Thursday, June 6, 2013 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (EDT) @ ING Network Orange

Online experiences are an integral part of our everyday existence for a company whose website is central to its business strategy.

In this session, you will broaden how you think [...]]]>

Click here to sign up!

Thursday, June 6, 2013 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (EDT) @ ING Network Orange

Online experiences are an integral part of our everyday existence for a company whose website is central to its business strategy.

In this session, you will broaden how you think about data on the internet.

• How to implement, scale and execute successful traffic driving and conversion-optimizing programs in your company

A tour of some of Japan’s coolest tech innovations, by Dentsu’s Kei Shimada – The Next Web

Through The Looking Glass: What You’ll See Through Google’s Lens | TechCrunch

From [...]]]> Here are the latest What’s Cool articles for the week of May 13:

Are you thinking about starting to grow your team? Many entrepreneurs are faced with the same challenges of finding ways to attract employees for their startup, while staying lean and not breaking the bank. You can get creative with your approach to compensation by offering perks that can be appealing to [...]]]> By Adam Gellert

Are you thinking about starting to grow your team? Many entrepreneurs are faced with the same challenges of finding ways to attract employees for their startup, while staying lean and not breaking the bank. You can get creative with your approach to compensation by offering perks that can be appealing to your new hires. We explored different perks you can offer your staff and ways to start thinking differently about adding to your compensation structure in our blog below.

“Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.” – Anne M. Mulcahy (CEO at Xerox)

Statements like the above lead one to question: how do you make an employee feel like a “whole person”? Perhaps it is in supporting a good work-life balance or delegating rewarding work assignments? Regardless of the answer, employee perks can play a significant role in making an employee feel appreciated. Although some small perks may seem insignificant, they can make all the difference in boosting employee morale.

The Linkus Group has been interested in the trends surrounding employee perks. We conducted a survey of employees in various industries to analyze their current perks and their ideal of what should be offered. The survey data covered a range of employees from a start-up online magazine, a marketing firm, and a large mining company. While these companies may not have much in common regarding the services they offer, they all have kept in mind the importance of employee perks.

Competitive compensation is a hot button topic in all organizations; however, a focus on “total compensation,” including intrinsic rewards such as perks, may be the key to reaching true employee satisfaction.

Here are some interesting perks, we have found, that employers are currently offering!

• Free breakfast essentials

• Year-end vacations –based on profit

• Corporate gym memberships

• Choice of office colour

• No dress code

• Yearly “healthy living credit”

• Commuting allowance

• Stock options for all employees

• Complete flex hours –option to work from home

• Beer fridge

• Company car for management

• Discount to Wonderland

• Christmas Gifts

• Free housecleaning for employees every 2 weeks

Below are some examples of companies that we felt especially stood out in regards to perks:

CAVE Magazine, a start-up online magazine based in Toronto, has shown that regardless of the size of your company, making your employees feel appreciated is crucial. While covering many concerts and festivals, the magazine’s staff writers get back stage access and the unique opportunity to socialize with the recording artists they interview. This is an experience that many fans (who paid full price for tickets) do not get to be a part of. With this in mind, CAVE magazine continues to gain readership due to the productivity of their enthusiastic staff.

Another interesting perk is seen at OKD Marketing Group based in Burlington, Ontario. The employees at this company have a rather unique perk: the choice of painting their office any colour they wish! While this seems unusual, it allows for a productive workplace by enabling the employee to personalize their space. The firm also sends all their employees on various company-wide trips whenever a significant profit has been made by year-end. This truly makes the employee feel a link between their position and profitability, company-wide.

Vale mining offers all their employees some very interesting perks such as discounts at various museums across the country, as well as to Wonderland… Now that’s employee rewards! This perk is particularly special to the employees as it gives them a slight push to improving their work-life balance. Furthermore, the company engages the employees and provides a communal feel through holding monthly company-wide prize draws. Vale is an employer that has shown that employee engagement can improve satisfaction and in turn productivity.

While the above exemplar companies pave the way in regards to employee perks and their connection to morale and productivity, there is always room for improvement. When asked what their “dream” perk at a workplace would be, our survey participants gave some very interesting ideas compiled in the list below:

• Company car for all employees

• Gas allowance/commuting allowance

• Full breakfast buffet

• Option to work in various company locations

• Option to job shadow a higher level employee

• Nap time / lounge area

• Dog friendly office space

In innovative business, the employees must be inspired and satisfied in their jobs in order to provide outstanding output. Satisfaction and inspiration, as we have seen through the results of this survey, are indeed linked to perks in the workplace that raise one’s morale. In conclusion, as employee retention becomes crucial to an organization, so does its need to develop more cohesive “total compensation,” including unique perks. If an organization keeps its employees’ satisfaction at the forefront, it can lead to outstanding customer satisfaction and in turn profitability, as stated by Ann Mulcahy.

Adam Gellert is the Founder and HR & Recruitment Consultant of Linkus Group,  a  Toronto-based boutique firm catering to small and medium-sized businesses. Linkus Group is focused on redefining human resource. Adam Gellert can be reached at adam (at) linkusgroup (dot) com.

B2B technology companies can improve their revenue with some simple, effective tips.

A well-defined Pipeline with Stageswill allow your business to gain an appreciation of upcoming business, develop sales discipline and improve sales reporting.  Your pipeline should be tailored to your business with Stages that reflect those which your average [...]]]> By Ted Mercer

B2B technology companies can improve their revenue with some simple, effective tips.

A well-defined Pipeline with Stageswill allow your business to gain an appreciation of upcoming business, develop sales discipline and improve sales reporting.  Your pipeline should be tailored to your business with Stages that reflect those which your average client would normally go through.   As an example, a common pipeline may contain the following stages:

Each Stage should have criteria that an opportunity has to meet before it is moved to that stage.  In the above example, a Qualified Lead may have to have indicated to the sales person that 1) they have budget, 2) they have intent to buy and 3) they have a timeline to purchase.  Do not move, nor let your sales team move, opportunities to the next stage if they don’t meet the criteria of that stage.

An opportunity will require specific activities to get it to the next stage.  The more you understand what the typical activities are, the better you will be able to develop standardized processes and procedures that minimize effort and the cost of expensive sales resources.   For example, a demo requires setting a meeting to demonstrate how your solution fixes the prospect’s pain.  You can provide specific information in a pre-meeting information sheet and/or a recorded demo in advance to minimize the solution explanation time and maximize your relationship building timeduring that meeting.

Then you can hire Sales Resources, such as sales engineers, to push opportunities through the pipeline and develop Metrics to measure your success or failure.  More on Sales Resources and Metrics in future posts.

Ted Mercer was a recent presenter at Multiplicity Accelerator, on the topic of Keeping the Pipeline Full – Building a Solid Go-to-Market Strategy. For more information, contact Ted Mercer at tedcwmercer@gmail.com or 416 939 5794 to discuss or download the full B2B Technology Sales Framework in a presentation format by clicking this link.

Date: Thursday, May 9, 2013 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (EDT)

New companies can flounder with an over-broad value proposition, trying to be all things to all customers.

Silicon Valley And The Reinvention Of Food | TechCrunch

Wander Launches Days App, Looks To Change Your Perspective Of Photo-Sharing Entirely | TechCrunch

What Entrepreneurs Get Wrong – Harvard Business Review

Why Silicon Valley [...]]]> Here are the latest What’s Cool articles for the week of May 6:

Start-up companies often struggle with the valuation calculation, and how to determine the number of shares to issue to a new team member.

A good place to start when thinking about this are the Khan Academy’s Raising Money for a Startup, and Getting a seed round from a VC videos for [...]]]> by Rajah S. Lehal

Start-up companies often struggle with the valuation calculation, and how to determine the number of shares to issue to a new team member.

A good place to start when thinking about this are the Khan Academy’s Raising Money for a Startup, and Getting a seed round from a VC videos for an excellent and thorough discussion on how to value founder equity vs. new investment.  Where the investor is investing cash – think of the new cash as the “sweat equity” provided by your new team member.

Suggested viewing:

1.  https://www.khanacademy.org/science/core-finance/stock-and-bonds/venture-capital-and-capital-markets/v/raising-money-for-a-startup (gets interesting around the 1 minute mark)

2.  https://www.khanacademy.org/science/core-finance/stock-and-bonds/venture-capital-and-capital-markets/v/getting-a-seed-round-from-a-vc  (relevant to almost the 6 minute mark).

Once you have had a chance to view the videos, consider that the principles of valuation of time vs. money can be extended to new “sweat” investors by adding additional boxes of value to the table, and issuing a corresponding number of shares to match.  Think of the sweat and cash in the company prior to adding on the new founder as the pre-money valuation, and the additional value added by the new investor as post-money valuation.

You may wish to “drip” out the vesting of shares over time.  Several instruments can be used for compensating the new team member, including a consulting agreement or option agreement, or both, combined.

Be sure to consult your accountant to discuss the form and value of new shares issued (vs. for example options), as there may be a Canada Revenue Agency revenue amount triggered, if this share issuance is treated as compensation or company earnings and not an investment.

Rajah Lehal is counsel to Cobalt, a sponsor of Multiplicity and a law firm that specializes in technology-related legal matters.  This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not create a lawyer client relationship with the reader. It is not legal advice and should not be regarded as such.  Any reliance on the information is solely at your own risk.  

Many times business acquisition plans focus on strategic integration of functional systems, product offerings, impact on clients, accounting, HR, benefits, logistics and office space. We skip over the most important thing, integrating the people and the cultures.  According to research published by Harris Consulting, differences in corporate cultures resulted in over 70% [...]]]> by Julie Zuzek 

Many times business acquisition plans focus on strategic integration of functional systems, product offerings, impact on clients, accounting, HR, benefits, logistics and office space. We skip over the most important thing, integrating the people and the cultures.  According to research published by Harris Consulting, differences in corporate cultures resulted in over 70% of all mergers and acquisitions failing to achieve original financial expectations. 

So whether you’re joining teams, restructuring departments or merging companies, you’re bringing significant change to the company that requires proper support to be successful. Here’s a few tips of things you should consider before integrating cultures:

1.   Measurement

Companies are living, evolving entities with unique cultures and practices. No two corporate cultures in the world are the same. If you try to tell people that they’re just like another company, you’re insulting them and everything they worked so hard to create. Before you implement any major change initiative, it’s important to use a cultural assessment tool to take a baseline measurement.

2.  Communication

When you implement major change in any organization, it always has significant impact on employees causing stress, increasing their workload and distracting them from their core duties. It’s important to be very clear about the purpose, logic and process behind the change and communicate this. And always invite feedback from people to ensure their concerns are heard and acknowledged.

3.  Understanding

Never underestimate the importance of building consensus because once the majority of people are disengaged, it will be difficult to recapture their attention.  Recognize the change-agents within your organization and get them on board first. They can motivate group behaviour and foster a sense of belonging.

4. Acknowledgement

Just because you physically move people into new offices, doesn’t mean they’re ready to adapt mentally. People adapt to change in different ways, some are quick to jump in, some need time and others won’t respond to change at all.  Normalize this process by letting employees know it’s okay to adapt at different speeds.

5. Acceptance

Whether your business is undergoing a reorganization, merger or acquisition, it’s important to recognize you’ll be creating a new corporate culture. Merging companies, employees and work styles means shaking up the existing cultural framework. When you combine companies, you’re creating a new entity, give space for this by allowing each company the opportunity to honour outgoing practices and history.

6.  Realistic Expectations

You can’t please all the people all the time. Up to 20% of people involved in your organization may be dissatisfied with the change. That means 80% or more accept or embrace change. If you build a culture of inclusiveness and consensus, you can please most of the people most of the time.

Always remember that your employees are the most significant part of your company. Be sure to invest the proper amount of time, resources and care to support them.

Julie Zuzek is highly experienced both in business and in yoga. She has worked as a senior marketer in high growth technology companies for 15 years, in Canada and in England, gaining valuable first-hand experience of the pressurized environment her clients inhabit. Early in her career, Julie discovered that yoga helped her to cope with daily stresses, enabling her to better manage her workload while leading a healthy life. This blog post is also available on thecorporateyogi.com.

C2-MTL in partnership with Intel is seeking the EYE50 the Emerging Young Entrepreneurs who will transform the world and shape the future. C2-MTL is undertaking a worldwide search for 50 youth under 30 who are revolutionizing the way we use and benefit from technology.

Ideas need to be submitted before May 1st and their creators could be invited to Montreal and given the opportunity to continue developing it with a mentor amongst internationally-renowned leaders in business and innovation at the C2-MTL event.

Submissions to EYE 50 can be made through C2-MTL’s website (www.c2mtl.com/eye50/). Throughout April, the jury of top thinkers along with social media (to optimize the positioning of ideas) will select their favourite entries. Of these 50 emerging innovators, the jury will select and invite 20 participants to Montreal to share their talent, their stories and their creative twist at the C2-MTL event from 21^st to 23^rd May 2013. All young innovators need to do is submit their idea, have the 21^st to 23^rd May 2013 free, and if they are one of the selected 20, we will take care of the rest*!

For more information see: http://www.c2mtl.com/eye50/

(*see terms and conditions for details)

How Big is Your Big Idea?! Apply Now and get at audience for it at C2-MTL.

Meet The Top Five Startups From ERA’s Latest New York Demo Day (TechCrunch)

8 Things That Anonymous, The Hacker ‘Terrorist’ Group, Has Done For Good (Business Insider)

Startup gets $5M to boost employment in the developing world [...]]]> Here are the latest What’s Cool articles for the week of April 29: