Friends of Dave: My Dirty Little Secret Edition
Okay, I've been producing this newsletter long enough that I feel it is time to come clean with everyone. I have a dirty little secret: I develop random crushes on companies.
I know, I know, it's hard to imagine that a cybersecurity company or some random data startup could make my heart swoon like a lovesick teenager, but for some reason, it happens.
Most times, I have met the founders or know someone at the company, and really like their technology or approach to taking on their market opportunity. Sometimes it's just the fact that the company is an underdog trying to displace an bigger competitor. Other times, it may be a product company's product or app I used that worked well for me. Whatever the case may be, I stop thinking rationally about them and fall hard.
So now that we are have doing this for a while, I'll trust you with some of the names of companies I currently have a crush on. Feel free to check them out (hyperlinks on the names). Some are startups, some are public companies or retail stores. You can agree or disagree with me if you like, and like most crushes, they may not last forever, but just remember one thing: these are ALL mine (and, full disclosure, I have no current business affiliation with any of them).
Here they are:
CB Insights: I reached out to the founder Anand Sanwal maybe five years ago out of the blue when they had maybe 5-10 people. Just a smart, fearless (and snarky) guy who took a unique approach to looking at private companies, industries and the companies that invested in them. To say that Anand and his company had me at 'hello' would be an understatement. Since then, he has parlayed it into a growing, gold standard research and analytics company, with killer marketing (close to 250k people subscribe to their free daily newsletter now) and regular brand attribution.
Security Scorecard: Founders Alexsandr and Sam are super bright guys. Was introduced to them a few years ago by one of their advisors, just before they scored their Series A round. Awesome, legit technology that identifies corporate cybersecurity risk, particularly around the relationships companies have with partners and vendors. Huge opportunity with both their platform and the data they are creating. These guys are going to kill it.
Mimecast: Around the same time I spoke to Security Scorecard, I met Peter Bauer, the CEO and founder of Mimecast. Really down to earth guy, with this growing growing global email security company headquartered in an old mill in Watertown, MA. Great corporate culture and tremendous focus on what they do better than anyone else. Told me they would IPO within a year, and did so in late 2015. Now they have Ari Gold as their spokesman.....who would have thought?
Chart IQ: I met founder Dan Schliefer about 4 years ago when I was at EDGAR Online. We partnered with him and his company to produce dynamic HTML5 charts on our analytics pages because ours flat out sucked and theirs was pretty. Smart guy willing to take measured risks with his business, and in a great spot in the data visualization space.
Gregory's Coffee: I'm a regular coffee drinker. And while I always try to go to my favorite local spots like Laughing Man, Zumbach's, and Coffee Tyme, I will pick Gregory's over Starbucks in a heartbeat. They have a great loyalty app and are really smart with how they manage the customer experience and their marketing. Downpours forecasted in Midtown? Here's a $2 off coupon to get out of the rain -- in my email inbox that day on my way to work. I may look preppy on the outside, but Gregory's Coffee knows how use it's data to speak to my inner hipster. And I have never even lived in Brooklyn.
Crimson Hexagon: In addition to being a coffee drinker, I am also a data nerd. I absolutely love data centric businesses like my wife loves shoes, handbags and Bono. So back in 2012 when I learned about this small company in Boston that had an emerging proprietary technology developed by Harvard professors that was able to apply structure to unstructured data to analyze consumer sentiment (including social media), I paid attention. I recently met their CEO Stephanie Newby and can absolutely understand why their business is about to explode. Fun, inclusive culture, cool office, killer technology, dynamic leadership and an enterprise client base that voraciously consumes their analytics from both a marketing and corporate risk management perspective. Winner winner, chicken dinner.
I'm embarrassed to say I have many many more company crushes -- too many to mention here now. Will possibly revisit this theme in the future based on your clicks and/or feedback. In the meantime, I know this was a long opening, but scroll through the links below (including one from my crush Crimson Hexagon) -- some good stuff there.
Have a great weekend.
XOXO
Dave
For the Deep Thinkers...
Anti-Intellectualism and the "Dumbing Down" of America — www.psychologytoday.com
"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov
In the online, social media paradigm, anti-intellectuals have become the metaphorical equivalent of an angry lynch mob when anyone either challenges one of the mob beliefs or posts anything outside the mob’s self-limiting set of values. Thinking takes too much time: it gets in the way of the immediacy of the online experience.
How the Like Button Took Over the Internet — theringer.com
The Like button is the most ubiquitous symbol of the social media age. Its creators look back at the power — and the problems — they unleashed.
Leadership Is More About Asking the Right Questions Than Directing — hbr.org
Being a strategic leader is about asking the right questions and driving the right dialog with your team. In doing so, you raise the team’s collective ability to be strategic and drive better results.
For The Startup Aficionados...
Your Company’s Culture is Who You Hire, Fire, and Promote (long read) — worldpositive.com
In order to make your corporate values stick, you must continually assess how well your employees are behaving compared to those aspirational values, and develop ways to bridge the gap between aspiration and practice.
Hiring At Startups: the Tom Brady Problem — 42hire.com
One of the biggest mistakes you can make, hiring for a startup, is to think you’re hiring people who will grow into a bigger role as the company grows.
You don’t hate marketing, you hate what you think marketing is — pjrvs.com
Marketing is a process based on trust and empathy that takes time to produce results...not a megaphone to shout at people to "BUY MY STUFF" that makes turns into revenue right away.
For The Marketing Nerds...
Why You Should Steal My Daughter's Playbook for Effective Email Outreach — moz.com
If effective email outreach is a core element of successful online marketing, it's time we stepped up our game and made the needs of others—not the needs of our brands—the priority.
The Evolution and Awakening of the Modern CMO — www.ama.org
There has probably been no better time in the history of business to be in marketing. The role of marketing and the Chief Marketing Officer today impacts all aspects of an organization. And technology and data is enabling it to evolve.
For the FinTech Folks...
Banks and FinTechs Evolving from Foe to Friend — finxtech.com
You heard it here first: the "FinTech Revolution" is dead. Whether either side wants to admit it, the future success of the financial sector now depends on a successful marriage of FinTech and the incumbent financial institutions.
FinTech Needs Business Model Innovation — blog.alloy.co
In continuing with the "FinTech Revolution" is dead theme, innovations to FinTech business models will need to come in two forms: 1) changes to existing business models to unlock new value and 2) the application of business models from other industries to a financial services solutions.
For the Data Geeks...
Story Behind Our Cult Classic Ratio — www.crimsonhexagon.com
Really cool story about how Crimson Hexagon is using it's social analytics technology to predict the next cult classic movie.
TomTom goes from hardware to big data — thehustle.co
Makes sense: TomTom, seeing that smartphones and the pending autonomous driving capabilities eliminating the need for GPS hardware, is doubling down on traffic management systems and carving out its role in the future.
Your Weekly Dose of Random Knowledge...
“When I take a good hard look at what the world will be like in 10 years, I think most things are going to be on lease,” said Dusty Wunderlich, chief executive officer of Bristlecone Holdings LLC, the Reno, Nevada-based company that operates Wags Lending.
I don't know about you, but I'd totally increase my monthly payment for the option for them poop in plastic bags if it is available.
The Most Ridiculous, Possibly Suicidal Sport You've Never Heard Of — www.outsideonline.com
I am still trying to confirm whether or not this sport originated at New Jersey's famed Action Park in the 80s.
When was the last time a US president had facial hair? Not in 100 years — qz.com
US president Donald Trump doesn't appear to have ever had facial hair. SAD! #FakeBeard
And The Last Word....
This Man In A Lemon Suit Is Changing Lives! — www.youtube.com
Jeff Snyder is a neighbor, friend and easily one of the most positive, inspiring guys you will ever meet. Watch this and learn more about how Jeff is doing his part by bringing awareness to pediatric cancer and changing lives.
Got feedback? Questions? Suggestions? Email me: dave@slingstonegroup.com