Edgar Allen Creative Director Mason Poe kicked off last night's Friends of Switchyards roundtable discussion on brand with the eminently quotable line from the picture above. (Yes, the lines only got better from there. No, most of us will never be as good with the pearls of wisdom as Mason is. I'm lucky to get even one good line out, let's be honest.)
So take some notes and make some plans — from brand "sculpting" to creating your club, here are 14 memorable, actionable words of wisdom from Mason:
Read moreProving that once was not just luck, the second Consumer Show at Switchyards yet again drew a hefty crowd and five top-notch startups to pitch. As Michael Tavani (apparently frequently) says, Switchyards is focused on getting the best ingredients to galvanize the B2C scene, and that was more than evidenced by the turnout last Thursday night. From Kanye walk-on music (don't worry, they stopped before it — allegedly — got "dirty" at the one-minute-mark) to live demos of body wipes (yeah ... that is exactly what it sounds like), the presenters engaged the audience and dug deep to answer tough audience questions. (No, but seriously, I think there was an investor plant this time. She asked some hard questions!)
Read moreThe other night, I was at a local restaurant for Tuesday night trivia with a bunch of friends. We wrapped up the game and began the lengthy process of splitting up a tableful of orders by scribbling who had what on the back of the bill, and referencing which credit card or chunk of cash matched it. My friend Marie (the resident math whiz) ran through the totals to ensure we'd gotten all the line items and covered the tip. Then we had to wait while the staff, slammed with a roomful of people all tabbing out at the same time, tried to make sense of the scribblings and finally handed out a round of individual checks for signatures or change.
As we waited for the 20 extra minutes this process demanded, I just kept thinking, "There has got to be a better way!"
Turns out, there is.
Read moreThis week's Atlanta Startup Village was truly one for the books. I have never seen such a prepared, put-together group of pitches in one place, and that's including most of the 30-second volunteer lineups in between. (Did you know you could do that? Help set up chairs and get 30 seconds between pitches? You should do that, job-seekers and recruiters and generally anyone who needs help in the startup community. You should do that.)
Read moreA couple of weeks ago, my husband's generous boss offered us a set of tickets for a Bruce Springsteen concert. Full confession time, okay: I've never been a Springsteen fan. I'm not not a fan, I was just sort of, well, neutral. I knew a few songs here and there, but that was about it. (I know, I'm sorry!) But he's got to be iconic for a reason, right?
Most definitely.
I walked out of that show energized, excited, galvanized ... I really don't have enough inspirational words here. Springsteen is just really, truly motivation in action.
Read moreAccording to the National Bike Registry and FBI, $350 million worth of bicycles are stolen in the United States each year. This roughly means that every 30 seconds, someone somewhere is losing a $400 bike.
At this point, if you're like me, you're wondering what the heck everyone is doing with all of these stolen bikes. A bicycle doesn't seem like the most productive thing to steal and fence. But apparently, if you model it just like any other financial decision using a risk-reward curve, it turns out stealing a bike is essentially a risk-free crime — though you might go to hell for stealing little Timmy's bike, you won't go to jail.
Read moreThere's definitely been a heavy tilt towards the B2B tech space. This isn't surprising, considering that it's hosted at the Atlanta Tech Village, but it can also feel like a weird fit for entrepreneurs with a B2C focus or a more abstract concept.
If you're one of those entrepreneurs, fear not: There is now a place for you, too! In keeping with their mission of creating beautiful startups for consumers, Switchyards Downtown Club has just launched The Consumer Show, a monthly pitch event that is — you guessed it —only for startups that build products for consumers.
Read moreOn Friday, SalesLoft had a company meeting to prep for our upcoming national conference, Rainmaker 2016. (And by "upcoming," I mean, "It starts tomorrow!") Our CEO, Kyle Porter, and our outstanding marketing team walked us through the timeline and strategy for each day, and gave us the insider scoop on all things sales development.
And, y'all, I. AM. PUMPED!!!
I hope you are going to be there, because it is going to be amazing!
Read moreA couple of nights ago, I was in a nightclub. I was standing on a balcony, chatting with friends, holding a drink and looking out at an overflowing crowd glowing green under tinted lighting. There was a waiting line out the door, the temperature was rising as people packed in, and the sound was deafening.
Okay, so it was 6 o'clock at night. On a Thursday. For a startup event. With one drink ticket. But still.
Hello, TechCrunch Meetup + Pitch-Off. We missed you!
Read moreOkay, I'm going to briefly rant about a Twitter thing. (Fair warning. If you're totally not interested in Twitter, you can skip this post entirely. We will return to the regularly scheduled programming of rainbows and unicorn companies shortly.)
For those of you still reading, I consider this a PSA, really. And here is my plea: Please, please, please, STOP SENDING AUTOMATED TWITTER DIRECT MESSAGES TO YOUR NEW FOLLOWERS.
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