Insights / Research Archives

Learning from Google Analytics in Workforce Development

Tuesday, 05 June 2018 by SEO'Brien

Recently, Trevor Boehm, program Director at the Techstars Impact Accelerator and founder of Assemble, had me stand in a line. Not just any line mind you, I stood in a line with the exceptional entrepreneurs of Impact Hub’s Workforce Development Accelerator. At one end of the line, those who felt “metrics” were of great importance in

Published in Analytics, Local

No Comments

Start Up Right: Know Your Potential Customers

Tuesday, 22 May 2018 by SEO'Brien

Every entrepreneur struggles with the idea of traction. The word we hear uttered by investors, mentioned by advisors, cited in blog posts, and the holy grail of entrepreneurship, traction, really means a lot of different things to any number of people. And still, as we venture forth, we’re constantly focused on customers and what I’ve noticed

customers profiles profiling traction

Published in Brand Marketing, Insights / Research, Social Media, Startups

4 Comments

Accessibility > Inclusion > Diversity > Change > Innovation > Wealth Creation

Monday, 30 April 2018 by SEO'Brien

Many who follow me here or on Quora know that I’m a student of economist Peter Drucker. It’s Drucker who noted of the economy and business, that only two things create value: marketing and innovation – that everything else done is a cost of existing; that marketing and innovation create wealth, they create value while

diversity employment funding hiring inclusiveness innovation startups talent

Published in Insights / Research

10 Comments

How, not just Why, Startups Fail

Friday, 06 April 2018 by SEO'Brien

Article after article, study after study, offers Buzzfeed style insight to why startups fail. It’s such a popular and frequently recurring tweet that I’ve started chewing on WHY the question of why keeps coming up. As founders, perhaps we’re asking the wrong question and shouldn’t be seeking to know why but rather how (or, how

cmo entrepreneurship fail failure founders how marketing startups why

Published in Featured, Insights / Research, Startups

78 Comments

What Does a CEO Actually Do?

Friday, 19 January 2018 by SEO'Brien

Looking at it through the lens of a startup (small team), years ago I had a great discussion with a group of VCs that the ideal core leadership in a company is CEO, CMO, CTO (or, as appropriate to the type of business) Explaining further, we discussed first that the CMO’s job is to answer why, for whom, with

ceo cmo companies CTO hiring org structure organizations startups team titles

Published in Insights / Research, Startups

No Comments

The Fore Steps to a Startup’s Addressable Market

Tuesday, 12 December 2017 by SEO'Brien

Here’s the thing, I suck at golf and as an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur, I can’t fathom making myself available for 5 hours to putt around a golf course. Yet, succeeding as a founder might be as commonplace as hitting a hole in one… very least, it’s fair to say you have to shoot par. Rest assured,

4ps addressable market customer profiles customer segmentation market segmentation marketing tam

Published in Analytics, Brand Marketing, Display Advertising, Insights / Research, Startups, Targeting

9 Comments

Early Stage Startups: Sales vs. Marketing

Monday, 13 November 2017 by SEO'Brien

It’s that this question of priorities exists that one can appreciate why so many startups fail. For decades, economists have noted that only two things create value in business: innovation and marketing. Everything else is a cost of doing business. Yet… we’re exploring here the notion that Sales is more important. You’ve been led to

entrepreneurship marketing sales

Published in Insights / Research, Startups

4 Comments