Podcast appearances and mentions of buddy media

Kass and Mike Lazerow run companies the way great doubles teams win tennis matches: Kass owns the baseline of operations while Mike roams the net hunting openings -- neither drifts into the other's court. In their conversation with Ryan, they unpack their new baby of a book; Shoveling $h!t, what they describe as an entrepreneurial love story and deeply personal playbook that distills eight ventures and nearly $10 billion in exits into fifty straight-talk lessons any founder can lift. Kass shows how fixed Wednesday date nights and clearly drawn responsibilities turn raw startup chaos into durable culture. Mike retraces the pattern-recognition that carried him from a college newswire to Buddy Media and an early Liquid Death stake. Their closing charge is simple: protect your partnership, share the upside, reinvest in the world - and never be afraid to pick up a shovel when the next idea calls.

What's the difference between influencers who look successful… and entrepreneurs who actually are? In this riveting episode, Rory sits down with Mike and Kass Lazerow, the powerhouse husband-and-wife duo behind multiple high-impact businesses—including Buddy Media, which they sold to Salesforce for $745 million. They've helped scale companies like Scopely ($5B exit) and Liquid Death, advised countless founders, and now they're opening up like never before about what it really takes to build a business that lasts. From burning out on the way to $50M in ARR in just three years, to rebuilding after failed exits and learning how to balance marriage, money, mission, and meaning—this conversation is a raw, honest, and deeply insightful masterclass in entrepreneurship. You'll learn: Why going viral isn't the same as building enterprise value The “swamp” that traps 7-figure personal brands—and how to escape it How to scale without breaking your marriage or your soul Why building systems beats hiring saviors The cheat code they wish they'd used sooner (and how you can now) Why “shoveling the crap” is the real secret to success Plus, hear their take on personal branding, reputation, and why real impact doesn't always trend on TikTok—but it changes lives. If you're serious about entrepreneurship, leadership, or building something that outlasts you, this is a must-listen.

Kass and Mike Lazerow's entrepreneurial journey began with a leap of faith and a lot of grit. They started Golf.com with funding from friends and family, only to be acquired by a company that later went bankrupt. Forced to raise capital and revive their business against all odds, they quickly learned that entrepreneurship means facing setbacks every day and building the resilience to keep going when it feels impossible. In this episode, Kass and Mike join Ilana to dive into their new book, Shoveling $h!t, sharing the struggles behind their wins, the fears they confronted, and how they built successful businesses while balancing parenthood, marriage, and health challenges. Kass and Mike Lazerow are serial entrepreneurs, investors, and co-founders of Golf.com and Buddy Media. After selling Golf.com to Time Warner, they co-founded Buddy Media, a leading social media marketing platform that was acquired by Salesforce for $745 million. In this episode, Ilana, Kass, and Mike will discuss: (00:00) Introduction  (00:35) Meeting and Collaborating with GaryVee (03:20) Childhood Challenges and Family Struggles (09:43) Early Ventures and the Birth of Golf.com (13:40) Kass and Mike's Relationship Journey (18:20) Facing Near Bankruptcy After Acquisition Offers (23:02) Leading with Transparency in Crisis (26:08) Fundraising Success and Tiger Woods's Influence (28:44) Navigating Parenthood While Building a Business (35:33) Prioritizing Health Amid Career Demands (39:38) Breaking Gender Bias in Entrepreneurship (43:57) Building a Thick Skin as an Entrepreneur (47:31) Overcoming Fear and Taking Action Kass and Mike Lazerow are serial entrepreneurs, investors, and co-founders of Golf.com and Buddy Media. After selling Golf.com to Time Warner, they co-founded Buddy Media, a leading social media marketing platform that was acquired by Salesforce for $745 million. Together, Mike and Kass have supported nearly 100 early-stage startup founders and have received multiple awards recognizing their leadership and impact in entrepreneurship and philanthropy. Connect with Kass and Mike: Kass and Mike's Website: www.kassandmike.com  Kass and Mike's Email: info@kassandmike.com    Resources Mentioned: Kass and Mike Book, Shoveling $H!t: A Love Story about the Entrepreneur's Messy Path to Success: https://www.amazon.in/Shoveling-Story-about-Entrepreneurs-Success/dp/B0DY21NS7W  Leap Academy: Ready to make the LEAP in your career? There is a NEW way for professionals to Advance Their Careers & Make 5-6 figures of EXTRA INCOME in Record Time. Check out our free training today at leapacademy.com/training

In this brutally honest conversation, serial entrepreneurs Mike & Kass Lazerow join Stephen Scoggins to break down what it really takes to build, scale, and survive business, emotionally, mentally, and financially. From selling Golf.com and Buddy Media for millions to raising $100M+ in venture capital and still fearing failure, Mike and Kass reveal the hidden costs of success, the role emotional control plays in leadership, and why most founders crash because they ignore one thing: themselves. You'll learn: - The mindset shifts that helped them go from bankruptcy to billion-dollar exits - How to scale without blowing up your team or culture - What makes co-founder and couple dynamics actually work - Why gossip kills companies faster than bad cash flow - How to stay grounded when success comes fast Get Their Book: Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story https://kassandmike.com/the-book Learn more about Kass and Mike → https://kassandmike.com/

Wanna start a side hustle but need an idea? Check out our Side Hustle Ideas Database: https://clickhubspot.com/thds The company-building landscape has shifted dramatically—what worked in the 2010s won't cut it in 2025. Today you'll get actionable frameworks for the messy middle stage where most companies fail, plus insights on how to succeed. Our guest Mike Lazerow, co-author of Shoveling Shit: A Love Story, has been through this cycle multiple times as founder of Golf.com and Buddy Media. Plus: the launch of Switch 2 and Michael's goes all-in on fabric. Join our hosts Jon Weigell and Mark Dent as they take you through our most interesting stories of the day. Follow us on social media: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thehustle.co Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehustledaily/ Thank You For Listening to The Hustle Daily Show. Don't forget to hit subscribe or follow us on your favorite podcast player, so you never miss an episode! If you want this news delivered to your inbox, join millions of others and sign up for The Hustle Daily newsletter, here: https://thehustle.co/email/  If you are a fan of the show be sure to leave us a 5-Star Review, and share your favorite episodes with your friends, clients, and colleagues.

Ever felt like you're the only one drowning in the chaos of entrepreneurship while everyone else is thriving? You're not alone. I sat down with power couple Kass and Mike Lazerow to talk about what it really takes to build businesses, survive failure, and stay married through all the messy middle.  They share how they lost everything, clawed their way back, and built multiple companies—together—without pretending everything was fine when it wasn't. We talk about what it means to “shovel the sh*t,” how to lead through crisis without faking it, and why transparency and uncomfortable conversations are your greatest leadership tools.  So, if you've ever felt like you're hustling in the dark and wondering if you're doing it wrong, this episode is for you. Remember to grab your copy of Kass and Mike's book, Shoveling $h!t, to join their founder community. You don't have to shovel alone! "People want to be led, and what that means is getting the right people in the right positions." ~Mike Lazerow In this Episode: - Meet Kass and Mike Lazerow - The story behind ‘Shoveling $h!t' - Real stories of entrepreneurial challenges - Lessons learned in transparency and leadership - How to hold tough conversations with employees - Balancing life and entrepreneurship as a couple - A proven system of prioritizing tasks and making decisions - Navigating business partnerships  - The value of personal branding - Entrepreneurship lessons from 'Shoveling $hit' - Final thoughts on entrepreneurship  About Kass & Mike Lazerow: Kass and Mike Lazerow are serial entrepreneurs, investors, and authors renowned for co-founding Golf.com and Buddy Media, the latter of which was sold to Salesforce for $745 million. As partners in both business and life, they've built and scaled multiple ventures while raising a family. Through their firm, Velvet Sea Ventures, they have invested in over 100 startups, including Scopely and Liquid Death. Their book, Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story offers an unfiltered glimpse into the entrepreneurial journey. Website: https://www.kassandmike.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kassandmike   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kassandmike YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KassandMike  Where to find me: IG: https://www.instagram.com/jen_gottlieb/    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jen_gottlieb     Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jenleahgottlieb    Website: https://jengottlieb.com/    My business: https://www.superconnectormedia.com/     YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jen_gottlieb

In today's episode, I sit down with Kass and Mike Lazerow, married co-founders behind Golf.com, Buddy Media, and now a book that tells the truth about what building a business actually looks like. We talk about the emotional cost of entrepreneurship, fighting well in business and in marriage, and why brutal honesty is the glue that's held their personal and professional lives together. They share the real story behind their billion-dollar exit, how they made big pivots without losing each other, and the cheat codes they swear by for surviving startup life without burning out or breaking up. It's funny, raw, and full of earned wisdom.

Kass and Mike Lazerow are serial entrepreneurs and investors, best known as the co-founders of Golf.com and Buddy Media, the leading social media marketing platform that sold to Salesforce for $745 million. In this episode, they join Natalie for a raw, unfiltered conversation on the messy reality of building billion-dollar businesses, raising a family, navigating marriage, and staying focused through it all. They don't hold back. From the tough lessons they've learned as partners and parents to the playbook they've developed for building a business that lasts, you'll walk away with the inside scoop on what it really takes to build a wildly successful business… and stay married while doing it. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Introduction to Mike and Kass Lazerow 01:22 - Why co-founder partnerships succeed, or fail 02:38 - How to navigate working together as a couple 05:11 - The must-ask questions before choosing a business partner 07:28 - Equity splits, work ethic, and setting expectations 12:03 - The reality of balance for entrepreneurial families 14:27 - Building businesses during early parenting years 21:18 - The V2MOM framework for focus and decision-making 29:17 - Identifying the key levers that drive business growth 32:34 - Common mistakes in hiring and building a team 36:18 - Scripts and frameworks for difficult conversations 40:20 - Legal foundations every founder should know 45:41 - The emotional side of entrepreneurship and building wealth 49:42 - Rethinking money, freedom, and legacy 55:24 - What success really looks like in business and life RESOURCES + LINKS Grab Kass + Mike's New Book Shoveling Shit Here: kassandmike.com/the-book Get The Small Business Planner Here - The Tool Every Founder Needs To Organize + Run Every Detail Of Their Business, From Legal Documents + Contracts To Systems, SOPs, + Essential Operations. Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter & Get Insights From Natalie Every Single Week On All Things Strategy, Motherhood, Business Growth + More.  Drop Us A Review On The Podcast + Send Us A Screenshot & We'll Send You Natalie's 7-Figure Operating System Completely FREE (value $1,997).

Forget the glossy startup story. This week, serial entrepreneurs Kass and Mike Lazerow join Patrick J. McGinnis to blow up the myths of effortless success. These two built and sold Golf.com and Buddy Media (to Salesforce for $745M)—but not without near-death experiences, crippling anxiety, and plenty of shoveling $h!t along the way. In this raw and often hilarious conversation, they share the real playbook: how to lead with emotional honesty, use anxiety as a superpower, raise capital when everyone says no, and stay obsessed with customers through every pivot. If you're tired of startup hype and want hard-earned, practical lessons from people who've been through it all, this is the episode you've been waiting for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kass and Mike Lazerow are an entrepreneurial husband and wife duo. They are serial entrepreneurs, philanthropists, investors, and most recently, authors. They are the co-founders of Golf.com and Buddy Media, the leading social media marketing platform that sold to Salesforce for $745 million.Their new book, Shoveling Shit: A Love Story, tells the story about what it takes to build something meaningful. Listen in as they share their story of love, commitment, perseverance, and success.   Timestamps: 01:13 Business Partners and Soulmates 02:33 Golf.com 09:55 Building Buddy Media 17:59 Investing in Startups and Liquid Death 21:05 Philanthropy 22:56 Shoveling Shit 28:23 Transparency 30:08 Bonding 33:41 Vision and Execution 36:07 The Challenges and Rewards of Pivoting 39:16 Work and Personal Life 50:02 Defining Success 53:17 Advice for Entrepreneurial Couples   Links: New Release: Shoveling Shit: https://shovelingshit.com/ Kass & Mike: https://kassandmike.com/

Episode Description:James reconnects with entrepreneurs Michael and Kass Lazerow, whose journey spans selling Golf.com for $24 million, launching and pivoting Buddy Media into a $700 million Salesforce acquisition, and now investing in breakout brands like Liquid Death. This episode isn't about startup clichés—it's about emotional resilience, firing with kindness, how marriage can (barely) survive co-founding, and how to spot a trend before the world does.They break down their “Go Gauge,” the six-part test they use before investing in a company. They talk about the trauma of being betrayed by family. And they reveal the surprisingly simple cheat codes they've used to keep building—and keep loving each other—across decades of risk. Whether you're building a business, looking for one good idea, or wondering what failure really feels like behind closed doors—this episode will give you a few new answers.What You'll Learn:Why transparency—not optimism—is a founder's best crisis toolThe six traits every idea needs to pass their “Go Gauge”How to fire someone with empathy and still tell them the truthWhat to do when your startup fails and the investors vanishWhy the best startup strategy might be launching a pizza shopTimestamped Chapters:[00:00] Bacon, milkshakes, and a first meeting[03:00] The Golf.com collapse and family betrayal[07:30] The psychology of failure and the will not to quit[12:00] Buddy Media's pivot: from Facebook games to SaaS[15:00] Why failure sucks—but trends are your friend[21:00] Surviving marriage while surviving a startup[26:00] Emotional awareness, therapy, and not “shining the turd”[33:00] The $500M pizza truck startup fail[38:00] The truth about hiring, firing, and reorganizing[44:00] The death of venture capital—and rise of bootstrapping[50:00] Investing in pets, ice cream, and par-3 golf[54:00] Why Liquid Death is a billion-dollar brand[57:00] The Go Gauge: 6 filters for a fundable idea[01:02:00] Friendship, failure, and why they finally wrote the bookAdditional Resources:

Right About Now with Ryan AlfordJoin media personality and marketing expert Ryan Alford as he dives into dynamic conversations with top entrepreneurs, marketers, and influencers. "Right About Now" brings you actionable insights on business, marketing, and personal branding, helping you stay ahead in today's fast-paced digital world. Whether it's exploring how character and charisma can make millions or unveiling the strategies behind viral success, Ryan delivers a fresh perspective with every episode. Perfect for anyone looking to elevate their business game and unlock their full potential.Resources:Right About Now NewsletterFree PodKasst Monetization CourseJoin The NetworkFollow Us On InstagramSubscribe To Our Youtube ChannelVibe Science MediaSUMMARYIn this episode of "Right About Now," host Ryan Alford engages with Kass and Mike Lazerow, co-authors of "Shoveling Shit," to explore their entrepreneurial journey. The couple shares insights from building successful companies like Golf.com and Buddy Media. They discuss the importance of resilience, effective leadership, and the dynamics of working together as a married couple. Key themes include the necessity of trust, complementary skill sets, and leading by example. The episode offers actionable advice for entrepreneurs, emphasizing the significance of self-awareness, authenticity, and empowering employees in the evolving business landscape.TAKEAWAYSThe entrepreneurial journey of Kass and Mike Lazerow.Insights on building successful companies like Golf.com and Buddy Media.The importance of actionable insights for entrepreneurs.Challenges faced in fundraising and the significance of building customer relationships.The dynamics of working as a married couple in business.Leadership philosophy and the distinction between being a boss and a buddy.The impact of COVID-19 on workplace dynamics and employee expectations.The role of employee empowerment and fostering resilience in teams.The importance of self-awareness and authenticity in leadership.Future aspirations and the desire to give back to the community.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kass and Mike Lazerow are serial entrepreneurs, seasoned investors, and co-authors of the upcoming book Shoveling Sh!t: A Love Story About the Entrepreneur's Messy Path to Success. They join Alisa to share an unfiltered look at what it really takes to build companies, navigate chaos, and stay married through it all.Known for founding Golf.com and Buddy Media, which they sold to Salesforce for $745 million, Kass and Mike have also backed more than 100 early-stage startups. Their portfolio includes Scopely, acquired for $5 billion, and Liquid Death. In this conversation, they recount the wild highs and lows of startup life, from raising three kids while raising capital to walking away from a higher offer because it came with too much risk.You'll hear about:The dot-com crash that nearly killed Golf.com and how they raised money to buy it back from bankruptcyThe early bet they placed on Facebook that became Buddy MediaWhy did they choose Salesforce over a larger offer from GoogleHow they built a radically transparent culture that kept employees during a 3-month no-pay periodWhat it's really like to sell a company for hundreds of millions, then stay on as an employeeHow ego, secrecy, and shiny-object syndrome kill foundersWhat it takes to choose the right co-founder and build a business that lastsThey also share what it's like to run companies as a married couple, including how they divide responsibilities, handle stress, and maintain date nights through multiple exits and pivots.Also in this episode:The story behind Mike's near-death health crisis and how it changed his entire mindsetWhy Kass believes in minivans and Mike believes in showing up for everythingThe advice they give to every founder they backedHow their kids learned more from watching than listeningTheir new book, Shoveling Sh!t, hits shelves on June 3, 2025. It captures 50 hard-earned lessons that can help any founder become a better leader and build a life that actually works.About Kass & Mike: Kass and Mike Lazerow are entrepreneurs and investors best known for building and selling Buddy Media, a leading social media marketing platform, to Salesforce for $745 million. They co-founded Golf.com early in their careers and have since supported more than 100 startups as investors and advisors. Notable investments include Scopely and Liquid Death. They are also sought-after speakers, writers, and podcast guests. Their book Shoveling Sh!t: A Love Story About the Entrepreneur's Messy Path to Success is out June 3, 2025.Connect with Alisa! Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohn Twitter: @alisacohn Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/ Website: http://www.alisacohn.com Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Today on The Casey Adams Show, I'm joined by Kass and Mike Lazerow — the powerhouse couple behind Golf.com and Buddy Media, and co-authors of Shoveling Shit: A Love Story About The Entrepreneur's Messy Path to Success. From launching startups to navigating marriage and business together, Kass and Mike bring a raw, honest perspective to what it really takes to build and exit successful companies — while building a life together.In this episode, we dive into their one-of-a-kind love story that began with an email proposal, the ups and downs of building businesses as a couple, and what inspired them to write so candidly about the messy side of entrepreneurship. We cover their early days, fundraising strategies, the sale of Buddy Media to Salesforce for nearly $800 million, and the emotional journey behind it all. Whether you're a founder, in a relationship, or both — this one will hit home.Buy the book: https://shovelingshit.com/Follow Kass & Mike: https://www.instagram.com/kassandmike/Chapters:00:00 Introduction to the Lazerow Story02:59 The Journey of Love and Business05:46 Building Trust in Relationships08:48 The Decision to Write a Book11:58 The Evolution of Golf.com15:00 Navigating Challenges and Setbacks17:53 Fundraising Insights and Strategies20:52 The Importance of Relationships in Business23:51 Gary Vee and the Power of Consistency31:28 The Early Days of Entrepreneurship33:02 Buddy Media and the Social Media Revolution36:20 The Impact of Facebook on Society39:04 Navigating the Challenges of Entrepreneurship41:34 The Emotional Journey of a Billion Dollar Exit47:39 Looking Ahead: Future Aspirations and Giving Back

What if the path to entrepreneurial success for women didn't have to be so lonely—or so uphill? In this episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, host Marcia Dawood sits down with Melissa Wallace, a marketing veteran whose journey spans a $750 million tech exit, hands-on mentorship, and now, leading the first Femtech venture studio dedicated to female founders.Melissa shares her fascinating career evolution, from the high-octane world of startup acquisitions to co-founding Fierce Foundry, a unique venture studio that partners with women at every step of the startup journey. She explains how this studio model—offering co-founding, expert resources, and founder development—directly addresses the hurdles women face in raising money, scaling, and achieving meaningful exits.This episode is a must-listen for anyone passionate about gender equity in tech and entrepreneurship. You'll gain fresh insights into new funding models, innovative support networks, and hear about real-world tools that are empowering more women to launch, grow, and lead successful companies. To get the latest from Melissa Wallace, you can follow her below!https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissahudsonwallace/https://www.thefiercefoundry.com/ Sign up for Marcia's newsletter to receive tips and the latest on Angel Investing!Website: www.marciadawood.comLearn more about the documentary Show Her the Money: www.showherthemoneymovie.comAnd don't forget to follow us wherever you are!Apple Podcasts: https://pod.link/1586445642.appleSpotify: https://pod.link/1586445642.spotifyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/angel-next-door-podcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theangelnextdoorpodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marciadawood 

On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, we're joined by Kass Lazerow, serial entrepreneur, investor, and co-author of the upcoming book Shoveling Sh!t: A Love Story About the Entrepreneur's Messy Path to Success. Kass has helped build and scale companies like Golf.com and Buddy Media (acquired by Salesforce for $745 million), invested in over 100 startups, and mentored countless founders navigating the chaos of startup life.During our conversation, Kass shares the raw and real journey of entrepreneurship—what it really takes to build something from scratch, and why embracing the messy, unglamorous parts of the process is what separates those who survive from those who thrive. We talk about building businesses with your partner, learning to fail forward, choosing the right co-founders, and the emotional toll leadership can take when no one's watching. Kass also dives into lessons from her book, written with her husband and fellow founder Mike Lazerow, and why this “love story” doubles as a survival manual for every aspiring entrepreneur.Whether you're launching your first startup, scaling your next one, or simply love hearing the truth behind the headlines, this episode is a must-listen. Now on The Kara Goldin Show. Are you interested in sponsoring and advertising on The Kara Goldin Show, which is now in the Top 1% of Entrepreneur podcasts in the world? Let me know by contacting me at karagoldin@gmail.com. You can also find me @‌KaraGoldin on all networks. To learn more about Kass Lazerow and Shoveling Shit:https://www.instagram.com/kassandmike/https://www.youtube.com/@KassandMike/videoshttps://x.com/kass_and_mikehttps://www.facebook.com/kassandmike/https://www.linkedin.com/in/kasslazerow/https://www.kassandmike.comhttps://www.shovelingshit.com/ Sponsored By:Shopify - Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at Shopify.com/kara Check out our website to view this episode's show notes: https://karagoldin.com/podcast/694

Mike and Kass Lazerow are seasoned entrepreneurs and investors, best known for co-founding Golf.com and Buddy Media—acquired by Salesforce for $745 million. They've backed nearly 100 early-stage startups, contributing to over $10 billion in realized gains. In this episode, they dive into the raw, often messy reality of entrepreneurship, sharing hard-earned lessons from their journey and their latest book. Listeners will gain powerful insights on thriving in uncertainty, embracing the grind, and building successful businesses and lives through focus, transparency, and relentless drive. Today we discussed: 00:00 Introducing Mike and Kass Lazerow 00:50 The Title of the Book 01:44 How to Make Working with Your Spouse... Work 03:39 The Imbalanced Life 05:58 Everyone is Born an Entrepreneur 07:54 Favorite Cheat Codes 09:47 Embracing Uncertainty 12:06 Lessons in Failure 15:05 When to Pivot 18:05 Leaving a Legacy More About Mike & Kass Lazerow: Check out Mike & Kass Lazerow's Website: https://kassandmike.com/ Shoveling $h!t by Mike & Kass Lazerow on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Shoveling-Story-About-Entrepreneurs-Success/dp/B0DY21NS7W Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today!

In this episode, I sit down with Mike and Kass Lazerow—serial entrepreneurs, business partners, and husband-and-wife duo—to discuss the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, and working together as a couple. We dive into their journey from launching Golf.com to selling Buddy Media to Salesforce for $745M. Mike shares his instinctive, visionary approach to business, while Kass offers sharp operational expertise, revealing the balance that has fueled their success. We talk about the myths of entrepreneurship, the importance of embracing failure, and how firing people with kindness can change lives. The conversation takes a candid turn as we explore what it means to navigate business, marriage, and parenting while staying aligned. If you've ever struggled with leadership, scaling a business, or balancing work and relationships, this episode is full of valuable insights and honest reflections.Timestamps:(00:00) - Introduction (05:10) - Mike & Kass's journey from Golf.com to Buddy Media (11:45) - The biggest myths about entrepreneurship (18:30) - Learning to embrace fear and uncertainty in business (25:55) - How Kass approaches firing people with kindness (32:40) - Navigating marriage and business: The challenges and rewards (39:15) - The importance of trusting your gut vs. making data-driven decisions (45:50) - How social media has changed entrepreneurship (52:30) - The right way to pivot when a business idea isn't working (59:05) - Leadership lessons: Why transparency matters (1:05:40) - The mental load of running a business and parenting (1:12:15) - Shoveling Sh*t: A sneak peek at Mike & Kass's new book Check out today's guests, Mike and Kass Lazerow:Mike and Kass' Website: https://www.kassandmike.com/Mike and Kass' LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kassandmike/Mike and Kass' Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kassandmike/Shoveling Sh*t Website: https://shovelingshit.com/Check out The Futur:Website: https://www.thefutur.com/Courses: https://www.thefutur.com/shopLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-futur/Podcasts: https://thefutur.com/podcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefuturishere/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theFuturisHere/Twitter: https://x.com/thefuturishereTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thefuturishereYoutube:https://www.youtube.com/thefuturishereCheck out Chris Do:Website:

Kass and Mike Lazerow are serial entrepreneurs and investors in brands like Liquid Death and best known as the cofounders of Golf.com and Buddy Media, a software company that sold to Salesforce.com for $745 million. In this episode you'll learn how to pick your next big investment.Check out their new book:https://kassandmike.com/the-bookWith a lifetime of stories from decades of building businesses and helping others as investors and advisors, they are in high demand as public speakers, writers, and podcast guests.After selling Golf.com to Time Warner in 2006, Kass and Mike cofounded Buddy Media, which would become the world's leading social media marketing platform. And since selling Buddy Media to Salesforce in 2012, they have focused on providing capital and advice to the world's most innovative founders.Kass and Mike have supported close to 100 early-stage startup founders. Special Thanks to our Sponsor!If you know me, I have a few key things in my pockets at all times. 1. My car keys…2. Some chapstick for sun protection 3. And chewing gum. The thing about most store-bought gums are they are made with a little thing called ‘gum base,' which is often a blend of plastics and rubber… Yuck!That's why I've team up with Underbrush Gum—the chewing gum that's rewriting the rules. This isn't just gum; it's a revolution in oral health.Underbrush is Made with natural tree saps, just like our ancestors used…Underbrush combines the wisdom of the past with cutting-edge science. It's the first chewing gum of its kind, handmade in small batches out of California.What makes it so special? Well, this gum does more than just freshen your breath. It's remineralizing and antibacterial, loaded with minerals like Nano-hydroxyapatite (yep, the good stuff that helps strengthen your teeth) and powerful tree saps to fight harmful bacteria. Plus, every single ingredient serves a purpose—right down to the natural sweeteners.Want to try it out? head to NathanandSons.com and get your favorite flavor. Use the code: Bryan - B-R-Y-A-N and get a great deal.Special Thanks to our Sponsor We Feed Raw!We've had dogs in our family for the last 20 years. Our current pups Bear & Bella are mixed breed dogs rescued in 2017. Before I discovered We Feed Raw I was selective but also confused about the so-called healthy kibble I was feeding them. It turns out this expensive kibble was basically the same as feeding my dogs an all-processed, unhealthy food diet. They are now on a We Feed Raw meal plan system that's made custom for them with all the nutrients they need to live happy healthier lives. We Feed Raw food is:Safe and cold-pressurized, free of pathogens packed in BPA-free packingIt's sourced from USDA human-grade meats, food ships and arrives frozen for freshnessThere's 6 different balanced recipes, something for every dog's taste, allergy issues and moreYou never have to worry about being out of food or forgetting to pick more up at the store.Your subscription meal plan comes to your doorstep.Meal plans are customizable based on age, activity level, size and more. Bear and Bella have a new excitement for mealtime and I've seen them lean out and get into even better shape with the healthier food.Want to try it out?  Just visit: WeFeedRaw.com and enter code :  “Bear” B-E-A-R and new customers will save 30% off the meal plan starter box.Support the show

Serial entrepreneurs and investors Mike and Kass Lazerow are best known for co-founding Buddy Media, the social media marketing platform that sold to Salesforce for $745 million. Host Jeff Berman joined the Lazerows on stage at the 2025 SXSW conference to discuss their extraordinary career journey as co-founders and spouses. They've distilled their most meaningful business lessons into a new book: Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story About the Entrepreneur's Messy Path to Success. Book details: https://shovelingshit.com/Note: Kass Lazerow is on the board of WaitWhat — the company that makes this podcast.Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.comSubscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week's episode I chat with Kass and Mike Lazerow, a powerhouse entrepreneurial duo known for building and exiting multiple companies, including Golf.com and Buddy Media (which was acquired by Salesforce for $745 million).The conversation dives into their unique dynamic as a husband-and-wife co-founding team, their entrepreneurial journey spanning decades, and their latest venture—writing "Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story" a brutally honest book about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.We discuss what makes a strong co-founder relationship, the realities of scaling a business, and Kass and Mike's ongoing mission to mentor and support founders. With thoughts on fundraising, company culture, and life after an exit, this episode offers a candid look at the realities of entrepreneurship—perfect for founders, investors, and anyone navigating the startup journey.Links:Book: Shoveling $h!t: A Love StoryKass & Mike: Instagram, YouTube, X, Facebook, LinkedIn (Kass), LinkedIn (Mike)MPD: LinkedIn, XInterplay: Website, LinkedIn, Twitter

Kass and Mike Lazerow are serial entrepreneurs, investors, and authors of Shoveling $!it: A Love Story About the Entrepreneur's Messy Path to Success. As the co-founders of Golf.com and Buddy Media—acquired by Salesforce for $745 million—they bring a wealth of experience from decades of building businesses and supporting nearly 100 early-stage startup founders as angel investors and advisors. They explore how AI and no-code platforms are breaking down barriers to entry, fueling a record surge in new businesses and reshaping the rise of entrepreneurs as the new franchisees. The heart of their message is that the balance between passion and persistence is the key to business success. #Entrepeneur #DigitalBusiness #Leadership

Kass and Mike Lazerow are serial entrepreneurs and investors best known as the cofounders of Golf.com and Buddy Media, that sold to Salesforce for 745 million dollars. They are in high demand as public speakers, writers, and podcast guests and recently wrote a book called Shoveling $h!t: The Messy Path to Entrepreneurial Success. Top 3 Value Bombs 1. Most people think you become successful by what you do , however, how you act determines your success. It is how you did it and how you make people feel. 2. Shoveling is represented by the willingness to embrace the messy, unglorious type of work that every founder has to do. 3. You can be knocked up a thousand times as an entrepreneur but if you start to get back up and start shoveling you can still succeed. Pre-order their book now and get more than 350 dollars in FREE bonuses (while they last)! - Shoveling $hit Sponsors HubSpot When you combine the power of Marketing Hub and Content Hub, you can have your best quarter, every quarter. Visit Hubspot.com/marketers to learn more! ThriveTime Show Attend the world's highest rated business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and NOW featuring Rich Dad Poor Dad Author Robert Kiyosaki and Eric Trump at ThrivetimeShow.com/eofire Airbnb If you've got an extended trip coming up and need a little help hosting while you're away, just hire a co-host to do the work for you! Find a co-host at Airbnb.com/host

Kass and Mike Lazerow are serial entrepreneurs and investors best known as the cofounders of Golf.com and Buddy Media, that sold to Salesforce for 745 million dollars. They are in high demand as public speakers, writers, and podcast guests and recently wrote a book called Shoveling $h!t: The Messy Path to Entrepreneurial Success. Top 3 Value Bombs 1. Most people think you become successful by what you do , however, how you act determines your success. It is how you did it and how you make people feel. 2. Shoveling is represented by the willingness to embrace the messy, unglorious type of work that every founder has to do. 3. You can be knocked up a thousand times as an entrepreneur but if you start to get back up and start shoveling you can still succeed. Pre-order their book now and get more than 350 dollars in FREE bonuses (while they last)! - Shoveling $hit Sponsors HubSpot When you combine the power of Marketing Hub and Content Hub, you can have your best quarter, every quarter. Visit Hubspot.com/marketers to learn more! ThriveTime Show Attend the world's highest rated business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and NOW featuring Rich Dad Poor Dad Author Robert Kiyosaki and Eric Trump at ThrivetimeShow.com/eofire Airbnb If you've got an extended trip coming up and need a little help hosting while you're away, just hire a co-host to do the work for you! Find a co-host at Airbnb.com/host

Jeff Ragovin is a visionary entrepreneur who's turned industry shake-ups into his playground. From co-founding Buddy Media, which led to a $745M acquisition by Salesforce, to steering Semasio through a high-stakes rebrand and acquisition by Samba TV, Jeff has mastered the art of navigating complex transformations with grit and a strategic eye.  In this episode, Jeff dives into his journey of leadership, from making the tough calls during a company pivot to having radical, transparent conversations with his team. He reveals how the mantra “action overrides inadequacy” fueled his success and why surrendering his ego led to breakthroughs in both his personal and professional life. Plus, Jeff shares the behind-the-scenes of his latest passion project, combining his love for fishing with his entrepreneurial drive.

Samuel Budd is the founder and CEO of Buddy Media Group, an award-winning independent social and influencer marketing agency. With over a decade of experience in launching and scaling global marketing agencies, Sam has led performance and acquisition strategies for renowned brands such as Apple, Aviva, Procter & Gamble, Spotify, and Bacardi. He's also an angel investor and formally worked with Steven Bartlett at Social Agency, an agency they co-founded together. Use code CHIEFSWAG10 for 10% off your first order at chiefswagofficer.com Connect with Alexa on social media (Instagram & TikTok) 

In this episode of The Speed of Culture podcast, Matt Britton sits down with entrepreneurs & investors, Kass and Mike Lazerow. The Lazerows explore the realities of entrepreneurship, sharing their journey from founding Buddy Media to navigating the challenges of venture capital. They discuss the importance of trusting your gut, the value of resilience, and strategies for maintaining strong partnerships in both business and life.Follow Suzy on Twitter: @AskSuzyBizFollow Kass Lazerow on LinkedInFollow Mike Lazerow on LinkedInSubscribe to The Speed of Culture on your favorite podcast platform.And if you have a question or suggestions for the show, send us an email at suzy@suzy.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ken Mandel, regional Managing Director of Grab Ads and brand insights at Grab on the huge potential of digital advertising in Asia. After building XM Asia Pacific into a top digital consultancy, establishing Yahoo's advertising products in Asia  and launching Buddy Media in the region which was then acquired by Salesforce, he believes that the future is Asian. He argues that the rise of the super app, the cashless society and the massive growth of the digital economy there shows that the rest of the world needs to urgently understand the Asian market  #Business #Advertising

A Note from James:So, in 2006, I was starting this company called StockPicker. This random guy calls me out of the blue and says, "I want to be CEO of your company. I just sold Golf.com and now I'm figuring out what to do." So we meet for breakfast, and he gave me all these ideas that were great. I stole all of them, built up StockPicker, and sold it. This guy and his wife then started their own company, and eventually sold it for $800 million. We've been friends all along. Even though I rejected him and stole his ideas, I'm glad he did much better than if he had joined StockPicker. They decided to come on the podcast and share their secrets of entrepreneurship. So, here's Michael and Kass Lazerow, two extraordinary entrepreneurs and friends.Episode Description:In this episode, James Altucher sits down with Michael and Kass Lazerow, the dynamic duo behind Buddy Media, a company they built and sold for $800 million. They share their journey from the early days of cold emailing and breakfast meetings to navigating the challenges of the great recession and pivoting their business model. This conversation goes beyond the usual success stories, diving into the reality of entrepreneurship, the sacrifices, the mistakes, and the mindset needed to thrive.What You'll Learn:The Importance of Pivoting: How to know when it's time to change your business model and the signs that indicate a pivot is necessary.Building a Resilient Mindset: Insights on handling stress and maintaining a positive outlook during challenging times.Networking and Fundraising: Effective strategies for building valuable relationships and securing investments.Working with Your Spouse: The dynamics of being business partners with your spouse and how to make it work successfully.Marketing and Scaling: Techniques for marketing your startup effectively and transitioning from custom solutions to scalable software.Chapters:00:01:30 - The Unexpected Call: Starting StockPicker00:02:39 - Introducing Michael and Kass Lazerow00:02:50 - The Shift to Social Media00:03:25 - Buddy Media's Early Days and Challenges00:04:16 - Writing a Book: Shoveling Shit, A Love Story00:05:07 - The Art of Pivoting in Business00:07:53 - The Power of Partnership: Working as a Married Couple00:11:27 - The Evolution of Buddy Media00:16:15 - The Free Felt Business Idea00:18:46 - Navigating Early Challenges and Fundraising00:32:47 - Health Scares and Their Impact on Perspective00:34:13 - The Reality of Entrepreneurship00:40:22 - Balancing Personal Life and Business00:50:31 - Networking and Building Relationships00:56:28 - Writing the Book: Process and Insights01:00:38 - Conclusion and Future PlansAdditional Resources:Buddy MediaGary VaynerchukPeter ThielMark PincusVelvet Sea VenturesThese show notes capture the essence of the episode, providing listeners with clear insights and resources to further explore the topics discussed. ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn

A Note from James:So, in 2006, I was starting this company called StockPicker. This random guy calls me out of the blue and says, "I want to be CEO of your company. I just sold Golf.com and now I'm figuring out what to do." So we meet for breakfast, and he gave me all these ideas that were great. I stole all of them, built up StockPicker, and sold it. This guy and his wife then started their own company, and eventually sold it for $800 million. We've been friends all along. Even though I rejected him and stole his ideas, I'm glad he did much better than if he had joined StockPicker. They decided to come on the podcast and share their secrets of entrepreneurship. So, here's Michael and Kass Lazerow, two extraordinary entrepreneurs and friends.Episode Description:In this episode, James Altucher sits down with Michael and Kass Lazerow, the dynamic duo behind Buddy Media, a company they built and sold for $800 million. They share their journey from the early days of cold emailing and breakfast meetings to navigating the challenges of the great recession and pivoting their business model. This conversation goes beyond the usual success stories, diving into the reality of entrepreneurship, the sacrifices, the mistakes, and the mindset needed to thrive.What You'll Learn:The Importance of Pivoting: How to know when it's time to change your business model and the signs that indicate a pivot is necessary.Building a Resilient Mindset: Insights on handling stress and maintaining a positive outlook during challenging times.Networking and Fundraising: Effective strategies for building valuable relationships and securing investments.Working with Your Spouse: The dynamics of being business partners with your spouse and how to make it work successfully.Marketing and Scaling: Techniques for marketing your startup effectively and transitioning from custom solutions to scalable software.Chapters:00:01:30 - The Unexpected Call: Starting StockPicker00:02:39 - Introducing Michael and Kass Lazerow00:02:50 - The Shift to Social Media00:03:25 - Buddy Media's Early Days and Challenges00:04:16 - Writing a Book: Shoveling Shit, A Love Story00:05:07 - The Art of Pivoting in Business00:07:53 - The Power of Partnership: Working as a Married Couple00:11:27 - The Evolution of Buddy Media00:16:15 - The Free Felt Business Idea00:18:46 - Navigating Early Challenges and Fundraising00:32:47 - Health Scares and Their Impact on Perspective00:34:13 - The Reality of Entrepreneurship00:40:22 - Balancing Personal Life and Business00:50:31 - Networking and Building Relationships00:56:28 - Writing the Book: Process and Insights01:00:38 - Conclusion and Future PlansAdditional Resources:Buddy MediaGary VaynerchukPeter ThielMark PincusVelvet Sea VenturesThese show notes capture the essence of the episode, providing listeners with clear insights and resources to further explore the topics discussed. ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow...

From Startup to Salesforce: Kass Lazerow's Entrepreneurial Journey and Insights   Serial entrepreneur, Kass Lazerow, joins Carrie for an in-depth discussion about her extraordinary business achievements, including co-founding and scaling Buddy Media, which was eventually acquired by Salesforce for a reported 745 Million dollars.   Kass shares the secrets behind her successful exits, her ability to work seamlessly with her husband, and the key decisions that drove Buddy Media's rapid growth.   The episode also explores the importance of company culture, her unique marketing strategies, and advice for women entrepreneurs.   Here's what you can expect from the episode:   00:44 Introducing Kass Lazerow: My Business Icon 01:58 The Birth of Buddy Media 05:22 Navigating Business with a Partner 08:35 Marketing Mastery: The Airport Ad Campaign 11:21 Scaling and Culture at Buddy Media 14:23 The Decision to Sell or Go Public 16:26 Recruiting a Salesforce Heavy Hitter 16:46 The Unexpected Acquisition 17:25 Handing Over the Company 19:51 Employee Ownership and Impact 22:10 The Earnout Period 22:50 Balancing Parenthood and Career 26:00 Creating a Life Operating System 27:54 Advice for Aspiring Female Entrepreneurs

Dan has sold four companies throughout his career. We discuss what that was like and dive into what he's doing next—building a venture studio. He shares his playbook and how he's leveraging his strengths, and I get his advice on navigating post-exit life. Plus, we discuss philanthropy and finding purpose and fulfillment beyond financial success. Guest Dan Reich is an entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. He has co-founded Spinback (acquired by Buddy Media), Tula (acquired by Procter & Gamble), Dibs Beauty, and Troops.ai (acquired by Salesforce). Links Company Builders Dan's Personal Website Follow Dan on Twitter Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:14 Dan's Journey 09:47 Venture Studios 13:16 Creators 22:40 Financing 25:44 Why Again? 28:01 Daily Routines 29:31 Post-Exit Emotions 40:49 Philanthropy 43:07 Angel Investing 44:59 Final Thoughts Podcast I am the ex-founder of Skillshare, and now exploring what's next. The Karnjanaprakorn Show (TKS) follows my journey as I share what I learn along the way, and chat with others who are taking unique approaches to business and life. Learn more about me: https://mikekarnj.com

Welcome to the "Private Placement Perspective," a new pod storm series hosted by Matt Brown. In this first series of 2023, Matt dives deep into the world of venture capital and investing, speaking with investors and CEOs who have successfully helped scale start-ups. Join Matt as he dives into the world of Private Placements. Series: Private Placement Perspective Michael is a serial entrepreneur and investor whose last company, social software company Buddy Media, sold to Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) for $745 million, where he served as chief strategy officer and chief marketing officer, Marketing Cloud. With 60+ early-stage investments under his belt, including Eaze, Scopely, Map Anything, Buzzfeed, Domo, Namely, Tumblr and Dash Radio. Michael was the recipient of Ernest & Young's coveted Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2011. Additional honors include Fortune Magazine's 40 Under 40, Crain's New York 40 Under 40, #1 on the Silicon Alley 100 and the Ad Age Digital A-List. Michael earned a BS and MS in Journalism from Northwestern University. Michael is a co-founder of VSV and serves on the investment committee.Get an interview on the Matt Brown Show: www.mattbrownshow.comSupport the show

The Salesforce AppExchange is a marketplace for cloud-based applications that can be used with Salesforce's customer relationship management (CRM) software. No matter where you are on your Salesforce journey, you'll have access to tried-and-tested apps, that will help you tackle your particular business challenges and speed up your digital transformation. Luca Benini, COO and co-founder at Nativevideo a Salesforce AppExchange Partner and features in today's episode of the Salesforce Posse podcast to share his incredible experience at Salesforce. Luca has been in the Salesforce ecosystem for many years and was MD of Europe for Buddy Media, a social media tool that Salesforce acquired in 2012. Today, we started the conversation by discussing how Luca got into the Salesforce ecosystem and the world of App Exchange apps. We delve into the many types of Salesforce App Exchange apps, the creation process at a high level, the various ways in which you may monetize your app, and the best practices for making a successful app. Furthermore, Luca elaborates on why he enjoys participating in Demo Jams. Also, we discuss our favourite audiobooks, and Luca shares some words of wisdom he would give his younger self if he could travel back in time. Resources Connect with Luca: linkedin.com/in/lucabenini/ Audiobooks we talk about: Born to Run: audible.com/pd/Born-to-Run-Audiobook/B002V8KTYG Shantaram: audible.com/pd/Shantaram-Audiobook/B00GT1240I The Phoenix Project: audible.com/pd/The-Phoenix-Project-Audiobook/B00VAZZY32 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/salesforce-posse/message

The pandemic has dramatically changed how we live, work and shop and as a result, people have developed new needs, preferences, and values. Sam Budd, CEO and Founder of Buddy Media, walks us through how live, in-person events have changed to fit those needs and how brands should be thinking about live events again both … Continue reading "Sam Budd, CEO and Founder, Buddy Media"

Mark Pincus was at the forefront of mobile technology when it was just being born. He is a recovering venture capitalist who co-founded his first company with Sunil Paul in 1995. FreeLoader was at the forefront of giving people the news through push technology, just as the IETF was in the process of ratifying HTTP2. He sold that for $38 million only to watch it get destroyed. But he did invest in a startup that one of the interns founded when he gave Sean Parker $100,000 to help found Napster.  Pincus then started Support.com, which went public in 2000. Then Tribe.net, which Cisco acquired. As a former user, it was fun while it lasted. Along the way, Pincus teamed up with Reid Hoffman, former PayPal executive and founder of LinkedIn and bought the Six Degrees patent that basically covered all social networking. Along the way, he invested in Friendster, Buddy Media, Brightmail, JD.com, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter.  Investing in all those social media properties gave him a pretty good insight into what trends were on the way. Web 2.0 was on the rise and social networks were spreading fast. As they spread, each attempted to become a platform by opening APIs for third-party developers. This led to an opening to create a new company that could build software that sat on top of these social media companies. Meanwhile, the gaming industry was in a transition from desktop and console games to hyper-casual games that are played on mobile devices. So Pincus recruited conspirators to start yet another company and with Michael Luxton, Andrew Trader, Eric Schiermeyer, Steve Schoettler, and Justin Waldron, Zinga was born in 2007. Actually Zinga is the dog. The company Zynga was born in 2007. Facebook was only three years old at the time, but was already at 14 million users to start 2007. That's when they opened up APIs for integration with third party products through FBML, or Facebook Markup Language. They would have 100 million within a year. Given his track record selling companies and picking winners, Zynga easily raised $29 million to start what amounts to a social game studio. They make games that people access through social networks. Luxton, Schiermeyer, and Waldron created the first game, Zynga Poker in 2007. It was a simple enough Texas hold 'em poker game but rose to include tens of millions of players at its height, raking in millions in revenue.  They'd proven the thesis. Social networks, especially Facebook, were growing.. The iPhone came out in 2007. That only hardened their resolve. They sold poker chips in 2008. Then came FarmVille. FarmVille was launched in 2009 and an instant hit. The game went viral and had a million daily users in a week. It was originally written in flash and later ported to iPhones and other mobile platforms. It's now been installed over 700 million times and ran until 2020, when Flash support was dropped by Facebook. FarmVille was free-to-play and simple. It had elements of a 4x game like Civilization, but was co-op, meaning players didn't exterminate one another but instead earned points and thus rankings. In fact, players could help speed up tasks for one another. Players began with a farm - an empty plot of land. They earned experience points by doing routine tasks. Things like growing crops, upgrading items, plowing more and more land. Players took their crops to the market and sold them for coins. Coins could also be bought. If a player didn't harvest their crops when they were mature, the crops would die. Thus, they had players coming back again and again. Push notifications helped remind people about the state of their farm. Or the news in FreeLoader-speak.   Some players became what we called dolphins, or players that spent about what they would on a usual game. Maybe $10 to $30. Others spent thousands, which we referred to as whales. They became the top game on Facebook and the top earner. They launched sequels as well, with FarmVille 2 and FarmVille 3.  They bought Challenge Games in 2010, which was founded by Andrew Busy to develop casual games a well. They bought 14 more companies. They grew to 750 employees. They opened offices in Bangalore, India and Ireland. They experimented with other platforms, like Microsoft's MSN gaming environment and Google TV. They released CastleVille. And they went public towards the end of 2011. It was a whirlwind ride, and just really getting started. They released cute FarmVille toys.  They also released Project Z, Mafia Wars, Hanging with Friends, Adventure World, and Hidden Chronicles. And along the way they became a considerable advertising customer for Facebook, with ads showing up for Mafia Wars and Project Z constantly. Not only that, but their ads flooded other mobile ad networks, as The Sims Social and other games caught on and stole eyeballs. And players were rewarded for spamming the walls of other players, which helped to increase the viral nature of the early Facebook games. Pincus and the team built a successful, vibrant company. They brought in Jeff Karp and launched Pioneer Trail. Then another smash hit, Words with Friends. They bought Newtoy for $53.3 million to get it, after Paul and David Bettner who wrote a game called Chess with Friends a few years earlier. But revenues dropped as the Facebook ride they'd been on began to transition from people gaming in a web browser to mobile devices. All this growth and the company was ready for the next phase. In 2013, Zynga hired Donald Mattrick to be the CEO and Pincus moved to the role of Chief Product Officer. The brought in Alex Garden, the General Manager for Xbox Music , Video, and Reading, who had founded the Homeward creator Relic Entertainment back in the 1990s. The new management didn't fix the decline. The old games continued to lose market share and Pincus came back to run the company as CEO and cut the staff by 18 percent. In 2015 they brought in Frank Gibeau to the board and by 2016 moved him to  CEO of the company. One challenge with the move to mobile was who got the processing payments. Microtransactions had gone through Facebook for years. They moved to Stripe in 2020. They acquired Gram Games, to get Merge Dragons! They bought Small Giant Games to get Empires & Puzzles. They bought Peak Games to get Toon Blast and Toy Blast. They picked up Rollic to get a boatload of actions and puzzle games. They bought Golf Rival by acquiring StarLark. And as of the time of this writing they have nearly 200 million players actively logging into their games. There are a few things to take from the story of Zynga. One is that a free game doesn't put $2.8 billion in revenues on the board, which is what they made in 2021. Advertising amounts for just north of a half billion, but the rest comes from in app purchases. The next is that the transition from owner-operators is hard. Pincus and the founding team had a great vision. They executed and were rewarded by taking the company to a gangbuster IPO. The market changed and it took a couple of pivots to get there. That led to a couple of management shakeups and a transition to more of a portfolio mindset with the fleet of games they own. Another lesson is that larger development organizations don't necessarily get more done. That's why Zynga has had to acquire companies to get hits since around the time that they bought Words with Friends.  Finally, when a company goes public the team gets distracted. Not only is going through an IPO expensive and the ensuing financial reporting requirements a hassle to deal with, but it's distracting. Employees look at stock prices during the day. Higher ranking employees have to hire a team of accountants to shuffle their money around in order to take advantage of tax loopholes. Growth leads to political infighting and power grabbing. There are also regulatory requirements with how we manage our code and technology that slow down innovation. But it all makes us better run and a safer partner eventually. All companies go through this. Those who navigate towards a steady state fastest have the best chance of surviving one more lesson: when the first movers prove a monetization thesis the ocean will get red fast. Zynga became the top mobile development company again after weathering the storm and making a few solid acquisitions. But as Bill Gates pointed out in the 1980s, gaming is a fickle business. So Zynga agreed to be acquired for $12.7 billion in 2022 by Take-Two Interactive, who now owns the Civilization, Grand Theft Auto, Borderlands, WWE, Red Dead, Max Payne, NBA 2K, PGA 2K, Bioshock, Duke Nukem, Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear, Battleship, Centipede, and the list goes on and on. They've been running a portfolio for a long time. Pincus took away nearly $200 million in the deal and about $350 million in Take-Two equity. Ads and loot boxes can be big business. Meanwhile, Pincus and Hoffman from LinkedIn work well together, apparently. They built Reinvent Capital, an investment firm that shows that venture capital has quite a high recidivism rate. They had a number of successful investments and SPACs.  Zynga was much more. They exploited Facebook to shoot up to hundreds of millions in revenue. That was revenue Facebook then decided they should have a piece of in 2011, which cut those Zynga revenues in half over time. This is an important lesson any time a huge percentage of revenue is dependent on another party who can change the game (no pun intended) at any time. Diversify. 

Helaine Knapp is Founder & CEO of CITYROW, the fitness phenomenon that focuses on smart fitness for the modern consumer. CITYROW pairs rowing with strength and mobility exercises – creating a workout that works. But a workout only works if you do it, and consumers today need choice, motivation and accountability. CITYROW clients can take classes at any one of our studios nationwide, from the comfort of their own home via on-demand classes, and everything in between. It's top-notch programming combined with giving consumers the ability to participate when, where and how they want – giving CITYROW the ability to reach and impact more consumers. Prior to CITYROW, Knapp, spent a number of years climbing the corporate ladder in media and participated in two SaaS tech exits – Buddy Media (sold to Salesforce.com for $800MM in 2012) and Olapic (which sold to Monotype for $120MM in 2016). During this time, Knapp fell in love with group fitness. But, years of spinning and bootcamp classes left Knapp with lower back pain and minimal results. She set out to find a better and smarter way to maximize results and still enjoy group exercise. Here she uncovered a tried-and-true fitness tool, the rower. Knapp saw the opportunity for a smarter approach to fitness and thus CITYROW was born.   LINKS: https://cityrow.com/en-us/ INSIDETRACKER - Gift cards and clothes are impersonal and expected… so why not get your loved ones a gift that is truly special and unique to them. This Black Friday, save $200 on InsideTracker's Ultimate Plan—the most comprehensive way to get personalized insight into their body's wellbeing. Claim this offer HERE. ​ THE FITTECH CLUB - Brought to you by my good friends at the FitTech Summit, Europe's leading conference devoted to fitness and health technology, The FitTech Club is a unique offering entering North America. For those in fitness & health technology, the FitTech Club brings thought leaders together to inspire them: by making the right contacts at the right time and giving insights to the industry's most relevant and current trends. Equal parts accelerator, mastermind, investor group, and consultancy, I urge you to learn more HERE  

Jeff Ragovin is an oyster farmer, foodie, and serial entrepreneur. In between fishing and running a non-profit food initiative, Jeff also finds time to be the Chief Commerical Officer at compliance software, Fyllo. Fanatical about enterprise, Jeff has many stories of creating companies and commerce across a broad range of interests. Some ventures didn't work out but his persistence paid off gloriously in 2012 when the company he co-founded, Buddy Media, was sold to Salesforce for $800mn. We think it's time that Jeff told his compelling story!

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.We have a great conversation on top this week with Jeff Richards, Managing Partner at GGV Capital. Founded in 2000, GGV manages nearly $10B in AUM and invests across stages in both the US and Asia, and has invested in companies such as AirBnB, Wish, Opendoor, and Grab. This was a great conversation as Jeff has been both on the founder and investor side, and has spent the last 14 years at GGV where he’s had a front-row seat to the incredible evolution of the firm to what it is today. He provided us with some great thoughts on the markets today, the challenges of growing a firm, and how the current geopolitical tensions may affect international investing. About Jeff Richards:Jeff focuses on enterprise/cloud and marketplace investments, and led GGV’s investments in Appirio (acq by Wipro), Belong, BigCommerce (NASDAQ: BIGC), BlueKai (acq by Oracle), Boxed, Brightwheel, Buddy Media (acq by Salesforce), Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), Electric.ai, Evolv OnDemand (acq by Cornerstone), Gladly, Handshake, HotelTonight (acq by Airbnb), Lambda School, Mindee, Namely, People.ai, PlushCare/Accolade (NASDAQ: ACCD), Slice, Tala, Tile, Vic.ai, Workboard, and Zylo.Prior to joining GGV, Jeff founded two software companies: R4, a supply chain SaaS business acquired by VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN), and QuantumShift, a telecom software business backed by Texas Pacific Group (TPG). Earlier in his career, Jeff worked in Asia and Latin America with PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He graduated from Dartmouth College.Our sponsor:At Brex, we build financial software and services to help startups scale faster. We understand that founders need to focus on building, not banking. So we’ve reimagined traditional financial systems to enable greater speed and productivity — no matter where founders and their teams are working.We offer a smart corporate card, business account, and mobile app that are easy to use from day one. No manuals needed here. Within minutes, you can deposit funds, send free wires and ACH worldwide, separate investor funds from operating expenses, earn great rewards, automate expenses, and more. Everything we do at Brex is to help founders spend less time managing expenses and reporting on your runway — and more time building your business.Get started at brex.com/ventureIn this episode we discuss:02:06 Jeff’s journey into venture capital08:30 What it took to scale GGV to what it is today14:32 How they had to shift internal mindset as they scaled fund sizes20:55 How the current market compares to previous cycles27:33 The health of the current venture market and areas where Jeff sees growth potential33:46 Advice to investors looking to create a venture portfolio39:30 How the geopolitical climate is affecting investing both in the US and globally46:26 Why emerging markets are still a strong place to look for alpha in the current market48:11 The best piece of career advice he’s receivedI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Jeff. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

As every startup entrepreneur and enterprise CEO knows, the growth stage is all about scaling up the company, which typically requires a cash infusion. That's where investment gurus like Deven Parekh come in. As a Managing Director at Insight Partners who has been with the firm for more than 22 years, Deven has some insightful advice to share for entrepreneurs hoping to secure funding to fuel their business. Over the course of his career, the companies he's invested in have all had major payouts—Buddy Media was acquired by Salesforce, Football Fanatics was bought by GSI Commerce, and eventually eBay, and Media Mind was sold to DG Fast Channel after the IPO. During this episode, the global investor shares the top qualities he and his team are looking for in software companies worldwide.On the lookout for large marketsDeven shared a few of the main characteristics he and his team are looking for when it comes to finding businesses to invest in. First, he said they're most interested in targeting large markets to maximize growth opportunities. In addition, they look for businesses with a technology product that's not easy to replicate so they can keep competition at bay, and an exponential increase in momentum in terms of buyer interest. And last but not least, Deven noted they typically look for solid teams with great management leaders who truly feel passionate about the problem they're helping to solve. In-person interactions minimize riskAs the pandemic continues to subside over time, more of its long-term impacts on the business world will be revealed. Deven commented that for investors, arranging in-person meetings followed by dinner or drinks isn't just a nicety—it can actually help to minimize risks by building trust on a personal level. Although many companies will continue to use tools like Zoom and a hybrid working environment for the sake of convenience, meeting in person will continue to play an important role in creating a foundation of trust and collaboration among teams.Invest in your passionsDeven's overall advice to entrepreneurs was to choose a problem that you're passionate about solving and make it the main focus of your business. While it can be tempting to dive into hot new trends in the market, he recommends following your passion instead because you'll be more likely to actually find a solution to the problem you're trying to solve. Deven commented that people tend to complicate the road to success, but it's really quite simple: identify a pain point, work on solving it, and convince customers to buy your product.CIBC Innovation Banking delivers strategic advice, cash management and funding to innovation companies across North America, the UK, and select European countries at each stage of their business cycle, from start up to IPO and beyond. Get in touch with our team at cibc.com/innovationbanking. This episode of The CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast was produced by Quill.

Comme le savent déjà les entrepreneurs et chefs de la direction, l'étape de la croissance en est une de développement de l'entreprise, ce qui exige normalement d'y injecter des fonds. C'est là qu'interviennent les gourous de l'investissement comme Deven Parekh. Directeur général d'Insight Partners depuis plus de 22 ans, Deven a des conseils judicieux à donner aux entrepreneurs désireux d'obtenir du financement pour leur entreprise. Au cours de sa carrière, toutes les sociétés dans lesquelles il a investi ont généré d'importantes distributions : Buddy Media, acquise par Salesforce, Football Fanatics, achetée par GSI Commerce et plus tard, par eBay, et Media Mind, vendue à DG Fast Channel après le premier appel public à l'épargne. Dans cet épisode, l'investisseur mondial nous expose les principaux attributs que lui et son équipe recherchent dans les sociétés de logiciels du monde entier.À l'affût des grands marchésDeven expose quelques-unes des principales caractéristiques que lui et son équipe recherchent au moment de trouver des entreprises où investir. D'abord, ils ciblent surtout les grands marchés afin de maximiser les occasions de croissance. De plus, ils recherchent des entreprises dotées d'un produit technologique difficile à reproduire afin de garder une longueur d'avance sur la concurrence, et qui offre un potentiel de croissance exponentielle de l'intérêt des acheteurs. Enfin, ils privilégient habituellement les équipes solides, dirigées par d'excellents leaders qui ressentent une réelle passion pour le problème qu'ils contribuent à résoudre. Interagir en personne pour réduire le risqueÀ mesure que la pandémie se résorbe, d'autres de ses effets à long terme sur le monde des affaires se feront jour. Selon Deven, pour les investisseurs, l'organisation de rencontres en personne suivies d'un repas ou d'un verre n'est pas qu'une affaire d'amabilités, c'est aussi un moyen de réduire le risque en nouant des liens de confiance personnels. Beaucoup d'entreprises continueront d'utiliser des outils comme Zoom et un milieu de travail hybride pour des raisons de commodité, mais le rôle des rencontres en personne restera déterminant pour l'établissement d'une base de confiance et de collaboration dans les équipes.Investir dans ses passionsEn général, Deven conseille aux entrepreneurs de choisir un problème dont la résolution leur tient à cœur et d'en faire la priorité de leur entreprise. Il est souvent tentant de se consacrer aux nouvelles tendances du marché, mais il vaut mieux suivre sa passion afin de mettre toutes les chances de son côté pour trouver une solution au problème qu'on veut résoudre. Deven fait remarquer que les gens pensent souvent qu'il est compliqué de réussir, mais c'est très simple : repérer un irritant, travailler à le résoudre et convaincre les clients d'acheter son produit.Services financiers Innovation CIBC offre des conseils stratégiques, des solutions de gestion de trésorerie et des services de financement aux entreprises du secteur de l'innovation en Amérique du Nord, au Royaume-Uni et dans certains pays européens, à toutes les étapes du cycle économique, du démarrage aux premiers appels publics à l'épargne et au-delà. Communiquez avec les membres de notre équipe à l'adresse cibc.com/servicesfinanciersinnovation.

A guy called Michael Lazerow of Buddy Media says, "You have to be truly a valuable source of information." To be able to #getnoticed by Fast Company, and other media, and get your articles published, you don't just have to be credible, you've got to be giving information that people are interested in, and something that you've got that maybe other people don't have.Tune in as I share with you some guidelines that you need to follow in order to get your article even looked at, let alone published.Post Podcast Production by: XCD Virtual AssistantsAI Writer - Content writing made easierGenerate Accurate, Relevant & Quality Content in 2 MinutesDescript is what I use to edit the show.All-in-one audio & video editing, as easy as a doc.Social listening - google alert killer!Generate leads and market your product using social listeningText into human voice-over in realtime.Save money and time with Synthesys text to voice. Real-Human Sounding Voice-Overs In Minutes.Support the show (https://lovethepodcast.com/Unnoticed) Support the show (https://lovethepodcast.com/Unnoticed)

Jeff Wald is a seasoned Entrepreneur, Best Selling Author, Keynote Speaker, Angel Investor, and Startup Advisor, and board member for multiple companiesJeff founded Work Market, an enterprise software platform that enables companies to manage freelancers (which was acquired by ADP); Spinback, a social sharing platform that was acquired by Buddy Media and later bought by salesforce.com; and a failed venture that taught him to learn from failure.  Jeff serves on numerous public and private Boards of Directors and is the author of the Amazon Best Seller: The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations.On Story Tuesday, Jeff shares his experiences and lessons about entrepreneurship, failure, and how entrepreneurs tie their identities into their businesses – for better or worse. This episode is brought to you by Adaptability Coaching. Want to learn how to make adaptability your superpower to thrive in business and beyond? Learn psychology and neuroscience-backed frameworks and tools to harness the adaptability of the human brain. Learn to become fast, flexible, and formidable. Learn more at www.DrYishai.com/Coaching Guest Links:Twitter - @jeffreywaldLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffwald/Website - http://www.Jeffwald.comBook - https://www.amazon.com/End-Jobs-Demand-Workers-Corporations/dp/1642934356/ Host Links:Podcast Website:https://thebusinesscouchwithdryishai.buzzsprout.com/Dr. Yishai's email: Yishai@DrYishai.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dryishaiInstagram: @DrYishai or https://www.instagram.com/dryishai/Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is for general informational purposes only and shall not be relied on or construed as coaching advice. © 2020 Yishai B LLC. All rights reserved.  

Jeff Wald is a seasoned Entrepreneur, Best Selling Author, Keynote Speaker, Angel Investor, and Startup Advisor and board member for multiple companiesJeff founded Work Market, an enterprise software platform that enables companies to manage freelancers (which was acquired by ADP); Spinback, a social sharing platform that was acquired by Buddy Media and later bought by salesforce.com; and a failed venture that taught him to learn from failure.  Jeff serves on numerous public and private Boards of Directors, and is the author of the Amazon Best Seller: The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations.On Insight Sunday, Jeff shares his expertise and mindset on the changing nature of the workforce and how leadership can adapt. He talks about the causes and consequences of the “Tech-celeration” during the pandemic, being data-driven, and the end of “jobs” as we know them, plus how companies can be agile and tap into the most highly skilled and high-performing talent. This episode is brought to you by Adaptability Coaching. Want to learn how to make adaptability your superpower to thrive in business and beyond? Learn psychology and neuroscience-backed frameworks and tools to harness the adaptability of the human brain. Learn to become fast, flexible, and formidable. Learn more at www.DrYishai.com/Coaching Guest Links:Twitter - @jeffreywaldLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffwald/Website - http://www.Jeffwald.comBook - https://www.amazon.com/End-Jobs-Demand-Workers-Corporations/dp/1642934356/ Host Links:Podcast Website:https://thebusinesscouchwithdryishai.buzzsprout.com/Dr. Yishai's email: Yishai@DrYishai.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dryishaiInstagram: @DrYishai or https://www.instagram.com/dryishai/Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is for general informational purposes only and shall not be relied on or construed as coaching advice. © 2020 Yishai B LLC. All rights reserved. 

    Would you like to have a powerful and loving relationship that gets better every day?  If you desire it, you can create a love relationship filled with incredible romance, sex, love, and lasting togetherness. Here are some of the important tips we discussed on Love University for creating an unstoppable relationship: *Seek Invincibility Seeker Love. An Invincibility Seeker is someone who wants to improve their life and the life of their partner.  They are individuals who desire to make a positive difference in the world. When two Invincibility Seekers come together, they can create a beautiful love relationship of like-minded “soul enhancers”  who will help elevate each other's minds and hearts to reach a higher level of living that is far beyond the ordinary.  This is the type of Invincibility Seeker Love you should be aiming for with your love partner. *Transmute Your Sexual Energy. Sexual transmutation is the channeling of sexual energy into a higher state of frequency that contributes positively to the individual, and to society.  To do this, you should invest your libido in a Invincibility Seeking partner as they do the same for you. In this way, your sexual energy becomes fused with love and romance, and inspires both of you to achieve the greatest heights of success and love in your relationship and life. There are many examples of love-sex transmutation (motivation) that have led to great accomplishments, including:       ∙F. Scott Fitzgerald, the great author from the 1920's, who loved his schizophrenic wife, and made her the inspiration for many of the female protagonists in his novels.       ∙Kass and Michael Lazerow: A married couple who founded Buddy Media, a social enterprise software company that connects advertising firms with consumers. In his article, “Why I Have Sex With My Co-founder,” Michael makes the case for couples to start businesses together.    ∙Casey Sackett and Jennifer Wong. Husband and wife, Casey and Jennifer, were expecting their first child. As a result of their experience, they decided to create various apps for expectant mothers, including the popular BabyBump, a pregnancy and social network app. *True Love Is Based on Deep Understanding of the Other.    Deep love is not based on simply sexual attraction, surface compatibility, companionship, or mutual interests.  It is grounded on a deep, empathetic understanding of a love partner—knowing each other's goals, habits, dreams, preferences, values, hopes, and fears.  It is when a husband has his wife's bubble bath ready because he knows she's had a hard day, and when his wife prepares his favorite meal to celebrate his accomplishment at work. This type of deep understanding leads to a total acceptance of the beloved as they are—forming the foundation of a powerful and lasting love that doesn't fade when the looks or status goes away. Yes, you can have unstoppable romance and love with the mate of your choice.  All you have to do is seek Invincibility Love, apply the principles of Sexual Transmutation, and develop a deep, empathetic understanding and acceptance of each other. When you have the right Invincibility Seeker mate, you can create a love that stands the test of time and is based on giving love without expectation—the greatest love of all.  

Many employers understand that their employees are the key to making their businesses successful. Yet, once those workers move on, companies typically don't keep in contact with them. Should they? In this episode, we speak with Kim Seymour, Chief People Officer of WW International Inc.(formerly Weight Watchers) and Jeff Wald, an angel investor, entrepreneur, and bestselling author, about the value of maintaining relationships with past employees and where the future of work as we know it might be headed. In her role, Seymour oversees all aspects of WW's human capital plan, with a strong emphasis on talent, leadership, diversity, and organizational effectiveness. She spent the previous two decades in HR leadership roles at American Express, Home Depot, and General Electric. Seymour currently serves on the board of directors of RHR International and the board of trustees of Fisk University, a historically Black college. A graduate of both the University of Tennessee at Martin and Vanderbilt Law School, Seymour also holds an MBA from Indiana University. As an expert in business culture and talent, she is often asked to share her forward-thinking HR strategies and personal leadership philosophies with a variety of global audiences. Jeff Wald is the bestselling author of The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations, about how companies and workers reacted to the last three industrial revolutions. He is the founder of three tech companies, including WorkMarket, purchased by ADP, and Spinback, acquired by Buddy Media. He is also an angel investor and startup adviser. Wald serves on the board of directors at TRANSFR Inc., ModusLink, and Costar Technologies. He holds two degrees from Cornell University, and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. In 2020, Wald announced the $10 million Future of Work Prize that will reward The End of Jobs contributor whose prediction about what the workforce will look like in 2040 proves the most accurate. Seymour and Wald discuss what they think will be the COVID-19 pandemic's most lasting influences on the world of work, what shorter employee tenure means for company culture, and why we should be thinking about ex-employees as ambassadors. They also talk about why healthy employer/employee relationships depend on keeping open lines of communication and not taking things personally, and how to create team success within a hybrid work structure.Some Questions Asked:What changes have already occurred in the world of work since The End of Jobs came out last year?What emerging technologies do you think will most change the world of work?Is the trend toward shorter tenures a good thing? Is WW doing anything to counteract it? How do you hire employees who understand the need to be constant learners and adapters? And how do you foster that growth mindset among the employees you already have?In This Episode, You Will Learn:Why we need to rethink the system of tying benefits to current employment. About the idea of alumni labor clouds and their implications for current and former employees and employers.WW's take on how, when, and where its employees should work.Links for Kim Seymour:FortuneForbesLinkedInLinks for Jeff Wald:The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile CorporationsPR Newswire - $10 Million Future of Work PrizeLinkedIn See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mike Lazerow is a serial entrepreneur and now Co-Founder and Managing Partner @ Velvet Sea Ventures alongside his wife, Kass. Prior investments from the Velvet Sea Partners include Twitter, Square, SpaceX, Snap Inc., Facebook, Pinterest, Domo, and more. Prior to becoming an investor, Mike founded Buddy Media in 2007, selling the company to Salesforce just 5 years later for $745M. Before Buddy Media, Mike co-founded Golf.com, a multi-million dollar profitable golf media property that Mike and Kass sold to Time Inc in 2006. In Today's Episode with Mike Lazerow You Will Learn: 1.) How Mike made his way into the world of startups way back in 1993, how that led to Golf.com and Buddy Media? Why did he decide he wanted to be a VC? How did seeing the dotcom era fundamentally impact Mike's approach to business and investing? 2.) Why does Mike believe how you operate as an investor is more important than who you are and what you have done? How does Mike aim to invest and operate with this in mind? What are 3 core elements that Mike looks for in every deal? How does Mike approach his own investment decision-making process? How has it changed over time? How does he use gut to make decisions? 3.) What does Mike believe are his biggest insecurities as an investor? How does Mike think about the challenge of moving from a collaborative angel to a competitive VC? How does Mike think about the importance of ownership today? What has Mike learned about how the best VCs engage with round construction? 4.) How does Mike analyse his own style of board membership today? Why does Mike believe that boards are more helpful for the entrepreneur than for the investor? As an entrepreneur, how did Mike prepare for his boards? How does Mike advise founders to get the most out of their boards? Where do many make mistakes? How can one optimize the board member/founder relationship? 5.) Why does Mike believe that "having sex with your partner is a feature, not a bug"? How do Kass and Mike work together in such a complementary fashion? How do they ensure that personal matters never intrude on work decisions? How does Mike think about his relationship to money today? How does Mike want to imbue the same hard work and ethics to his children? Item's Mentioned In Today's Episode with Mike Lazerow Mike's Favourite Book: Man's Search for Meaning Mike's Most Recent Investment: LeoLabs

An effective network is essential to the efficient and profitable running of any organization. Not only this, they have completely transformed communication and business across the globe. My guest Peter Goodman is co-founder and CEO of Aventus a cloud based Platform that enables MGAs, brokers and insurers to create a seam-less buying experience for their insurance products. Peter started his journey with a law degree and the world at his feet. Over-trading in his first business led to debt yet Peter went on to set up several other companies, including Brighter Option, a social advertising platform. The sale of Brighter Option to Buddy Media in 2012 and then subsequently Salesforce for around $730m gave Peter a depth of knowledge in growing a company to success. Today, Peter has multiple business interests through his own vehicle Grow Bag Capital, and is also a very passionate golfer. Join us as we discuss what we all good business people should know about networks.

An effective network is essential to the efficient and profitable running of any organization. Not only this, they have completely transformed communication and business across the globe. My guest Peter Goodman is co-founder and CEO of Aventus a cloud based Platform that enables MGAs, brokers and insurers to create a seam-less buying experience for their insurance products. Peter started his journey with a law degree and the world at his feet. Over-trading in his first business led to debt yet Peter went on to set up several other companies, including Brighter Option, a social advertising platform. The sale of Brighter Option to Buddy Media in 2012 and then subsequently Salesforce for around $730m gave Peter a depth of knowledge in growing a company to success. Today, Peter has multiple business interests through his own vehicle Grow Bag Capital, and is also a very passionate golfer. Join us as we discuss what we all good business people should know about networks.

Ever seen a car drive on a road without a steering wheel? That's what it may feel like to work in an organization that does not take time to define its core values. They are important because values bind the whole organisation together as a collective and ensure everyone is on the right path. Plus, it gives a higher purpose to the work we do. When we lose touch with them, we lose direction. Luca Benini is the Co-founder and COO of NativeVideo - A Salesforce AppExchange Partner. Luca got his start working with data, analytics and consumer research for marketing and product development at Yahoo. It was in 2012 that he was acquainted with Salesforce when they acquired Buddy Media (a SaaS platform that provided social CMS and CRM solutions), where he was helping manage the marketing operations. According to Luca: ‘In this day and age, dealing with the younger generation, especially with a remote team can be quite difficult. In order to keep them motivated at work and align their actions behind the bigger values, one has to learn to say no to certain things to help focus on the more impactful. Prioritizing what works and what does not, helps create a north star to guide not only employees, but leaders as well.' So, how does Luca actually manage people remotely? How does he scout and hire new talent? What advice does he have for individuals working in the B2B industry? Does he prefer pasta or pizza? Listen to find out! Luca's LinkedIn Luca's Twitter Books mentioned : Born to Run I'm Here to Win Play Bigger From Impossible To Inevitable The 4-Hour Body ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The episode is PART 4 of the COO series sponsored by SharinPix. (https://www.sharinpix.com/) SharinPix gets all the features, components, tools and integrations you need when you have image requirements in your Salesforce implementation.

Miguel Armaza sits down with Alison Lange Engel, Venture Partner at Greycroft, a leading venture capital firm focused on investments in the Internet and mobile markets, with offices in New York City and LA. Greycroft manages over $2 billion and has made over 200 investments, including some leading fintech companies like Acorns, Venmo, Flutterwave, and Public. Alison works across the Greycroft portfolio, advising companies on go-to-market strategy, execution, and sourcing new investments. She’s also a proud MBA alum from our very own Wharton School. We discuss - Her operator background at companies like LinkedIn, Microsoft and Stripe - A deep dive into her experience as Head of Marketing at Stripe - Transitioning to the investing side - Greycroft’s story, investment thesis, and what defines their portfolio companies - Why Alison and Greycroft are bullish on the future of consumer fintech - Inside stories on fast-growing portfolio companies - And a lot more! Alison Lange Engel Alison Lange Engel is a Venture Partner at Greycroft. She works across the Greycroft portfolio, advising companies on go-to-market strategy and execution and sourcing new investments. Alison has 20+ years of experience leading, structuring, and scaling high growth businesses. She’s managed teams throughout North America, Europe, Brazil, and Asia. Prior to Greycroft, Alison was the first CMO at Stripe and worked to establish the marketing function, scaling the team 5x in one year and driving quantified growth. Prior to Stripe, Alison was a Vice President of Marketing at LinkedIn. In her 6 years at LinkedIn, she had a broad impact on LinkedIn’s advertising business strategy and execution, with overall company revenue growing from $200MM at IPO in 2011 to $5Bn+ today. Alison’s early career in technology started with the sale of Massive Incorporated, a venture-backed video game advertising business, to Microsoft in 2006. She held marketing leadership roles at Microsoft Advertising for 3 years. Prior to her career in technology, Alison was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, focused on Media, Entertainment and Consumer sectors. Her media background includes HBO and the CBS Television Network, where she held sales and programming roles. Alison has a BA from UCLA and an MBA from The Wharton School. About Greycroft Greycroft is a seed-to-growth venture capital firm that partners with exceptional entrepreneurs to build transformative companies. The firm has deep experience in both consumer and enterprise technology, with a portfolio that spans the globe. Greycroft values building enduring relationships with founders and understands that they want more from investors than just capital. Greycroft has raised $2 billion in commitments and has over 200 active investments. The portfolio includes Acorns, Anine Bing, App Annie, Axios, Bird, BetterCloud, Braintree, Bright Health, Buddy Media, Bumble, Flutterwave, Goop, Happiest Baby, Huffington Post, Icertis, Lightricks, Maker Studios, Medly, Openpath, Scopely, SEMrush, Shipt, TheRealReal, Thrive Market, Trunk Club, Venmo, and Yeahka. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp

The Keys to Intrinsic MotivationHow we can stop waiting for external factors to kick us into high gear and find the power within to push us towards our goals.EPISODE QUOTE:“Those that know this is a calling and believe so deeply in what we're doing, and the communities they are building, and the people that they are literally changing are the ones that are going to come out of this. If you survive, you win. But it is not easy to survive.” — Helaine KnappGUEST BIO:Helaine Knapp is the founder of CityRow, an in-studio and at-home rowing experience that is exploding all over the country. An expert in intrinsic motivation, Helaine realized that the only workout that matters is the one you actually complete, so she built the power of choice, motivation and accountability into CityRow— with incredible results.Prior to launching CityRow, Helaine worked in media and participated in two high-profile tech company sales: Buddy Media's $800M sale to Salesforce.com and Olapic's $120M sale to Monotype. A longtime proponent of group fitness, Helaine launched CityRow six years ago and it now operates 20 studios with over 60 planned nationwide while also helping innovate the in-home, on-demand rowing fitness space.Learn more about Helaine & CityRow:CityRowHelaine's LinkedInForbes Profile on HelaineOPENING MONOLOGUE:After spending years climbing the corporate ladder, Helaine Knapp left the world of publishing for startup life. Group fitness was her outlet, and after a major physical setback, Helaine persevered and went on to found CityRow, an in-studio rowing fitness experience that has scaled massively across the United States, both in-studio and in people's homes. Helaine has been featured as a business leader and wellness expert on Today, Women's Health, ABC, Vogue, Yahoo! Finance and People, and she's done it all by unlocking the power of her intrinsic motivation— and helping others unlock their own.CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:[8:02] Getting Tactical About InnovationInnovative thinking doesn't just happen. You need to create the space and environment for it.How often do you take time out from the day-to-day emails and to-do lists and reset your priorities? Innovative thinking won't make time for itself. You have to make time for it and dedicate your mind and the resources of your team to fostering that innovation even when it seems like you're drowning in the day-to-day.--[14:39] Ideas Are Hard. Bringing Them to Life is HarderHow do you have the courage to execute on ideas?The idea-generating process is the fun part. But how do you execute on that idea? The key is to move one decision at a time. Don't focus all your energy on your massive, ten-year, multibillion-dollar point on the distant horizon. Focus on what needs to happen today and go from there.--[21:00] How Do You Know You're Doing What You Love?Gauging how you feel about the way you spend your daysEach day take stock of what you're doing and how you feel about what you're doing. Sometimes you can like something that is also draining of your energy. Find out where everything sits in relation to whether you love it, hate it, or tolerate it, then adapt your life and career to add more to the buckets you love and remove things from the buckets you hate or only tolerate.--[26:19] What's Your Why?Helaine explores why she does what she does so wellIf you're going to jump into something vulnerable like entrepreneurship for money, fame, or a title, you're going to lose your way. For Helaine, the goal was to help people move their bodies in a better, smarter way for lifelong health. Your personal ‘why' may be something different, but you have to begin the journey of finding it now— not simply wait for it to show up somewhere along the way.--[37:17] From Job to CareerExploring the most difficult leap in professional lifeWondering how you can find a career that could turn into a calling? Get to know yourself first. Think about your strengths and weaknesses. Be real with yourself. Then use that to shape the way you spend your days. Get a sense for who you are, and you'll end up with a sense of what you're meant to do.--[42:31] The Core Tenets of CityRowHelaine talks about why guiding principles are so important in life and businessAt CityRow, Helaine believes in following a set of core tenets that lead her and everyone at the company. They include accessibility, scalability, and a culture that makes people proud to work there. If you're leading a team, an organization, or simply your own personal mission, identify your core tenets. Get clear and explicit about what they are. Then use them to guide you forward.--[50:08] Double Down on Strengths or Correct Weaknesses?There's no right answer, only the right answer for youIt's a time-honored question: is it better to home in on our strengths and help them power us or work on our weaknesses to fill out our capabilities? Helaine believes in a hybrid approach, which involves doubling down on strengths but also surrounding ourselves with people who are strong where we're weak, effectively filling those gaps with the skills of others. But to do this takes awareness. Take the time to identify your own strengths and weaknesses, even if it may be uncomfortable at first.--[53:57] Helaine's Final ThoughtsThe queen of rowing's take on the topic of optimizing for happinessSometimes the simplest answers are the truest. Helaine's advice: do what makes you happy. Discover your strengths, find your intrinsic motivation, and pursue the things you're truly passionate about. Life's too short to do anything else.RESOURCES:[00:28] Purpose Labs[01:10] CityRow[25:21] Inc Magazine Article on Helaine & CityRow[41:15] Good to Great and Built to Last, by Jim Collins[46:05]Brené Brown[56:10] High-Performance Team ScorecardMAKE A PLAY:Let's score where we stand on our purpose, choice, progress, and impact. This scorecard can be downloaded at www.PowerOfPlayingOffense.com. Scroll to Book Resources and click on the High-Performance Team Scorecard. This will serve as your guide for today, the next 30 days, and beyond. You'll be able to pinpoint exactly how effectively you're pursuing your true purpose, sense of choice, personal and professional progress, and the positive impact you're making on the world. It's a great way of taking action on the goals that matter most to you.  Want to keep making the right plays? Subscribe to Playmakers now.Check out more episodes and content on the Playmaker's website.Follow Helaine:LinkedInTwitterInstagramCityRowFollow Paul:Playmakers PodcastThe Power of Playing OffenseLinkedInFacebookTwitterInstagramYoutubeSHOW SPONSOR:Audible: Interested in leveling up and lifelong learning? Then what's better than a free audio book and 30-day free trial when you visit audible.playmakerspod.com? With over 200,000 titles to choose from, there's no limit to what you can explore and learn on Audible.TRY AUDIBLE TODAYABOUT PLAYMAKERS: IMPACT UNLEASHED:Playmakers: Impact Unleashed is an all-access pass to the game-changers of today and the history makers of tomorrow. The show looks past the trophy cabinet and features a no-BS, inside look into the world of comeback, transformation, and impact unearthing practical tools and mindsets that we can all leverage to make a play in our own lives and careers.Take a seat at the table with leadership expert, sports industry veteran, personal transformation coach, purpose igniter, and your host Paul Epstein in this inspiring, yet immediately actionable podcast. From stories of total defeat to the thrills of unimaginable achievement to the practices of mastering the inside game, each show will share a high-energy, prescriptive blueprint to unleash impact and drive success, significance, and purpose no matter your starting point.Meet Paul at the 50 and make a play together!Learn more at: PlaymakersPod.comABOUT MOTOWN PODCAST STUDIOS:In Detroit, history was made when Barry Gordy opened Motown Records back in 1960. More than just discovering great talent, Gordy built a systematic approach to launching superstars. His rigorous processes, technology, and development methods were the secret sauce behind legendary acts such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.As a nod to the past, Motown Podcast Studios leverages modern versions of Motown's processes to launch today's most compelling podcasts. What Motown was to musical artists, Motown Podcast Studios is to podcast artists today. With over 75 combined years of experience in content development, audio production, music scoring, storytelling, and digital marketing, Motown PodcastStudios provides full-service development, training, and production capabilities to take podcasts from messy ideas to finely tuned hits. Here's to making (podcast) history together.Learn more at: MotownPodcastStudios.comABOUT THE HOST:Paul Epstein may not be a hard charging running back on the actual football field, but his list of high-profile wins in the world of sports will have you thinking that he could be.Paul has spent nearly 15 years as a pro sports executive for multiple NFL and NBA teams, a global sports agency, and the NFL league office. He's transformed numerous NBA teams from the absolute bottom in league revenue to top-two in financial performance. He's broken every premium revenue metric in Super Bowl history as the NFL's sales leader. He's opened a billion-dollar stadium, helped save the New Orleans NBA franchise, and founded the San Francisco 49ers Talent Academy.He's since installed his leadership and high-performance playbook with Fortune 500 leaders, Founders and CEOs, MBAs, and professional athletes.Now, as Founder of Purpose Labs, keynote speaker and host of the Playmakers: Impact Unleashed podcast, Paul explores how living and working with a focus on leadership, culture, and purpose can transform organizations and individuals anywhere to unleash their full potential.Learn more about Paul at: PaulEpsteinSpeaks.comPre-Order Paul's new book The Power of Playing OffenseCREDITS:Paul Epstein: Host | paul@paulepsteinspeaks.comConnor Trombley: Executive Producer | connor@motownpodcaststudios.com

Joining me on this episode of the Backbone is Naeem Ishaq, CFO at Checkr, the leading technology company in the background check industry. At Checkr, Naeem leads finance, facilities, and data operations teams, responsible for financial strategy and planning, corporate development, and optimizing Checkr's financial performance for long-term growth. Naeem has nearly 20 years of leadership experience at companies like Circle, Salesforce, and Square (which he helped to lead through a successful IPO in 2015). He was one of the first 5% of employees at both Square and Salesforce and has a strong record of repeatedly scaling growth businesses from startup stage to global reach. I chat with Naeem about: His career journey working at the intersection of finance and tech since 2002, starting at Intel. From there he joined Salesforce in 2008 when it was a $4B market cap company and 1700 people, spending over four years there before joining Square when they were around 170 people and helping them go through their IPO. Prior to joining as the CFO at Checkr, Naeem led finance at Boxed Wholesale and Circle. What Checkr does and what the company is all about. Some of the frameworks and mental models that formed the M&A playbook for organizations like Salesforce and Square. Throughout his career Naeem had the opportunity to work very closely on M&A. While at Salesforce, he played a key role in the acquisition of Jigsaw for $300M and the Buddy Media acquisition for $689M. Then at Square, he led the acquisition of Caviar. Naeem has worked on 40+ different M&A transactions during his career. His advice to finance leaders who may end up going through an acquisition process with large strategic acquirers. The best practices for navigating through times of crisis, from the CFO seat. The biggest misconception about the finance function within growth stage software companies like Checkr. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/backbone/message

Ian Sigalow is a Co-Founder of Greycroft and a Partner in the firm’s New York office. In this conversation, we discuss the venture capital industry, digital assets, and Ian’s investments in Braintree, Venmo, Public.com, Plated, Buddy Media, and many others.  ======================= The Stacks 2.0 mainnet launched on January 14, 2021. Stacks, which you may recognize as Blockstack, is a layer-1 blockchain that uses the Bitcoin blockchain as a secure base-layer and enables developers to harness its power in new ways. Stacks makes Bitcoin more than digital gold, enabling apps and smart contracts on Bitcoin--unlocking innovation, new value, and a new way to earn BTC. Visit http://www.stacks.co for more information. ======================= Coinbase Wallets are adding support for .crypto and .zil domains through their partnership with Unstoppable Domains. Unstoppable Domains provides an all-in-one solution for blockchain domains. You can send money using these new domains instead of long Bitcoin wallet addresses, while also storing your domain in Coinbase's collectibles section. Go to unstoppabledomains.com in the dapp browser to register and manage your domains.  ======================= As one of the largest and oldest Bitcoin exchanges in the world, Kraken is consistently named one of the best places to buy and sell crypto online, thanks to our excellent service, low fees, versatile funding options and rigorous security standards -- but this is only part of the story. We’ve been on the forefront of the blockchain revolution since 2011: http://www.kraken.com =======================

Today, we are talking with Jeff Wald. Jeff is an entrepreneurial board member, best selling author, and keynote speaker. His track record includes three companies. One, he sold to ADP. A second, he sold to Buddy Media. The third one set the stage for his future success. I am your host Zachary Alexander, Subscription Service […] The post An Interview with Jeff Wald appeared first on SubscriptionMaker.

This episode was recorded at an exclusive event called PodMAX / Propelify where founders had an opportunity to share their stories and knowledge.  Special guest host Kristen Olsen of Turmeric and Tequila leads the conversation down a path of insights, solutions, and collaboration.  Join the us for our next event at www.podmax.co And grab your virtual seat for the next Propelify Innovation Festival on October 5-9 at http://www.propelify.com (www.propelify.com) Helaine Knapp Helaine Knapp is Founder & CEO of CITYROW, the rowing-based fitness company that focuses on and omni-channel approach to smart fitness for the modern consumer. Prior to CITYROW, Knapp, spent a number of years climbing the corporate ladder in media and participated in two SaaS tech exits - Buddy Media (sold to Salesforce.com for $800MM in 2012) and Olapic (which sold to Monotype for $120MM in 2016). CITYROW at it's core pairs rowing with strength and mobility exercises - creating a workout that works. But a workout only works if you do it, and consumers today need choice, motivation and accountability. CITYROW clients can take classes from the comfort of their own home via Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices (megaphone.fm/adchoices)

Jeff Wald is the co-Founder and President of WorkMarket, an ADP company, as well as the author of the book The End of Jobs: The Rise of on Demand Workers and Agile Corporations.   He comes on the show today to discuss the way COVID-19 has precipitated some of the changes forecasted for the future of work, as well as what you as a business owner or leader need to do to prepare for the future of the American workforce.   We touch on subjects ranging from the absence of retraining and its link to populism and nationalism, the advent of cobots and AI to democracy and technology being the way forward through the future of the American workforce. Tips and Thoughts for Making the Best of the 4th Industrial Revolution   A job that has more than 50% repetitive high-volume-component tasks is historically automated away. This should account for 10 to 15% of jobs in the U.S., over the next 10 years.   Have a retraining plan — revolutions are never smooth affairs; at the onset of a 4th industrial revolution (or the first services revolution as Jeff explains) the biggest challenge remains to retrain the workforce.   Organize employee management — systematizing your labor interactions may well be the most important thing you can do to prepare for the coming changes.   Prepare for an agile workforce — on-demand is not the future of work, the data points to fluid, team-based “work from anywhere” jobs being the future, this comes with its own set of remote working challenges. About Karen Tiber Leland   Karen Tiber Leland is the founder of Sterling Marketing Group, a branding, marketing, and color strategy and implementation firm helping CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs develop stronger personal, business, and team brands. Her clients include Cisco, American Express, Marriott Hotels, Apple Computer, LinkedIn, and Twitter.   She is also the best-selling author of nine traditionally-published business books that have sold over 400,000 copies and been translated into 10 languages. Her most recent book is The Brand Mapping Strategy: Design, Build, and Accelerate Your Brand. She regularly writes for Inc.com and Entrepreneur.com and has had articles published in Self, The Los Angeles Times, American Way, The Boston Globe, and many others.   Karen has spoken for Harvard, The AMA, Direct Marketing Association, and Stanford, among others. She has been interviewed on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, and Oprah.   Get in touch with Karen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook   About Our Guest   Jeff Wald has a long track record as a successful entrepreneur across the technology and services landscape. He has successfully built and sold multiple tech companies, including SpinBack to Buddy Media, which was subsequently purchased by Salesforce.com for $800 million.   Jeff has a deep background and passion for talent management and is widely recognized as a thought leader on labor force evolution. He speaks regularly on the subject of modernizing workforces and the role of contingent labor and has been a contributing writer to Forbes on the topic. Jeff holds a B.S. and an M.S. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.   You can learn more about Jeff on Twitter|LinkedIn   Book: The End of Jobs: The Rise of on Demand Workers and Agile Corporations, by Jeff Wald   The Birthday Rules: Critical Conversations to Have with Your Children (Ages 6-16), by Jeff Wald   The Future of Work Prize   Mentioned World Economic Forum : Preparing for the Future of Work   Resources   Do you think you might benefit from one-on-one branding and marketing consulting? If so, you might want to consider booking a Rent My Brain session.   During this one-hour, no-holds-barred consulting call, I promise to get to the heart of your marketing, social media, PR branding, business development, or content marketing question.   The feedback I give is to the point and precise: you will walk away with actions and solutions. For more information or to book a session, contact me directly at karen@karenleland.com or visit Sterling Marketing Group.

Oliver Bell, CFO at Springbot On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Oliver about: His your journey into tech and finance over 15 years ago, with stints in companies like Google to Buddy Media, (acquired by Salesforce) to the SVP of Finance and Operations at Braze, prior to Oliver's current gig as the CFO at SpringBot. SpringBot — what the company does and what is it all about and why he decided to join the company. The experience leading up to the Buddy Media acquisition and exiting to Salesforce for $689M. We go behind the scenes to the months leading up to the acquisition discussing things that Salesforce did really well as an acquirer and what could they have done better. Lessons learned from Oliver's 4 years at Braze, leading 3 fundraising rounds, with $150M of total capital raised including Series E (Sept '18) at a $850M valuation. During Oliver's tenure, the company grew from 40 people and $5M ARR to 300 people. The biggest misconception about the finance function within a technology company. We close things off with a quickfire round: Your go to online resource for all things startup finance related Your favourite productivity hack Tech jargon that makes you cringe The best advise you've received One thing you don't leave the office before finishing At Springbot, Oliver oversees Finance, Legal, HR, and Revenue Operations. Prior to Springbot, Oliver spent four years leading Finance and Operations at Braze (formerly Appboy) leading the company through multiple funding rounds including its most recent $80M raise in September 2018 at a $850M valuation. Before Braze, Oliver led the Revenue Operations team at BuddyMedia which was purchased by Salesforce for close to $700M in 2012. Post acquisition, he spent about three years leading a variety of teams inside the Salesforce Marketing Cloud. A Boston native, Oliver graduated from Harvard College, where he also received his MBA. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/backbone/message

This week's episode of Social Media Week's Leads2Scale podcast features Jeff Ragovin, Chief Growth Officer and Investor at Social Native, the #1 Platform for high performing branded content on demand. During the conversation, Jeff discussed his early work at Acxiom and Acronym and the leap he made into the startup world with Mike Lazerow and Buddy Media, the early days of getting Buddy Media off the ground and how ended up selling to Salesforce for $800M, and his latest venture, Social Native and how they are enabling brands like Crocs and Intel to deliver UGC driven campaigns. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to Leads2Scale on your favorite podcasting app! This episode is brought to you by Social Media Week New York 2019! (Use code: Leads2Scale to save 15% on your pass!) Follow Toby and Social Media Week! @tobyd & @socialmediaweek on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Sales Reinvented Podcast Episode 123: Dan Reich. Dan is the Co-Founder and CEO at Troops which is an artificially intelligent assistant for sales and customer teams which integrates seamlessly into salesforce.com and Slack. Dan is a contributing writer for Forbes and serial entrepreneur, where his last software company was ultimately acquired by Buddy Media and then Salesforce. Dan was a NYC Venture Fellow in 2016 and was named as Business Insider as one of the top 100 technology leaders in NYC.

Dan Reich is the Founder & CEO @ Troops.ai, the startup that is the ultimate slackbot for sales teams. To date, Dan has raised over $17m in VC funding with Troops from many friends of the show including Felicis Ventures, Founder Collective, First Round, Nextview, Susa Ventures and even Slack. As for Dan, he is also the Co-Founder and President of TULA, a private equity backed health and beauty business that has developed the world's first line of probiotic skincare products. Before that, Dan was a Co-Founder of Spinback (acquired by Buddy Media in May 2011, then acquired by Salesforce in June 2012). In Today’s Episode We Discuss: How Dan made his way into the world of SaaS with the founding of Spinback? How that led to his founding of the ultimate slackbot for sales teams in Troops? What does Dan really mean when he says “account based collaboration”? What is this a transition from? In terms of tracking and analysis, how does this change when making the move from tracking individual performance to team performance around an account? What can one do to actively implement this? What is key to a successful transition to this style of selling? What does Dan mean when he says, “sales teams are not working together the way we think they are”? What can sales leaders do to actively ensure their sales team is acting in unison? Where do many sales leaders go wrong here? How does Dan think about post mortems when an account is lost or won? How does Dan prevent dips in morale when sharing the loss of a sale? With scaling orgs, siloes are often created, why does Dan think many silos come into existence? At what stage does Dan really see them become a problem and cracks in the org begin to show? What can leaders do to instantly reduce the effect of silos? How does Dan think about controlling the noise to action ratio with the firehose of data at our disposal today? Dan’s 60 Second SaaStr: What does Dan know now that he wishes he had known at the beginning? What is the right time to train your sales team? The right way to structure sales comp plans? Read the full transcript on our blog. If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here: Jason Lemkin Harry Stebbings SaaStr Dan Reich

Jeff Richards is Managing Partner @ GGV Capital, one of the leading venture firms of the last decade with a portfolio including the likes of Alibaba, Slack, Square, Xiaomi, Peloton, OpenDoor, just to name a few. As for Jeff, he sits on the board of or is an observer at BigCommerce, Brightwheel, Gladly, Lambda School, Namely and Tile just to name a few. Jeff also led GGV’s investments in Buddy Media (acquired by Salesforce), HotelTonight, Flipboard and has been actively involved in GGV’s investments in Opendoor, Domo, Square and Wish. Prior to joining GGV, Jeff founded two software companies: R4 (acquired by VeriSign), and QuantumShift, backed by Texas Pacific Group (TPG). In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Jeff made his way into the world of VC with GGV from founding and scaling 2 software companies in the 90s? What were Jeff's 2 biggest takeaways from having the company he founded raise over $100m then go to $0 in the crash? 2.) How does Jeff approach and see the transition from founder to CEO today? When does this transition need to occur? How do first-time founders differ compared to experienced serial entrepreneurs when it comes to building their teams? Where do they often struggle or make mistakes? What advice does Jeff offer them? 3.) Jeff has previously said, "do not raise for the highest valuation", what is his thinking here? What specific examples does Jeff have of why it can hurt and damage both the founder and the company? How does Jeff think about his own price sensitivity today? How does he determine when a stretch is a stretch too far? From backing the likes of Alibaba, Xiaomi and Didi, what were his biggest takeaways when it came to price? 4.) Decision-making is one of the only products venture has, how does Jeff and GGV approach decision-making as a firm today? Being a slightly later stage firm, how do they think about reserve allocation? What does the re-investment decision-making process look like? How does GGV think about attribution as a firm today? What are the benefits? 5.) What advice would Jeff give to an individual that has just entered VC? What does Jeff know now that he wishes he had known at the beginning? How does Jeff think about what it takes to be a truly special board member? What one or two things can a board member do to move the needle in their relationship with their founder? Items Mentioned In Today’s Show: Jeff’s Fave Book: In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington Jeff’s Most Recent Investment: Lambda School, Electric As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Jeff on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.

Dan Reich is the Founder & CEO @ Troops.ai, the startup that is the ultimate slackbot for sales teams. To date, Dan has raised over $17m in VC funding with Troops from many friends of the show including Felicis Ventures, Founder Collective, First Round, Nextview, Susa Ventures and even Slack. As for Dan, he is also the Co-Founder and President of TULA, a private equity backed health and beauty business that has developed the world's first line of probiotic skincare products. Before that, Dan was a Co-Founder of Spinback (acquired by Buddy Media in May 2011, then acquired by Salesforce in June 2012). In Today’s Episode We Discuss: How Dan made his way into the world of SaaS with the founding of Spinback? How that led to his founding of the ultimate slackbot for sales teams in Troops? How the experience with Spinback affected his operating mindset with Troops today? Why does Dan believe that the current modelling of org charts is fundamentally upside down? How does Dan think about when is the right time to insert the first level of managers? What should one look for in those managers? Does Dan believe you have to hire “logo players” from big firms at some point in the journey? Why does Dan believe that your customer success has to be obsessed with asking why? Taking a step back, how does Dan think about when the right time is to hire your first CS rep? How has Dan seen the best companies do post mortem analysis on churn? What can be done to ensure seamless communications between product and customer success teams? Dan has a knack for knowing where the puck is going with large enterprises before anyone else. How? What does this ideation process look like? Once the idea has been created, what does Dan believe is crucial to the success of partnering with the behemoths of Salesforce and Slack? How can startups navigate the internal politics of these mega enterprises? How can they use this exercise to not only understand the politics themselves but also build credibility and trust with the organisations once inside? Where does Dan see most founders going wrong both in introductions to enterprise and then building trust once inside? Dan’s 60 Second SaaStr: What does Dan know now that he wishes he had known at the beginning? What is Dan’s favourite story of hustle? Why that one? Who does Dan believe is killing it in the world of SaaS today? Read the full transcript on our blog. If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here: Jason Lemkin Harry Stebbings SaaStr Dan Reich  

How do you develop young leaders and entrepreneurs in this fast-paced world? What is the power of investing and building multi-million dollar companies? Jeff Richards sits down with Christopher Lochhead to answer these questions and discuss why it's smart to invest in China and Silicon Valley. "There's 7.3 billion people in the world. There's only 300 million in the US. So if your market opportunity is 300 million, you're missing the other 95% of the world." - Jeff Richards Three Things We Learned It's tough for kids these days Because kids have access to social media at an early age, they have a broader preview of the world out there compared to generations past. While it's very encouraging for them to find ways to become successful apart from the traditional get-educated-land-a-job scheme, being exposed to these things as a teenager can be a pitfall. They're hit with the pressure to be creative, innovative, and get together with the right crowd early, existential crises adults back then would often encounter not until after college. Pace of play nowadays is fast Technological advancements have made it quicker to build businesses and make them successful. However, with this quick pacing comes the added pressure that trickles down to entrepreneurs who are throwing so much into the fire in very little time in order to keep up. They have no time to catch a break, and risk many other aspects of their lives because of the swift turnover of things in the tech industry. We need to go back to building brick by brick The satisfaction of building a product with a great foundation springing from doing it right can't be undermined. People need to learn how to build businesses brick by brick, painstaking piece by painstaking piece. We need to slow down and revel the process of becoming successful. So much is going on in the tech world right now that people are compelled to constantly pit themselves into the fray. We must pause and zoom out of the small corner of the world that we're building in order to gain true insights of the world at large. If we're not trying to glean and learn as much as we can, then all our efforts and money will easily go up in smoke. Bio / Story:  Jeff Richards  A Managing Partner at GGV Capital, Jeff joined the firm in 2008 after spending 13 years as an entrepreneur and operating executive in the US and Asia. Prior to joining GGV, Jeff founded two venture-backed companies, one a success and one a “huge failure” in his own words – “I learned a lot.”   His background as an entrepreneur gives him a unique perspective on the challenges of starting and running a venture-backed company, and he works closely with the GGV Talent team on Founders+Leaders.  Jeff focuses on the Software and Internet sectors, and currently sits on the boards of or is a board observer at BigCommerce, one of the top ecommerce software platforms, Boxed, a rising star in the ecommerce space, Brightwheel, the leading SaaS provider for the early education vertical, Gladly, a next generation SaaS platform for customer care, Percolate, a leading marketing SaaS platform for global brands,PlushCare, a mobile platform for consumer healthcare, Reebonz, Southeast Asia's leader in luxury ecommerce, Slice, a market network for the pizza industry, and Tile, the platform for location. Jeff also led GGV's investments in Appirio (acquired in 2016 by Wipro), BlueKai (acquired in 2014 by Oracle), Buddy Media (acquired in 2012 by Salesforce), Citrus Lane (acquired in 2014 by Care.com), Evolv (acquired in 2014 by Cornerstone OnDemand), Flipboard, HotelTonight, ShiftGig, Voicera and Zylo, and has been actively involved in GGV's investments in Domo, OpenDoor, Square and Wish.  Jeff is a frequent guest on CNBC and often writes on topics like startup management and leadership, venture-backed IPOs and shifts in tech trends across the US and China.  Before GGV  Prior to joining GGV, Jeff founded two software companies: R4,

The message of Your New Prime is about how to get out of complacency in middle age and how to start thriving forward in life. So often we get to our 40s and  50s and we think that this is it and we can't change anything. However, my message is that it doesn't have to be like that. As you age, your focus should be about thriving, not complacency. - Craig Cooper How can men continue to perform after they've reached their physical peak? JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP | REVIEW THIS PODCAST 20% OFF ORGANIFI - USE CODE: WELLNESSFORCE In Wellness Force Radio episode 166, Author, Venture Capitalist, TV Host, and Advocate for 40+ Men’s Health, Craig Cooper, join us to talk about his latest book, Your New Prime. As you listen to Craig, he will teach you how to naturally find your new prime, rekindle your physical relationship with your partner, get healthy and start to thrive. In this episode, we dive deep into men's health and wellness in order to help them learn how they can continue to perform at their best capacity for life. Your New Prime By Craig Cooper Your New Prime by Craig Cooper - Feel great and perform at your best in the boardroom, weight room, bedroom, and beyond with this indispensable health and wellness guide: Your New Prime debunks current thinking about men’s health and shows how every man can continue to operate at his peak at any age. Getting older may be inevitable, but in Your New Prime, serial entrepreneur and men’s health expert, Craig Cooper, shows men that they don’t have to accept the “natural” aging process. Based on the latest scientific research and Cooper’s personal experience warding off diabetes, preventing cancer, and naturally increasing his own testosterone, Your New Prime is a comprehensive guide to the questions every man has as he ages. Tailored specifically for the “New Primers,” men forty years old and up, the book covers a wide range of vital topics—from improving sexual health and the impact of decreasing testosterone to proper nutrition, preventing memory loss, surviving the “mid-life crisis,” and achieving peak physical fitness. Your New Prime provides an indispensable 30-day program designed to help you lose weight, boost energy, and transform eating habits. Divided into easy-to-navigate sections, the book also contains essential information about how to influence “epigenetic” traits and reverse the effects of aging, while quizzes, audits, charts, tables, and callouts help readers determine and address their specific personal needs. Practical, honest, and vitally informative, Your New Prime details a lifelong strategy for maximum health—and will help any man perform his best, no matter what his age. Listen To Episode 166 As Craig Cooper Uncovers: His multiple health scares and bouts of inflammation growing up and how he didn't allow that to hold him back from living a healthy life. How he became so passionate about men's health and helping others with their own wellness struggles. Why prostate cancer shouldn't be considered an "old man's disease." Why there's not a huge focus on men's health compared to women's health in the news or TV Media in the US in comparison to other countries like Australia. How to recreate intimacy with your partner and reactivate your physical relationship. Why pills, gels, and patches that promise to fix libido and raise testosterone levels will end up doing more harm than good in the long end. How the chemicals in fragrance, deodorant, and shampoos can negatively affect our bodies and lead to disease. The Porny Dilemma - how the amount of porn that people are watching is affecting their brains and relationships. How the digital age and online dating is affecting the new generation's relationships and their commitment to other people. Why having a tribe is so vital as we age towards our 50s and 60s. How social interactions and connections in the US compare to other countries where there's much more evidence that people have a tribe. His thoughts on intermittent fasting and how it can help increase testosterone production. The vital importance of sleep for a consistent and increased amount of testosterone levels as well as weight loss. How to fast while still keeping up with your caloric intake and maintaining enough muscle mass The proper way to measure for pre-diabetes and how to test your blood sugar levels. Why blood sugar is an important indicator for illnesses later on in life such as dementia. The Morning Syndrome when your body floods your blood with insulin and why you have to wait 45 minutes to an hour after you wake up to measure your insulin levels. Why he chose to be on the board for the Cognitive Health Institute and why it's so important for him. Why Alzheimer's is now referred to as Type 3 Diabetes and how healthy, fatty foods are so vital for the brain-gut connection. How turmeric and the Ketogenic Diet can help us be healthy and ward off disease, illness, and inflammation. Power Quotes From The Show “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” - Calvin Coolidge "As we age, our focus on life changes and we strive to stay in the game. Most of our injuries happen from silly accidents like tripping over a shoelace or losing our balance and falling. It's so important that we focus on the ability to put ourselves in a physical condition that allows us to participate in life at a certain level." - Craig Cooper "We're victims of the media telling us that our low energy, joint pain, and low libido is a natural part of aging that can be fixed with a pill or gel. Fortunately, it doesn't have to be that way. There's a massive amount of lifestyle changes that you can make which can get you back on track again." - Craig Cooper "Anything that activates better heart health will also activate better sexual health. For nutrition in general, the Mediterranean diet is probably the best diet for that. Too much or too little of anything can be counterproductive. Specifically, the amount of protein, fats, carbohydrates can affect sexual health and testosterone." - Craig Cooper "The two main naturopathic prescriptions for natural testosterone production are sleep and weight loss. Every single study supports men getting more sleep; at least seven hours every night. If you're ten pounds overweight, you'll get a 10% increase in testosterone once you lose the weight."  - Craig Cooper Links From Today's Show: Craig Cooper  Facebook  Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Your New Prime Official Website Your New Prime by Craig Cooper The New Prime Blog Prostate.net Cognitive Health Institute What APOE Means For Your Health Loneliness And Social Isolation Could Be Deadlier Than Obesity 10 Foods To Boost Nitric Oxide The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey Tim Ferriss' 30-Day Challenge: No Booze, No Masturbating (NOBNOM) Dr. Jason Fung and Intensive Dietary Management 23andMe Promethease Organifi Green Juice WFR 163 CES with Justin Andrews and Josh Trent WFR 137 Tim Brown of IntelliSkin WFR 123 Aubrey Marcus WFR 084 Dr. David Perlmutter About Craig Cooper Craig Cooper is a 54-year-old serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author, and TV host. He was the co-founder of Boost Mobile (USA), the Managing Director and Head of Venture Capital at Saban Ventures, and a founding Partner in the Softbank Capital Technology Fund. His venture capital funds together have raised over 800M and were early investors in many leading digital media companies including The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, xAD, Associated Content, and Buddy Media. He was the co-host of the CNBC outdoor investment show “Adventure Capitalists” and is the Founder of CooperativeHealth, a digital media company focused on men’s health. He also recently led the strategic development and restructuring of Lionsgate Entertainment’s fitness and wellness media group. He is the Managing Partner of The Action Fund and is a board member of IQ Medical Corporation, which develops therapeutic products for foot and ankle disorders. He is also on the advisory board of the Cognitive Health Institute which focuses on developing stem cell therapies for Alzheimer’s and other cognitive diseases. He is a contributing expert on men’s health to The Huffington Post as well as a Special Advisor to ROAR and ROAR Asia Pacific. He is also on the advisory board of Men’s Health magazine in both the USA and Australia and is an “Ambassador” for both the global men’s health foundation – “Movember” and 2XU performance sportswear. He is also a “brand evangelist” for OuterKnown and The North Face. Get More Wellness In Your Life Join the WFR Community on facebook Send Josh Trent a personal message Tweet me on Twitter: Send us a fun tweet (or a what's up) Comment on the Facebook page Sign up to get an email alert whenever we release a new episode Support This Podcast Leave a 5 star review on iTunes Share this episode with someone you care about Contact Wellness Force Radio for podcast sponsorship and partnership opportunities Rate & Review Wellness Force ---> REVIEW THE PODCAST Ask A Live Question For The Next Episode ---> Click here to leave a voicemail directly to Josh Trent to be read live on the air.  You May Also Like These Episodes Food Freedom Forever With Melissa Hartwig Nir Eyal: Breaking Bad Habits, Technology Addiction, & Emotional Triggers Healthy, Happy & Harder To Kill w/ Steph Gaudreau of Stupid Easy Paleo Beyond Meditation: How To Get A Better Brain With Ariel Garten Living A Healthy Lifestyle In A Modern World With Dan Pardi Creating A Life Worth Living With Michael Strasner Join the Wellness Force Newsletter: www.wellnessforce.com/news Don't miss next week's show: Subscribe and stay updated Did you like this show on Ketosis? Rate and review Wellness Force on iTunes You read all the way to the bottom? That's what I call love! Write to me and let me know what you'd like to have to get more wellness in your life.

Kass is a mom first and foremost, a businesswoman, a wife, and a friend. She mentioned it’s not easy to be all those things at once. For Kass, having it all means not going crazy while having kids and trying to work outside the home. Her philosophy has always been that she was never balanced. If she had balance or was doing it all, it meant she would be doing a lot of things not very well or one thing really well.

Dan Reich is CEO & Co-Founder of Troops. Dan has started and been involved with companies that have collectively raised over $100M in venture capital and have exited for close to $1B in M&A, including companies like Buddy Media, Spinback and Lotame. As a result, he has extensive experience in startups, technology, business operations, financing, management, and scaling large teams. In this episode we dive into recruiting his team, the processes they’ve built out to scale, his take on product. www.troops.ai — Credits — This episode of Giants & Crowns is hosted and produced by Nsi Obotetukudo. Editing by Duncan Gerow, Joe Fuller, and Nsi Obotetukudo. Special thanks to Isabelle Thenor-Louis, Joan De Jesus, Sunny Ou, Hannah Anokye, & Kiera McBride. — Sponsors — www.breather.com www.claralabs.com — Giants & Crowns — www.giantsandcrowns.com www.instagram.com/giantsandcrowns The Giants & Crowns Podcast is an interview driven series focused on unearthing stories from industry/cultural leaders while unpacking their learned lessons involving people, product, and process.

Welcome to episode #553 of Six Pixels Of Separation - The Mirum Podcast.  Here it is: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Mirum Podcast - Episode #553 - Host: Mitch Joel. James Altucher is one of the best non-fiction writers that I know. He writes quality. He writes quantity. He has a lot of material. He is a trader, investor, writer, and entrepreneur. His bio is an impressive one. He was an investor in Buddy Media (which sold to Salesforce for about $800 million) as well as bitly. His latest book is called, Reinvent Yourself, and it's a great read. He's written over 15 other books (most of them are bestsellers). He has a podcast that is insanely popular called, The James Altucher Show. Also, if you're not following his writing, The Altucher Confidential, you don't know what you're missing. Last years, James sold everything he had in New York City and became a true digital nomad and minimalist. He's got some opinions on a lot of different topics. Enjoy the conversation...  Running time: 1:04:16. Hello from beautiful Montreal. Subscribe over at iTunes. Please visit and leave comments on the blog - Six Pixels of Separation. Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook. or you can connect on LinkedIn. ...or on twitter. Six Pixels of Separation the book is now available. CTRL ALT Delete is now available too! Here is my conversation with James Altucher. Reinvent Yourself. He's written over 15 other books. The Altucher Confidential. The James Altucher Show. Follow James on Quora. Follow James on Twitter. This week's music: David Usher 'St. Lawrence River'. Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Mirum Podcast - Episode #553 - Host: Mitch Joel. Tags: advertising advertising podcast audio bitly blog blogging brand branding buddy media business blog business book business podcast business thinker david usher digital marketing digital marketing agency digital marketing blog digital nomad facebook google itunes j walter thompson james altucher jwt leadership podcast management podcast marketing marketing blog marketing podcast minimalism mirum mirum agency mirum agency blog mirum blog mirum podcast reinvent yourself salesforce social media the altucher confidential the james altucher show twitter wpp

James Altucher is a hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, and author of one of USA Today’s 12 Best Business Books of All Time, Choose Yourself. He founded the site StockPickr and was an investor in Buddy Media, bit.ly, Ticketfly, and more. In this week’s episode, listen to Altucher’s advice to entrepreneurs, his missed investments, and the importance of strengthening your “idea muscle”.

John Somorjai is Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and head of Salesforce Ventures. Salesforce has over 3,000 partners and 150+ enterprise cloud and SaaS companies in their current investment portfolio. They’ve also had 30+ exits and five IPOs (on top of the 150!) You can look up more about Salesforce, its acquisitions, and investments at Salesforce.com. They’re @Salesforce on twitter, but also have various other handles including @SalesforceVC, and @MarketingCloud. But you can find John at @jsomorjai on twitter. He’s extremely smart and definitely worth a follow, so give him a shout. One of the things we didn’t get to discuss in this interview is that Somorjai has his JD from the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley. I think that’s interesting context for how he got to where he is at Salesforce and how he might think in evaluating startup companies for potential investment. He was a senior director of corporate development at Oracle for almost 5 years before taking on a VP of Business Development role at Ingenio, a high growth company that was eventually acquired by AT&T. Somorjai then joined forces with Marc Benioff at Salesforce, and since 2005, John has led the evaluation, deal execution and integration for all mergers and acquisitions, and investments at Salesforce. His team has helped bring the company into insane growth areas through acquisitions including Demandware, Exact Target, Radian6, Buddy Media, Heroku, the list goes on and on…. Here’s what we discuss in this episode with John Somorjai EVP at Salesforce and Salesforce Ventures: 1.) How John progressed through his career to eventually lead investments with Salesforce Ventures 2.) How Salesforce investment has helped nurture growth in the ecosystem of enterprise cloud 
companies. 
 3.) Lessons from Salesforce’s expansion into European markets, and how the set themselves apart from 
other Corporate VCs 4.) Why Salesforce embraces corporate philanthropy and the 1/1/1 model 
 5.) Key strategies Corporate VCs for potential investment and maximizing the opportunities they offer 6.) What makes an attractive investment for a Corporate VC Download show notes and transcripts at www.powderkeg.co This episode of Powder Keg is brought to you by DeveloperTown. If you’re a business leader trying to turn a great idea into a product with traction, this is for you. DeveloperTown works with clients ranging from entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 companies who want to build and launch an app or digital product. They’re able to take the process they use with early stage companies to help big companies move like a startup. So if you have an idea for a web or mobile app, or need help identifying the great ideas within your company, go to developertown.com/powderkeg. Thanks again to everyone who has shared an episode of Powderkeg, subscribed to us on iTunes, or left us a review. It’s the only way we’re going to spread this message and reach new people and we could do it without you. We’re coming out with new episodes every Tuesday, so make sure you subscribe on iTunes or at powederkeg.co/itunes

Minter Dialogue Episode #181 — This interview is with Chris Dessi, founder and CEO of Silverback Social, based out of New York. He is also the founder of the Westchester Digital Summit, an author and a frequent tv commentator and keynote speaker. In this conversation, we talk about Chris’ inspirations and convictions, how C-suite executives should better manage their personal brand, social media KPI as well as how films use social media and influencer marketing. A stimulating discussion. Meanwhile, you can comment and find the show notes on myndset.com where you can also sign up for my weekly newsletter. Or you can follow me on Twitter on @mdial. And, if you liked the podcast, please take a moment of your precious time to go over to iTunes to rate the podcast.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/minterdial)

I have given this episode a huuuge write-up as it’s such a vital topic. So if you don’t want to read 2,500 words, listen instead Let’s simplify a Fintech’s journey into three schematic stages: Stage 1:  “turning an idea into a product” Stage 2:  “turning a product into a business” Stage 3:  “turning a business into a grown-up business” (IPOs, M&As etc) In recent months I have come to see as London Fintech’s greatest strength in-depth right now as Stage 1. We could call this a Fintech-Startup … building your plane, taxiing to the runway, then accelerating down the runway and trying to get the wheels off the ground (clients). Stage 2 is the bleeding edge in London which many are struggling with. The Fintech-Scaleup, going beyond a handful of early-adopters, Crossing the Chasm to use Geoffrey Moore’s famous title. Stage 3 is a rarefied level where very few are at (generally the ones with eight figure funding). You might perhaps call this moving from being “a Fintech” to a “Mature Business in the FS sector” – they gradually start looking, feeling and acting more like young corporates.  They may IPO, they may remain private, they may sell themselves to an incumbent – but they are recognisably a mature business. Historically a successful journey from inception to IPO/exit takes up to a decade. If you look at UK Stage 3s who aren’t at the exit yet eg Zopa was founded in ’05, Funding Circle in ’10, Crowdcube in ’10, Transferwise in ’11. The bleeding edge phase changes of Stages 2 (“gas to liquid”?) and 3 (“liquid to solid”?) generally require accessing two elements – Capital Markets and Savoir Faire. It is the relative lack of these two factors perhaps that is proving a real “invisible barrier” for many London Fintech Startups and Scaleups right now. In this episode we discuss why this is the case in London. How did it come about? What can we learn from the US? What advantages do we have under our nose? Quite a lot for one episode! RICHARD GOOLD I am extremely fortunate to be joined in this episode to discuss these issues by a man who has spent his whole career to date working with tech companies, and now Fintech companies, at all of the above three stages. Richard Goold is a partner at international lawyers Wragge Lawrence Graham who are the premier Fintech lawyers in London (they have the largest IPO practice on AIM for example). Richard co-chairs the firm’s global Tech Sector Group which comprises 125 lawyers & travels a lot to San Francisco, New York and Boston. He works with all stages of Fintechs from very early Stage 1 (who make use of the firms Jumpstart platform – a suite of free advice and documents) through to nine-figure deals for Stage 3s. He started his career at the firm working with 3i on over 30 transactions in the days when 3i was the biggest investor in technology in Europe.  Thus he has a deep historical understanding about why we are where we are right now. We have a wide-ranging conversation – but for the purposes of a summary I shall gather into “London’s (many) Advantages” and “London’s Four Challenges” (Capital Markets – Funding Gap, Capital Markets – AIM, Savoir Faire, and Savoir what Not to Faire). LONDON PROS “Amazing things are happening here” … “Energy and enthusiasm in the tech ecosystem and Fintech ecosystem specifically is amazing. It’s unlike anything I have seen in any part of the UK economy before” “In Fintech in particular, we have better cornerstones than even the US” Regulatory framework – lighter/better red tape in many cases than elsewhere Law So many global banks and retail banks have HQ or innovation centres or technical centres here Breadth and depth of Financial Services – eg Lloyd’s insurance market world-beating Lots of folks have left mainstream firms and want to do their own things and know how to tap into the Square Mile/Canary Wharf Tech ecosystem here, high profile political support Entrepreneurial spirit Immigration Liberal, cosmopolitan Attracts international business, an international audience. Funding: Seed funding is readily accessible – either through incubators/accelerators or (not discussed explicitly) as folks exit Financial Services having built up significant personal funds to start their own startup without external capital. EIS/SEIS are tax advantageous for investors so raising £150k upwards is very much facilitated LONDON CHALLENGES (1st of 4) CAPITAL MARKETS – THE FUNDING GAP 3i was set up after the 2nd World War to help build the SME economy and grew into Europe’s largest investor in technology. It became a combination of a very large buyout house, growth capital house and VC house. The stockmarket didn’t particularly value the mix. The VC arm was well run (albeit lowest returns of the three businesses). This institutional experience is identical to Michael Nulty’s own empirical experience and investment lessons learned discussed in the prior episode – LFP007 – namely that growth capital and buyouts offer the best and safest returns.  This is a vital fact to which I shall return in the 3rd challenge below. Broadening the dataset out beyond 3i and my last guest Richard quotes an investment banker whose research into European VC returns over the past 15yrs showed a median return of just over 1% [cf growth capital, buyout which can be ~15-20% IRR]. Due to these poor historic VC returns, 3i pulled out and no-one has back-filled.  In contrast to an incredibly diversified VC community in the US, in Europe the list only runs to about ten VCs at which point funders are then into the “super-angels”. US houses are beginning to come over here and invest (excess capital, excess competition for investments in the US and attractive under-VC-ed European market). Furthermore when (and if…) returns pick up should see more money flowing into the sector from pension funds etc. Classically tech funding rounds look like: Seed: £0.5m-1m to build a product [MB: NB: many Fintechs are building their product for far less (“Fintech 10x cheaper than a decade ago”)] A Round: £1-3m in Europe [up to $10m in the US).  This is a key round as you are just starting to get traction. B-C rounds growth or expansion capital – scaling the business. Due to the historic performances outline above, the absolutely critical “A round” (my Stage 2) has become very difficult to get in Europe and it is the funding gap as Richard sees it. “Europe needs a big volume VC that puts money into a large amount of A rounds”. By contrast in the US market there is a lot of activity and froth at this level – so many VCs, so much capital.  Whilst fund-raising is never easy, in the US it is easier and you get VCs trading term sheets etc that you don’t see so much of in Europe. In passing in the UK the much-discussed “froth” is around Stage 1 “startups”/”products” (MB: and in the associated incubators/accelerators space)). LONDON CHALLENGES (2nd of 4) CAPITAL MARKETS – AIM “One of the problems with the UK tech scene generally but the Fintech scene specifically is that we haven’t had a properly functioning capital market for some time actually”. This looks like a problem for the “Stage 3s” rather than “Stage 2s”; however it is the lack of funds that flow from IPOs that feeds back into the funding gap challenge above and into the savoir faire challenge below. New York has pulled away from London in the tech space at least, due to some really good exits and a really well-functioning capital market in NASDAQ. Listen to the podcast to hear what Richard says about the background to this and how things are changing right now. For those of you who haven’t kept a close ear to the ground a flavour of the issue is that the Financial Times – of all newspapers – yesterday ran an article astonishingly entitled “The Muppet Market in Numbers” with a picture of Kermit the frog (!!).  It pointed out that a strategy of buying the ten biggest stocks on AIM and holding for one year would have lost money in 30 of the last 34mts. LONDON CHALLENGES (3rd of 4) – MORE SAVOIR FAIRE in FIN, TECH & BUSINESS This is vitally important.  Given the very poor historic European returns from VC it’s not just a question of (as time and time again one reads :rolls-eyes:) “more money being poured in” - if you pour water into a leaky bucket it just disappears. We must plug the holes in the bucket, we must change the dynamics of scale-up companies in order to make investing in them a better proposition.. a) What type of savoir-faire to be aimed at? We don’t drill into this in the episode but touch on it in passing – perhaps three types Fin, Tech, and Business. Fin in terms of those who have a deep domain expertise and knowledge of how the City, Wharf, Regulation etc really work. Right now there is a trickle from mainstream FS into Stage 1 Fintechs but this needs to mature into joining Stage 1s to help them become Stage 2s and Stage 3s (rather than just creating more Stage 1s). Re Tech and Business – these are folks who have built successful businesses, exited and remain within the sector (as happens in the US eg Buddy Media guy, $700m deal, set up own VC fund (as well as running division of Salesforce)). b) What is the savoir faire aimed at?  What I call “creating a 360 degree company” –  the “180 degrees above the waterline” Product-Marketing-Sales-Client development to the 180 degrees “below the waterline” of infrastructural support for all the above-the-waterline items. [And to go one stage further looking beyond one’s 360 degree company as per Michael Nulty’s LFP007 insights into what sinks otherwise good businesses]. Unless you get these building blocks right you can’t build a Seed company (Stage 1) to an A company (Stage 2) or even if you get the A round you can’t build a global beating company (Stage 3). This savoir faire needs to come to Fintechs in terms of advisers, mentoring, non-execs, in any form – but for sure they need it.  There are some first-rate, very experienced, FS folk, Tech folk, and Business folk out there in the sector but (my feeling) is that across the whole sector they are very much in the minority. LONDON CHALLENGES (4th of 4) – SAVOIR WHAT NOT TO FAIRE (groan!) If savoir faire is what we need to add to the recipe then this section is things we need to take out of the recipe. The recipe for “making Instagram” will differ from “making a fintech” (and there is huge range of types and sub-recipes there) “making a biotech”. Whilst what is missing is perhaps easier to spot, what is there and needs removing appears to be less so. a) I rarely see 360 degree companies in early Fintechs – indeed I even meet some who pride themselves on not being a 360 degree company :-O  One smart Fintech chap was convinced that this was “following the Silicon Valley model” – stick to your USP etc. An interesting if deceptively attractive argument. In “the Valley” with the value-add from the VCs, the relative ease of funding and the 360 degree components “lying around” that might work.  But not in London. This is a good example of too slavishly following the “Silicon” model.  London will never overtake anywhere by being a poor photocopy.  Rather we need to decide what to copy, what not to copy [hence points 3 & 4] and add that to the London Pros above for our own unique recipe. b) as per Richard and passim in prior LFP episodes, there are very different requirements across tech – consumer internet businesses require a different skillset and a different personality to a Fintech company [& also B2C vs B2B Fintechs].  London Fintech won’t be world-beating if we mis-apply consumer web business lessons that are inappropriate (see LFP005 for an “ultra-B2B” Fintech example which has very little in common at all with a Valley approach; ditto LFP002 on the banking side of their innovation marketplace). c) one of my hobby horses, as I have commented in prior episodes, is that in the early stage in London, the explosion of incubators, accelerators and the like can be very juvenile - ping-pong tables, bean bags et al (I even went somewhere this week where we were asked to give our feedback by writing on the wall (?!?) – ooh graffiti how cool (…not)).  As John Shaw, Head of Innovation at Direct Line (LFP006) says, it is a mistake to equate innovation with being childish. d) Finance is a mature, highly-regulated industry – you need deep domain expertise.  You also need to be trusted with people’s money (no easy matter) – you need perhaps to look more like bankers or lawyers than in other tech sectors (eg MediaTech perhaps).  Why hasn’t Transferwise hoovered up all retail currency exchanges as it is 10x cheaper? – as they are not yet trusted as much as existing banks (who also happen to be insured).  Furthermore the “360 degree Fintech building blocks” are more complicated and more costly eg regulatory capital, regulator engagement. e) [LATER ADDITION] one needs to track closely the research on US tech/VC/ecosystem data (and not just channel HBO Silicon Valley :-D).  It’s easy to get sucked into the propaganda/image/spin in our PR-world and not drill down into the actuality (often the data shows that the US model is not as succesful as one might think). Notable recent examples of drilling to the real bedrock are Diane Mulcahy’s excellent Harvard Business Review article “Venture Capitalists Get Paid Well to Lose Money” which points out the poor US VC returns over the past decade, their minimal “skin in the game”, high fees and (ironic this one) a lack of innovation in the VC sector; TechCrunch “Corporate Accelerators are an Oxymoron” and Cohen/Hochberg’s fascinating Seedrankings research on accelerator performance (pdf here, wmv presentation) which is definitely under-reported (& probably under-read :-!) on the UK scene (for example the average participant in the average (US) accelerator program would not recommend to a friend (!); although the best get great approval ratings). THE FUTURE OF LONDON FINTECH If the right things fall into place we could pull away from New York in 3 to 4 yrs time. It doesn’t need a lot of government intervention, but there is a role for government in making sure we keep red tape low, keep regulation relatively light, making sure the UK is a good place to do business and keeping the tax regime benign. In a world where capital is very mobile the more we “upgrade” London Fintech – the more money will flow here and oil the engine and the more prosperity and innovation will be created. Both Richard and I, coming from divergent backgrounds and exposures to Fintech, both agree that London has the opportunity to be world-beating in Fintech. However in order to do this we need more open debate and recognition of issues involved in upgrading “London Fintech 2014″ to “London Fintech 2015″… I hope this episode and this write-up stimulates that debate.

Welcome to episode #425 of Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast.I got a strange email from James Altucher a while back. It was all about stand-up comedy. He was following my blog (which, kind of made me want to tidy the place up a little bit after knowing that), and he could tell that I am both a fan of standup comedy, and a student of the mechanics behind it. I love everything from how comedians develop jokes, to their biographies to documentaries about the art form, and even watching/listening to them being interviewed (yes, big fan of both Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee and Marc Maron's WTF Podcast). If you don't know James, he is a trader, investor, writer, and entrepreneur. His bio is an impressive one. He's an investor in Buddy Media (which sold to Salesforce.com for about $800 million) as well as bitly. His latest book is called, The Power Of No, and it's a great read. Also, if you're not following his blog, The Altucher Confidential, you don't know what you're missing. James and I begun a dialogue about how important understanding standup comedy can be for business success. And, after several email exchanges and back and forths, I convinced him to come on the show to discuss just how important standup comedy can be for business success. The point is that neither of us are comedians (we wouldn't even claim to be funny), but understanding and appreciating standup comedy is probably something that everyone in business should study, because we both feel that it was an important factor in our professional journeys. Enjoy the conversation...  Here it is: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast - Episode #425 - Host: Mitch Joel. Running time: 1:02:03. Please send in questions, comments, suggestions - mitch@twistimage.com. Hello from Beautiful Montreal. Subscribe over at iTunes. Please visit and leave comments on the Blog - Six Pixels of Separation. Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook. or you can connect on LinkedIn. ...or on twitter.  Six Pixels of Separation the book is now available. CTRL ALT Delete is now available too! In conversation with James Altucher. The Power Of No. Follow James on Twitter. This week's music: David Usher 'St. Lawrence River'. Get David's song for free here: Artists For Amnesty. Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast - Episode #425 - Host: Mitch Joel. Tags: advertising podcast bitly blog blogging brand buddy media business book business podcast comedian comedians in cars getting coffee comedy david usher digital marketing facebook google itunes james altucher marc maron marketing podcast salesforce standup comedy the altucher confidential the power of no twitter wtf podcast

In the first episode of Breaking the Mold, serial entrepreneur Michael Lazerow joins Dan and Evan to talk about how he founded and sold his companies — and how he doesn't just balance work and life, he combines them. Lazerow and wife Kass founded Golf.com (sold to Time Inc) and Buddy Media (sold to Salesforce.com for $800 million in 2012) and is now the CMO of Salesforce Marketing Cloud.To kick off the show, the Roth Brothers dig into what it means that Amazon has hired the USPS to do Sunday delivery. Is this the return of Kozmo.com, and should your corner store give up or team up?Don't forget to comment on the show and follow us at @BTMShow.

Welcome to episode #366 of Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast. If you lost ten million dollars, would you make the same mistake twice? Better question: would you take the advice of someone who lost more than ten million dollars on more than one occasion? Before answering any of these questions, I am going to encourage you to take a listen to this chat with James Altucher. Altucher is a trader, investor, writer, and entrepreneur. His bio is an impressive one. He's an investor in Buddy Media (which sold to Salesforce.com for about $800 million) as well as bitly. His latest book is called, Choose Yourself!, and it's a great read. Also, if you're not following his blog, The Altucher Confidential, you don't know what you're missing. Enjoy the conversation... Here it is: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast - Episode #366 - Host: Mitch Joel. Running time: 53:37. Please send in questions, comments, suggestions - mitch@twistimage.com. Hello from Beautiful Montreal. Subscribe over at iTunes. Please visit and leave comments on the Blog - Six Pixels of Separation. Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook. or you can connect on LinkedIn. ...or on twitter.  Six Pixels of Separation the book is now available. CTRL ALT Delete is now available too! In conversation with James Altucher. Choose Yourself! Follow James on Twitter. This week's music: David Usher 'St. Lawrence River'. Get David's song for free here: Artists For Amnesty. Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast - Episode #366 - Host: Mitch Joel. Tags: advertising podcast bitly blog blogging brand business book business podcast choose yourself david usher digital marketing facebook itunes james altucher marketing podcast podcast podcasting salesforce the altucher confidential twitter

Rovio’s Angry Birds games were downloaded 30m times over Christmas, 8m on Christmas Day alone http://tnw.to/e0Tde Current TV becomes Al Jazeera America following acquisition, Al Gore joins ‘advisory board’ http://tnw.to/h0aCa Social news site BuzzFeed lands $19.3m from NEA, Buddy Media co-founders and prior backers http://tnw.to/k0Z1t Google’s Eric Schmidt is heading to cloistered, technologically-backward North Korea on a private trip http://tnw.to/m0ZKQ

Top 10 reasons to go to Dreamforce, biking for MS, Buddy Media is now official, Salesforce.com launches communities (coming in 2013) and Work.com sneaks out of the rumor mill.

Craig and Sean hop off a CNN article that describes social media automation. Is the social world becoming less social by the day? Is it a concern that organizations and companies that once utilized these as direct, organic lines to their customers are increasingly making their channels automated? Whether it is the twitter bots that have convinced some users that they are real or the scheduling of tweet, Obsessive Disruption believes the social world may be shifting to a more personalized, contextual world. A world where, perhaps, a virtual version of you resides corresponding with virtual and real people around the world. #techtalksfm to join the conversation and CraigKHall.com for further comments.

Using Chatter for project management, MVPs abound, Dreamforce 12 news and updates, Google buys Quickoffice, Salesforce "officially" buys Buddy Media and LinkedIn is hacked. CloudFocus App Picks of the Week.

The different types of Salesforce.com portals, the new updated and cool Google Chromebooks and is Buddy Media up on the block? Our CloudFocus Weekly App Picks.

The best shares aren't random.  There is a method behind the madness.   Prior to their acquisition by Salesforce.com, I spoke to Buddy Media director of communications Joe Ciarallo (@joeciarallo) about why some Facebook wall posts get likes and comments, while others get none?   When is the best time to post on social media,… The post How to Make a Facebook Posts Go Viral appeared first on Eric Schwartzman.

Rachel Weiss began at L'Oréal in 2007 working on the digital strategy for PureOlogy and Redken USA ('professional' brands that sell through the hairdresser channel and is, thus B2B2C). At the beginning of this year, Rachel was promoted to run the Digital Strategy and Interactive Marketing for L'Oreal USA's entire Professional Products Division. In this interview, we discuss the activities of Redken to see how they have actively sought to bring the offline community online and how their online strategy has contributed to propel Redken to be the number 1 in the US. Rachel is a real dynamo. Her insights and energy should inspire you!If you've got comments or questions you'd like to see answered, send your email or audio file to nminterdial@gmail.com; or you can find the show notes and comment on minterdial.com. If you liked the podcast, please take a moment to rate/review the show on RateThisPodcast. Otherwise, you can find me @mdial on Twitter.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/minterdial)

Michael is currently the chairman and CEO of Buddy Media, Inc., a New York-based company that is a leading developer of applications for social media sites, including Facebook and MySpace. We will be discussing Social Math, Digital Media & his recent stop at the Bonnaroo Music Festival

Michael is currently the chairman and CEO of Buddy Media, Inc., a New York-based company that is a leading developer of applications for social media sites, including Facebook and MySpace. We will be discussing Social Math, Digital Media & his recent stop at the Bonnaroo Music Festival

Fyllo with Chief Commercial officer Jeff Ragovin, today on Grassroots Marketing only on Cannabis Radio.Tech pioneer and industry veteran, Jeff Ragovin has a proven track record of leading and scaling technology platforms. Co-founder of Buddy Media, Ragovin played a central role in guiding the company from start-up to the largest enterprise social marketing software in the world. Founded in 2007, Buddy Media empowered brands and agencies with a SaaS platform to organize and control their social marketing programs globally. Buddy Media enabled companies to publish content, place and optimize social ads, and measure the effectiveness of social marketing programs. Salesforce acquired Buddy Media in 2012 for $745M, making it one of the largest tech exits in NY history at the time. At Salesforce, Ragovin served as the Chief Strategy Officer. Today, Jeff is the Chief Commercial Officer at Fyllo. Fyllo is leveling the playing field for cannabis companies with the Fyllo Compliance Cloud, a suite of enterprise-grade software and services powered by RegsTechnology, the largest database of cannabis laws and regulations at the federal, state and local level. We deliver advanced data, media, and compliance solutions that are built for the complexities of the cannabis industry today. From local dispensaries to large MSOs and traditional CPG companies, ambitious cannabis brands and industry professionals choose Fyllo as their partner to go bigger and grow faster with trust and confidence in compliance. Jeff is a sought after speaker sharing his experiences and insights at leading industry events worldwide including: SXSW, CES, Digital Hollywood, Internet Week, Social Media Week, Dreamforce, MasterClass Series, Forbes, Startout and many others.

Thank you Katie Shea for introducing me to today's guest Helaine Knapp ( https://twitter.com/HelaineKnapp ) , founder and CEO of CITYROW ( https://www.cityrow.com/ ). CITYROW ( https://www.cityrow.com/ ) is a boutique fitness studio which started in New York City that specializes in a total body, high-intensity, low-impact workout using a water-based rowing machine and strength-training exercises. They have since launched Cityrow go, taking the boutique rowing experience into your home with on demand classes. I highly recommend following her on twitter @HelaineKnapp ( https://twitter.com/HelaineKnapp ) A few books that inspired Helaine: The Four Agreements ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1878424319?camp=1789&creativeASIN=1878424319&ie=UTF8&linkCode=xm2&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) by Don Miguel Ruiz Shoe Dog ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1501135929?camp=1789&creativeASIN=1501135929&ie=UTF8&linkCode=xm2&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) by Phil Knight Good to Great ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0066620996?camp=1789&creativeASIN=0066620996&ie=UTF8&linkCode=xm2&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) by Jim Collins Questions I ask Helaine: * Let's begin before you became an entrepreneur. How did your experiences at Olapic and Buddy Media help you as a founder? * What was your attraction to fitness and athletics? * What was the insight the led you to founding CITY ROW? * Why rowers? * What were some of the biggest hurdles when starting out? * Why did you decide on the franchise model? * Since we haven't discussed the franchise model on this show before, could you walk us through some of the innerworkings? * How did you think about growth? * What led you to create CITY ROW Go? * What were some of the biggest challenges when you decided to introduce this product? * What has been some of the challenges with the roll out? * What has been some of the effects of COVID? * How do you think about the future of the in store rowing experience once we all have the vaccines and people are able to work out in studios and gyms? * Walk me through your fundraising process. * What was the biggest hangup from investors? * People invest in what you know * What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process? * Not so much of a dance, wish more of a equality * What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally? * What's the best piece of advice you've ever received? * What's one piece of advice for founders?