consulting's most popular tools.
Brandon Scott Wolf is wonderfully absurd, both personally and professionally; and so this episode is dedicated to absurdist stand-up comedy. What is absurdism, and why is it rare in stand-up? The comedians couldn't stop laughing at their collective inanity, so this one is BONUSLY long. And it's totally worth it.
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