Kate Lloyd, Founder and Owner of Rise Bagel Co., discusses starting her own business rooted in the need for a better bagel in Minneapolis.

Episode 9 | A People-Led Approach to Building a Tech Startup by Early Morning Riffs

Finding new ways to relate to our customers and get to know our co-workers has never been more important. In our next episode of Early Morning Riffs, Brandon talks to co-founders of Parallax, Dave Annis and Tom O'Neil, about the customer-led approach to building their technology startup that is all about making businesses smarter about their people.

But before we release the full episode, we really need you to listen to this 5-minute teaser and let us know if Tom O'Neil is actually Matt Damon. Seriously, do you hear it?!

Episode 8 | How to Successfully Balance Brand vs. Performance with Jasmin Allen Stevens by Early Morning Riffs

Lisa Bailey, Vice President of Media and Digital Activation, and Josh Peterson, Senior Director at Sleep Number reminisce and and discuss lessons learned in the fast-paced mattress industry.

Riff 1 | Disrupting the Disrupters (0:00 - 10:50): Lisa and Josh talk disruption and the role of the Sleep Number brand in the ever-changing mattress industry. 

Riff 2 | Quality over Quantity (10:50 - 17:22): Brandon, Lisa, and Josh discuss the importance of the consumer in their industry, and in particular for Sleep Number,  the role of high-quality digital traffic. 

Riff 3 |  "There is No Rest for this Brand" (17:22 - 22:22): There are over 175 bed-in-a-box companies in existence today. Lisa and Josh discuss how Sleep Number is staying ahead of the competition. 

Riff 4 | Looking Forward (22:22 - 25:37): Brandon closes out the show by asking Lisa and Josh for a final piece of advice for leaders looking for innovation amidst the disruption.

Liwanag Ojala, CEO of CaringBridge, talks about marketing in the non-profit sector and how CaringBridge thrives in the ever-evolving landscape of social networking.

Riff 1 | What's in a Name? (00:00 – 3:38): Liwanag shares the background on her name and the importance of getting people's names right. 

Riff 2 | Marketing for a Cause (3:40 – 8:17): Based on her experience, Liwanag covers the similarities and differences of marketing in the non-profit sector vs. for-profit enterprises. 

Riff 3 | People Make the Difference (8:23 – 13:38): Brandon and Liwanag discuss the talent and the passion needed to work at a non-profit. 

Riff 4 | Stick to our Knitting (13: 38 – 23:55): Liwanag explains how CaringBridge leans into its uniqueness in order to thrive among the social-network giants and how CaringBridge came to be an organization. 

Riff 5 | Fact or Fiction (23:55 – 30:25): Brandon quizzes Liwanag on the state of charitable giving in the United States today. 

Riff 6 | Final Advice (30:32 – 31:55): Liwanag touches on the importance of leveraging marketing talent to produce good in our world.

Ellen Walthour, CEO of The BrandLab, and Ingrid Sabah, Analyst at Ovative Group and BrandLab board member, talk the importance of understanding the lived experiences of your team members.

Riff 1 | What is Diversity and Inclusion? (00:00 – 7:00): Ingrid and Ellen share their definitions of diversity and inclusion, and the importance of having diversity of lived experiences at your organization.

Riff 2 | What’s Keeping You Up at Night? (7:00 – 11:55): Ingrid and Ellen tackle the importance of surfacing microaggressions and the fearlessness that’s required to do so.

Riff 3 | It Takes Leaders (11:55 – 23:15): Unpacking the nuances of managing and leading a diverse team.

Riff 4 | Fact or Fiction (23:15 – 27:00): Is racial diversity expected to double in the US by 2050? Ellen and Ingrid answer this question and more in Fact or Fiction.

Alex Meyers, brand values activist at Ovative Group, speaks to the importance of company values and how they can unlock tangible benefits for marketers and business leaders in general.

Riff 1 | Evolution of Values (1:32 - 7:35): Meyers speaks to the evolution of Ovative’s values, and when it makes sense for organizations to document their values in writing.

Riff 2 | Turning Values into Action (7:35 - 14:25): Meyers dives into the importance of leveraging your values to make decisions about your consumers.

Riff 3 | Fact or Fiction (14:25 - 21:30): Is ROAS an inauthentic measure of return on marketing investment? Meyers provides his point-of-view.

Scott Dodge, Head of SEO at Ovative Group, reframes SEO as the most undervalued channel in your mix and, given today’s trends, how to use it to drive enterprise value.

Riff 1 | What’s Trending (2:25 - 6:32): Dodge comments on what’s trending in the world of search.

Riff 2 | Worth the Wait (6:32 - 10:50): Dodge riffs on the long-term value of investing in SEO.

Riff 3 | Tangible v Intangible (10:50 - 15:15): Understanding the ROI of investing in organic search.

Riff 4 | Fact or Fiction (15:15 - 26:40): Brandon and Dodge riff on some hot topics in the world of SEO.

Riff 5 | The Future (26:40 - 29:50): Dodge’s parting piece of advice for marketers looking to maximize the enterprise return of their marketing investments.

Brandon sits down with CEO and Founder of Ovative Group, Dale Nitschke, to chat through priorities and challenges that the C-Suite is facing, and what's needed to drive change.

Riff 1 | Priorities of the C-Suite (0:59 - 8:35): Dale hits on what’s top-of-mind for the C-Suite, and the growing focus on the customer.

Riff 2 | When the Going Gets Tough (8:35 - 15:08): Through real life stories from his experience at Dayton Hudsons, Target, and Ovative, Dale gives his take on why it’s so critical to prioritize change during tough times.

Riff 3 | What’s Needed to Drive Adoption (15:08 - 27:10): Dale speaks to what’s next. The C-Level needs to be thinking about enterprise metrics, the long-term view, and how they might empower their team members to do in order to drive meaningful change in their organizations.