Skunkworks By HalfSerious

Anne Krog Iversen is the Co-founder and Chief DNA and Culture Officer at TimeXtender, a data estate builder that helps businesses extract data for business analysis purposes. Anne started the company in 2006 with her husband. She works every day on building resilience and a strong, purpose-driven culture where people thrive and prosper. Over the years, she has played an instrumental role in growing TimeXtender worldwide and attracting more than 3,000 customers.

In this episode…

Does the sense of urgency to get things done leave you feeling anxious and overwhelmed? Do you constantly worry and work to get things done quickly?

That perpetual state of mind negatively impacts the quality of your business decisions. Taking time to meditate and spending time in silence can quiet your thoughts and help you make sounder decisions every time. Mindfulness helps you build resiliency, keep calm, and maintain balance in your life. So how can you effectively incorporate mindfulness into your life and company? How can you make it a part of your daily routine?

In this episode of the Skunkworks Podcast, Eric Bourget sits down with Anne Krog Iversen, the Co-founder and Chief DNA and Culture Officer at TimeXtender, to discuss mindfulness and how to build a mindfulness-oriented company. Anne shares details about an accident she had in 2009, talks about tips for making mindfulness and meditation a part of your daily routine, and explains how she trains her employees on meditation and breathing techniques.

Greg Coticchia is the CEO of Sopheon, a company that helps clients improve their enterprise innovation performance. Greg has decades of experience founding, leading, and driving revenue growth in technology and software companies in highly competitive markets. He has served as CEO, President, and COO at numerous companies and has been involved in or responsible for over 100 product and solution launches. Greg is the founding Executive Director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Master’s Program in Product Management.

In this episode…

What makes a great innovator or entrepreneur? How do they develop and form visionary ideas, overcome business challenges, and achieve their objectives?

Great entrepreneurs are usually optimistic people who see opportunities even in difficult situations. They can see the positive in things but are also very good at seeing risk, mitigating the risk, and taking reasonable chances and risks. Leaders keep going despite all the challenges they face. Working and being excited about the vision keeps them focused and driven. If you're excited and having fun, you're probably in the right business, which makes it much easier to impart positivity to your team members.

In this episode of the Skunkworks Podcast, Eric Bourget interviews Greg Coticchia, CEO of Sopheon, about his secret to tactical positivity. Greg shares his advice on coming up with great ideas, positive leadership, and why optimists are great at seeing opportunities.

Alfredo Ramirez is the Co-founder, President, and CEO of Vyopta, a company that transforms the way organizations deliver collaboration experiences by providing insights that improve user experiences, employee engagement, and business outcomes — they make virtual collaboration work. Alfredo is a seasoned entrepreneur with direct experience building early-stage software technology companies.

Previously, Alfredo co-founded Vitalz (Oracle) and Daman Consulting. He also held positions at Andersen Consulting (Accenture) and Trilogy Software and was Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Reddwerks (Dematic). He has a bachelor’s in electrical and computer engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

In this episode…

As a leader of an organization, you define the goals you aim to achieve and decide on what strategies and plans to execute to achieve those goals. You also have to think about the possible challenges and obstacles you may face and find the right employees and partners to join you on that journey.

However, sometimes the go-to-market strategies you start with may not ultimately take you in the right direction. As they built Vyopta, this is where Alfredo Ramirez and his two co-founders found themselves. Rather than continuing with the business model they started with, they pivoted in a new direction to keep the business profitable and sustainable. They phased out the legacy client branches of the company and concentrated on the one product performance software application that was most in demand. Later they found themselves in the throws of the pandemic and had to pivot again. Throughout the course of the business, the founders found themselves in multiple disruption situations but always found ways to adapt.

In this episode of the Skunkworks Podcast, Eric Bourget interviews Alfredo Ramirez, the Co-founder, President, and CEO of Vyopta, about the strategies he uses to stay agile around product-market fit for his company. Alfredo also talks about his revenue model, the major redesign of his platform, and the effects of the pandemic on the company.

Fardad Zabetian is the Co-founder and CEO of KUDO, a language as a service platform. After 20 years of trying to solve communication problems for himself, he started his company in 2017 with the mission of eliminating language barriers worldwide. KUDO makes it possible for people and businesses to collaborate and meet more effectively across geographic and language barriers in this global marketplace.

In this episode…

What does it mean to be an accessible CEO? How can business leaders use this concept to build better teams and companies?

Business leaders need to be organized and set boundaries but still be accessible to their employees, executive teams, business partners, clients, and remain engaged with their business networks. They also need to have well-defined OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), efficient systems and processes for running the company, and good communication strategies.

In this episode of the Skunkworks Podcast, Eric Bourget interviews Fardad Zabetian, the Co-founder and CEO of KUDO, about what it means to be an accessible CEO. Fardad talks about his “everything is possible” mantra, shares his advice on executing OKRs, and discusses the benefits and challenges of being an accessible CEO.

Len Finkle is the CEO of Profisee, a software company based in Atlanta. Profisee is the creator of a data management software that helps corporations improve the quality of their data, so they have the confidence to move forward with targeted strategic initiatives.

Len has over 25 years of software sector executive experience, including an extensive track record of success leading both enterprise-sized organizations and early-stage companies to enter new markets and grow revenue streams.

In this episode…

Are you planning to start serving a different type of client through your company or changing a company practice or approach? What strategies can you use to prepare your team for change and ensure they are on board with the transition? What can you do to avoid creating confusion and uncertainty within your company?

Once an organization determines a specific strategy change, OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are an excellent tool for companies to use. The critical part of putting together a new strategy is rolling it out effectively, communicating it to employees and stakeholders, and making sure everyone is aligned. Use OKRs to set goals, help teams understand and get clear on what’s required, and focus their individual roles on the most critical issues. They assist in ensuring that there is transparency and clarity within the organization.

Len Finkle, the CEO of Profisee, joins Eric Bourget in this episode of the Skunkworks Podcast to share his strategies for implementing a company's Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). Len also discusses the importance of being open and transparent with employees, and he shares his advice on delivering OKRs to a team.

Nicolas Vandenberghe is the Co-founder and CEO of Chili Piper, an inbound conversion software used by top B2B revenue teams, including Intuit, Twilio, and Spotify. He started the company in 2016 with his wife, Alina. They help clients increase conversions, qualify leads, and schedule meetings. The Chili Piper team is distributed around more than 160 cities and 35 countries around the world.

In this episode…

Would you start a new company after losing your last to an economic meltdown or market collapse? Would you risk your investment just to lose it again and be forced to deal with unhappy employees and investors?

When Nicolas Vandenberghe received offers to sell his company, he was ready to exit. The business had experienced tremendous growth, but some of his customers were shutting down due to the dot-com bubble burst. Still he remained optimistic that he would get a good deal. However, it never happened.

Nicolas Vandenberghe, the Co-founder and CEO of Chili Piper, joins Eric Bourget in this episode of the Skunkworks Podcast to talk about his experience of almost selling a company during the dot-com bubble burst and losing it all. Nicolas explains how he got back to entrepreneurship through Chili Piper, how his company’s software helps sales and marketing teams increase conversions, and how he manages a remote team. Stay tuned.

Donald Brown is the Founder and CEO of LifeOmic, a software company that leverages the cloud, machine learning, and mobile devices to offer disruptive solutions to healthcare providers, researchers, employers, health coaches, health IT companies, and individuals. He founded and served as CEO of Interactive Intelligence which went public in 1999 and was acquired by Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories in 2016 for $1.4 billion. Donald is also an active technology and business advisor, investor, philanthropist, and author of Understanding Life.

In this episode…

The rapid growth of technology means that companies have to stay up-to-date with changes to be competitive and remain in business. When a new development or a shift in technology jeopardizes business as usual, will you roll with the punches or get left in the dust. 

This is what Donald Brown and his company had to decide when cloud computing threatened its existence. To survive, they had to evolve because of all the challenges they faced. Virtually all businesses rely on some form of technology, and if they lag behind the innovations, then chances are their businesses won’t survive long-term.

In this episode of the Skunkworks Podcast, Eric Bourget is joined by Donald Brown, the CEO of LifeOmic, to talk about Donald's entrepreneurial background and how he successfully exited a company for $1.4 billion. Donald also explains why he started LifeOmic, the impact on his company when cloud computing came along, and his advice on why to offer equity to your employees. Stay tuned.

Enrico Palmerino is the Founder and CEO of Botkeeper, an accounting automation platform. Using a combination of accountants, machine learning, and AI, Botkeeper provides businesses with 24/7 bookkeeping, insightful dashboards, and accurate reporting. The company has been recognized as an industry leader by Gartner, Accounting Today, CEOWORLD MAGAZINE, Patch, Red Herring, Bostinno, and has earned a Stevie Award.

Before starting Botkeeper, Enrico’s background was in automation, decision trees, and accounting, and he has a triple major from Babson College in quantitative methods, entrepreneurship, and strategic management.

In this episode…

Many entrepreneurs choose to bootstrap their startup businesses. The thought of relinquishing control can be daunting and may prevent them from getting venture capital funding altogether.

As much as Enrico Palmerino likes to control his own destiny, his company's rapid growth meant he needed the type of financing required to continue to scale. He had a vision for the company's future and realized that being bootstrapped would hold him back and limit his growth. His desire to build the brand was the primary factor in his decision to get venture capital funding.

In this episode of the Skunkworks Podcast, Eric Bourget interviews Enrico Palmerino, the Founder and CEO of Botkeeper, about the value of getting venture capital funding. They also talk about the influence of leadership styles, the difference between being a visionary versus an integrator, and the right time to transition to venture capital funding.

Jereme Holiman is the Co-founder and VP of People and Operations at Clyde, an ownership enrichment platform. They empower retailers — from startups to enterprises — to offer product protection plans to customers. They aim to bring more businesses online and help merchants engage more effectively with their customers. Jereme is also the Co-founder of UrbanStems.

In this episode…

The first year of starting and building a company can be very tough. Entrepreneurs focus most of their time developing new products and building their customer base. This stage is often capital intensive, and venture capital funding becomes ideal for entrepreneurs looking to grow and scale quickly.

Based on his experience, Jereme Holiman decided on VC funding to build his second company. Bootstrapping was not a good option because it wouldn’t accomplish his vision. VC backing helped him and his business partners invest in quality employees and lend support to the business from the start.

In this episode of the Skunkworks Podcast, Eric Bourget interviews Jereme Holiman, the Co-founder and VP of People and Operations at Clyde, about the benefits of building a venture capital funded company. Jereme explains how he manages his business operations, talks about his role at Clyde, and discusses the importance of working with the right venture capital partner. Stay tuned.

Felipe Cornejo is the Co-founder and CEO of Devsu, a company that helps companies build world-class technology teams and digital products. They provide three primary services — staff augmentation, software outsourcing, and technology management consulting. The company was founded in 2010.

In this episode…

How do you manage your company and team during a crisis? Do you isolate yourself and avoid your employees? Or do you share your plans for the future with them?

Good business leaders protect their company and team during a crisis. You have to remain calm and realistic despite all the stress you may be experiencing because your team will notice. You have to protect your company's cash flows and employees' jobs. You also have to communicate with your team regularly.

In this episode of the Skunkworks Podcast, Eric Bourget interviews Felipe Cornejo, Co-founder and CEO of Devsu, about communicating with employees during a crisis. Felipe also shares his advice on transparency, helping companies improve their digital landscape, and talks about his acquisition plans. Stay tuned.