Category Operations

A Is For Authenticity

By in Business Management, Operations, Sales Tag , , ,

BY LINDSEY ANDERSON for biznology My series on the ABCs of Sales Leadership begins with Authenticity. Authenticity is one of the most important traits for a leader to embody and is critical for effective management, especially sales leadership. Sales, as a profession, is burdened with outdated archetypes like the sleazy snake oil salesmen or shifty, high-pressure car sales guy; so operating with authenticity and integrity is important in sales to counter these cliches. Authentic sales leaders are trusted advisors to their teams, peers, clients, and partners.  Why Authenticity is Critical What exactly is “Authenticity?” It means being honest, open, and willing to show your humanity…

Read More

How to Fire Your Customers

By in Business Management, Operations Tag , ,

BY HOWARD TULLMAN for INC. Mark Twain said that a banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining but wants it back the minute it begins to rain. I'd say his view was a little narrow, since plenty of investors are certainly charter members of the same unreliable club. The overnight run on Silicon Valley Bank and that institution's ultimate collapse -- which most of us believe was driven by the panic of a few key, well-connected, and cowardly VCs with social media megaphones -- is just one of the latest cases in point. As…

Read More

How to Enable Macros in Excel

By in Information Technology, Marketing, Operations, Work Tag , , , , ,

by Nathan Ojaokomo for HubSpot Microsoft Excel’s versatility and sheer number of features make it one of the most complex software programs to master. While you might want to learn every feature in Excel, you’ll likely need to know just a limited number to get the best from the software. Macros are small and simple programs that can make your work much easier and are favored by expert users. The good thing is that learning how to enable macros is relatively easy, and in this article, we’ll show you how to enable macros in Excel, since they are disabled by default.…

Read More

How to Use XLookup in Excel

By in Operations Tag , , , ,

by Lauren Farrell for HubSpot Working with large data sets is always tricky. Excel is one of the most powerful tools you can use to manipulate, format, and analyze large sets of information. Several well-known functions exist to help you look up specific matches within a dataset, like VLookup. But functions like VLookup had certain limitations, so Microsoft recently introduced the XLookup function to Excel. It provides a more robust method for finding specific values in a data set. Knowing how to use it effectively can drastically cut down the time you spend trying to analyze data in Excel. What…

Read More

“The Lean Startup” is Bullshit

By in Operations Tag , , , ,

by The B2B Growth Newsletter Hi all — After talking with approximately 2.4 billion B2B founders, I’ve realized one of the main root causes of everyone’s pain and frustration. “Experimentation.” We’ve been told since the dawn of the Lean Startup that we need to generate hypotheses, experiment, measure, learn, and pivot. But the Lean Startup’s experimentation orthodoxy is wrong and counterproductive for founders and GTM teams. Why? It assumes you can generate testable hypotheses and learn real things. Generally, you can’t. Every time you try to do this in a startup setting, you realize your hypothesis was dumb and wrong, but can never…

Read More

How Ramp builds product

By in Business Management, Operations Tag , , , , , , ,

by LENNY RACHITSKY for Lenny's Newsletter I was talking to a prominent VC the other day about what startups he’s watching, and he told me that he’s seeing one company quickly becoming a gravity for the best talent: Ramp. If you’re not familiar with Ramp, they provide corporate cards and a spend management platform, helping startups save money and control spending. They were last valued at over $8 billion, are backed by Founders Fund, Redpoint, Stripe, and others, and in the past year grew 4x, to over $10 billion in annualized spending. I believe they are also the fastest-growing SaaS company…

Read More

BDR Compensation Model: Is it time for a change?

By in Business Management, Human Resources, Operations Tag , , ,

by LIZ CHRISTO for Dear Stage 2 DEAR STAGE 2: I manage a 7-person outbound BDR team and want to roll out a new comp plan for the second half of the year. What are my options? Any recommendations on the best plans to use? ~New to designing comp plansSubscribe DEAR NEW TO DESIGNING COMP PLANS: Let’s start with some simple advice — don’t assume your comp plan is broken. Before you throw out the current plan, ask yourself… What’s NOT working? What’s changed? If the plan is mostly working, consider making small tweaks or layering in short term SPIFFs.  But, if you need…

Read More

Boost Your Small Business With These Must-Have AI Tools

By in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Business Management, Finance, Marketing, Operations

by Belle Wong for The Hartford In recent months, ChatGPT has shown the world how far artificial intelligence (AI) has come. But as AI developers and software companies release more and more AI tools on a near-daily basis, it can be challenging to know which tools are worth it for your small business. It’s worth digging deeper to learn more about the options available. By harnessing the power of AI, you can potentially compete with big businesses. Keep reading to learn more about the AI tools that can help take your business to the next level and beyond. 1. Chatbots Customers want…

Read More

Why Most Analytics Efforts Fail

By in Operations Tag , ,

by Crystal Widjaja for Reforge From 20K orders per day to 5M. Zero to 100 people in business intelligence. Eight to 85 people in growth. All in 4.5 years. It was a wild ride, but not one that many in the US startup scene are familiar with. This wasn't Uber or Lyft, but rather Gojek, Southeast Asia's largest Super App. For those unfamiliar with Gojek or Super Apps in general, the product serves all your on-demand needs. Ordering food, transportation, digital payments, hyper-local delivery, and a dozen other services. To give you a sense of scale, Gojek completes more daily…

Read More