Three ways to align everyone around the company vision
When founders, investors, and the whole team are aligned around a common vision, it’s one of the most powerful things that can happen to a start-up. Everybody works toward the same goals. It’s much easier to attract investors, teammates and partners to join your efforts. And, decisions are made much more efficiently since no one […]
Technology Redefined Sales, Marketing, and HR: How to Hire for these Roles Now
I remember a time when we used to say “he’s a good sales person” or “she’s a great marketing leader.” However, it’s no longer so simple. Technological advances over the past decade have transformed sales, marketing, and HR organizations. Entirely new titles and functions have sprung up in the process. Founders need to understand what […]
“Understanding Social Platforms,” now summarized in a presentation deck
Two months ago, we published our second eBook, Understanding Social Platforms. In it, we discuss the dynamics of each social platform type: messaging, private networks, public networks, enterprise networks, and communities. We also cover important topics for social platform businesses like metrics, exits, valuations, and our outlook for future opportunities in social. Today, we are […]
Revisiting the Engagement Pyramid
Back in 2014, I blogged about building a user engagement pyramid for social platforms, inspired by Fred Wilson’s 100/10/1 rule. The premise of that post was simple: since user-generated content is king, the top of the pyramid (aka the most engaged users) are those who post status updates, photos and links. And, these creators are inspired when […]
How Indiegogo Grew its Business
This is the fourth and final post covering speakers’ insights from our marketplace meetup held in San Francisco on October 20. If you haven’t already, check out previous posts detailing Andrew Chen’s (Uber) fireside chat on growth strategies, Anthony Marino’s (ThredUp) talk on managed marketplaces, and B2B marketplace dynamics from Shippo’s Mikhail Ledvich. The first […]