Generational Interchanges: A Guide for Managing Millennials – Delegation by Amy Hirsh Robinson

Posted on by
Reply

My last blog post on Helicopter Parents in the Workplace ignited a firestorm of feedback about the Millennial generation and the difficulty of recruiting and managing this demographic. If your company depends on Millennials for its future success in maintaining and increasing market share, then you may need concrete tactics for managing and communicating with them.

This next series of posts will focus on providing those tactics to support you in your goals and to ease management’s pain. It will cover Delegation (here), Performance Feedback, and Decision Making.

We’ll start first with tips for delegating effectively to Millennials.

A common complaint of managers is that Millennials do not follow through on projects assigned or do not complete tasks to satisfaction. When delegating to Millennials follow these rules:

* Connect the dots between task and mission by explaining the importance of the project to the organization
* Define the job enrichment opportunities involved in the project
* Be specific in the results you expect and provide step-by-step instructions for achieving these results
* Communicate your expected timeframe for completing the project and consequences to not getting it done on time
* Mentor on potential roadblocks and how to get around them
* Build in frequent check-ins via 10-minute meetings or text messages to reinforce expectations and answer questions as they arise

These tips may seem like extra work to the Generation X and Baby Boomer bosses of Millennials, but I guarantee their success in increasing productivity and eliminating “re-do’s” on the back end. Give it a try, and if you are still struggling reach out for help.

I will be posting this 3-part series by my colleague, Amy Hirsh Robinson, MBA, who is a leading expert on the impact of generational differences in the for-profit and not-for-profit workplace. She consults to C-level leaders on strategies to reduce attrition costs, increase profitability and create agile workforces able to adapt to ongoing change. See www.interchange-group.com.

 

Happening now: the perfect storm of venture capital opportunity for tech startups

Posted on by
Reply

My review of the venture capital panel I chaired at Digital Hollywood last week has been posted at SiliconAngle.

It begins,  “The new optimism among technology venture capitalists of all sorts has never been seen before…” and this includes the dotcom boom that I remember well.

A mix of 30 years of infrastructure build, standard platforms and tools, smarter investors, lots of capital, and a new generation of entrepreneurs, born with a mouse in their hands, has created the perfect storm for technology entrepreneurs and their investors.

Read on…

http://siliconangle.com/blog/2012/05/09/uplifting-optimism-and-excitement-in-the-venture-community-a-perfect-storm-of-opportunity/

Exciting times.  Let me know your thoughts.

SBA Increases Funding Prospects for New Entrepreneurs by Terry Corbell

Posted on by
Reply
tc2 SBA Increases Funding Prospects for New Entrepreneurs by Terry Corbell
Terry Corbell, The Biz Coach

 

Early stage companies might have critical new funding prospects thanks to a program run by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

To create jobs and to help new entrepreneurs get capital, the SBA is launching the initiative – via a new Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) capital investment program.

That’s why the SBA is recruiting experienced investment fund managers. If licensed for the program, investment funds can multiply their collective assets for lending up to an aggregate $1 billion to new entrepreneurs.

“Early stage small businesses face difficult challenges accessing capital. At the same time, in this financial climate, venture capital funds are finding it difficult to raise money from institutional investors,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills.

“By licensing and providing SBA financial backing to Early Stage Innovation Funds, we hope to expand entrepreneurs’ access to capital and encourage innovation as part of President Obama’s Start-Up America Initiative launched last year,” she explained.

Such funds can get matching SBA-backed funds up to $50 million.

The proviso for funds – they must target at least half their funds for young businesses.

The SBA will earmark the funds for a 60-month period.

In announcing the early-stage program, an SBA press release cited the difficulties for young companies that need between $1 million and $4 million.

“Since January 2006, less than 10 percent of all U.S. venture capital dollars went to seed funds investing at those levels, and 69 percent of those dollars went to just three states:  California, Massachusetts, and New York,” explained the press release.

“The Early Stage Innovation Fund initiative will target this gap by licensing and guaranteeing leverage to funds focused on early/seed stage investments,” promised the SBA release.

Since 1959, the SBA has worked with SBICs to provide capital. In 2012, there are nearly 300 SBICs with at least $17 billion in capital.

From the Coach’s Corner, here are two resource links:

  • Here’s the SBA early stage Web page.
  • For all SBA investment programs, see this page.

Terry Corbell, my close colleague and friend, is Seattle’s “Biz Coach.” He is a business-performance consultant and profit professional.   I wanted to share his article with you, and refer you to his site, where you will find hundreds of interviews and articles (http://www.bizcoachinfo.com), and where you can contact him for a complimentary chat about your business.

 

Disrupting venture capital – a resource from Semil Shah

Posted on by
Reply

Following up on my brief history of all things digital earlier this week, The current technology & funding innovation:  chaos of opportunity & optimism, I wanted to share Semil Shah’s blog post of a few days ago, posted in Tech Crunch.  It is an excellent outline of our current venture capital disruption, and well worth the read, if you missed it.  Thanks to Semil.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/28/the-seven-forces-disrupting-venture-capital

The current technology & funding innovation: chaos of opportunity & optimism

Posted on by
1

There has been much talk these past few years in the venture capital markets, about what works and does not work in early stage funding and exits of technology companies, which seems like a great deal of conflicting noise.

Consider what we see and hear:

  • We are told that the venture-funding model is “broken.”
  • Venture companies complain that ROIs are low.
  • We are in the midst of a flourishing boom of new companies built in garages.
  • There is a huge range of newly developed early-stage funding sources (Incubators, Accelerators, Angels, Super Angels, and crowd funding).
  • We see new secondary markets.
  • There are strategic sales with extreme multiples.
  • And we see the return of IPOs.
  • We hear we may be in a “bubble” again.

So, what’s going on?  Can all this be so, all at the same time?

Well, yes:  this is the picture of disruption, not only in technology, but in the marketplace itself.   And the disruption is the result of the last 30 years of technology development coming to fruition.  It is what we’ve been working towards, this chaos of opportunity and the optimism it brings.

Since the release of the first PCs in 1981, through the release of the “new media” in 1991, to the opening of the worldwide Web in 1993, to the beginning of standardization of pricing and distribution channels with the iTunes Store (2003) and the App Store (2008), we have been on our long journey to now.

This last decade has been difficult economically:  a tech downturn in 2000 (the crash of the dot.com bubble), a national economic downturn in 2001 and a global economic downturn in 2008.

And through it all, with good years and bad, the American engine of innovation keeps chuffing along, building new tools and toys and technology that we distribute to the world.

And not only does this engine build technology, it re-creates what it needs to keep moving forward: new funding approaches, new ways to lower or share the risk, new models to support the boom of new companies now exploding.

The tech boom is exploding because we have, after 30 years, solidified our infrastructure, standardized our technology platforms, built the off-the-shelf tools to build new products quick and lean, and stabilized our distribution channels and pricing.

So, is the funding model broken?  The old model is, but the new models are already in play.  And the investors still standing from earlier days are wiser now, and the new investors tend to have created their wealth from the success of building their own companies.

Are the exits too good to be true?  No:  the IPOs are mostly companies with 8-10 years in the marketplace.  And some over-zealous acquisitions seem to have a strategic thought behind them.  And to some degree, this doesn’t matter, as long as there is an exit path open to spur on the initial capitalization of all these new companies.

Are we in a “bubble”?  I doubt it… we are in the moment of bursting expansion that arrives when we have done our homework over decades, when the spirit of the entrepreneur is alive and well (because of and in spite of the current economic and job markets), and when we let loose our new generation, born with a mouse in their hands, to build what they think the world needs to give consumers and companies the magic of the chip only promised up until now.

I am excited.  I think, after all these years working on each new edge of new technology, that we have arrived at the beginning of our promise to change the world.

 

Pain-Free Price Increases by Gene Siciliano

Posted on by
Reply

Nobody (but you) likes to see your prices go up. Least of all your customers and your sales force. But you will inevitably need to charge more at some point to pass on cost increases you’ve been absorbing, or to bring your own profit margins into more respectable territory. If your product or service incurs transportation costs or uses some of the other skyrocketing raw materials in the news of late, you definitely have higher costs. So how can you get your customers to accept a cost pass-through, or a pass-through plus, without irritating them?

Well, you can simply tell them the truth about your cost increases and the need to keep your business healthy so you can continue to serve them. Most will understand, some will still gripe. Others who are perhaps struggling or just resistant to cost increases might take it personally. How can you keep them all happy and buying? Here are two ideas you might consider, both proven to work some of the time, maybe even for you, compliments of Chris Blanton, a high energy “business growth specialist” I met at a recent conference (chris@bizMD.info).

  1. Announce a price increase but give your current customers a discount equal to the increase for 3 to 6 months. Your invoice should reflect both the new price and the discount, so the customer gets used to seeing the new price but doesn’t yet feel the pain. As the discount period draws to a close, you will either have a customer accustomed to the new price and its inevitability, or you will hear complaints about the upcoming loss of discount. You can then make a decision to extend the discount (“just for you”), retract the increase permanently, or consider that you may need to find a higher value customer who will appreciate the product at its current price.

Key point:  After the price increase goes into effect new customers pay the higher price without the discount, of course.

  1. If you have a reputation for outstanding service that far exceeds your competition, you have a unique opportunity your competition can’t match. Lower your standard service level to the point that it is just enough better than the competition that customers can notice the difference. Then offer a premium service at a premium price that provides the same high level of service you were previously providing, and will not cost you any new investment because you’re already geared to providing it. Net effect the entire premium drops to your bottom line.

Key point: This too will probably only apply to your new customers, unless you think your existing customers will be oblivious to the service level change. If they are, your assessment of the difference between your new service level and your old service level might need a second look.

Either method will take time for your profit margin to feel the full effects, but they will be more likely to be accepted without resistance, and that means no loss of business as a result.

 

My close colleague, Gene Siciliano, CMC, CPA (our “CFO for rent” ) is an author, speaker and financial consultant who works with CEOs and managers to achieve greater financial success in a dramatically changing economy.  His website is filled with resources and articles, and you can sign up for his newsletter.  I wanted to share this article with you.

SharpInsights: Engendering Success, by Seena Sharp

Posted on by
Reply

Women make up roughly half the population, so we wonder what took these companies so long to wake up and smell Chanel No. 5.

Pink Ladies car service was launched in London to give women an alternative to unlicensed mini-cabs. Their female drivers are trained in self-defense and pilot hot-pink vehicles equipped with satellite tracking. Think Charlie’s Angels meets Knight Rider.

Women who prefer not to have a strange man in the house (with or without plumber’s crack) now hire qualified tradeswomen for home repairs, remodeling and new construction, through services such as Arizona’s Women 2 The Rescue.

Clutch is a car dealership for women in Vancouver, Canada. The showroom looks like an upscale boutique; customers are offered day-long test drives; and there are no dumb questions.

Too much girl talk? Here’s one for the guys:

How do you get men into an upscale salon? Call it a barbershop and plant it between a Home Depot and a Fatburger. Bill Nordstrom, a cousin of the first family of retailing, founded Weldon Barber to let a fellow get a shave, haircut, and even manly highlights.

Every industry has underserved market segments. Use competitive intelligence to discover opportunities related to your prospects’ gender, age, location or other attributes.

 

Seena Sharp of Sharp Market Intelligence is my long-time colleague who identifies your competitive edge by uncovering opportunities, threats and growth segments. Visit Seena at www.sharpmarket.com, and Download the free chapter in Seena Sharp’s new book, Competitive Intelligence Advantage: How to Minimize Risk, Avoid Surprises, and Grow Your Business in a Changing World (Wiley)http://bit.ly/8XLKmj. And read the great Amazon reviews.

 

The Economist Style Guide – Unnecessary Words by LeeAundra Keany

Posted on by
Reply

The Economist is my favorite news magazine. It has comprehensive coverage of the world, a unique “outside of the US” perspective and it is beautifully written.

That last point is not inconsequential. To be a good communicator, you must have a firm grasp of language. The Economist exemplifies the three elements I most admire in excellent communicators. The writing is clear, vivid, and concise. The test of its excellence? You can read its articles aloud and they sound as good as they look. Often, written text sounds stiff when vocalized because we use much higher standards of grammar and more sophisticated words when we compose language for the page then when we speak.

The Economist manages to maintain impeccable standards of grammar and word choice without being stilted and overly formal. It is my gold standard for both oral and written communication – a rare feat.

If you are interested in learning from what I consider to be the best writing out there, you can access The Economist Style Guide – available for free on-line. For a taste of its wisdom, take a quick look at this segment on unnecessary words.

Link: The Economist Style Guide – Unnecessary Words

 

My friend and colleague, LeeAundra Keany, of Keany Communications (nee Temescu, the Contrary Public Speaker) is an award-winning executive communications coach.  Her excellence lies not just in her experience training her clients in public speaking, but in her strategy helping them understand their goals, their next choices, and how to achieve them through positioning and presentation in public.

The 6-minute panel presentation & how to “accordion” your speaking material

Posted on by
Reply

 

When speaking at public forums, like national or regional conferences, or local meetups, you often find yourself on a panel of several other experts.  In these cases, you may be promised 20 minutes for your presentation (with slides or without), but you are unlikely to actually have 20 minutes, especially if you are not the first panelist to present.

And, if you find yourself on a 60- to 75-minute panel with five or more presenters (the usual number), you are more likely to have 6 minutes to present, and another 2 minutes for interjections and comments on other conversations that occur.

It is difficult to make a cogent point, to show your expertise or position the value of your product or service, in 6 minutes.  But it can be done, if you learn to “accordion” your presentations.

This skill gets developed with careful planning, discipline and practice.  One of the reasons you lose your time slot to present is because others do not know how to “time” the material they have to present.  I once had half of a 90 minute presentation (45 minutes, which in truth would have been about 30 minutes, after introductions, and the settling of the crowd).  The other presenter preceded me, with a 10-point outline. Half-way through the 90 minutes, he was on point #2!  And he had assured me that he had practiced and timed his presentation in front of the mirror.

So, you must be prepared to lengthen and shorten your key points, ad hoc.  Here’s how:

  • Create your full, long-form presentation for the most likely time-frame (say, 45 minutes, as you might in a standard webinar presentation).
  • Then, reduce your presentation to its key points, the essential message.  These include your value proposition (of your expertise or your product’s value to the customer), differentiation from your competition, and substantive credibility of your assertions, followed by a subtle “ask” that the audience respond (hire you, buy your product or service, etc.).
  • To reduce the time you have, eliminate all stories you may want to tell in a long-form presentation.  To expand your time-frame, add more success stories, case studies, or examples for your key value proposition(s).
  • To reduce your time, eliminate the “features and benefits” of your service or product, and focus only on the value proposition and rewards the potential client or customer will receive.
  • To expand your time, add details about your value proposition by calling attention to key features and benefits, particularly those that differentiate you from your competition.

The first time I found myself on a panel with 6 minutes to speak (and no warning of it), I made the mistake of telling a simple story, an example that was relevant and well received by the audience.  My talk ran to 10 minutes.  The moderator (who ran the conference) was openly furious.  I was unapologetic, but I learned my lesson:

  • The 6-minute speech can only make a single key point (the value proposition or expertise you are offering), with two supporting points, and a conclusion.  No details, no deep explanations.  Certainly no stories.

Once you have developed your 45 minute presentation that includes all that is relevant to present, you can then “accordion” the presentation to fit into these time frames:

  • 60 minutes, for longer presentations (expand from 45 minute structure by adding more stories and case studies – a favorite of all audiences)
  • 30 minutes, for opportunities when you present on your own, or with one other.
  • 20 minutes,15, 10 and 6 minutes — so you are prepared for anything that arises while you are sitting on a panel.

If you are prepared in advance, and understand the structure of your key points, you will soon learn to extract, ad hoc, the best presentation for any opportunity that offers itself.

 

Fixing your financial projections to be “realistic” ~ some tactics for rational planning

Posted on by
Reply

I was asked to review the financial projections of an Internet start-up recently, by its CEO.  He said his projections were scaling so fast that no one would believe the numbers (or him).  He needed to be “more rational” about the growth of the company, but was certain the assumptions of his business model were real.

To get your projections more realistic, but still hold true to your business model, it is best to reduce your assumptions, allowing the world to interfere with your planned scenarios. This allows you, as a CEO, to acknowledge that your “best laid plans” can easily run into market conditions you can not anticipate.

So, what to fix?  Here’s a list.

  • Reduce the rate of adoption of your product/service.
  • Increase the rate of attrition of your customers.
  • Decrease the rate of conversion of “free” to “premium” customers (if you have that model).
  • Decrease the time of the conversion of “free” to “premium” customers (if you have that model).
  • Add significant time (double?) to your ideas about the “time to market” of new features and benefits.
  • Add significant time to the receipt of subsequent revenue from adoption, conversion and retention of customers, and from their “upsell” to new features, benefits and versions.
  • Add 10% -15% (or more) to all costs.

This is a path to rational financial planning.  You can sustain your inherent business and revenue models, and the vision of the greatness of your product and company.  What needs to be rational is the efficiency of your execution.