Founders rely heavily on mentorship from others in getting off the ground, and are best served by talking to others who are or have tried. In our case, we continually encountered predecessors who held bitter views towards the personal/relationship oriented CRM. As most companies had failed, most founders held the personal belief that it will never work. While most indicators point to Contactually...
I was a LEGO kid growing up (and am not ashamed to admit that I’m eager for my kids to reach the age where a LEGO room in the house becomes socially acceptable). It was natural for me then, as it is now, to start building with a clear idea of what I wanted the finished, or initial, product to look like. It should go without saying in contemporary best practices of lean startup methodology...
An early-stage venture is rife with problems, and is, almost by definition, in a perpetual state of brokenness. There are team members you’re not wild about, and others who hold so much promise but aren’t performing to their potential. Your app is buggy, and, despite a continued focus on quality, new defects still surface. You walk out of meetings knowing they could have been run...
I’ve since mentored numerous entrepreneurs and investors who desire to serve the residential real estate market. In the hopes of helping a greater audience, I’ve documented as much as I can here.
“I need my work to be remembered forever. I don’t need my name on anything anymore.” Approaching the back half of 2019 with a fresh approach opened for me the opportunity to reflect on the first half of the year. And sure enough, with the successful acquisition of Contactually, and the release of Success is in Your Sphere, there is much to be grateful for. I can also, however, revisit...
Proud to share that you can now pre-order Success is in Your Sphere. You can order a copy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other fine retailers. We first wrote the outline for a book in March 2015, marking a four year journey between then and now. I am so thankful to the many hands who have had a part in bringing this to reality. We build software – why a book? Everything we’ve done at...
As just announced, Contactually has been acquired by Compass. You can read more at contactually.com/compass. All the emotions that have been foretold by mentors who have gone through a similar experience, I’m feeling right now. But the one feeling that stands out is nothing but thankfulness. Thankful for all the users, teams, and companies who have trusted us for years. Thankful for the results...
We are incredibly thankful that Contactually’s enterprise business (you can read more here) is on a strong growth path right now. This isn’t our first attempt at expanding our enterprise efforts, so I’ve spent time looking back to understand why our previous attempts did not yield the same results. There’s no question that a big part of it is market readiness and timing – I cannot recommend...
Like many companies, there are oscillations in the “success” of the overall business. Sometimes we just barely meet a goal, sometimes we double it. As we’ve scaled, I’ve generally seen our team’s morale match our performance. Everyone likes winning; no one likes losing. We like knowing that our hard work is putting points on the board and making an impact, so, unsurprisingly, we’re thrilled when...
In Bill Gross’ TED talk, he cites timing as a key factor in the success or startup. A great idea, married with great execution, is still reliant on the macro trends that can either carry it, or leave it dead in the water. This has played out for us in meaningful ways. While we’ve been investing deeply in building the best business we can, we’ve had to accept that much of our success – or...