RNC Data Breach and Your Business
This article was slated for a later release, but given the news about nearly 200 million American’s PII was made publicly available by a firm working for the RNC, [...]
Technical Debt: Startups Silent Killer
There’s a condition that silently but relentlessly stalks startups and is one of their leading killers: technical debt. Here are few of its symptoms: General discomfort from the feeling [...]
Disruption Response – Short and Mid-Term
TechCXO Disruption Response Resources Management teams don't need to "lock up", no matter the severity of business disruption or the ensuing uncertainty. You can focus your teams around short-, [...]
The Data Business within Your Business
Unlocking Data with Care There's a business sitting inside your business... a treasure trove of data that may be even more valuable than your core business.... if you know how [...]
8 Guidelines for International Expansion
You have a pretty good business and things are growing nicely. If you have a Board or some advisors or even a relative living abroad, then someone has said to [...]
Top 10 Trends in Recruiting for Tech Sales and Marketing
Julie Johnson Carlock, one of the country's top recruiters for sales and marketing professionals and executives in the tech space, has compiled a list of her 10 Trends in [...]
Avoiding the 29% Club – Part 2: The Hunt for Deciders
71% or 29% Club? You are a member if you are a hunter. Farmer, gatherer, inside sales, probably not. As you know, hunting has become a study in forensic [...]
Avoiding the 29% Club – Part 1: The Ability to Engage
It has been researched to the fifteenth decimal point. Millions of dollars have been budgeted trying to figure it out. In this age of all things digital, it is a [...]
Product Success – Post-Launch Checklist
The (Other) Only Thing That Matters for a Startup Marc Andressen once famously wrote that in the great debate about what is most important for a startup: the team, [...]
Product Rescue
Exactly what is a "Product Rescue"? There is nothing that puts a knot in the gut of an entrepreneur than the struggle to scale a product solution. The Founder [...]
Thoughts and Takeways from SaaStr 2019
For a second straight year, I attended the annual SaaStr conference in the Bay Area. SaaStr is a community of thousands of people - Founder CEOs, VC & PE investors, [...]
SaaS Company’s Journey to Relevance
Recently, I attended the annual SaaStr conference where thousands of people in the SaaS community - Founder CEOs, VC & PE investors, operators and service providers of all stripes – [...]
Reprioritizing Strategic Accounts
Strategic Accounts: With all the focus on inside sales, are we overlooking the live elephants in the room? According to a recent CSO Insights Study, most companies have no formal approach for [...]
Do we even need outside sales reps today?
Outside account executives are an expensive proposition whose statistical effectiveness is falling. Many CEOs and CFOs I speak with are frustrated with the results, and they resent the costs associated [...]
AI for Marketers – 3 Critical Questions
AI... Artificial Intelligence may have a greater impact on business, communication and interaction than social media has today, according to Marketing Expert Jeffrey Whitney. We ask him three critical [...]
AI Briefer for Marketers
Like my peers, as a longtime CMO, I’ve learned to deal with rapid technology change. But, each new technology can create fear, uncertainty and doubt until we understand it better. [...]
High Cost of Sales Attrition and What to do About it
Sales force attrition ranks among the top concerns for Chief Sales Officers because of the two-headed monster it quickly becomes, particularly for how attrition insidiously affects annual sales plans [...]
Cost of Sales Attrition – Part 1
The High Cost of Sales Force Attrition: And What to Do About It Sales force attrition ranks among the top concerns for Chief Sales Officers because of the two-headed monster [...]
Interim CSO
The voluntary or involuntary loss of a head of sales can be one of the most disruptive events for any company, particularly a startup. Revenue plans for the quarter and [...]
How to Keep the Payroll Toothpaste in the Tube
One of my colleagues who is a long-time CFO relayed a rule he had in his companies about people who see payroll data. Which is: you cannot get another job [...]
Board Financials
What to include (and leave out) in Board financials Many a post has been written about rules of thumb for holding effective Board meetings. People should be present, meaning actually [...]
What’s in a name? It depends what you put into it
We all understand the risk of Bill Lemon opening up a used car dealership under his name or Messrs. Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe launching their own law firm. Given [...]
Is it time for a Fractional CMO? 5 Scenarios
There is a consistent thread on where the need arises for a fractional CMO. Interestingly, this is consistent whether the company is 2 or 15 years old, whether it’s [...]
The Crucial Computer Science Skills Employers Are Craving
You’ve spent a lot of time around technology. Whether through formal training or pursuing your natural interests, you have likely developed a skill set that employers all over will [...]