Forums Search

The biggest brands in the world become what they are with the help of one elusive ingredient: customer loyalty. In a world over-saturated with scattershot marketing messages, successful companies take the time to truly get to know their customers — their motivations, fears, ideas, and priorities — and tackle customer service with relentless dedication.

If you’re an entrepreneur, this is good news and bad news.

The bad news? You’re likely competing against established brands that have worked for years — or even decades — to build loyalty among customers.

The good news? You can make customer-service commitment part of your company’s mission early on and be hyper-focused on giving a smaller number of customers the best experiences possible.

If...

We all like to think we’re rational animals. The truth, though, is that we buy based on emotion and intuition, not reason or deduction.

In fact, according to Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman, 95 percent of our buying decisions are made by our subconscious mind. Our subconscious craves simplicity; it’s impulsive, decisive, and emotion-driven. Because it isn’t swayed by figures or feature sets, we in the tech industry often struggle to speak its language.

But take a look the most successful tech companies’ marketing materials. What do you notice about Apple’s iconic ads? They’re colorful, happy, and emotion-driven, featuring punchy phrases like “Think different” and “Say hello to the future.” Now think about what’s missing. Th...

Quick. Grab a stack of sticky notes and come with me. We’re going to help you uncover new value hidden in your next initiative.

But wait. Sticky notes? There are so many software tools we could use instead of pen and paper. And a few of those software tools are really great.

How could a pen and paper possibly be used to help tackle something of any real consequence? Isn’t the sticky note just a crutch of the busy person trying to stay organized?!

Used correctly, the sticky note will help you and your teams uncover incredible new value.

When you’ve mastered the sticky note, I give you permission to return to your software tools — if you still want to!

New value defined

Let’s define new value. New value is an advantage or gain you didn’t i...

Without a doubt, reading and learning is one of the most essential ingredients to becoming a stronger entrepreneur. As a learning enthusiast who travels everywhere with a paperback, I’ve recently joined the ranks of Blinkist downloaders. Unfamiliar with the name?

Blinkist allows you to quickly digest books by offering condensed versions of hot sellers in the form of voiceover narratives. It’s great for entrepreneurs who can’t seem to keep up with Bill Gates’ penchant for reading 50 books a year. I prefer the feel of a traditional book, but it’s a nice stopgap when I’m short on time.

When I do have a few hours over the weekend, I turn on my meditation app and block out some “chill” time. (Thank you to my loving wife who understands!) It’s mo...

In a world where business moves at the speed of the IOT, and where data and passwords are more readily available online, entrepreneurs have a new obstacle to address: the protection of their intellectual property.

While corporations have the resources to hire top cyber security teams and implement software solutions that protect their collateral, criminals are increasingly taking an interest in small and medium sized businesses. The new targets have equally marketable data, designs and digital information that have value for criminals, and for foreign governments.

The question to ask: Is your business at risk?

The technology industry and foreign policy

In 1986, China began a program that has been loosely referred to as “shadow innovation”...

What you’ve heard is true: The robots are coming to take our jobs. But instead of fearing our machine counterparts, should we be thanking them?

In the future, artificial intelligence and automation technology will begin to take over in a big way, transforming the entire way we do business. In fact, that future is closer than we think — automation is already beginning to take over in areas many wouldn’t have thought possible even a few years ago.

It’s taking over mundane tasks, such as in the case of X.ai, which has created automated assistants that can schedule meetings and conduct basic email correspondence without the aid of human beings. It’s also taking over more complex duties, like writing news articles, coding new software, and even ...