I’m extremely excited to announce the news of my acquisition of ARPR and what it can mean, not only for me, but also, for founder Anna Ruth and for the incredible team – many of whom have been at the agency for 5+ years. ARPR is built on two tenets: 1) thinking about its people first and... Continue Reading →
COVID-19 – Impact on Corporate/Office Culture
My wonderful mother-in-law recently shared an article with me from The Atlantic called "Never Go Back to the Office:- The coronavirus killed corporate culture. Get used to working from home". The article talks about significant changes to corporate culture as a result of COVID-19 and focuses on the reality that most businesses that don't "have to" won't want to re-open offices anytime soon and probably shouldn't. I agree with the article in general, but it got me thinking about the actual impact an office has in developing cultures, habits, and tools/mechanisms for ideation and collaboration and how that influences how work is done. Office culture and the way we collaborate is often the reason why a company operates in specific ways and are often the tools/process and unsaid rules of how work is produced and how talent is nurtured. So when this environment is stripped away quickly, can the people, culture, and work output adapt quickly enough and compensate? Every company is different and some will adapt better than others. But beyond the company is always the people and how they interact, communicate, generate solutions and ideas. We are largely a social society and we often best convey ideas and stories best face to face. This is how we are taught by our parents, how we interact with our friends, training by our schools and universities, and how most companies (not all) conduct work pre-covid-19. Are we recognizing how different this is for some, but more importantly, as companies are we helping folks adapt quickly enough so we can get the same level of thinking and output from our people before the environment moved from the office to work from home (WFH)?
Office Buildout – It never gets old for me
I just completed the buildout of BrightWave's new office in the heart of Buckhead (Tower Place 100, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA). It's a phenomenal space that I'm extremely proud of, and I hope the team, our clients, vendors, and BW friends & family will enjoy using for many years to come. This is technically my... Continue Reading →
Bucket List Interview question
I recently heard the tail-end of an interview on Sirius Radio (no idea who it was) about candidate application questionnaires when interviewing for jobs. One of the questions asked was so telling on what really motivates a potential employee. That question was simply, "what's on your bucket list?". If you are unfamiliar with bucket lists,... Continue Reading →
BrightWave @ 48in48
What brought 17 rockstar BrightWave employees to donate their weekend (48 hours) in-order to build over 57 email templates for 48 local Atlanta non-profits? Several weeks ago I rebooted a program at BrightWave called "Day of Awesomeness", which was originally created by Simms Jenkins (Founder of BrightWave) to encourage employees to spend time on non-billable projects that would... Continue Reading →
BrightWave, A New Journey Begins
Last week I started a new and exciting chapter in my career by joining BrightWave as President. I've known Simms Jenkins (Founder) for many years and have watched his agency grow over the years. BrightWave has one of the best reputations in the industry, specifically known for ground breaking work within Email and CRM marketing, which... Continue Reading →
Take a Sabbatical – It will change your life
I just returned home after a 17 week family RV trip across Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest with my wife, Tovah, our two kids, Nina and London, and our two dogs, Stella and Chai. Read about the trip on Tovah's Blog. It's odd to be back and tough to get back into a "normal" routine. But, I'm... Continue Reading →
The Idea and a great product before anything else.
A colleague of mine at BLiNQ Media, Zack Adams shared a series of lectures by Sam Altman called "How to Start a Startup". The first lecture (video below) provides some great insights for anyone considering starting up a company or part of a company that operates like a start-up (Like BLiNQ). Sam's lecture on the... Continue Reading →
My first few weeks as CEO of BLiNQ Media
On May 12th 2014 I started a new adventure as CEO of BLiNQ Media, and 18 days later I couldn't be happier with the decision I made to take this role. I feel incredibly privileged to be leading a group of very talented BLiNQers who have welcomed me into their family. The past few weeks... Continue Reading →
Bittersweet goodbye – Spunlogic – Engauge – Moxie
Today (May 9th 2014) was my last day at the agency I co-founded nearly 16 years ago (November 1998); it was bittersweet and difficult to leave my work-home. After 15 years and 6 months with the "same" agency (Spunlogic, Engauge, Moxie), it's time for me to explore a new chapter in my life/career. I've loved... Continue Reading →
Pave – Investing in an indivdual rather than a start-up
My friend and old business partner, Jeff Hilimire, recently sent me an article about Pave, the crowdfunding platform for investing in people. Pave's approach differs from crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter that focus on the idea or product where you fund the startup and get ownership of the product or similar. Alternatively, Pave allows you to... Continue Reading →
Start-up stages based on number of employees
I had a fun meeting with three guys from a start-up I'm looking at investing in; it made me re-live my own start-up days and I realized I'm envious of their road ahead. One of the guys asked me how to establish a culture in a start-up. My answer was, "it depends on the size... Continue Reading →
The essence of “Sought After” for Start-ups
I found myself referencing the term "Sought After" to a start-up I'm advising; I was trying to give them a good example of an essence or driving focus for a start-up or growing company to strive to. A rallying point that helps provide direction regardless of the current marketing conditions, trends, or day to day... Continue Reading →