Podcasts about karim marucchi

This show is sponsored by… Avalara: providing cloud-based and scalable global tax compliance that is hassle-free, safe and secure plus topped off with enterprise-class security. In this episode of Scaling Enterprise, WP and OSS, join Brad Williams, Tom Willmot, and Karim Marucchi as they dive into the world of enterprise content management system. Special guest […]

This episode introduces The Buyers View while discussing enterprise challenges, including the perception of WordPress as a secondary CMS and its adaptability. It also touches on the trend of composability, backward compatibility, and enterprise CMS marketing challenges.

The Scaling Enterprise show features hosts Brad Williams, Karim Marucchi, and Tom Willmot discussing WordPress, OSS and enterprise.

Cory Miller is joined by Karim Marucchi, Pat Ramsey, and Alex Nitu of Crowd Favorite to discuss the evolution of WordPress, its growing importance in the enterprise space, and the challenges faced by WordPress professionals. They also talk about the future of WordPress and the impact of emerging technologies on the platform. Overall, the speakers highlight the need for continuous learning and adaptation in the rapidly changing world of WordPress development. Top Takeaways:Freedom for Growth. One of the benefits of WordPress at the enterprise level is its customization and flexibility. It allows enterprises to build a site that is tailored to their specific needs and requirements. Another important aspect of WordPress at the enterprise level is its ability to integrate with other enterprise tools and systems. This can include tools for content management, customer relationship management, analytics, and more. By integrating with these tools, enterprises can streamline their workflows and improve their overall efficiency to maximize growth.Connection is the WordPress Way. WordPress has a large and active community of users, developers, and designers. Networking with other professionals and participating in the community can help you learn from others, stay informed about industry trends, and build valuable relationships. As a WordPress professional, building and maintaining strong relationships with your clients is key. This involves not only delivering quality work but also communicating effectively, being responsive, and understanding their needs and goals. By doing so, you can build a loyal client base and generate repeat business.Mindset Matters. By practicing mindfulness, you can learn to observe your thoughts and emotions without judgment, which can help you develop greater self-awareness and emotional resilience. Cultivating a growth mindset can help you overcome challenges and achieve your goals. By focusing on learning and development rather than fixed abilities, you can approach challenges with a sense of curiosity and a willingness to learn, which can help you persevere through difficult times and ultimately achieve success.

Industry 4.0 is breaking new ground in Digitalisation by making better use of resources, empowering employees, reducing costs, and ultimately increasing profitability with the help of machine learning and AI. In this week's podcast, my guest Karim Marucchi who is the CEO of Crowd Favorite, discusses Industry 4.0, the advanced digitalization of manufacturing companies, and the integration of technologies in all aspects of production. He shares a fascinating case study of how Industry 4.0 can be used to improve efficiency and CX in the construction industry by developing a cataloging system for a construction equipment manufacturer that allows clients to get pricing for projects online, while still maintaining a human connection with clients. This is an engaging look at how new technology is impacting every industry, enjoy the show!

Open source has long been a powerful software format that allows for easier data portability and makes it simpler for businesses to move between frameworks and take advantage of the best tools for the task at hand. While proprietary software-providers still dominate the market, open source software has an important role to play for enterprise brands. As Boston Consulting Group writes, open source Linux powered 75% of the public cloud workload in 2020, and its share is expected to rise to 85% by 2024. With open source, enterprise brands can accomplish a lot of tasks more quickly, and allow for business growth without limitations, says Karim Marucchi, CEO and co-founder of Crowd Favorite, in a Bold Commerce podcast. “Open source platforms and SaaS solutions can be stronger together,” he adds. For enterprise brands seeking to drive innovation and accelerate revenue, Bold Commerce is excited to see the popularity of its Checkout Experience Suite plugin for WordPress sites. Brands can both leverage dynamic out-of-the-box features, and full compatibility with a multitude of best-in-breed technologies. The plugin also closes the gap between the limitations of open source and the strength of a robust SaaS tool ideal for checkout, BOPIS, subscriptions, and much more. Peak performance without the complexities and costs Open source software is not without its limitations. The more you modify your source code, the more complex and expensive your systems become to update and maintain. You will typically need a developer, an in-house IT team and/or an agency to ensure open source software is performing correctly. However, a flexible and powerful SaaS plugin can help overcome those challenges, which is what Checkout Experience Suite accomplishes for developer teams on WordPress. When enterprise brands leverage Bold's single, lean plugin, the benefits can lessen the workload (and administrative strain) of those on WordPress. The benefits include: Protect up to 30% of revenue lost to slow load times by moving the customer through the checkout 4X faster. Conveniently manage the features of Bold Checkout Experience Suite from a centralized WordPress admin dashboard. Mitigate security risks with full PCI DSS Level 1 and SOC2 compliance handling by Bold. Make Bold enterprise moves with industry-leading 24/7 support. The value of MACH architecture Developing enterprise growth through a headless commerce model is also an effective strategy for brands to level up their online initiatives. This form of MACH architecture (Microservices, API first, cloud native, headless) allows enterprise brands to pick and choose specialized vendors they need most, freeing them from the burden of a complete platform overhaul. Bold's Checkout Experience Suite applies the MACH approach to its integration with WordPress, since it's compatible with a wide network of best-in-breed technologies. This enables brands to extend checkout functionality and move more consumers through that portal with ease and speed. Building a better tool for scalability WordPress's open-source backbone attracts enterprise brands due to its customization features, but it can also frustrate development teams due to plugin overload resulting in slower site-load speed. What is appealing to enterprise brands on WordPress is scalability and a range of features well-suited to their evolving business needs. The plugin includes tools to help online stores become future-ready with out-of-the-box features such as: Subscription Dynamic pricing One-click checkout Payments Taxes Shipping Promotions Architected for compatibility with other WordPress plugins, the Checkout Experience Suite gives enterprise brands the ease of managing all features and WordPress functionality with a centralized admin panel. Brand and commerce teams don't want the hassle of heady complications stealing time away from their most important projects, which is why Bold aims to simplify control, maintenance and support as much as po...

Unlocking strategies to solve complex problems for enterprise clients is at the root of the most successful B2B companies. How to navigate the nuances of this relationship doesn't come easy. Let's explore some insights around how being open-minded and creative can help to overcome roadblocks you may encounter along the way. Since 2007, brands across the world have engaged Crowd Favorite to build and scale their digital initiatives with Open Source frameworks and Digital Strategy Services. With clients ranging from Mitsubishi Power to Providence Health & Services to Victaulic, global digital agency, Crowd Favorite, has prioritized leveraging SaaS and Open Source to offer their clients a useful strategy for their digital transformation journey. Open Source often begins as the hub from which brands want to begin their digital journey, but it took time for this movement to go mainstream, says Karim Marucchi, CEO and Co-Founder of Crowd Favorite in a recent Bold Commerce podcast. He was an early Open Source evangelist for more than a decade when he recognized the value and opportunities this open and decentralized software offered to the enterprise. Enterprise finds Open Source finds WordPress Marucchi favors Open Source, pointing out a key advantage: “The possibilities are endless. Our team is able to create scalable solutions for our clients. As brands continue to grow, these solutions are able to adapt and grow with them.” At the core Open Source solutions provide brands with innovative solutions that can be customized to meet their specific needs. Digital agencies, like Crowd Favorite, have mastered solving business problems for their clients, through creative Open Source solutions. Crowd Favorite has been building their toolbox with enough digital solutions to attract clients, secure work, and bundle Open Source development into their deliverables since their doors opened. As the first WordPress digital agency, they understood the potential Open Source and WordPress offered to enterprise clients. During this time, more and more SaaS business shot up, creating both opportunities and drawbacks. While off the shelf SaaS solutions can be quick or easy to implement, they have great limitations when it comes to customization and scale. Enterprise clients wanted more out-of-the-box options to customize their assets. If they got stuck with one firm's cradle-to-grave suite of software, they were beholden to whatever updates and new features were added in next year's iterations. With Open Source, businesses can accomplish a lot of tasks more quickly, and allow for business growth without limitations Marucchi says. Together, Open Source platforms and SaaS solutions can be stronger together. They invite collaboration and customization with a host of third-party vendors, such as Bold Commerce. On scaling: let your business drive your tech stack What he first tells clients who engage with Crowd Favorite is to think about their business goals and “then let's talk about what's the best for each one of those issues. We always look at your business goals first and then select a technology based on the needs of the business. We don't try to take a square peg and fit it into a round hole.” Discussing working with the enterprise in a recent fireside chat hosted by Bold Commerce, Marucchi also pointed out how Crowd Favorite helps clients visualize how Open Source can be at the core of solving their complex challenges. “Up until now everybody thought they have to lock away all of our data into different SaaS platforms, and they are not going to have any control over customization. We say think of Open Source or CMS as a hub with spokes out to the best-of-breed systems and solutions that are doing exactly what they need to do to make your digital platform work for you.” Shifting customer behavior from a SaaS model to Open Source: according to Red Hat, 90% of IT leaders surveyed use enterprise Open Source, and 79% expect their use of enterprise Ope...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the CEO of https://crowdfavorite.com/ (Crowd Favorite), Karim Marucchi.  Crowd Favorite works with larger Fortune 500 organizations to create what they need to fix their digital problems. Very basically, they create websites. On a deeper level, they help with integrating digital business needs and can address everything from streamlining workflow issues to improving client relations in the businesses they work with. Karim shares that he's worked with enterprise clients for 27 years, and the one thing that has stayed consistent was that many of his clients weren't utilizing the right technological solutions to address their issues. In short, Crowd Favorite creates bespoke solutions for their clients' problems.  Karim shares that he became a major proponent for open source technologies after seeing how proprietary technologies were forcing businesses down their own closed road maps. Open sourced technology is both community-based and constantly evolving to serve the user base first. The variety and openness in an open source platform makes for a much more unique roadmap for users.  Karim and Josh also discuss when to avoid open source architecture. One downside is the security issues; when an open source project first starts, it's prone to hacking attacks. The upside to this is that after a piece of technology has the proper infrastructure and testing added, most corrupted pieces of code are already removed before it can spread to other users. Another caveat to using open source software is that the ‘crowd' might want to go in one direction and your company wants to go in another. The way to address this is to strategically implement the aspects of an open source software that work for your business, and use it in the way that benefits you (even if you're only using part of a software.)  Karim also shares how he's helped major brands like Disney transition from building their own proprietary softwares that became money sinks to using open source software, such as WordPress. Josh and Karim also explore how enterprises can work with WordPress. It will run great if you apply the correct infrastructure, he shares. Enterprises need robust hosting and plugins that are to scale in order to use an open source program like WordPress, but when executed in a scalable way, it can do anything.  You can also add on other plugins and softwares to improve the personalization with WordPress – these additions can extend your open source software enough that it rivals other expensive, 7-figure solutions on the market. When you have a deep infrastructure with hosting and security in check, you won't have issues. Want to learn more? Check out Crowd Favorite's website at https://crowdfavorite.com/ (https://crowdfavorite.com/).  Check out Crowd Favorite on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/crowdfavorite/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/crowdfavorite/).  Check out Karim Marucchi on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/karimmarucchi/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/karimmarucchi/).  Don't forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! More from UpMyInfluence: ✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast.https://upmyinfluence.com/guest ( Schedule HERE). ✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures.https://upmyinfluence.com/b2b ( Learn more here). ✅ Check out our freehttps://upmyinfluence.com/1 ( Authority Transformation Masterclass).

Karim Marucchi discusses how to use open source software development as an enabling approach to digital transformation. Karim is CEO of Crowd Favorite, a firm specializing in digital strategy and open source development. He is an expert in helping organizations successfully integrate open source into more impactful digital transformation strategies. Listen for three action items you can use today. Host, Kevin Craine Do you want to be a guest?

Karim Marucchi, CEO at Crowd Favorite, a global firm that specializes in digital strategy and web development for companies like Starz, Salal Credit Union, Lexus and National Geographic. Karim has more than 20 years of experience in specializing in enterprise-grade digital strategy and has taken many companies public, managed M&As We discuss: Digital transformation trends that enterprises must be in front of in 2021; What the future holds for data collection, the benefits of WordPress, and the role of open-source software in 2021; The latest digital transformation experience platforms (DXPs) trends and happenings; and What tech leaders need to know about open-source software in 2021. We discuss how Crowd Favorite has elevated enterprises' website experiences for each site visitor and helped accelerate enterprises' digital transformation. - Optimization for the new Google update and what this means for enterprises; and much more About Crowd Favorite Crowd Favorite’s mission is to connect the digital experience to the human experience. Founded in 2007, Crowd Favorite was the original WordPress agency focused primarily on enterprise clients. Over a decade later, they evolved into a multi-discipline, digital consulting firm specializing in enterprise-grade digital strategy and elite Open Source development. Crowd Favorite empowers organizations to achieve their full digital potential by focusing on the comprehensive landscape of their business and the unique challenges they face. Then, by connecting their financial and operational obstacles to world-class digital strategy, web development, and digital support services, the optimal technology solution is put in play.  

"Speed to Market" vs "Speed to Innovate"? What's the difference, why does it matter, how should you approach each, and can they work together?  Karim Marucchi joins us to discuss the differences between Open Source vs SaaS, the strengths of each, how they're different, how they work, and most importantly, how they can work together! Karim is the CEO of Crowd Favorite and one of the most forward thinking leaders in the digital experience platform space, and all things open source. He works with some of the largest brands in the world such as Disney, Lexus, Cambell's National Geographic, helping them innovate on WooCommerce, an open source platform.  BONUS: Our Chief Revenue Officer at Bold joins us on today's show!    Some of the topics we discuss are: Advantage to using SaaS over OS (when comparing) Advantage to using Open Source over sass (when comparing) How do you look at this for Enterprise level solutions and for small and medium sized business? (is it only for the Enterprise?) How do you start looking at this strategically when your in the “evaluation phase” How do Headless Commerce & Open Source work together What trends are happening in commerce on wordpress / Woo? What types of brands should choose Woocommerce as their platform? What does the future hold for Open Source ecommerce? Guest Bio Karim Marucchi, CEO of Crowd Favorite, has over 20+ years of experience in launching digital strategies. From bootstrapping one the first digital production teams in the industry, to leading global teams within the WPP Group, to taking agencies public; his wealth of expertise in leading digital teams across the globe has helped curate and expand his vision to lead Crowd Favorite in helping Enterprise organizations integrate successful Open Source into today’s Digital transformation strategies.

Original Air Date: January 23, 2018Join us for this episode of PressThis as we interview crazy-smart Karim Marucchi of Crowd Favorite on the future of WordPress and open source for the Enterprise. Will Enterprise brands continue to adopt WordPress and open source? How will views on the scale, security, and reliability of open source change in the future? Karim is uniquely positioned to answer these questions as his agency serves enterprise brands like X, Y, and Z. If breaking into the enterprise is part of your plan for your agency or WP product business, don’t miss this episode of PressThis. Listen now! Original Air Date: March 6, 2018WordPress is growing at a mind bending pace and so are the businesses that support and rely on the ecosystem. If you’re wondering how you’ll grow your WP-focused team while defending your quality, lifestyle, and culture, check out this episode of Press This. In this episode we’ll be interviewing the super-popular and insightful Shane Pearlman to hear about the challenges and successes he’s had growing his business Modern Tribe. Tribe is a force in the WordPress community and Shane will share his thoughts on scaling a WordPress focused business while honoring the open source roots and culture that has made WordPress such a phenomenon and helped fueled the growth of his business. Don’t miss this episode.

Original Air Date: January 23, 2018Join us for this episode of PressThis as we interview crazy-smart Karim Marucchi of Crowd Favorite on the future of WordPress and open source for the Enterprise. Will Enterprise brands continue to adopt WordPress and open source? How will views on the scale, security, and reliability of open source change in the future? Karim is uniquely positioned to answer these questions as his agency serves enterprise brands like X, Y, and Z. If breaking into the enterprise is part of your plan for your agency or WP product business, don’t miss this episode of PressThis. Listen now! Original Air Date: March 6, 2018WordPress is growing at a mind bending pace and so are the businesses that support and rely on the ecosystem. If you’re wondering how you’ll grow your WP-focused team while defending your quality, lifestyle, and culture, check out this episode of Press This. In this episode we’ll be interviewing the super-popular and insightful Shane Pearlman to hear about the challenges and successes he’s had growing his business Modern Tribe. Tribe is a force in the WordPress community and Shane will share his thoughts on scaling a WordPress focused business while honoring the open source roots and culture that has made WordPress such a phenomenon and helped fueled the growth of his business. Don’t miss this episode.

My guest today is Karim Marucchi, the CEO, and owner of Crowd Favorite. Today we discuss the misconceptions people have about web-based businesses, in particular, digital service businesses. Many people assume that because a digital business has no inventory there isn't a way to sell it. Karim debunks that type of thinking. He explains how a service company, especially a digital company, can find the right buyer if they put the work in and build the best brand and service possible. We explore what makes a service business valuable and how to scale it effectively. Karim offers some great insight on how to build the best team for your niche. He also emphasizes the role of partnerships in digital business and how to make a business connection your ace in the back pocket. What you will learn about: Karim's background in business. What are professional services? How digital services are similar to the restaurant industry. The 2 types of sales that digital founders do most often. The real value of a business. How to build a profitable reputation. How to overcome the hurdles in the digital business model. What successful business owners do in their business. Finding your strengths and building your digital business with them. How to build an effective communication system within the company. The way business culture evolves organically. How to find the right business partner. How to avoid burn-out. How to identify your musts in a sale process. The reasons owners sell their companies. The right reasons to sell a business. How to negotiate a smart earn-out agreement. Digital services is a tricky market. Since there's very little that's tangible about these businesses, valuing them can be difficult… but, as today's guest notes, goodwill can be measured. Karim Marucchi talks about the similarities between digital services and restaurants in terms of goodwill, brand and staff and how to capitalize on those key elements. Would You Like Fries With That? Service, service, service. Restaurants might be a cheesy example to use (pardon the pun), but it's a very visceral one which can provide concrete and familiar examples for us to better digest the intangible world of digital services. However, both require a high level of service where the customer is very rarely wrong. Why is that? Digital services are just that: digital. You can't touch them, but they add value to every business and most individuals around the globe. Knowing this, there is an industry for each service created and if you're in this type of business, you need to be able to cater your company to meet those needs. We've discussed adding recurring revenue to your business before, so imagine what's possible if you begin employing digital services? If you know your niche, you can usually add a plus or upgrade (think: fries) to that client's portfolio. What's for Dinner? As Karim notes, no restaurant specializes in all kinds of foods. The same applies to digital services. While you may be able to do everything under the sun, your business should focus on the three or so things your business does the best. You go to Pierre's for fine French cuisine, not Thai, though you could still get your fill

My guest today is Karim Marucchi, the CEO, and owner of Crowd Favorite. Today we discuss the misconceptions people have about web-based businesses, in particular, digital service businesses. Many people assume that because a digital business has no inventory there isn’t a way to sell it. Karim debunks that type of thinking. He explains how a service company, especially a digital company, can find the right buyer if they put the work in and build the best brand and service possible. We explore what makes a service business valuable and how to scale it effectively. Karim offers some great insight on how to build the best team for your niche. He also emphasizes the role of partnerships in digital business and how to make a business connection your ace in the back pocket. What you will learn about: Karim’s background in business. What are professional services? How digital services are similar to the restaurant industry. The 2 types of sales that digital founders do most often. The real value of a business. How to build a profitable reputation. How to overcome the hurdles in the digital business model. What successful business owners do in their business. Finding your strengths and building your digital business with them. How to build an effective communication system within the company. The way business culture evolves organically. How to find the right business partner. How to avoid burn-out. How to identify your musts in a sale process. The reasons owners sell their companies. The right reasons to sell a business. How to negotiate a smart earn-out agreement. Digital services is a tricky market. Since there’s very little that’s tangible about these businesses, valuing them can be difficult… but, as today’s guest notes, goodwill can be measured. Karim Marucchi talks about the similarities between digital services and restaurants in terms of goodwill, brand and staff and how to capitalize on those key elements. Would You Like Fries With That? Service, service, service. Restaurants might be a cheesy example to use (pardon the pun), but it’s a very visceral one which can provide concrete and familiar examples for us to better digest the intangible world of digital services. However, both require a high level of service where the customer is very rarely wrong. Why is that? Digital services are just that: digital. You can’t touch them, but they add value to every business and most individuals around the globe. Knowing this, there is an industry for each service created and if you’re in this type of business, you need to be able to cater your company to meet those needs. We’ve discussed adding recurring revenue to your business before, so imagine what’s possible if you begin employing digital services? If you know your niche, you can usually add a plus or upgrade (think: fries) to that client’s portfolio. What’s for Dinner? As Karim notes, no restaurant specializes in all kinds of foods. The same applies to digital services. While you may be able to do everything under the sun, your business should focus on the three or so things your business does the best. You go to Pierre’s for fine French cuisine, not Thai, though you could still get your fill

Join us for this episode of PressThis as we interview crazy-smart Karim Marucchi of Crowd Favorite on the future of WordPress and open source for the Enterprise. Will Enterprise brands continue to adopt WordPress and open source? How will views on the scale, security, and reliability of open source change in the future? Karim is uniquely positioned to answer these questions as his agency serves enterprise brands like X, Y, and Z. If breaking into the enterprise is part of your plan for your agency or WP product business, don’t miss this episode of PressThis. Listen now!

Join us for this episode of PressThis as we interview crazy-smart Karim Marucchi of Crowd Favorite on the future of WordPress and open source for the Enterprise. Will Enterprise brands continue to adopt WordPress and open source? How will views on the scale, security, and reliability of open source change in the future? Karim is uniquely positioned to answer these questions as his agency serves enterprise brands like X, Y, and Z. If breaking into the enterprise is part of your plan for your agency or WP product business, don’t miss this episode of PressThis. Listen now!

In this episode of ZenFounder, Karim Marucchi interviews Carl Smith, of Bureau of Digital, about his passion for helping the founder community. Support ZenFounder The post Episode 141: Building Digital Communities with Carl Smith appeared first on ZenFounder.

In this episode of ZenFounder, Karim Marucchi interviews Carl Smith, of Bureau of Digital, about his passion for helping the founder community. Support ZenFounder

Watch the video of this podcast here. Who is Karim Marucchi? Karim’s company, Crowd Favorite, is a WordPress speciality development shop that works specifically integrating WordPress into large enterprise systems. The company is an amalgamation of three companies that came together around 4 years ago for their complementary specialisations. These were - Karim’s original company, VeloMedia, the late Alex King’s, Crowd Favorite and James Archer’s design firm, Forty. Although Karim’s background is in architecture, in 1994 he founded one of LA’s first web agencies. (One of only three in LA! How awesome is that!) In 1997 when the internet was growing fast, they were acquired by a large famous firm that went public. When he left that company, he went to work for a major advertising group in Europe. He then founded another company there and took it public on the Italian stock exchange and worked with a major European conglomerate to buy small web shops and place them into advertising agencies who needed digital departments. Troy asks how he was able to make these risky decisions with an architecture background. I mean, can you naturally be so good at this stuff, right? He explains that he came from a family who had a similar business but in construction, then he learned along the way and just felt his way through it. According to Karim There Are 3 Categories of Acquiring a New Company: For large agencies buying medium sized agencies, they are looking to grow revenue and sometimes to acquire a specific client. Market verticalisation / specialisation: for when the acquiring company lacks expertise in a certain area such as design they may work with an external company before they bring them in house. Acqui-hiring: when you bring in one or two experts to be able to handle more projects. This is a financial play though because it may bring revenue up, but you also have more production hours to sell. You need a stable pipeline to be able to do this. Karim’s motivation for acquiring was market specialisation. All three of the companies were well known for their specialisations, so they brought the teams together rather than have one company take over and lead with its culture. He explains that they did this without funding which gave them a short runway to experiment with new ventures and business units. However, on the flipside, there was no one breathing down their necks to work within a timeline or within a financial budget. Specialisation and Choosing a Niche Karim’s advice on this is that you either be all things to all people but you need to be 500-5,000 people to do that properly otherwise you should start specialising. You can be general if you are a small shop but make sure you find someone that doesn't do what you do and partner up! FOMO! The question on so many people’s lips is that if you specialise, won't you miss out revenue by passing up other work? More words from the wise - you always have fomo of what you could be doing; it takes discipline. “If you’re chasing everything, you’re going to end up having a problem” @karimmarucchi talks about specialising on the @wpelevation podcast If you're working solo or within a small business, some of the things you should be thinking about in order to make your business more valuable and potentially sellable are: Fill the gaps. Find people who fill gaps in your knowledge or area of expertise. Make yourself redundant. Be able to go on vacation without anything blowing up while you’re away! Expand your sales team even if you’re only a team of three! You need someone out there looking for your next client while you work on the project. This leads Troy to ask about the people who don’t want to relinquish control because they think that others can't do a good job like you can. Karim’s advice is simple - how much do you want to suffer? You can continue to do it that way or you can be a bit more disciplined about it and get to live a little! Karim’s Advice on Hiring Usually, you want to hire people you like, but don’t do this. Rather make sure you hire the people who will challenge you and are different to you. Just don’t get in your comfort zone and that will keep you on your toes.

On today’s episode, Carrie interviews Karim Marucchi and Rian Kinney about contracts and what to consider when you are preparing to work with a client.

Sherry talks with Karim Marucchi, CEO of Crowd Favorite, about the pains of ending a client relationship and how it can be an emotional challenge. Karim shares some past experiences ending a relationship with a client, how it felt, and his philosophies. Support ZenFounder Karim’s Website

Sherry talks with Karim Marucchi, CEO of Crowd Favorite, about the pains of ending a client relationship and how it can be an emotional challenge. Karim shares some past experiences ending a relationship with a client, how it felt, and his philosophies. The post Episode 108: Breaking Up (With Clients) Is Hard to Do appeared first on ZenFounder.

Karim Marucchi (of Crowd Favorite) joins Jean to guest host, as they touch on a myriad of topics, from exits, to mergers, acquisitions, and much more. Karim exudes charisma; being a service focused individual, he provides a unique perspective away from the usual product focused interviews Mastermind.FM has had in the past. Topics Include: How Karim's upbringing, heritage, and travels played a role in shaping his business philosophies. His history with architecture and studies in Rome. How a curious phone call, while working for an ISP,  lead Karim into helping build a website for Nissan. Selling METNET to USWeb. How USWeb turned Karim's life upside-down. Website Production vs Strategy Bridging the gap between American, European, and Asian culture. How Karim's architecture roots fortified his need to build things that last. His small business experience. "If you are going to fail, fail fast." - Karim Testing the waters of agency work. Services: Cultural vs Institutional Cultivating a small agency. How running a lifestyle business allowed Karim to step away from his company for the year leading up to his father's death. Mourning and moving on. The dynamics of exiting & acquisition. Adapting/transitioning client culture. On closing Veloware. Which lead to Karim finding his business partner. "Finding the right companies that aren't exiting for the wrong reasons." The value of partnering with a company you have no intention of acquiring. Structure & having the right team. Be an icebreaker; striking up a conversation with those you don't know, be it in your business or personal life. A philosophy that lead to Karim having a pleasant random conversation with the lead guitarist of Los Lobos. Attending conferences outside of the WordPress community. "Have fun!" & "Partner and hire for your weaknesses." - Karim Looking forward, and the intent to return for a round 2 interview with Mastermind.FM!   Featured on the Show: Karim's website Crowd Favorite The Bureau of Digital

On May 28th, 2012, I was virtually introduced to Chris Lema. He had 653 Twitter followers at the time. I know so, because that’s how we were introduced — through an email from Twitter telling me he was now following me. At the time, he’d not even started daily writing on his personal blog; he didn’t start that until September of that year. It’s hard to imagine a time where I didn’t know who Chris Lema was, or a time where I wasn’t learning from him. Today, Chris is a significant voice in the WordPress world. He was just announced, deservedly so, in the first batch of speakers for WordCamp San Francisco. He’s been blogging nearly every day for two years. I’ve met him at a number of events. We’ve shared meals together. We’ve had phone calls where Chris gave me advice for my career and life. We even spent a week in Cape Town, South Africa traveling together for a WordCamp that I won’t forget. Chris Lema is my friend, and a mentor. I owe him a tremendous amount for his advice, his continuous generosity, and his kindness toward me. And I also know I can’t pay him back; giving to others is his passion, and I’ll never be able match that in return. What I know I can do is pay it forward. As I gain knowledge, and maybe even a shred of my own wisdom, I can pay forward that mentorship to others that are up and coming in their careers, and be to them as Chris has been to me and as others have been to Chris. I’m one of many, many people that feel this way about Chris. He now has 6,500 followers on Twitter — something I note purely as a way to compare to the beginning of this post, and highlight how many people he’s impacted in such a short time. He’s also a direct mentor to dozens of people who make their living with WordPress. What if Chris did WordPress full time? Incredibly, Chris has had this influence and impact on the WordPress community without having a full time WordPress job. For eight years, he’s been at Emphasys Software — a successful company, but not one you’d know of in the WordPress ecosystem — and he’s been coaching WordPress companies and blogging in his spare time. It makes you wonder, what would he do if his full time job were WordPress-centric? I certainly have thought so. And as Chris notes in our interview, I asked him this question while we were in Cape Town. I wanted to see what would happen with Chris full time in the WordPress world, and now we’re about to find out. Joining Crowd Favorite as CTO Chris is announcing today that he’s joining Crowd Favorite full time as its new Chief Technical Officer. Chris was already on the board of the VeloMedia Group, which has utilized the Crowd Favorite brand since its acquisition of the company late last year. CEO Karim Marucchi has wanted Chris to be a full time part of the VeloMedia group for some time as well. But the logistics weren’t easy to work out. However, in the last month or so they really pushed to make it happen, and now Chris will be the CTO as well as a chief strategist for Crowd Favorite and other companies within the VeloMedia group. Chris will focus heavily on reaching out to the enterprise space, via consulting opportunities and a variety of other concepts they are working on. Hear about Chris’ journey to full time WordPress In this interview, Chris and I talk about his journey to working full time with WordPress. We talk about his career, his entry into blogging and the WordPress community, about the structure of Crowd Favorite, and the WordPress economy in general. http://s3.amazonaws.com/PostStatus/DraftPodcast/chris-lema-post-status-draft.mp3 Direct Download It was an absolute pleasure to talk to Chris, and I’m thrilled to see him join Crowd Favorite full time. You can see Chris’ announcement on his blog, as well as Crowd Favorite’s. Also be sure to follow Chris on Twitter, and definitely tell him congratulations on this new journey.

On this episode we are recapping the events that happened during WordCamp Los Angeles 2013.WordCamp LAX was really smooth and well managed. General thoughts are that it was hard to imagine this was a first time organizer group for a WordCamp. It was also representative of life and diversity in Southern California.EventsFriday: The traditional Speaker/Sponsor dinner in HollywoodSaturday: All day sessions running in 2 rooms at Cal State LA followed by the after party at the Blue Cow Kitchen and Bar in Downtown LA.Sunday: Afternoon sessions at Cross Campus in Santa MonicaQ: Why did the organizers decide to spread the weekend out over the Greater Los Angeles area instead of keeping it to one location for the weekend?A: Natalie has a really good relationship with Cross Campus and immediately thought it would be perfect for the smaller Sunday event since not as many people attend the Sunday event as they do the Saturday event.  The Saturday venue needed to be much larger, and they were having trouble finding an appropriate location. Cal State LA kind if “fell into our laps” and it just worked out that way. It wasn’t planned to cover the east side and west side.Saturday PresentationsSteve: Really enjoyed Paul Clark’s talk on Saturday Sass* and Less CSS. He’s a great speaker and funny with a great sense of humor. He inspired Steve to research Sass and work it into the development process.Steve also liked Konstantin Obenland presentation The Customizer and learned a lot.*Sass is a different way of creating CSS much more efficiently. Jeff: Favorite was Paul Clark.Jeff also enjoyed Scott Bolinger’s talk on Lesser Known but Super Hip Responsive Design Tricks.Jeff was also inspired to take the information from Konstantin’s presentation and implement it into his own work. Chris: Was anticipating the WordPress Consulting for Large Companies by Karim Marucchi, John Giaconia and Kara Hansen. A collaborative presentation between Velomedia and The Walt Disney Company. Takeaway for future presenters Speak on a topic that you know. It’s that simple. If you know your topic, it becomes a conversation and that’s what makes a good session. A good session is not reading off of slides. It’s when an audience is responsive to what you’re talking about.WPwatercooler Saturday presenters* Steve: Underscores – The only theme that matters* Chris delivered the Keynote* Se: DIYWP: Making WordPress Work for Your Small Business* Suzette: You’re Live! …Now What?: Post Launch Setup Process and ProceduresWPwatercooler Sunday Presenters* Jason: Improving Support Documentation by Using Video in the Dashboard* Jeff: Part of the Business Panel DiscussionMentions* Huberts Lemonade (sponsor of WCLAX and provided a ton of cold bottles of lemonade to attendees.* GoDaddy[LISTATTENDEES event_identifier=”ep54-wordcamp-2013-recap-show-wpwatercooler-5-523fd518644ae” show_gravatar=”true”] See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.