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The ABCs of Scaling Your Business

The ABCs of Scaling Your Business

scaling business

There’s a lot of debate around what is considered the hardest part of growing your business, but what we can all agree on is that there is no shortage of pain points. In my opinion, the difficulty of growing your team of 10 to 20 is not talked about enough. At face value, it seems simple enough, the number isn’t overwhelming, it’s just 10 more people on the team, what’s so hard about that? But the cracks that begin to form in a business at that stage can act as sleeper cells that don’t show themselves until later on. 

Let’s dive right into what happens in that stage of growth. For the first time in the business, leadership isn’t meeting with every single person weekly. Founders are natural visionaries and motivators, meeting with everyone weekly gives them the opportunity to (1) ensure the team knows exactly what the company is trying to accomplish, (2) how this individual is directly contributing to that goal, and (3) get direct feedback from the team. This interaction allows teams to move in the right direction, stay motivated, and feel heard. Once that’s gone, if leadership is not intentional about how they solve these problems, over time, as you grow, it can lead to a completely misaligned company, and leave leadership confused as to why the team is “unmotivated” or “slacking off”.

Now, we can spend years talking about the pros and cons of different management philosophies, but instead, let’s keep it simple. There are 3 things you can do that most management experts agree on:
 
  1. Clearly define your company’s mission and vision. Your mission statement is what you do today, it’s why the company exists, whereas your vision is where you want to be, all the things you want to accomplish as a company. The combination of those two things makes it crystal clear to your team what they do day-to-day and what they should strive to accomplish. Make sure you repeat it regularly, at every company-wide meeting, during events, etc. and do so with the same passion you would if you were in a 1:1 meeting with each employee.
  2. Set clear objectives for your team. 95% of the time, employees want to succeed. They want to do great work, be acknowledged, and compensated appropriately for it. Issues usually arise from employees not knowing what they’re supposed to be focusing on and if you leave it up to that, that may not necessarily be aligned with what you are hoping to accomplish. There are many ways to do this, but I’m a huge proponent of using OKRs. Start with setting company-wide objectives, then create department ones, and finally individual goals that all tie into each other.
  3. Create a formalized 2-way feedback loop. When you’re a small team, you generally know how everyone is feeling and can give/get daily feedback. As you scale, you won’t all be in the same room, you won’t always be working together, and you have new employees that don’t know you on a personal level. Build out a formalized process where employees can give feedback anonymously to you and where managers can give quarterly/ biannual performance reviews and feedback to employees.

Bio:
Faye has spent the last 10 years in the startup ecosystem as a founder, employee #1 at VC backed startups, and as a venture capital investor. She’s currently the Founder of Faye Almeshaan Consulting, a fractional COO consultancy. Faye is an advocate for women’s rights, financial inclusion, and more funding for underrepresented founders. She also runs a community for Young Professionals of Color in Las Vegas. Faye received her MBA from University of Toronto and her Bachelors in Finance from Florida International University.
Website: Fayealmeshaan.com

Six Nevada-based startups advance to final round for AngelNV investment

Six Nevada-based startups advance to final round for AngelNV investment

One company to receive at least $200,000 from local angel investors

LAS VEGAS – Operated by StartUpNV, a nonprofit incubator and accelerator for Nevada-based startup companies, AngelNV will hold its Shark Tank-style grand finale on Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m. at the Las Vegas City Hall where six startup companies will pitch to secure an investment totaling at least $200,000. 

 The six finalists were selected from more than 250 participants in AngelNV’s free entrepreneur bootcamp sessions that educate startup founders how to raise venture capital. The $200,000 investment will come from angel investors who have invested at least $5,000 and have been participating in AngelNV’s investor bootcamp that teaches angel investing strategies and tactics.

 Currently, nearly 75 first-time and experienced investors in the AngelNV investor group have pledged to invest at least $200,000 to one company. By the April 30 event, even more investment funding may be available and awarded to one or more runners up from the six finalists. Last year, 52 investors awarded $220,000 to one finalist company and $55,000 investments to two runners up.

 Five of the startup finalists are from Southern Nevada, and one is female-owned. The six startup finalists and their service or product offerings are:

  1. AcuStitch created a suturing tool that is especially helpful for incisions exceeding 10 cm in length. The tool uses a variety of needle sizes and suture widths. It offers programmable stitch patterns and can perform surface, subcuticular and subcutaneous sutures.
  2. Carrot developed a complete Customer Experience platform for cannabis retail. It integrates e-commerce, ordering, delivery, and rewards programs into one easy to use application for both the retail operators and customers.
  3. SeeID created a real-time asset tracking system that detects and tracks the location of objects indoors or in a contained area outdoors via a mesh network that uses edge technology that requires less infrastructure to deploy, costs less, and requires no power source or batteries.
  4. SemiExact makes furniture kits and table legs for the do-it-yourself creator. They have bedframes, shelving, live edge wood, table legs, and outdoor furniture in a variety of finishes.
  5. Surgistream is a software application that solves the scheduling of surgeons, operating rooms, support personnel, and devices needed for a surgery.
  6. Terbine collects data from Internet of Things devices and packages the data into useable information for planning, including creating digital twins of cities.

AngelNV is a program of StartUpNV that provides expert mentorship to startups and access to a network of capital partners. Since it began operation in 2017, more than $72 million has been raised and invested in 30 companies participating in StartUpNV programs, including AngelNV. In fact, $46.2 million was invested in 16 companies in the last 18 months – despite a global pandemic.

 StartUpNV launched AngelNV to foster an angel investment network for Nevada-based startups and attract to the state scalable startup businesses and entrepreneurs with big ideas to build a more diversified and resilient economy. AngelNV is building a bridge between entrepreneurs and angel investors by teaching startups how to raise venture capital and advising potential investors on wise investments. For more information on AngelNV visit: www.angelnv.com and tickets for the April 30 event are available online.

 Editor’s Note: Media interested in speaking with any of the finalists or the executive director of StartUpNV/AngelNV in advance of the April 30 event, please email: amy@twgpr.com. Below are photos of last year’s grand prize investment winner, Safe Arbor.

Safe-Arbor-Winner-Check-Photo

Creating Value in Companies Through Communications

By: Andy Abramson

CEO, Comunicano

Too often, the importance and value of external communications – be it public relations, social media, or event participation – is underestimated by technology-led companies.

While founders often seek attention from the media or relish the opportunity to speak to their audiences, too many companies fail to recognize how vital a well-structured communications program can be to drive and deliver their value proposition, along with its potential to positively impact  the company’s valuation. That’s why a Value Creation Communications approach is necessary from a company’s beginning to exit.

Simply put, Value Creation Communications is about engaging with three distinct audiences:

  1. Customers
  2. Ecosystem partners
  3. Investors/Acquirers

These three audiences directly impact a business’s value and, in reality, the founders’ ability to command a higher valuation when acquired. In order to attract these three audiences, the concept of Value Creation Communications (VCC) can be utilized.

For VCC to be successful, the company’s story must be clearly understood. Without a story, a business is just another face in the crowd, but your goal is to be the face the crowd is looking at. That’s why it is essential to tell a story that meets the requirements of the 4 C’s, so that  your story is memorable enough to be retold by others the way that you tell it yourself.

The 4 C’s:

  • Clear
  • Credible
  • Compelling

… and…

  • CONTAGIOUS

When a story is contagious and begins being retold by others, the business builds its legend. The more your story is told by others, the more prodigious your legend becomes. And with that, the creation of greater awareness of your story.

Enabling Today’s Era of Prosperous PropTech in the Commercial Real Estate Sector

By: Shreyans Parekh

Director, Corporate Development and Ventures at Fortune 200 Commercial Real Estate Firm

Commercial real estate (CRE) property technology has transformed dramatically over the past decade, especially pushed forward by the COVID-19 pandemic. While this period has proven challenging for the CRE sector, it has also accelerated a number of key PropTech trends that were already beginning to gain traction in the industry. The ability to provide comprehensive platform solutions to commercial real estate owners and operators is at the core of PropTech innovation today.

As a Director of Corporate Development and Ventures at a Fortune 200 CRE firm, I see firsthand that today’s real estate leaders face complex challenges that require the right technologies to solve them. Here are five major CRE PropTech trends that the commercial real estate industry is experiencing in 2022:

  1. Intelligent facilities management: integrated technology and services deliver a powerful, automated way of managing space today. The era of hybrid work is here, and companies are under pressure to determine how much physical space they need, how to use real estate to attract employees, and how to build healthier, happier and more productive workplaces.
  2. Modern space management: The hybrid workplace is here to stay, and companies with large, underutilized real estate portfolios are making tough decisions about what to keep, what to shed and how to maximize the potential of every square foot — all while rising to employees’ wants and needs. Strategic planning and space efficiency insights are critical to enhanced space utilization and CRE leaders are re-imagining the commercial office leasing process to an online-first experience for smaller square footage buildings and co-working spaces.
  3. Smart buildings: occupancy sensors, IoT, air quality, and smart building technologies are permeating the CRE landscape today. AI and machine learning enable IoT sensors and devices to gain insights on how to better manage buildings for both the occupiers and operators. Companies focused on corporate social responsibility and green initiatives.
  4. Innovative building operations: transforming the way that buildings are managed with tech solutions increases property efficiency and boosts tenant satisfaction. Enhancing the tenant experience through mobile apps provides occupants with building access, accessibility to critical services, and the ability to control their environments.
  5. Powerful data and insights: cohesive data strategy and systems are now delivering robust insights into the global real estate portfolio. Leveraging insights from public and private data can enable profitable investing by offering valuation tools for commercial buildings and other assets.

According to CREtech, $32 billion was invested in real estate tech companies in 2021, a 28% increase in funding since 2020. Corporate venture funds are also now becoming spun out of commercial real estate firms, as these firms are looking to take a comprehensive and prudent approach to their PropTech investments.

PropTech will continue to improve access to insights for all of these critical use cases as more property managers gain a better understanding of their building operations throughout 2022 and beyond. Transformational technology, data, and analytics will continue to evolve to meet organization’s needs. Cutting-edge real estate technology will help operators and property managers to capture, analyze, and leverage data for more productive, happier, and sustainable workplaces.

How to overcome a complicated name: 6 Steps to Ensure “Flawless Recall”

By: Liz Goodgold

Redfire Branding

New research confirms what most of us thought: a complex name hurts your chances of getting a job. And, here’s the double whammy: a difficult to pronounce name coupled with being a minority can lower your chances of getting a callback for a job by a whopping 50%!

With the world (thank goodness!) embracing names beyond Jim, Jane, and John, now is the time to translate your unfamiliar name to the familiar. Show and share how easy your name is with these techniques:

Add a visual guide to your name. Actress Saoirse Ronan routinely adds to articles that her name is pronounced “Sur-sha.” Or Emily Weinstein notes her moniker this way: WINE-Steen so that you don’t say “WINE-STINE.  Remember: don’t use diacritical marks (the complicated linguistic guides such as ē, in the word ease.)

  1. Break Down the Name – Dividing your name into easy to digest bites also works. The Russian name Artemii can be turned into Art-Team-Me.
  2. Play with Rhyme Time – A dear friend always said his name this way: “Mizhir rhymes with leisure.” Or Iwaniak: rhymes with Pontiac. Another woman writes her name, Frezhenay, this way: rhymes with chardonnay. A woman after my heart…and wine glass!
  3. Teach them how to pronounce it on LinkedIn. The social media platform has an easy guide on how to record your own name. Voila!
  4. Add a Metaphor/Simile – I met a man with the last name Brieuliette. He slyly explains: “have you tried the brie yet?” Or a man from Persia explains his name a Eyetern as in “I torn my jeans.” Of course, my girlfriend Alise always makes me laugh by stating “Alise,” as in you “sign a lease”!
  5. Make it Analogous – Unfortunately, I used to get introduced on stage as Liz GoldGood. I solved that problem by explaining that I am a speaker who is as good as gold, Liz Goodgold. Problem solved.

What works for you? I’m all ears.


Liz Goodgold is a branding and communications expert who has worked with over 14,000 employees and entrepreneurs to brand better and speak “gooder.” A former brand manager at Quaker Oats, she creates winning strategies that earn sizzling results.

Quick with a quip, Liz dishes the dirt on celebrity branding on 2 television shows, was a finalist judge for Simon Cowell, and is a frequent guest on TV. Liz is in an exclusive relationship with coffee. You can reach her at Liz@RedFireBranding.com