November 3, 2011
Even if you truly are psychic. It is not ok.<rant>If I see one more Linkedin headline of “Visionary Strategist” or “Visionary Technologist” or any other similarly self-important, overhyped description am going to lose it. If only you could triple unfriend people you were not even connected to on Linkedin, or Facebook had an “unlike” (or better yet “hate this”) button.Hint: brilliant, visionary entrepreneurs and technologists don’t describe themselves as such. Other people might, but their achievements generally speak for themselves.It is kind of like when you see electronics or musical gear described as “Professional” -- it’s a sure sign that it isn’t.If you are a “visionary” on Linkedin, you are probably a) a 22 year old kid without enough experience or “vision” to see how silly that sounds or b) someone who has had a series of mid-level tech jobs that never lasted more than 12 months but somehow “changed the world.”</rant>Searching Linkedin for the term “visionary” not only turns up thousands of results, but even a few people with the title “Chief Visionary Officer.” WTF? Wow. I’d like to see that job description, probably a lot of tactical, real world deliverables.Probably a great gig. For a Psychic Technologist, of course.
Posted by David Hecht.
October 27, 2011
As a startup advisor and marketing consultant, I’ve often been asked if I am willing to work on commission, or to be paid based on the performance of my work.
Most of us in sales and marketing have worked with significant “at risk” compensation -- be it performance bonuses or commission -- and pride or confidence in our ability to deliver typically prevents us from saying no to the request outright.
But I have found that commission-only or heavy “at risk” compensation often does not ... Continue reading...
Posted by David Hecht. Posted In : sales
October 18, 2011
Whether you have an early stage startup or an established company, people need to understand your business. So as a founder you will frequently be asked “How are you different from Competitor X?” or “Why are you better than Competitor Y?”
There is only one correct answer to this question:
“Competitor X is a great company, but...”
And then explain how your company is better, ideally using a differentiator or area of specialization that Competitor X doesn’t have (or doesn’t focus o... Continue reading...
Posted by David Hecht. Posted In : competition
October 18, 2011
<rant>
Yesterday I received a “thanks for applying to our competition, but you didn’t win” email from a (presumably junior) marketing person at a technology company that shall remain nameless to protect the guilty.
I didn’t notice when reading it on my iPhone, but the message was sent To: 31 different people, me being one of them. Not even CC’d, the usual rookie mistake.
The good news when you get an email like this is that you can see all the other companies who received the email. L... Continue reading...
Posted by David Hecht. Posted In : marketing
October 11, 2011
A lot has been written about Netflix’s recent announcements, related 60% stock price plummet, and then yesterday’s sooner-than-expected reversal. Most commentators panned Netflix’s tin ear, their inability to communicate, their sheer hubris at making things more inconvenient and more expensive for their customers. What were they thinking?
I couldn’t disagree more.
Breaking Netflix into two separate companies ahead of massive, unavoidable changes in their industry was a bold, visionary m... Continue reading...
Posted by David Hecht. Posted In : branding
April 8, 2010
Disclaimer: I
have been involved in naming a lot of companies (pretty much everything here
except InReach and eWork), really enjoy it, and am addicted to collecting
domain names as well. This is a very tactical guide to one method that works
well for naming startups. I am not a fancy naming consultant, nor am I branding
expert. You shouldn’t be considering fancy people or firms anyway, unless you
are starting a company that is a spin off from some existing large enterprise
or is drowning in... Continue reading...
Posted by David Hecht. Posted In : domains
March 13, 2010
With all of the tasks that go into starting a business, it is easy to forget about properly collecting and managing data on customers and prospects in the beginning. Life in a startup business is hectic, after all, with thousands of tasks vying for your attention - everything from critical things like building the product to hiring to mundane things like getting business cards made and buying supplies.And since you don’t have a lot of customers and prospects in the beginning, keeping them o... Continue reading...
Posted by David Hecht. Posted In : CRM
March 9, 2010
After 14 years of various versions of this web site, I've decided to relaunch with new content and resources for startups. In the blog, I'll be trying to deal with some pretty tactical marketing and sales considerations for Internet startup companies.There are lots of great resources out there for how to get VC funding, or how to find cofounders, or even how to develop products. I will be focusing on what I know and love, online marketing, with some related posts about web hosting, CRM, and o... Continue reading...
Posted by David Hecht.
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Hectic.comMaking Startups Less Hectic Since 1996 Hectic.com is blog and site of David Hecht, a cloud computing entrepreneur, startup advisor and Internet marketing guy based in San Francisco. Most recently I ran sales and marketing at Cloudkick (acquired by Rackspace), and prior to that I was the co-founder and CMO of GoGrid.
Check out my linkedin profile or download a PDF of my
resume.
I don't have much to say in 140 characters, but you can follow me @hectic
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