Tim S. on LinkedIn: #timxtalks #futureofwork #careers | 51 comments (2024)

Innovation is really tough. Invention is tougher. Most companies aren't designed to breed creativity, ingenuity, differentiation, and innovation. Most companies are designed to be machines, not human, just machines. To each is own. Markets determine victors. Innovative companies are different. Inventive companies are very different. They are businesses with heart, foresight, resilience, and unshakable grit. Innovate Summit 2024 is gathering the marquee leaders across multiple industries who are at the forefront of invention and innovation.Leaders like Jason Falls, Dr. Ai Addyson-Zhang 🎓 Education Disruptor, and Bobbie Carlton.True Trailblazers in their field. You have less than 1 week to get your ticket. By next week, Owensboro, Kentucky is going up up up up. Come for a once in a lifetime experience. Leave with the skills, mindset, and vision to transform your organization and craft the future. Margaret Bedilion Brian Wallace thank you for creating this movement.

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Innovate 2024 is fastly approaching. On May 21-23, a few of the country's top innovators and leaders will be gathering to lead the industry forward. Tickets can be found in the link in the comments. Apply the code "Salau20" to save when purchasing tickets. Save 20% off to gain the best seats in the house.

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You're going in for the sale...That's not selling. Instead of going in for the sale, focus on nurturing the relationship. Instead of going in for the sale,focus on offering a booklet, a guidebook, or other resource that frames the problem you're solving. One of the reasons selling software is SO HARD is because 80% of companies in the market are often trying to sell you their software vs. offering an experience and nurturing the relationship with the prospect. The three most powerful ways to grow a company are through product-led growth, partner & channel-led growth, and ecosystem-led growth. 1. Product led growth. This requires you to drive word of mouth through the product. How might you design the product to inherently generate leads given the value you offer? In-app Referrals don't often do it. It's enabling other customers to share your core value proposition with friends, teammates, or their customers. That's your growth engine. 2. Partner & Channel-led growth. This requires you to forge alliances with the right partners and work together. The right partners will refer the right customers your way or can act as an extended channel to list your software offering. 3. Ecosystem-led growth. Most companies don't start worrying about this until 7 to 10 years in market, but you should be thinking about it on day one. Especially if you're buildig a marketplace of sort. What's your supply? (What you need more of or offer...)How do you create or nuture demand? (Interest in your offering)How do you retain the customers you're building your ecosystem around? (What do they get out of being in your ecosystem?)Ecosystem led growth is the hardest to crack, but when you have it figured out it can act as a powerful flywheel of growth.

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It's time we make a case for experience managers...There are product managers. People you hire to drive the value and feature set of a product. There are platform managers. People you hire to drive the value and ecosystem strategy of a platform or service. Then there are experience managers. People you hire to ensure customer experience with your service, product, or platform remain differentiated, exceptional, or deepen in delight. In an era in which software is becoming commoditized, big data is being monopolized, and AI is being touted or forced into every application, your customer experience can set you apart. You can offer differentiation at the experiential layer. This is the type of differentiation that customers feel, yet don't see. Experience managers would be responsible for optimizing customer experience for every facet of your product, service, or platform. They optimize for customer delight, eliminating unnecessary friction, and deepening benefit for the customer. Therefore, keeping the customer in focus and ensuring the customer experience remains differentiated, delightful, intuitive, and human is key. I believe experience managers are becoming more valuable or as important as product or platform managers. What do you think?

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Super proud of our team...Introducing 🫂 Guest mode...Guest mode is the latest feature we released. Great features take time. And we're extremely proud of this one....Here's why...Guest mode will allow customers to browse enriching bytes, gems, and courses on Guide's platform without ever having to register or login.No email address? Cool.Don't want to login? We understand. Tired of irritating passwords and e-mail? Us too. Sick and tired of 2FA? YEA... we HATE how companies implement it too. HATE IT. That's why we've created Guest Mode...just for you. Because you're welcome to our home on Guide whenever you want. We're also setting a pioneering standard on proactive cybersecurity with Guest Mode vs. reactive cybersecurity (e.g., 2FA). We're currently refining and polishing Guest Mode and would love your feedback...We're on a vivid mission to build the world's most HUMAN-centric and TALENT-driven company...ever.🥳🥳🥳🥳 Congrats to our team. Today is day one...May you never see day two...🐐Tap the link in the comments to check out Guest Mode! 🤭🤭🤭

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A few months ago I did a thing...Sara Murdock and myself caught up and went deep about organizational team dynamics and psychological safety. She's a social scientist and leadership development expert. "Senior leaders need to drive dialogue, not lopsided power dynamics. It's about doing truly good work, not performative work." This is one of the last episodes as we enter our break period. It's a must listen. You'll gain a better understanding of leadership in an organizational context and how it applies in your role as a leader. Listen on Spotify. 🔗⬇️ Link in comments...

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The changing of the guard...It's what happens when you pivot...It's what happens when you invent...It's what happens when you approach conventional problems with unconventional ideas...It's what happens when you're so familiar with failure that you've married focus, grit, and foresight. Innovation is not easy. Invention is not easy. Innovention is no where close. Strategy is. But it's all teachable.When you embrace a Zen mind and beginners mind.This year, the top innovators in the country are stepping down in Kentucky for Innovate 2024. Come learn from pioneers, trailblazers, and Icons across multiple industries. The whose who who are the standard. Would love to to see you this May in Kentucky. Let's innovate...☝🏽🕊️🔎

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Experiential thinking is essential. Before investing in building a product, you really want to think through the why and how you want it to be used.What use-cases are you looking to support for customers? How does it fit into your customers workflow? What is the desired delightful experience? What manual process are you looking to eliminate or enhance?It's very easy to build an app now due to no-code app builders. It's harder to deliver a delightful experience. One of the best product decisions I've made for our company is choosing to build atop and with the web, not against it. For example, if you're not aiming for daily usage for your product, don't build for an app store. Build atop the web. Little small decisions like what platform you build for may have long-term impact on your strategy and growth. Keep guiding. 👍🏽

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How is your product essential?In Software as a Service (SaaS), the true measure of a product's value can be seen in how it becomes an integral part of the customers daily workflow.A "sticky" product is one that not only attracts users but also encourages them to share it with others, creating a viral growth loop. You achieve this when users generate content or data that enhances the product's value, compelling new users to join and contribute further.On the other hand, a "gluey" product is characterized by its deep integration capabilities. When a SaaS product can seamlessly connect with other tools and systems that a business relies on, it becomes much harder to replace. These integrations embed the product into the business's operations, making it a central hub for various workflows.It also opens opportunity for interesting automations and whatnot. But the 🔺pinnacle of a SaaS product's success is when it becomes "essential." An essential product is one that has a direct impact on a company's bottom line—whether by driving revenue, cutting costs, or SAVING TIME. TIME. TIME.When a product can clearly demonstrate its ROI, it becomes a non-negotiable part of a business's toolkit.The ultimate goal of any SaaS product should be to give people their time back. TIME. In today's fast-paced world, efficiency is not just a buzzword; it's a necessity, so is a delightful product and platform experience that isn't cumbersome and anxiety inducing. By automating mundane tasks, providing insightful analytics, and facilitating collaboration, a SaaS product can free up valuable time for users to focus on what truly matters—growing their business and pursuing their passions.In conclusion, the stickiness, glueyness, and ESSENTIAL nature of a SaaS product are not just features; they are the benchmarks of a product's success in the market. By focusing on these aspects, SaaS companies can create platforms that not only meet the needs of their customers but also become indispensable tools for success.I believe in you. Today is day one.#saas #b2bsaas #saasdevelopment

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Leadership is tough.The Workplace of the future has arrived. And guess what?Millions of leaders and executive boards are struggling in chaos. Keyword: Arrived. It's here. The vision is now a vivid reality. We are knee deep in a new era. So what now? Now talent-driven organizations need to craft the workplace of the future. Now employers need to think differently about hiring and onboarding talent. Now company directors need to value talent experience, not just employee experience, although there's a major difference between the two, there's one central fundamental theme...Talent is the fundamental lifeblood of stellar organizations. Employees are the superior spur behind high-performing organizations. The spur. You need to treat them as assets and not cogs. You need to create an environment in which they succeed for whatever stage in their life they are in. You need to engage them in a neo-modern and personalized manner. Your talent is the most powerful lead magnet for your company. Why treat them bad?

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