A CEO’s job is to build long term value in their company. Yet many CEOs fail. Having the right CEO to lead a company is critical to a venture’s success. The wrong CEO can be disastrous. Learn to spot the red flags, and ask the right questions to understand who the best CEO is to lead your venture towards exceptional long term value. CEO case example: American Apparel CEO ousting overview The 4 archetypes of CEOs: Naked Emperor CEO: Typically rule by fear, and need ‘yes men’ around … [Read more...]
TheUC 039: Selling Innovation with CEO John Kawola of Harvest Automation
CEO John Kawola of Harvest Automation discusses the challenges of selling innovation to a traditional marketplace that is generally slow to adopt new technologies. John Kawola talks about the need to invest in building face-to-face relationships with the customer and utilizing ‘old school’ sales techniques such as product education and trials to convert sales. Selling innovation is key to generating long term venture value. Introduction of Show Topic: How High Growth Ventures Can Bridge the … [Read more...]
The UC 038: Building Brand Awareness with Stayful CEO Cheryl Rosner
Building Product and Brand Awareness with Cheryl Rosner, CEO Stayful.com Building brand awareness is key to venture success. Stayful CEO Cheryl Rosner discusses the challenges of building product and brand awareness amongst multiple customer groups. The show includes an in-depth conversation exploring the evolution of creating brand awareness with early adopting customers who are integrally involved in product development to mass market customers who want a perfect product at a low … [Read more...]
TheUC 037: Preparing for Product Launch with CEO Robert Frisch of Firelight Camps
An excellent product launch is critical for venture success. Robert Frisch, CEO of Firelight Camps, discusses the key challenges of preparing for a product launch. Firelight is bringing ‘glamping’ (a high end camping experience) to unique hotel properties and vineyards. The UC and Robert discuss the product launch of an innovative product in the traditional hospitality market space. Key product launch challenges include identifying valuable core customers, gaining market traction, and finding … [Read more...]
TheUC 036: CEO Jordan Schindler Discusses Growing His Venture Nufabrx
CEO Jordan Schindler of Nüfabrx discusses bringing his venture to the next major milestone by balancing investment in sales and inventory management. The discussion hits the 3 key impediments towards achieving the critical milestones in a high growth venture and discusses solutions for building a venture of significant value. Nufabrx Overview: This venture has created a new way to administer essential oils, medications, vitamins and cosmeceuticals. Their approach embeds medications into any … [Read more...]
TheUC 035: Michael “Coop” Cooper of Innovators and Influencers Discusses Milestones
Michael O. “Coop” Cooper, one of the world’s top business coaches, facilitators and trainers, is the founder of Innovators and Influencers. Coop and The Unapologetic Capitalist discuss how high growth ventures can best work to achieve their major milestones. Introduction of Show Topic: How High Growth Ventures Can Bridge the Chasm from Today to The Next Major Milestones Brief Review of Past Shows 5 Bar Chart Building the Right and Profitable Customer Base Cultivating Long Term … [Read more...]
TheUC 034: Attract Customers and Earn Loyalty
Attracting new customers and earning their loyalty is hard and getting harder. Customers are fickle and overly informed. In today’s day and age of instant information overload, how can you effectively attract customers and earn loyalty? Technology and social media, have given discerning consumers a lot more to consider when they buy. This makes it very challenging to attract customers and demonstrate the value in paying for your product over the many other substitutes out there. The same goes … [Read more...]
TheUC 033: Successfully Build Customer Loyalty
Successfully building customer loyalty will add significant value to your venture. However, creating and cultivating customer loyalty has become more and more difficult in the digital age. Customers are finicky, and the options to use competitive or substitutive products keep growing. Good enough at the right price will win in today’s marketplace. To be successful, you must convert the right customers to ‘stay and pay.’ Properly investing in long term customer loyalty will build significant … [Read more...]
TheUC 032: Forget ‘Freemium’ Aim for Stay and Pay
Everyone loves free stuff. But once you’ve given your product away for free, you’ve just valued it at zero. People clamor to get free stuff like it is the most valuable thing ever, but once they’ve gotten it for free, they will almost never pay for it, because what they really value is the feeling of having ‘won’ something or gotten ‘something for nothing.’ The ‘freemium’ model of giving away your product today in the hopes to earn dollars from them tomorrow has created a lot of problems that … [Read more...]
TheUC 031: Buying Smart – Mastering the Art of M&A
The age old mantra of “buying low and selling high” is the basis for making money on any transaction including an M&A deal. However, there is a difference in perspective if you are a day trader or a house flipper versus buying something to generate substantial long term value. For instance, sensitivity to purchase price is going to be very different for someone buying an investment property versus a buyer looking for a home to live in for many years. There are a lot of great reasons to … [Read more...]