The Savvy Entrepreneur

The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined by phone live from the studios of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Tom Cox, Partner at McCarthy Duffy, LLC, a Chicago law firm that specializes in helping venture-backed companies. 

Tom is uniquely qualified to counsel entrepreneurs and startups, as he has previously manged businesses as well as venture capital funds, in addition to being an experience corporate lawyer.

Tom joined us to talk about founder's shares and some of the considerations that new companies need to think about as they structure their company and grant equity and options to themselves and other key individuals.  He also shared some of his insights on what makes businesses successful.

The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.

Thanks for listening, and thanks to Tom for being our guest.

Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.

The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined by phone live from the studios of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Debra Kurtz & Andrea Nosek from Kurtz Consulting to talk about best practices in business innovation and new product launches.

Both Deb and Andrea have decades of experience in sales, marketing, and product management.  They joined us to talk about some of the common mistakes companies make in trying to innovate and in launching new products, and share their years of wisdom on what works and what doesn't, particularly in the healthcare space.

The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.

Thanks for listening, and thanks to Deb & Andrea from Kurtz Consulting for being our guests.

Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.

The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined live in the studio of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Mark Goodman, CEO/President of e-Conversation Solutions and a long-time SCORE volunteer.

Mark has a wealth of different kinds of business experience. He held several positions, including Director of Business Development, at Motorola, was an executive for a Silicon Valley company, and was also a film buyer for General Cinema Theatres. Mark is the past workshop chair for SCORE Illinois.  He;s also a frequent SCORE advisor and workshop presenter.

Mark talks about SCORE and the many free and low-cost resources SCORE provides,  as well as the best ways to find and use SCORE mentors and other resources. Mark also shares some of his insights on what makes businesses successful.

The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.

Thanks for listening, and thanks to Mark and SCORE for being our guest.

Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.

Greg Baker, Managing Partner of Bascom Ventures recently joined The Savvy Entrepreneur show live in the studio of Lakes Radio WLCB 101.5 FM.

Greg earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he developed his lifelong affinity for the university.  It was then that he also had an internship that he says changed his life.

Greg is now Managing Partner of Bascom Ventures, a venture capital fund for  Wisconsin Alumni, and a part of a larger alumni venture community called Alumni Ventures Group.

Greg talks about Bascom Ventures, the kinds of companies it invests in, and the many unique advantages of alumni investing.  We also talk about Alumni Ventures, of which Bascom Ventures is part. Alumni Ventures offers a similar venture capital investing platforms to other alumni groups, and provides some unique shared services to all its funds. Greg also shares some VC insights on what makes businesses successful, and some tips for pitching to VCs.

Click on the embedded player to listen.

Thanks for listening, and thanks to Greg & Bascom Ventures for being our guest!

You can catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing here.

We were delighted to have Sophie Lechner as our podcast guest on Globalocity Radio, joining us from New York City. 

Sophie grew up in Pakistan, studied in Paris for several years, and then moved to the United States.  She's experienced first-hand the many challenges of moving across cultures.  She's also had deep experience in the business world, spending 25 years in the corporate world with positions at British Petroleum in France, Bayer. She also pioneered the position of Alliance Manager there, so she also knows a few things about finding and managing good partners.

She now heads up Global Commerce Education, helping non-U.S. companies get established and thrive in the U.S. market.

We spoke with Sophie about the importance of finding great partners to help foreign companies successfully navigate the United States, admittedly a huge market, but one that is very challenging and often bewildering to non-natives.

Some of the things you’ll learn from our podcast:

* Why the U.S. can be absolutely bewildering to non-natives

* Why it's so critical to have great partners if you want to be successful in the U.S.

* How Global Commerce Education helps non-U.S. find partners who are good fits for their clients

* And much, much more!

Click on the embedded player to listen, or click here for a transcription.

Thanks for listening, and thanks to Sophie & Global Commerce Education for being our guest.

We hope you enjoyed this podcast, and found it useful and interesting.

You can be sure not to miss our next podcast by subscribing to our regular podcasts via iTunes

We were delighted to have Ralph Vetsch as our recent podcast guest on Globalocity Radio, joining us from Boston. 

Ralph is a 5-time VP of Sales. He has worked in a variety of industries, geographies and product types, with direct and the five main indirect sales channels: Distributor, Rep, Services company, OEM, and Influencer).  Through his extensive experience in working with and even being a channel partner, he recognizes first-hand the challenges when a company is not channel ready.

He now heads up 10th Opus, which helps startups realize their full revenue potential.  He's also working on a book entitled “Faster Revenue Through Channels,” due out in 2018.

We spoke with Ralph about the importance of being channel ready, and the steps needed to get there.

Some of the things you’ll learn from our podcast:

* What it means to be channel ready

* Why channel readiness is so essential to help businesses scale and grow properly

* Why companies often think that a few sales means they are channel ready

* What happens when a company is not channel ready

* And much, much more!

Click on the embedded player to listen, or click here for a transcription.

Thanks for listening, and thanks to Ralph for being our guest.

You can be sure not to miss our next podcast by subscribing to our regular podcasts

Channel management, and product management.  Two very separate disciplines.  TOO separate, in our opinion.

Channel managers toil away, managing distributors, wholesalers, and manufacturers' reps. They have to try to make the existing products work for all of them.  And product managers mostly focus on direct customers.

Armed with a better understanding of the value each brings and a closer partnership between the two functions, several of our clients have seen truly amazing results, and we'd like to share some of that learning with you. In this webinar, presented by Globalocity principals Mike Hunter and Doris Nagel, you'll learn:

* Why product management knowledge is essential for today's channel managers

* How product managers can benefit from an understanding of channel management basics

* How it cost companies real money when the two don't fully collaborate

* How better collaboration can improve the customer experience

  

 

 

Access This Free On-Demand Webinar Now!

In today's business environment, partnering is essential.  Some 83% of organizations rely on partners, and annual CEO surveys consistently cite new strategic alliances as a key business strategy.

Most people think they're pretty good at partnering.  If so, how come between 50-80% of these partnerships fail to fully deliver on their promised or expected value?

What if you could be sure that the teams managing your strategic alliances had good partnering skills, setting  up those relationships for the best success?  It's possible to do this, because partnering skills are quantifiable.  They can also be learned or improved, consistently increasing the quality of your partnerships and improving your financial results.

In this webinar, presented by Globalocity along with guest presenter Stephen Dent, Founder of the Partnership Continuum, you'll learn:

• Why partnering skills are unique but essential

• How to quickly assess your own partnering skills, those of your team, and also on your partner's team

• A consistent framework for improving your partnering skills, as well as the success of your partnerships

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You can choose the right partner, but still get poor results if you don't get the onboarding process right.  Watch our on-demand webinar to learn about best practices for partner onboarding:  "Onboarding:  The Foundation for Getting and Keeping Your Distributors/Partners Focused on Your Offerings."

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Access This Free On-Demand Webinar Now!

Your distributors & other indirect sales partners are not your end-customers.

So your partner value proposition needs to be different from your customer value proposition -- different, but just as important.

Listen in to the archived version of our free webinar, “How to Craft an Irresistible Partner Value Proposition,” and hear Globalocity principals Mike Hunter and Doris Nagel discuss how to consistently attract better distributors and other partners, and keep you "top of mind" with them by crafting a persuasive, consistent partner value proposition.