On this episode, I have a conversation with Jack Chen, the CEO and Co-Founder of SWIDIA (a performance marketing partner for high-growth companies and venture-funded startup). Jack worked for 10+ years in the content and influencer space before co-founding SWIDIA. Jack and team are changing the way brands are thinking about growth marketing. They take a four-pronged approach to growth: Strategy, Media Planning, Conversion Centric Creative and Analytics. The results have been incredibly impressive. They are working with brands such as Cameo, Dude Wipes, Radish and many others. Key 1st Time Founder Lessons: - The keys to really scale a company, you need to make sure that everything you're doing is trackable, measurable and scalable. - How complimentary skills between the co-founders (Creative & Analytics) was the right combination for SWIDIA. - Don’t copy someone else’s story, create your own. - The difference between performance marketing and traditional agency marketing and how to incorporate into your growing business. - How 1st Time Founders should be thinking about performance marketing in their growth plans. - How to successfully work with operating partners to assist with growth and the key questions to ask.

Hardwired For Growth

44. How Performance Marketing Can Solve Your Growth Bottleneck

On this episode, I have a conversation with Ethan Beute.  He’s the Chief Evangelist at BombBomb, an innovative and high growth software company.  Ethan is also the Host of the very popular The Customer Experience Podcast, and co-author of Rehumanize Your Business, which is a hands-on guide to adding simple videos into your communication mix in order to build trust, save time, and truly connect with people.  On this episode: The powerful psychology behind why video flat out works to grow any business. How to use video to communicate more clearly, connect with people more effectively and get higher conversions. Video messages are highly valuable and simple to do and why this is a competitive advantage Why ALL companies need a Chief Evangelist leading the charges. Bonus, that we don’t discuss in the episode, Ethan has a great post/mini-white paper on how first-time authors can write a book.  It is a can’t miss resource on his web page. Also be sure to check out BombBomb's podcast as well here.

(Re)humanize Your Business to Improve Customer Experience and Accelerate Growth

On this episode, we welcome Govind Balu, Founder and CEO of QuXigma. Govind has over 3 decades of experience in the data and analytics space. He was the lead data scientist at companies such as Bank of America and Allstate prior to starting his own company. His mission is to make data and analytics accessible to all companies and help them prioritize on value and customer experience. We discuss not only the why but more importantly how companies of any size, but especially startups can and should be leveraging data, analytics and ultimately machine learning. #LessonsInGrowth: Data in itself, is not valuable; it is converting the data into information that allows the business to make better decisions. Two keys for startups- build a data foundation to collect and consolidate all of your data and start converting your data into information 3 key areas of positive impact- targeting the right prospects, sales conversion rates, up-sell/cross-sell and customer retention. The “barriers to entry” for startups to use data and analytics have mostly been eliminated. Using data and analytics to measure and analyze customer experience. Website: https://www.quaxigma.com/

42. Why Data & Analytics Could Be the Difference Between Success and Failure for Your Startup

If you are a regular listener to the show, you know that I usually have discussions with guests. This is the first in a new weekly series where I do a deeper dive into a single topic.  This could be something top of mind, in the news or questions I get from my customers or audience. Feel free to shoot me a note if there is a topic you want me to cover. In today’s episode, I take deeper dive on the power and the potential competitive advantage that data and analytics can provide a startup. I hope you enjoy the new segment.  We will still have the longer form interviews every Tuesday.  LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bretttrainor   www.BrettTrainor.com

41. Lessons in Growth: Why Data Is a Potential Superpower for Startups

On this episode, we welcome Brandon Mateika, the Founder and CEO of Sales and Marketing Inc. a growth agency dedicated to taking the confusion out of sales and marketing.  This is Brandon’s second visit to the show. In episode 2, Brandon and I discussed the importance and the foundational need of product/market fit. If you haven’t listened to it yet, do yourself a favor and go back and listen.  It is still one of our most referred to episodes.   Today, Brandon and I go deep on the what, why and how of competitive analysis.  This is a must listen if your business growth is stalled or you are in the early stage of starting your business.  Brandon shares in detail how to perform your own analysis and the eye-opening results you will experience.   Key #LessonsInGrowth: Competitive analysis will drive your messaging, positioning and in many cases your offerings. Identifies the 13 key variables you need to measure against customer importance and competitive strength and how to use this as a differentiator How this 3-4 hour time investment can get your business unstuck and positioned for high growth. Website:  https://www.salesandmarketingus.com/

40. Competitive Analysis: The Foundation to Accelerate Revenue Growth

If you are a regular listener to the show, you know that I usually have discussions with guests. This is the first in a new weekly series where I do a deeper dive into a single topic.  This could be something top of mind, in the news or questions I get from my customers or audience. Feel free to shoot me a note if there is a topic you want me to cover. In today’s episode, I take deeper dive on the power and the potential competitive advantage that data and analytics can provide a startup. I hope you enjoy the new segment.  We will still have the longer form interviews every Tuesday.  LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bretttrainor www.BrettTrainor.com

39. Lessons in Growth: Why Data is a Potential Superpower for Startups

On this episode, we welcome Sue Tyrrell and Kala Liebe to the program.  Sue is the founder and CEO and Kala is the Chief Experience Officer for a company called Hands Up Communications.  Hands Up is a single point of contact for language access needs. They offer offer a mixture of interpreting, translating, and captioning solutions.  Their story is an interesting one. Sue started the company, merger with a company in 2015 then took the company back and partnered with Kala to build what is now known as Hands Up Communication.  It is a cautionary tale about failed partnerships and ultimately having the right complementary management team.    Key #LessonsInGrowth: Why the keys to success are having a very solid executive team The pros and cons of strategic partnerships (and mergers) and what to look for Why dissolving the merger was a better path to growth for Hands Up How a complimentary skill set allowed Hands Up to flourish Warning signs that a potential partnership may not be right for your business 

38. How a Failed Merger Was the Key to Accelerating Growth

On this episode, we welcome Tim Caito. Tim is a Senior Partner at ForceManagement.  He combines more than 30 years of sales, management, professional development and business consulting experience to help selling and buying organizations, challenged by dramatic shifts in market conditions, win better deals and improve critical seller-buyer relationships.  He helps companies define and articulate their unique differentiators and value drivers.  Key #LessonsInGrowth: Messaging must come from the perspective of your customer not your company Understanding the Zero Moment of Truth for your customers Why you MUST be an expert on your customer problems How to avoid the common disconnect between sales and marketing If technology or pricing is your differentiator you are on a race to the bottom These are only scratching the surface of what we discuss. 

37. Become an Expert on Your Customers Problems to Unlock High Growth

On this episode, we welcome Pam Didner.  She is an author, speaker, podcaster, adjunct professor, marketing strategist and a Fortune 100 Marketer.  She leads a boutique-consulting firm that trains, coaches and provides strategic guidance on audience development, messaging, editorial planning, content creation, media buys and social media outreach on a global scale Key #LessonsInGrowth: Who do you hire first, sales or marketing (the answer might surprise you)? The power of word of mouth referrals How startups should think about sales enablement (and what is it). How to think about and execute account-based marketing (ABM) Why there are only TWO types of qualified leads. and buyers are buying on their own schedules, not yours! 

36. Today’s Buyers Are In Control, Here's How to Be Prepared

On this episode, we welcome Ricardo Regalado, the Founder and CEO of Rozalado Commercial Cleaning Services, plus 3 other companies including his latest venture Route, an end to end software platform for service providers. Ricardo shares his personal journey from buying his uncle’s franchise commercial cleaning business where he and his wife were working 18 hours a day to a soon to be $10 million company that was featured on Inc. 500’s fastest growing companies, which is a rare feat for a cleaning services business.  Key #LessonsInGrowth: How scaling to $1 Million was different than from $2M to $4M and from $4M to $7M. How he successfully balanced family and business (he has 17 family members working in the company). How he was able to scale from 5 employees to over 300 and keep the culture. How intuition, persistence and relentlessness were the key drivers of success Plus numerous other words of wisdom for entrepreneurs 

35. How Persistence, Intuition and Relentlessness Propelled a $10 Million Business

On this episode, we welcome Kelly Glover, founder of The Talent Squad.  The Talent Squad is a boutique podcast agency that book podcast tours for entrepreneurs.  Kelly started podcasting in 2007 and has an 18-year track record working in media and talent management. Kelly knows what producers want because she's been one! With a background in commercial radio, Kelly has walked her talk and hosted her own syndicated radio show, worked as a talent agent, celebrity interviewer, and has produced award-winning podcasts.   Key #LessonInGrowth: Podcast guesting, yes, it is a thing, is an unbelievable opportunity to jump start growth (if you are prepared) Why launching your own podcast is a long tail growth strategy while guesting is a shorter term strategy? Podcast guesting- it is not about you, it is about the audience Size doesn’t always matter when pitching a show- make sure you can add value to the audience How to effectively pitch to guest on a podcast- hint- the key is to make it easy for the producer/host How to repurpose your podcast guesting episode content for maximum impact   Website: http://thetalentsquad.com/

34. How Podcast Guesting Can Drive Substantial ROI to Your Business

On this episode, we welcome Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey to the program.  Michael and Michael & Bonnie are the founders of Barefoot Wine, America’s #1 Wine Brand.  Their New York Times Business Bestseller, The Barefoot Spirit, is now required reading in more than 50 schools of entrepreneurship   In this episode Michael and Bonnie shares their remarkable journey from a laundry room of a rented farmhouse to the boardroom of the world’s largest wine company, E&J Gallo and how that journey paved the way for their future endeavors and the creation of a new category of audio books called Audio Theater.   Key #LessonInGrowth: The Barefoot Spirit equates to an entrepreneurial mindset (West Coast Style)- opportunistic and problem solving Not being an “expert” on insider allowed them to ask dumb questions to break out of “this is how it has always been done” mentality Consistency in the wine/product was a differentiator to the current model. Why 500 Cases of Wine/year was their top priority Leveraged outsourcing and partners to scale the business Leveraging grassroot tactics and community level brand building helped accelerate acceptance and growth.   LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/bonnieharvey/ LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/mhoulihan/ Website:  www.thebarefootspirit.com Website:  www.barefootaudiobook.com/

33. How the “Barefoot Spirit” Propelled the Founders of Barefoot Wines from a Laundry Room to the Board Room of E&J Gallo

On this episode, we welcome Phil Hollyer to the program.  Phil is the Co-Founder, former CEO and now Executive Chairman for Bounteous.  Bounteous creates big-picture digital solutions provider that helps drive growth for their clients.  In this episode Phil shares the Bounteous journey from a 2-person startup to a high growth company that has been featured in Inc.’s fastest growing companies.  Bounteous now has over 300 employees and is closing in on the $100 million in annual revenue.  We go deep on how Dominos became one of their first customers how their partnership launched both companies to the next level, especially in the digital revolution in the early 2000’s. Questions we answer: How Phil and Bounteous were pioneers in creating a virtual organization How working with a couple of large, enterprise customers, Ceridian and Domino’s proved to be the right strategy How Bounteous was at the center of the digital revolution with Dominos Why they chose a Horizontal vs. a Vertical focus on growth- broad vs. niche Why Human Resources was a critical focus early on The power and constraint of unicorn employees 

32. How Co-Founders Turned an Idea into a $100 Million Business

On this episode, we welcome Christine Perakis to the program.  Christine, AKA the Storm Warrior, is a serial entrepreneur, business coach and author.  Christine’s first entrepreneurial venture was a fragrance company. Since then, she has started, grown and expanded 9 others as well as advised 100s of clients on five continents. Her remarkable journey includes surviving two record-breaking category 5 hurricanes, including the first one that left her buried alive for nearly 24 hours and forced her to survive without electricity, running water and telecoms for a couple of months on an isolated adopted-island nation.  The leadership and resilience lessons that she learned have been incorporated into her next book, The Resilient Leader, which is being released in 2020. In this episode Christine offers strategies that anyone can use to weather the inevitable storms of life and business and come through thriving.

31. The Storm Warrior: Applying Lessons from Surviving a Category 5 Hurricane

On this episode, we welcome Victoria Tretis to the program.  Victoria is a former executive assistant that became a virtual assistance before starting her current company- VA Matchmaker. VA Matchmaker helps take the confusion and complexity of using virtual assistants.  She matches entrepreneurs with the skill set they need.   In this episode Victoria breaks down the What, the Why, and the How of using remote resources to drive efficiency and value in your growing organization.  She also provide tips on what not to do. LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/victoriatretis Website:  https://www.victoriatretis.co.uk/

30. Why VA’s Could be the Missing Link to Your Productivity

HARDWIRED FOR GROWTH is a podcast dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and business owners who are looking for sustainable and scalable growth, led by your host, Brett Trainor. Whether you’re looking to learn from entrepreneurs who have successfully scaled their businesses or hear from industry experts and thought leaders providing actionable growth-focused tips, this is the podcast for you. Each episode features topics like: sales execution, B2B leadership, entrepreneurship, organizational alignment, customer success, demand generation strategies, go-to-market strategies, employee engagement, sales & marketing technology, machine learning, digital age and more.

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Hardwired For Growth

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