Wayfinding Growth (video)

Nelson Joyce, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer

Tettra is an internal wiki tool, built to help companies of all sizes document their processes. It's an integrated SaaS, that helps growing teams grow strategically, methodically, and with wisdom. Rather than keep all of the knowledge in one person's head, Tettra helps teams build knowledge bases.

Nelson Joyce is co-founder and Chief Product Officer. Previous to founding Tettra with co-founder Andy Cook, Nelson was with HubSpot, as a UX designer and product entrepreneur.Growth is in Nelson's core values, and he opens up about his journey.

Early on in the conversation, in talking about starting Tettra, Nelson says "One of the biggest risks in starting a company is can you even work with the person or the people you're starting it with?" Figuring that out is a critical step in a growth journey for a startup.

Today’s Sponsor is Impulse Creative’s Video Marketing Masterclass - George B Thomas built out an 11 module On-Demand Course on how to leverage Video in your Business. He covers everything from how to choose the right equipment, to what you can do videos about in your business. Check it out at impulsecreative.com/vfm and preview 2 modules for Free.

Tettra's Shipwreck

Tettra's leadership decided to be authentic and vulnerable from an early point. Nelson talked about how honest they've been along the way.

"We've had plenty [of shipwrecks] and we've always shared openly. Which is hard, but I'm glad we've done it. It shows that we're human, and starting a business is hard."

The biggest shipwreck for Nelson and the team was almost running out of money and having to lay people off. In the startup world, most just starting out raise money through venture capitalists (VC money), but Nelson and Andy didn't like that model.

While disrupting a well-known business model may seem brave and cool, it really came down to Nelson and Andy needing to go raise money to pay employees and keep the ship sailing, but they weren't good at it. So it wasn't working and they had to cut salaries and lay people off.

The experience taught them they weren't a "usual" hypergrowth, venture backed startup like so many around them in the Boston tech world. Instead, they decided to find a way to run the company in a more authentic, sustainable way for them.

Nelson explains that while so many founders see VC investment leads to less risk, but he sees it as more risk. Inside of HubSpot, Nelson and Andy saw the "good side" to VC investment. Unfortunately, that's not what most companies see. There's a risk to taking money from investors, and it wasn't something Tettra leadership wanted to do.

When a VC firm invests in multiple companies, they can work the numbers so if 80% of those businesses fail, they'll reap the rewards of the hypergrowth 20%. But for those businesses, failure is final; they have that one chance to beat the 80% stat.

This decision essentially positions Tettra as an anti-startup, and gives the company freedom to find different measures of success.

"Growing slowly is a superpower. People can get used to the system and the system scales naturally without breaking. Going the VC route or hiring really fast is the equivalent of taking steroids to get ultra strong super fast. You're able to do it, but as soon as you stop taking the steroids, your body deteriorates."

It's the Swings That Kill You

A tool Neslon is grateful for in his wayfinding growth journey is resiliency. He says keeping your emotions in check, not getting too low when it's low and not to head-in-the-clouds when things go well is critical to sustainable growth.

Sometimes you'll close a big deal with a profitable customer, which you'll want to celebrate, then you'll lose a client by surprise and you'll want to quit it all.

Nelson says you want to keep an even keel and realize that growth has its ups and downs. You can't control that, but you can control your reaction and your emotions.

Document Your Growth, No Matter Your Size

From its inception, Tettra team members have used their own system. Even as a very small startup, Nelson says they documented everything. The benefit is that every step is written down so you can go back, slow down, and think through why a decision was made.

Putting systems in place and documenting them increases efficiency. Tettra is 7 people, but they get work done like their much bigger. And Nelson attributes a lot of that to using their own tool.

Connect with Nelson and Tettra

Nelson on LinkedIn

Tettra

Tettra on Twitter

Tettra on LinkedIn

Subscribe for New Episodes Every Week

Be sure to subscribe on your podcast player of choice (or the email notifications below) for new episodes every week, Tuesday mornings at 7:00am EST. Wayfinding Growth is the go-to podcast to inspire entrepreneurs, business owners and leadership. “For better or worse, in richness and in want” may be for weddings, but it’s also for businesses. We will be your navigator in this journey, no matter your level.

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Hear from Tettra co-founder Nelson Joyce coming up on the next episode of Wayfinding Growth."Growing slowly is a super power.""Going the VC route is like taking steroids. You'll grow... at a cost."

Can You Really "Control the Message" in Today's World?When Impulse Creative made the move from Fort Myers to Babcock Ranch, we moved into a smaller office space. For most companies, that's a red flag that things aren't going well. In this episode of Wayfinding Growth, Remington and Dan discuss how they planned the messaging around the move to ensure everyone understood the reasons behind it. In essence, they wanted to "control the message" so people wouldn't think the worst.But the question is: In today's social media world and hyperspeed communication culture, can businesses still control a message? Or is it more influence?Today’s Sponsor is Impulse Creative’s Video Marketing Masterclass - George B Thomas built out an 11 module On-Demand Course on how to leverage Video in your Business. He covers everything from how to choose the right equipment, to what you can do videos about in your business. Check it out atimpulsecreative.com/vfmand preview 2 modules for Free.Make a Proactive PlanCommunicate internally as much as possible, so no one fills in the story they're not hearing. When we don't hear the story, we tend to fill it in with negativity.Then make sure you're influencing the public communication. First, you have to simply let your customers know you've moved so they don't go to the wrong location. Remember, just because you're there every day doesn't mean they are!Remington pointed out that in addition to that, we need to ensure people in the world aren't making assumptions. We want to have a plan to proactively inform people of a move so they're not caught off guard."We spend so much time working on our brands and getting people to know, like, and trust us, but we can lose that in an instant."This is why we created an exciting, upbeat video announcing how excited we were about the move, the positives to it, and welcoming our network to our new home. You can check out theWelcome to the New Impulse Creative Headquarters here.Spin vs. Authentic Influence"I don't want people to think of it negatively," said Remington of the word spin. "Our job as marketers is to worry about the optics of a situation."A business could be moving locations for all the right reasons - cost savings to make the business more profitable, finding a great location with modern amenities, reducing space due to a growing distributed team - and you could have one person speak out and say you're doing it for the wrong reason. Too often that single voice with the negativity is the one that gets the attention.So you have to understand that your goal is to influence and manage the communication in an authentic, honest manner so you're guiding the discussion. This helps you to mitigate the risk of negative perceptions. You can think of it less as spin, and more of an authentic influence.Marble Floors vs. TalentDan asked Remington about the perception of moving into a bigger office space versus a smaller footprint, and what that means in the business world. The new HQ is smaller in part because a growing distributed team means people working from home, talent around the country, and less need for "marble floors and big offices.""Would you rather do business with someone where 50% of the money you pay them is going toward their marble floors and their 50,000 square feet of office space, or have that money go towards talent?"In considering the message, Remington wanted to offer the public the pros to our move including making the agency more profitable. That leads to hiring more talent, continuing to grow, and sticking around for years to serve our clients.Part of that positive message also included highlighting the fact that the new HQ is in a brand new town that's the first completely solar powered community in the US. We're working to ensure our footprint on our Earth diminishes while our business grows.Lessons Learned from Past ExperienceRemington recounts a lesson learned from a past experience, where Impulse Creative decided to upgrade furniture. Standing desks have become a popular option for allowing team members to move during their work days. It's better for health, and a great move for any business that can do it.Of course, with new furniture comes the need to get rid of the old. In this particular case, Remington simply offered the old furniture to the public, which led to a ton of questions like "Is everything okay?" and "Are you going out of business?"This time Remington knew that we'd want to head off those kinds of questions with a proactive message.So while you may not be able to control the message as a business, you can certainly work to influence perception through planned, authentic, proactive communications.Subscribe for New Episodes Every WeekBe sure to subscribe on your podcast player of choice (or the email notifications below) for new episodes every week, Tuesday mornings at 7:00am EST. Wayfinding Growth is the go-to podcast to inspire entrepreneurs, business owners and leadership. “For better or worse, in richness and in want” may be for weddings, but it’s also for businesses. We will be your navigator in this journey, no matter your level.Love what we're doing? Leave a review wherever you listen!

https://www.wayfindinggrowth.com/201 Launching a Franchise, Using Empathy to Make Decisions, We All Face ShipwrecksParallel industries can teach us so much. In this episode of Wayfinding Growth, Remington walked away with several "aha moments" from a coffee franchise that sparked ideas for our agency. We hope you'll do the same.Today’s Sponsor is Impulse Creative’s Video Marketing Masterclass - George B Thomas built out an 11 module On-Demand Course on how to leverage Video in your Business. He covers everything from how to choose the right equipment, to what you can do videos about in your business. Check it out at impulsecreative.com/vfm and preview 2 modules for Free.Bob Fish, Biggby CoffeeBiggby Coffee (pronounced Big-Bee) is a privately owned coffee franchise business based in East Lansing, Michigan. There are close to 250 locations across 8 states, each locally owned and operated. Bob Fish and Michael McFall are the co-CEOs of Biggby Coffee.Bob, along with co-found Mary Roszel, launched the company in 1995 near Michigan State University. Franchising started in 1999."My Harbor is Littered with Shipwrecks"Bob says you can't have success without shipwrecks. Growth takes risk.He recalled how his first store in East Lansing opened "with a resounding thud." It took grit and tenacity and a dream to make it happen through those shipwrecks. In fact his biggest shipwreck was about 5 years into the life of Biggby. Bob and his partner decided to buy a small coffee chain in Toledo, Ohio.The plan was to buy and flip the brand. They went to a vendor for a loan, a bank for a loan, and put their own money into the venture. As life moved forward and they thought it was going well, they hit their first major obstacle.The bank came to the business and said they were shutting their loan down. Bob and the leadership team discovered they weren't keeping their balance sheet in the "right ratio" for the bank.Bob says the lesson was conquering hubris and arrogance, because he hadn't read the fine print in the contract and taken it seriously. On the precipice of bankruptcy, Bob and his partner had to then show up to the rest of the world with a positive attitude.Empathy and BrandingBiggby didn't start as Biggby. The brand actually started as Beaner's Coffee. In late 2007, they changed to Biggby Coffee. The idea behind the original name was a reference to coffee beans. The team wasn't aware of the other meaning of the word. “Beaner” is often used as an ethnic slur for Mexicans. So Bob and partner Mike McFall agreed that they wanted to voluntarily change their name.Founded on the principal of being the friendly coffee community and loving everyone, the pair wanted people to know that the organization was open and accepting of all nationalities and people. The name “Biggby” was chosen as it was the vocalization of the black and orange “big B” logo that already existed. Biggby became a fun name, and the first store opened under the name Biggby Coffee on October 29, 2007, in Westand, Michigan. The name change was completed in all stores by January 31, 2008.The successful name change is attributed to the Biggby corporate entity making the decision to shoulder the entire cost of the name change. From exterior building signs, PR, and a myriad of other expenses, Bob and Mike felt it was only right to cover the costs for franchise owners. Bob said the cost added up to about $1 million. And it was worth every penny.In December 2007, Biggby Coffee was awarded MBC Global's 3rd Quarter Multicultural Achievement Award for completing the name change on a completely voluntary basis.

https://www.wayfindinggrowth.com Welcome to Wayfinding Growth Season 2! On episode 1 Remington and Dan explore the move from Ft. Myers to Babcock Ranch, what moving a business looks like, what to avoid, and how to prepare a team for the move.*** More Information ***Video Masterclass:https://www.impulsecreative.com/vfmWant to learn more about Impulse Creative?https://www.impulsecreative.comWant to learn more about HubSpot?https://www.impulsecreative.com/learn/hubspotWant an in-person HubSpot or Inbound workshop?https://www.impulsecreative.com/services/hubspot-workshops

We're Charting a New Course on Wayfinding Growth!On Episode 39, the season finale of our first season, we bring former guest Dan Moyle back for an exciting announcement!Dan joined the Impulse Creative team on April 1, 2019 (no joke!). He's already a podcaster, and has been a podcast guest more than three dozen times.On this episode, George and Remington reminisce about the start of Wayfinding Growth, the original vision, how it's gone, and what's next.What does that mean for season 2 and beyond?Well, it means Dan will join Remington as co-host!But What About George?!Don't worry. George is sticking around Impulse Creative. He isn't going anywhere! George now gets to focus on Sprocket Talk, HubSpot trainings, serving our clients, and other projects.Dan joined the team and now he needs something to do!What You Can Expect on Wayfinding GrowthSure there will be some changes to the show with a new co-host. But isn't that what Wayfinding is all about? Guiding your ship and making adjustments as you see fit? You can expect the same with the show.Our Mission: Wayfinding Growth is the go-to podcast to inspire Agency owners and leadership. “For better or worse, in richness and in want” may be for weddings, but it’s also for agencies. We will be your navigator in this journey, no matter your level.Vision: Wayfinding Growth brings listeners examples of tenacious, creative, inspirational business owners who have been through it all - and still walk through it. Listeners can see themselves in the guests and their stories, inspiring a desire to “make it” despite all odds. Mix in just enough authentic storytelling from leadership at Impulse Creative, and listeners will see what it takes to create a successful business.So make sure you're subscribed to the show. Buckle up, we're in for an exciting journey!

In this episode of Wayfinding Growth, George B. Thomas and Remington Begg talk with Jay Acunzo about making smart business decisions.

There are some mind-bending and blowing concepts covered in this interview.

Take your business out of the world of opinion and into a data-driven decision world.

In this episode of the Wayfinding Growth podcast, Remington Begg and George B. Thomas recap the amazing UGC conversation they had with Tyler Anderson. They throw in a couple of their own tips as well as wax poetic on content in general.

In this episode of the wayfinding Growth sho, we talk to Tyler Anderson about User Generated Content.

Tyler drops some great tips for brands who can and want to use UGC for their business and social media strategies.