POPULARITY
Are you a small or medium-sized business (SMB) looking to explore CPQ (Configure-Price-Quote) solutions? This episode is designed for you! We dive into the key considerations that SMBs should keep in mind when choosing a CPQ system. In this short and informative episode, we'll cover: Understanding CPQ Vendor Pricing: Get the facts upfront! We'll discuss the importance of transparent pricing models and how to avoid hidden fees associated with implementation, training, and ongoing maintenance. Features & Functionality Basics: No need to be a tech expert. We'll guide you through understanding the core features of a CPQ system to ensure it aligns with your specific business needs. Customization for Your Business: Not all SMBs require extensive customization. We'll help you determine the level of customization offered by different CPQ solutions. Training and Support: A smooth implementation starts with proper training. We'll explore the training and support resources available from CPQ vendors to ensure your team is comfortable using the system. Data Security Matters: CPQ solutions handle sensitive customer and pricing information. We'll discuss the importance of data security and how to choose a vendor with robust security measures in place. Implementation and Future Growth: A CPQ solution should be a long-term investment. We'll explore the implementation process and ongoing maintenance requirements to ensure a smooth transition and future scalability as your business grows. Taking the First Step: This episode provides a foundational understanding of CPQ for SMBs. If you have further questions specific to your SMB needs, don't hesitate to reach out! Send an email to me at Frank.Sohn@NovusCPQ.com. Join us and empower SMB's with the right CPQ solution!
To mark this milestone, we've prepared something special. We're thrilled to present excerpts from our recent webinar titled "Thought Leader Summit Series - Unleashing the Power of Visuals in CPQ." Featuring prominent figures from the CPQ and visual realms such as CDS Visual (a Dover company), Elfsquad, Engineering Intent, Epicor, Threekit, Walpole Partnership, Zaelab, and Super Radiator Coils, this discussion offers diverse perspectives. Our podcast delivers a wealth of information, compelling you to listen closely to capture every detail. It's a must-listen for prospective customers keen on delving deeper into CPQ and visualization. Additionally, stay tuned for an upcoming YouTube video addressing key discussion points. For inquiries or event details, reach out to info@novuscpq.com. Also, note that we're now planning quarterly Thought Leader Summit Series events focusing on intriguing CPQ-related topics.
In this episode you hear from Mike Bristol, Director Product Management at Infor, about their recent Infor CPQ Connect 2023 event in Columbus, OH. Mike has 30+ years of business experience and lives with his family in Longmont, CO. Here he talks about the purpose of this event, the roadmap that he shared at this event, the key capabilities that the Infor CPQ team is focused on, the Infor User Group, how they planned the event, if and when there will be a next Infor Connect event, lessons learned and much more. website https://www.infor.com/solutions/service-sales/configure-price-quote LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebristol/ email mike.bristol@infor.com
In this episode, Chris DiEllo, Vice President of Business Development at Engineering Intent, shares his insights on the company's CPQ solution called KBridge (short for Knowledge Bridge). With well over 30 years of business experience, Chris, who resides in Florida, spent 20 years with Configure One (now part of Revalize) and is very familiar with the manufacturing industry. Here, he discusses why he views their configuration- and engineering-focused platform as unique. He also touches upon the top three business requirements they frequently encounter, the impact of the current economic situation on their business, integrations with CAD, and much more. website www.engineeringintent.com LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdiello/ email ChrisDiEllo@engineeringintent.com
We are excited to announce two new events we will start soon: CPQ Solution Deep Dives CPQ Thought Leader Summits CPQ Solution Deep Dives: Provide information about a typical customer journey with a specific CPQ Solution from selecting a solution to implementing that solution to the experience with that CPQ Solution in a production environment. Here a CPQ Vendor, a customer (and if needed, a CPQ System Implementer) will participate. CPQ Thought Leader Summits: Are educational, relationship building events where topics related to CPQ (i.e., AI + CPQ) will be discussed with multiple CPQ stakeholders. CPQ Vendors, CPQ System Implementers, CPQ customers and CPQ Educators. Also make sure to check out our YouTube channel here and subscribe since some excerpts from these events may be published there. Send any questions you have to Frank.Sohn@NovusCPQ.com
Godard Abel is the Co-Founder and CEO of G2, the largest and most trusted software marketplace, making B2B tech buying easy by connecting buyers to vendors based on authentic customer reviews and real-time ratings of business software and services. Previously, Godard built cloud CPQ pioneers BigMachines (acquired by Oracle) and SteelBrick (acquired by Salesforce). He is also chairman of Logik.io and ThreeKit, helping to create the next generation of configuration technology.
Godard Abel is the Co-Founder and CEO of G2, the largest and most trusted software marketplace, making B2B tech buying easy by connecting buyers to vendors based on authentic customer reviews and real-time ratings of business software and services. Previously, Godard built cloud CPQ pioneers BigMachines (acquired by Oracle) and SteelBrick (acquired by Salesforce). He is also chairman of Logik.io and ThreeKit, helping to create the next generation of configuration technology.
A documentary showed his weakness….… then it elevated his leadership and inspired thousands.Godard Abel is a 5x B2B SaaS Entrepreneur and Co-Founder and CEO of G2, the world's largest and most trusted software marketplace, which he co-founded in 2012. G2 is used by 80 million people annually with over 2 million authentic peer reviews. It's valued at $1.1B today.While Godard's career on the surface looks like a massive succession of “homeruns”, he wasn't feeling successful on the inside. He was struggling mightily with his mental and physical health. He was in a bad place and made an incredible personal comeback.Then he felt compelled to share the darkest moments in a LinkedIn/Hubspot documentary because he believes it can help others.I love his story, and I think you'll be inspired as I was.—-He also serves as Executive Chairman of ThreeKit, a leading 3D visualization technology company, and Logik.io, a next generation configuration technology. Previously, he was Founder and CEO of SteelBrick, which was acquired by Salesforce and also previously co-founded BigMachines, where he served as CEO and built it into a leading software-as-a-service provider which was acquired by Oracle in 2013.LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/godardabel/Company Link: https://www.g2.com/What You'll Discover in this Episode:What drives him.The impact of attending a Waldorf school as a child.Why he decided to show his most vulnerable side in a documentary.Using anxiety and uncertainty as fuel to create.How having a coach has helped him.His “Entrepreneur Alter Ego”.What happened when his company faced bankruptcy.How a forum he joined changed his life.What happens in his CEO peer-group meetings.What he's doing now that he's never done at previous companies.How authenticity is transforming his business and industry.Why Linkedin is becoming the gold standard of trust.What he learned from his first business as a teenager.A tip for talking to your kids about business.Resources:Spiraling Up: Spotlighting startup founders on their paths to becoming unicorns. https://www.hubspot.com/startups/docuseries -----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter
Get to know Matt Gorniak, the tech-savvy CEO of Threekit, a groundbreaking visual commerce platform. Matt takes us through the ins and outs of 3D visualization, AR, and virtual photography. We tackle the challenges that B2B companies face when it comes to visualizing their products and how this impacts the buyer's decision-making process. With Matt's innovative approach, Threekit is helping these businesses bring their products to life and offer customers a more immersive and informed buying experience. As we approach the future of commerce, we explore how B2B manufacturers can leverage the power of e-commerce to their advantage. Reducing the cost of sale, improving product experience, and meeting the high expectations of Gen Z shoppers - Matt paints a vivid picture of the e-commerce landscape. Be prepared for an insightful ride into the future of visual commerce. Show Highlights: The challenges faced by B2B companies in visualizing their products and their impact on the buyer's decision-making process. How Threekit is helping businesses bring their products to life, offering customers a more informed buying experience. The importance of a seamless product experience in winning deals and reducing the cost of sales for B2B manufacturers. The potential of AI in reducing waste and personalizing customer experiences, especially for luxury brands. The use of 3D visualization in both B2B and B2C commerce and its impact on the online customer experience. Follow and Review: We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast. Supporting Resources: Learn more at Threekit.com: http://threekit.com/ For Manufacturers - see how the Threekit B2B Platform can help you deliver a valuable self-service buying experience with visual product configuration and composable architecture: https://www.threekit.com/b2b-manufacturing For Retailers - learn how to deliver magical B2C product experience with the composable Threekit Platform which delivers customization and personalization at scale to deliver the perfect visual product experience at the perfect time, no matter the channel: https://www.threekit.com/threekit-for-retail Learn more about Threekit with Salesforce: https://www.threekit.com/ecommerce-platform-integration/salesforce-product-configurator *** Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know I sent you.
This week Chris speaks with Godard Abel, the CEO of G2, the leading business software review platform and marketplace, which he co-founded in 2012. G2 recently achieved unicorn status at a $1.1B valuation after raising $257M in capital to fuel global growth. Godard is also Executive Chairman of ThreeKit and Logik.io. Previously, he served as CEO of SteelBrick which was acquired by Salesforce in 2016 for $360M. In this episode, Godard shares how his first company inspired him to create G2, his perspectives on the evolution and differences in the SAAS and tech ecosystems in Colorado compared to Silicon Valley, and how his biggest lesson helped ease the burden on anxiety.Listen now on: Amazon Music (Alexa) | Spotify | Apple Podcasts G2 - https://www.g2.com/Check out more about what we're up to at Range.vc Connect with hosts Adam and Chris and the Range VC team on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In this episode you hear from Chris Shutts, Co-Founder & CEO at Logik.io. Here Chris talks about the growth of Logik.io, Dreamforce '22, Commerce Logic Engine, their customer KeySight Technologies, their new Oracle Migration Program, a study called "State of B2B e-commerce for manufacturers", the importance and impact of a headless architecture, the future of CPQ, their Partner Program and much more web www.logik.io email Chris@logik.io LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-shutts-0622237/
The Khronos Group published a blog announcement on November 3rd titled, “Deliver Interactive Experiences with glTF: A Node Graph-Based Approach,” which is adding an interactive extension called KHR_Behaviors to glTF (the *.jpg format for 3D objects). This adds interactive capabilities to glTF objects that are similar to Unreal Engines Blueprint system, Unity's Visual Scripting Language, and NVIDIA Omniverse's Omnigraph systems. I had a chance to sit down with Threekit's Ben Houston, who has been collaborating with the Khronos Group on this interactive behavior extension to get a run down of how this fits into an overall development of an open and interoperable Metaverse. (see reference implementation here). The Metaverse Standards Forum is an independent and separate process that started after this specific effort, and it's role is to foster collaboration among Standards Development Organization to make recommendations for standards that are in service towards creating an open and interoperable Metaverse, and does not have any power to enforce adoption or promote any one standard at the expense of others. While glTF with interactive extensions may eventually be a building block towards creating a complex of standards that replicates many of the functionality of a game engine, but within a broader set of open standards. Moving from static objects to interactive experiences that are dynamic, unfold over time, respond and interact with the environment is certainly a key feature of an immersive virtual world, and the abstraction of that interactivity into a visual scripting language. Tune in for more details, and then check out the behave-graph reference implementation and the introductory webinar for more context.
Brand websites are often pretty similar — there are product pages, pictures, carousels, maybe even videos. That's worked for a while, but Matt Gorniak, the CEO of Threekit, says it's time to up the ante. Threekit is creating a whole new category for brands who want to get into visual commerce and bring 3D and AR into the fold. Matt talks about what that looks like on this episode. Tune in to learn:How do you get the most out of visual commerce? (9:00)Rethinking what the virtual commerce experience will look like (12:00)What's going on with NFTs (20:40)How do you measure the ROI of your visual commerce investments? (25:40)Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Learn more at http://www.salesforce.com/commerce Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at http://www.mission.org.
The Top Entrepreneurs in Money, Marketing, Business and Life
Visual Commerce
Marc Uible is the Vice President at Threekit, a visual commerce company that helps brands increase sales by customizing and configuring products in an augmented 3D reality environment so customers can interact with them as part of the buyer experience. Marc is also a member of the board of advisors for LIFT and has held roles with Braintree, The Numbered Days, and Avondale. He graduated from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business with a degree in international business, business economics, and public policy. In this episode… Providing consumers with a realistic representation of your product can be why they click “buy.” What if they could customize your product as part of their online shopping experience? How can you enable customers to interact with your product? Businesses can upload product information files and instantly create an unlimited number of interactive augmented reality and photorealistic 3D visuals. When shoppers use augmented reality in their buyer experience, they're much more likely to purchase the product. The ability to customize the image in real-time provides the client with a personalized experience that makes your products stand out. Using augmented reality and 3D image technology for your product allows for quick changes in marketing, and this technology can easily meet changing market demands. Marc Uible is here to share expert strategies for delivering engaging, interactive imagery to provide your brand with a competitive advantage. In this episode of The Digital Deep Dive, Aaron Conant sits down with Marc Uible, Vice President of Marketing at Threekit, to discuss the benefits of a web-based augmented reality customer experience to promote your products. Marc talks about how 3D augmented reality can reduce photography and marketing costs, what data can reveal about consumer interactions, and configuring an environment to showcase complex products.
In 2022, it's estimated that $7.4T worth of B2C and B2B commerce will happen digitally, however, shoppers are now demanding a faster, easier, and more visually compelling customer experience. In response, brands are creating millions of images, but they are falling short. Whether it is photography that requires a physical product to be built or the impossible task of manually capturing thousands (or millions) of SKUs, brands rely on broken processes to create visual experiences and improve their operations. Threekit, a leading developer of high-end visualization software that automates the creation of visuals and bridges the gap between the creative and commerce worlds. The company's visual commerce platform, which does not require prototype experience, engineers, or CAD artists, enables brands to create interactive, augmented reality (AR), and photorealistic 3D visuals and engage in lean commerce and asset-light manufacturing. To date, Threekit visualized products have generated over $1 billion in sales for customers. TaylorMade, Duluth Trading, and Ciroc use Threekit because it drives a 40% increase in conversion, a 90% reduction in photography costs, and an 80% reduction in returns. Matt Gorniak, CEO of Threekit joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share the story behind Threekit.
In this episode, you hear from A5, a fast-growing System Integrator that works with Salesforce and Oracle Solutions. Vinay has 20+ years of business experience and lives with his family in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here he talks about his beginnings in the CPQ space, the growth of A5 (previously name Config Consultants), a 1% pledge program partner, and they also implement Billing, RevRec, eCommerce, Visualization, and more. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kruttiventi/ website a5corp.com email info@a5corp.com
It's Thursday November 11th 2021, and today we're talking about: owl.co breaks the rules on their way to a $30m US raise, Wrapbook brings the gig economy to entertainment and becomes a unicorn, Bolt rides logistics and US expansion plans to a $75m series B, Threekit 3D & Augmented Reality adopts web3 and raises $35m; and a bonus take: Georgian backs Gradient Spaces, a 2S-LGBTQ-IA+ incubator.
In this episode you can learn more about the newest company of Chris Shutts and Godard Abel, the two co-founders of BigMachines. Both have 20+ years of experience and success in the CPQ space and beyond. Here they talk about how Logik.io was started, what customers they target, what team they have assembled, how they work with Threekit, their giving pledge and more Chris@logik.io Godard@g2.com LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-shutts-0622237/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/godardabel/
Natalija Pavic is an Industry Solution Leader for Commerce Cloud. Today I talk with her about the digital trends she is seeing in B2C. We also discuss the Salesforce partners who are implementing these trends. After being “headhunted” by Salesforce for five years, Natalija finally joined us in 2016. Now, she is part of the go-to marketing team and, as her husband says, works on the stuff that doesn't exist yet. Tune in to hear more about her experiences in this role and learn about where technology is driving the future of B2C. Show Highlights: The correlation between high-performing companies and those that are leveraging digital experiences. What contextual commerce is. The solutions that Threekit is useful for. How to balance in-person sales and human interaction with the ease of digital connection. What live shopping is. How virtual storefronts work. Shout-outs to some of the current digital trends. Links: Natalija on Twitter Natalija on LinkedIn
In this episode you'll learn more about the recent acquisition of UK and India-based Hansen by Navint. Navint CEO Jim Martindale and Hansen MD Steve Crosby share why and how they started the acquisition process, how they support lead-to-revenue transformation, what opportunities and challenges they see in the CPQ market, what new after-market opportunities they see, their partnership with Salesforce Revenue Cloud and much more. See also www.navint.com to learn more about their services
Online shopping is the new thing, especially as the pandemic graced us with its presence. I love a good online shop; I take my time, compare prices and simply make a purchase. However, some have struggled to get on board, especially with big-ticket items. You want to see it, picture it. So to take us into the future of online buying is ThreeKit. ThreeKit has created software to help brands showcase their products in 3D, augmented reality, and virtual photography. The VP of marketing and alliances, Mark Uible, like any marketer, has done his homework, discovering that more shoppers are ready for 3D experiences. With their new technology, content drives their prospects. Yet, their challenge is guiding an audience from their content to a lead. Mark is proud of their competitive advantage as they easily capture and engage prospects. However, he looks to improve online conversions as he works to understand their buyers' journey to influence and engage prospects. Guiding an audience is a challenge in the online space and like Mark, we've been exploring and taking advantage of micro-experiences.
Bring experiences to life with AR and VR. Marc Uible, VP of Marketing and Alliances at Threekit, and Lindsey Scoggins, Founder and CEO of Lindsey Scoggins Studio, discuss how to create out of this world user experiences with the power of augmented and virtual reality. Learn why digital innovation is trending in a post-COVID world, and how Lindsey Scoggins Studio is transforming their shoppers' experiences through personalized products. --- Marc Uible is VP of Marketing and Alliances at ThreeKit: https://www.threekit.com/ Lindsey Scoggins is Founder and CEO of Lindsey Scoggins Studio: https://lindseyscoggins.com/ --- Get even bigger insights at the Make it Big 2021 conference. Register today: https://www.bigcommerce.com/make-it-big/
The Top Entrepreneurs in Money, Marketing, Business and Life
Entrepreneur delivering success to B2B tech buyers and vendors via G2.com marketplace...and supporting ThreeKit in building the world's most amazing 3D visual selling platform. Previously built cloud CPQ software pioneers BigMachines (acquired by Oracle) and SteelBrick (acquired by Salesforce). Following the conscious path to reach the PEAK in my work, personal, and family life.
Stephane Kors has 14+ years of experience with Product Configuration and CPQ Solutions. He lives with his family in Paris, France and is focused on the French CPQ Market. In this interview he talks about his partners Salesforce CPQ, KBMax, PROS, Conga/Apttus, Tacton and Threekit, consultant certifications, why 3D is so interesting, the biggest customer challenges they see and much more website itcelerator.fr email skors@itcelerator.fr LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephane-kors-crm-cpq-digital/
In this podcast, we talk about how 3D, AR, and virtual photography can change the customer experience, how it works, who can use this software, and more. Marc is the VP of marketing at Threekit. His goal is to help companies customize their products in 3D, augmented reality, and virtual photography. Before Threekit, Marc spent a decade as an entrepreneur and doing marketing for PayPal. Marc Uible’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-uible-0b270210 Website: https://www.threekit.com/ Honest Ecommerce is a weekly podcast, community & educational resource providing online store owners with honest, actionable advice to increase their sales and grow their business. If you like our podcast, consider subscribing & joining our FREE Facebook group http://honestecommerce.co/
In this episode of Lessons for Tomorrow join our host, Tim Ahlenius, as he speaks with Matt Gorniak, CEO of Threekit, and Americaneagle.com Partner Manager, Rob Sanders, to discuss the drastically changing landscape of creating immersive commerce experiences. Hear how brand and product visual experience standards have evolved from standard photography to now the cutting edge in providing an augmented reality visual experiences for customers. Dive into where the future of AI and AR is headed across commerce industries. Download today! This podcast is brought to you by Americaneagle.com Studios.
EP19 - THIS WEEK IN SALES On this week in sales we’ll be looking at: Shaming salespeople on LinkedIn What “high growth companies” do different to “negative growth companies” B2B marketplaces According to research findings released today by ValueSelling Associates, Inc., 87% of high-growth companies take a value-based approach to sales compared to 45% of negative-growth companies. SurveyMonkey Announces Availability of GetFeedback’s Integration with Salesforce Commerce Cloud One study found that 75 percent of B2B buyers and sellers now want to make purchases or interact with business partners online. Lots of interest in “virtual trade shows within a marketplace environment”. Boutique CRMs - Hotel CRM Software Market Summary, Trends, Sizing Analysis and Forecast To 2025 Showpad Partners with Threekit to Improve Buyer Experience Through Enhanced 3D Visualization and Augmented Reality Performio, the leading enterprise-grade incentive compensation management software solution, has announced 110% growth in North America for FY2020, Shaming salespeople on LinkedIn Jeff Molander made a LinkedIn post outing and shamed some dude who sent him cold outreach on the platform. The 350,000 views and 900 comments and Jeff got lit up for - Boomers left behind by jobs recovery A new book, The New Chameleons by Michael Solomon And more on THIS WEEK IN SALES
The Top Entrepreneurs in Money, Marketing, Business and Life
Entrepreneur delivering success to B2B tech buyers and vendors via G2.com marketplace...and supporting ThreeKit in building the world's most amazing 3D visual selling platform. Previously built cloud CPQ software pioneers BigMachines (acquired by Oracle) and SteelBrick (acquired by Salesforce). Following the conscious path to reach the PEAK in my work, personal, and family life.
This week, as part of the Pioneers. series of the CTO-CTO podcast, we are hosting Matt Gorniak, CEO of Threekit. Matt has over 20 years of experience in the enterprise software space, and as he says, his aim was always to solve common challenges that turned out to be too difficult to be solved by his competitors. Matt, a true pioneer, talks about his success with selling his ventures to Oracle and Salesforce, building the G2 business software comparison portal, but also talks future with 2D, 3D, and Augmented reality platform Threekit- his latest project.
If you sell a couch that comes in 1,000 different patters and colours, what's cheaper: printing out a swatch for each variation, or creating a configurator that lets you do that digitally and photo-realistically? The obvious answer is the ethos behind ThreeKit's product customization software, which CTO Ben Houston joins Alan to discuss. Alan: Welcome to the XR for Business podcast with your host, Alan Smithson. Today, we have a very special guest, Ben Houston. He's the founder and CTO of Threekit. Threekit's a platform used by some of the world's top brands like Crate & Barrel and Steelcase. And what they're able to do is create amazing visual customer experiences through virtual photography, augmented reality, 3D imagery, saving companies enormous amounts of time and money, having to get these photographs, set up studios. And at a time of COVID, we just can't do that anyway. So I'm really excited to invite Ben to the podcast today. Ben, thank you so much for joining us. Ben: Hey, thank you, Alan, for such a great intro. Alan: Oh, it's my pleasure, man. You guys have really been working hard in the space. You've been in the space since, what, 2005, I believe? Ben: In the 3D space for quite some time, but in doing 3D for e-commerce, we've been doing that since 2015. Alan: Wow. So five years of experience. Let's kind of go back to 2015. What did you start doing and what are you doing now? What are the services that Threekit offers, and how has that changed from 2015? Ben: When we first got into it, we were actually-- our background's Hollywood visual effects. We started making-- this company originally was creating software for Hollywood films, and we did that quite successfully on a lot of films. And then what we did is we started moving that 3D content creation to the web. Once we had done that, we did that around 2013. In 2015, people started using our 3D content creation for the web, for e-commerce applications. Specifically, they were doing it for configurable products. So interactive 3D product configurators. This is-- Steelcase is a good example of an early adopter of this technology. We started doing that, and that had a lot of success, especially for companies that have massive configuration problems, such as Steelcase's office furniture. As we evolved down that path, the next thing we started doing was virtual photography or also called synthetic photography. That's where you will create a number of renderings of products for companies. A good example of that is Crate & Barrel. We've created hundreds and hundreds of thousands of renders for them, of their furniture, and it all looks real. And so now they don't have to build every piece of furniture and every fabric and then take a picture of it. We can just render those off. Alan: Gotta be some massive cost savings. We'll get into the numbers later. But wow, that's like-- if you don't have to take photographs, I mean, I can only imagine a photo shoot's expensive to begin with. Ben: And every one of their sofas is a couple of thousand dollars. So it's just simply not possible. And then what we've done more recently is the rise of AR. That has really been embraced by furniture realtors specifically, and so that allows them to see the furniture, how it would fit in their room or office. And so those are the three main offerings that our platform has. To recap, you have configurators, so companies that have -- maybe it's a chair -- and it comes in 50 different colors, and five different lumbar supports, and people can configure their office furniture, or chair, or any product, really. The second is -- which is a term I've never heard -- synthetic photography, basically being able to cr
If you sell a couch that comes in 1,000 different patters and colours, what’s cheaper: printing out a swatch for each variation, or creating a configurator that lets you do that digitally and photo-realistically? The obvious answer is the ethos behind ThreeKit’s product customization software, which CTO Ben Houston joins Alan to discuss. Alan: Welcome to the XR for Business podcast with your host, Alan Smithson. Today, we have a very special guest, Ben Houston. He's the founder and CTO of Threekit. Threekit's a platform used by some of the world's top brands like Crate & Barrel and Steelcase. And what they're able to do is create amazing visual customer experiences through virtual photography, augmented reality, 3D imagery, saving companies enormous amounts of time and money, having to get these photographs, set up studios. And at a time of COVID, we just can't do that anyway. So I'm really excited to invite Ben to the podcast today. Ben, thank you so much for joining us. Ben: Hey, thank you, Alan, for such a great intro. Alan: Oh, it's my pleasure, man. You guys have really been working hard in the space. You've been in the space since, what, 2005, I believe? Ben: In the 3D space for quite some time, but in doing 3D for e-commerce, we've been doing that since 2015. Alan: Wow. So five years of experience. Let's kind of go back to 2015. What did you start doing and what are you doing now? What are the services that Threekit offers, and how has that changed from 2015? Ben: When we first got into it, we were actually-- our background's Hollywood visual effects. We started making-- this company originally was creating software for Hollywood films, and we did that quite successfully on a lot of films. And then what we did is we started moving that 3D content creation to the web. Once we had done that, we did that around 2013. In 2015, people started using our 3D content creation for the web, for e-commerce applications. Specifically, they were doing it for configurable products. So interactive 3D product configurators. This is-- Steelcase is a good example of an early adopter of this technology. We started doing that, and that had a lot of success, especially for companies that have massive configuration problems, such as Steelcase's office furniture. As we evolved down that path, the next thing we started doing was virtual photography or also called synthetic photography. That's where you will create a number of renderings of products for companies. A good example of that is Crate & Barrel. We've created hundreds and hundreds of thousands of renders for them, of their furniture, and it all looks real. And so now they don't have to build every piece of furniture and every fabric and then take a picture of it. We can just render those off. Alan: Gotta be some massive cost savings. We'll get into the numbers later. But wow, that's like-- if you don't have to take photographs, I mean, I can only imagine a photo shoot's expensive to begin with. Ben: And every one of their sofas is a couple of thousand dollars. So it's just simply not possible. And then what we've done more recently is the rise of AR. That has really been embraced by furniture realtors specifically, and so that allows them to see the furniture, how it would fit in their room or office. And so those are the three main offerings that our platform has. To recap, you have configurators, so companies that have -- maybe it's a chair -- and it comes in 50 different colors, and five different lumbar supports, and people can configure their office furniture, or chair, or any product, really. The second is -- which is a term I've never heard -- synthetic photography, basically being able to cr
Entrepreneur delivering success to B2B tech buyers and vendors via G2.com marketplace...and supporting ThreeKit in building the world's most amazing 3D visual selling platform. Previously built cloud CPQ software pioneers BigMachines (acquired by Oracle) and SteelBrick (acquired by Salesforce). --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/georges-khalife/support
Tom is a manufacturing expert with 20+ years of business experience in discrete and process manufacturing and is leading the Center of Excellence for Infosys/Simplus. In this interview he talks about Simplus before and after the Infosys acquisition, COVID-19 impact, how they work with their colleagues in Australia and the UK, their partnerships with KBMax and Threekit, how they work with the Conga team, CLM, PLM and much more. Website: www.simplus.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomlovell1/
In this episode we are talking to Matt Gorniak, the CEO at Threekit, a company that specializes in 3D visualization, product configuration and augmented reality. Hear about how you can extend your PIM with this functionality to bring additional value to your employees, your partners and your customers. We’re always looking for new guests and topics! If you would like to recommend a featured guest or topic on the PIMtalk podcast, don’t hesitate to email us at PIMtalk@inriver.com. Want to know more about PIM? Download this free Whitepaper!
For anyone with children under the age of 5 parenting during a pandemic can provide tremendous challenges of maintaining sanity and peace during quarantine. What's the recipe to maintaining harmony among all parties? The pandemic also provides all of us an opportunity to discover new things which compel our interests and past the time. Do you have a favorite hobby you have adopted during the pandemic? Have you considered the possibility of turning it into a new business or economic opportunity? Ash Zade is a product manager at Threekit. A visual customer experience solution that enables brands to create and manage beautiful visuals at scale. He is also the host of a solo podcast called That's a Hobby. Ash is also a dad of two girls under the age of 5. He joined me this week to talk parenting, hobbies, and business creation during the pandemic. You can follow Ash on Twitter @ThatHobby
Matt Gorniak is well known in the CPQ world through his involvements with Oracle CPQ Cloud, G2, Steelbrick and Salesforce. In this interview he talks about his newfound passion for basketball, learnings from his previous positions, growth plans, what they did with the funding they received, customers that use their visualization solution, digital trust, why he strives to be like DocuSign and much more. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgorniak/ Website www.threekit.com email Matt@ThreeKit.com
Matt has been at the forefront of commerce in his C-level positions at BigMachines (acquired by Oracle), Steelbrick (acquired by salesforce) and Salesforce's Quote-to-Cash cloud. He also co-founded G2 Crowd. He is now CEO at Threekit, which generates product images for companies like Crate & Barrel and provides cutting edge AR for commerce, which you can see for yourself at https://quickdemo.threekit.com/product/1 (on a mobile device)
Justin Scott was recently named as CEO of Atlatl Software and lives with his family in Charleston, SC. In this Interview he talks about his time at Zillow & Tumblr, visual commerce, their focus shift from CPQ to visualization, interactive product experiences, how to achieve cost reductions with digital photography, impact of COVID-19, their digital asset management practice, their partnership with Oracle & Salesforce and more LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinkscott/ Website www.atlatlsoftware.com
In this episode, you'll hear about the challenges of a new categorical SaaS disrupting a prebuilt industry. You'll learn about piggybacking on search versus defining new languages, how content marketing has been critical for success for Threekit and how their outbound mixed with content has been in an essential step for new growth. And finally looking forward, you'll hear how Hillary sees the changing landscape in SaaS after COVID-19, what she's expecting to play out and how they're working to make sure that they're ahead of the curve. Enjoy and celebrate with us as this is our episode #100! Show Notes: 03:20 Helping Provide The Most Immersive Helpful Online Visual Product Experience 04:55 Coming In To Create And Solidify Brand Positioning And All Things Website 06:05 Emerging Categories And Languaging 11:05 The Number One Challenge When Disrupting A Whole Market 13:15 How To Approach Search Marketing When You're Early In A Category 16:25 The Benefits For Companies Of A Better Visual Experience In This Visual Economy 20:20 Leveraging Content Published By Others 22:00 An Efficient Outbound Process And A Cool 3-tier Campaign 27:40 The Number One KPI And The Reason For It 29:55 Hard lesson: Providing More Deep Technical Content And Product Feature Details 33:05 The Majority Shift That Is Going To Happen Because People Are Now Learning New behaviors 36:35 Lightning Questions
Joachim Klein, President & COO at Threekit, discusses the visual economy and shares his tips for ecommerce imagery, 3D visualization, and leveraging augmented reality.
As the founder and CTO of ThreeKit, the Vancouver native spent almost 15 years creating visual effects technology that was used in the Harry Potter, Star Wars and Marvel franchises, among others. But as if that legacy wasn’t impressive enough, consider that he’s now changing the way we shop online. Ben and ThreeKit have moved their focus from the big screen to the small screen — in this case, cellphones and laptops rather than the movie theater. They’ve used their visual effects knowledge to create software that can help e-commerce companies better show off their products.
On this month's episode of the Struggle, with talk with Joachim Klein, President of ThreeKit. Originally from Germany, Joachim has been living in San Francisco for the past three years. ThreeKit is Joachim's fourth foray into Enterprise SaaS, a field he is fully subscribed to at this point. He started off his path in a company called BigMachines, the subject of the conversation on this episode. Joachim joined it in September 2000 as EMEA MD, nine months after BigMachines had been started. The startup helped manufacturing companies provide the best possible quotes for their big machines. Joachim remembers the first year as particularly exhilarating. They were receiving a lot of interest from prospects, had many great conversations with them and all in all got a lot of praise for the problem they were tackling. On top of that, they had raised $30 million in funding so there was plenty of money in the bank. Bullish about the future of the company, BigMachines hired a lot of people that year, preparing for the demand they would get once these prospects became customers. Sounds great, doesn't it? This wouldn't be an episode of the Struggle if BigMachines lived happily ever after, would it? They ran out of money before they had sold anything. On the verge of bankruptcy, BigMachines was forced to lay off 70% of its workforce. Joachim lost his entire team. One night during this rocky period, Joachim's wife asked him, "Would you invest in BigMachines right now?" and Joachim admitted, "No, I wouldn't put even $100 in. The company is dead." The company didn't die and instead eventually got acquired by Oracle but not before a major turnaround, achieved thanks to a lot of self-reflection, change, and learning how to sell. That's the story of this episode of the Struggle. If you can be as honest and open as Joachim or any of the other guests we have hosted on the Struggle, get in touch and send us your story on podcast@saastock.com. Thanks for listening, see you next time.
Joachim recently joined ThreeKit, an online platform for visualization solutions that partners with CPQ and eCommerce providers. In this interview, Joachim talks about how he got interested in CPQ, how he got involved with BigMachines, SteelBrick and Salesforce, what the plans are for ThreeKit, how companies like Crate & Barrel use ThreeKit and much more. Contact him on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/joachimklein/ or on email @ joachim.klein@threekit.com The website is @https://www.threekit.com
SAP and Enterprise Trends Podcasts from Jon Reed (@jonerp) of diginomica.com
In Jon's first ever podcast from NRF's retail "Big Show," Jon sits down with Joachim Klein of ThreeKit, where the two overcome NRF sounds to break down the key trends of the show, before the podcast is finally vanquished by a vacuum cleaner. The guys discuss the next-gen tech at the show, including robotics, facial recognition, and virtual fashion assistants, before digging into the problem of personalization and the opportunities retailers have if they can conquer their data problems. Klein then shares ThreeKit's go-to-market plan, and why these seasoned retail executives have banded together and put skin in the game. Their goal: bring augmented reality, visual commerce, and 3D product configuration into the same platform. End note: apologies for the background noise, the quietest place we could find at NRF was not terribly quiet, even with lavalier mics. SOUND UPDATE: my colleague Den Howlett has edited out as much background noise as possible in this new mix.
During this week's hectic NRF show, Jon Reed recorded a podcast with ThreeKit. The background noise is a bit distracting but the content is up there as interesting on innovation for a show that attracts thousands of participants. He mentions getting his face into a VR thing. Sheesh - the things we do for the benefit of those who consume our stuff.
In Jon's first ever podcast from NRF's retail "Big Show," Jon sits down with Joachim Klein of ThreeKit, where the two overcome NRF sounds to break down the key trends of the show, before the podcast is finally vanquished by a vacuum cleaner. The guys discuss the next-gen tech at the show, including robotics, facial recognition, and virtual fashion assistants, before digging into the problem of personalization and the opportunities retailers have if they can conquer their data problems. Klein then shares ThreeKit's go-to-market plan, and why these seasoned retail executives have banded together and put skin in the game. Their goal: bring augmented reality, visual commerce, and 3D product configuration into the same platform. End note: apologies for the background noise, the quietest place we could find at NRF was not terribly quiet, even with lavalier mics. SOUND UPDATE: my colleague Den Howlett has edited out as much background noise as possible in this new mix. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.