Forming a well-balanced board requires thought and planning. There are different schools of thought that suggest various ideas for the selection process. Some believe that three board chairs are enough, while others think that seven is more appropriate. Firas Raouf, the speaker in this video, believes that the average of the two is best. So, whether you adopt a five-member board or not, you should set out to make it balanced. You don’t want one side of the company more represented than another. The people that fill the seats can come from marketing, sales, operational support or any other position…
Video Library
Don’t Infringe: Looking at Copyrights and Trademarks
Trademarks and copyrights are one way to denote intellectual property that belongs to your company. Why should you use these symbols, laying claim to your own property? The immediate reason is that when you’re working in the software industry, you’re essentially always dealing with intellectual property. Very infrequently will you have a tangible item to go along with your software – it’s always digital. And if you want your competition to keep their hands off of your property, you’ll need to implement these trademarks and copyrights. Many companies may not think of the implications of a competitor freely using the…
Replacing Cold Calls with Smart Calls
Cold calling may have a tarnished reputation for good reasons. So when you’re building a sales team that will be utilizing cold calling, you will need to empower them with the tools they’ll need to thrive. What does this entail? Well, you’ll need to fortify their approach with as much knowledge as possible. First, you’ll need to dispel the myth that cold calling alone is a vehicle that will be able to drive your sales process in this day and age. Instead, you should be replacing cold calls with smart calls, which are fueled by data that will engage your…
Reducing Overall Costs by Using Inside Sales Teams
Combining inside sales with a complex sales process seems daunting – but it’s quite doable. Even some professionals may lack an in-depth understanding of this subject, making them unable to execute a profitable inside sales strategy. You need to have a sales methodology that has a mindset akin to more typical field sales mantras. The advantages of utilizing insides sales are diverse and plentiful. The most obvious benefit that you would gain is rapidity. You’ll simply be able to tend to more prospects in a shorter amount of time because you won’t have that face-to-face commitment at this current stage.…
How Agile Development can Change the Game
What is the ultimate measure of product and development? The results. Before agile development methods came onto the scene, development was akin to throwing a bunch of items against a wall and waiting for something to stick. And then you went forward. But since, the landscape of development has changed and much progress has been made. No longer is the customer ousted from the process involved in building the software they’ll be using. In fact, just the opposite is true. The customer, thanks to agile product development, has been given unprecedented access and input into the proceedings. Agile adds a…
Looking into the Future of Product Development
In the future, you can expect some changes in most product development processes and methodologies. As time passes and schools of thought become more learned, you can expect their lines of thinking to change accordingly. Anything that may have been thought to be beneficial to product and development in the past may be proven otherwise in the future. And consequently, changes will be made. But not everything will change. In this video, the speaker discusses some of the facets of product development that may be altered and others that may stay the same. Agile development is one common thread tying…
Assessing Customer and Market Risks, Part 2
Steve Blank is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor with a penchant for involving himself in successful ventures. Presenting at Stanford’s Technology Ventures Program, the speaker took the stage to opine on a bevy of topics. In this video, the speaker delves into subjects pertaining to risk management in companies. For startups, failure because of inferior software is a rare case. More often, being unable to acquire customers and succeeding in finding a snug market fit are the culprits. So while you’re burning through your business venture capital and not focusing on scaling a business, you’re running a company into…
Avoiding Tunnel Vision: Take off those Blinders
On the road to business acclaim, the journey is far more important than the destination. And along the way, you’re likely the encounter a variety of obstacles and propellants. As an entrepreneur, it’s your duty to asses these items for what they are. If you believe you stand to benefit, you need to be able to adjust your vision accordingly. Don’t blind yourself to the beneficial or the harmful. Be aware of your competition and factor that into your thought process. Take into account new technology developments. Weigh your marketing strategy against others. Tunnel vision is your enemy in this…
Analyzing Five Responsibilities of the Board of Directors
Your board of directors has a critical role in the company. If you don’t already know what they’re supposed to be doing, it’s unlikely that you have any clue as to what you’re supposed to be doing. But that is the true gravity of the situation, when you consider what is at stake. A board of directors exerts incalculable amounts of influence on a company. It literally dictates, along with the CEO and management teams (assuming these positions don’t overlap), the direction a company is going. Hence, it is vital that you know what your board is responsible for, and what it…
Digging Deep for Valuable Tips to Nail the Sale
A viable and sustainable sales process starts long before any calls are made. The employee must have a high sense of self-worth and believe in what they’re doing. Their main motivation – and this should be passed from the top, down – shouldn’t be money. Instead, they should avert their gazes from the alluring cash. It’s a temptation that clouds judgment and ends up hampering sales. A virtuous sales methodology begins within a company strategy and reverberates down to every salesperson. Skilled sales people are easy to recognize. Here’s what separates them from their colleagues: They’re highly motivated and driven.…