Radish Sprouts

Five Marketing Essentials Companies Need to Know: Radish, diary of a tech start-up

Start-ups do not need a marketing budget!  That is what Brad Feld suggests in his article “Why a New Start-up Shouldn’t Have a Marketing Budget.” This shocking statement does get your attention, especially since Brad then says, “Of course marketing is a key part of the success of these companies. However, it’s wired into the DNA of the business, not an extra thing that is attached on,” Okay, so Marketing is very important and here are ‘Five Essentials about Marketing’ you need to live and breathe so as to make your company succeed.

 

Realize that Marketing is more than promotions.  Marketing is the system of activities involved in bringing the right product, at the right price, through the right channel (or placement), to the people whose pain the product solves, via the right promotions.  Marketing results in exchange – something of value (money) being exchanged for something of value (your product or service).  Here are the key 5 “Ps” of Marketing.along with examples of how Radish Systems is using them.

 

1.  It’s all about the PEOPLE.    Make sure your business is market and customer driven. Make sure your innovation solves real market pain.  Know your market.

 

Case Study:  Radish solves the problem that it is difficult to quickly get good business information. People hate reaching an interactive voice response (IVR) system with long phone trees.  A bad call center experience, which may start with a frustrating IVR, is why 63% of customers, says Purdue University, stop doing business with a firm. Radish also solves the challenges of quickly finding the right information through a website in order to complete a business transaction.

 

Radish targets firms with a contact center and/or IVR  with mobile device users in a closed user group. Scosche Industries, an auto accessory/electronics distributor, uses ChoiceView for tech support with 1000's of installers.  Prospects are in field tech support, healthcare, hospitality, mobile retail, and financial areas.

 

2. Introduce the right PRODUCT.   Make sure your product and service is solving the customer’s needs. Don’t have technology for technology sake.

 

Case Study:  Radish ChoiceView just 2/28/2011 won the prestigious Innovation Showcase award at the Enterprise Connect show.  Read more at: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/02/prweb5110004.htm

 

ChoiceView solves the above stated problem and changes the way people access business information. ChoiceView transforms traditional IVRs into Interactive Visual Response systems, saving users time and frustration. ChoiceView also allows live agents to seamlessly share visual information while talking with a mobile device user.  The result is faster, more rewarding communications by delivering "WOW, NOW IT SEE WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT" moments.

 

Radish 2.0 develops, sells, and supports ChoiceView™ – a disruptive, patent-pending platform with endpoint software and Software Developer's Kits (SDK). Sold primarily through resellers or OEMs, enterprises license ChoiceView software for live and automated agents in their call centers and equip their mobile stakeholders with a ChoiceView-enabled App. Radish’s ChoiceView increases comprehension, problem solving, and recall by as much as 50 percent over just hearing the information and improves the way businesses interact with its customers, field force, and other mobile stakeholders.

 

3.  Establish the right PRICE.  What is your market’s willingness to pay?  Is your price higher than your costs (so you can make money) and within the willingness to pay and within the competitive range? 

 

Case Study:  Radish ChoiceView App for iPhones and iPod touch is available now at the Apple App Store for FREE.  Try it at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/choiceview/id404719513?mt=8    Radish has priced ChoiceView for enterprises with early adopter pricing to ensure easy adoption and diffusion. For qualified businesses, Radish offers a FREE pilot.  Ask for an invitation by contacting Radish via www.RadishSystems.com

 

4.  Develop the right channel (or PLACEMENT).  How do you bring your product / service to the market?  Do you go direct or indirect through some channel partners?

 

Case Study:  Radish is building an Alliance of supporters and resellers including: mobile web / app developers, contact center/IVR resellers, and Business Process Outsourcing Centers (BPO) that outsource ChoiceView services.  Additional partners include: mobile device, call center, and other device manufacturers (or OEMs) and wireless telecom service providers.  Radish also works with referral sources.    Who do you know that needs to know about Radish? We would love to reward you for opening the right door.

 

5.  Actively PROMOTE.  .

 

Promotions covers 1-1 and 1-many communications including Selling.  This is what many think of when they think of the term Marketing, but Marketing is so much broader.  The purpose is to:  build awareness, generate leads, and move leads to want to take action to buy your product.

 

Case Study:  Here are just a few examples of Radish’s promotional activities.

 

MOBILE WEBSITE. The Radish mobile website has gone live.  When you go to www.radishsystems.com from a mobile device, it will automatically direct you to our mobile website.  Tap on the “Download ChoiceView” link from an iPhone and get ChoiceView now from the Apple App Store.  Of course, go there from your desktop/laptop and you will experience our main website.

 

PUBLIC RELATIONS.  Check out the media releases/coverage at www.RadishSystems.com/media-center/  including our newest announcement of the Innovation award (see above). SPEAKING.I will be speaking 3/2/2011 on the keynote stage at Enterprise Connect about Radish ChoiceView.  RADIO INTERVIEW. Listen to this radio interview on w3w3.com about Radish.  www.w3w3.com/2011/Channel/software/index.html  SOCIAL MEDIA:  Follow Radish Systems on Twitter @ChoiceView or LinkedIn or Facebook

 

HEALTHCARE VIDEO.  Also, have you seen Radish newest video, ChoiceView in the Healthcare Industry.  Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGv5T5MhIds

While you are there, why not like the video, post a comment, and become a fan of Radish Systems on YouTube?  See the other two videos posted on youtube and at our website.

 

HEALTHCARE BROCHURE. Since Healthcare is one of our industry focus areas, our VP of Sales, just attended the HIMSS conference in Florida (Healthcare and Information Management Systems Society) show holding meetings and building our sales funnel.  We are getting a lot of interest in ChoiceView in this segment.  There are many collateral pieces at www.RadishSystems.com

 

NEW DEMOS. Along with this, our Radish 24/7/365 call center is equipped to do additional ChoiceView demonstrations. Call the Radish corporate number (720-440-7560) from your iPhone equipped with ChoiceView.  After the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) demonstration, tap “talk to Sales.”   You can ask for seven live ChoiceView demos:  Radish introduction, Oracure (pharmaceutical professional to physician), Physician coaching (healthcare professional to patient), m-commerce with an upsell (TicketMaster), Cable company, hotel booking, Scosche (tech installer calling back to tech support center.

 

SELLING.  Radish is seeking to hire additional qualified outside sales representatives.  Check out the careers section of our website.

 

Practical Pointers.  

 

Say yes to Marketing and take your firm to the next level of success. Ensure that you have the right product, priced correctly, that meets the needs of your market (people), in a way that is placed through proper channels, and actively promoted.

Theresa Szczurek (www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose, www.TMSworld.com, www.RadishSystems.com)

 

Obama Calls for ChoiceView to Share Visual Info during Mobile Call

During his 1/25/2011 State of the Union address, President Obama stated:

 

“Within the next five years, we’ll make it possible for businesses to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98 percent of all Americans.  This isn’t just about -- (applause) -- this isn’t about faster Internet or fewer dropped calls.  It’s about connecting every part of America to the digital age.  It’s about a rural community in Iowa or Alabama where farmers and small business owners will be able to sell their products all over the world.  It’s about a firefighter who can download the design of a burning building onto a handheld device; a student who can take classes with a digital textbook; or a patient who can have face-to-face video chats with her doctor.”

 

President Obama could have had Radish’s ChoiceView in mind when he made this statement, because ChoiceView is making this happen. Radish, which recently announced January 4^th at the Consumer Electronics Show with its customer Scosche Industries, has the ChoiceView solution now to allow visual information to be shared during a call with this firefighter’s mobile device.  Here’s how:

 

Radish™ Sprouts Again with ChoiceView, First Communications-as-a-Service Platform Allowing Visuals to be Shared During Smartphone Call

 

ChoiceView allows callers to talk with a ChoiceView-enabled business while seeing visual information delivered to their smartphone by that business, either from a representative or an interactive voice response (IVR) system. ChoiceView increases comprehension, problem solving, and recall by as much as 50% over just hearing the information and improves the way businesses interact with its customers, field force, and other mobile stakeholders. 

 

ChoiceView Applications

 

• Firefighter Support for Emergency Response.  Firefighters need good information quickly.  With ChoiceView, the firefighter could discuss strategy with an offsite captain who is in a ChoiceView-equipped dispatch center while both are viewing the design of the burning building.  ChoiceView technology is available NOW – no need to wait five years for this solution!

 

• Visual Voice Response. Are you aggravated with lengthy audio phone trees when calling a company? With ChoiceView, you instantly see and hear menu options instead of listening to long, sequential lists. You can easily navigate tappable menus and view visual information in response.

 

• Complex Information Exchange. Need medical info now? You call a medical hotline to receive detailed audio instructions along with drawings of exercises and a video clip encouraging faster recovery. You save these visuals in ChoiceView for future reference.

 

• Technical Support. Tired of wasting time while a service rep reads critical info to you? With ChoiceView, you view a diagram and talk (or text) with the rep to quickly resolve the support issue. Here’s how Scosche Industries is using ChoiceView to support its auto accessory installers – cool!  More on that next time. 

 

• Mobile Commerce. Have you abandoned a website session in frustration? When help is needed, you launch ChoiceView directly from the enterprise’s mobile website. Session info is transferred so the agent knows exactly how to answer your call and complete the transaction.

 

Practical Pointers for You and Your Business

• Explore how your business can better support its mobile stakeholders?  Do you have a mobile strategy and at least a mobile website, a mobile app, or the need to share visual information during a call with a mobile stakeholder?   Let’s talk.
• Try ChoiceView now from the Apple App Store and demonstrate the newest capabilities:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/choiceview/id404719513?mt=8 
• Participate in a pilot?  Radish is offering a free pilot to qualified companies.  Check out http://www.radishsystems.com/contact/participate-in-a-pilot/

 

Make 2011 ALL that YOU want it to be!  The 2011 theme for success:  BELIEVE it is possible, VISUALIZE, and then take ACTION.

 

Theresa M. Szczurek (www.TMSworld.com, www.RadishSystems.com, www.ChoiceView.net)

RADISH SPROUTS AGAIN WITH CHOICEVIEW, FIRST PLATFORM ALLOWING VISUALS TO BE SHARED DURING SMARTPHONE CALL

Smartphone-based customer service in the cloud may be the hottest new technology coming out of the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, January 6-9 in Las Vegas. With the debut of ChoiceView™ – the first-ever voice and visual Communications-as-a-Service (CaaS) cloud solution for businesses to share visual information during an ordinary phone call with smartphone users – Radish Systems is now revolutionizing technical support, customer service, m-commerce, and information exchange business practices of a variety of industries ranging from consumer electronics and automotive accessories to hospitality and healthcare.

 

ChoiceView allows callers to talk with a ChoiceView-enabled business while seeing visual information delivered to their smartphone by that business, either from a representative or an interactive voice response (IVR) system. ChoiceView increases comprehension, problem solving, and recall by as much as 50% over just hearing the information and improves the way businesses interact with its customers, field force, and other mobile stakeholders.

 

Proven Voice and Data Standard. Over 15 years ago, Radish 1.0 developed the original telecommunications technology solution licensed by Microsoft, Rockwell, Intel, and dozens of other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) which became the defacto industry standard allowing data to be transmitted during an ordinary phone call. Radish’s products were also used by PC makers such as Sony, Hewlett Packard, Acer, and others to enhance technical support. Now Radish 2.0 introduces the ChoiceView CaaS Platform, today’s first integrated voice and data approach poised to transform smart mobile device communications. “The beauty of ChoiceView is that it works with an ordinary phone call.  ChoiceView doesn't disturb the existing voice infrastructure that callers and businesses are accustomed to using in their normal phone transactions," said Richard A. Davis, Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of Radish Systems.

 

Seeing and Hearing Increases Comprehension.  “Sharing visual information during a voice call greatly enhances learning, understanding, and memory,” said Steven Peskin, MD, MBA, FACP, EVP and Chief Medical Officer of MediMedia, Inc. “With ChoiceView, you achieve communication and learning objectives in less time with greater impact.”

 

“By enabling callers to see and hear complex information in real time on their mobile devices, businesses create ‘Wow, now I see what you’re talking about!’ moments, thus eliminating the classic frustrations with cumbersome service and technical support that have plagued callers since the invention of the telephone,” said Radish Systems CEO Theresa Szczurek. “ChoiceView goes beyond ‘click to talk’ or ‘live chat’ by adding the most critical dimension – live visual communications during a smartphone call. The result is faster information exchange and increased user comprehension.”

 

Benefits to Many Industries. With mobile device transactions quickly becoming the communications standard of choice for millions of users, the Radish ChoiceView software, SaaS, and OEM platform is poised for deployment into multiple vertical markets where customer service and technical support are the lifeblood of many businesses. ChoiceView is currently being tested by a number of companies in a variety of industries including healthcare, financial services, travel, insurance, e-commerce and call centers where new standards are being set with 15% and higher reductions in call-handling time. ChoiceView-enabled contact centers also create profit opportunities by enabling customer upselling and improving user satisfaction.

 

Demos Available at CES. If you are interested in a meeting and demo at CES or at another time to discuss the new ChoiceView solution, please contact Radish Systems at 720-440-7560 or www.RadishSystems.com.  The ChoiceView App is available now at the Apple App Store .

 

About Radish Systems

Radish Systems, LLC is improving the way businesses communicate with smart mobile device users through its ChoiceView technology platform, available as a general app on the iPhone and iPod Touch, or private-labeled as a custom application for individual enterprises and services. ChoiceView allows visual information to be shared during a phone call with smart mobile device users and results in faster, more rewarding mobile communications. Use cases include visual response systems, enhanced customer and technical support, and improved information exchange. For more information visit www.RadishSystems.com. 

Media please contact Stephanie Vanderholm, svanderholm@metzger.com, 303-883-8832

Theresa M. Szczurek (www.RadishSystems.com)

WHAT'S MOBILE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Going mobile could be the most significant technology trend your company has ever experienced.  Does your company have a mobile strategy? Have you updated and implemented it? If so, read and learn about gaining further competitive edge.  If not, wake up now or you will be left behind as your stakeholders – customers, partners, employees, and prospects – use mobile as their communications standard of choice.

 

The mobile communications market has exploded. 

• Comscore reports that a total of 234 million people age 13 and older in the U.S. used mobile devices in December 2009 with a projected growth rate of 3% year on year.
• Canalys reports that there were over 166M smartphones shipped worldwide in 2009 and over 143M shipped in 2008, with a year to year growth of 16.2%.
• A recent Nielson study shows that 28 percent of U.S. wireless subscribers now have smartphones, up from 21 percent in 2009’s fourth quarter. Smartphone adoption is expected to increase even more dramatically in 2011 with over 50% of all U.S. wireless subscribers projected to be using a smartphone by the end of next year.”

 

Mobile is the Standard.  Mobile device transactions are quickly becoming the communications standard of choice.  Increasingly people are using only mobile devices for their business communications.  Whether they want to receive customer support, access complex information, shop from a catalog of products, or complete financial transactions, users want to do so with a full understanding of their options.  People insist that their mobile device transactions be as quick, efficient, and understandable as doing business in person.

 

Key Mobile Trends. 

Morgan Stanley reports that:

• Major technology trends tend to last 10 years.  We have moved from mainframe computing in the 1960’s, mini-computing in the 70’s, personal computing in the 80’s, desktop internet computing in the 90’s, and now to mobile computing in the 2000’s.

• The number of mobile internet users will be larger than then the number of desktop internet users by end of 2013. 
• ‘Social media and mobile’ is very rapidly emerging as a game changing communications / commerce platform.
• Mobile is revolutionizing commerce with constant product improvements, location based services, instant local and online price comparisons, invitation-only time sensitive selective discounts, and immediate gratification with immediate content and digital delivery.
• Mobile coupons have potential to generate retail store traffic and sales.
• Branded mobile apps can drive incremental store traffic and purchases.

 

Mobile Challenges.  And yet with the move to more mobile internet computing, there still are difficulties.  The abandonment rates on mobile shopping as reported by Web Analytics, for example, are as high as 72 percent December 2009 to January 2010, with an average between 50 and 60 percent over the past two years.  What is the real cost to an Internet Retailer for those abandoned contacts?  DoubleClick estimates that shopping cart abandonment results in $4.51 of lost revenue for every $1.00 of revenue made from sales.

 

Practical Pointers.

 

1. Know your market. Make sure you are serving your mobile stakeholders.
2. Develop and implement a corporate mobile strategy that allows you to serve these mobile stakeholders.
3. Minimally launch a mobile website.
4. Consider other ways to support your targeted mobile market such as offering a mobile application and improved mobile communications that allows simultaneous seeing and hearing of information.

 

Radish Systems Case Study.

 

Radish Systems is helping businesses communicate more effectively with smart mobile device users.  Our ChoiceView solution overcomes the mobile challenges and allows your business to transform your communications with seamless voice and visual information exchange.  What’s that you ask?  Stay tuned.  Good news is coming soon.

 

Theresa Szczurek (www.TMSworld.com, www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com, www.RadishSystems.com)

GET THE MOST FROM MEETINGS: Diary of Radish, a tech startup

WHAT MAKES A GOOD CONFERENCE?

Just this last month Radish Systems attended five conferences or trade shows around the country as our company moves beyond stealth mode, gears up for a public announcement, and begins to talk about our product, ChoiceView, on the street. Throughout the year, we attend dozens more. Here are a few highlights from our experience.

 

So, what does make a good conference? It depends on your goals. Do you want to:

	Make helpful connections and build relationships
	Learn something new
	Be seen in at the proper places
	Help others by sharing your experiences
	Get inspired and recharged, or what?

 

Clarify your objectives and hold that purpose in your mind as you work the event. Determine apriori if a certain forum will help you achieve these objectives or not. With smaller budgets in tight economic times, you must say NO to many and YES to the best forums.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THREE OF THE BEST

Defrag conference. Don't miss the 2010 conference which is coming soon, Nov 17-18 in Denver. The 2009 conference was amazing. Read my review of it in the Boulder County Business Report.

The biggest ah-ha revelation was 'Tuning into the Back Channel.' Here's what others say about the conference. "Defrag attracts an amazing group of people. The discussion is thoughtful and deep." "Defrag is two very intense days of some of the smartest and thought provoking thinking about the use and impact of social information processing today."

The result for Radish? We ignited and prioritized our social media marketing strategy, met a possible investor, and decided — after talking to another CEO who was doing this successfully — to launch our advisory council which now has 10 helpful executives.

Glue conference. It introduced Radish to cloud computing, the key players in this space, and important considerations when moving into the cloud. Wikipedia.com says, "Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid. The major cloud service providers include Salesforce, Amazon and Google."

The best Glue educational session was by Troy Davis of CloudVox on "Pricing an API Sucks: Here's What We Did." His message was not to overanalyze how to price your service, but to keep it simple. He suggested that you quickly put something out there and let the market give you feedback.

The result for Radish Systems? We simplified ChoiceView pricing and met / built a relationship with the right telecom-based cloud service provider. Super valuable!

Fortune Gazelles Growth Summit. This conference brought together 400+ executives for the best learning event of the year on stimulating corporate growth. Liz Wiseman, Former VP Oracle University, talked about her new book, "Multipliers: How The Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter." Leaders who are multipliers empower people by asking questions rather than barking orders. In contrast, diminishers micro-manage and leave people feeling disempowered. What is your leadership style?

The result for Radish Systems? We introduced ChoiceView on the floor and found some hot prospects, revisited our rhythm of internal meetings and have moved to daily short huddles, and are leading by asking more questions.

 

I could go on and on. Many of the conferences we participated in exceeded our expectations. What about yours?

 

PRACTICAL POINTERS ON BEST PRACTICES FOR CONFERENCES

	Be clear on your objectives. Say NO to some meetings and shows.
	Prepare and be open to the possibilities. Your greatest learnings/contacts may be different than you preconceived ideas.
	Make good connections. Look for quality not quantity.
	Do your follow-up. The connections made at a conference are worthless unless you reconnect afterwards and stay in touch. Use LinkedIn or Facebook. Track results -- what this meeting have a payback?
	Be kind to yourself afterwards. To work a conference effectively, it takes tremendous energy. Don't overbook your schedule on the day you return.

Theresa M. Szczurek (www.TMSworld.com, www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com, www.RadishSystems.com)

Jim Collins on Turning Good to Great -- Diary of Radish, a tech start-up

WHAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR in turning good to great? To answer this question, Jim Collins, known as one of the best business researchers/educators in the world, conducted decades of research studying some of the best companies in the world.

He then expanded his research to the social sector to determine what turns a good organization, such as an educational institution, civic group, symphony, or even Girl Scouts of America, into a great organization when financial rewards are not the primary measure of success. Next, he extended this exploration to ask what turns a good life into a great life.

ANSWER. The people. The ability to pick and associate with the right people makes the difference between goodness and greatness. At a recent and rare presentation at Boulder Rotary, Collins explained, "Life is people. It's not about achievements and awards. It's about who you spend your life with. Building greatness is not a matter of circumstance or chance. It is a function of conscious choices and disciplines."

This is consistent with my research published in Pursuit of Passionate Purpose in which I conclude, "it is vital to build relationships with and bring along on life's journey the proper people and support network and lessen the impact of improper ones."

VALUES. Find the proper people that align with your values. Collins continues, "The sources of endurance are not strategy and technology. It is values. Values endure. The great companies, organizations, and people have a sense of purpose which is more important than making money. They have a set of underlying values with which they will NOT compromise."

Values are your core beliefs, ideology, ethics, morals, attitude, and ideals which define who you are and what is meaningful to you. The intersection of your values and your gifts describes what you are passionate about. People in the "Pursuit of Passionate Purpose" study strongly agree that having meaning is important to them and that purpose brings meaning to their lives. Therefore, my conclusion is, "The pursuit of passionate purpose, not merely its attainment, brings meaning and satisfaction to life."

How do you pass on the values on which the company was formed? Collins answers, "You can't give someone core values. You need to hire people with them." That is to say, you need to work hard to get the proper people with the right values on your bus.

Radish Systems Case Study

Radish is built on a strong set of core values. One of the first things we did in starting Radish 1.0 in 1990 and then again in restarting Radish 2.0 in 2009 was to clarify the values of the founders and the company. In line with the endurance of values, here are Radish's values:

	INTEGRITY, honest, and ethical behavior
	STAKEHOLDER DELIGHT that would produce financial rewards and satisfaction for all involved
	INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS that would contribute to the world in a way that would outlive us
	ENVIRONMENT that would allow an empowered team of people to contribute and be rewarded to the fullest
	COMMUNITY SERVICE AND SUSTAINABILITY

People are the most important aspect of building Radish into a great entrepreneurial venture. Five of the six members of our current senior leadership team worked with us earlier. We know they have the right values and passion. Hiring "A" players with compatible core values is one of my top priorities as CEO.

CONCLUSION. As a leader of your business and your life, ask yourself, "What do I value? What are the values upon which my business is formed? How can I attract and retain the proper people aligned with these core values?"

 

Theresa Szczurek (www.RadishSystems.com and www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com)

8th Rockefeller Habit for Business Growth -- Diary of Radish, a tech start-up

“You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence is not an event - it is a habit.”

Aristotle, 384-322 BC, Philosopher and Scientist

 

Do you have good business habits?  Are your current habits getting you the results you need and want? Those firms using the Rockefeller Habits, as organized by Verne Harnish in his bestseller Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, along with the “Pursuit of Passionate Purpose” principles have an easier time producing great results.  Perhaps it is time to take your habits to the next level and as a result take your firm to the top.  Here is the 8^th Habit that the most successful, fast growing firms have embraced along with an example of its application at Radish Systems.

 

8^th of the 10 Rockefeller Habits.

 

8.  Ongoing employee feedback and input is systematized to remove obstacles and identify opportunities

• Employee hassles/ideas/suggestions/issues are being collected weekly
• There is a systematic process for addressing issues and opportunities
• Thank you cards are being written every week by senior management

 

Radish Systems Case Study.

 

Have you tried using a Stop / Start / Continue list with your team?  Radish now has a monthly all-hands meeting where we, among other items on the agenda, ask what we should stop doing, start doing, and continue doing.  At our last meeting, people unanimously wanted to continue this kind of forum.  Since our team is spread from CT to NC to TX to CO to CA, we hold virtual meetings using audio and web conferencing.  This is one means to get and address feedback. 

 

In weekly meetings each functional team discusses status relative to its Critical Metrics.  Additionally, this is the place for team mates to offer additional suggestions to dehassle the organization.  Those ideas are either reviewed and immediately enacted in the department, or brought forth to the weekly senior staff meeting for a decision.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  I just sent out online Thank You cards to three members of our sales team who are living Radish’s core values and making progress with significant accounts.  I also sent a group thank you email to our Launch Team which includes creative and hardworking team mates from development, support, marketing, support, and administration. After defining what needs to be done by when and by whom in a detailed Launch Plan, they are using the “Divide and Conquer” strategy --  dividing a big task into smaller pieces and tackling the small piece until it is complete.  There is much to do.  Yet there is progress.  Providing the team a sense of progress builds intrinsic motivation to continue persevering.

Interested in more of the story? Follow Radish @RadishSystems and @ChoiceView on Twitter and on its blog at www.RadishSystems.com.

Theresa Szczurek (www.TMSworld.com and www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com)

FOUR ACTIONS TO GET MORE WOMEN TO LEAD TECH START-UPS: Szczurek speaks 9/16 at Boulder BPW

There are not enough women leading tech start-ups.  My last article explored the why, where, and why-- why bother getting more women leaders, where do leaders come from, and why girls don’t pursue tech degrees and careers.  Here are some practical actions to take to change the situation.

While the research has been showing the same causes over and over again, here’s what to do about it.  Believe and act -- Believe it is possible to change the situation and take action.

1.  Build the Pipeline. 

 

“The key is to identify girls’ interests at an early age, provide them with the opportunities to learn about math, science, and technology, and link them together in a support network to keep them motivated.”

—     Sally Ride, NASA astronaut and founder, The Sally Ride Science Club     

• Start early. Help the girls in your life learn to love mathematics and science and to envision themselves pursuing a related career.
• Ask your schools to sponsor a MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement) or some similar support program.  Colorado MESA is a state-wide pre-college program that provides after school math- and science-based learning activities to over 3,600 preK-12 students(in 2009), with over 78 percent from ethnic and gender groups that are under represented in engineering career fields.  It works. 100 percent of MESA seniors graduate from high school and historically, more than 90 percent have enrolled in college with over 80 percent enrolling in a math/science related major (www.cMESA.org). MESA is in many other states.
• Become a sponsor of a support program, create an internship, or fund a scholarship.
• Encourage participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs through Girl Scouts and other groups (e.g., University of Colorado Women in Engineering group is sponsoring Girl Scouts math and science badge days for students in September 2010 (http://engineering.colorado.edu/bold/k12/girlscouts/)

 

2.  Identify and Promote Role Models.  There are many successful female tech entrepreneurs including long-time veterans as well as up-and-coming leaders:

Margaret “Meg” Hansson has led 7 start-ups including Erth which has patented technologies to dispose of waste.

Diane Green, co-founder and CEO of VMware, transformed a 1998 start-up into a $2B public company leading the virtualization and cloud infrastructure.

Janet Eden Harris, previous CEO of Umbria, a marketing intelligence company sold to J.D. Powers, is now a leader at MarketForce.

Caterina Fake, cofounder of photo-sharing leader Flickr which was sold to Yahoo for a reported $35 million, is now working on the next venture.

• Write about, talk about, promote, and get to know the women leading technology start-ups.  Find ways to show it has been done in order to inspire more girls and women to see themselves as leaders in the tech industry.
• We need successful role models to mentor other girls and women.  Encourage them to envision themselves successful in this leadership role.

 

3.  Improve Access to Funding.  Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported in its 6/25/2010 article entitled’Women Entrepreneurs Still Struggle to Get Funded,’ that “Women launch nearly half of all startups, yet they lead only 7 percent of companies backed by venture capital.”  Wall Street Journal reporter Shira Ovide found that "only 11 percent of U.S. firms with venture-capital backing in 2009 had current or former female CEOs or female founders."  The I/O Ventures challenge as reported by Lindsay Holloway (http://www.examiner.com/business-technology-in-los-angeles/calling-all-women-tech-entrepreneurs) is a start, but not enough. 

• We need supportive investors like Fred Wilson and Brad Feld to challenge the rest of the VC world to jump on the bandwagon to mentor and fund women-led businesses.
• Establish funds that focus on supporting female entrepreneurs such as the now-closed Women’s Equity Fund.

 

4.  Think Bigger.  Women entrepreneurs may benefit from having a bigger vision.  In a series of focus groups my consulting firm ran on behalf of the Women’s Equity Fund and Boulder Technology Incubator, we concluded that female technology entrepreneurs were typically developing business plans that could generate up to $5M in revenues.  This size firm is not attractive to traditional tech funding sources such as venture capitalists. With the right strategic advice, many of these businesses could become much more successful. 

Women technology entrepreneurs should set a larger vision, develop business plans, and build teams to grow $100M+ businesses.  Hear more when Theresa Szczurek speaks on Thurs 9/16/2010 5:30pm at Boulder BPW (www.BoulderBPW.org)

Theresa Szczurek (www.TMSworld.com, www.RadishSystems.com)

HOW WOMEN LEADING TECH START-UPS HELPS EVERYONE - WHY,WHERE, WHY

There are not enough women leading tech start-ups.  The buzz is on ignited by the 8/27/2010 Wall Street Journal article “Addressing The Lack Of Women Leading Tech Start-Ups.”  As a serial tech entrepreneur, I participated in heated discussion for decades exploring why the dearth and how it negatively hurts society.  I propose four practical actions of what to do about it.  But first why, where, and why.

 

Why bother getting more women tech leaders?  Besides addressing gender equity issues, everyone stands to benefit – companies gain from female creativity and management styles, those companies’ customers, half of whom may be female, find unique products being brought to market in novel ways, the employees and people involved in the company benefit from women’s leadership, the women themselves self-actualize their potential, and our nation is ultimately more competitive from the outputs of more start-ups. The end result is a stronger tech engine.

Where do leaders of tech start-ups come from?  One proven path to tech leadership is to start as an engineer, scientist, mathematician, or computer scientist.  While women represent around 50 percent of the US graduates of law, medicine, and business degrees, the percentage of women graduates in engineering, science, and math graduates is well under 25 percent and has gone down over the years.  The National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) reports, “In 2008 women earned only 18 percent of all Computer Science degrees. Back in 1985, women earned 37 percent of CS degrees.”  The same under-representation of women is seen in other tech fields. In 1996, only 17 percent of bachelor degrees in Engineering were earned by women.

Disappointedly, many females who graduate with a technology degree do not stay in the field.  The Society of Women Engineers (www.swe.org) reports statistics that between 7-16 percent of engineers, depending on the discipline, are female. According to a National Science Foundation 2009 report, only 11 percent of the engineering workforce in 2003 was women.

 

Why don’t girls pursue tech degrees and careers?  That is the question the Girl Scouts Research Institute explored.  The Girl Difference: Short-Circuiting the Myth of the Technophobic Girl, through a synthesis of relevant research, shows the following: 

• Adults are not encouraging girls to pursue math, science, and technology-related courses.  (National Science Foundation)
• Girls and women do not encounter enough mentors in their career pursuits.
• Early childhood messages prevail. Boys are expected to learn about machines and how things work. Girls are not. Gender specific social expectations may play a role in limiting the likelihood that girls will be creators, shapers, and producers of technology.
• Girls reject computer games that are violent, and they find action gaming boring and repetitious. Girls prefer games that feature simulation, strategy, and interaction. (American Association of University Women, Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age).
• Women would be more attracted to computer science if it were integrated with other subjects and resulted in their ability to do something useful for society in their work. (Margolis, et al., Carnegie-Mellon University).

Four Practical Pointers of What to Do.

Stay tuned for my next article on what to do.  The answer is believe and act -- Believe it is possible to change the situation and take action.

 

Theresa M. Szczurek (www.TMSworld.com, www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com, www.RadishSystems.com)

Radish Illustrates 6th and 7th of 10 Rockefeller Habits: Szczurek Speaks 9/16 at Boulder BPW

Business growth can be a challenge for some firms. However, those firms that use the Rockefeller Habits, as described by Verne Harnish in his bestseller Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, together with the "Pursuit of Passionate Purpose" principles have an easier time growing. Thus, I'm continuing to review these habits and illustrate how they're being applied at Radish Systems.

6. EVERY FACET OF THE ORGANIZATION HAS A PERSON ASSIGNED WITH ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ENSURING THAT GOALS ARE MET.

	Income (P&L), Cash Flow, and Balance Sheet statements have persons assigned for each line item.
	An accountability chart has been created.

 

7. ALL EMPLOYEES CAN REPORT AT ANY TIME WHAT THEIR PRODUCTIVITY IS AND HOW IT COMPARES WITH GOALS.

	Smart numbers (key performance indicators) are identified for the organization.
	Weekly measures for each individual/team are clearly displayed and reviewed.

Radish Systems Case Study

During our Q3 strategic planning session, we explored which leaders of the company are accountable for key measures. For example, as CEO, I am responsible for: (1) Profitability, (2) Share price or market share, (3) Percent of "A" Players on the team, and (4) Raising new money (fundraising). These are the smart numbers I track.  Most important at this time are raising funds and hiring "A" players.

Radish 2.0 is a development-stage company funded to date by the founders. It's now time for Radish 2.0 to raise seed funds to carry it to the next stage of qualified financing. Thus, we have organized a Private Placement Offering to sell convertible debentures to selected accredited investors. These promissory notes may convert into equity interests in the firm at the time of its next qualified funding.

This approach worked well for Radish 1.0 and carried it until we secured a $3M round of venture capital financing. During that PPO time, Richard A. Davis (the co-founder of Radish) and I got married to each other. The weekend of our wedding, we raised enough funds to support the company for an additional six months.

In terms of "A" players, Radish has a strong team, many of whom have worked together in Radish 1.0 and beyond. This team has demonstrated the ability to create exceptional success. Over the past year (July 15, 2010 was Radish's first birthday), we have made great progress while working in stealth mode and mostly for sweat equity. Yet in reviewing the accountability chart of people and goals, it became clear that we need to augment our team with an experienced Marketing leader. Can you recommend an available, talented Marketing Director with proven expertise in B2B marketing of innovative technology? If so, please visit www.RadishSystems.com/careers.

Interested in more of the story? Hear Theresa Szczurek speak on 9/16/2010 at the Boulder Business and Professional Women meeting.  Register now at www.BoulderBPW.org