Since an article I wrote in June of 2009 called “How a foosball table can kill your startup” is still sparking attention and conversation, I think the time is ripe for me to expand on the topic. Yes, I still believe that tchotchke “benefits” do nothing but waste money. Instead, use your resources to attract new, retain your best talent, and improve your team’s happiness.
Here are additional issues for us to consider…
Guest blog post by Greg Strosaker As the Lean Startups blog grows, I want to start bringing in other subject matter experts to help better serve my readers. Therefore, I am very excited to introduce Greg Strosaker as my first guest contributor. Greg, who previously worked for 13 years with General Electric as an engineer, has spent the past four years heading up marketing at several small- to mid-size material and industrial equipment firms. Greg also runs the Constant Cogitation blog, where he discusses marketing, strategy, and leadership topics.
Since my last post drew some attention from the marketing folks (and struck a nerve of those who refuse to grow and evolve), I wanted to bring in the perspective of someone in a different industry who makes a living from marketing.
I wasn’t able to make it to LaunchCamp Boston today, but was still able to virtually participate via the live video and Twitter streams. During a discussion on Twitter with two great marketing folks, Bobbie Carlton and Rachel Levy, I made several remarks…
I can’t claim I was early social media adopter, but I have been on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for a while now and built a following. I have met the majority of my followers in person. I am also not shy about reviewing businesses on Yelp and other sites, because I believe both positive and (especially) constructive negative feedback can improve businesses.
We have seen some massive changes in the last decade as the impact of word of mouth has grown exponentially as each new communication platform became mainstream. While a story of poor customer service experience used to rarely travel beyond a close circle of family and friends, everything has changed now that we have entered the age of social media. The tables have turned and the transparency and the accountability levels of the businesses are way up (intended or unintended). If you screw up, there will be video parodies of your business on YouTube and Yelp reviews containing the gory details – your (now former) customers will freely share their displeasure with thousands of their friends and followers before the dust has settled. Talk about a ripple effect!
Apolinaras is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of helping companies manage growth, build diverse teams, harness technology, and get a lot more profitable.