Let's Talk About...Getting your vision delivered: Recent Episodes
John Hetherington
Are you an entrepreneur or small business owner and you feel stuck? Are you struggling to get your new product or service to market? Is your business living from payroll to payroll?
Check-out the Let's talk about... podcast were I share useful tips and advice on getting business results.
In this episode of Let's Talk About...I sat down with Greg Kautz, the CEO and Co-Founder of Black Owl Systems.
I've known Greg for many years and I was curious to know his experience of scaling a SaaS business. We covered a lot of ground on the challenges and joys of tech start-ups and he also shared what he would do differently next time.
Check out the full episode and show notes below.
Thanks for listening!
Show notes:
Tell us a bit about Black Owl and what it does. - 0:30s
What gave you the idea for Black Owl? - 1:12s
When starting your business, what do you focus on first? - 2:42s
How have mentors or coaches influenced your growth? - 7:37s
As entrepreneurs, we get a lot of rejection, how do you deal with No's? - 9:52s
If you had to do it again, what would you do differently? - 11:21s
What's next for Black Owl? - 15:55s
Instead of asking what keeps you up at night, What gets you up in the morning? - 16:47s
Hi everyone!
Welcome to another edition of Let's Talk About podcast and today we're talking about how to be Powerful Leader with Dr Dorothy Martin-Neville.
Enjoy!
Show notes:
1) From orphanage to Caribbean - using vision to move forward:0m33s
2) Lessons from setting up a school for healing and health: 5m22s
3) If you could have infinite freedom, what would your life look like?: 7m50s
4) The power of asking "who do you want to be when you show up?": 11m40s
5) How to keep up with the pace of change and using transition as an opportunity: 17m01s
6) Let's replace FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt) with ALIVE (Abundance, Leadership, Inspiration, Value, Empowerment): 21m10s
7) What does it mean to be a Powerful Leader?: 28m00s
I had a blast with Niraj Kapur talking about rock bands, game shows and why you always need to be selling (without have to ‘sell’).
Show notes below:
What most people get wrong about sales. (it's not about selling) - 00:57s
3 LinkedIn basics that everyone misses - 05:30s
Who's the best rock band of all time? - 08:43s
Never be afraid to stand-out. Creating the best ‘About You’ section - 10:15s
If you were to start a business now, what would you do? - 16:55s
What I learnt from being a professional Game Show Contestant - 20:40s
I sat down with Mike Wolf to talk about real estate investing, life-long learning and how to invest the right way, in yourself and your team.
Biggest Challenges and Problems (10:41 to 11:15)
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Productive surfing
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Life-long Learning
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Why it gets suddenly easier to get the business.
Secret to Success (15:16 to 15:50)
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Time is Money
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Working Hard
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Working Smarter
Trustworthy People (24:20 to 24:55)
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Give the ability for my assistant to hire people whenever she needs and not wait for my approval.
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When you have right people on your team, treat them well, they will love being there.
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It is a balance between keeping people and training them up and releasing them.
The key to Investing (33:20 to 34:20)
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The chances of you will learn a lot from the first rent. Buy, manage the tenancy with the real estate property manager which is the key to build up the equity.
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Then start to play a loop investing them in the next one.
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It takes confidence and mindset.
Important be a Life-Long Learner (42:00 to 42:50)
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Things are always changing and now they are changing exponentially fast. We should keep our skills sharpening.
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It is important to keep your brain sharped by keeping up with the things.
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Why people attend conferences and seminars.
I sat down with Todd Hirsch, the Modern Economist, to explore the need for a new way of thinking to help us prepare for economic uncertainty.
We cover a lot of ground including the importance of adaptability, collaboration, and embracing change in order to thrive in uncertaintimes.
Listen to find out the significance of knowing one's story, building strongrelationships, and learning from failure.
We also chat about the role of AI, the power of mentors, and the value of patience and kindness in navigating transitions.
Quotes:
"Research on successful adapters during the pandemic revealed there are 11 key traits that can help organizations navigate unpredictable events and pivot effectively."
"Understanding the origins and lessons of a company's story allows for wisdom and guidance in facing present-day challenges."
"Building strong relationships with team members, board members, clients, and even competitors is essential during times of crisis."
"Adapting to unwanted change is challenging but necessary for personal and professional growth."
"The future holds incredible potential, but it will require our patience and collective efforts to create something amazing."
"Taking a breath and looking back at our progress can provide reassurance and motivation."
“Your fear of looking stupid is making you look stupid.”
—RuPaul
I sat down with Laurie Michelle Levitt and explored the concept of clarity and its importance for business leaders.
We discuss the need for personal clarity before effective communication with others, the role of creating safe spaces for open communication, and methods for articulating visions and handling mistakes constructively.
Clarity is key for effective decision-making, adapting to change, and measuring progress.
Key points:
Hope can serve as an initial motivator, but addressing underlying fears is essential for effective communication.
Building things up in one's mind and fear of saying the wrong thing is a blocker for effective communication.
Ask questions and follow through to achieving clarity in decision-making.
It takes time for a vision to be accepted throughout an organization and this should not be underestimated.
Quotes:
"Innovating involves learning, and mistakes are part of the learning process"
"How we handle mess-ups determines our ability to move forward and grow"
"There's the day-to-day operations, connecting with people, and strategic thinking... it's a muscle you have to work."
00:47 Why is ISO 27001 so important to you business
1:09 Breakdown & Importance of ISO 27001
2:04 3 Parts of ISO 27001
6:08 Difference Between ISO, NIST & SOC 2
10:01 How Long Does It Take To Get ISO 27001 Certification?
11:54 The Process of ISO 27001 Certification
18:33 How Much Does It Cost To Get ISO 27001 Certification?
21:14 When is ISO 27001 not right for my company?
0:28 How we helped a manufacturing client to grow from $80 Million to $100 Million
2:39 What is the magic OBDC?
5:02 The value of Data Science
6:59 The key steps to build your dashboard
11:31 Why you need to sanity check your data
14:33 Visualization
19:52 How we trained our client in Power Bi
22:40 What you need know about advanced analytics
25:04 Recap
5:20: What makes strategy goals real for teams?
15:10: Why you and your CEO need to be the number one salesperson.
28:39: We see a lot of companies with a disconnect at the leadership level, this is a problem.
35:05: Creating a culture of empathy is key - how do we achieve that?
43:10: Chris is a technology and leadership whisperer - tell me more!
How do you find a purpose that drives you? 7:48 - 10:02
Choosing between a service and product is hard. Do this. 13:10 - 16:04
This is how purpose and value grows your company 16:52 - 21:56
Do this to know you're adding value to your customers 21:56 - 23:44
What is an MVP and how does it help drive my purpose? 24:20 - 27:03
1:29 - 4:16 How your influence grows your #career and your business
5:28 - 7:20 How to find value in your #expertise and knowledge
13:05 -15:20 Ways to share your #knowledge and give value to others
15:20 - 17:36 Understanding and developing your #passion
10m 08s - 12m 00s Be involved in marketing
12m 01s - 14m 04s Marketing is not evil
14m 07s - 20m 38s Leverage your list
20m 39s - 22m 15s Customers refund transactions not people
22m 16s - 23m 50s Credibility and transparency
22m 51s - 27m 09s Measure your results
27m 10s - 31m 40s Share your value - it's not bragging if you did it
31m 41s - 35m 03s Advertising is infinite, focus on 1 or 2 only
35m 03s - 44m 30s Focus on a single channel and do it well.
Show notes:
2:58 - 5:40 Setting priorities for the day
7:28 - 11:27 Working on your mindset
11:28 - 14:10 Learning something new
14:13 - 17:38 Exercise
17:40 - 21:37 Intentional outreach
Show notes:
2:25 - 3:30 What is the metaverse?
6:15 - 8:30 What exactly is Facebooks 'Metaverse'?
15:42 - 17:15 Is Web 3 the Metaverse?
20:02 - 21:45 How can you experience the Metaverse?
22:05 - 24:04 Is Metaverse the new social hotspot?
28:09 - 30:45 Why invest in virtual assets?
Show notes:
1:05 - 3:18 What is global entrepreneurship and why you need to know all about it!
3:20 - 4:55 Are you a creator or a disruptor?
6:45 -9:01 How to invest and get invested in
9:02 - 10:29 Camels and Unicorns
Let's Talk About...Sales Secrets of Introverted Entrepreneurs with Craig Elias
03:42 How do you define an introvert?
05:22 Introverts can be better salespeople
07:02 How to make decisions faster
12:41 Sales secret #1: The 6 second pause
14:34 Sales Secret #2: Connect with O.A.R
17:20 Sales Secret #3: The best time to connect with others
21:41 Sales Secret #4: Start selling by reading
23:36 Sales Secret #5: Don't ask Why? Ask What...
25:53 Sales Secret #6: Who else can I talk to?
29:08 Sales Secret #7: How to reframe your brain
33:11 Sales Secret #8: How to avoid sales troughs
40:10 Sales Secret #9: Know your clients
What are the biggest technology mistakes made by start-ups? I sat down with Jim Gibson from SAIT for my latest podcast and we had a great conversation on:
Shiny object syndrome and how to avoid it
Web 3.0 and its disruptive paradigm shift.
Who not how - you don't have to have all the technology answers
Why the Red Dot is not your friend.
Don't let tech dehumanize you business.
Check out my latest episode of Let's Talk About…podcast where I sit down with @Nils and share our insights on Top 10 Leadership Mistakes for Entrepreneurs.
Podcast highlights:
5:39 - The how not who
6:56 - Always having to answer
9:04 - Not being clear on expectations
10:21 - Accountability
18:27 - Blaming the team
21:28 - Not being the CEO of your career
26:03 - Running Hot and Cold
29:54 - Communicating at the wrong level
34:02 - Not Letting Go
37:11 -Mastering your time
44:24 - Summary
"The real work of business and life is to find those vital few factors that wield the quiet but potent power to change everything, for better or for worse, and then to strive to change them for the better."
In this edition of Tech Coffee Chats, I sat down with Anthony Sanni, author of the book The Law of The Vital Few: How to do more by doing less, and we break down the complexity that comes with technology and share helpful tips on how to simplify the complexity and boost your productivity.
It was a really interesting discussion and we covered a lot of ground including:
1) How to apply the technology transformation framework to boost delivery of your technology initiatives
2) Exploring the counter-intuitive concept of doing more by doing less
3) Learning how to set goals for your technology projects
4) How to prioritize your projects so you're working on what really matters
Quotes:
"Our greatest gains are traceable to a small number of sources. So are our greatest losses."
"There are many things you could be doing. But they are not necessarily what you should be doing. What you should be doing is moving in the direction of the high pay-off goals"
"...ignoring the vital few sources of both good and grief in our affairs can be a recipe for failure. It may not be the only thing that could hamper our success, but it surely is a critical one."