Nothing makes me happier than seeing startups really nail their pitches. And last week, I got to see three companies I already follow take their pitch game to a whole new level, and discover two new (to me!) companies bring it like they were born to it. Switchyard's monthly Consumer Show: Giving you the chance to confirm and discover which ATL-based B2C startups to keep an eye on since ... okay, March 2016, but every good thing started somewhere.
Read moreJust over a month ago, I moved from a Client Success position to the Product department at SalesLoft. Even with a solid background in supporting our application, working directly with our customers, and decent writing and technical skills, it's still been a really steep learning curve (and I truly don't know how people successfully make this leap if it includes a whole new company and product). So, of course, I thought I'd document this journey, all of the ups and downs and what-the-heck moments, and share it with the world. Maybe it'll help someone else. It'll certainly be good for a laugh later, when I'm a grizzled veteran of The Product World.
Read moreWe're halfway through Atlanta Startup Week, "a new type of conference that builds momentum and opportunity around entrepreneurship," and it's been a really interesting mix of events, locations and topics so far. One of my favorites was a Tuesday morning panel at General Assembly, titled "Product Chiefs: How to Make It in Atlanta."
If you follow me on social media, you may have noticed that I've recently changed roles atSalesLoft and moved from Client Success to Product. As a blog reader, you probably have noticed how I love networking, learning new things, research and startups (not necessarily in that order). So when an event checked every one of those boxes, you know I signed up immediately.
Read moreSomehow we're already in May (I don't know about you, but my April was merely a blur of Yellow Pollen Hell), which means we're also already up to round three of The Consumer Show (hooray!).
Not to be deterred by the fact that the first Thursday of this month also happened to be Cinco de Mayo, the Switchyards team looped in the Tex's Tacos food truck to provide appropriately themed fare. Event planners take note: Tacos and beer are a great way to loosen up a crowd.
Read moreEdgar 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.
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