Link | Seth’s Blog « Three things you need if you want more customers

Note to self. Don’t forget to re-read Seth’s Blog: Three things you need if you want more customers often Very simple points that are extremely hard to do in practice. With a few examples of those who dared to skip one

In a nutshell: A market you can identify & reach (ie real names), that has a problem your product can solve, and that prospects will pay for.

Link | A. Yes Q. Is marketing evil? » Seth’s Blog

Yikes. Yes is Seth’s response to the question “Is Marketing evil?” He follows up with his view that not all marketers are evil. In the end his answer sounds like the description of a gun — it’s a powerful tool that can be used for good and evil. It’s our choice on how to use it.

Here are the key points extracted verbatim from Seth’s post.

• Marketing works
• Is marketing evil? Based on a long career in the business, I’d have to answer ‘yes.’
• Are marketers evil? Based on a long career in the business, I’d have to answer ’some of them.’
• Just like every powerful tool, the impact comes from the craftsman, not the tool.

Oops — 1, 2, 3, 7 — Doesn’t Work :-(

Can’t say that I haven’t done this before

I like how Marshall Goldsmith explains that following problem solving steps 1, 2, 3, 7 always leads to failure It’s not politics. If I want my idea to be implemented I’ve got to do the leg work! I’ve got to sell my solution – up, down, and sideways within my own organisation. This is not politics. This is the way it is.

I wrote about this in Connect-Part 7 from the perspective of a project that is handed down from the top. In this situation there is tremendous inertia to omit the “woo sideways” and “woo down” steps because you’ve got executive “buy in”. But I’ve found that in “top-down” situations “wooing sideways” and “wooing down” is the most important thing that needs to be done because none of those people “believe” the “top” has any good ideas (period). They initially believe that ideas from the “top” only employ step 7

Problem Solving Steps

1. Assess
2. Isolate
3. Formulate
4. Woo up ( to get buy in )
5. Woo lateral ( to get agreement )
6. Woo down ( to get acceptance )
7. Implementation

Parting Note

I’m almost finished Marshall Goldsmith’s What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There. It’s been enlightening. I’m gonna learn to say, “Thank You” a lot more often. I’ll review it in more depth soon.

Agitating the Marketing Guy in Me

I listened to iInnovate’s Geoffrey Moore inteview last week and it has been “gnawing” at me ever since. I’ve been intending to write a lengthy post on the subject, but I get too agitated

It is not that I don’t agree with Geoffrey Moore, it is that I find him far to close for comfort. My thoughts gel, I get a vision, and then I get mad Eventually I hide his books and avoid them for a few years.

This time was no different. I listened to the interview. His answer to “What opportunities do you see for an MBA” set me off. I then dug out “Living on the Fault Line” and re-read chapters 5 “Triage” and chapter 6 “Building to Last”. I had not read these since 2001, they really “set me off” then and they still “really really agitate me”.

It’s just too personal. In the Chapter 6 discussion of corporate cultures I was treated to information that allowed me to explain exactly why I changed jobs in ‘96. All the emotion of that decision came back (evil) I was young and the transition from a competence culture to control culture was in full swing. I had picked the winning side of the battle and positioned myself appropriately. But I quickly discovered that I didn’t want anything to do with it.

I can’t even begin to describe how painful chapter 5 “Triage” is to read. Too close for comfort. For example, the point on Strategic Marketing on Main Street page 191

So Strategic Marketing does not create a stovepipe ever. Tactical marketing is another matter.

Kinda cryptic, but this means that Strategic Marketing is an extremely lonely place to be and it doesn’t have any mass. Everything becomes Tactical Marketing.

The key point on this chapter is that that most companies in this phase have forgotten how to “Cross the Chasm”. I’ve written a bit about this kind of thing before

Since I’m a glutton for punishment I’m gonna buy his newer book Dealing with Darwin” this week

I have already downloaded the slide deck of figures and it looks like its gonna “really bend me out of shape”. The 3 slides on Cisco and translating them to chip-land is downright freaky. I’ve discussed this before, but this presentation technique really focusses it. I’m guessing that in chip-land analog & f/w skills land in core and digital design & s/w land in context. Anyways, I’ll read the book and do the slides in a few weeks.

I Forget What 8 Was For? – What the !@#$ Does Marketing Do?

I’d like to forget that I’ve experienced the following “pre-cursors to burnout” events too many times in the competitive technology industry.

• Getting dizzy spells during a meeting.
• Watching a colleague fall asleep during the weekly update.
• Watching a customer fall asleep during a meeting.
• Forgetting a close colleagues name.
• Forgetting a bosses name.
• Forgetting how I got to this meeting room.
• Getting dizzy spells on the drive home.
• Not being able to get out of bed for 2-3 days after a big conference.

These events are a way of life, they happen all the time. The unwritten rule of thumb is “Just play thru the pain like pro athletes” do. But in my reality the tech industry is “burnout central”. I see it too often. We forget that Pro Athletes don’t play everyday and the ones who have long careers take care of themselves very well.

Anedotal Evidence ( tech is a high risk environment ) — I know a handful of burnout victims whose symptoms were so serious that they had to make significant career changes. Most of them were marketers, none were VP and above. Not a large number, but depending on how I count, this is anywhere from 20 to 50% of some job categories. Note that these percentages include only the ones who have confided in me. Few people like to advertise that they can’t cut it anymore.

It is interesting that most statistics that I’ve read talk about this executive (VP+) dividing line as well. The most common explanation is that executives spend a lot more time reviewing the the “pros & cons” of projects, they have a lot more information, they are usually the first to “buy in” to programs, they are on the hook to “sell the program” downstream, and generally have more control of their environment. This does make some sense, but I’m still not sure about this explanation.

Being a “poster child” for burn-out has also put me in a position to constantly hear anecdotal comments from friends and colleagues all over the industry. I hear the following phrase too often, “there is sooo much of what you have in the valley”. These numbers are the same everywhere. I’m guessing that every tech worker has had a few scares along the way.

It’s Not Gonna Happen to Me ( wrong ) — I’m not saying that everyone should go out an quit their job now. I’m saying that you’ve got to be aware that you work in a high risk environment. You’ve got look at the example of Pro Athletes — take care of yourself if you want a long career. If you start having symptoms act on them quickly. Don’t let them slide. Better yet — be proactive.

It’s good to know how you react to stress, so that you can act on it. This is difficult, not everyone reacts to stress in the same way. Some people develop more physical ailments like rashes, back pain, numbness, etc. Another indicator is how you make decisions. Most managers take a test to see how they make decisions under stress. I forget the name, but its the one where the results are plotted on “triangle graph” – blue in top left, red in top right, and green on the bottom. You mark the point where you are with little stress and the point where you are under lots of stress. The “vector” then describes you under stress.

If you have a “long vector” it is relatively simple for you, and others, to determine when you’re are under stress. Unfortunately for me I am one of those people whose dots sit on top of one another — The Hub guy — I’m an ice man — no difference between stress and no stress. The good news — I play great under pressure — the bad news — this group is the most susceptible to burnout.

It’s Ok … Burn Out doesn’t last forever ( wrong ) — Unlike a cut or a broken bone, burnout often doesn’t heal well. It usually leaves a permanent “scar”. In my case I have effects that are analogous to a person who has had multiple concussions. My “concussions” are brought on by a combination of stress and situations which require me to follow multiple “threads” of conversation/thinking. In computer lingo I don’t “task switch” well ( if at all ). If I get myself into a situation where “task switching” is key — like a meeting or party I’ll slowly begin having difficulty following the conversation. If I stick with it I’ll soon begin having “concussion” like symptoms — starts with ringing in the head & can get as severe as near blackout.

In daily life this is confusing for most people I interact with because I look normal. In fact most people note — you look great. This is likely to be true since I’m down to university level clothing sizes. But just like a “Lindros or Lafontaine”, whose pro hockey careers ended due to concussions, I look like I can play. I want to play. But if I do play, I’m putting my long term health in jeopardy every time that I step on the playing surface I have effects every meeting ( social or work ) that I attend. It never goes away.

Movin On – I put the Daedalus and Icarus picture above because it describes how I feel when I’m working with others these days. I have plenty of experience which can help people to fly. But this knowledge also allows them to fly too close to the sun. Just like I did

Connect – Part 7 – What the !@#$ Does Marketing Do?

One of the inspirations for this series was the Connectors post by Fred Wilson. He often provides “What does a VC Do?” posts and I find that “Product Marketing” is very similar, but not exactly the same. One of the differences is that there is a point where I want to my guys to “Stop talking to the finance guys (like Fred )”

In my mentoring chats a frequent rant that the mentee has to endure goes like this. “Stop talking to the executive! … they are not the customer … get the hell out of the building … start working on getting the rest of the company on-side … the executive tax (reports/.ppts) must be paid, but that work is not going make you successful … its just a scorecard … get on with your tasks “

What sets off this rant? – It has been my experience that successful products/projects exhibit “communication & connectivity” far beyond the control of any individual, or team. The Market/Customers link with ones company in a huge number of ways. I’ve attempted to illustrate this in the “The End Game” below. The point is that the greatest volume of “communication/connectivity” is between the Market/Customer and the departments that deliver the product ( ie “Rest of the Company”. ) The whole thing takes on “a life of its own”. The Customers, Market and the Rest-of-the-Company interact whenever they need to, and the “product sells itself”.

Now focus on the “Start of a project” to see where the greatest volume of “communication/connectivity” is. Surprised? I’m not. At the start of a project the majority of the communication & connectivity is in “getting the product/project financed”. There is limited market interaction ( the level depends on whether you’re an incumbent, start-up, diversification, etc), and the rest-of-the-company is delivering on current products.

This difference in connectivity at the end of a project and the beginning of a project is the basis for my rant. The bottom-line is this: The finance guys know the most about your project & they are on-side … they invested in it. The product team needs to move on to the next phase of the project. They need to focus on the rest of the food-chain.

Movin’ On — A little wrist slapping for both sides The product team has to understand that once a product/project is financed, the Financial Investor group will change its focus to managing its investment (ie keeping score ). They are looking to you to create all those connections, and they will keep score. They’re not out to hurt you, they are still going to do everything in their power to help you. But they’ve made their investment and need to make sure that they can sleep at night. Which means that they’re gonna keep talking to you until you say, “no, I’m busy, and we have scheduled meetings already on these topics”.

Both sides have to understand that the best way to help the product team be successful is to ensure that it spends ~ 80% of its time on the project. The “finance guys” need limit their “scorekeeping” & “tax” requirements ( like 1-on-1 “I need to understand this” meetings, more detailed forecasts, please talk to this expert, pls do this it will only take a minute, etc ) ’cause they add up fast. Both sides need to let go and move to the next phase.

What’s Next? — The product team has 2 investor groups to get on-side. That is the “Rest of the Company” and “The Market”. Both of these groups are tough. Usually, the “Rest of the Company” takes longer to get on-side. Often, they will not get “on the band wagon” until there is at least one “customer success” story in hand. The more customer momentum, the more internal success you will have.

Thats enough for now. Have fun. The Product Team’s success is dependent on getting those two groups to interact so well, that you can let go, and let the product take on “a life of its own.” Your goal is to do such a great job at connecting such that you need to do “Nothing (but the corporate tax)”. Seem impossible ? … it isn’t … every successful project is like this It’s what makes marketing

Aside — yes I do get a kick out of Indexed

I’m still not sure that this is very clear. But I’m putting it on-line now. It’s in Beta

Freak Out – Part 6 – What the !@#$ Does Marketing Do?

I read somewhere a few years back ( I think it was in Harvard Business Review ) that the right level of stress/frustration for an executive is when “There are only 2-3 days per month when you want to give up, set the building on fire, and start again”. This comment was very “eye opening” for me, I had thought that I was the only one who “suffered” thru these days.

It was good to know that I was not alone in the Monthly “Freak Out” or “Pit of Despair”. Turns out that we all have these days, but how does one deal with it under the microscope of a team looking for direction? How does one act? Do I where it on my sleeve? Or do I attempt to hide it? Teams are tough investors because they are making the toughest investment of all ( their time & careers ). There is also the challenge of executive pay. It is well known that corporate pay scales resemble the “long tail’ curve. Thus teams’ have little sympathy, they expect “positive” direction and answers from executives. They probably “Freak Out” more than me.

Unfortunately giving teams what they want and hiding the “Freak Out” is exactly the wrong thing to do. No one can predict the future. No one knows the “exact” path to success. For example, Burton Malkiel’s famous investment book “Random Walk Down Wallstreet” notes that Wall Street analysts can do a great job at crunching the “historical” numbers for any company, but the “valuation” of a company still requires a “forecast” of the future. Thus Wall Street analysts valuations are “educated guesses” with batting average like success. An executive can do no better , trying to predict the future will only focus ridicule and crushing morale issues in your direction.

The best policy is to keep the “story” open all the time (ie share the pain ), celebrate every success like there is no tomorrow, be organized in describing/tracking “the journey” to success, keep modifying the story as it changes (’cause it will… Nothing moves in a straight line), fail often, and try again. It takes a lot of courage & hard work to do this in the open, but it is the only way I know to get the team to buy in.

In closing If you are not “Freaking Out” regularly, then you’re probably not taking enough risk to succeed” . Also, if you’re having this day today, you can look forward to the ~17 good days per month where “you truly believe that you’re gonna change the world”

Note: I found the above more important when I was a low level manager …. ’cause I didn’t think I was an executive yet. I may have been far down the food chain and closer to my team, but I had little information with respect to the “whole project” and hence got myself in even more trouble when I tried to directly address a “Freak Out”.

Dark SidePlease take the time to track your “Freak Outs”. If they start to become too frequent, it is time to move on. I made this mistake in the fall of 2000 Your health is more important than your dream.

Link to full series

Nothing – Part 5 – What the !@#$ Does Marketing Do?

When I started this series I wanted to the say the following things, but I kept getting off track.

• In an ideal world there would be “nothing” for people with marketing titles to do.
  • Each department would “gather & coordinate” all the information needed to develop the product that sells itself.
• In the “real world” Marketing peoples tasks are all about “passing & playmaking“.
  • They keep the ball/puck “in play“, put it “where it needs to go“, and most importantly they “let go“.
  • The “glory guys do the scoring”. (Exec, Sales, Engineering)
• Steve Nash & Gretzky are the “sports analogies”.
  • This presents an extreme challenge for companies because a Nash, or Gretzky, only comes along once a decade. These types of people are very difficult to find, develop, recognize, reward, etc.
  • These guys don’t look the part of “star”. Gretzky & Nash are the scrawniest guys on the playing surface … most great Marketing people share the same traits … they have great stats (if someone actually collects them ), but they don’t look the part.
  • Marketing departments are “scrawny” and don’t have the bulk to do the glory. Marketing departments are very small relative to other departments. This is not a bad thing (just a fact )
• This “highly skilled unselfish play”, “lack of bulk”, and “secondary glory” is hard to live every day. Thus most marketing departments bias themselves towards “sales” or “engineering”. The tasks are do-able and there will be a chance to share in some glory.

The full series can be found in the “Marketing” tab at the top of this page.

Note: In re-reading this … it appears kinda harsh. I’m not trying to be pessimistic here. I’m just trying to get at some of the fundamental challenges of working in marketing departments. I know that understanding the above “really” helped me many times.

Aargh — the Press Release ;-)

In part 4 of my marketing stream ( of unconsciousness ) I said that I’d write about Press Releases. What was I thinking. I don’t “really” want to do that.

To avoid writing about them I’ve been looking around for opinions that are similar to mine. Hopefully others can articulate my love/hate feeling about them. I always have trouble with that.

So far I’ve found that “real” PR people ( like Mark Evans @ b5Media ) have issues with them as well. I came across his post Don’t Kill the Press Release, which links to many many more posts on the good/bad//ugly of press releases.

I’m also going to do a thorough crawl of WR Koss’s blog (another press release non-lover) to see if he has anything to share on this topic. I like his Blogs Subtitle “The purpose of this blog is to provide a forum for ideas on networking, service providers, technology, venture capital, private equity and geopolitics. The objective of this blog is to offset the negative value of news that is broadcast on a daily basis. I do not want to know the news as determined by people who write press releases and those who cover press releases. I want to know what the people who make news do not want me to know.”

Beauty & The Beast – Part 4 – What the !@#$ Does Marketing Do

This is the link to the full series.

When I first decided to start writing up these marketing snapshots I had hoped that I’d never get to “The Press Release”. It’s such an emotionally loaded topic for me. I love them and hate them. But when the iPhone Mega Event occurred a few weeks ago, I was pushed over the edge. I loved the stark contrast between chip press and appliance press. I had to say something.

The first “interesting” item was my “chip guy” envy. Let’s observe “beauty” and “the beast”. I’ve spent my career delivering “beasts” … bummer

• iPhone is “beautiful” and “simple”
  • clean lines and almost no documentation required.
• chips are “ugly” and “complex”
  • chips are marked in braille so that they can be identified with our eyes closed & require 1,000’s of pages of documentation (literally).

The second “ironic” item that made me laugh were all the blog articles and Wall St. analyst reports speculating on whose chips were inside the iPhone. What made me laugh? The fact that people had to speculate. Why hadn’t the chip guys made announcements as well? You’d figure that this is significant, if iPhone ships 5M units this will be a $50M-$100M design win for a couple vendors.

So What’s up with Chip Press Releases? I’ll discuss that in my next post.