Case Study: MapSherpa
"We have been fortunate enough to have worked over the past nine months with Francis Moran and Associates to deliver virtual CMO services for our company, and so far it has been highly effective. With this relationship, we get access to a level of experience and expertise which would be unaffordable to us if we were to hire a full-time equivalent." Dave McIlhagga, Founder and CEO
Case Study: Singletouch
"When I hired Francis Moran to lead our marketing efforts in 2011, I had very high expectations. We needed to completely rebuild our marketing from the ground up. Francis and his team not only met those high expectations but exceeded them. He brought a very high level of strategic thinking, professionalism and creativity to our organization that will be felt for many years to come in our quest to build a successful IT company." Marty Hilsenteger, Founder and CEO
By Linda Forrest
Late last year, PRNewswire gave a presentation at PubCon that shared its data about pitching in the new media world, what modes journalists – and PR practitioners – were using in 2010 and in what numbers. The results were as follows:
84 percent of journalists like to get pitched via email. In addition to email, these journalists also use Facebook (79 percent), LinkedIn (64 percent), and Twitter (58 percent) to search out potential stories.
As part of our continuing series about the ecosystem necessary to bring technology to market, we asked entrepreneur and long-time angel investor Frank Peters to share some insights from his lengthy experience investing in startups.
By Frank Peters
With a nod to Garage Venture’s Guy Kawasaki and his Top 10 Lies of Venture Capitalists, I offer my Top 12 Lies Angels Tell. When I showed a draft to my angel friend Malcolm, he turned to me and said, “wow, this is really cynical!” So let me acknowledge that first.
1. “That was a good presentation!”
I have to say something positive, but you’re not getting me to write a cheque. The fact is, most funding pitches are terrible; they’re more product pitches with an appeal for money tacked on at the end. Passion, yes; every entrepreneur has heard by now they must show great enthusiasm for their endeavor, but show me how I can get my money back someday, too. Who will acquire you? Are you going to raise venture capital that will keep me in the deal for six, seven, eight, nine years? Or are you aware of the new trend towards early exits? Show me how I can get my money back in three to five years and even I’ll be saying, “That was a good presentation!”
This is the third article in a continuing series that examines the state of the ecosystem necessary to successfully bring technology to market. Based on dozens of interviews with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, business leaders, academics, tech-transfer experts and policy makers, this series looks at what is working and what can be improved in the go-to-market ecosystem in the United States, Canada and Britain. We invite your feedback.
By Francis Moran and Leo Valiquette
In our previous post, we explored the massive changes that have occurred in North America and Europe that have led to a contraction of traditional venture capital investment.
These long-term trends have left early-stage companies in a tight spot. They must become increasingly creative to shorten time to market, become more capital efficient and generally figure out how to do more with less. The cash-burn of years past is no longer an option, if it ever was.
By Alexandra Reid
Sometimes, a dash of painful irony is enough to provoke a serious discussion.
I flew to Vancouver this past week to reunite with my Dad and two brothers who have all moved to opposite areas of the planet over the last few years. My younger brother, Austin, who flew in from China, promised his Chinese girlfriend a Starbucks mug with “Canada” on it when he returned. We all went to Starbucks with Austin to purchase the mug, but when he checked its bottom for the price, we couldn’t help but stare at it, utterly flabbergasted.
The cringer: The mug cost $12.99.
The kicker: The stamp next to the price said that the mug was “Made in China.”
By Leo Valiquette
Do you remember that Knorr commercial about how it had reduced sodium in its packaged side dishes?
Global advertising agency DDB Worldwide took a clever approach to promote a relatively humdrum message by portraying the perspective of that one individual unhappy about sodium reduction. It came up with an ad that features a despondent little salt shaker neglected at the family dinner table who trudges out of the house into a cold dark world.
Such creativity, says Jeff Swystun, is the most powerful force in business, especially in today’s world where technology has fuelled social interaction between consumers and the brands they use like never before. In this new reality, advertisers and marketers can no longer afford to focus on connecting people to brands. They must instead focus on connecting people to people.
February 10, 2011 by Alayne Martell
The Internet. Love it or hate it, most of us need it. And with it comes many debates. Most recently the controversy is growing over the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) recent ruling regarding usage-based-billing (UBB). […]
Read more... -February 09, 2011 by Denzil Doyle
During the past three or four decades, Canadian policy makers at both the federal and provincial levels have tried just about every trick in the book to finance technology companies, particularly those that are at an early stage in their development. In the early 1980s, we had the Scientific Research Tax Credits (SRTCs) that allowed technology companies that were not yet profitable to predict in advance what their R&D expenditures […]
Read more... -February 08, 2011 by Francis Moran
This is the second article in a continuing series that examines the state of the ecosystem necessary to successfully bring technology to market. Based on dozens of interviews with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, business leaders, academics, tech-transfer experts and policy makers, this series looks at what is working and what can be improved in […]
Read more... -February 07, 2011 by Francis Moran
One day last week, I tweeted the message you see to the right because I was tickled by the email that came in. In my haste, however, I added a snappy hashtag and thereby made the same common mistake I often accuse marketers — even branding experts — of making. […]
Read more... -February 04, 2011 by Linda Forrest
A few weeks ago, as I trundled through a sparsely populated HMV, a retailer that’s rumoured to be on its way out of Canada (if not about to shuffle off this mortal coil altogether), I couldn’t help but wonder if its acronym still stood for His Master’s Voice or if its meaning had shifted and now accounts for the hats, mugs and videogames that have overtaken shelf space once devoted to recorded music. […]
Read more... -February 03, 2011 by Bob Bailly
If you are interested in why people do what they do, why they buy what they buy, or why they behave like they do, then my contributions to this blog may be for you.
If you are interested in learning what science has to teach about the best ways to convince, communicate and motivate people, then […]
Read more... -February 02, 2011 by Francis Moran
“Companies that can’t clearly articulate their customer and market are not real serious companies, they are research projects … Engineering and marketing need to work together from the get go.
So said Ronald Weissman in a recent interview. And Weissman should know. […]
Read more... -February 01, 2011 by Francis Moran
For too long now, I have been painfully aware of just how dimly acquainted technology is with marketing. I’ve heard all the usual reasons; hell, I’ve even subscribed to most of them myself at one time or another. But these excuses simply don’t hold up to scrutiny. Technology companies tend to be […]
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