We made it to a full year with the Consumer Show at Switchyards, and what a year it's been! I've seen presenters dance their way onstage with more enthusiasm than anything else; I've been shown some pretty slick demo videos; I've debated the pros and cons of letting racoons gnaw on your trash; and I've watched founders take their shirts off onstage for "a live demo." (Yep, there's pics of that last one. Thank Jason Seagle for that.) I've watched the show sell out, time after time.
Read moreWhy was I doing all of this research, other than my well-documented obsession with data, startups and pitches? Well ... I've been tapped to take over hosting duties for ATLSV! Yes, you heard that right, I'll be onsite at the Consumer Show and Atlanta Startup Village each month!
Read moreEveryone wants to tell you they're "the Uber of something" these days. (Seriously. I put it into Google and got back results ranging from "the Uber of funerals" to "the Uber of local trucking." If I believed in emojis in blog posts, there'd be an eye-roll one here.) It's a quick and easy one-liner to describe your new business idea in a trendy way.
Preston Attebery, however, is fascinated more about what this says about the emerging on-demand economy, and less about using it for a cheap tagline for his company.
Read moreWith 11 rounds of its original monthly event under its belt, Switchyards Downtown Club is still going strong, and opened the new year with yet another sold-out edition of the Consumer Show. Not even the fact that co-founder Michael Tavani has been known to (loudly) hassle stragglers into front-row seats kept the crowd from staking out standing-room-only spots around the Western & Atlantic coffee bar. (I applaud you, standing-room-only people, who repeatedly refused the four chairs next to Tavani and Blake Byrnes and stalwartly remained standing near the beer. A strict strategy.)
Read moreI am a wordy sort of person. I take a lot of notes. I make a lot of Facebook posts. I send a lot of emails, texts, Slack messages, tweets and whatever else using any medium at-hand to communicate in writing.
(I also talk a lot, but that's another post.)
Read moreMy people, my people! I missed you last month, but Shannon did a fantastic job stepping in — thank you, Shannon, you are all that is great about the Switchyards community! — and last Thursday I was back for the tenth occasion of a packed-out house for #theConsumerShow. (It's #THEConsumerShow, not #ConsumerShow. That's a different, somewhat more niche sort of thing, in case you were wondering.)
Read moreI've been doing a lot of culture interviews lately.
SalesLoft is growing at a crazy rate, but hiring people means participating in a lengthy interview process, from call screens to sending email questionnaires to filling out assessments to speaking in-person. And hiring the right people means doing even more interviews.
Read moreHello AlyintheATL Land!
Happy to stop by for a short visit. Aly was kind enough to introduce me before hand so no one would freak out when I showed up. It’s weird when you expect the norm and abnormal arrives instead.
As you may know, I’m Shannon Kroll — director of Root City Market, an Atlanta-based pop-up market focused on creating community through shopping local.
Read moreThe streak had to end sometime, y'all. After eight months in a row, I finally had a scheduling conflict to cover The Consumer Show. (And it's the TechStars Edition! I know, I know. I'm sad too.)
Fortunately, Switchyards is full of amazing people doing amazing things, and one of them, Shannon Kroll, is willing to help me out. She'll be guest-posting here with her own take on the monthly recap, so keep an eye out at the regularly scheduled time (usually the Monday after, unless Jason Seagle's rushing me).
Read moreI hate standing in lines. It's inefficient (even if you're lucky enough to be in a place that uses a serpentine line), and all I can think about is what else I could be getting done. And one of my least favorite times to wait in line? When I'm shipping a package.
If you've ever shipped a box of Christmas presents, you've been there. If you've had to return an item you purchased online, you've been there (let's not even get started on the lies around "fit as expected" clothing). If you use eBay, you've been there. If you're a small business or out-of-your house consumer-facing venture (hi, Etsy sellers!), you've been there, too.
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