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 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 029: Repairing Business Relationships
Getting deals done often comes down to business relationships. Sometimes you have to deal with relationships that have gone sour which puts any business in jeopardy. You will have to decide whether or not the value in that relationship is worth saving. There are MANY ways to cross a bridge, but burning that bridge is NEVER going to be an option a smart person will take. But as last episode points out, there are a lot of bad managers and business people that you will have to deal with and they … [Read more...]
TheUC 027: Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat
Whether you are working on deal, raising money, dealing with a partner, vendor or employee, at some point, the relationship might start to go south. Defeat may be looming, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still salvage victory. What happens when you are crossing a proverbial bridge and see that there might be a crack in the foundation? Do you stop and fix it? Could the bridge come crumbling down? And if that’s the case, do you get off the bridge or ensure you fix it before it gets to that point? … [Read more...]
TheUC 026: Cultivating Talent: Nature vs. Nurture
Cultivating talent is critical to business success. While some things can be taught, other things are simply innate. In cultivating talent, understanding what is nature versus nurture is essential. In our quest for building long-term extraordinary value, it is really important that we invest in what we can learn or what we can teach. Know how to spot and be able to acquire the talent that cannot be taught. Most of all, to truly cultivate talent, we must stop wasting precious resources in … [Read more...]
“Failure is NOT an Option!” YES, it IS. It just isn’t the one we would choose.
“Failure is Not an Option”…Yes it is. It just isn’t the one we want. As entrepreneurs, there is significant pressure from the start-up and venture community to ensure a meteoric rise for our venture’s success. So we tell ourselves words that are meant to encourage, but are actually detrimental. I can think of none more egregious than, “Failure is Not an Option.” I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard … [Read more...]
TheUC 025: Being Your Own Boss with Special Guest Gerald Lucas
Being your own boss sounds great when you are working in a large corporation or are in school, but it comes with unique and sometimes Herculean challenges. Being your own boss also means that it all comes down to you. You may feel like you ‘get’ to make the final decisions, but you are the one who has to bear the burden of the outcomes. You may think you have those who work ‘for’ you, but in reality, you have people whose livelihoods now depend on you. Gerald Lucas is the founder and CEO of … [Read more...]
TheUC 022: Building Market Share Effectively
Building market share and engaging in your marketplace is pivotal for long term success in your business. One of the most effective and valuable ways to build market share is attending conferences and trade shows where your market share is captive and IN PERSON. Don’t think you can hide behind your electronics just be active in your social media to establish relationships to build meaningful market share. You need to get your brand and yourself out there in the real world to be competitive and … [Read more...]