New Blog Address

If you haven't noticed yet, I've changed my meetjohnsong.com to Wordpress.  Unfortunately, the feedburner did not make the transition smoothly.  So, if you were a suscriber and lost your feed.  Please go back to meetjohnsong.com and subscribe again.  I'm very sorry for the inconvenience.

John 

Josiah Johnson is the BOSS at Job Mob

Meet Josiah Johnson, a man about town y’all!  Josiah is one of those cool persons that everyone wants to befriend.  He knows, so it seems, e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e.  At least, he knows anyone who went to Western Washington University and now lives in the greater Seattle area.

Josiah is the consummate networker, which has made him an effective salesperson in the service sector.  I was once his boss, but it was actually him who recruited me to be the VP of Sales at Endeavor Consulting where we first worked together.  Later, we came up with an automated web analytics concept called “ZeroDash1” that eventually sold to Ascentium.

Now, he has recently left Ascentium to start his own technical consulting and staffing agency with a few of his old colleagues.  He and his partners have the title “Boss” at Job Mob, but all specialize in different areas.  Of course, Josiah will be on the front-end of sales, working his broad and deep network.

Job Mob wants to leverage Web 2.0, Online Community and Social Networking-based platforms to discover and solicit pools of technical talent.  Very kewl… after all, he worked at ZeroDash1, a web analytics and optimization company.

So, how about the timing of starting a new company in the midst of the current economic downturn?  “Well, one, there is never a good time to jump off a cliff,” he says.  “Two, I feel there is still a shortage of technical talent in the Pacific Northwest.    The advantage of starting a company such as ours, with very little overhead and a pretty achievable profitability mark, is that when the market upswings you are in a prime position with a good reputation and the right contacts.”

I will miss working with Josiah, and certainly wish him well.  After all, he was the one who strongly suggested I redo my wardrobe during a “dress for success” intervention.  No matter what clothes you put on me, I will never be as kewl as Josiah -- that’s for sure.

Please comment if you have your own input for Josiah.  

Life is but Series of Experiences

Guest Post by Paul Song

When John asked me to share one of my business experiences as a guest contributor to his blog a few months ago, I started to think which one would be the most interesting and relevant. Should I talk about starting an IT services company in my 20’s and what it was like to learn everything “on the job”? Or maybe the experience of taking a company public and playing with the “big boys” on Wall Street? Or maybe the humbling experience having our stock plummet by over 80% with the bursting of the dot-com bubble? Or starting a new company with millions in VC money?

I decided I want to talk about my little start up in Vietnam. It is not a big company nor even a successful one (yet). But it is has been a very rewarding experience in unexpected ways.

My son Aaron, graduated from Pepperdine University in summer of 2006. During his college years, he had started an Internet company servicing the secondary ticketing market (ticket brokers and resellers also known as “scalpers”). By the time he received his diploma, Aaron was running a number of popular and very profitable web sites. When he asked my advice on what to do next, I encouraged him to explore living abroad to get a more “global” experience. As Thomas Friedman put it, the world is flat. We cannot ignore the growing interdependence of our global economy. Just look at how the US mortgage mess is affecting the credit (and now equity) markets worldwide! The next generation of business leaders must have a global perspective.

Having taken a more flexible role as Chairman of Noetix, I was not involved in day to day operations. So when Aaron suggested that I go with him to Asia and help him better explore business opportunities, I felt this was a unique opportunity for me to do something new and interesting with my son. We initially moved to Shanghai, China where we lived for about 5 months. But after a trip to Vietnam, we decided that we could best find opportunities to build a company together there.

So in April 2007, we moved to Ho Chi Minh City and started an Internet listing service for real estate in Vietnam. We’ve also launched a real estate magazine to compliment our web site (www.metvuong.com). When we started our venture, the real estate market was red hot, with prices nearly doubling from June 2007 to December of 2007. However with inflation and tightening credit world-wide, the market came to a screeching halt in March 2008 with prices declining as much as 40% in many markets (not too dissimilar to what is going on in the US). 

This has created some challenges for our business but it also is providing a great learning opportunity. It doesn’t take great management to grow a business when everything is booming (remember the dot-com bubble?). But when things are challenging, when strategy and execution become a necessity, when resources and money is limited and tough choices have to be made, that’s when management counts.

So even though metvuong is not a public company nor a company with millions in revenue, it has given me one of the most rewarding experiences of my career so far. It has given me the opportunity to start a business with my son. Though I was initially going abroad to help Aaron, actually, I may have gained more than he has from the experience. I’ve had the chance to live in a different country and to broaden my personal experiences. I’ve gained a much greater appreciation for developing countries and their challenges. I’ve come to understand first-hand what outsourcing means to companies both in the US and in the country. I’ve made many new friends including business leaders in other countries. And of course, I’ve had a chance to build some great memories and experiences with my son.

Life is but a series of experiences. These experiences become our memories, prejudices and perspectives. Those become the basis upon which we make judgments and decisions. This is why we value people with experience. And for me, this has been one of my best experiences.  

_______________________________

Paul Song is my younger brother.  He is currently the CEO of Metvuong and Chairman of Noetix.  He is also the former Founder and CEO of ARIS Corporation.  He is a formerly US representative for ABAC and is a member of YPO - Seattle Chapter.  

Who won the first Vice Presidential debate of 2008?

Should the Government Bailout the Banks?

Yesterday, congress rejected the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Consequently, the DOW Jones Industrial Average dropped 777 points (7%)and Wall Street lost $1 trillion in value. Although yesterday was certainly a crummy day, it was no where close to the 22.6% black Monday crash in the summer of 1987. Today, the market is initially rebounding as investors speculate that the US government will eventually pass some form of the rescue package.

So, what would be the continued effect if the government bailout fails? Credit becomes tighter as illiquid banks struggle to sell debt assets to other possible buyers. The increased credit crunch will squeeze companies dependent on bank money to run businesses, including meeting payrolls in many cases. Some small and mid-size companies would have layoffs. Corporate bankruptcies would increase in the immediate term. Innovations and entrepreneurship would most definitely suffer for some time.

For many taxpayers, the impact of the government inaction could be a lot closer to their homes. The housing market will continue to slide and homes will be devalued further with a shortage of qualified buyers with money. With most families' largest asset in houses, the credit crunch will hit everyone's net worth.

However, the financially strong will survive and even take advantage of the discounted value of companies with good businesses but poor cash flow. The struggling banks will eventually sell their debt assets at more market-appropriate rates than the artificially propped-up rates offered by the government rescue plan. The market has a chance, after some time of tremendous turmoil, to correct itself with better financial fundamentals. How long would such a correction and rebound take? That's up to much debate.

If the government comes back with an approved bailout plan, troubled banks would be liquid again and able to support businesses and individuals. Companies would continue to use credit to sustain and grow businesses. Some possible bankruptcies and insolvencies could be potentially avoided. In the short-term, jobs would be saved. The stock market would rebound at least to some degree. The real estate market would be saved from further deterioration.

However, a government bailout would most certainly be setting the economy on an inflation climb by printing so much more money. What will a dollar even be worth by the time the credit market fundamentals are truly back on course? And do we really trust that the government will be able to do something worthwhile with the assets purchased in the bailout? The long-term impact of a government intervention could end up being a more prolonged correction of the capital market fundamentals and a bleak economic forecast with inflation and the possible devaluation of the US dollar.

So, should the government bailout the financial market? Vote your opinion.

Who Won The Presidential Debate?

My good friend and former colleague, Kendall Kunz (CEO at Explore Consulting), decided to put up a poll on his blog, MeetKendall,  after the presidential debate.  The poll asks WHO won the debate?  What a great idea.  Feel like voicing your opinion?  He's allowed me to post the poll as well.

Project 10 to the 100th

Do you have an idea for helping other people?  Google has a nice campaign around helping others, which in turn really helps you (to be fulfilled and happy).  If you have ideas, by all means, share! I love this kind of stuff.

Project 10 to the 100th

Using Linkedin to Plan Business Events

Ascentium has used Linkedin as an event-registration platform on a couple of occasions.   

The first was the "Light Up Your Brand" conference organized by our Portland office.  This was a highly effective, collaborative event featuring presenters from Intel, Linkedin, Federated Media, as well as Ascentium.   "How to Light Up Your Brand" was particularly focused on leveraging social media platforms to, well, light up your brand.

All registrations for the half-day conference came through Linkedin.  Organizers created a group within Linkedin displaying the "Light Up Your Brand" logo and a summary of the event. Interested people registered by joining this Linkedin group.

  

The results were generally positive. The Linkedin group obviously provided a convenient area for interested parties to share ideas and thoughts before and after the event.  We also found that the group was searched by the Linkedin community at large from persons interested in such topics as brightening up brands within the context of social media.  Since anyone wanting to join the group needed approval by the group's manager, it has a built-in screening process as well.  

One issue that did arise was that persons outside the greater Portland area tried to sign up to the group and register not realizing this was an "in-person" conference. 

Even today the group remains on Linkedin with 130 members.  Should we want to make this an annual event, for example, this membership could be the foundation used in drumming up community interest again. 

The second event was for the Ascentium|ZeroDash1's seminar series.  Admittedly, this was not as well organized and we offered other methods of registering.  We found that for a series of events, creating one group for registration does not work -- obviously!  Moving forward, however, our Linkedin Group, Ascentium|ZeroDash1 Seminar Series, can continue to function as as a forum for discussing our seminar topics and soliciting feedback from attendees.  

In conclusion, Linkedin does provide interesting possibilities as a social media platform for registering and/or announcing business events.  

Twitter For Effective Executive Communication

Social media applications are changing the way we communicate.  We expose ourselves with a portfolio of personal data to be understood, appreciated and unique.  Communication is now open, collaborative.  

In the corporate world, however, very few companies consider how to use social media applications and its concepts for internal communication.  Sure, marketers and thought-leaders around digital information are making great strides in understanding how to leverage this new communication medium for reaching the masses.  How about for reaching out to an employee base? 

One application I thought that would be useful is Twitter.  Yes, Twitter.  Many companies are ineffective in communicating their executive vision and personal conviction to all the employees. Many vision statements are broad and bland.  Some corporate initiatives are too complex to digest from one detailed document or powerpoint presentation.

So, imagine a Twittering CEO who writes short micros blogs (140 characters or less) about relevant happenings (i.e. wins) that support the company's vision and initiatives.  One quick, witty antedote can provide the "ah-ha" moment for many following employees.  Or more likely, a string of Tweets can piece together what the company is trying to achieve in the minds of the followers.

In this process, the personality of the executive can also come through, building a stronger bond for the employees with their leader.  Another benefit would be the immediate feedback from employees as executives continue to refine their corporate strategies.

Would there be risks?  Absolutely! Tweets needs to be insightful, interesting and geniune.  Without complete commitment, this would not be successful.  But for a transparent organization with good thoughtful leadership, Twitter can provide a great platform for "augmenting" communication. 

Of course, face-to-face communication ususally trumps all forms of communication.  Now, however, the social media platforms provide other ways to augment the "town meetings".  

You can follow me here.

Facebook Widget Shows $1 million Results

Centric, an agency that seems to thoroughly understand the power of the new "collaborative" interactive marketing model, posted a fascinating blog about one of its recent campaigns for Warner Brother.

Centric was engaged to promote the new animated movie, "Batman Gothman Knight". In a superb move, Centic built a relatively full-featured widget on Facebook:

"The widget allowed people to see the trailer, browse stills, and find out more about the movie, and it had an interesting social feature: When you installed the widget, you became a member of The Concerned Citizens of Gotham City. The more people who installed the widget, the brighter the Bat-signal would glow".

Cool for sure but the numbers are even cooler. Before the launch of the movie, the widget generated more than 1MM pageviews. In a nutshell, the blog stated that this widget generated more than $1 million of responses, at a fraction of the cost. Of course, Batman Gothman Knight had one of the best orchestrated overall viral marketing campaigns seen to date, which helped Centic's results.

Nonetheless, this is a tantalizing case study of a brave new interactive marketing world developing right in front of our eyes.

Click here if you want to read the full blog.

Prefer Another Visit than a Book about My Hometown

 Please indulge me.  I want to tell a story – of course, about myself.

While I was the managing director in London running the EMEA region for Noetix, my wife decided to rent a flat in Paris during one of the summers.  She found an adorable place in “Le Marias”, a chic district in the heart of the city.

I visited her on weekends coming in from London on the Eurostar.  Given the generous European levels of vacation time, I also planned an extended stay for almost three straight weeks.  However, I don’t always “vacation” well, sometimes becoming very stressed when trying too hard to relax.  So, soon after arriving, I went to a community center recommended by a French friend. 

There, I walked in and in my broken French asked if I could volunteer for two weeks.  I explained that I played sports and was good with teenagers.  The nice woman made several calls on my behalf, explaining to whoever was on the other end of the line that she had a person who spoke horrible French interested in volunteering. 

After a couple of unsuccessful calls, she delicately explained that they actually needed volunteers who could communicate better with the teenagers.  Then, she said in perfect proper BBC English that she appreciated my initiative to come and ask.  We spoke for awhile but she didn’t have any suggestions on where I should go next.

After a few more days of drinking coffee, finding wonderful local restaurants and bars, I was starting to get a little antsy.  I found a community newspaper where a nursing home asked for visitors for its residents.  I called right away and made an appointment with a certain gentleman.

The nursing home was in a rather rough part of town and I had trouble finding it.  Nonetheless, I eventually found myself there being lead to this gentleman’s room.  He was in his bed, with family pictures on the dresser. 

I introduced myself, but he stared blankly at me.  Then, he motioned to his ear and said he doesn’t hear well.  So, I introduced myself more loudly.  He waved at me to sit down.  We asked each other basic questions.  On occasions, he would ask me to speak up.  Up to that time, I had never had the confidence to yell in French.

I learned that he had been in World War II.  His daughter was out of the country and his wife had long since passed away.  He showed me pictures, and asked politely about my family.  I’m not sure how much he understood of what I was saying, but he would smile and nod repeatedly.  As time passed, I knew he was tiring.  I pulled out a book about Seattle that I had bought from a bookstore on Champs Elysees.  I showed him Mount Rainer and the Space Needle, among other Seattle sites.  I told him that I had brought it for him to keep.

He grabbed my hand pulling me closer, and said, “Merci”, but he would prefer that I visit him again than have a book about my hometown.  I saw such honest sincerity in his eyes.  We had connected despite language, generational, and cultural gaps. 

When I opened the door to leave, a crowd looked up at me.  Apparently, my loud butchering of French had attracted many at the nursing home.  All the faces smiled at me.  They parted their walkers out of the way and let me leave.  Some patted me gently on my back.

Success in business or life should always feel like I did that day leaving the nursing home.

 

Life in the Transition Lane

When we decided to be acquired by Ascentium, we knew that things would change mostly for the better and some for the worse (from our perspective).

Aided by Ascentium’s large client base and broad offering of services as an interactive agency, our group has found more diversity of interesting work. Our revenues have steadily grown, improving the fundamentals of our business. There definitely has been a good “Ascentium lift” by joining the larger company.

The improved foundation has allowed us to offer interesting career paths around the developing field of web analytics and optimization. So, we’ve brought onboard additional talented, smart people to the team. We’re so fortunate to have an industry thought-leader like Anil Batra, who also is an excellent mentor to the whole team. He’s helped develop an environment of collaboration.
We are now an integrated part of Ascentium, although we will maintain our brand (ZeroDash1) for some transitional time. For all purposes, however, we are Ascentium Analytics & Optimization. It’s very rewarding as the leader of ZeroDash1 to see both pre-acquisition groups benefit from the deal.

Unfortunately, changes benefit many but not all. That’s to be expected, but difficult to see happening. After all, we all had been through so much together. Consequently, a couple of initial key contributors have left and gone onto other opportunities. They are talented people and will be impactful contributors for their new companies. I wish them well. They deserve success. I will miss them.

Meanwhile, however, our current group has grown steadily, adding interesting new perspectives and personalities. We’re really starting to settle into a groove as a business and team. Yes, the office culture has changed with slightly younger employees and the influence of broader Ascentium. I look at this team and it motivates me every day to do my part the best that I can. They are tremendous and all work for the greater success of the team.

After 17 years in the service industry, I’ve seen organizations grow and change many times over and achieve great success. And during those times, key players have left my organizations and achieve incredible success in their own right. I’m proud of each of them, as well as what my teams have always accomplished.

Twittering, Twittering, Twittering

So, do you twitter? Apparently over 2 million people do.

What is twitter? "Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length". -- Wikipedia

So, why would anyone twitter? And why would anyone follow someone else? I've asked that question, as have many others baffled by the concept of tracking someone else's tweets.

However, twitter has proven to have some surprisingly useful applications. For example, The Los Angeles Fire Department used twitter during the October, 2007 wildfires. Large companies are now using twitter to send product and service information. Currently, US Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is the most followed person on twitter with nearly 70,000 followers. You can bet that the Obama campaign people understand the value of using twitter to keep supporters and general population engaged with his campaign.

In a service company like ZeroDash1 Ascentium, twitter can help push out our brand into the exploding social media arena. We can expose our expertise by posting white papers, blogs and events. We can give glimpses of our corporate culture with tweets about social gatherings with co-workers.

So, I have now started twittering. Here is my account if you are interested. I'd love to share our experiences on twitter in future posts. See you on twitter.

ZeroDash1 | Ascentium releases A/B Multivariate Testing White Paper

ZeroDash1 Ascentium released a white paper on the landscape of A/B and Multivariate Testing. Please click here to download. Otherwise, you can get a summary from Anil Batra's blog webanalysis.blogspot.com.

Check it out, it's a good read, as we've had a lot of downloads so far (nearly 400).

No Where to Hide for Successful Venture Capitalist

Meet Ike Lee, a successful businessman and venture capitalist who came to Seattle looking for peace and quiet. Ah, the greenery, the clean air, and relaxation… no way! Ike has had a tremendous track record of finding unique business opportunities. Now, these opportunities are finding him - even here in Seattle.

After the burst of the internet bubble in 2000, Ike came to Seattle, leaving the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley. He wanted to do “nothing” in Seattle but quietly raise his two young children and lower his golf handicap.

For people like Ike, however, doing “nothing” is not possible. It’s in their blood to do “something” – “something special”. By 2002, Ignition Partners, a prestigious local venture capitalist group, talked him into joining their team as a senior advisor and venture partner. Last year, Ike was involved in more than $300 million worth of mergers and acquisitions activities through his company, Lee Technology Consulting. “I wasn’t really looking for these opportunities,” Ike said. “Lots of requests came in looking for my help.”

Well, that is not surprising given Ike’s impressive track record. He came to the United States in 1980 working for the Korean conglomerate LG International. Two years later, he started his own defense electronics company, Amtech, in Los Angeles. When that industry suffered a downturn, he refocused the company on microchips. By 1986, he put angel investment into the then emerging microprocessor company, Cyrix, which later listed on the NASDAQ in 1993. “Once I got a taste of an IPO, I switched my focus to becoming an investor,” Ike recalled.

Ike eventually moved north to Silicon Valley and was involved in six IPO’s, including the hugely successful listing of Netscreen Technologies in 2001. Goldman Sachs voted this as its IPO of the Year after raising $160 million from the offer, well above its target. Netscreen Technologies continued its success story when it later sold to Juniper Networks for $4 billion in 2004.
In Silicon Valley, Ike oversaw the incubation center at Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto, California, which produced four of the IPO’s on his resume. Although Ike has enjoyed business success on many fronts, he has especially enjoyed working to represent American companies into the Asian markets. For example, he facilitated the $35 million acquisition of 3DO’s digital semiconductor division by Samsung.

Do “nothing”? Currently, Ike is working on his seventh IPO, as the company prepares for its road show. Meanwhile, the business plans continue to pour in for his review. And he just can’t seem to resist reading them. “I’ve noticed that some companies really grow during difficult economic times,” he said. “Actually, these tough times often present a lot of opportunities. We have a two-year window to make good investments.”

How can he do “nothing” when he enjoys so much helping young entrepreneurs? In this regard, he especially would like to help young Korean-American entrepreneurs. He has noticed a lack of venture-backed Korean-American entrepreneurs in the Seattle area, compared to those in California. Ike has volunteered to be a panelist on a session about “Harnessing the Entrepreneurial Opportunities” for an upcoming Korean-American Coalition (KAC) National Convention that will be hosted in Seattle September 26-28.

Ike’s successes are truly an inspiration to all. His willingness to help young entrepreneur is a tremendous gift to all those who take advantage. As much as he has tried to avoid the spotlight here in Seattle, those in the know understand what he can contribute to the local business community. In fact, he recently has been nominated as a Business Ambassador by the State of Washington.

As for his original goal of spending time with his children, his daughter is now in a boarding high school on the east coast and his son is in Junior high school becoming ever more independent. As for lowering his golf handicap, he unfortunately suffered a back injury that required surgery. Well, I guess it has turned out well that business opportunities keep following this charmed man.

Developing Digital Media offers Niche Opportunities

Digital Information is doubling every 18 months. Much of this growth is driven by Social networking/community, Blogs and Video's, according to Michael Mendenhall, CMO at HP. The digital media also encompasses Search, Email/IM/SMS, Websites, and Podcasts..

• Social networking/community:

• 47% growth in unique visitors from 2005 to 2006

  There are over 200 million users on seven key social networking sites
  globally

• Blogs:

• 278% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate)of total blogs from 2004 to 2006

  Estimated that there are 110 million blogs currently on the internet

  On average, two new blogs are created every second and users add more
  than 1.6 million posts each day

• Video:

• 38% CAGR of total videos streamed from 2003 to 2007

  Average “streamer” accesses 60-80 videos per month

  In July 2007, YouTube served nearly 3 billion video streams
  worldwide
  

Mendenhall thinks the following are the opportunities that this new digital media represents:
1. Proliferation of new digital forms, forums and engagement platforms
2. Audience migration away from traditional media
3. Emergence of new digitally-enabled brand “influencers”
4. Shifting expectations around how customers interact with brands

Challenges are:
1. Dynamic and evolving influence ecosystem
2. Value chain and audience fragmentation
3. Lower switching barriers and “democratization” of media
4. Inadequacy of traditional “push” models, methods and measurements

This all bodes well for small, nimble consulting organizations that focus on the leading front of these changes. Large agencies will remain “agency of record”, but will have to rely on these thought-leaders to help clients maneuver through the ecosystem of the new digital media.

Facebook Can Boost Corporate Image

ZeroDash1 recently put up its presence on Facebook. Right now, ZeroDash1 Facebook has only 27 fans, many internal fans (or friends). Yet, I remain very convinced about the long term positive effect of this initiative.

Today, we live in a time when web presence is critical to business. More times than not, the web presence is not about selling or even advertising online. Most businesses’ primary reason for having a website (or other forms of web presence) is to offer information to all interested stakeholders (which in turn will help them make money). This information can be actual words or it can be a “statement” without words.

For example, ZeroDash1 is a part of a digital advertising agency, Ascentium Interactive. Our image among this greater interactive marketing community is very important to us. This image effects our positioning in the market, defines our niche, determines the type of person we can recruit, and so forth.

To use a SEO (search engine optimization) analogy, it is common knowledge that organic search will out-perform paid search. In a similar way, providing easily accessible information that is useful can possibly have much more impact on “branding” ZeroDash1 than formal advertising means (especially true for smaller companies without large marketing, branding budgets). That’s the power and reality of Web 2.0.

To this regard, we have blogs and white papers on our website as well as our Facebook page. We also announce our seminars and social events through both Facebook and website. Uniquely, however, we distribute photos from these events and tag attendees through Facebook. We also plan to send invitations to our “fans” through Facebook for future events, which should be much more effective than a generic email invite.

Yes, we have only 27 fans right now, but the list of fans will not become obsolete as personal Facebook accounts stays with an individual whether that person moves or changes jobs. At every seminar or event that we sponsor, we will ask permission to send a Facebook Fan Request. Imagine in six months if we have even two hundred fans from our industry? Can 200 people within our industry effect a larger collective perception of ZeroDash1? I certainly think so.

Over time, I expect our humble start to a Facebook account for ZeroDash1 to improve. We will invest the time and effort to make it so. Meanwhile, by all means, be a fan (friend) of ZeroDash1, if so inclined.

A Letter from Meetjohnsong

Unbelievably, this blog has now had more than 1,000 visits. Yeah, not viral by any means, but a steady readership that I did not expect when starting. Thank you.

Let me take this opportunity to give updates on some of my previous posts. First of all, after I blogged about my father, one of my sons looked online for his grandfather’s book, ”Born Out of Conflict”. To his surprise, he found an individual selling the book on eBay for nearly $200. It was a first edition with my father’s signature. You can imagine that my enterprising sons had the pen ready for grandpa the next time he visited.

As for the documentary idea, “Finding Love in America in Two Months for a French Girl”, Sabine has been on five coffee dates with one being somewhat interesting. Of course, it is still too early to know if any of her dates will turn into love. But if optimism and enthusiasm are contributing factors, she’s got a real chance with more than a month left. She remains smitten by the States, and now the Seattle area in particular.

Recently, my wife went to Las Vegas and bought a lot of clothes for me. I figured there could be two reasons for this: Either she bought so much stuff for herself that she felt guilty, or she was afraid that I would receive another intervention for the way I dressed. So far, no surprise meetings waiting for me. .

At ZeroDash1, we’ve really started to turn the corner on expanding our business. Our pipeline has grown, we’re landing bigger deals. All the while, our schmoozing tabs have gone down. Keeping closure in mind as the end goal is very effective.

John Goad finally did get his 3G iPhone after considerable frustration trying to get one for about a week. The hype was about being cool, which is so elusive and very difficult to manufacture. We need more cool in the corporate world, especially now with all the web 2.0 platforms. I’ve put my order in as well and should be able to pick up an iPhone tomorrow. I definitely will put at least a couple of Kayne West songs on it since I know who he is now.

Finally, I’ve been very concerned about the country’s growing deficit. The government can bail out banks (IndyMac), but who bails out the government? That was a rhetorical question. So, why won’t Mr. Obama or Mr. Cain address this issue? One wants to increase spending and the other wants to increase spending and cut taxes.

Thanks for all those who have commented directly and indirectly on the blog. I hope to continue to introduce interesting people, as well as some personal insights.

Ciao,
John

Reorganizing Effectively for Small Companies

In the corporate world, reorganizations are a way of life. As companies grow and try to maneuver through the ever-changing business climate, executives want to “streamline” and “restructure” to stay competitive as possible.

Large corporations usually hire seasoned experts to help plan and implement their reorganizations. Many smaller, growing companies, however, rely mostly on the internal management team for their restructuring. Since many of these smaller companies are still managed by their founders, such attempts at change often are planned with too much subjectivity.

When starting a reorganization initiative, the management team needs to clearly understand that the company or the business environment or both are changing – and that the company itself needs to change as well. Change is very, very difficult for any organization so changing for changing sake would be a big mistake.

Once the executive strategy clearly identifies a need to reorganize, there are a few important things to consider for small, growing companies.

• Start with the Organization Chart – without names: A common mistake that many smaller business management teams make is discussing a reorganization by “putting the names” of employees on the board first. A successful reorganization initially focuses on the functional roles without any names. This way the most efficient organization can be identified without being biased by personal attachment to certain employees.


• Be honest in evaluating employee abilities: Once this new organization is identified, some employees will naturally fall into the different functional roles. Others, who had been major contributors in the “entrepreneurial” years, may not fit so well within the new organizational chart. That’s common because many generalists, who excel in a small company’s non-structured environment, don’t have the specialized skills required to contribute at the same level moving forward.


• Don’t put a round peg in a square hole: Be very careful not to put unqualified people in important functional roles. As obvious as this may sound, I’ve been amazed by how often this happens. By putting the wrong people into the new organization chart, a company may be taking steps backwards, rather than moving forward as intended.


• Consider outside talent: It is critical at this point to consider outside talent to fill some of the functional roles, especially for smaller companies that have built their management team mostly from within the organization. Having an outside perspective is critical when reorganizing and moving to the next level of growth. This doesn’t mean that a company has to completely change its culture or perspective. The fact that a small company is reorganizing means that it has had some level of success up to now. However, gaining that different perspective, one that can see the blind spots of the founding team, can be the difference between ongoing growth or possible stagnation or worse.


• Remove "forced" titles: Out of this execise, sometimes there is a tendency to invent out-of-the-norm titles. Mostly likely, you're looking for that round hole for that particular round peg. Don't.


• Make changes in one swift move: The reorganization should not be an on-going process. Once the plan is formulated, act appropriately as soon as possible. No doubt there are rumors all over the office and absent of information, people tend to think the worse.

In summary, reorganization is an important part of corporate growth. For smaller companies, there are certain common pitfalls that need to be avoided. Planned appropriately, however, reorganizing can give a small, growing company an opportunity for expanded success moving forward.

Professor Leverages Corporate Experience to help Students

Meet Jeff Gilles, a professor and so much more. He is a professor at Seattle University’s Computer Science department.

Jeff is a part of the wonderful higher education system in the Seattle area that is producing talented, capable young people for the vibrant local tech sector. There is a reason why so many Silicon Valley powerhouse companies recently have been opening offices around here – access to an educated, tech-savvy workforce.

For his students, Jeff brings more than just his academic experience and background. He had a long and prosperous career in the corporate world prior to landing on Seattle University’s campus. In fact, it was his job at Oracle that moved him and his family to Seattle from Iowa 22 years ago.

Later, Jeff turned into an entrepreneur by starting his own technology-based training company, Clarity, in 1992. Three years later, Clarity was acquired by ARIS and Jeff and I ended up working together.

Jeff joined ARIS as Vice President of Education and played various strategic executive roles leading up to the company’s IPO in 1997. “The whole growth thing was fun,” he said. “Having a part in helping new offices grow in New York, Washington DC, Denver, Dallas and others was very satisfying.”

Jeff had a vision for online training back in the late 1990’s. He knew that the internet would eventually be a popular platform for training. He spearheaded ARIS’ efforts in this field before the company was eventually bought by Ciber.

Jeff left ARIS in 2000 and enjoyed retirement for a little less than year. Apparently, his wife, Glenda, didn’t enjoy his retirement quite as much and asked him to get a job. Having solidified his golf swing during his mini-retirement, he looked for a job that would keep him in the tech field but would not be a huge time commitment -- like ARIS had been. The opportunity from Seattle University in 2001 seemed perfect.

“The students today are much more web and technology-savvy than even a decade ago when we were at ARIS,” he said, explaining that this allows him and his students to focus more on interesting applications of computer science rather than just the rudimentary elements.

Jeff has especially worked hard with the senior projects, which involve a group of students working with a local sponsoring company on a defined project. At first, the students are really confident that they can do what the projects require, he said. Then, as the project moves on, the complexity of working together and solving business requirements become somewhat overwhelming for them. Inevitably, the students pull it together and come up with interesting and effective solutions. “That’s been the most gratifying part for me,” Jeff said of working at Seattle University.

Local companies, such as Boeing, Areva, Mckinistry, among many others, participate in this program to help young students gain useful experience, as well as a way of recruiting new graduates.

Recently, my company, ZeroDash1, hired two of the recent graduates from his program. So far, we’ve been impressed with their knowledge as well as work ethics. I can see why nurturing such blossoming young minds could be so rewarding to this former corporate executive.

Looking forward, however, Jeff is pondering retirement again. But Glenda needn’t worry, he plans to stay out of the house playing music and golf. Jeff currently plays guitar in a 9-piece Swing Jazz band, Easy Street. The band will be playing at Tulas on August 31st from 3:00 TO 7:00PM. He promises fun times for all those who attend.

Jeff has always had a passion for music since his glory days in a high school rock band. He plans to get involved in a couple of other “duet projects” later this year.
As for golf, well, he has been my golf buddy for some time now (I mentioned our golf outings in a prior blog). Jeff’s quick wit and dry sense of humor makes a round of golf fly by. Nonetheless, we remain highly competitive when it comes to winning skins from each other. That is why, it is not so much Glenda who is worried about whether Jeff may retire any time soon… rather it’s me, his golf partner who can’t afford for Jeff’s game to get too much better.

Did You Get Your iPhone 3G Yet?

So, did you wait in line for your new iPhone 3G? Certainly, you would not have been alone if you did. The media reported long lines when these hit the store on July 11. In our field of digital marketing, being on the leading edge of “cool” is something many try to attain.

For me, the faster internet connection and easier synchronization with Microsoft Exchange Servers make this version of iPhone much more appealing than the first version. Besides, my Black Jack phone’s keypad has been sticking and its internet connection unreliable.

I also read a blog post by Kendall Kunz, CEO of Explorer Consulting, who cleverly suggested a correlation between adopting new technology and economic success for countries, companies and even individuals. Convinced, I looked forward to getting the new phone. I could be “cool” and be headed for greater economic success with just one purchase. Little did I know how difficult buying one of these would end up being.

On the day of the release, I had morning meetings and couldn’t join ZeroDash1 SEO Lead John Goad’s venture into the lines. He returned within the hour to say that the store had run out already.
Since then, John has continued to try to get the phone but to no avail. The Apple stores are getting daily shipments but attracting new long lines each day. The AT&T stores are getting weekly shipments and have run out early. Hum, who negotiated that deal for AT&T?

Poor John, he lost his old phone and really need to replace it. Me, I can wait. I’ve been uncool most of my life anyways. As a person in the digital marketing field, however, I’m surprised and impressed by the depth of this gadget phenomenon. "Twice as fast. Half the price", indeed. And apparently, difficult to buy.

The Mystic of the American Dream

As we just celebrated the Independence of America, I thought about how great this country has been for my immigrant family. All of us have excelled under its democratic system and entrepreneurial environment. In turn, this country, attracting the brightest minds of the world by offering a renowned opportunity called the American Dream, have benefited from its immigrants for more than 300 years.

A recent study, “American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness”, found the following:

• Immigrants have started 1 in 4 (25 percent) U.S. public companies that were venture-backed in the past 15 years, representing a market capitalization of more than $500 billion. You may have heard of some of them: Intel, Google, Yahoo!, Sun Microsystems and eBay.


• Moreover, a survey of today’s private, venture-backed start-up companies in the U.S. estimated that 47 percent have immigrant founders.


• Of the more than 400,000 worldwide jobs created by immigrant-founded ventured-backed public companies, 70 percent are in the high-tech manufacturing sector.

Pretty amazing. Given the disproportionally high involvement in high-tech sector, the “immigrant impact” is likely to grow even more in coming years. What a great country!

Now, the scary part. The report revealed an increasing concern that current US immigration policy is jeopardizing our ability to attract and retain critical talent from across the globe. More than two-thirds of immigrant entrepreneurs agreed that U.S. immigration policy has made it more difficult than in the past to start a company in America. Two-thirds of the private companies surveyed who use H-1B visas (temporary visa to hire skilled foreign nationals) say that current immigration laws harm U.S. competitiveness. Forty percent stated that current immigration policies have negatively impacted their companies when competing against other firms globally. One-third of the private companies said that the lack of visas had influenced their company’s decision to place more personnel in facilities abroad.

So, why do those who yell the loudest about being “patriotic” support such un-American immigration policies? Why is the Patriot Act, passed to supposedly to protect our nation, putting it in such harm’s way?

On this Independence Day weekend, I wanted to do something for my country and encourage everyone to remember that the mystic of the American Dream is one of the greatest assets of this country. This powerful pull attracts the brightest and most ambitious from around the world to drive our businesses to greater innovations. Don’t let this 300-year-old American tradition be jeopardized by the simple polarizing slogans and dangerous short-sightedness.

What If Bill Gates Had Never Moved Microsoft to Seattle? Thank You Mr. Gates and Good Luck

Welcome everyone to the Seattle Duck Tour! The first part of the tour will be in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square district, where the original “skid row” was termed by loggers working in area. Now, manufacturing and retail are the pillars of the region’s economy. Yes, not sexy, but solid blue collar infrastructure…

… and now we are passing by the Kingdom, which is about to be demolished. This dome used to be the home of the NFL team Seattle Seahawks before former Seattle native and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen bought the team in 1999 and moved it to his new hometown of Austin…

… this monumental stadium also used to be home of the Major League team Seattle Mariners before its move to Washington DC when the Nintendo ownership sold the team after the company decided to move its American headquarters from here to Austin, Texas…

…now, we are in the Seattle Science Center area, where the Space Needle still stands as the city’s proudest symbol from the 1962 World’s Fair. Also, you will notice the large structure there which is the Key Arena where the Seattle Sonics played up to this year. Now, the city’s last professional team is moving to Oklahoma City…

…we are now moving from land to the water part of the tour… this is Lake Union, a very industrial district with famous warehouses. Some developers had talked about developing this beautiful part of the city with condos and modern commercial buildings, but could not raise the funds for such a development. Over there, is Gas Works park…

…past the University of Washington here, is an area called Sand Point, where Microsoft founder Bill Gates grew up before starting his company in Texas. His mother, Mary Gates was a famous philanthropist in the area and his father a well-known attorney. It was rumored once that Bill Gates wanted to move his company to Seattle…

…as we conclude our tour of beautiful Seattle on this sunny, gorgeous day, let me share a few facts about the Emerald City. We have a population of about 1 million in the entire Puget Sound region with Boeing being the largest employer by far with about 65,000 workers here. Like many of our sports teams, the company “moved” its headquarters elsewhere in 2001, and there is some concern about the company’s commitment to keeping jobs here. For years, the local leaders have tried to lure some of the technology companies to the area from the Silicon Valley, as well as the Austin area. Not only was Microsoft once rumored to move here, but Amazon, Real Networks and a few other technology companies tried to open satellite offices here but closed them down recently due to a lack of technology-educated work force. Their failure, however, has been our gain as we have excellent traffic and one of the nation’s most affordable housing markets. We’d like to say we have the most affordable waterfront living in the country! Yes, Seattle remains one of the best kept secrets in the country…

,,,Thank you sir and ma’am for being on our tour today. As our only customers today, we can offer these special coupons for you to eat at Ivar’s…

Build a List of 100

We’ve all been in ruts. We all would like an effective technique that allows us to look at problems differently. Recently, Josiah Johnson, the Director of Business Development at ZeroDash1, and I decided to use the “List of 100” to brainstorm ideas on how to gain a larger footprint in one of our key accounts.

For those who are not familiar, List of 100 is a technique to generate ideas, clarify thoughts, uncover hidden problems or get solutions to any specific questions. The technique is very simple in principle: State your issue or question in the top of a blank sheet of paper and come up with a list of one hundred answers or solutions about it.

Our question was, “How Do We Build a More Dynamic and Powerful Relationship with Company X?”

Phase I: First 30 entries or so: where you escape circular thinking

We started building the list with the first 27 answers coming relatively easily. Most of these, however, were ideas that we had bantered around for some time. The first really original idea came at number 28, where we wanted to include the results of our work with the customer in some of our industry blogs.

Phase II: Next 40 entries: where patterns emerge

The next 40 ideas were difficult to come by. At times, Josiah and I were staring at each other across the table wondering why we ever started the list. We would ask each other how many ideas we had after every five new ideas or so. “Are we there yet, daddy? Are we there yet?” Haha. My mind started wandering off to what I would cook for dinner this weekend.
According to experts, this phase is the most difficult because we had to let go of the ideas we had in the first phase in order to come up with new, distinct ones. For us, a pattern emerged around ways to extend our support to the company’s affiliate organizations. These were worthwhile ideas that we will pursue.

Phase III: Next 30 entries: where the gems are

The last 30 ideas were definitely our most creative. We came up with possible ways to leverage our own website for the customer. I was most happy with ideas around giving additional incentives to our staff for providing the customer extraordinary service and increasing business.

The whole exercise took about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Yes, it was difficult at times as we tried to let go of our initial ideas. In the end, however, we both found the exercise beneficial and are excited to implement some of the ideas that came out.

The question can be for business or personal life. Here is a good guide if you want to try it.

Competition Helps to Drive Performance

How much is $2 really worth these days? Yesterday, the $2 that I received from my golf buddy Jeff Gilles was PRICELESS! After18 holes in pleasant mild weather, at a brisk pace of four hours, he had to hand over those $2 for our skins game.

Now, I don’t want to come across as a bad winner, but please understand that Jeff had been taking my money on a weekly basis for the last two golf seasons. After each round, he would remind me that I was younger, in better shape, and had participated in more sporting activities throughout my life. He would do this in his dry sort of way. Ouch.

So, okay, I’m being ungentlemanly after my one-time unexpected victory. For those who know that I can be competitive at times, this obnoxious behavior is no big surprise. Once when losing to my brother down a ski run, I tried to dive and roll into him so he wouldn’t beat me. Luckily, I’ve mellowed out since then, but still do enjoy a good competition.

Most everyone in their own way enjoys some level of competition. It’s in our nature as human beings. Therefore, bringing well thought-out, productive competition to the work place can be very motivating.

Obviously, sales teams have long used competition to motivate their people. Unfortunately, organized competition is less common outside of sales. In a service company, everyone is involved in sales regardless of titles. So, tapping into people’s desire for some competition can be very productive.

One way is to be transparent with the weekly financial performance and the organizational KPI’s. At ZeroDash1, we put all this information on our intranet Sharpoint site. When hitting certain goals and targets, the team wins and gets rewarded.
If you manage assertive, bright people, leveraging competitive contests can improve financial performance, encourage team-building, and produce accountability and ownership of the group’s overall performance by everyone.

Yes, yes, everyone knows this already, but how many managers really take that “strategic” time to come up with constructive competition that motivates desired results throughout the organization? Not many, I would presume.

Try Mind Mapping

Mind Mapping is an effective productivity tool that I’ve been using for about 10 years. I find Mind Mapping really makes note taking more efficient. Also, the visual representation of ideas lets me comprehend the concepts quickly. Frankly, I’m surprised that I don’t see more people in the business world using this method.

In summary, Mind Mapping is useful for:

• Summarizing information;
• Consolidating information from different research sources;
• Thinking through complex problems; and
• Presenting information in a format that shows the overall structure of your subject.
  

Once you get comfortable with Mind Mapping, I think you’ll find it as an extremely useful business tool. There is a lot of information on the web about Mind Mapping, if interested in learning more. Click here for a good article that might get you started.

Father Leads By Example

Meet Ben Chungho Song, my father. I was fortunate enough to spend Father’s Day with him and my two sons.

Although my father was never a businessman, his life story is quite interesting and has many lessons for all leaders – business and otherwise.

My father was the fourth son of six children to an educated government official in a small town south of Seoul. When the Japanese invaded Korea, my grandfather had a choice of either cooperating with the occupiers or being put to death. He chose to live.

After World War II, the locals labeled my grandfather as a traitor, forcing him into hiding. The locals ransacked the family house. Later, my grandmother died from the hardship of her family. She left behind six children, including a five-month old baby girl. Without her mother’s milk, the baby eventually died of starvation despite all the brothers’ efforts to feed her rice water as milk. Shortly thereafter, the family disbanded as the Korean War ensued.

My father was the rebel amongst the siblings, ending up alone in the streets rather than taking handouts from relatives. He survived following the US military camps so he could dig in the garbage for food. He was recruited by local street gangs but had the presence of mind to resist, at great risk to himself. Such fortitude, however, caught the attention of some American missionaries who took him to a Christian orphanage.

A kind, elderly American couple in Los Angeles decided to sponsor him in the orphanage and gave monthly to his benefit. Touched by the kindness of the missionaries and his sponsors, he decided to dedicate his life to God.

After seminary, he went to the US to thank his benefactors. Once in the US, he was disturbed by all the anti-government riots on the US college campuses during that time (1965). He wanted to tell his story about how he was helped by the American people. There was one big barrier, however. He didn’t speak English. He practiced in front of the mirror for days upon days. He first began speaking in churches with his broken English. Later, he ended up speaking in almost every college campus in the state of California, supported by then Governor Ronald Reagan and actors Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. He later worked with a writer, Cliff Christians, to publish a book about his life, “Born Out of Conflict”, which went into 9th printing, I believe.

For his efforts, my father became the first person ever to receive a missionary visa INTO the US.

Once the 60’s gave way to the 70’s, my father moved to Washington state and refocused his support on the influx of new Korean Immigrants who came after the US government repealed the “quota” on Asian immigrants. He started two of the largest Korean-American churches in Tacoma and handed those off to other pastors, before starting the original Federal Way Korean-American church (Federal Way Mission Church).

He’s retired now. I’ve seen him struggle with retirement. He’s never had much interest in hobbies. His passions are his work and his wife.

My father was a tenacious risk taker. He was passionate about his work, and had tremendous charisma. He was incredibly persistent. He was compassionate and liberal in his teachings within the church. The world wasn’t black and white to him, not after all he had been through. He never told me NOT to do something (other than fighting with my brother). He only told me to make decisions that I can live with. Although an accomplished and articulate orator, he always lead by example rather than words when it came to helping others and living modestly.

My brother, Paul, and I have been involved in various business ventures. Whatever success we may have had can be attributed to our propensity for taking calculated risks, being annoyingly persistent at times, emphasizing leadership by example, knowing how to maneuver in all the grey areas of business, as well as having constant passion and enthusiasm for what we are doing. For that, we can thank our father, who used to walk over dead bodies to dig through garbage for food, but was never bitter at the world.

Don’t be the Seattle Mariners

Ok, I admit it. I'm a big Mariner's fan. Ask my wife, the game is always in the background in the evenings, much to her annoyance. This year's team was supposed to be a contender, but after a third through the season, the Mariners have the worst record in the major leagues. What gives?

Well, there are a lot of theories, but this much I know: There is no clear leader on the team. The best player is Ichiro, not a native English speaker, and someone who doesn't have the personality to lead. Most perfectionists like him are not good leaders as they tend to be internally focused. The Mariners' executives have built a team of good citizens, but no dynamic personalities to hold teammates accountable. There is no Kirby Puckett or Jason Varitek on this team.

As I think about this sad state of affairs to my baseball team, I was reminded about the makeup of teams in business. Have you ever been on a team without charismatic leadership? No direction, no leadership, just the same routine every day? Would you play to win on that team? Big personalities can have a negative impact as well as a positive one. They are gunpowder -- can be useful but also dangerous. But without them, people will not always self-motivate or find direction and purpose in their roles.

Look at the personalities in your work team. Who's the informal leader that drives the will of the team? Is everyone too polite to call out the elephant in the room? Is there an unhealthy amount of passive aggressive behavior? Now, challenge yourself to not accept less than your "defined" success from yourself or your team. Don't be the Seattle Mariners for goodness sake!

Effective Smoozing

Client/Sales Entertainment?...

Talk to some and it’s the best way to close a deal. Others think it’s a waste of time and money. Where you stand between these two opposing views probably has a lot to do with your own personality.

In general, we humans need to bond prior to engaging in a relationship – business or otherwise. Therefore, client entertainment remains a critical component of today’s corporate sales culture. However, without good guidelines and training, sales personnel could misuse this budget. How many companies actually spend time training sales personnel on what is effective client entertainment? Not many I would gather.


There are three main categories for client or sales entertainment events: “Thank You” or “Celebratory” Event; “Close The Deal” Event; and “Introductory” Event.

“Thank You” or “Celebratory” Entertainment Event -- This is the most legitimate use of the client entertainment budget. You’ve accomplished something together. Celebrate. Build on the positive energy.

1. The event should be all about the client. Find out what they enjoy. Are they foodies? Avid golfers? Wine connoisseurs?
2. Keep business discussion focused on the accomplishment and positive aspects of the business relationship.
3. Since you already know the client well, let yourself show through. Having fun is contagious.

Example: When working as the Noetix Managing Director for the EMEA market, I hosted lunches for select customers who renewed our support contracts at the Ritz in West End London. As an added bonus, I was able to get the Vice President of Product Development to visit from the US to answer questions about product strategies. The enticement of dining at the Ritz and giving input to the person in charge of our product attracted valued customers from all over the UK. These events further solidified our long-standing relationships with them as they renewed their contracts and recommitted to us.

“Close the Deal” Entertainment Event -- Okay, you’ve had your business meetings. You’ve delivered your proposal. You’ve qualified, qualified, and qualified. Now, you need to ask for the deal. People do buy from People – people whom they trust will solve their need.

1. In this scenario, you need some element of control. Think about which environment is the most comfortable for you, as well as for the prospective client. You need to shine during this event to ask for a commitment.
2. Write down your goals prior to the event. Stay focused on your business objective. Promise to grade yourself after the meeting on whether you were effective in closing the deal.
3. Don’t think it was a successful meeting if you only got a vague answer about the next steps. That means either they are not interested, or you really did a poor job of qualifying prior to the event.
4. Timing is key. Make sure to time the ASK appropriately.

Example: During the early days at ARIS, a manager at Airborne called me to tell me that we were shortlisted along with Oracle Consulting Services. I knew our relatively small size would be an issue, and also knew she had been working late on her projects. An impromptu dinner and the next day we got the contract. We connected early in the dinner. Then, I was able to focus on overcoming her last objection concerning our stability as a small business. It was a well-qualified meeting with a clear objective to overcome the last objection.

“Introductory” Entertainment Event – Tried to get a business meeting, but could only entice a lunch meeting. The probability of a return on this investment is low.

1. Keep it simple. Lunch is probably the best option.
2. Pick a venue that allows for discussions and possible deep dive conversations.
3. Use time to gather good “conceptual selling” information.

Example: When I first started selling, I used to invite people to lunch rather than arranging for the “conference room” meetings. I usually felt good after these lunch meetings because people were happy for the free the lunch. But those outings rarely lead to deals. Later, I learned that a good qualifying point was whether someone was willing to meet in a “conference room” and talk business with me.

Think through your client entertainment activities and they can be very an effective sales tool. Qualify, be clear on your objective, and don't try to be Mr. or Ms. Popular at the risk of not meeting your goals.

Explore Executive Follows Playbook for Success

MEET STEVE JONES, an entrepreneur with an effective playbook for building a service company.

Steve and his long-time buddy, Jeremy DeSpain, co-founded Explore Consulting in February, 2001. The company sprinted out to a good start, working lean and realizing comfortable profits.

“We came out of an era where spending was insane (the dot com era),” Steve remembers. “But we were very conservative.” Good move. So many entrepreneurs get ahead of themselves in spending when businesses start out well. In Steve’s case, he knew that prudence would serve him well in the long run.

By 2003, Fortune 500 companies substantially decreased spending on IT projects, cutting deeply into Explore’s business.

“We made good money the first two years and spent it all the next two years,” Steve says. The ability to stay afloat during tough times is definitely a critical management test for most young companies. Poor cash management takes down many promising startups. Steve and Jeremy understood this and managed accordingly.

At the time, however, Steve wondered if things would ever get better. Not only was the business in trouble, Steve had bought land and was in the process of building a house when the downturn hit.

“It was hell,” Steve reflects. “With two kids and a big brown dog, we were all living in a travel trailer on the property.” He can laugh about it now, but back then the feeling of having “his back to the wall” was overwhelming at times. But the support from his wife, Kelly, and his two girls (Elise, now 8, and Audrey, now 6) strengthened his resolve to make Explore into a bigger success.

Explore continued to keep costs down but still focused on some strategic issues, including a decision to partner with then a little known company called NetSuite. It is a web-based suite of applications with integrated ERP, CRM, eCommerce, and more. “NetSuite gives you a true 360 degree view of your business,“ Steve explains.

The partnership with NetSuite helped fuel Explore’s rebound. Currently, Explore is one of NetSuite’s top 5 partners in the world, and the largest partner here in the Pacific Northwest. Explore’s success also landed Steve a position on Netsuite’s Business Partner Advisory Council.
Inability to make key strategic decisions during difficult times is another common mistake made by struggling entrepreneurs.

Last year, Explore was recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal as one of the region’s 100 fastest-growing private companies. It was also recently named as one of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies on the Inc. 5000 list.

So, what’s the next for Explore? Well, Steve and Jeremy struggled with whether it was time to relinquish some control by bringing on a more seasoned executive. For many entrepreneurs, this is the most difficult hurdle: Giving up control.

Steve and Jeremy, however, hired Kendall Kunz, former CEO of ARIS, to be the company’s top executive last month. While Steve admits giving up his CEO title “hurt” a little, he is convinced the decision gives the company the best chance to hit higher levels of success. Steve now serves as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

“This move is very strategic and exciting for our organization,” says Steve. “Having Kendall on board will help us deliver on our expansion goals while enabling me to focus on growing and diversifying our service offerings including building out vertical solutions and meeting the international market opportunity.”

Interestingly, Steve’s first job after graduating from Montana Tech was with ARIS, where Kendall was at the time the Senior Vice President of Sales, later to become the CEO of the public company. Steve and Jeremy both went through ARIS bootcamps in 1995 and 1996 respectively, with Jeremy coming from the University of Washington.

“A lot of what we learned was a template from ARIS,” Steve shares. Now, they’ve hired back one of their first mentors.

For me, I remember Steve as a young, bright, enthusiastic new recruit at ARIS. More importantly, I remember that he played wide receiver in college and was really fast. We had a flag football team at ARIS at the time, and he was a secret weapon in our perfect season (2-0). This is definitely a guy you want on your team – in business too.