Category: collaboration

Why Hiring Top Talent Makes You a Giant in Business

The opportunity to delight people you want to make a big impression on (investor, potential client, company leader, hiring manager, founder etc.) is easier now than it was 10 years ago. 

However people still choose average.

This reminds me of the day I got hired at Ogilvy by the great Admen jacques burger, Mike Abel and friend Jason Harrison 

David Ogilvy, founder of Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency explains his philosophy on hiring in one of his books…

“When someone is made the head of an office in the Ogilvy & Mather chain, I send him a Matrioshka doll from Gorky. If he has the curiosity to open it, and keep opening it until he comes to the inside of the smallest doll, he finds this message:

“If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”

I found a shop in a backstreet of Cape Town CBD that sold traditional Russian Dolls and bought a set and followed suit and hand delivered them with the same message to Jacques but signed it Will Green.

I got the opportunity to work with the best in the business and learnt at the “University of Marketing” and am a proud “Ogilverian.” 

There is no excuse for being average.

Overcoming Fear: The Entrepreneur’s Mindset

“BUT” The one word I listen for when I speak with entrepreneurs. 

It’s a sign that they don’t fully have the entrepreneur mindset yet.

It’s the mind protecting them from the ‘FEAR’ of Failure and/or Rejection.

These are learned fears. Humans are only born with two fears. The fear of loud noises and falling.

An example of what is possible if you lack the fear of failure or rejection. 

You just need to be curious, experiment and reiterate to overcome these fears, one small step (or trade) at a time.

We need more positive stories like these to show that anything is possible if you have an idea, execute on it and build up a supportive community along the way. 

Anything is really possible.

Even trading a paper clip into a free-standing house. 

What is your ‘Red Paper Clip’ Idea and first step/sale/pitch?

Kyle’s brilliant TEDx talk below 👇

A parent? Watch it with your kids. 

Be the 12,372,653 rd person to watch it…

Future Trends in EdTech: What to Expect

What Education Needs

  1. Content: Books (eBooks), videos, and practical applications.
  2. Coaches: Teachers who act as education influencers (not entertainment influencers).
  3. Communication & Collaboration Tools: Tools for both physical and virtual classrooms.
  4. Community: A supportive space where students and educators can connect.
  5. Devices & Data: From blackboards and pencils to modern devices and internet access.

Some Thoughts on the Future

  • More Big Tech for Education Initiatives
    We could see more programs like Microsoft for Education, Twitch School, or Fortnite Science Lab.
  • Tech Targeting Education Levels
    • Amazon and Apple: Focused on tertiary education with services for recruitment, devices, and data.
    • Microsoft and Google: Targeting primary and secondary schools with licenses for schools and parents.
  • Global Tech Strategies
    • First-world countries: Focused on business and profit.
    • Third-world countries: Focused on marketing to build awareness and future use.
  • Collaborations with Influencers
    Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch could partner with educators and tech companies. Think Joe Rogan/Spotify for Education.
  • Teachers Offering Direct Services
    Could teachers create subscription models? Homeschooling might become more popular.
  • Marketing Strategies in EdTech
    Strategies like “pester power” and “parental guilt” could drive the adoption of new tools.
  • Grades as Data
    Academic results could become part of tech tools, driving smarter learning systems.
  • EdTech Acquisitions
    Big companies might buy smaller, innovative education platforms to grow their reach.

What’s Next?

As education and technology move forward together, there are endless ways to improve learning. How can we use these trends to make education better for everyone?

Top 100 TED Talks

Top 100 Ted talk.pdfDownload

1. Ken Robinson: “Do Schools Kill Creativity?”

2. Simon Sinek: “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”

3. Amy Cuddy: “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are”

4. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: “The Danger of a Single Story”

5. Hans Rosling: “The Best Stats You’ve Ever Seen”

6. Julian Treasure: “How to Speak So That People Want to Listen”

7. Derek Sivers: “How to Start a Movement”

8. Drew Dudley: “Everyday Leadership”

9. David Kelley: “How to Build Your Creative Confidence”

10. Brené Brown: “The Power of Vulnerability”

Market Size your Start-up using the VC Method

If you are a startup founder, why not show credibility in your pitches by triangulating your market sizing the method used by VC’s? 

Traditional Market Sizing by Startups: 

1. The Y Combinator (Large Number, Zero Context)

2. TAM, SAM, SOM (same as above but more numbers)

3. The Gartner (Largest number you can find in an analyst report, even if it is not from your market) 

Market Sizing by VC’s: 

1. Size of Largest Incumbent (What are their revenues, margins & valuations?)

2. Bottom Up Estimate (current pricing X # customers in target segment)

3. Latent Demand (future market can be much bigger than current market)

4. Adjacent Markets (Are their any larger adjacent markets to expand into?)

5 Steps for ‘Non Sales’ Founders to Sell.

A simple way for ‘non sales’ founders to think and do sales. The success rate of selling to an existing customer is 60-70% versus 5-20% for new customers. 

Segment your past 24 months (to factor in 12 mths+ of Covid) customers based on a very simple model… 

1. Save all your customer contacts centrally and in the ‘cloud’ (Your email contacts is a good starting point if you don’t have a CRM system yet).

2. List the top 10 customers from the past period with their amounts (You’ll be surprised by ‘small’ consistent customers vs inconsistent ‘big’ spending customers).

3. Assess the buying patterns of the top customers (frequency, types of products, ave amounts)

4. ‘ Label’ 4 tiers of customers:
I.e. ‘Entry Level Eddy’: Buys once, low priced product or only 1 product.

‘Repeat Purchase Rita’: Buys frequently, average priced products, average of 2 products.

‘VIP Velani’: Your biggest contributing customer segment; average 3 products. According to Signore Pareto 80% of your revenue will come from 20% customers. 

‘VVIP Piet’: Ensure that you don’t have customers in this segment, however ask yourself ‘What do I need to offer or do to increase my VIP customers to this level?”

5. Design activities to grow and maintain these customers.