by Jacqueline Koch | Jul 16, 2015 |
By Steven Wise, Technology Writer
Virtual reality (VR) has taken decades to make the leap from science fiction to consumer fact, but a convergence of factors suggest widespread adoption–for consumer and commercial applications—is growing near.
For many, the term ‘virtual reality’ conjures memories of the holodeck on Star Trek: The Next Generation or of the immersive imaginary worlds created in movies like The Matrix. Here on earth, we have a lot farther to go before virtual reality is indistinguishable from the real world. Recent progress, however, suggests it won’t be long before VR is a common way for us to connect with each other or with businesses and their brands.
A brief history of virtual reality
Computer-generated video was applied to industrial applications as far back as 40 years ago and by the mid 1970s, flight simulators were using rudimentary 3D graphics. More recent advancements in hardware and software have enabled far more complex experiences, including immersive online environments, head mounted displays (HMD), and augmented reality (AR).
by Jacqueline Koch | Jul 14, 2015 |
By Janinne Brunyee
Fast Company recently named The Washington Post as 2015’s most innovative media company. A few years ago, this accolade would have been unimaginable. But, under the steerage of new owner, Jeff Bezos, today The Post is flourishing with 50.5m unique visitors to its website in April 2015 – a 64 per cent increase year over year and 33.7m unique mobile visitors – up 89 per cent year-on-year. This is no small achievement in an industry which is under pressure to reinvent itself to stay relevant, let alone grow.
Fast Company recognizes there has been a much greater focus on The Post’s digital presence in the Bezos era. In fact, the company is now living up to its goal of ”thinking like a digital product company”. This is critical because The Post, along with other traditional print publications faces declining print advertising and a readership that increasingly gets its news from online and mobile devices. According to Pew Research Center, weekly circulation for the daily newspaper sector has fallen 17 per cent over the past decade with a 50 per cent decline in ad revenue.
by Jacqueline Koch | Jul 7, 2015 |
By Gretchen McLaurin
When GoPro had its public debut at US$24 a share one year ago, the message was “we don’t want to be known as just a camera company, we want people to know us as a lifestyle media company.” In the past six months, their social media channels have been growing aggressively – Facebook fans are up 10 per cent, Twitter followers up 20 per cent, YouTube subscribers up 35 per cent and Instagram followers are up a whopping 40 per cent.
GoPro has unquestionably succeeded in winning hearts and minds with their many diverse channels and followers, from performance athletes to furry friends. But can they capitalize on that momentum and convert this adoration to the bottom line?
Read more on www.fipp.com
by Jacqueline Koch | Jun 3, 2015 |
Three heavyweights in the Seattle Startup community recently joined together for a fireside chat hosted by the Ladies of Startup Meetup group. The topic: attributes of a great leader.
The speakers were Susie Lee, Founder and CEO, Siren; Susan Preston, General Partner of CalCEF Clean Energy Angel Fund and Managing Director, Seattle Angel Fund; and Tim Porter, Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group.
Leaders of successful start-ups sometimes come off as super-heroes, so it was demystifying to hear these experts describe the basic attributes and behaviors that all entrepreneurs can hone to have greater impact.
Responding to the question “What makes a great leader?,” Susan Preston shared that a great leader is someone who is passionate but coachable and will listen, digest and apply advice. She also pointed out that the startup community is still male dominated and to succeed, woman leaders need to move away from defining themselves as women at work. “Great women leaders don’t consider their gender at all,” she said.
For Susie Lee, the key to being a great leader is being stubbornly malleable. It’s critical to stop doing something that isn’t working and to recognize there are many ways to get to an end goal. The key is to know when to pivot. “Leaders know what they are good at and are humble enough to know what they are not good at and where they need help,” she said.
What does Madrona Venture Group look for in entrepreneurs? First of all, according to Tim Porter, they must have integrity. “They should have high conviction and be a good listener – basically, they should have a high IQ and high emotional intelligence,” he said.
“In our experience, successful entrepreneurs can sell in a way that is not ‘salesy’ to a variety of audiences including recruits, investors, partners and the media.”
He believes the loneliness that comes with being a CEO can be offset by having co-founders as well as great advisors and board members.
Susie Lee chimed in that if you worry about how lonely and hard the role is, then you aren’t doing the things that really matter. “You only have so much energy and bandwidth. Be protective of each person on your team’s bandwidth and constantly ask what the smartest thing is to do. The hard way is usually not the best way,” she said.
Susan Preston suggests that in a world where everyone has an opinion about what you should do, the only voice that counts is the voice of the customer. And that is usually testable. The key is to follow the data.
Don’t ask for money, ask for advice
When it comes to raising funds, Susie Lee believes instead of asking for money, ask for advice. “The right question is: ‘How can you help me figure out how to succeed’ and the real goal is to identify if the potential investor is the right person to go on this journey with you.”
What makes a great investor sales pitch? According to Tim Porter, spend a lot of time talking about your customers. Lead with the problem and how you are solving it. Definitely don’t start with your technology. Susan Preston suggests that you test your pitch on your friends and family first. If they don’t understand, you definitely have a problem.
Are leaders born or made?
The final question posed to the panel was “Are leaders born or made?” The consensus was that the answer is both. Susie Lee thinks leaders can be ‘sculpted’ because the world gives us feedback which we can use in a really positive way to learn and improve. “A good leader is responsive. It’s humbling,” she said, “but it makes you stronger.”
Tim Porter believes that some people are born leaders but you can still be a great entrepreneur even if you are not a natural leader. “As long as you are passionate about your idea, you are a leader. Make sure you have great co-founders to help you lead effectively.” He closed by saying there are many paths to success and many ways to express your leadership. “If in doubt, go for it!”
by Jacqueline Koch | May 14, 2015 |
We recently sat down with David to talk about climbing mountains… at work and on weekends.
Janinne: Where did you fall in love with the magic of marketing?
David: For me, it started in that most magical of places – Pittsburgh (laughing). But seriously, it began back there in an early job on the agency side as I helped clients tell the stories of their brands, and then the real catharsis came in my next role with a Boston management consultancy.
I was having such a blast learning how to drive growth for small- and mid-sized businesses that it gave me the bug for entrepreneurial marketing, which led me to pursue that focus in my MBA at Babson. I then joined what some at the time were calling a “ten-billion-dollar start-up,” Amazon! At the time it was the right choice for me. My wife and I were starting our family, so it was a great time to balance the fast-paced dynamism of a sky’s-the-limit business environment with the stable security of a large corporation. I loved that mix, and got to help launch a number of Amazon’s marketplace stores, then moved over to manage their Music and Movies third-party businesses.
Janinne: Can you tell us about the biggest marketing challenge you faced so far in your career?
David: That came next, while working at Microsoft. My role was to bring products to market globally for the Display Advertising group, working closely to set up field sales for success while bringing the clear voice of customers to the engineers building what’s next. The scale, international/organizational complexities and pace of change were both exhilarating and challenging. For example, we launched the industry’s first true multi-screen targeting, allowing an advertiser to tell a sequential story to a desired audience across their daily use of MSN, Skype, Xbox, Outlook and Windows. One challenge we faced was moving our salespeople from telling ‘silo’ stories (say, the MSN pitch or the Xbox value proposition) to a narrative that conveyed the power of the unified Microsoft media ecosystem across 35 different countries. Long story short: the global sales trainings, demo videos and pitch collateral we built helped Sales make that leap with clients, and the launch had the positive splash we sought. Being able to work on projects like this made my seven years there pass by in a flash.
Janinne: Even with those challenging work pursuits, you must have time for other interests?
David: I love spending time in the mountains and oceans, and some of my favorite memories are of climbing Alaska’s Denali, mountain biking from Telluride to Moab and paddling a wooden kayak I built around Orcas Island. Kids naturally usher in a different stage, and my greatest recent joys have been coaching their soccer teams and teaching them to ski and sail.
Janinne: What brings you to Boost!?
David: I love the variety of client engagements Boost! offers. We deliver projects for high-scale, matrixed organizations, while simultaneously engaging with budding ventures who have complex, early-stage needs of a very different type. That diversity energizes me. Frankly, I also prize the flexibility my current role offers me. It’s a cliche, but halfway through life, I’ve come to greatly appreciate the ability to work hard, play hard… and attend my daughter’s dance recital.
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