Nuggets from Behind Closed Doors
Inside every private Alliance meeting, there are hundreds of years of experience. While keeping confidentiality of the member who provided the challenge to their group, we’ve captured (with permission) just some of the insightful comments from a handful of members. Read what these members had to say to get a glimpse of what it is like to be an Alliance member.
To see insights for a certain category, choose one from the following list:
Technology - Search Results (21)
Member Tom Sego Speaks: Thinking About a Go-to-Market Strategy? Consider Other Options
When business leaders have a disruptive new technology in their hands, the assumed next step is often to bring the product to market. Sometimes, the risks inherent in that approach outweigh the likelihood of a successful product launch. Tom Sego, Co-Founder & CEO, BlastWave, offers insight into leveraging intellectual property as an alternate strategy.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Leadership Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Bill Newell Speaks: Establish a Core Technology, Not Just a Single Offering
Perhaps a company has developed a stellar product. Or maybe, luck has it that the company has more than one promising product. That’s good, but what really creates value in the long run? Bill Newell, CEO of Sutro Biopharma shares insight into establishing a core technology platform to build upon for long-term value creation.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Leadership Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Sheeroy Desai Speaks: Don’t Forget The Troops. They Win The War.
CEOs spend a lot of time in the C-suite and sometimes that warps perspective on strategic priorities. Alliance member Sheeroy Desai, Co-Founder and former CEO of Gild, suggests paying more attention to employees on the ground as the company ramps up for serious growth.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Leadership Operations Organizational Design Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Jason Petralia Speaks: You’re Sitting on a Gold Mine. Mine It!
CEOs are under constant pressure to increase revenue and profitability. Alliance member Jason Petralia of Raizlabs suggests that an established company could dramatically increase its revenue by prioritizing current accounts rather than finding new ones.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Leadership Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Andy Barrons Speaks: Build on Your Reputation of Independence
No CEO likes lumpy revenue. Alliance member Andy Barrons of Navis offers a cautionary tale and intriguing idea for smoothing out revenue and opening new lines of business.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member David Matheson Speaks: Is Change Always a Bottom Up Revolution?
It’s extremely rare for an app to unilaterally disrupt an established market. David Matheson, President & CEO of SmartOrg, underscores the importance of engaging institutional players to drive major market change.
Read MoreInsight categories include: International Business Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Edmundo Costa Speaks: Stop Trying to Boil the Ocean
New technology can offer value to customers across multiple verticals. Edmundo Costa, Vice President of Sales at Automation Anywhere and previously the CEO at Catbird, shares his perspective on maintaining focus while scaling the business.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Marketing Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Ebbe Altberg Speaks: Before You “Scale Up,” You Have Some Answering To Do
Scaling a business requires clear strategic vision. Ebbe Altberg, CEO of Linden Lab, asks some hard, but necessary, questions for the CEO that seeks radical growth.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Entrepreneurship Leadership M&A Organizational Design Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Pat O’Malley Speaks: Strategic Transparency in Technology
As technology companies compete their way down the price curve, strategy changes when you hit bottom. Pat O’Malley, EVP of Seagate Technology, discusses the benefits of transparency and Universal Pricing Plans in a commoditized market.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Sales Strategy & Planning Technology Trends
Member Eric McAfee Speaks: Consider the Conveniences of Licensing
A new technology company owned by a close-knit group of founders is looking for a CEO – but they don’t want to give up any equity. Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis, explains an ideal workaround.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Entrepreneurship Finance Leadership Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Paul Finkle Speaks: How to Get to a Recurring Revenue Model
The golden goose of most service-based firms is to attain predictable, recurring revenue. Alliance Member Paul Finkle of ABD SharedHR gives some insight into how it can be done.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Operations Organizational Design Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Ted Christianson Speaks: 3 Basics to Remember as You Grow a Startup
The excitement of driving growth in a startup can all too often distract from critical business basics. Member Ted Christianson, Chairman of Christianson Systems, discusses key business ideas that are precursors to any sustainable growth.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Marketing Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member John Spottiswood Speaks: Use the Cloud to Improve — Not Repeat — Your Core Business
Instead of building specific, custom pieces of software to aide your client’s business processes, build up a common code base that can be deployed throughout your clientele. Member John Spottiswood, former EVP of Business & Corporate Development for Inflection, suggests using the cloud as an instigator to change one's core business model.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Leadership Operations Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Peter Bailey Speaks: Be the White Knight, Not a Kamikaze
Alliance Member, Peter Bailey, President & CEO of Vertical Communications, shares his insights on a case brought by the CEO of a technology company that was disrupting a traditional market by replacing hardware with a much cheaper software solution.
Read MoreInsight categories include: M&A Marketing Sales Strategy & Planning Technology Trends
Member Burt Cummings Speaks: Sell Yourself Through the Pain You Solve
Read what member Burt Cummings, CEO of Versaic, shared with his Alliance peers during a brainstorming session with a CEO who was challenged to more clearly explain his company’s value proposition.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Marketing Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Brad Freitag Speaks: Go Direct, Go Small, Learn Lots
Alliance Top Team Member, Brad Freitag of FileMaker, shared his thoughts on a case brought by an SVP whose company was reinventing itself as a cloud provider offering SaaS in place of their current hardware/software package.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Boards Leadership Marketing Operations Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Doug Dooley Speaks: Speak to Your Audience’s Language and Viewpoint
Alliance Top Team Member, Doug Dooley of Venrock, shared his insights on a case brought by the top leader of a software subsidiary of a global technology giant who was preparing for a meeting with the CFO of the multi billion-dollar parent company.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Leadership Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Praful Saklani Speaks: Technology in a Luddite’s Industry
Read what Praful Saklani, Co-Founder & CEO of Pramata, shared with his Alliance peers regarding a case presented by a CEO in an industry with weak technology adoption and a history of poor employee retention. The CEO was looking for strategies to differentiate himself from his competitors and better retain his sales force.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Culture Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Lesley Stolz Speaks: Build a Shared Vision
Lesley Stolz shared some well-seasoned insights regarding a case brought by a fellow Alliance member who planned to eventually sell their company and own the critical technology it then only licensed.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Finance M&A Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Anthony Sperling Speaks: Let Your Hunters Hunt
Here's what Alliance Top Team Member, Anthony Sperling, former SVP & General Manager of Advent Software's Asset Management Group, shared with his Alliance peers after a fellow Alliance member presented a sales team structuring challenge.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Operations Sales Technology
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