Podcasts about salesforces

Premium subscribers get a couple hot stock research recommendations to kick it off. Doogles tackles listener mail that covers the book The Fourth Turning. Skippy laughs some more at Google AI and Salesforces' inability to use its own product. The episode wraps discussing the results of a YouGov survey about people's favorite decades.Join the Skippy and Doogles fan club. You can also get more details about the show at skippydoogles.com, show notes on our Substack, and send comments or questions to skippydoogles@gmail.com.

This week's episode of The Retail Tea Break podcast is sponsored by Salesforce, the world's #1 CRM. I'm joined by an internationally recognised expert in the retail industry, Rob Garf. The Vice President and General Manager of Retail at Salesforce has over 25 years of global retail experience as a practitioner. He was an industry analyst with AMR Research, a strategy consultant at IBM and a software leader. As this episode shows, Rob is no stranger to the retail industry and the challenges retailers face.He currently leads industry research, drives solution strategy, and advises senior executives globally on digital transformation. He is also a frequent industry speaker, a member of NRF's Digital Council, and Chair of the Retail Customer Advisory Board. In this episode, he takes me through Salesforces' shopping index for Q1 of 2024 and of course we discuss retail's hottest topic, AI.This is a fantastic episode, so grab your cup of tea, sit back and listen in!Topics: Salesforce's Shopping Index data for Q1 of 2024Shopper LoyaltyMobile shoppingAdapting to AIDelivering exceptional AI driven customer experiencesSalesforce's holiday predictions!The Retail Tea Break podcast episodes sponsored by Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/eu/form/conf/the-retail-tea-break-sponsored-by-salesforceShopper Index report: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/shopping-index-retail-data/Retail AI Council X Salesforce AI report: https://www.salesforce.com/resources/research-reports/retail-insights-generative-ai/For more information visit: https://www.salesforce.com/eu/campaign/salesforce-ireland/Transcription and show notes available at: https://theretailadvisor.ie/

Simon Alexander Ong grew up often feeling like he didn't fit in. Which is weird when you look at his CV: He graduated from LSE before going to work at Lehman Brothers (until it fell into administration) then a hedge fund as a junior trader. Along the way, he attended a 2-day coaching seminar that transformed the way he saw coaching and kickstarted his journey into becoming a bestselling author, international keynote speaker and business strategist. His work has seen him invited onto Sky News and BBC to be interviewed, while he has been featured in the likes of Forbes and Harvard Business Review. He has also spoken at some of the planet's most successful organisations such as Barclays, Salesforces, Adobe, EY and Microsoft. And his debut book Energize, published by Penguin in 2022 became an instant bestseller, receiving endorsements from the likes of New York Times bestselling authors Simon Sinek, Marie Forleo and Marshall Goldsmith. In 2023, Energize was also awarded Book of the Year within the Wellness & Wellbeing category at The Business Book Awards! But… how did it all begin? ❓ Why does Simon believe that the best leaders are great coaches? ❓ How did he get big names like Simon Sinek and Marie Forleo to endorse his debut book? ❓ How has he built his coaching business?❓ What gave him the confidence to take The Leap? ❓ What's been the real game changer for his business?❓ And why does he advise people to not wait because life has already begun?To find out, you'll just have to listen to Simon's episode on the So This Is My Why podcast.

Here to chat about mastering account selection for ABM is Joanna Moss, Director of Executive Programs and Account-Based Marketing, from Salesforce. Not only will you hear about how Salesforces aligns their sales and marketing teams but you will also learn... How demand gen, ABM and executive engagement come togetherThe executive engagement functionHow to measure the success of your ABM programs Having worked within and across Australian, Asian and European markets, Joanna has a solid understanding of business effectiveness. She is an energetic marketing professional specialising in rolling out executive strategies designed to enable sales to build relationships across the business to help win opportunities and increase brand awareness. Working across the complete field of marketing she has experience organising events (at all levels), building lasting customer relationships, CRM, brand management, producing collateral and ensuring that appropriate touch points to communicate strategies, visions, successes and campaigns are developed and pushed out to relevant customer audiences. She enjoys using digital media to gain maximum campaign effectiveness.  Resources mentioned in this episode: Atomic Habits - James ClearBoundless - Vala Afshar _________________

EP315 - 2023 Turkey5 Recap with Salesforces Rob Garf Episode 315 is a recap of Turkey5 (The five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) 2023 with Rob Garf, Vice President and General Manager, Retail at Salesforce. This is Robs' Six time on the show, having previously been on episodes 110, 248, 282, 299, and 313. Jason and Scot discuss the "Turkey 5" with their guest Rob Garf, VP and GM for retail at Salesforce. They analyze data from various sources to provide insights into the holiday shopping season. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, e-commerce grew 7.75% in Q3, while total retail only grew 2%. Jason emphasizes the need for e-commerce to grow at least 7.7% in Q4 to stay on track. Adobe's data shows that Black Friday sales were up 7.5% and Cyber Monday sales were up 12.4% from the previous year. The speakers also discuss data from BigCommerce, MasterCard, and Salesforce, highlighting growth in online sales on Cyber Monday and Black Friday. Rob Garf adds his observations on retail industry trends, noting an increase in demand and robust pricing. He mentions a rebound in demand in Europe, excluding the UK, and highlights retailers' focus on profitability and inventory levels. The discussion then turns to Amazon's innovative advertising approach during a Friday NFL game, where shoppable ads were displayed via QR codes. Jason believes this strategy will benefit Amazon, as it monetizes viewership and reinforces the brand. Discounting played a significant role in driving demand during Cyber Week, with retailers offering an average of 30% off. Consumers were patient, waiting for attractive deals, while retailers managed their inventory and discounting strategies well. The luxury category, however, did not perform as strongly, with only a slight increase or even a decrease in sales. The hosts touch on the resale market and the growing popularity of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options and mobile wallets. They discuss the potential impact of mobile wallets on shopping behavior and note that BNPL resonates with new consumers and has replaced layaway. Finally, the hosts mention the passing of Charlie Munger and the filing of an IPO by Xi'an, encouraging listeners to support the show and announcing more holiday shopping data and reports on Salesforce.com. 0:00:46 Introduction to the Jason and Scot Show 0:05:04 Black Friday: First Sales for Vendors 0:14:06 Softness in Consumer Electronics and Toys Market 0:14:55 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Impact on Holiday Season Shape 0:16:32 Retailers' Inventory Management and Positive Growth Forecast 0:17:47 Retailers analyzing profitability and customer profitability. 0:18:29 Increase in Demand and Robust Pricing 0:22:34 Amazon's Innovative Advertising and Potential Profitability for Holiday 0:26:27 Discount rates over Cyber Week in comparison to previous years 0:29:04 Retailers' management of inventory and transparency in discounting strategy 0:31:52 Consumer behavior and the rise of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) 0:33:32 Mobile wallets and the impact on checkout process and shopping experiences 0:35:26 Buy Now, Pay Later Growing and Replacing Layaway 0:37:22 Charlie Munger's Passing and Xi'an's IPO Announcement Throughout this episode make liberal use of real-time data from Salesforce Shopping Insights HQ, which tracks how 1.5+ billion consumers are shaping shopping trends. You can see a real-time holiday dashboard, powered by Tableau so you can interact with the data yourself on the Salesforce Holiday Insights page. Episode 313 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Tuesday November 28th, 2023.  http://jasonandscot.com Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Co-Founder of ChannelAdvisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing. Transcript Jason: [0:23] Welcome to the Jason and Scot Show. This is episode 315 being recorded on Tuesday, November 28th. I'm your host, Jason Retail Geek Goldberg, and as usual, I'm here with your co-host, Scot Wingo. Scot: [0:39] Hey, Jason, and welcome back, Jason and Scot Show listeners. Vigilant listeners will remember that we promised you a delicious turkey five Introduction to the Jason and Scot Show [0:47] sandwich starring none other than Rob Garf, VP and GM for retail at Salesforce. And that's what we're delivering today. Rob was here way back on episode 313 on November 8th. And he is back here today to tell us what happened during the Turkey 5. Welcome back, Rob. Rob: [1:05] Thanks for having me, Jason, Scot. Always a pleasure and look forward to getting into some of this really fun data. Scot: [1:12] Yeah, this is your record sixth time. So your old hat here. Before we jump in, we do want to just kind of set the table, keeping with the post-Thanksgiving, theme with some leftovers. I saw what you did there. Yeah. And we, meaning Jason and his army of interns, have gathered a bunch of data from other sources. So we just want to give listeners that, and we know you have your own data, and we want to paint a complete picture. So, Jason, give us the quick and dirty rundown of other data that we've seen out there covering the holiday period so far. Jason: [1:46] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's do it. And side note, Rob, we're going to keep making you come back till you get it right. Rob: [1:50] I appreciate it. I'm here. Jason: [1:52] I'll do what you need. Awesome. So, super quick reminder, Q3 data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, e-commerce for the quarter grew 7.75%, over, the previous year. year, total retail only grew 2% from the previous year. And so if you take e-commerce out of total retail, brick and mortar in Q3 2023 only grew 1.08%, so lower than traditional. So when you come into the beginning of Q4 and holiday in particular, in my mind, e-commerce has to grow at 7.7% just to stay at par. And brick-and-mortar has to grow more than that one percent. [2:37] So, and I like to start with the lesser data and work our way up to the gold standard, very best data we have, which is, of course, the Rob Garth. So our friends at adobe which have a different data set but similar methodology and slightly different definition so you can't perfectly compare apples to apples, they said black friday sales were nine point eight billion in the us which is up seven point five percent from the year before so that would basically be right at that par i was just talking about, they said cyber monday was up to twelve point four percent and that was hot off the press so i wasn't able to do the math on what growth rate that was. They said for the whole month of November year to date, that they see November up 4.6% from last year. So kind of below that par. These are all numbers Adobe is giving for e-commerce. [3:26] And of particular note, and I know we'll talk about this more, they've seen a significant uptick in use of Buy Now, Pay Later services, and they've seen deeper discounting than we saw last year. Now, Shopify is really out there with a big news cycle. And I don't want to say they won up Salesforce, but they bought the sphere in Las Vegas and broadcast their data on the outside of the sphere, which visually is, is super cool. But their data isn't so useful because they don't report same store sales. They had a, you know, some unknown basket of merchants that sold a bunch of stuff last year, and they had some unknown basket of merchants that sold more stuff this year, and we don't know if the same merchants were here this year and last year or if they added a bunch of merchants or, or if this is true growth. So, so while the Shopify numbers are interesting, if you're investing in Shopify, they don't tell us a lot about what's happening in the e-commerce world. I did see a super interesting quote from Harley Finkelstein, who's the president of Shopify, and it's possibly, possibly that he just misworded this, but he was excited after Black Friday and he said 17.5, thousand. So $17,500. [4:41] Vendors made their first sale this Black Friday weekend. So I took that to mean, not that they launched on Friday just in time for Black Friday, but that this was their first Black Friday where they sold anything. So that's 17.5 thousand new merchants. [4:58] And then he said, in total, 55 thousand merchants set their all-time daily record on Black Friday. Black Friday: First Sales for Vendors [5:05] And while those two numbers sound impressive, if you kind of think about it for a second, you go, wait, the vast majority of merchants on Shopify that are B2C are going to sell their record. Cyber Monday hasn't happened yet, so take that out of the equation, are going to set their all-time record on Black Friday. So not surprised, you would expect the vast majority of all merchants to set their Black Friday record. And 17.5 thousand of them are new. So what that says is there's only 37 thousand merchants that are a year old on Shopify that sold more this Friday than last year on Black Friday. And that's, I guess, less than I would expect based on the usual reports we get from Shopify. So that, I'll just record that as a moment and our stock analysts that cover Shopify listening on the call can weigh in on that one. [5:58] BigCommerce, a slightly weirder data set. They saw an outlier, they saw 14% growth, but again, random, they're not trying to report at the industry, they're just reporting their clients. And then a particularly interesting one to me is MasterCard. I have a love-hate relationship with MasterCard. Unlike all the rest of you, MasterCard gets a set of data for stores and retailers, so they try to forecast what happened in retail, which is super valuable. Historically, I've seen some weird deviations from MasterCard that make me cautious about their numbers. But this year, they reported Black Friday, they did not report Cyber Monday. Their Black Friday number was up 8.5% year over year for eCommerce. [6:39] Which is at the high side of the mean for all these other datasets. And they reported that on Friday, total retail sales were up 2.5%. But if you back eCommerce out of that number, brick and mortar was only up 1.1%. So basically, I would call all those numbers par with our Q3 numbers. So, that kind of sets the table. Scot, take us through what we learned from Salesforce. Scot: [7:11] Yeah. So, a million questions, Rob. Let's start with, it seems like one of the biggest interesting battle royales is, A, why was Rob's face not on the sphere? And then B, it seems like one of the data sets is saying Cyber Monday is much bigger than Black Friday. And then in your pre-show, you had said you guys are seeing Black Friday exceed Cyber Monday. So let's start there. Which was bigger? Rob: [7:37] Yeah. Well, first of all, I lost the coin flip and Astro or Cody, which are critters in Salesforce world, won. So they got their faces along with Einstein on the sphere a couple of weeks ago during F1. So I'm still going for it next year, but we'll see what happens. But I digress. Let's get into the numbers. So yeah, we are seeing, you called it a battle royal. I appreciate any reference to 1980s wrestling, by the way. So thank you very much, but let's not go down that path. That could be a whole other podcast. But what we are seeing is, as you mentioned, a battle between Cyber Monday and Black Friday for supremacy. [8:19] And they are going back and forth. What we found in our data in 2019, Black Friday eclipsed Cyber Monday and has remained there, especially outside of the United States. And so we're seeing big growth and, you know, partly what's contributing to that is not only Alibaba, which has been in place for some time, but Timu and Xi'an, which I know you gentlemen like to talk about. So regardless what I think, two things based on all the data that you provide, and I appreciate the broad perspective that you share here, is people are actually buying. They might not be buying as much as they were in the past and throughout the pandemic, but But there is demand. And you know, I think that's important because when we look at our numbers and just to put it out there for Cyber Monday, and we can bounce around here wherever you'd like to go, is we chalked our number at 12.6. [9:13] Billion in the United States, and that's a growth of 3%. And I'll call it a healthy growth of 3%. And the reason being is, for the first time in five quarters, we saw growth being generated by increased consumer demand and not just merely higher prices, which is our indicator for inflation. And just to put it in perspective, let me talk about Black Friday here, because you mentioned the battle that's happening here. We saw 16.4 billion in online sales for Black Friday in the US, and that was up 9%. And so, as I mentioned, what this shows us is people are buying. What it's also showing is that there's a high concentration of online sales for those two days. And sure, you two gentlemen are laughing because that's been that way since Cyber Monday was coined in 2005, but there has been a smoothing out of demand, particularly around Cyber Week or cyber five for the last several years, but there's been a stark shift back to those two prominent days. Jason: [10:27] So interesting on the top line numbers, one of the, you mentioned that you're, you're seeing items increase, not just prices, right? Which kind of opens the whole specter of, of it's, we're not just seeing growth for from inflation, right? Are there any categories that you're like going into the holiday? It was like, hey, the growth was in essentials and food and things like that. And discretionary items like apparel and electronics and toys were not doing well. Did you guys see, like, are people opening their wallets on discretionary items or are sales continuing to be these kind of essentials and affordable luxuries? Rob: [11:06] Yeah, it's a mixed bag. And I do want to underscore your point, Jason, around. Growth being generated by more volume and not just higher prices. So that's exactly what we saw. 3% growth when you're seeing 9% increase in inflation is a tough equation to, be profitable and to work out in the consumer's favor. But in this case, we are seeing more demand. And the demand, as I mentioned, is a mixed bag. On one hand, we are seeing really nice growth in areas like makeup and health and beauty, skin care. We're also seeing nice growth in active apparel and active footwear as well. I categorize that actually as comfort. In uncertain times when consumers certainly are looking to really take control of their household balance sheets, oftentimes you migrate to comfort. You know, you can talk about comfort food, but this is just comfort gifting and comfort what you put on your body, both clothes and literally on your skin. And so we are seeing nice growth there where actually, if you think about it over the last 12 months, those categories have been hit a bit in terms of the growth curve. [12:20] And what you're seeing on the other side actually is luxury is softening a little bit, which which I think is important to note because for the last, I mean, gosh, through the pandemic and after, luxury was one of the most, no, not one of the most, was the most resilient categories. And we're starting to see a bit of breaking down, especially around the aspirational luxury side. So we're going to keep an eye on that. I will mention one other thing, actually, as it relates to categories that are doing well in the holiday and that is food and beverage and gifting, you know, in terms of. What people look to for comfort and experiences, they are gifting chocolate, they're gifting wine, they're gifting various gift baskets. We saw really strong growth, even starting, you know, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and working its way through the entire holiday. Jason: [13:22] Interesting. One category or two categories that come up a lot, like coming into holiday, electronics had been in a pretty big swamp, like for the whole pandemic. And I'm curious, I've seen conflicting data about whether electronics are back or whether they're still soft. Traditionally, electronics would be one of the fastest movers for holiday. Rob: [13:43] Of course, of course. Yeah, I mean, consumer electronics, toys, right? Those two are still pretty soft. I think you really though need to put it in perspective in terms of the astronomical growth we saw on those categories over the last four years. I haven't done the math. You're really good at this, Jason. So I'm gonna put you to task maybe on your next LinkedIn post, but I am willing to wager, and I'm not a betting person, so I'm not really willing Softness in Consumer Electronics and Toys Market [14:07] to wager, but I'd love to see the CAGR of those categories over the last four years. I'm guessing they're in really strong, like high team growth, which any retailer would be happy with that on a given holiday time period. So there is a bit of softening, but I think it's really important to understand it in context with the growth that they've seen over the last several years. Scot: [14:32] Cool. Um, so, you know, with these good showings and Cyber Monday and Black Friday, what's that mean for the rest of the season? Are you guys like doubling your forecast, tripling or, and what's that mean for the shape? We talk a lot about the shape of the holiday. Any, any, any changes to your thoughts on those? Rob: [14:49] Yeah. The shape or the anatomy. I've been asked this by a lot of retail executives because they're being asked by their board, like, are you sandbagging us? Black Friday and Cyber Monday Impact on Holiday Season Shape [14:59] We need to really relook at this forecast. We crawled through the data over the last couple of days just to look through our model and see if we could see the data in different ways through different lenses. The reality is what we're seeing is that Black Friday and Cyber Monday were taking market share from the bookends of the holiday, from earlier on and later on, right before the shipping cutoff date. And so for the last five years or so, we have been seeing a smoothing out of demand for the seven days that we define as Cyber Week, Tuesday before Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. And Thanksgiving became a really strong and important day, especially on the mobile device, especially as consumers. [15:47] Either being distracted or inspired, whichever you want to think about it, on the couch after Thanksgiving meal, looking at social. [15:54] But we've seen a snapback of the higher concentration of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. So it's not like there's incremental sales, and that's what I think you were getting at, right? I don't think there's incremental sales that we can now account for. We're still staying to our forecast of 1% growth in the US for November and December. That's how we define holiday and in the US and we're looking at 4% growth globally, really led by Europe. And I want to just put a caveat on this. Not only again, are we seeing that growth come from increased demand, but retailers have gotten smarter. Retailers' Inventory Management and Positive Growth Forecast [16:33] I don't know if it's smarter, but they were very deliberate going into this holiday starting six months ago about managing inventory levels and margins. So there's been a lot of talk about how are we going to handle shipping? How are we going to handle our return policies? And also, how are we going to think about our open to buys? And so I think most retail executives, especially on the merchandising side, are feeling pretty good because they're working their way through the inventory, which by the way, as you know, has been a big glut over the last couple of years, especially in 2021, when so many products were stuck in the port of LA. I mean, that just created this bullwhip effect that we're still just getting our arms around now and getting over the hump. And so that's my long way of saying is we're not reforecasting. We still feel positive with that 1% and 4% growth in U.S. and global, respectively, because. [17:24] Retailers are taking a very close look at overall profitability and this concept of customer profitability as well. Scot: [17:32] Yeah. You'd said, so it seems like the curve was kind of flattening out and now it's like steepening again it's like kind of coming in at the edges and in kind of like shaping up in the middle part of the bell curve which is like the that, Retailers analyzing profitability and customer profitability. [17:48] cyber week. Is that that's right. Okay. Rob: [17:51] That's really good. Yeah. It's kind of snapped back. Right. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. Scot: [17:56] It's going to make that sound. Rob: [17:58] Where's the sound effects in turn? Are they there? Are they on call? Can we get that bullying? Jason: [18:02] I'll be adding that in post. Scot: [18:06] You had said something that kind of piqued my interest. You said people are kind of, you know, I may be rephrasing this wrong, but you said kind of demand is back. Like I knew it almost felt like you were saying before there was, you know, people were shopping, but it didn't seem like, you know, a new increase in demand. And now it is because you're seeing robustness in pricing and stuff. Is that say a little bit more about that? I'll make sure I understand what you were saying. Increase in Demand and Robust Pricing Rob: [18:32] Yeah, you got it. So yes. And I, again, and don't think retail executives are doing backflips and thinking that we're getting back to roaring double-digit, growth coming out of the holiday. But what this is an indication, and by the way, we're seeing this as a leading indicator in Europe, let's exclude the UK, which is probably in the same rebound curve as the United States and Canada, but you take continental Europe and who are about two, maybe three quarters ahead of us in terms of the rebound, we're seeing inflation settle, the average selling prices settle down and people are buying more. So we're seeing average orders volume higher. We're seeing slight uptick in units per transaction, only slight. But the order piece is super interesting. We're seeing traffic. We're seeing continued really strong traffic. People are just really being diligent and patient and shopping a lot and looking for the best deals. And we'll have to talk about that in terms of what discounting patterns we saw as well. So that's my long way of saying Scot is people are buying more, they're doing it. By still making trade-offs. So there is a sense of let's load up on some essentials while we're getting good deals. [19:57] Let's look for travel, entertainment, like experiences. And you have to also think of the adjacent categories like luggage, as an example, if you're going on a trip, do you need something new to put your clothes in? And though they are, again, increasing, as I mentioned. So as I think about the sentiment, even with a 1% in the US growth, 4% global is what we're forecasting for the full holiday, retailers are feeling good about that. They want to exit this holiday on a really good foundation of profitability, a really good foundation on inventory levels. And most every retailer I'm talking to has a growth mindset. They're thinking about customer acquisition, finding new ways to do that because customer acquisition costs are still off the charts, but also loyalty, finding new ways to create stickiness, looking for adjacent categories, adjacent services, looking for partnerships to supplement what they're doing organically. And I mean, this would take us down a whole other path, but they're leaning into data. They're leaning into AI to better understand who those consumers are and what they're likely to buy and making sure they're able to create profitable customers. How was that soapbox? I just rattled off too much, too fast. Jason: [21:13] So hopefully you were able to digest it. But you kind of, you glossed over what they're really looking at is just selling ads to brands. Rob: [21:18] That's fair. Thank you. I could have just said that. You're right. That's a very good point. And yeah, we could, I love your take actually, seriously, given that on Amazon's move for the football game on Friday. Jason: [21:31] Yeah. So that's a great point. And maybe just to catch up listeners that might not have followed it. Something very different and unique for this year is that the NFL, you know, normally they have a Thursday game and they have Sunday games and a Monday night game. On Thanksgiving, they have Thursday day games during Thanksgiving. This year, they added a Friday game for the first time. And the sponsor of that Friday game was Amazon. It was broadcast on Amazon Prime, and Amazon actually had shoppable ads via QR codes in the broadcast, all sort of innovative, cool, new stuff. [22:11] The early read is that the viewership was pretty good for the Friday game. There's no history, so we have nothing to compare it to. I would argue fewer people are going and standing in line at brick and mortar stores for door busters. You know, the little bit of data we do have on brick and mortar shows that, like, there wasn't a huge, huge spike in in-store shopping. I feel like Friday has become more of an online shopping day, Amazon's Innovative Advertising and Potential Profitability for Holiday [22:36] which means people are home more, which means there's an opportunity to watch a football game. I kind of don't imagine that the interactive ad formats, like, you know, we're high volume and really move the needle, but they're innovative. And I do think that that Friday game is likely to be a new tradition as the holiday shopping season goes from an omni-channel thing to an online thing. At least that's my POV. Rob: [23:03] Yeah, I am super interested in your point of view given how close you are to this. So I guess I'm gonna put you on the spot. Wow, look at me, I'm totally turning the table here, but this has been on my mind. And actually, interestingly enough, over the weekend at a party, somebody who's not in like retail, you know, he shops. That's the extent of it. He pointed out what Amazon did and thought it was really clever. So what did I hear? Like, did they spend a hundred million dollars for that? Regardless, do you think they made the money back going to your point, Jason, on selling ad space in there and kind of even if it's a break even and or they're gaining more prime members, it was a good day for Amazon? Jason: [23:42] Yeah, I am pretty confident it was a good day for Amazon. Like, one thing to remember is Amazon has a better model for monetizing eyeballs than anyone else, right? So, like, if you're Coca-Cola and you sponsor a football game, you're trying to get eyeballs and the only way you have to monetize those eyeballs is to get them to drink more Coke. Rob: [24:03] Right. Jason: [24:04] If you're Amazon, here's what you do. You get a bunch of eyeballs. You try to sell them something that you make money on. And after you do that, you sell ads to other people for more than you paid. And they try to sell something to that person, right? And so, you know, the combination of the ad revenue that Amazon generates and the top of funnel, and bottom of funnel benefit that Amazon gets, again, they're building their brand. Your friend that was just talking to you, he wasn't talking about a particular product he was shopping for. The brand he remembers is Amazon, right? And so you got that Amazon top of the funnel benefit, which is valuable and important. Amazon probably sold some stuff to people. So you got that Amazon bottom of funnel benefit. And then we know Amazon sold a bunch of ads, which is, you know, a huge, huge driver of incremental profit. So yeah, I definitely think we can call Amazon a winner there. I think when it all settles, we're also going to see that it was just a pretty good sales day for Amazon as well. Rob: [25:09] Yeah, I bet you're right. Yeah. The last point and then we can move on and by the way, welcome to episode one of the Rob Garf podcast, is the fact that I mean, knowing Amazon, those ads that you're getting are personalized in terms of them understanding who you are and even if it's a different size or a different brand or a different you know, whatever, even what they know about what's in your shopping cart, what you bought in the past. So anyways, it sounds like, as I would have suspected, you're pretty bullish about it and I am too. Jason: [25:37] So yeah, I do want to cover something just kind of fundamental. So, so we rebounded a little bit and we got bigger sales on, on Friday and Monday. Potentially we might've just pulled some sales in that were going to happen later in the month per your, your comments about not wanting to re-forecast. Did we partly pull those in by giving deeper discounts than we usually give? Like what, what did you see from a discounting standpoint and what does that say about potential profitability for Holiday? Rob: [26:03] Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So we actually looked at this going into the Holiday and we went back to 2019 and I have the team look at discount rates starting in November 1st for 2019, 2021, and 2023, what we had anticipated for this year. And what we saw and actually came true is we saw discount rates over Cyber Week hover just north of where they were in 2019. Discount rates over Cyber Week in comparison to previous years [26:31] Don't forget, 2021, there were the lowest discount rates that we've seen because the product just wasn't there. So retailers, it was the first time they won the game of Discount Chicken. The short answer is yes. Retailers did discount the heaviest they have all year, right around 30% on average. And I think that's important. It's on average. I mean, we've all seen discounts of 40%, 50%, really creative discounting strategies. And so that definitely drove demand. I mean, going back to the consumer, while they're buying more, they're making trade-offs and they were really diligent. [27:09] They were really patient and they waited and they waited and they ultimately saw the attractive deals starting in earnest on Black Friday. They weren't even that great on the Monday, Tuesday, I'm sorry, the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thanksgiving, Thursday until Black Friday, and then they started to buy. So they held out and they ultimately purchased those attractive deals. In terms of margin, I think we're doing okay. And the secret here is when we looked at the data, given all the inflation that happened, And actually, consumers are still, even with these deep discounts, paying more than they were in 2019. The optics are there. They're feeling like they're getting a good deal, but the reality is they're still spending more. So I think they'll be okay. And there wasn't this protracted discounting that did happen. And because they manage their inventory well, the retailers, and their discounting strategy as well, I don't think they're going to be forced with the hail Mary discounts that you often see right before the shipping cutoff date. So I think that retailers actually managed it pretty well. I give them credit too, by the way, what we saw in our data as well is retailers were a lot more transparent around their discounting strategy. [28:23] Many were offering price match guarantees. If they saw, you know, the consumer saw the price for less, and they were also much more transparent around their return policies as well. So people felt a little more comfortable buying earlier, even if the prices weren't exactly where they wanted it. So the long of it is, or the short of it, whichever way I look at it, is there were healthy discounts. Consumers took advantage of them. I'm still feeling more positive, especially than I have from last year, about margins. Scot: [28:57] Cool. You said something I want to dig into, and then I want to pivot to be in PL. You said luxury was a little soft. What do we make of that? Retailers' management of inventory and transparency in discounting strategy Rob: [29:06] Yeah, and like I said, it's had a run, like I haven't seen before in any one category. I mean, don't get me wrong. Consumer electronics really strong and some other categories in the pandemic home looked really strong as well. But it continued after the pandemic, both in store and online. What we saw compared again, just to put in perspective, three percent increase on Cyber Monday in the U.S., nine percent increase in Black Friday in the U.S. [29:34] There was a tick low beyond flat for luxury. What it also showed is they started to. [29:41] Discount more than they typically do. You think of luxury, they're going to hold their really price and be sensitive around preserving their brand and their margins. And we were seeing that tick up as well. I think the ultra luxury is still alive and kicking, no problem. It's more of that aspirational luxury. One area that I think is really important to point out is the resale market. More and more luxury brands are playing in the luxury market game. I'm sorry, the resale market game, because they realize people are doing it anyways, and they might as well offer that in many cases on their own website. So like Coach as an example, Canada Goose as an example, have the capability to exchange product, which then allows existing customers to likely buy something at a higher price point. And then if the product is in good enough shape, they're able to resell it and allow for aspirational shoppers to actually access that brand and buy it where they might not have been able to in the past. So yeah, I'm not overly concerned about luxury. I mean, the brands are so strong and there's so much loyalty there, but it just does show that in the aspirational space, people are trading down to a degree. [30:55] You know, they're trading down for value in the resale market. In many cases, they're trading down for vintage. It's amazing to see how many, you know, sneaker brands and specific models are hot that we all remember from our high school days. And you know, even the younger generations like to save the world a little bit as well. Scot: [31:14] Yeah. So I guess what I'm getting at is, do we think the consumer's rolling over and that's kind of the BNPL question too, because one way to read BNPL increasing is people are under financial stress. So they're stretching out payments. Another way is, you know, seeing all this data and it's always sponsored by one of the BNPL providers. So I'm never sure how to take it, but it shows that, you know, millennials and Gen Zers like, they don't like open credit. And it's weird because my kids have this perspective too. I thought it was like, I thought it was totally made up and then they're like, oh no, I, you know, I hate having like these credit cards with big limits. And I'm like, well, if you don't use it, it doesn't matter. It just makes them Consumer behavior and the rise of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) [31:52] nervous for some reason. And do you think it's a generational thing or is it a little sign of softness on the consumer? And maybe the luxury is another indication that it feels like the consumer is rolling over a little bit or you don't see that. Rob: [32:06] Yeah, I mean, I think it is a bit generational to your point. I don't have those data's points to substantiate what you're describing. But a lot of what I learned is from my 17-year-old and 14-year-old because they're right in the smack dab of purchasing and trends and so forth. Don't worry, we have a lot more data at Salesforce to back this up, billions and billions of shoppers. But in any case, the anecdotes definitely help provide a full commentary. But we saw an outpay later over Cyber Week increase 7%. So that's healthy. It's a little slower than we've seen in past. What we're also seeing, and it started last year, is it's on lower and lower price point merchandise. So that also speaks to the adoption as well. It's not just on the big ticket items. I think if I zoom out for a moment as well, mobile wallets were really strong. Mobile wallets were really strong. We saw about a 50% increase year over year in that. Now, of course, it's a smaller base than traditional credit cards and debit cards. But still, it's showing the adoption because it's really breaking down the friction in the checkout process. But we keep a close eye on buy now, pay later, because you're right. It could be an indication, especially as consumers look to buy lower price merchandise, that it might be a softening in the market. But we're not quite there in proclaiming that. Scot: [33:25] You said a mobile wallet. That is catnip for retail geek, so I'll get out of his way. I bet he has a million questions. Jason: [33:32] Yeah, no, Scot knows I love a good mobile wallet and I'm sure everyone's already heard this, Mobile wallets and the impact on checkout process and shopping experiences [33:37] but I have a hypothesis that some of the popular shopping behaviors we see in Asia aren't as popular here because we don't have as good a penetration of mobile wallets and that if you have mobile wallets, it makes certain experiences like shopping on social media and things like that easier because it only requires one hand instead of three hands. So I'd be curious, do you guys think you're seeing more mobile wallet users, or do you think you're seeing more transaction from the existing users, or do you have the ability to? To see between those two? I suspect I just asked you a question you're going to now have to go do research on. Rob: [34:17] Nick Neumann We may have that based on some of the primary research we do. We don't have access to personally identifiable information, so we can't see by user. But my thesis there is it's both. There are more people adopting mobile wallets because they see the convenience and the friction that's removed. And then once that happens, they're buying more. I think you go back to the Amazon example, part of why that's probably a home run for them is because it's a lot easier for somebody to buy in that form factor than let's say Roku or other Verizon user interfaces that you don't have a wallet associated with it. I didn't go through the shopping process on the Friday NFL game, but I can only imagine it was much easier than having to do it through other types of media. So I think that, yeah, I agree by the way, with your hypothesis that, you know, embedded commerce or shopping at the edge has been a bit stunted because, the wallet piece is not there or as accessible as it is in other countries. Buy Now, Pay Later Growing and Replacing Layaway Jason: [35:30] Yeah. Two things I'll just throw out there on buy now, pay later. I mean, I do, I think it, it legitimately resonates with the new crop of consumers. And so I think it's growing for all the reasons that the Buy Now Pay Later people claim it's growing. But I would, there's two accelerators that are just kind of convenient in there. Holiday used to be a big time for this payment method that the youngsters on the call wouldn't have heard of called the layaway. And almost no retailer that I'm aware of has brought back layaway, like they all retired it in the last several years, largely because Buy Now Pay Later has replaced it. And so, you know, layaway is most popular around holiday. So, you know, to the extent that buy now pay later is the digital version of layaway. It kind of makes sense that you would see a spike over a holiday. Also, digital is growing much faster than brick and mortar. Buy Now, Pay Later is disproportionately online. So that, you know, is another reason you would expect Buy Now, Pay Later to spike. One thing that's a little alarming slash interesting to me is that Buy Now, Pay Later gets used for a wider range of purchases and merchandise than LayAway did. Like, LayAway tended to be big ticket items, your kid's aspirational toys, but Buy Now Pay Later gets used for food and consumables and things that economically you would argue probably don't want to be financing something that you need to rebuy every month. Rob: [36:52] Yes. Jason: [36:53] So I'll just throw that out there on Buy Now Pay Later. We are coming up on our allotted time. I do have two other pieces of news that just kind of interrupted the Turkey Five news cycle. And one of them I'm super sad about, and it's actual breaking news that happened while we were recording this show, Charlie Munger just passed away at 99. Rob: [37:13] Oh, wow. Scot: [37:14] That's terrible. Jason: [37:15] Warren Buffett's partner, and I just, I feel like, very admirable person. I've learned a lot. He and Warren Buffett, like, are super generous with sharing Charlie Munger's Passing and Xi'an's IPO Announcement [37:23] all this thought leadership, and I just want to say best wishes to all his family and loved ones. Seems like you had an amazing life. Rob: [37:31] Yeah, I echo your sentiment. Jason: [37:33] Yep. And then in the middle of Cyber 5, you guys teased this a couple of times talking about Xi'an. and Xi'an disclosed that they filed an IPO. So that came out yesterday. It's a confidential IPO, so we won't actually see the prospectus until probably 2024 sometime. Okay. And the theory is that it's going to be, because of their not super transparent ownership structure and their Chinese ownership, it's gonna have extra regulatory scrutiny. And so the reason you'd file a confidential IPO is so you could start talking to regulators and negotiating what you're gonna do and what you're gonna disclose. And so they're probably working through all that stuff to then do the public IPO later. But it's, I'm excited for when that gets disclosed because there's a lot of speculation about how big Shein is and how profitable or unprofitable their model has been. And we're gonna be able to do away with all that speculation and get some real certified data. Rob: [38:38] I can't wait to listen to that show when you dissect that. It will be super interesting to see where they're allocating the investment and the capital. Beyond, obviously, hiring people, but what parts of the business. Jason: [38:51] I totally agree and that's going to be a great place to leave it because we have used up our allotted time. Rob, so grateful and congratulations on being our first six-time guest. And as per usual, if you enjoyed this episode or it was useful to us in any way, the two ways you can reward us are to do a giant enterprise contract for all your marketing services with Salesforce.com or, you can leave a five-star review on iTunes for Scot and I. So, you know, those are the two paths, choose whichever one makes most financial sense to you, but appreciate it if you do one or the other. Rob: [39:29] Yeah. And if I could say too, I know we're running up against time, but I want to give a big, sincere thank you. Obviously we just came out of Thanksgiving, so I want to show my gratitude. You know, it's amazing. Anytime I'm on the show, the people that reach out to me, not only talking about the show, but how much they've learned from you. And so for you to trust me and providing my perspective and Salesforce perspective means a lot and just thanks for being such good friends. Scot: [39:56] Robert Leonard Jason said, no, but I overrode him just so you know the history. I thought, you know, Jason's like, I'm the retail geek. We don't need any Garfies in here. Rob, remind us where could people go? You guys will be updating your data. I assume, you know, this is the last time you'll be on for this year, but I'm sure you'll be publishing more data as we get deeper in the holiday. Where do people go to see that? Rob: [40:19] Jason Cosper Yeah, we have our Shopping Insights HQ on salesforce.com. We will be updating the information. We'll do a mid-season report right around the shipping cutoff window, and then we'll do an all-wrapped-up just around the beginning of NRF. So keep an eye out. Scot: [40:34] Awesome. Well, thanks, everyone, and until next time... Jason: [40:38] Happy commercing!

This week's episode of The Retail Tea Break podcast is sponsored by Salesforce, the world's #1 CRM. I'm joined by an internationally recognised expert in the retail industry, a seasoned researcher who helps global organisations build the future of their business.Michelle Grant is Director of Strategy and Insights for Retail & Consumer Goods at Salesforce. She has shared her thoughts with the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Financial Times. Footwear News honoured as one of the 6 Powerful Women in Technology in 2021, Rethink Retail continues to list her as one of the top retail influencers in the world for 2022 and 2023.At Salesforce, she blends data and analysis to create thought provoking content that helps companies understand how new technologies will impact the future of their business. In this episode, she takes me through Salesforces predictions for the holiday season.This is a fantastic episode, so grab your cup of tea, sit back and listen in!Topics:· Salesforce predictions for the Christmas and holiday season· Predictive AI driving digital sales· BOPIS; delivering an efficient, convenient shopping experience· Returns policies impacting the shopper journey· Social media advertising delivering peak ROI both instore and online· Resale gifting· Keeping Christmas shoppers For more information visit: https://www.salesforce.com/eu/campaign/salesforce-ireland/Original five trends for holiday predictions: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/holiday-shopping-predictions/Updated predictions with forecasts for spending: https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/salesforce-holiday-predictions-2023/Link to Connected Shoppers report: https://www.salesforce.com/resources/research-reports/connected-shoppers-report/For more information and the transcript, please visit www.theretailadvisor.ie

About This EpisodeTo bestselling author Simon Alexander Ong, bold is the ability to think differently and to act in ways that the majority won't. He has certainly taken bold action in his own life shifting from the world of finance to being an author, speaker, and business strategist. While sharing his professional journey, Simon also provides transformative insights and practical actions that we can take to control and increase our own energy. Breaking down energy into four dimensions (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual), Simon emphasizes that the key to progress and productivity lies not in how we manage our time, but in how we manage our energy. He also speaks to the role and importance of curiosity, gratitude, and communication in our success. Tune in to learn more about your own energy and how you can hone it to reach the next level in your life. About Simon Alexander OngSimon Alexander Ong is a bestselling author, international keynote speaker and business strategist. His work has seen him invited onto Sky News and BBC to be interviewed, while he has been featured in the likes of Forbes and Harvard Business Review. He has spoken at organizations such as Barclays, Salesforces, Adobe, EY and Microsoft. And his debut book Energize, published by Penguin in 2022 became an instant bestseller, receiving endorsements from the likes of New York Times bestselling authors Simon Sinek, Marie Forleo and Marshall Goldsmith. In 2023, Energize was also awarded Book of the Year within the Wellness & Wellbeing category at The Business Book Awards.  Additional ResourcesWebsite: https://www.simonalexanderong.com/Check Out His New Book, Energize: https://getenergizebook.com/LinkedIn: @SimonAlexanderOng Instagram: @SimonAlexanderO YouTube: @SimonAlexanderO

Timestamps: 4:46 - The evolution of the Swiss ecosystem  11:08  - Building a resilient company 31:41 - Work/life balance 32:40 - Frank's 3 biggest entrepreneurial lessons  41:30 - Becoming an investor and the logical next steps As a serial entrepreneur, investor, and coach, Frank Floessel has had a rich and wide-ranging career, starting from his university days at ETH Zurich, where he received a Master's in electrical engineering and co-founded and was the first president of ETH Juniors, which has been helping university graduates and students with part-time project work. He extended this idea and founded a second venture, Tempobrain AG, an HR company for InhouseOutsourcing and Salesforces in retail. He is an alum of MIT's Birthing of Giants leadership course. Now he has taken a step back from being an associate Partner at the Austrian VC company Venionaire Capital to return to his Alma Mater as the Head of ETH Entrepreneurship.  His focus on the importance of company values is a huge part of his ethos. It is how he has coached other CEOs to run their companies in similar ways, especially by giving insight into mistakes he made during his career that were huge lessons, as well as sharing other things he is proud to have implemented, like hierarchical dynamics. Values are core to having employees who enjoy working at your company, feel you are transparent, and think you live up to your word. These are essential lessons he wants to share with other CEOs, and he also encourages them to maintain a healthy work/life balance, which he admits can be challenging to do in the early stages of your career. Now that his focus has shifted to his new role at ETH as Head of Entrepreneurship, he can contribute to helping foster the next generation of entrepreneurs. “I think entrepreneurship is kind of magic: you have an idea, you make a business plan, and in the end somebody is willing to give you money for that.” “Two of the key lessons of entrepreneurship are that failure is not an option, and that timing is really important.” Resource: The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway interviewing Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky Don't forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there's no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!

The market had a relatively calm day, with none of the major market averages ticking above or below a 1% change, and Jim Cramer is analyzing what trends may move the market to finish out the week. First, Jim sits down with CEO of Take-Two Interactive Strauss Zelnick to analyze the gaming company's recent stock rally despite posting a discouraging quarter. Then, Jim meets with Marc Benioff CEO of Salesforce for a closer look at the company's booming profitability growth. Plus, an exclusive interview with Intuitive Surgical CEO Dr. Gary Guthart on overcoming the many headwinds facing the medical industry. Mad Money Disclaimer

This week's episode of The Retail Tea Break podcast is a little different, as it is brought to you in collaboration with Salesforce. I'm joined by 3 very special guests as we look ahead to planning for Christmas and the Holiday season. I speak to:Jennie McGinn, Head of E-commerce for Lifestyle SportsPaul Gillart, Chief Operating Officer at The Skin NerdGurpreet Kaur, Director of Retail Solutions and Strategy at Salesforce We delve into Salesforces' predictions for peak 2022 and their tips for delivering amazing experiences whilst providing a hyper-personalised service for customers. We also hear how Irish brands Lifestyle Sports, The Skin Nerd and Skingredients are preparing for the golden quarter. Paul tells us about the power of gifting (and self-gifting) and we discuss Jennie's top tips for what not to do this Black Friday! This is an incredible episode, one that should not be missed!

No corporate function in B2B was impacted by the events of 2020 as much as sales. Salesforces had to reengineer themselves just to survive. We in marketing had better understand how these new sales dynamics are affecting us. My guest will help us do just that.  Rick Endrulat's passion for revenue generation began at Watcom, a spinoff from the University of Waterloo. He was there as it grew and was acquired by the sixth-largest software company in the world. He then co-founded Virtual Causeway, a consultancy that helps enterprises scale up their demand generation. Rick is a Quantum Shift Fellow with the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. A past recipient of Waterloo Region's “40 Under 40,” Rick has also received Wilfrid Laurier's MBA Alumni Award in 2008 and 2013, and Communitech's Tech Impact Award for outstanding leadership and involvement in the local technology community. He is a member of Laurier's President's Council of Advisors, and a two-time winner of the Laziridis School of Business — Entrepreneurship & Innovation award. He has an Honours Degree in Arts and a Masters of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. Not one to stand still, Rick co-founded School of Rock Kitchener-Waterloo, which rapidly grew to become the largest music school in the community. He is also Co-Founder and Director of 100 Guitars for 100 kids, as well as a Founding Board Member for Sustainable Waterloo Region. People/Products/Concepts Mentioned in Show Forrester creators of the renowned 'Wave' methodology  Funnel Reboot episode on Lead Scoring Rick's company Virtual Causeway Rick's personal site: https://rickendrulat.com/ Weekly email 'What Do B2B Marketers Do Now?' For more details, please visit https://funnelreboot.com/episode-97-reacting-to-a-reengineered-sales-team-with-rick-endrulat/

Émilie Sidiqian, directrice générale de Salesforce France, était l'invité de Christophe Jakubyszyn dans Good Morning Business, ce mercredi 30 mars. Ils se sont penchés la journée de rencontre autour de la digitalisation, et du partenariat du groupe Salesforce France avec les JO Paris 2024, sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au vendredi et réécoutez la en podcast.

O entrevistado de hoje é o Alexandre Galliotti, Head de Growth da Mightyhive América Latina, a maior agência de marketing digital do mundo. O nosso entrevistado é um executivo orientado ao uso intensivo de dados, fluente em conceitos e plataformas de Martech, Growth e Customer Experience. Temas como Marketing Digital, CRM, Analytics e DMPs fazem parte do seu cotidiano. Além disso, e advisor e mentor da startup Inovativa Brasil, e tem vários cursos da Google, Salesforces, na Harvard e no MIT.

Vivianne Castillo left counseling to become a UX researcher. What she found was an industry that talked a lot about empathy—but wasn’t very good at practicing it. Now she’s building a company dedicated to changing that.Vivianne Castillo is a UX researcher, humanity in tech advocate, and founder of HmntyCntrd, a masterclass for people in UX and tech that was just named one of Fast Company’s most innovative companies of 2021. Vivianne uses her background in counseling and trauma to educate on and advocate for the trauma-informed workplace, empathy in the face of capitalism, and justice for all. At HmntyCntrd, she helps people from companies like Apple, Slack, and Spotify become advocates for equity and change in the tech industry. I think a lot of UX and design professionals can have this tendency of, "Well, if I don't do it, who will? If I don't advocate for this user, who will? If I don't care about this person who will?" And you know, I have just learned that it's not all on me, and that I can't save everyone or everything. And that is such a freeing gift to realize, and just step into the reality that it's not all on you.—Vivianne Castillo, founder of HmntyCntrdWe talk about:What it really means to be humanity-centered, and why that’s often missing in UXHow and why Vivianne developed the HmntyCntrd programThe various forms of trauma caused by work and how a workplace can become more trauma--informedWhat it means to choose courage over comfortVivianne’s viral resignation letter from Salesforces, and how to identify when it’s time to leave a toxic work environmentPlus: in this week’s You’ve Got This, Sara talks steps for assessing when it might be time to leave a toxic work situation. Ask yourself: what are the costs of leaving? The costs of staying? What am I risking? If I stay, how can I set boundaries at work? For all this and more, head over to https://www.activevoicehq.com/podcast.Links:Vivianne CastilloHmntyCntrdVivianne’s Salesforce ResignationActive Voice

This episode features a conversation with Caroline Casey and Neil Milliken. Caroline is the founder of the Valuable 500, which is a Leadership Initiative to make sure CEOs buy into disability inclusion and that disability and accessibility is part of the global agenda. Neil is the Global Head of accessibility at Atos. His role is to deliver better technology for customers and employees embedding inclusive practice into the processes of the organization. Neil delivers strategy and services working with a wide range of clients helping them to develop policies, processes, and technology solutions to meet the needs of their staff and customers. In this episode, they discuss how to engage the C-Suite to drive accessibility, how to influence board and senior executives to recognize the business value of accessibility, the role of top management in defining and managing the organizational strategic accessibility plan for all aspects of the employee and customer experience, why KPIs matter, and more. Transcript:  HOST: Please welcome Caroline Casey and Neil Milliken.  Caroline is the founder of The Valuable 500 which is a leadership initiative to make sure CEOs buy into disability inclusion and that disability and accessibility is part of the global agenda. Neil is the Global Head of Accessibility at Atos.  His role is to deliver better technology for customers and employees, embedding inclusive practice into the processes of the organization. Neil delivers strategy and services working with a wide range of clients helping them to develop policies, processes, and technology solutions to meet the needs of their staff and customers. Today they will be discussing How to engage the C-suite to drive accessibility. They will touch on how to influence board and senior executives to recognize the business value of accessibility, the role of top management in defining and managing the organizational strategic accessibility plan for all aspects of the employee and customer experience, why KPIs matter and more! NEIL: Caroline, welcome, and thank you for joining us. Diving straight in, Valuable 500 does require this CEO commitment, but you make it easy for organisations to engage because you are not actually asking for too much to begin with, because you want to set the barriers to entry relatively low.  You are talking about board reporting and a single commitment, and ideally, most of the companies have at least one of these things that they are already doing.  That approach has attracted some of the world's largest organisations to join, which is fantastic, but what do we now need to do to raise the bar? CAROLINE: A few things with that one, as of this afternoon, just before I came on, we are at 394 companies around the globe, and that's companies that employ over 1,000 people, and we represent 31 countries, 56 sectors, and I think it's just under 14 million employees.  It is incredibly powerful.  So, the question is: What do we do with that power, right?  So, the Valuable 500 was originally established to get the attention and intention of the CEOs.  It's like the missing piece so that we could scale some of the great accessibility initiatives, leadership, and actually disability business inclusion that exist in a business, and the reason we're not seeing accelerated change, or the joining of the dots or the scaling is because the leadership wasn't necessarily aware. And you know, we had a stat that said that 54 percent of our leadership and our C-suite, around the globe had never had a discussion about disability. So, our job was to originally break that circuit with a critical mass of 500.  Now, we are nearly there.  So, our job now which we will announce in about a month will be how do we activate this community led unsupported by the CEOs and what we provided for them is a transformational change program and that change program will look at three internal aspects of the business that we want the CEOs to ensure there is movement on. One is around leadership itself, the second is about culture and the third is brand and then we are going to ask the community of the 500 to really use their collective influence to change the appalling situation around the lack of research and data, representation particular business and disability representation and lastly reporting because it is a dastardly state of affairs. So that is the transformational program. Do not think that now they are in the community and we've got them in, that the CEO no longer becomes accountable, they do, they must stand above the program of work each company will do. So, the CEOs often have absolutely no idea, or the leadership have no idea, what this, what really good looks like. And I would never push a CEO, with the exception of maybe a few, onto a stage. People like Christopher Panowyk, I'd ask you and who are you referring to and who are your partners.  And it is one of the reasons, the IAAP, are very much one of our partners in phase 2.  The businesses are looking to each other to know who you are working with.  And it is the right experience, it is the right people, and it is the right partnerships that we need to start highlighting, because then we will see the work being done correctly. NEIL: Like you already highlighted there are very few people in positions like myself, or Daniel A. Flurry, or with direct access to the CEO. That does need to change because the complexity of the programs that we are going to have to run if we will be successful is immense and requires this kind of really serious amount of corporate oversight and influence and power within an organization for it to work because it is great to give someone a title but if that is the title without real power and influence and ability to make stuff happen then the programs will fail. So, I think its… CAROLINE:   And the right financial investment. I cannot name – we've had three requests, in the last, since last Monday and I mean really big organizations and one is about the biggest event in the world. They came to us saying we really want to be the most inclusive and most successful event and Company, where do we go? The very first thing that we will push back on and say, “well number one are you prepared to invest in this? Number two, are you prepared to have the person to whom will run the program have direct access to the leadership? Because, if you are not prepared for those two things do not bother.” We must absolutely invest in visibility with the leadership, and you must invest financially, and you must develop your team right through the organization and that pipeline of expertise and you need to bring that talent into your business and that is where we make the link between employment and the intelligence in the business. Do you have that intelligence in your business, do you have people with different lived experience, who have skills around accessibility to help formulate the strategy and deliver for you? So, they are quite surprised and come back and say “OH!” You're like, “Ya, this is big move stuff, this is really different to the conversation we had before COVID”.  NEIL: A CEO sponsored initiative, where you've got someone that's appointed, who needs to be accountable and, therefore, an expectation to have some kind of measure of success and be able to demonstrate that success, so this is something that the SLiA program has been actively engaged in and what KPIs should we have internally for our programs, how do we measure these things. I think this is work that some of us has done within our own organizations, but we wanted to look at how we can harmonize this and there will always be sector by sector stuff that will differ.  What works in a tech business might not work in a manufacturing organization, but what are the KPIs. Also, not just how do we as accessibility professionals look at KPIs because we want to look at much greater granularity than the CEOs. What do you think are the things the CEOs are wanting to see and also, what can we educate them as to things that are important to see, rather than, because sometimes they might be interested in the wrong things? CAROLINE: You as a community the first most important piece for me, is you are the only people because you're the people the expertise needs to set one standard, honestly, and I understand we need to have the differentiation between industry, I get that, but it really is you guys coming together and you telling us how and what are the things that we need to see. I cannot tell you because it's not my area of expertise, but we can help bring you is this community, this enormous, very unique community, first time built in the world, is that will you tell us what it is, you know better. So, that is the first piece. The second piece from our side of the house is we have to really help business understand and this is where the leadership are listening. This is really about risk proofing our business. This is taking it from niche to normal. The horse is bolted, we are off, right now. What the CEO and board need to understand is the delivery or the effect, direct and indirectly, on the shareholder value of their organization and on their brand and on the CEOs personal brand if they do not get this right. Now, what we also explained to CEOs and leadership, we do not expect you to know it all. We expect you to admit you do not know it and go out and get the help and go out and invest in the advice. Like you have done in other issues. When that lands, Neil, that is the biggest barrier right now because there is still is competing agendas that a business has but the issue of accessible and inclusive design touches every aspect of every agenda and every function and every part of the value change and that is the piece the CEO needs to understand and what I am saying is the opportunity with this, in this community right now, is you are the most powerful people because of COVID and businesses now are wanting to avoid what happened with Domino, for an example. Before COVID and now with COVID they are like, well and that is what we need them to understand. The measurables, the KPIs you need to deliver to us. We need to open your head and you tell us what to measure.  NEIL: I want to talk a little bit about transparency as well. I think this is important to talk about, as you said, our successes, our failures. We are really proud within my own organization of our corporate social responsibility programs. We report on CSR, sustainability, decarbonization, and we do this in a way that is combined reporting. So that means, we do not just report our financial results we include all of these extra financial measures in our annual report, and that has a material effect on our share value. The stuff that we are doing, actually, really does influence the value of our company.  As a company that grows through acquisition, the stuff out in public now, talking about who we are buying next. The impact of these programs on our share value impacts our ability to grow. However, for the most part, all of these metrics and all of these indices, GRI, CDP, all of these major Dow Jones sustainability index. They have a little section about disabilities which should effectively, doesn't give you any metrics, just says “tell us some nice stories”.  CAROLINE:  This is one of my passion points. And you know this. This adage, what we do not measure does not get done or Paul Polman, who is the Chair of the Valuable 500, “what we measure we treasure” he says. I am absolutely incensed when people say, “oh but it's just so complex" and “it's just so difficult”. Internally we talk about representation of employees who have a direct connection to disability. We use the legislation as a reason not to. And, when we've seen companies like Channel 4, Microsoft, and MNS actually get around that with anonymous census. This is about intention and it's one of the tools that we will be bringing to the Valuable 500 community and asking them all to do is an anonymous census around this. We can hack this problem. The second one that absolutely drives me mad is how can we say we believe in sustainability if we don't believe in inclusion and how can you say you believe in inclusion if you do not do disability. The staff that are always buying around with, with the Valuable 500 is 90% of our companies claim that they are committed to inclusion and diversity but only 4% consider disability. And maybe that is a very low figure, but how do we know otherwise because we are not seeing any reporting and if you look at diversity and inclusion indexes, in 2018 Makenzie did the Global Report on Diversity and Inclusion. Was disability there? No. When you can touch with them you asked “why, why was it not there?” and they said disability is not a driver of business. Wow! That stuff really bothers me. When we did the Tortoise Index which was founded by James Harding, it was really hard but they put five metrics to begin with and that makes me excited because if we can get these metrics in, if we can start and I'm not saying they're all right, but if we do not put them in because it's too hard to get them all right, we are going to self perpetuate the problem. If you look at what the fortune companies are doing now with move to measure around racial representation we need to do that and we need to do and we need to do, and we need to do, so it is one of the big passion projects of phase 2 of Valuable 500 is there will never be a sustainability index, a responsibility index or a diversity and inclusion index that it is acceptable anymore, not to have disability metrics.  NEIL: And you know I'm fully behind this too because it is one of my passions is sort of the economic of accessibility and sustainability. They are intertwined. These are really important things. The examples set by the Tortoise Index is important. We need to continue to work on getting our influence as users and contributors to these other indices to make them understand the importance of reporting on these things and then that helps us benchmark and helps CEOs benchmark as well so not only does it actually give power to us as the strategic leaders in accessibility because suddenly the measure of what we are doing impacts on value of the organization, but we can measure ourselves against other organizations and then you can objectively say when someone asks you “who are doing this well”, you can say, "By these measures X company is doing it well, Y company is doing it well in this aspect." So on and so forth and at the moment, all we are doing is giving people anecdotes and I think we need to move well beyond anecdotes to evidence based stuff. HOST: The International Association of Accessibility Professionals currently offers six certifications. IAAP Certifications are indicators of your commitment to the accessibility profession, industry, and community. View the certification overview page on our website to learn more!  NEIL: We have a question which says we got the buy in at CEO level, but the rest of the C-suite wants to take a more measured approach, they are sceptical of business benefit, this is reflecting what we just talked about. So, how can we as the accessibility leaders help broker that and approach that bureaucracy and unblock the C-suite blockers? And I understand why there are these blockers and I have addressed them myself and there are an awful lot of initiatives going on in an organization, at any one time. Someone in the C-suite position is going to have lots of plates spinning, so it is really making, I think, make them clear of the benefit to them and shaping what their contribution can be that fits in with what their trying to do in the business so that we are not loading them up again or working counter to what else they are trying to do in the business. I think those are some of the things we can proactively do, but are there other things that you have seen that also work to melt what one would call the permafrost of middle management? CAROLINE: Firstly, in the shadow and the light of the leader, and of, leaders make choices, and those choices create cultures. It's not my quote, but I steal it every time. If the leader and this is why the Valuable 500 exists, one of the reasons, if the leader does not say I care about this then, the rest of his or her C-Suite is not going to give a hoot about it because they want to shine in the shadow, and the light of the leader, that, or in the light of a leader. So, the first part from our perspective for phase II, it is not the CEO, it is the CEOs responsibility but under each of those buckets of reporting, leadership, and culture, and brand, the CEO needs to give us access to the CMO, the CHRO, the CTO, everybody. The CEO is making sure his C-suite team, his leadership team will deliver for her or for him to make sure that the work gets done because you are absolutely right whoever is just said that. But the CEO goes yeah and then it goes to the CHRO it gets shoved under the table. So, the next phase of the Valuable 500 is trying to crack that, for the CEO, for her team, to make sure she has the support and backing of her C-suite. And I think that is really, really important because I have unfortunately seen when a CEO leaves office and you think you have this Valuable 500 company and then suddenly it's gone. And that is discretionary and that is what bothers me because discretionary is not strategic. The last piece I would say, once again for your skill area and for the strategic level which you operate, accessibility is not about disability. It is about everyone, and I think that is starting to land now so when we take it just out of the box where it has been tagged with for quite some time, disability and maybe stretched to age, it is now about everyone. It just has to happen, like health and safety has to happen in a business. It is that simple. NEIL:  I think there was a comment about McKenzie previously where they have not done disability as diversity, but they've done a lot on age. And there this both crossover and disconnect between how businesses and analysts view the aging society and disability. If we live long enough, we will all become disabled (Laughs).  CAROLINE:  That is true!  NEIL:  And we are all, for the most part, COVID aside, living longer so this will happen to everyone. When we have discussions at my organization with the public sector and governments, they are understanding this and understanding that they need to do stuff and plan for this. As service providers, as companies providing stuff, consumers, who are the people that have the money? It's older people, they are much more likely to be disabled, therefore yes, it is a business driver. What we do need to do is make that mental connection for businesses between age and disability and business opportunity. I think that there is some work to do there, but I think that is progressing somewhat. I think the work that you are doing and that the work with the ratings agencies and a lot of the marketing work, it feels very different now to how it felt two years ago. There is engagement, there is an understanding that it has to be done, and it is almost like watching people that hadn't engaged before suddenly roll their sleeves up is enormously gratifying. I think, it's not just happening in my organization or in the Microsoft's, or the Salesforces, but there are more and more organizations taking those steps, recognizing that it is something that they can no longer pay lip service to and ignore. There is legislative reasons for doing it, there is profitability reasons for doing it, there is organization, cultural reasons, lots and lots of reasons but it has become compelling and they have realized that.  On the other side of that, that is actually driving a different issue which is a skills gap. It is something that IAAP is here to help address but there is a real shortage of skills in the people that can run the organizational programs. A bit like we had the real shortage of skills in people that could run sustainability programs 10 years ago and actually finding people that have the right balance of both technical skills and the ability to navigate complex organizations. These big organizations that are your members, are very complex. It is difficult and even at a lower level finding the technical skills to get the people to do the technical expert work, is a challenge. How can we engage with the wider community both in education, and vocational training to start bringing up the skills? Some of them will require specialists but we also need to do it in the wider education field. Is that something that CEOs can influence? Or is that something that we need to go to our government partners?  CAROLINE:  Of course it is, did we not see this happen before? When we started seeing the digital revolution happened and you saw companies like the big Googles in this world and the big Microsoft in the world, invest in the skills of countries and their education systems. I'm living in a small country, we have some of the biggest tech giants in the world (Laughs) And have very, very big premises and very big offices here for lots of reasons. Therefore, that is the way in which they were able to say that this is a pool of talent, do they have the skills and training that we will need to give them jobs? So yes absolutely! This is my point. Who are the most powerful leaders of the planet right now? It is not politicians, right? We know that. The most powerful leaders on this planet are business leaders, let's be honest, when they come together, they can actually make anything happen.  We know the technology is there and we certainly know the intelligence is there, the desire is there for so much of this. The biggest opportunity and the biggest barrier to any of this is the 6 inches between our ears. That is about accessibility. It is the intention and the will to do this and to see it as a long game, to see the full pipeline, Neil, you are absolutely right. If every business, right now said “OK, this is it, front and centre, we're going to invest in it”. Do they have the people to fill the positions? Do they have people coming up to fill the positions? I do not imagine they would. It really is the influence and powers in the hands of business, and they do affect policy, they do affect the UN, look at UN Global Compact and you think about that. They do have the chance to affect the education system, and the pipeline coming up and they should be investing in that pipeline and that should be where their philanthropy is and many of them do that.  NEIL:  The question from Rob as well which is saying he is four rungs away from a CEO but what approach would you take to getting involved, to be able to advocate?  First of all, the stuff that we just talked about but maybe you go and find the person that you know influences them. Do you think you have a better chance of having a conversation with their number 2 or their direct management team that can influence them and start building that relationship? I know I had to go through multiple tiers of relationship building in my organization to be able to get to the point where I could go and directly talk with the CEO. And now we directly report to the board. And that did take time.  CAROLINE:  And not look like a threat to someone else.  NEIL:  Absolutely, you have to frame it in a positive way. This is of mutual benefit; it always has to be about mutual benefit. Risk reduction. You can talk about the penalties and risk but it is about doing this reduces the risk, it is a benefit to us as an organizations, it also can be profitable, it will make us more usable, blah, blah, blah but framed it in a language and wrap it in the topic that is important to that individual and that might be different from the person in the leadership team that reports to the CEO than the CEO but once you start having the conversation with that person they can tell you what floats the boat of the CEO and that's how you start progressing those conversations. It is definitely a long game, and you have to be prepared for a few knock backs along the road. That said, as Caroline previously stated we are in a far, far better position at the beginning of 2021 than we were even midway through 2020. Things have changed, there is a recognition amongst leadership of humanity of their workforce, of vulnerability of their colleagues. The understanding of the need for flexibility so businesses are having to invest in changes and infrastructure. Now is the time to strike and say, "While you are doing this make it accessible. We can help you be more effective; we can help you engage your employees remotely." Listen to the language talked and play it back to them with an accessibility message.   CAROLINE: The other thing I would say is don't underestimate the leaders of all these businesses trying to do the simple thing of going on these platforms whether they have a visual impairment, a hearing impairment, a dexterity impairment, which most of them don't, they are struggling, and for the first time they are going oh, ask them to take off their glasses and do it you have a whole other thing. There is kind of an experience our leaders maybe not have had to have before and that is where you can fill that gap, that is the sweet spot. Go in with the confidence. You have something to offer and not just as a quick fix but strategically to offer this business and it has been proven because the businesses that had already invested in this were the businesses that thrived throughout COVID.  NEIL:  Can board members also influence CEOs?  CAROLINE:  What I would say, is board members are probably in one of the most unique positions. If you are a board member, sitting on a board saying “Where do we stand on accessibility? Have we done an accessibility audit? What is our performance around disability business inclusion?” No CEO can tell you that they are not going to give you that information. That is a board member's right. So, yes, use it well.  NEIL:  I can absolutely tell you that our board do influence our CEO. It gets back to me that they have been asking questions, so if you happen to have a relationship, by all means develop relationships with board members too, find your path, it will be different for each business but absolutely, yes, if the board is interested in this topic make use of it because they absolutely will influence your CEO.  CAROLINE:  Can I take that from you, because having sat on boards if I ever get an email from anyone in the company as a board member, I have to bring that to the CEO and I would, so that is very good play, thank you.  NEIL:  I think it has been great fun chatting and I hope everyone in the audience has found this useful. I hope that you will join us on our journey towards strategic leadership.  HOST:  The International Association of Accessibility Professionals understands how important it is to have reliable resources to turn to when developing your skills as an accessibility professional. We provide several resources in a variety of formats to both members and non-members. View the Resource tab on our website to find out more about Educational Webinars, the IAAP Career Center, the Educational Training Database and Speakers Bureau, and more!

What You'll Get Out Of Today's Show If you are willing to look outside your comfort zone, grab good information, and take action on it, you can change your life in a matter of weeks or months. One of the hardest-hit industries during the pandemic has been hospitality. Working in that industry, Anita was looking down a long dark tunnel before stumbling upon the FI community. When Anita found ChooseFI in August, she jumped right in, taking action and interacting with Brad through the FI Weekly and submitting her frugal wins of the week. By listening to the podcast, Anita heard about Jonathan starting up the Talent Stacker podcast and the program he put together with Bradley Rice on Salesforce career development. Anita gave it a shot and her results blew Jonathan and Bradley's mind. The results Anita has had are not an outlier. It's what others are also seeing every single week. Back in the spring of 2019, Bradley was on the show to talk about Salesforce and living a life by design. After Bradley discussed earning $200K a year working 15-20 hours a week, the listening audience really responded. Based on that interest, a Salesforce group was started for the community and people began landing Salesforce jobs. In just two years, the group grew to 5,000 members learning from each other. A year ago, Anita was working as a revenue manager for a hotel connected to a convention center. At that time, the pandemic was accelerating and group after group began canceling their events. As a result, she was furloughed in March. Understanding that hospitality wasn't going to recover anytime soon, Anita decided to be proactive, began learning, and figuring out what her next move would be. In addition to taking classes online, Anita researched Fortune's top places to work. The first time she heard of Salesforce was from that list but was turned off at the thought of sales. After a little research, she discovered sales isn't what they do. She signed up for Trailhead, Salesforces's online learning account, and did it for one day before concluding it was awesome. But she wondered it was real and if was as easy as it seemed. After receiving more bad news from her employer, Anita was motivated to learn more. She found ChooseFI and binge listened to over a hundred episodes when she heard about Talent Stacker, Salesforce (again), and the free 5-Day Challenge. She ended up in the paid program and because she had been laid off, she used her time to learn everything she could like it was her full-time job. One month after starting the program, she took the first admin certification program and passed. After that, she used all of the tips from the program and landed a good-paying job in January. Prior to the pandemic, Anita was in a financially stable place. She had no debt other than a car payment, although after being laid off she was forced to move in with her boyfriend. She says in her previous hospitality job, she was on a path to get o the kind of pay she is earning now, it just would have taken a lot longer. Bradley says what Anita has done is possible because cloud-based technology is less-impacted by things like the pandemic because they are skilled positions, are able to be done remotely, and without a lot of change management. There aren't enough skilled Salesforce professionals to fill all the available positions. To help fill the gaps, Salesforce developed Trailhead, a free online training app, which removed some of the barriers to entry. Being able to study inline for a few months and then land a $60-80K per year job sounded too good to be true. This is one of those occasions when something that sounds too good to be true really is true. If you don't have basic computer skills, a Salesforce career may not be for you. However, if you like the thought of helping companies generate new leads and support new customers, it might be a good fit. There's so much information on Salesforce that it can seem overwhelming. Anita explains that she is reorganizing the business to help companies become more efficient. A Salesforce professional helps a company use the software to find more customers, sell to those customers, retain the customers, and secure the customer's data. The majority of individuals can come away from training earning $60-80K a year. Anita surpassed that when her first offer was six figures and she doubled her previous salary. Bradley says the career trajectory quickly increases from there. Even someone who isn't leaning in will likely reach six figures after three years and top out around $130K with $20-30K bonuses. The more entrepreneurial-minded can strike out and become independent consultants and earn even more. Bradley makes $200K a year working just 20 hours a week. Based on his return on investment, Jonathan wouldn't go to college if this program was available to him. He spent eight years in school and came away with $168K in debt, rather than six months of training for a couple of thousand dollars. His net worth would be two to three times higher if he had. That doesn't imply ChooseFI is anti-college. Rather, the takeaway is to think differently, look at the world for how it is, and see opportunities. The traditional path may not be for you. Taking a hybrid approach can be a benefit. Go ahead and go to college, but spend a summer in a Salesforce career development program. It helps you understand what Salesforce is, gets you halfway through a program, and helps you to decide if it's right for you. You can do this for free. Fraining is available on Trailhead. What the free Salesforce 5-Day Challenge does is show you how to get started in Trailhead and show you a clear path, and help you decide if Salesforce is for you in just 30 minutes a day. Anita chose to go through the paid portion of the course because of the clear path it offered. Announcing the introduction of a new live interactive component to the show! In an experiment over the next ten weeks, we'll be testing it every Tuesday night at 7:30 Eastern, starting February 23rd. Using an app called Stereo, we'll go live with voicemails and questions every Tuesday. Access the event at ChooseFI.com/live. Resources Mentioned In Today's Conversation Take part in the Tuesday live events at ChooseFI.com/live. ChooseFI Episode 117 Making the Case for Part Time with Bradley Rice Check out the free five-day Salesforce challenge. If You Want To Support ChooseFI: Earn $1,000 in cashback with ChooseFI's 3-card credit card strategy.  Share FI by sending a friend ChooseFI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence.

La fin d’année approche, et qui dit fêtes de fin d’année dit Black Friday! On parle également des avancées de la biologie, ainsi que du futur de Slack et Salesforces. Podcast: Téléchargement Partagez VOS INSPIRATIONS ::: https://forms.gle/7RFe4BtcVFpjt9i67  Niptech Explore – Les personnes transgenres News Black friday, tendances e commerce Tendances 2020: pic e commerce à […]

A brief look at financial markets with Bokor in the Morning brought to you by the Ocean Wealth team at PI Financial Corp a member of CIPF.

La fin d'année approche, et qui dit fêtes de fin d'année dit Black Friday! On parle également des avancées de la biologie, ainsi que du futur de Slack et Salesforces.

On Market View, Michelle Martin speaks to Ryan Huang about the rotation out of tech shares into cyclicals, the NASDAQs new record, the FEDs meeting minutes, Salesforces interest in buying Slack, a merger between Penguin and Simon and Schuster and early trading for Asian markets.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this opener to series two of the Tech Means Business podcast, we were delighted to speak to Stefanie Chiras, the Vice President and General Manager, RHEL Business Unit at Red Hat. With a skew of qualifications that would make a recruitment professional weep (Harvard, Princeton, UCSB), Stefanie was a career IBM-er until two years ago, when she shifted up a gear into Red Hat, post-acquisition of the latter by the former. Now at the helm of the pivotal Red Hat Enterprise Linux Business Unit, she's in the business of making the case for all things FOSS at organizations across the world. We talk about getting the message right, open-source monetization, and how it's not about the details of the code, but the outcomes for the business that matter. As the world transitions to open, cloud-y, platform-agnostic solutions and services, we hear how RHEL makes its particular case among the Ubuntus, SUSEs, Salesforces and SAPs of this world. Stefanie & Joe mull over upstreaming code, communities of developers, high-performance & supercomputing, microservices and monolithic applications: all in all, a substantial series two opener, with more food for thought than an open buffet at a rocket science convention! Success stories a-plenty from household name companies and organizations: https://www.redhat.com/en/success-stories Stefanie's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanie-chiras-9022144/ Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephedwardgreen/

Fabrice Cathala joins to talk about declarative for Salesforce developers. Fabrice is a Salesforce MVP, SF Dev Group leader, SaaS evangelist. Main Points Fabrice’s self-introduction Two types of solutions in Salesforces – enterprise solution and ISV managed package Using declaratives in managed packages Take into consideration that the platform is all the time evolving when building a solution Design a solution with declarative or coding Links Fabrice’s Twitter Fabrice’s LinkedIn Video Teaser The YouTube Video URL The post 53. Declarative For Salesforce Developers | Fabrice Cathala appeared first on SalesforceWay.

Recognized by President Obama as a Top 100 entrepreneur under 30, Neil Patel is a highly regarded expert in the online marketing space who has helped brands grow their marketing capabilities, including Amazon, Microsoft, Airbnb, Google, and SalesForces. Neil is the co-founder of Neil Patel Digital and Crazy Egg as well as the founder Kissmetrics. He has earned significant recognition from the United Nations, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Entrepreneur Magazine for his professional expertise and business growth. He is a New York Times bestselling author, as well as co-host of Marketing School Podcast, with over one million monthly listeners. Additionally, Neil is an esteemed speaker, sharing insights with several hundred audiences, including brands such as Facebook and Thomson Reuters. Neil joins me today to share his expertise in elevating online marketing strategies to drive traffic, engagement, and sales conversions. He highlights specific areas to consider investing in when it comes to your strategy and particular tools to help you stay on track. Neil also discusses his podcast, how he targets his audience strategically, and his recommendations for ensuring that people see your content in a hectic world. “You need to always keep improving yourself, your product, your business… and never stop.” - Neil Patel This week on the SmallBizChat Podcast: Resources Mentioned: Connect with Neil: This episode is sponsored by… Mixmax Mixmax is a powerful email automation tool for business owners, entrepreneurs, and sales teams. Powered with innovative technology and designed to make communicating with clients and customers easier, Mixmax combines the power of Gmail with the efficiency of automation to power the world's fastest-growing companies. It's time to automate, schedule, and engage your clients and customers and systematize your sales process like never before! Try Mixmax for free at Mixmax.com Fix Your Business! Are you ready to run your business with intention? Ready to create a business that allows you to live your dream life and take those dream vacations you deserve? Then you need a copy of my latest book: Fix Your Business: A 90-Day Plan to Get Back Your Life and Remove Chaos From Your Business. Fix Your Business gives you concrete advice on the problem areas many small business owners face as well as the step-by-step process to find solutions so you can live the life of your dreams. It's time to take back control of your business and change how your business is run. Order your copy of Fix Your Business and design your business - and life - with intention. Let's End Small Business Failure - Together! Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of the SmallBizChat Podcast - the show on a mission to improve small business success. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and review. Help us spread the word and end small business failure by sharing your favorite episodes with your friends and colleagues on social media. Visit our website or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or YouTube for more great content, tips, and strategies to improve your small business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 72 – Part 1 of a 4-part mini-series with Jonathan Anguelov, co-founder and COO of Aircall in conversation with Stephen Cummins. Founded in Paris in 2014, it's the only cloud phone system that has built integrations into 100 different SaaS applications in 2019. Its mission is to unlock the power of voice, specifically the power of telephone calls through integration the Intercoms, Salesforces, Zendesks, gong.io's and freshdesks of today. It's valuation is already north of 250M USD

Episode 72 – Part 1 of a 4-part mini-series with Jonathan Anguelov, co-founder and COO of Aircall in conversation with Stephen Cummins. Founded in Paris in 2014, it’s the only cloud phone system that has built integrations into 100 different SaaS applications in 2019. Its mission is to unlock the power of voice, specifically the power of telephone calls through integration the Intercoms, Salesforces, Zendesks, gong.io’s and freshdesks of today. It's valuation is already north of 250M USD

Hablamos Julián Cañadas, Country Leader Ibérica en Adobe e Ignacio Riesco, CEO de Interactiv4 y organizador de Meet Magento España.En Junio de 2018 Adobe culminaba la compra de Magento, una solución Open Source para Comercio Electrónico. La operación se cuantificaba en 1.680 millones de dólares (unos 1.400 millones de euros) y generó muchísimo revueo en el ecosistema del Comercio Electrónico y del retail.En ese momento, desde BrainSINS publicamos un informe conteniendo las opiniones de 40 profesionales del eCommerce en España planteando puntos positivos y algunas dudas acerca de este movimiento.En este informe, yo mismo planteaba mi opinión, desde 4 ejes:Por un lado este movimiento suponía un órdago hacia lo Enterprise. Magento llevaba años tratando de potenciar este segmento y, a pesar de contar con el reconocimiento de Gartner y algunas grandes referencias, se habían producido demasiados bandazos a nivel estratégico que hacían que la apuesta no cuajara del todo. Adobe se presentaba como el compañero ideal para llevar a Magento a este segmento.También permitía a Adobe entrar en un vertical que llevaba persiguiendo desde hace tiempo: el eCommerce y retail, con una oferta super complementaria a otras de sus soluciones como el Marketing Cloud. Después de las compras de Hybris por parte de SAP y de Demandware por parte de Salesforces, tampoco quedaban muchas grandes opciones en el mercado, o al menos ninguna otra soluci

In the latest community chat, we talk about the recent acquisition of Tableau by Salesforce, what it will mean for Tableau & the community. 

Tänker du happy-happy, istället för win-win när du förhandlar? Förmodligen har du fått lära dig att båda parter ska känna win-win, när förhandlingen är klar. Men tänk om inte det stämmer? En av världens främsta forskare på förhandling, Lars-Johan Åge, vänder i detta avsnitt upp och ner på hela win-win tanken. I sin bok “Happy-Happy – fem steg för att komma överens med vem som helst”, så förklarar han hur de bästa förhandlarna i världen gör. Och det är inte att tänka win-win… ***************Säljpodden görs i samarbete med Salesforce. Lyssna till en av Salesforces kunder, Emil Jungåker, VD på Framtiden AB, berätta om hur Salesforce hjälpt dem. Gå gärna in på: https://www.salesforce.com/se och läs mer om vad Salesforce kan göra för ditt företag.***************Han har följt med såväl FBI som Svenska Insatsstyrkan och studerat hur de förhandlar i gisslansituationer och trängda lägen. Han har följt diplomater och affärsmän för att förstå hur de förhandlar i stora kriser och affärer. Det han upptäckt är att de bästa inte alls tänker win-win när de förhandlar. Konsekvensen av deras förhandling blir happy-happy. I det här avsnittet kommer du att få en helt annorlunda metod för hur du ska göra, nästa gång som du hamnar i ett förhandlingsläge. Det är många som skrivit om förhandling och många kallar sig förhandlingsexperter. Det verkar dock som om Lars-Johan Åge tänker lite annorlunda. Han forskar på riktigt istället och följer med folk ut i fält för att studera hur de gör. Med en doktorsexamen från Handelshögskolan i Stockholm i bagaget, så visar hans forskningsresultat om förhandling något annat, än det du hittar om du snabbt googlar förhandlingstekniker. Med boken “Happy-Happy – fem steg för att komma överens med vem som helst”, så vänder han upp och ner på begreppet förhandling. Vi går igenom alla steg i detta avsnitt och han förklarar med många exempel hur happy-happy metoden skiljer sig mot win-win. Lars-Johan Åge berättar att oavsett om det är en diskussion hemma vid köksbordet, en affärsförhandling eller ett gisslandrama, så är hemligheten för att få till en lyckad lösning densamma. Via sin forskning har han omformulerat det vi känner till om förhandling och tagit ett nytt grepp på vad en framgångsrik förhandling är. Köp boken här Läs mer om Lars-Johan Åge här /Mattias P.S. Prenumerera på Säljpodden i iTunes, Spotify eller på Säljpodden.se. Gå också gärna med i Säljpoddens grupper på Facebook, Instagram och Linkedin. Tack! D.S See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Vad kan en hypnotisör egentligen hjälpa oss säljare med? En hel del visar det sig faktiskt. Sveriges främste scenhypnotisör Erik Olkiewicz, gör inte bara underhållande hypnosshower på kick-offer och konferenser, utan berättar i det här avsnittet hur du kan hypnotisera dig själv till säljframgångar och ett bättre liv. ***************Säljpodden görs i samarbete med Salesforce. I detta avsnitt får du höra en av Salesforces kunder, iZettle, berätta om hur de fått hjälp av Salesforces lösningar. För att ta del av årets viktigaste event, gå in på: https://www.salesforce.com/se/events/basecamp-stockholm/ och anmäl dig idag!***************Man kan ju undra varför en hypnotisör är gäst i Säljpodden? Inte konstigt alls. Han har knepen som gör att du kan hjälpa dig själv att skapa framgång inom försäljning genom hypnos. Precis som säljcoacher hjälper dig med vad du ska göra och säga i ett säljmöte, så hjälper Erik Olkiewicz dig att lyckas med dig själv. Fantastiskt nog, så funkar det. Att lyssna till självhypnos några minuter om dagen, kan hjälpa dig att ta tillbaka självförtroendet, att skapa inre bilder för dig själv och öka din förmåga att skapa ett bättre liv för dig själv. Många säljare har problem med självförtroendet och kan med enkla medel öka sin förmåga. Bara att komma över de hinder som många sätter upp för sig själva, kan göra den stora skillnaden för om man kommer klara sitt arbete eller ej. Med hjälp av Eriks metoder kan du skapa de förutsättningar du behöver för att bli bra på försäljning. Ta del av Eriks metoder och ladda ner gratis självhypnos på www.hypnosshow.se /Mattias P.S. Glöm inte att prenumerera på Säljpodden i iTunes eller på Spotify och gå gärna med i Säljpoddens grupper på Facebook, Instagram och Linkedin. D.S See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Through our partnership with the Coalition of Black Excellence founded by Angela J. we have the pleasure of sitting down with 500 Startups venture partner Clayton Bryan. He sits down with us to discuss his career journey up to this point and to share valuable advice for young leaders and founders, particularly in the VC space. We also promote CBE Week, an event designed to highlight excellence in the black community, connect black professionals across sectors, and provide opportunities for professional development and community engagement.Learn more about CBE Week here! https://www.cbeweek.com/Learn more about Transparent Collective: https://www.transparentcollective.com/Learn more about HBCUvc: http://www.hbcu.vc/Check out the Dorm Room Fund: https://www.dormroomfund.com/Check out 500 Startups' VC Unlocked: https://education.500.com/TRANSCRIPTZach: What's up, y'all? It's Zach, and listen, y'all. Living Corporate is partnering with the Coalition of Black Excellence, CBE, a non-profit organization based in California, in bringing a Special Speaker series to promote CBE Week, an annual week-long event designed to highlight excellence in the black community, connect black professionals across sectors, and provide opportunities for professional development and community engagement that will positively transform the black community. This is a special series where we will spotlight movers and shakers who will be speakers during CBE Week. Today we are blessed to have Clayton Bryan. Clayton has over 12 years of experience in the tech space, initially working as a marketer. He transitioned into business development and over the past 3 years has worked in venture capital. Currently, as a venture partner at 500 Startups in San Francisco, Clayton is focused on the media, e-commerce, and frontier tech. Clayton is also one of the co-founders of Transparent Collective, a non-profit launched to help founders of color connect with investors and mentors. Prior to returning to the Bay Area, as a member of the Dorm Room Fund team in New York, Clayton worked with and invested in some of the best and brightest student-funded startups on the East Coast. With that being said, welcome to the show, Clay. How you doin', man?Clayton: Zach, I'm doing great, and to all the listeners out there, good evening, good morning, good afternoon, whenever you might be listening to this. Happy to be here, and looking forward to, you know, having a good conversation.Zach: Absolutely. So look, man. Of course I read your profile in the introduction, but for those of us who might be wanting to know a little bit more--I know I'm one of those people--would you mind talking a little bit more about yourself and your journey?Clayton: Sure, happy to hit on some of the high notes and the milestones. So I'm originally from the Bay. Big shout-out to Oakland. And, you know, growing up I always felt this gravitational pull towards technology. I was fortunate to be able to have an Apple II back in the day and played, you know, some games on that, everything from, you know, Oregon Trail to Mavis Teaches Typing, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Yeah, those are some of the OG titles.Zach: Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me ask you this real fast about those games though. Did you ever played this game called Gizmos and Gadgets?Clayton: I don't recall that one. That one--Zach: 'Cause man, it was really dope. Okay, okay, but you said Oregon Trail. Did you ever play that Mario typing game? Where you type and then Mario moves?Clayton: Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was a classic too, you know? So for everyone from that era, you know, those were great, and I think that they did a good job of really kind of getting a lot of folks into technology and just, you know, bringing up that awareness. And so once I saw the application of that--and then I also was able to go to, you know, great places as a kid growing up in this area. Places like the Lawrence Hall of Science up in the Berkeley Hills, and, you know, really getting to see all of these cool things happen with science. And so when I got to high school I started to code a little bit, and I took CS in high school. When I got to college, I thought that was gonna be my track as well, but I happened to go to a school where there's a really tough computer science program, and I was like, "Actually," you know, "I think I'm a little more creative than this." So I wanted to touch technology, but not necessarily from the coding perspective, and so I became actually--I was a poli-sci and economics major, and then when I graduated I joined Yahoo as a content marketer, and I was there for a couple years. Then I decided I wanted to go do the startup thing, so I worked at a couple different startups, and that's when I first got--started to really hear the term "venture capital," and back in the 2000s it was a very different time and place within Silicon Valley and the way that we think of things. Investors weren't blogging, they weren't tweeting. It was very obscure as to what investors actually did. Now it's different. Now, you know, you see--it's kind of a who's who on Twitter. Twitter has a VC category you can follow. There's Medium. It's just very easy to kind of stay plugged into that scene if you really want to learn how different investors are thinking. There's a lot of information out there. Back in the 2000s that was not the case, but I was very fortunate at the time--one of the companies I was working with, we had done a Series A and a Series B--and also the check sizes were much different than a Series A and a Series B were today--but I was the seventh hire, and I got to really see, you know, what these meetings with investors look like, and I was exposed to that, and I was like, "This is kind of cool. This is interesting," and that's really, you know, kind of planted the seed for me to want to be on that side of the table. And so fast-forward a couple years. My first--my first kind of role where I was in an investor-like seat was running an accelerator program that focused on underrepresented founders, and so through that program I got to know a lot of folks who I'm gonna shout-out later on in, you know, our conversation. But I got to see--I was even closer, but the problem with that program was that we were not writing checks, and I wanted to actually deploy capital. In order for me to feel comfortable doing that I decided, "Okay. Well, I want to go back to school," which was kind of a controversial decision at the time, because I still think MBAs are not necessarily all that welcome within the space, but I think it's changing now. But for me it leads--the decision was to go back, learn more about finance, build up that skill set, and then finally venture out as a venture capitalist, and so that's what I've been doing since 2015, and I've been incredibly blessed to join a great team at 500 and incredibly blessed to be a part of something called the Dorm Room Fund. And yeah, that's my journey in 3 minutes or less.Zach: Man, that's incredible. And, you know, it's interesting--you know, to your point about some of your decisions being a little non-conventional, still--you talked about yes, there's definitely more information to learn about venture capitalism and being a venture partner. However, Clayton, I have to be honest, man, I'm still really kind of confused when I think about the role of a venture partner. So, like, would you mind sharing a little bit more and kind of breaking it down, what it is your role entails? On, like, what you actually do on a day-to-day basis?Clayton: Sure. And, you know, I think--before I answer that I'll answer a question that I think is a good kind of intro or good for just context in terms of, you know, "Well, how did I get here?" And "Is there a certain path?" Right? I think a lot of folks that want to get into venture are like, "Well, how can I also get into venture?" And I think, you know, a couple years ago there were maybe two different pathways in, where, you know, being a founder that had success. So exited a company, sold a company, right? That was a path. Another path would be, you know, becoming an executive at a top internet company, a big brand that, you know, everyone in the States would know, and then really develop a skill set in sales or marketing or even people ops, and then market yourself to one of these firms as being able to add value. But today, you know, there are so many different firms that are popping up, and I think that if you talk to the folks that are at these firms, they all have different pathways in. And so I think the primary thing is just to have that interest and really network, and be beneficial to founders. Be beneficial to folks that work at these firms. Do the job before you have the job, and I think that's a great way to do it. And there's great programs out there, like HBCUvc, Dorm Room Fund. There's a lot of different programs out there, depending on where you are in your stage of life. We have one at 500 that's called Venture Capital Unlocked. First Round Capital has one called the Angel Track. So there's a lot of programs out there that will help you, you know, kind of get the right skills, because things change so frequently within this space. So I would say that was a little bit of a prelude to the next thing, which is "What do I do on a day-to-day basis?" Well, you know, no two days look alike. I would say the core of my duties, really I'm out here trying to help founders, and so I'm meeting with founders all of the time. If you look at my calendar at any given point in time, there's a lot of meetings with some of the current investments that I have, some of the investments that are a little bit more mature, meaning that, you know, I'm not working with them on a day-to-day, because we have an accelerator program, and so we're--it's essentially like a boot camp for entrepreneurs. So we're helping them with their marketing, their sales. We're helping them really craft the way they're thinking about their investor strategy, and then also with the execution, because a lot of the folks that come through our program, you know, they might be really good at their core competency, whether that's, you know, data science or agriculture tech or spinning up something--you know, some kind of hardware play, but when it comes to the nuances around going out and fundraising and selling your business to the investor audience, it's a little bit of a different type of game. So just understanding and acquainting yourself with the language and the types of models and terms that are being used at this stage. I'm talking about things, you know, as far down as, like, customer acquisition costs, but just understanding things like, you know, your revenue, your different growth rates, right, and how to present that in a way that's meaningful, impactful, but translates well into the minds of investors. So a lot of what I do is coaching. I'm always looking for the next best--the next greatest thing, right, that I can invest in, but even if I can't invest in it right now, I still need to be able to talk to with those founders, help them as much as I can, because I'm always looking for potential, and that means a couple--that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but I'm out there always looking for potential. So a lot of what I do I categorize kind of as just, like, helping founders. That would be one big category, and then other things that I do is meeting with other investors and really trying to assess how they're looking at the market or markets right now, what's interesting to them, because as someone that's at the seed stage, I--at the end of the day, I need to have confidence that I can help my companies raise money, and if the later-stage players are not as actively looking for deals in that category, it might be--it might not be the right time. Timing is so big in what we do, right? It's a huge--I would say timing and [seeds?] are so important. So you really have to get an understanding, if you're a founder, "Is this the right time for me to go and fundraise for this business? Should I try to hunker down, just focus on product right now, and come out in 6 months when things might be a little bit different?" Right? So again, going back to that fundraising strategy piece, but a big part of what I do also is just networking with investors, networking with other stakeholders in the States, folks that might be doing products at Slack or Pinterest or wherever and just asking them, "What are you seeing that's interesting within your category," right? Because that's helping me make more informed decisions when I'm looking--when I'm crafting my theses, my investment theses, and when I'm starting to go out and I'm meeting with different founders trying to see "Can I find founders that think similarly about the way the future's going to be, and then can I back those founders?" And that's--at the core of my job, as someone that's thinking actively about my fiduciary to my [inaudible] partners, I'm constantly thinking about that, right? Constantly trying to think about the trends that not everyone else is seeing just yet, right? Especially at the early stage. That's what we have to do. We have to be able to look across--look around not the next corner but two corners, because we're investing at such an early stage.Zach: Man, that's just--that's incredible, and there's--you know, I have--I have a couple questions about that role and how you show up. Before I ask that question, you know, all of the things you're talking about and the brands that you're mentioning and the conversations that you're having, I'm curious, how many--how rare is it to see black men moving in this space? And I'll say--I'll just say people of color. I'll just say non-white folks to start, but then how--but how rare is it? It seems like it would be rare.Clayton: Yeah. I mean, like, it's rare to see women. It's rare to see Latinx. It's rare to see black men. It's rare to see anyone that doesn't fit a certain profile of what you're already named, right? And so it is rare, but I think it's starting to get better, and, you know, I can't quantify that growth rate, but I think that more and more investors are starting to realize that there's a need to have multiple perspectives, right? We can't all think the same when we're doing an investment. We can't all, you know, have been trained at the same academic institution and travel in the same social groups, because we're gonna miss out on big movements. And even on a geographical note as well. There's big things that are happening across the continent of Africa, right? And there's big things that are happening all across the world, and we can't just think in that tunnel vision of "What's the next greatest thing that's gonna come out of Northern California?" We have to think--we have to think beyond that, right? And so there are things that are helping. There are things that are getting us where we need to be, but I think that the pace can pick up. And I mentioned, you know, groups like HBCU VC, which I think are great, but we need more of that. We need more of that, and we need more funds like what, you know, Chris Lyons is doing with the Cultural Leadership Fund. We need a lot of that. We need to amplify that times 10 at least, because I'm not seeing enough folks that look like me and have similar backgrounds when I go to these different conferences, different networking events, and I think that's problematic when we start to really see, you know, what's getting invested in, who's getting invested in, right? There's steps out there that talk a lot about that, you know? Talk about the amount of fundraising going to folks of color compared to, you know, folks that are coming from, you know, I'd say more common backgrounds within tech, and it's staggering in terms of the disparity.Zach: You're absolutely right, and we actually had an--we actually had an episode about that last season where we talked about--where we talked about being in venture capital while black, being in venture capital while other, and we discussed the disparity and fund allocation to the point where--they were talking about certain demographics, it was, like--to represent it in dollars would've been, like, basically zero, right? So it's nuts, and that--to your point though about the role, you know, it seems as if your role requires, like, a cocktail of being able to kind of influence without direct authority, a lot of emotional and social intelligence, and then also all of that still being backed up by significant business competence. Can you talk a little bit about how you show up being, you know, one of the few, and what is it that you're doing in these spaces that are--that are majority white? And what challenges, if you have any, have come with that?Clayton: Yeah. I mean, I think it's just, like, being able to paint pictures. Like, for one, I mean, you definitely need to have your facts, right? You need to have your facts and your stats down, and you need to be able to help those around you, and I'm talking about other investors, see what these trends are telling me. I need to translate that over to them, right? And I need to translate it over to them in language that they will be able to understand, because at the end of the day, like, we're all here to try to, at minimum, 3X our money, if not greater, right? 5X, 10X, and sometimes, you know, if these other investors lack that background, they might not be able to understand things in the same manner, right? And this is why I think every board room--and you're starting to see this within big tech companies, like the Twitters and the Salesforces and the Googles of the world, where they're realizing that they're building products for the entire world, so they need to have a team that reflects that, right? And so--but in the venture scene, we're not seeing that as--you know, we're not seeing it develop as quickly. So for me, in order to go in, you know, I need to be able to pound the table, have the facts, but really build these theses in a way in which can align with what my firm wants to do, right? And so I think a lot of it is just, like, you have to go the extra mile, right? You have to really put in that extra work, and it's making me a much better investor, but part of me is like, "It shouldn't have to be this hard," at the same time, right? Like, if I want to do a deal that's founded by a person of color and I think that--and I'm able to show the data, the trends, all of this is really supporting going in this direction, right? And it's funny, sometimes even money that's coming from outside of the United States sees it better than money that resides within the United States, because it's--like, they understand how emerging markets work, and sometimes, you know, if you put it in that lens, like--I mean, we're not emerging, but we have the same capability of an emerging market in terms of the growth potential. Then a lot of the dollars from overseas are like, "Oh, I want in on that," right? And so sometimes it's just you have to be creative, but, like, you just have to--you have to persevere. I think that's the biggest thing, is really, like, you just have to keep willing to push through, and that's the same note that I want to give out to the founders listening, which is, you know, you have to knock on--especially the seed level. You're gonna have to knock on a lot of different doors. I have founders that come in and tell me, like, "Look, I heard "no" 91 times, and I heard "yes" 9 times, but that's all I needed to close my seed." So don't get--you know, don't get, you know, depressed. Don't have anyone try to knock you off your hustle. You're gonna just have to find the folks that your message resonates with the most, and so that's the message I want to give to the founders that's out there.Zach: No, that's incredible, and you're absolutely right. You know, my father--you know, he's a bit of entrepreneur, financial background, sales background, and what he would--he always tells me is he's like, "Son, you know, you don't need but one yes." Like, often times you just need that one. Like, people keep on--like you just said, you know, the majority said no, but you really just needed, like, a scant few to say "yes" for you to continue forward. And I think it's hard though when--you know, when you continue to present and you present and you present, and, you know, who knows what those no's look like, right? 'Cause a no is a no, but, like, you know, the way that they--sometimes the way people tell you, you know, can hurt. Like, maybe you were told no like, 10 times, even though you were just told no once. You know, so those types of experiences. It's tough, so that's great advice. Before we--before we let you go, do you have any other parting words, shout-outs, or special projects that you're working on?Clayton: Yeah. So I just want to, you know, give a shout-out to Transparent Collective. You know, it's a great initiative that we're trying to, you know, continue, and we're actually looking for sponsors for that. So that's a--it's a great initiative. It's a labor of love, and I want to see that continue in the future. So folks out there that might be interested in sponsoring, hit me up. Big shout-out to--you know, this is gonna be a little bit of a long list, and there's people that definitely if I--it could be a lot longer, but, you know, I want to keep time in mind. So big shout-out to Monique Woodard. She's done a lot to help me out professionally. Big fan of hers. Chris Lyons, Marlon Nichols, Connie LaPuebla, Richard Kirby, Eric Moore, Austin Clements, just to name a few. And then also I love what initiatives like Black VC are doing and also HBCUvc, which I mentioned a few times in this podcast. So that's it. And also one last shout-out to all the founders out there, all the hustlers, all the innovators that are grinding right now. You know, keep building. Keep moving forward. Keep persevering. I know it might be tough. I know that, you know, it might be disheartening when you hear "no" here and there, but you really gotta keep grinding, and you will find your path. And, you know, to the best extent that I can, I'm always willing to make myself available for folks that have questions on the businesses that they're building or the careers they're trying to build, because I believe that you really have to pay it forward in this world. So on that note, that's all I have, and signing off. Thank you, everybody. It's been a great pleasure to have this conversation.Zach: Clayton, man, first of all, the pleasure has definitely been ours. Wonderful feedback, thoughts, and points of advice here. We're gonna make sure that we list all of the organizations that you listed, that you named off, that you shouted out, in the show notes, and then we'll also make sure to have your LinkedIn information in the show notes as well so that people can reach out to you as they're able. Now, I think that's gonna do it for us, folks. Thank you for joining the Living Corporate podcast, a Special Series sponsored by the Coalition of Black Excellence. To learn more about the Coalition of Black Excellence check out their website CBEWeek.com, and make sure that you actually sign up for CBE Week, which is gonna be happening February 18th to the 24th of 2019--that's this year, come on, y'all--in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you go to their website, you'll be able to learn more, get your tickets, and all that kind of stuff right there. Now, make sure you follow us on Instagram though, okay? @LivingCorporate, and make sure you follow CBE at @ExperienceCBE. If you have a question you'd like for us to answer and read on the show, make sure you email us at livingcorporatepodcast@gmail.com. Check out our website, living-corporate.com. This has been Zach, and you've been speaking with Clayton Bryan. Peace.

This time we hear from 2 people right at the heart of Salesforce’s Lighting technology evolution. Skip Sauls is a Director of Product Management at Salesforce and he is working alongside Doug Chasman who is Principal Architect on the Platform team.  The work of their team is making it possible for developers and admins to customise Salesforces’ user interface like never before. Doug was one of the two original architects of Visualforce, and I started by asking him if Lighting components will replace VisualForce. This interview was recorded about 2 weeks prior to the announcement of the new Salesforce Lighting Experience, so we we’re able to discuss that on tape.  Skip and Doug were extremely open about the technologies which they have waiting in the wings and Lighting Out sounds like it has the potential to be a transformational technology. Dreamforce 2015 is taking place next week from the 15th September, if you’re going be sure to seek out Skip and Doug.  If you’re staying at home, watch the online broadcasts and keep an eye on the Salesforce YouTube channel for the sessions to be published in the weeks following the conference. Take a look at the blog at http://www.technologyflows.com, you can tweet me @matmorris.     Thanks for listening!