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M 2 | E

MARCH 2015 

72 

What’sbehind 

theperfect 

pitch? 

50 

DECISIONS, DECISIONS 

The real leaders are those 

who take action. 

By Raymond Hennessey 

72 

GET READY TO WOW ’EM 

Whether you’re looking 

for partners, investors 

or guidance, you need to 

have a succinct summary 

of your startup ready to go 

at all times. Here are the 

three key steps to creating 

a winning pitch. 

By Joanne Cleaver 

78 

THE MAINE COURSE: 

ACASESTUDY 

How two cousins took 

their love of lobster 

from food truck to 

national franchise. 

By Jason Daley 

89 

JOINING THE CLUB 

Who’s among the top 

new franchises? 

By Tracy Stapp Herold 

36 

A WINNING 

PERSONALITY 

Extroverts and introverts 

straddle opposite ends of 

the personality spectrum, 

but the center belongs to 

ambiverts. Could their 

balance and flexibility 

equip them to be superior 

business leaders? 

PLUS: The rise of the 

beta chief. 

By Jason Ankeny 

42 

GENERATION GAPS 

Millennials are taking 

over the work force at a 

rapid clip. What’s an older 

leader to do? 

By Rob Reuteman 

PHOTO © JEFF CLARK (COUSINS MAINE LOBSTER); PHOTO © DAVID JOHNSON 

4 ENTREPRENEUR MARCH 2015

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APPLICATIONS 

POINT OF 

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PROJECTORS 

PRINTERS 

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EPSON is a registered trademark and EPSON Exceed Your Vision is a registered logomark of Seiko Epson Corporation. Copyright 2015 Epson America, Inc.

CONTENTS 

MARCH 

2015 

32 

ASKAPRO 

How do I compile 

a formal mission 

statement? 

54 

ONLINE ‘TREP 

Veggie tales: Smart 

Gardener brings ag-biz 

tech to the backyard. 

14 

EDITOR’S NOTE 

Don’t just be a boss— 

be a leader. 

By Amy C. Cosper 

16 

FEEDBACK 

30 

MARKETING 

Snapshot: There’s 

a lot to learn from one 

B2B video company’s 

weeklong campaign 

featuring GoPro cameras. 

By Ann Handley 

34 

THE ETHICS COACH 

A price too high? A look 

at the value of paid 

referrals and advisors. 

By Gael O’Brien 

53 

TECH: 

SHINY OBJECTS 

HP’s new Sprout goes 3-D. 

55 

‘TREP TOOLS 

Cyber safe: Four security 

tools that earn their keep. 

56 

ASK A GEEK 

Do better social media 

analytics really help? 

58 

THE FIX 

Fleet meet: The videoconference 

goes mobile. 

18 

CULTURE: 

BUSINESS UNUSUAL 

Sip, sup and sound: 

City Winery offers a 

mature take on the 

music-club experience. 

20 

DESIGN 

Hello breathes some 

fresh air into the staid 

oral-care market; ideas 

become realities at the 

3D Printer Experience. 

26 

TRAVEL 

Send ’em packing: 

It’s time to determine your 

company’s PTO policies. 

28 

’TREPONOMICS: 

ESQUIRE GUY 

Meetings: How to perform 

when all eyes are on you. 

By Ross McCammon 


Welcome to your 

one-stop ad shop 

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ads in one unified solution 

Advertise on Yahoo today 

and enter INC50 for a $50 credit 

gemini.yahoo.com/advertiser 

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CONTENTS 

MARCH 

2015 

64 

STARTUP FINANCE 

Mini-money: Inside 

PayPal’s microlending 

program. 

By Michelle Goodman 

66 

START IT UP: 

WACKY IDEA 

Prepared and pampered: 

Earthquake kits get a 

luxury makeover. 

68 

WHO’S GOT VC? 

Blooming biz: A startup 

disrupts the once-thorny 

florist model. 

70 

Q&A 

Do your prelaunch 

research: Advice from 

a data specialist. 

84 

FRANCHISOR 

Spreading the love: A 

little PB&J goes a long 

way at Which Wich. 

86 

FRANCHISEE 

High stakes: A federal 

agent takes over 

a Chronic Tacos. 

112 

BACK PAGE 

The new leadership 

reading list. 

60 

MONEY: 

YOUR MONEY 

You bought what?! 

Don’t let money matters 

destroy your business 

relationship. 

By Steph Wagner 

61 

VC VIEWPOINT 

Create value—not 

just buzz—for your 

customers. 

By Sam Hogg 

62 

ASK THE 

MONEY GUY 

Should I go after 

debt financing or 

new investors? 

By Joe Worth 

PHOTO © JEFF CLARK; SHOT AT LA PREMIER FLOWERS IN LOS ANGELES 


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This cloud turns data into excitement. This is the Microsoft Cloud. 

learn more at microsoftcloud.com

DIGITAL 

MARCH 

2015 

Productivity squared 

Texting, workplace gossip, the internet 

and social media are just a few 

of the distractions thwarting employee 

productivity, according to a recent 

study. From providing designated break 

times to allowing employees to decide 

where they work in the office 

to conducting standing meetings, 

we explore ways to minimize 

distractions and increase output. 

What’s on Entrepreneur.com? 

Baby steps 

There are strategies to make even 

the most ambitious goals more 

manageable. We outline five 

techniques—such as breaking down 

the goal into small steps 

and celebrating daily successes, 

no matter how minor—that will 

help you get from A to Z. 

Press play 

Step away from the pop-up ad! 

There’s a better way to utilize online 

video advertising. Check out our guide 

to alternative video ad formats to 

reach a vast audience. 

Be part of the best in entrepreneurship 

Share your business’s innovation, impact and significance with the world by participating 

in the Entrepreneur 360 TM Performance Index, a first-ever ranking that captures the spirit and 

reality of entrepreneurship through advanced analytics. Learn more at entm.ag/360. 

Artisanal 

advancements 

In an increasingly hyperconnected 

world of electronic everything, 

consumers are searching out 

products with a more organic feel. 

We’ve got some tips on how to provide 

the authenticity and “human” 

approach people crave. For example, 

instead of sourcing materials from 

afar, seek out local suppliers. The 

answer to a boost in business may be 

closer than you think. 

ILLUSTRATION © THEISPOT.COM/HARRY CAMPBELL 


EDITOR IN CHIEF/VP Amy C. Cosper 

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Carolyn Horwitz CREATIVE DIRECTOR Megan Roy 

EDITORIAL 

MANAGING EDITOR Shayna Sobol 

SENIOR WRITER Jason Ankeny 

SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Tracy Stapp Herold 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Erin DeWitt 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Grant Davis, Margaret Littman, Jenna Schnuer 

ART & DESIGN 

DESIGN DIRECTOR Richard R. Olson 

ART DIRECTOR/DIGITAL DESIGN DIRECTOR Evelyn Good 

PRODUCTION MANAGER Monica Im 

CONTRIBUTING ART DIRECTOR Nancy Roy 

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Mikal E. Belicove, Jonathan Blum, Joanne Cleaver, Jason Daley, 

Andrew Gibbs, Claire Gibson, Michelle Goodman, Lynn Haller, 

Ann Handley, Christopher Hann, Jodi Helmer, Lambeth Hochwald, 

Sam Hogg, Ross McCammon, Gael O’Brien, John Patrick Pullen, 

Rob Reuteman, Matt Villano, Steph Wagner, Joe Worth 

ENTREPRENEUR.COM 

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7YVNYLZZP]L*HZ\HS[`0UZ*VHSPH[LZ+PZJV\U[ZUV[H]HPSHISLPUHSSZ[H[LZ

EDITOR’S NOTE 

O captain! My captain! 

W 

hen I think of the best leadership, I am moved and humbled. 

Great leaders inspire and create meaningful, lasting opportunities 

and new ways of thinking. They believe in change. They have an 

impact on the future. 

Like many roles in life and business, being a true leader 

is a calling. Either you’re a great one, or you’re not. Think 

of those who have changed the expected, like Picasso, Plato, 

Thelma and Louise, Socrates and Tom Brady. 

Those are the ones who blaze new trails without fear, 

without worry and without a second thought to what other 

people think. They have a singular vision and a singular 

course. They dare to challenge ideas with a nimble flick of 

the throttle, changing directions as easily as batting an eye. 

They see things others do not. They take risks. They are 

entrepreneurs. Just like you. And if you doubt that fact, sit 

back and have a read. 

Leadership is your contribution and your service to 

your company. It’s your survival, and that of those you lead. 

It will be your legacy, and your company’s legacy. It is what 

makes you great vs. what lets you fail or, worse, be average. 

Ask anyone in the armed forces—especially those operating 

in the battlefield—about leadership, and the answer will 

be telling. It’s usually along the lines of: “I am leading you to 

keep you alive. I lead for you, and I lead to make you better.” 

The point is: Leadership is never about you—it’s about them. 

And how you lead says a lot about your company and a lot about 

you. And if you’re not good at it … damn, that’s bad. 

Those who are true leaders will lead their teams to victory 

and inspire them to be great. I’ve worked with that type, and 

I’ve worked with leaders who are managers and mostly check 

timecards. The difference is epic. Leadership is not about 

bossing or being in control. Nope. It is that belief that you and 

your team are destined for something special. It is your ability 

to inspire excellence in others. 

Any organization, company, product, magazine or brand will 

always, always, every single time, take on the essence of its 

leader. If you lead with courage, clarity and fearlessness, then 

that’s what your brand will stand for. The same goes if you are a 

careless, hopeless, entitled brat. 

I’ve succeeded and I’ve failed as a leader. And the lesson is 

this: When you lead with purpose and vision, you will succeed. 

When you lead out of fear, you will fail. 

In this issue, we dive into the specifics of leadership today. In 

addition to examining the generational issues arising as Millennials 

take over the work force, we look at a rarely discussed 

personality type—the ambivert—whose flexibility, balance and 

collaborative tendencies may make for a superior leader. 

So guide well, my friends, because that is your job. It is what 

separates you from your competitor. At the end of the day, it 

will determine your fate and that of your company; it will inspire 

you to fight or it will condemn you to failure. Simply put: 

Leading is the most important responsibility you will ever have 

as an entrepreneur. 

Amy C. Cosper 

Editor in Chief 

Follow me on Twitter: 

@AmyCCosper 

Email me at: 

acosper@entrepreneur.com 

PHOTO © JULIA VANDENOEVER 


Rediscover 

855-45-HUMAN 

(855-454-8626)

FEEDBACK 

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING 

I fought the Law of Jante 

Just a note of compliment concerning your 

Editor’s Note (February). Though my business 

model differs in many regards from that of most 

entrepreneurs, I am indeed subject to the general 

realities of which you write—brutal hours, stress 

of risk, reality of potential failure. Most of all, 

however, I am subject to the implied tyranny of 

the majority … the need to operate in a society 

rigidly predisposed to opposing values such as 

those required to be a successful entrepreneur. 

One of my highest principles has always been 

living counter to the Law of Jante [a Scandinavian 

philosophy that discourages individual 

success or self-promotion] that you wrote about. 

I remain steadfast in my resolve and am grateful 

to you for reminding me that I am not alone in 

this cult of thought, as well as voicing the truism 

that maintaining one’s convictions is not always 

easy or for the fainthearted … but that doesn’t 

make it wrong. 

K. Mundy-Williams 

Chicago 

Positivity training 

I just wanted to take a second to stress my true 

gratitude and appreciation for the very informative 

and inspirational articles you publish. There 

is so much doom and gloom all over the place, 

and it is refreshing to read the articles you guys 

put out there. I use your excerpts as my daily 

“pick-me-up” to start off my mornings. 

Eric Weaver 

Cincinnati 

Let it all out 

Hi Amy, 

I am a longtime subscriber. 

Please change your picture. It looks like you are 

happily sitting on a toilet. 

Bill Repack 

Pittsburgh 

TWEETBACK 

We asked our Twitter followers to tell us about 

the worst boss they’ve ever had. 

@MissSl0aner: 

Worst boss was intimidated by me and fired me for 

standing up for myself and my work. 

@mcaselittle: 

My worst boss would encourage colleagues to “tattle” 

on each other and reward it. Resulted in employees 

tearing each other down. 

@MrsARodriguez: 

She told me during my mid-year review that I was 

“too perky.” Like … what? 

@jesscreatives: 

How do I choose between the three? I’ll go with the one 

who was never there but told me I was bad at my job. 

@ScottBonnieM: 

That’s easy—I’m self-employed! 

@HeyDaveA: 

My worst boss was at a failing company. He was more 

scared of change than he was of failure and refused to 

embrace any new ideas. 

TELL US ABOUT IT 

Our Facebook fans, Twitter followers 

and discussion groups are buzzing about 

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Q: HOW MUCH DOES THIS 

1-POUND BOX WEIGH? 

A: 11 POUNDS, IF YOU USE THE 

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To weigh your shipping options go to usps.com/shipoptions 

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©2015 United States Postal Service ® . All Rights Reserved. The Eagle Logo is among the many trademarks of the 

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RB-COMP-B-ENTPRNR

CULTURE 

BUSINESS 

UNUSUAL | DESIGN | TRAVEL 

Red, white 

and rock 

City Winery offers a mature take 

on the music-club experience 

he financial crisis of 2008 

changed everything. Michael Dorf, 

T who founded legendary New York 

City rock venue the Knitting Factory in 

1986, was just three months away from 

opening a combined winery and music 

club in Manhattan that would feature 

visible steel fermenting tanks and a 

refined dining experience. Dorf anticipated 

bankers buying wines by the barrel. 

But the subprime mortgage crisis 

doused those expectations. “We were 

not only in financial Armageddon, 

but there was such a reversal in big 

spending and ostentatious behavior,” 

Dorf says. “It became taboo.” 

He had to find an alternative concept. 

“I came to an internal phrase, something 

I call being ‘vessel-agnostic,’ which meant 

that I realized that it didn’t matter if I 

sold wine by the barrel or by the glass.” 

He kept the steel tanks but shifted 

his business plan from barrel sales to 

a by-the-glass tap wine service. 

“When I conceptualized City Winery,” 

Dorf recalls, “I was getting older, I 

had young kids, and going out was rare. 

I wanted to build a place where I could 

eat a lot, drink a lot and consume a 

lot of culture.” 

The City Winery in New York was 

followed by locations in Chicago, 

Nashville and Napa, Calif. The company 

now has a total of 500 employees and 

plans to open establishments in Atlanta, 

Boston and Toronto by the end of 2016. 

“We are focusing on larger urban 

environments that have sophisticated 

cultural and culinary audiences,” says 

Dorf, who serves as CEO. “We’ll open 

in cities that are experiencing robust 

and strong hospitality markets.” 

PHOTOS © CHAD BATKA 

18

The definition of intimacy is when an 

artist or someone on the stage can look 

into the eyes of every person in the room. 

Once you can’t have eye contact, you 

can’t have intimacy.” 

But while the concerts are central to 

the overall City Winery experience, the 

business focus is on the wine list and 

Mediterranean menu. 

“We don’t make money at all on 

ticket sales,” says Dorf, explaining that 

80 percent of the box-office take goes to 

the artists. “Our focus is on making our 

profits from food and beverage, just like 

any restaurant.” 

Much of that comes from the wines 

produced in-house. City Winery has 

contracts with vineyards in California, 

Oregon, Washington, New York and 

Argentina; 60 percent of the wine 

produced at the four locations goes into 

an eco-friendly, on-tap system before 

it’s served, which lowers packaging 

costs for higher margins. 

“By making wine in our facilities, 

we’re not just selling it and offering a 

good wine list,” Dorf says. “Customers 

can smell the fermentation and see 

the tanks, which gives an authentic 

statement to what we do.” 

The company also offers a wine 

club and barrel membership, in which 

individuals or companies have the 

opportunity to join in during the winemaking 

process, from the selection of 

grapes to crushing, aging, blending, 

bottling and labeling. 

That was part of Dorf’s plan from 

the beginning: “My goal was and 

remains to move wine, to show that 

you could make it in an authentic 

manner in the middle of a city and to 

offer a luxury concert experience.” 

—Lambeth Hochwald 

LONG-DISTANCE LEADERSHIP 

Feast for the 

senses: Live jazz 

caps an evening 

at City Winery’s 

New York club. 

Dorf projects gross revenue to exceed 

$40 million in 2015. 

Staying true to his rock-club roots, 

Dorf made music a major draw at the 

venues, with performances by iconic 

rock, country and bluegrass artists 

such as Elvis Costello, Sinead O’Connor, 

Steve Earle and Tim O’Brien. Tickets are 

priced from $35 for bar stools to $125 for 

seats up front. Each City Winery venue 

has a capacity of about 300. 

“That number has become magical for 

us,” Dorf says. “I use the words ‘intimate 

concert experience’ to define our events. 

Every year since founding 

City Winery, Michael Dorf has 

brought 15 people from each 

of the company’s U.S. locations, 

including managers and 

up-and-coming staffers, to 

what he calls “base camps.” 

(The most recent was in 

Puerto Rico.) 

“These should never be 

called ‘retreats,’” Dorf says. 

“A retreat is just the opposite 

of what you want to be 

doing—the idea is to go 

forward, and a base camp is a 

great spot where you’re close 

to your goal but you still have 

a ways to go.” Here, Dorf explains 

his rules for fostering a 

sense of togetherness among 

far-flung colleagues. —L.H. 

1Connect with your 

managers. “As a CEO, 

you can’t be everywhere at 

once,” Dorf says. “And if it 

wasn’t for a bunch of our 

managers, there’s no way we 

could have gotten to where 

we are today. These events 

give us time to really think 

through what we do, how 

we do it and how we can 

improve, as well as focusing 

on our best practices in terms 

of our styles of management 

and how to create some scale 

but not get too ‘McDonald’s’ 

about what we’re doing.” 

2Help your managers 

think like owners. “This 

is one of the biggest challenges 

for businesses, and a 

week away can help managers 

think like owners, to feel 

like every bottle of wine, every 

customer is really important.” 

3Focus on specific 

goals. “During our first 

Base Camp, we distilled 

our mission statement and 

talked about office politics. 

At the top of a hill, I had 

hidden a whiteboard and 

some flash cards to get the 

conversation going.” 

4Look at the business 

through a new lens. 

“When Steve Jobs died, I had 

everyone think about us as an 

Apple product and focused 

on how Jobs would have 

approached serving wine and 

putting on a show. This year 

I had a rock ’n’ roll photographer 

as our guest, and 

together we looked at City 

Winery through the lens of 

a photographer. That helped 

us talk about how we capture 

the most focused experience 

for our customers in the 

short time frame we have to 

indulge their senses.” 

Tapped in: 

Michael Dorf of 

City Winery. 

19

CULTURE 

BUSINESS UNUSUAL | DESIGN | TRAVEL 

W 

Brush with success 

A breath of minty-fresh air ripples through the staid oral-care market 

henever Craig Dubitsky 

went shopping 

for toothpaste, he 

couldn’t help but grimace. 

“This stuff goes in your 

mouth. Typically your reward 

is that you get to spit it out. 

Even the advertising is set 

up to convince you that the 

more it hurts, the more it 

works,” explains Dubitsky, 

who set out to launch a kinder, 

gentler alternative. 

“The drivers in the oralcare 

category are fear and 

shame,” he points out. “‘If 

you’re not whitening, you’re 

frightening’ or ‘If your breath 

isn’t mountain-spring-fresh, 

you’re not going to get the job 

or the date.’ Take all those 

pictures of extracted teeth on 

products. That stuff freaked 

me out. I know what they’re 

trying to say—‘This stuff is so 

good it gets to your roots’— 

but it’s the last thing I wanted 

to see. If I go to the car dealer 

and you’re telling me about 

the safety of the car, I don’t 

want to see dead bodies on 

the floor of the dealership.” 

Dubitsky put his money 

where his mouth was and 

launched Hello Products. The 

Montclair, N.J.-based company’s 

toothpaste, approved 

by the American Dental 

Association, prevents cavities, 

strengthens enamel and 

freshens breath without the 

aid of chemicals like triclosan, 

an antibacterial agent found 

in some rival toothpastes and 

other household products 

that may cause liver cancer in 

mice. Hello’s mouthwashes 

and breath sprays are alcoholfree, 

with no artificial colors 

or sweeteners, and all products 

are vegan-approved and 

never tested on animals— 

hence the trademarked 

“Naturally friendly” tagline 

across the firm’s packaging. 

“I had an idea about 

making products that are 

friendly—friendly to the 

environment, and friendly 

because they actually taste 

good,” Dubitsky says. 

Dubitsky is no stranger to 

standing out on supermarket 

shelves. The former commodities 

trader co-founded 

Eos, a brand known for its 

spherical lip balms and 

other distinctively shaped 

personal-care products. From 

2001 to 2005, he served as a 

board member and advisor to 

household cleaning supplies 

manufacturer Method, whose 

co-founder Eric Ryan reinforced 

Dubitsky’s belief in the 

importance of product design 

as a differentiator. 

“When I was introduced to 

Eric, he said, ‘I think cleaning 

products suck. The biggest 

purchase you make is your 

house, but the stuff you use 

to clean it is so ugly that you 

have to hide it away, and so 

toxic that you have to lock 

it up,’” Dubitsky recalls. “I 

thought it was the most brilliant 

insight ever.” 

When Dubitsky founded 

Hello in 2012, he followed 

Method’s lead, emphasizing 

aesthetics, functionality and 

durability in equal measure. 

The Hello design ethos is 

perhaps best exemplified by its 

“tottle” toothpaste package, 

an upside-down squeezable 

bottle that maintains its shape 

throughout its lifespan, unlike 

standard tubes that crinkle 

and contort over time. 

Dubitsky developed Hello’s 

design identity in partnership 

with DesignworksUSA, a 

Southern California-based 

creative consultancy owned by 

luxury automaker BMW Group. 

“‘Naturally friendly’ is 

the positioning that sets 

[Hello] apart, and we wanted a 

design language that reflected 

those brand values,” says 

Peter Falt, DesignworksUSA’s 

director of strategic partnering. 

“The other guys are very 

angular and very sterile. That’s 

why the silhouette and overall 

perception of [Hello] products 

are softer and more approachable. 

Craig also wanted a product 

that looked as good when 

it was ready to be recycled 

as it did on the day it was 

purchased. You can leave these 

products out on the counter.” 

Hello is already taking a 

bite out of the $31 billion 

global oral-care market: 

Two years after its products 

debuted across the Walgreens 

and Duane Reade chains, 

the brand is now available 

in nearly 20,000 stores, 

buoyed by retail partnerships 

with Target, Kroger and 

Kmart. Dubitsky has also 

fielded inquiries from 

prospective distribution 

partners in 67 countries. 

(The privately funded company 

does not disclose revenue.) 

Additionally, Hello has 

attracted attention from the 

international design community, 

claiming honors including 

the prestigious Good Design 

Award for Design Excellence 

and the Red Dot Award for 

Communication Design. 

“I want to create the Apple 

of personal care,” Dubitsky 

asserts. “Our products are 

fun, effective, highly natural 

and delicious. They feel good 

to hold in your hand. It’s art 

you get to live with and use 

every day—and who doesn’t 

want that?” —Jason Ankeny 


CULTURE 


We’ve got 

it made 

Ideas become realities at 

the 3D Printer Experience 

hicago’s 3D Printer Experience 

is aptly named: It aims to educate 

C and engage the public by offering 

a relaxed setting to learn about a 

beneficial new technology, as well as 

playful activities like the ability to scan 

and print one’s own head. 

Founded as an LLC in late 2012 

and converted to a benefit corporation 

in 2014, the 3D Printer Experience 

offers design and manufacturing services 

for both first-time and experienced 

entrepreneurs. Founder and CEO 

Julie Friedman Steele walked us through 

the process. —Lynn Haller 

Who is your ideal client? 

People who are driven by new ideas. 

We like to see clients who are ready to 

embrace change. Because not only do we 

focus on 3-D printing as a democratizing 

agent of manufacturing, but also on 

the effects of other futurist and open 

mindsets. The accelerating rate of 

technology is affecting our world in ways 

that most people aren’t even thinking 

about. Those things are going to radically 

change our world, and we want to make 

Supply and demand: A sample of the variety 

of materials that can be used in 3-D printing. 

Julie Friedman Steele 

sure that as many people as possible 

get to be a part of that and understand 

what’s happening. 

My favorite ones are always the 

social entrepreneurs; not only are we 

helping them, but we are also making 

a difference in the lives of others. One 

company, Portapure, worked with us to 

create a piece of a water bottle with a 

filter inside to provide clean drinking 

water to people in Haiti. 

Which of 3D Printer Experience’s 

services might be of specific interest 

to entrepreneurs? 

We offer consulting, which involves 

project feasibility and recommendations. 

We offer design and manufacturing. We 

have industrial-grade 3-D printing and 

laser sintering capabilities in-house. 

And we offer continuing education and 

private events. Our site functions as a 

full-service event space during hours 

not open to the public. Entrepreneurs 

love to have a place available to them that 

isn’t a typical banquet facility and to be 

around future technologies. 

Through our experiences, education, 

and ideation sessions, we work with 

many entrepreneurs to understand 

not only how 3-D printing functions 

today, but how it will impact our future 

The future is now: 

Inside the new 3D 

Printer Experience. 

as well. After working with us, 

most of our clients come back with 

even better ideas. Also, we are very 

encouraging to first-time entrepreneurs 

by supporting their ideas and by 

teaching them how to use 3-D printing 

to develop their concepts. My favorite 

thing to tell them is how 3-D printing 

is democratizing manufacturing. This 

means that they have the same access 

that large corporations have. 

How do your design services work? 

We take an individualized approach 

with our clients and are willing to go 

back and forth to ensure that the finished 

object exceeds their expectations. The 

steps we follow include ideation, 3-D 

modeling, prototyping, manufacturing 

and post-processing. 

Many clients are very sensitive 

about their intellectual property, and 

we make sure they get to keep that. 

We are in the business of helping them 

succeed, not putting up roadblocks that 

would prevent them from seeing their 

vision come to life. 

Is there anything about 3-D printing that 

you wish more entrepreneurs understood? 

I want more entrepreneurs to know 

that they can raise funds through means 

like crowdfunding and compete with 

the big guys. It’s hysterical to me to 

see publicly traded companies putting 

their projects on crowdfunding sites 

masquerading as independent entrepreneurs. 

However, it’s also very telling that 

there is slowly becoming very little difference 

between them and any entrepreneur 

with a new idea. 

I also let entrepreneurs know that 

if they love what they do, they don’t 

need to have an exit strategy. It’s possible 

now to launch financially sustainable 

businesses on their own and make an 

impact on the world. 

PHOTOS © KEVIN ANTNEN; PHOTO COURTESY OF 3DPX (JULIE FRIEDMAN STEELE) 


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CULTURE 


PACKAGING OF THE MONTH 

By Andrew Gibbs 

WHO: Page Three Hundred is a Turin, Italy-based 

independent clothing label founded in 2014 by 

Gabriele Marchi and Maria Fernanda Barbero. The 

company created a daring, sophisticated packaged 

brand experience for its fall/winter collection. 

WHAT: The packaging is distinct, clean and modern, 

displaying a careful balance between Swiss-inspired 

design and handmade elements in a two-color scheme. 

Shirts and trousers are wrapped in red or white tissue 

paper and sealed with a rectangular branded sticker. 

They are then placed in a branded red bag and handclosed 

with a custom wax seal. 

WHY WE LOVE IT: The look is elegant, and the label’s 

straightforward descriptions of the clothing ties in 

with the brand’s cheeky attitude and clean aesthetic. 

The packaging creates brand value through its unique 

opening “ceremony,” in which customers physically 

experience multiple layers of design hands-on; this turns 

a typically uninteresting moment into a ritual that builds 

excitement and encourages appreciation of the product. 

Most apparel brands do not place a heavy emphasis 

on packaging; the hangtag is usually an afterthought. 

Page Three Hundred is a fantastic example of an 

up-and-coming independent clothing company that 

placed a design focus across its entire brand experience, 

using packaging to elevate its position and engage with 

consumers in a new way. 

ANDREW GIBBS IS FOUNDER OF ONLINE PACKAGING 

MAGAZINE THE DIELINE. 

JARGON 

Generica (n.) 

DEFINITION: Big-box-store America (pejorative). 

USAGE: My artisanal mustard shop will go gangbusters when I open mid-Generica at the 

corner of Looks Like Everyplace Else Street and Is This Phoenix or Fort Worth Avenue. Who 

wouldn’t love a dollop of handmade clove-honey mustard on their Costco hot dog? 

ILLUSTRATION © MIKEY BURTON 


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CULTURE 


Get outta here! 

How to determine your paid-time-off policy 

By John Patrick Pullen 

he average American 

worker got 15 paid days 

T off in 2014, one day more 

than in 2013, according to 

Expedia’s annual “Vacation 

Deprivation Study.” But those 

days weren’t all fun in the sun. 

The Society for Human Research 

Management (SHRM) 

reports that while 98 percent 

of businesses provide some 

form of paid vacation to fulltime 

employees, 58 percent 

of those surveyed offer paidtime-off 

(PTO) plans, which 

bundle sick days, vacation 

time and personal days, vs. the 

40 percent that have standalone 

paid vacation plans. 

“Ten years ago, those numbers 

probably would have been 

flipped,” says Bruce Elliott, 

a compensation and benefits 

manager at SHRM. “The majority 

of employers just throw 

it all into one bucket.” 

Here are four factors to 

consider when determining a 

PTO policy for your business. 

1.Calculate vacation as part 

of the total benefits package. 

According to Elliott, the 

overall benefits package is 

typically valued between 25 

and 40 percent of an employee’s 

base salary. This includes 

everything: 401(k), life insurance 

(if offered) and medical 

insurance, which can eat up as 

much as three-quarters of that 

Pocket is a service that lets users save web 

content to enjoy later, when they have more 

time. But when it comes to taking vacation at 

the San Francisco-based company, time is not 

an issue—because Pocket offers its employees 

unlimited paid time off. 

“It’s one of the best things we have in terms 

of benefits,” founder Nate Weiner says. “It 

makes taking time off much less stressful.” 

Studies have shown that this radical plan 

actually gets more out of employees, says Laurie 

Ruettimann, a Raleigh, N.C.-based human 

resources consultant and author of IAmHR. 

budget. This is why PTO plans 

have risen in popularity—they 

eliminate the need for employers 

to document (and budget 

for) sick vs. vacation days. 

2.Examine employees’ 

current use. “If you’ve been 

around for a while, you’re going 

to have an idea of the amount 

of time your employees take 

on an annual basis, and how 

they take their vacation,” 

Elliott says. Use that information 

to make adjustments to 

your current offering. 

For instance, if employees 

frequently miss work because 

of a sick child or aging parent, 

it might be smart to move 

away from a vacation-plussick-day 

plan toward a general 

PTO offering. But if they are 

getting ill themselves, don’t 

cut back on sick time, because 

they could come to the office 

while impaired—or, worse, 

contagious—rather than forfeit 

precious vacation days. 

3.Look at your staff’s 

demographics. Generation 

gaps are starting to show 

real value differences in the 

workplace. “Research is showing 

that the Millennials, as 

much of a pain as they can be 

at times, are bringing a lot of 

flexibility into the work force,” 

Elliott says. That includes 

more adaptable time-off policies. 

Young, single employees 

appreciate the flexibility of 

lump-sum PTO plans, while 

Gen Xers and Baby Boomers— 

who may have parent-teacher 

conferences and doctors’ 

appointments on their calendars—would 

rather use 

vacation days for relaxing, 

not running errands. 

4.Keep up with the 

competition. The right vacation 

policy isn’t important 

just for current staffers; it’s 

vital for attracting future 

employees, too. This is another 

reason PTO plans are on 

the rise. “If most of your 

competitors are offering PTO, 

I would definitely consider it, 

ALTERNATIVE VACATION MODELS 

“If you give someone four weeks of vacation time 

and you define it, they are more likely to take that 

four weeks or a higher proportion of it.” 

On the other hand, Pocket’s policy doesn’t 

require that employees take off any days at all 

(though Weiner says everyone does). That’s 

something Ruettimann believes companies 

should emphasize. “I would like to see a policy 

that forces you to take vacation,” she says. 

“Then I would be impressed.” 

“Pre-cations” are another trend floating 

around (and out of) Silicon Valley. Designed to 

refresh workers who are suffering from burnout, 

because PTO offers maximum 

flexibility,” Elliot says. 

But the creative vacation 

strategies don’t stop there. 

“If you’re a startup and you’re 

recruiting from other startups, 

there’s a better than decent 

chance that those startups 

probably already offer unlimited 

vacation,” he says, citing 

it as a common benefit among 

technology companies. And as 

that radical plan shows, PTO 

policies are always evolving. 

So either change with the 

times or risk being left behind. 

JOHN PATRICK PULLEN, BASED IN 

PORTLAND, ORE., IS A FREQUENT 

CONTRIBUTOR TO ENTREPRENEUR, 

FORTUNE AND TIME. 

pre-cations give new hires a week (or more) 

of paid vacation before they begin their jobs. 

But Ruettimann advises against adding the 

policy to your benefits package. Instead, she 

says, go with a traditional signing bonus. 

“Vacation is actually time that’s compensated 

that you’ve earned,” she says. “I think 

a more respectful and professional way to do 

this is to hearken back to the days when you 

used to treat employees like adults. Giving 

someone a pre-vacation—it seems a little 

paternalistic to me. I’ll manage my own time, 

thank you—I’m an adult.” —J.P.P. 

ILLUSTRATION © MIKEY BURTON 


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’TREPONOMICS 

ESQUIRE 

GUY | MARKETING | ASK A PRO | ETHICS 

+ ON THE 

TABLET APP 

CHRIS PHILPOT’S 

ANIMATED LOOK 

AT RUNNING A 

MEETING 

M 

I’m sure you’re wondering why 

I’ve called you all here … 

The key to mastering a meeting when all eyes are on you 

eetings are crucial, sure. But also, 

they’re absurd. 

Let’s work! … by not working. 

Let’s get something done! … by mostly 

being quiet. Let’s sit around a table 

and have a conversation! … and end 

it arbitrarily regardless of how much 

we’ve gotten done. Let’s meet! … about 

scheduling a meeting. 

But there’s a certain kind of meeting 

that is not so absurd. At least for you. 

And that is the meeting in which you are 

the star. You may not be leading the meeting—or 

“facilitating” it, as the meeting 

experts so clinically put it—but you’re 

the star. You’re fully aware of your role. 

You’ve had time to prepare. Perhaps you’re 

pitching something. Or unveiling something. 

Or briefing people about something. 

All eyes are (or should be) on you. 

There are still absurdities involved, 

but you’re the one controlling the level 


of absurdity. The inherent stiltedness is 

something you’re in charge of. And since 

you’re in charge of it, the first thing to do 

is harness it. Because people don’t mind 

stiltedness and formality. They just need 

to know that there’s a point to it all. 

THE CENTRAL TRUTHS OF MEETINGS 

In psychologists’ studies of meetings, 

two important principles arise. 

1. People want to have their 

expectations met. This is why an agenda 

is key. It’s a confirmation that what’s 

discussed will at some point resolve. 

Since people hate meetings (and all available 

research suggests that people hate 

meetings), the most important thing to 

do early on is establish an end point. 

2. People want to feel that their 

presence is crucial. “No one likes to 

attend meetings unless you can make 

sure it helps a person accomplish his or 

her tasks, and it’s part of the job and not 

an extra thing,” says Alexandra Luong, 

associate professor of industrial and organizational 

psychology at the University 

of Minnesota Duluth. “The research 

suggests that it’s not the big things that 

annoy us, but the small daily hassles 

that throw us off and cause us to develop 

negative attitudes.” 

So even if you didn’t decide who 

would be at the meeting, it’s important 

that you speak to everyone who’s there. 

That’s best accomplished by making sure 

your message is relevant to everyone in 

the room. (Eye contact helps, too.) 

HOW TO DELIVER A MESSAGE 

The way to shine at a meeting is to treat 

it like a speech. It may be an informal 

speech, interrupted by someone asking a 

question or challenging a point or having 

ILLUSTRATIONS © CHRIS PHILPOT 


their Godfather theme-song ringtone 

go off—but still, you’re delivering a 

mini-speech. 

So the two most important tips for 

public speaking apply. First, keep it 

simple. Have one main idea that you can 

distill into a single sentence; hit it again 

and again. And second, keep it short. 

Think of your message as a very intimate 

TED talk—and keep in mind that TED 

talks are capped at 18 minutes, which 

is, according to curator Chris Anderson, 

“long enough to be serious and short 

enough to hold people’s attention.” 

And then deliver your message. 

You could just, you know, talk. But 

if you want people to actually listen to 

you instead of simply staring at you, try: 

The classic approach: Say what you’re going 

to say. Say it. Then say what you said. 

Or … The old-school approach, from 

Roman statesman Cicero, 106-43 B.C.: 

Introduce the main idea. Provide background. 

Outline key points. Make the 

full argument, point by point. Refute 

opposing arguments. 

Or … Dale Carnegie’s Magic Formula: 

Relive a personal experience relevant 

to the point. Call on attendees to take a 

single, specific action. Clearly emphasize 

how the listener will benefit from taking 

the recommended action. 

Or … The Churchillian Flash and 

Crescendo: Start off strong and surprising. 

Stick to one dominant theme. 

Use simple, conversational language. 

End dramatically. 

Or … The TED talk: Have a strong opening 

hook. Order your points. Craft a great 

closing story with a call to action. 

Each of these approaches allows for 

emotion, either implicitly or explicitly. 

And though the energy of emotion is 

IDEALCONDITIONSFORMEETINGS 

If you have any control over where you’ll 

be delivering your important message, 

consider the following rules: 

Early in the day is better than late. 

Smaller rooms are better than bigger 

rooms. (Unless the smaller room is 

just a random space in the office that 

someone decided to call a “team area.”) 

Fewer people are better than 

more people. 

A room temperature of 72 degrees 

is better than 65 degrees. 

Natural light is better than artificial light. 

Silence is better than tapping your pen 

on the table. 

helpful, clarity is the most critical thing. 

In meetings, formulaic is a virtue. 

BEWARE THE MEETING GRENADE 

Despite the clarity of your message 

and emotion of your delivery, not everyone 

might respond with rapt attention 

and furious note-taking. Barry might 

audibly yawn, as he does. Sarah might 

do the thing where she brings an 

apple to the meeting and, when you’re 

about to make your most important 

point, takes a bite. Jennifer might throw 

in a meeting grenade. 

What’s a meeting grenade? A comment 

or question that destroys the flow of the 

meeting. Like this: 

YOU: … But the most important 

point is, we have to staunch the bleeding. 

And here’s how— 

JENNIFER: What if we, like, monetized 

our Tumblr? 

That’s a meeting grenade. It’s related 

to the topic but inappropriately delivered, 

potentially killing the momentum 

and undermining the authority of the 

speaker. The way to deal with this, and 

anything else that has the power to distract 

from the point you are making, is to 

pretend that it never happened, to ignore 

its existence. 

YOU: … But the most important point 

is, we have to staunch the bleeding. And 

here’s how— 

JENNIFER: What if we, like, monetized 

our Tumblr? 

YOU [glance at Jennifer, then Barry, 

then Sarah]: We’re going to monetize 

our Instagram. 

Is it rude to ignore Jennifer’s point? 

Yes. Which makes it appropriate. When 

you are delivering an important message 

in a meeting, the meeting is your meeting. 

Anything that undermines the clarity 

of your point is an offense that must be 

met with defense. And the defense is to 

remain focused, despite any feelings you 

might hurt or opportunities to monetize 

Tumblr you might eschew. 

So make your point. Then, if there’s 

time, ask Jennifer what her Tumblr 

plans involve, Barry if he got enough 

sleep last night and Sarah if that was 

a Fuji … or maybe a Paula Red. You’ll 

soften your marked earnestness. But 

more important, you’ll designate all those 

distractions as secondary concerns, 

reinforcing the primacy of the stated 

point of the meeting and the only thing 

that matters while you are talking: what 

you want to say. 

ROSS MCCAMMON IS A SENIOR EDITOR AT 

ESQUIRE. TO LEARN MORE AND TO SUBSCRIBE, 

GO TO ESQUIRE.COM. @ROSSMCCAMMON 

KEYTECHNICALMATTERS 

Make sure you’re talking to 

everyone in the room. 

Do not be thrown off by the 

attendee checking his device. 

the attendee will be as rapt as 

everyone else. 

Make sure people know what 

your point is. 

Even the attendee checking 

his device. 

Especially the attendee checking 

his device. 

If he won’t stop checking his 

device, mention his name 

during your presentation. 

As in: And Daaaaaave here 

is gonna be instrumental. 

Right, Dave? All of a sudden, 

Choose clarity over energy, 

structure over emotion, formula 

over “So, what else?” 

There must be a clear, simple 

point to your message. 

Make sure people know how long 

you’re going to be. 

Make sure how long you’re going 

to be is: short. 

MARCH 2015 ENTREPRENEUR 29


ESQUIRE GUY | MARKETING | ASK A PRO | ETHICS 

Creative campaigning 

What goes into the launch and execution of a 

multimedia content marketing program? When B2B video 

company Wistia hatched a weeklong campaign featuring 

GoPro cameras, the takeaways were illuminating. 

By Ann Handley 

C 

onsider the GoPro, 

the tiny but rugged 

mountable video 

camera. It’s one of the most 

recognized camera brands 

in the world—known for 

capturing epic, adrenalineinducing 

adventure and 

extreme-sports videos from 

unusual, first-person angles. 

Which is why I was 

surprised when Wistia, a 

B2B video-hosting company 

in Cambridge, Mass., 

announced the launch of 

something it called “GoPro 

Week,” a marketing effort 

meant to inspire businesses 

to use the tiny GoPro in 

similarly powerful ways. 

Wistia’s plan was to coach 

organizations on how they 

could easily tap the GoPro 

to tell compelling—if less 

extreme—stories that would 

boost their business. 

So what happened? 

Let’s deconstruct this GoPro 

Week marketing concept, 

which Wistia hosted in 

November 2014, with an 

eye toward what you can 

learn from it. 

The inspiration: 

an oddball mash-up. 

Every marketing initiative 

starts with a bit of inspiration. 

The catalyst for Wistia’s 

campaign was the launch 

of GoPro’s sporty Hero 4 

camera last fall. But what 

really ignited the plan was the 

idea to mash two known but 

seemingly opposing entities—the 

daredevil GoPro and 

the typically restrained B2B 

video—in a way that could expand 

the possibilities of both. 

“We thought it would be 

a fun twist on the typical 

adventure-sports angle to 

share how businesses can 

use GoPros to show off 

company culture, products 

and anything else,” says 

Wistia director of marketing 

Ezra Fishman. 

Of course, any inspired 

idea needs to be linked to a 

bigger marketing mission. 

For Wistia, showcasing the 

GoPro in unconventional 

ways helped to underscore 

the bigger theme palpable 

in all of the company’s marketing: 

a focus on educating 

A Wistia blog post 

examined GoPro mounts 

through video and 

still photography. 

and inspiring businesses to 

produce engaging, higherquality 

videos as critical 

components of their content 

marketing strategies. 

The goals: reach the 

audience’s audience. 

What change do you hope to 

effect with your campaign or 

program, and how will you 

measure that success? Wistia 

had two primary goals for 

GoPro Week. 

First, it wanted to build 

awareness and audience (a 

goal consistent with almost 

all of its content marketing), 

with a particular emphasis 

on reaching its existing audience’s 

audience—or, friends 

of friends. 

“The best way to reach 

a broader audience is to 

focus our energy on engaging 

the audience we already 

have, and let them spread our 

content to others,” Fishman 

says. “In this way, it’s a 

snowballing effect, where 

we are incrementally building 

our core audience with 

every new piece of content 

we make, which in turn fuels 

more audience growth for the 

next piece of content.” 

Second, Wistia wanted 

to drive engagement across 

multiple company-owned and 

social media channels, as well 

as encourage repeat visits to 

its blog. 

“We built a campaign 

that would encourage people 

not only to visit the content 

on our blog but also to participate 

in discussions in 

our Community forum and 

on Twitter,” Fishman says. 

“We hoped that publishing 

content on a daily basis 

would encourage visitors 

to return each day to see 

what’s new … and ideally 

keep doing that after GoPro 

Week has ended.” 

That second goal, in 

particular, was key in the 

decision to turn the campaign 

from a post or two into 

a weeklong GoPro-palooza. 

“That gave us the creative 

freedom to think about 

different angles for the different 

days and gave us the 

opportunity to try out some 

new approaches,” Fishman 

points out. 

The plan: focus efforts. 

It can be challenging for 

modern marketers to select 

the right format (blog? infographic? 

e-book? webinar?) 

and channel (blog? email? 

Twitter? Facebook?) for a 

new content program. You 

might eventually expand your 

program to include more 

channels and formats—and 

you probably should—but at 

launch, it’s best to focus your 

efforts so you don’t dilute 

your energy and impact. 

With its topics and 

timeframe in place, Wistia 

decided to create a series 

of five blog posts focused on 

five approaches to using the 

GoPro in a B2B context. 

Wistia also utilized email, 

its active discussion forum 

and Twitter to amplify the 

GoPro Week program. 

“We decided that each 

[blog] post would feature a 

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ESQUIRE GUY | MARKETING | ASK A PRO | ETHICS 

Raison 

video demonstrating the 

particular topic,” Fishman 

says. “So if we were going 

to create a post about 

using a GoPro to create 

a time-lapse of the office 

(which we did), a video 

showing how that is done 

would be a central piece 

of that content.” 

Wistia elected to send 

to its email subscribers 

just two messages with 

news of the campaign: 

one at the start of the 

week, with a link to the 

first post, and again 

at the end of the week, 

recapping and linking to 

all five posts. In between, 

the company focused 

on more social ways to 

engage its audience— 

launching companion 

GoPro Week discussion 

threads in its active 

Community forum, 

and hosting a Twitter 

chat (featuring the 

#GoProWeek hashtag). 

In total, over a threeweek 

ramp-up, the 

Wistia marketing team 

produced five written 

blog posts, seven videos 

(embedded within the 

five written pieces), two 

custom emails and a few 

graphic calls to action 

to help navigate between 

the pieces of content. 

The challenges: 

coordinate efforts, 

avoid duplication. 

Seems pretty straightforward, 

doesn’t it? 

However, one big challenge 

was coordinating all the 

work involved in five 

posts and 20-plus supporting 

assets that were 

a mix of written, video 

and design elements 

across multiple channels 

of communication. 

“Fortunately, we’re 

a pretty small team and 

all work in the same 

office,” Fishman says. 

“But even still, 

communication and 

coordination were 

a challenge for this 

one. At times we 

were not all synced 

up on the current 

status of the assets, 

and at other times we 

ended up duplicating 

some efforts, because 

it wasn’t clear who 

was responsible for 

a few items.” 

The results. 

Based on the goals 

it had set for itself, 

Wistia deemed GoPro 

Week a success. Here are 

some of the results: 

• Blog visits (to the five 

posts in the series): 

12,500 

• New visitors (to those 

five posts): 4,000 

• Video views: 8,000 

• Social sharing: 515 

instances 

• Community discussion: 

56 comments 

• Twitter-chat tweets: 95 

“We were very happy 

with the engagement 

for this campaign, particularly 

with the spread 

across multiple channels,” 

Fishman says. 

Interestingly, GoPro 

itself didn’t help to amplify 

Wistia’s efforts, even 

though its product was 

the star of the campaign. 

A few supportive GoPro 

employees shared the campaign 

socially, according to 

Fishman, but the response 

from the San Mateo, 

Calif.-based company was 

“pretty lukewarm.” Then 

again, he acknowledges, 

“business video is [likely] 

not a primary target 

market for them.” 

Lessons learned: 

Monday-morning 

quarterbacking. 

What are the takeaways? 

Fishman says GoPro 

Week influenced the 

way Wistia approaches 

its content distribution. 

Generally, he says, “we aim 

to share one significant 

piece of content per week 

with our full audience.” 

However, he adds, “we 

will take the lessons we’ve 

learned in this campaign 

about spreading content 

over a week and driving 

engagement across several 

channels to influence 

the execution of the next 

content that we already 

have in the pipeline.” 

GoPro Week is over, 

but the content is evergreen. 

Fishman says 

Wistia continues to 

promote content from 

GoPro Week on its social 

channels and continues 

to explore external promotion 

opportunities. 

“We have had good 

success in the past sharing 

pieces of our content or 

some of our videos on 

other publications,” he 

adds. “This is always a 

great way for us to introduce 

a broader audience 

to our brand.” 

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d’être 

Q: How do I compile 

a formal mission 

statement? 

Paul Tiffany, a senior lecturer 

A: at the University of California, 

Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and 

co-author of Business Plans for Dummies, 

suggests three steps for articulating 

your company’s primary purpose. 

1. Ask key employees to write a draft 

statement about what the company 

does—but tell them to keep it short. 

“Preferably only two or three sentences,” 

Tiffany says, “employing simple and 

straightforward language.” 

2. From their answers, craft a single 

statement that includes language describing 

how the company differs from 

its competitors (keeping in mind that 

a mission statement is neither a vision 

statement nor a statement of values). 

3. Circulate the draft document to 

a range of external stakeholders. 

Encourage their response, revise as 

necessary and send the revision to 

select advisors. “Lastly,” Tiffany says, 

“finalize the mission statement based 

on everything you now know,” and 

publish the document both internally 

and externally. —Christopher Hann 

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’TREPONOMICS ESQUIRE GUY | MARKETING | ASK A PRO | ETHICS DO YOU HAVE AN ETHICAL DILEMMA? 

| THE ETHICS COACH | 

A price too high? 

A look at the value of paid 

referrals and advisors 

By Gael O’Brien 

Q: I’ve been approached by people 

who want me to pay them to introduce 

big-name clients to my business, and 

by others who want to advise my 

business in exchange for a percentage 

of the company. Are these arrangements 

ethical? 

A: It sounds like you have opportunists 

at your gate—but that doesn’t 

mean you should dismiss them all 

straightaway. Reduce the likelihood of 

walking onto shaky ethical ground by 

making decisions based on transparency, 

integrity and accountability. Take 

time to think through the benefits, 

drawbacks, implications and potential 

for unintended consequences in paying 

money for client referrals or handing over a percentage 

of your firm as payment for advice. Due diligence on 

potential business partners or suppliers should always 

include assessing whether they are likely to be an asset in 

your efforts to build your company’s reputation and trust 

with stakeholders. 

Regarding referral fees for introductions, research 

the integrity of the person who approached you, and find 

out if paid introductions are an accepted practice in your 

industry or if they’re considered dodgy and will undermine 

your firm’s reputation. If you decide to move ahead, 

be upfront with prospective clients about the arrangement—it 

is unethical not to tell them. Then quickly move 

to fill them in on why your company is uniquely suited to 

exceed their expectations. 

As for sharing equity for advice, I asked Alex Glovsky, 

a partner at Boston-based law firm Nutter McClennen 

& Fish, what he thought of the practice. Glovsky, who 

counsels entrepreneurs on matters related to corporate 

governance and equity structures, says that while there is 

the potential for conflicts of interest in certain contexts— 

for example, when trying to sell a business—there’s not 

as much cause for concern for strategic planning advice. 

But an advisor seeking equity should be able to give 

advice that is growth-related and provides significant and 

specific enterprise value. 

“While paying in equity might save you cash now, 

understand what it means over the long haul,” Glovsky 

says. “The advisor is getting a piece of your business, 

which could prove very expensive upon an exit, so 

the advice provided needs to be extremely valuable 

to the company.” 

Still want to trade equity for advice? Glovsky 

suggests talking to your legal advisor about structuring 

the agreement so that you maintain some measure of 

control over the equity and that any equity granted vests 

over time based upon the specific business objectives 

of the relationship. Glovsky’s recommendation to seek 

legal counsel goes double if the advisor is going to help 

you with any financing issues, as there are regulatory 

constraints on paying those kinds of advisors, whether 

in equity or cash. 

Q: If I focus on compliance at my company, won’t the 

ethical issues handle themselves? 

A: Building trust with your stakeholders requires 

a focus on both compliance and ethics—but one 

doesn’t automatically take care of the other. Being in 

compliance isn’t negotiable, and the rules are (usually) 

clear; if violated, your business could face fines and 

penalties, negative media attention and unnecessary 

legal problems. However, as important as it is to follow 

rules and regulations, they’re not catalysts for success. 

Leaders and teams who focus attention on ethical 

behavior can have an impact on how employees and 

other stakeholders feel about the company. Many 

successful businesses started small, with an equal focus 

on their products, company values and employee satisfaction 

(think Hewlett-Packard Co., The Container Store, 

Ben & Jerry’s, Nordstrom, Starbucks). 

A culture of compliance will likely keep a business 

out of trouble, but a company with a culture that demonstrates 

daily why its values, people and customers 

matter? That business is poised to flourish. 

GAEL O’BRIEN IS PUBLISHER OF THE WEEK IN ETHICS AND 

FOUNDER OF COACHING/CONSULTING FIRM STRATEGIC 

OPPORTUNITIES GROUP. @GAELOBRIEN 

Write to The Ethics Coach at 

ethics@entrepreneur.com. 

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Because greatness isn’t measured by one factor alone, neither is the Entrepreneur 360 

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INNOVATORS 

LEADERSHIP 

A 

WIN 

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NING 

The center of the personality 

spectrum belongs to 

ambiverts—individuals 

with characteristics 

of both introverts and 

extroverts. Could this 

balance equip them to be 

superior business leaders? 

PERSONALITY 

By Jason Ankeny 

Steve Ballmer is a maniac. Just days into the new year, the 

rookie owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers took the 

internet by storm when he leaped from his courtside seat 

at Staples Center and began wildly gyrating to the music 

of halftime performer Fergie—a dance described by media 

outlets as “whacked out,” “hilariously insane” and “enraged 

and ecstatic all at the same time.” 

The spectacle was nothing new to anyone who recalls Ballmer’s 

14-year tenure as Microsoft CEO: Bill Gates’ handpicked successor was 

a notoriously towering presence at software developer conferences and 

industry events, stalking keynote stages like a caged animal—a shouting, 

sweaty Chris Farley character come to life. 

Ballmer, we can surmise, is an extrovert. Or is he? You don’t take 

command of one of the world’s most influential companies or rack up a 

personal net worth of $22.5 billion without deep concentration and focus, 

keen observational skills and at least some capacity for self-reflection— 

attributes commonly associated with introverted personalities. 


INNOVATORS 

LEADERSHIP 

“There is no such thing as a pure 

extrovert or a pure introvert,” argued 

Carl Jung, the pioneering psychologist 

credited with popularizing the concepts 

of extroversion and introversion almost 

a century ago. “Such a man would be in 

the lunatic asylum.” 

Public perception notwithstanding, 

Ballmer is probably an ambivert. The 

majority of other successful entrepreneurs 

and corporate leaders are most 

likely ambiverts as well—and chances 

are you are, too. Neither fish nor fowl, 

ambiverts occupy the expansive space 

between the polar extremes of extroversion 

and introversion, embodying and 

adopting key attributes of both psychological 

archetypes. For example, ambiverts 

are uniquely equipped to move comfortably 

between raucous social settings 

and intense solitude, and while they 

know how to assert their opinions, they 

refrain from being aggressive or boorish. 

“If you look at something like [personality 

test] Myers-Briggs or even the popular 

parlance of ‘introvert’ and ‘extrovert,’ 

the wisdom is you’re either one or the 

other. That cuts against a lot of people’s 

experiences,” says Daniel Pink, whose 

2012 book, To Sell Is Human: The Surprising 

Truth About Moving Others, addresses 

ambiversion as it explores the complexities 

of salesmanship. “What I like about 

‘ambivert’ is it reflects that introversion 

and extroversion are really a spectrum. 

People are located at different spots along 

that spectrum. It’s a more accurate way of 

describing who people really are.” 

THE AMBIVERT ADVANTAGE 

One’s location on the spectrum can play 

a dramatic role in professional prowess. 

“Rethinking the Extraverted Sales Ideal: 

The Ambivert Advantage,” a 2013 

research paper by Adam Grant, a professor 

at The University of Pennsylvania 

Wharton School, tracked sales representatives 

at an unnamed software company 

over the span of three months. Using a 

personality assessment test, it measured 

introversion and extroversion on a scale 

from 1 to 7. Ambiverts—sales reps who 

scored between 3.75 and 5.50—had 

average hourly revenue of $154.77, far 

surpassing their extroverted ($125.19 

SOUNDS LIKE ME 

Given that ambiverts account for a larger percentage of the population than either 

extroverts or introverts, it stands to reason that most successful entrepreneurs 

line up somewhere near the middle of the personality spectrum. Whether they 

self-identify as ambiverts is another story. 

“My guess is that most entrepreneurs would say, 

‘I’m introverted, but I do like going out and talking 

to people and hearing what they have to say’ or 

‘I’m a natural extrovert, but I love being by myself 

and reading,’” says Daniel Pink, whose books 

include To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth 

About Moving Others. “Most people don’t have the 

word ‘ambivert’ in their vocabulary. If you ask, ‘Are 

you an introvert or an extrovert?’ and that’s the only 

vocabulary you know, you have to pick one. But if you 

add ambivert to the mix, a lot of people will say, 

‘That’s a choice? That’s allowed? Then yeah, I’m 

an ambivert!’” 

per hour) and introverted ($120.10) 

colleagues. Most telling, however: The 

employees who scored at the exact midpoint 

of 4.0 averaged $208.34 per hour, 

considerably more than any other subset. 

The same middle-of-the-road psychological 

profile that helps make ambiverts 

outstanding salespeople extends to other 

facets of professional life, including entrepreneurial 

leadership, experts say. 

“We have data suggesting that if you 

go all out on the extroversion side, you’re 

going to be worse at leading and worse 

at selling, and leading and selling are at 

the heart of what an entrepreneur has to 

do,” Grant says. “[In ambiverts] you see a 

good balance between talking and listening. 

Extroverts make the mistake of dominating 

the conversation and not hearing 

enough ideas from the people around 

them. Introverts make the opposite error 

of staying quiet too often and not bringing 

their ideas forward. A mix of that can be 

pretty helpful when it comes to generating 

ideas for what visions and strategies 

your startup should be pursuing—or 

when it comes to pitching investors.” 

LEADERSHIP ROLES 

The term “ambivert” first appeared in 

sociologist Kimball Young’s Source Book 

for Social Psychology, published in 

1927—six years after Jung’s groundbreaking 

Psychological Types, which outlined 

his theories on extroverts and introverts. 

“There is, finally, a third group, and here 

it is hard to say whether the motivation 

comes chiefly from within or without,” 

Jung wrote. “This group is the most 

numerous and includes the less differentiated 

normal man.” 

Subsequent contributions to the 

ambivert literature are scarce across the 

decades that follow, with psychologists 

like Hans Eysenck instead focusing attention 

on extroversion and introversion. 

Eysenck’s influential 1947 book, 

Dimensions of Personality, proposed that 

extroverts operate at a lower basic rate of 

cortical arousal than introverts, requiring 

extroverts to work harder to energize 

their minds and bodies, and in turn leading 

them to crave adventure, social activity 

and other thrill-seeking stimuli. 

That insight into the extrovert 

dynamic may explain why magnetic, 

larger-than-life personalities like Sir 

Richard Branson, Donald Trump and 

Mark Cuban were so long identified as 

exemplars of the entrepreneurial ideal. 

Conventional wisdom held that extroverts 

translated as more effective leaders simply 

because their outgoing personalities 

made them better suited to networking, 

public speaking and collaboration. But 

the pendulum shifted following the 2012 

publication of Susan Cain’s Quiet: The 

Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t 

Stop Talking. Virtually overnight, pundits 

began arguing that introverts are in fact 

better engineered to run businesses 

because they are more focused, more 

risk-averse and more willing to listen to 

constructive criticism. 

But according to Grant’s research, 

neither perspective is correct. “When you 

look at the personality scores of effective 

leaders in studies that my colleagues 

and I did, they’re not extreme introverts. 

They actually scored more in the middle,” 

he says. “We saw that the leaders who 

were less extroverted—or in this case, 

ILLUSTRATION © SHUTTERSTOCK/PATRICE6000 


INNOVATORS 

LEADERSHIP 

ambiverted—did a really good job of 

empowering their most proactive people. 

The extroverts always wanted to set the 

direction, and they were really good at 

inspiring dutiful followers, but they made 

the mistake of shutting down the ideas 

of the people around them because they 

always wanted to be the center of attention. 

The ambiverts were much better at 

toggling back and forth between leading 

and following, and initiating ideas and 

reacting to them.” 

That innate ability to adapt is what 

sets ambiverts apart from extroverts and 

introverts, who are unwilling or unable to 

make the same behavioral adjustments, 

says psychologist Brian Little, senior 

fellow at The Wharton School and author 

of the 2014 book Me, Myself and Us: The 

Science of Personality and the Art of 

Well-Being. 

“If we accept the premise that management 

and entrepreneurial leadership 

require adaptive flexibility to engage in 

both introverted and extroverted tasks, 

which I believe they do, then we can see 

that those in the middle have more of 

that adaptive flexibility than those at the 

extremes,” Little says. “A person who can 

act out of character, who can adopt either 

the extroverted style or the introverted 

style, is the prototype of the great leader.” 

But that flexibility comes at a substantial 

cost. “Protractedly acting out 

of character is going to cause emotional 

and physical decline—the summary word 

would be ‘burnout,’” Little explains. 

“I talk in my work about how an introvert 

who has to engage in extroverted activity 

as a leader can carry that out very 

effectively if they have some restorative 

niches to which they can repair in order 

to get their first nature nurtured for a 

while. It is plausible to argue that the 

more we act out of character, the easier 

it becomes, but there are limits to that, 

and we really need restoration when we 

engage in that behavior.” 

CORE STRENGTHS 

Ambiverts aren’t superior leaders by 

default, of course. Intangibles like 

confidence, conscientiousness and 

commitment are critical, regardless of 

personality type. But in cases where 

ambiverts, extroverts and introverts 

exhibit many of the same core strengths, 

ambiverts maintain a competitive advantage 

by virtue of the comparative absence 

of chinks in their armor. 

“If you are an ambivert, it’s much 

easier to be a successful entrepreneur 

alone. If you’re more of an introvert or 

more of an extrovert to either extreme, 

the odds are higher that you’re going to 

need a partner who complements you 

and who brings the strengths that you are 

less likely to have,” Grant says. “I always 

think of the Google example: Larry Page in 

particular is far more on the introverted 

side of the spectrum, and Eric Schmidt 

coming in as CEO as the company 

is growing was a pretty healthy 

complement. Or take Facebook: Mark 

Zuckerberg is far more introverted than 

Sheryl Sandberg.” 

However, Grant theorizes that some 

colleagues may find ambiverts too flexible 

and unpredictable for their own good, 

preferring to work alongside leaders with 

a clear-cut set of behaviors and perspectives. 

Ambivert leadership could even 

ring false or misleading to some employees, 

author Pink contends. 

“What gives ambiverts strength 

is the same thing that gives bilingual 

people strength—they can talk to and 

understand introverts in their organization, 

and they can talk to and understand 

extroverts in their organization,” Pink 

explains. “But one possible weakness is 

the perception of inauthenticity. If you 

[extend] the metaphor of bilingualism, 

it’s like, ‘Wait a minute—you speak 

Spanish with Fred, and you speak English 

with Mary? What’s your real language?’ 

This idea that they’re adapting to each 

situation—that they’re quasi-chameleons—could 

be perceived as a weakness 

by some, although I think it’s a strength.” 

Grant also questions whether ambivert 

leadership is vital throughout the life 

THE RISE 

OF THE 

BETA CHIEF 

Nobody should 

be making all 

the decisions. 

One expert 

proposes that the 

most effective 

leaders 

demonstrate 

authority through 

collaboration. 

If you’ve sat through one 

staff meeting, you’ve sat 

through them all. You know 

the drill: The extroverts monopolize 

the dialogue, tuning 

out the input of others, while 

the introverts go to the opposite 

extreme, suppressing their 

own ideas in favor of allowing 

other voices to dominate the 

discourse. Then there are 

the ambiverts, who inhabit the 

sweet spot between the two 

sides, instinctively knowing 

when to speak up and when 

to shut up—an essential skill 

in today’s increasingly collaborative 

business world. 

That model is explored in 

Dana Ardi’s book The Fall of 

the Alphas: The New Beta 

Way to Connect, Collaborate, 

Influence—and Lead, which 

contends that business leaders 

must dump traditional vertical 

models of hierarchy and control 

(what she dubs “alpha culture”) 

in favor of a more horizontal, 

inclusive approach. 

“There are mega-trends 

that are changing the way 

we think about organizing, like 

the emergence of technology, 

globalization and social media. 

Businesses can’t allow one 

individual to make all the 

decisions—the complexity of 

today’s organizations means 

that ideas come from everywhere,” 

says Ardi, founder 

of New York-based Corporate 

Anthropology Advisors, 

which offers recruitment and 

organizational consulting 

services to startups, investors 

and enterprise clients. “We have 

to organize ourselves into what 


PHOTOS © SHUTTERSTOCK/PROMETHEUS72 (BRANSON, GATES); PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES/BLOOMBERG /CONTRIBUTOR (QUIGLEY) 

cycle of an organization. “I would bet that 

at the early stages of a venture startup, 

ambiversion is more important than it is 

later,” he says. “In the early phases, you 

have to play more roles. There are fewer 

opportunities to delegate and adjust what 

your responsibilities are. As you grow, 

it’s much easier to carve out a role that 

allows you to operate effectively in your 

introverted niche or in your extroverted 

niche. Maybe ambiverts would have 

higher rates of early startup success, and 

those differences would vanish once companies 

hit some kind of stride.” 

Time will tell whether Grant’s theory 

is correct; research into the ambivert 

profile is still in its infancy, and the 

concept remains on the fringes of the 

popular consciousness. But with a 

growing number of academics turning 

their attention to personality psychology 

and its impact on all facets of human life, 

major breakthroughs could be within 

reach, Little believes. 

“What’s exciting is that we’re getting 

away from the ‘Are extroverts better 

than introverts?’ logic and starting to 

look at some of the more subtle aspects 

of why we do the things we do and 

how they involve managing the balance 

between our natures and what I call our 

‘socio-genetic motives’—our cultural expectations, 

our work and so on,” he says. 

“We’re all a bit more complex than simple 

types of being.” 

RADICALS AND VISIONARIES 

In the absence of personality-test results or other hard 

data, we can only speculate where leading entrepreneurs 

fall along the psychological continuum. But the available 

evidence suggests that most are ambiverts. 

“RICHARD BRANSON 

is probably an ambivert,” 

says Adam Grant, professor 

at The Wharton School. 

“We see his extroverted 

behaviors most vividly, 

but if you look at the sheer 

amount of time he spends 

writing and reflecting, or 

some of his discomfort with 

public speaking, we can 

make a prediction that 

he’s less extroverted than 

he appears.” 

“BILL GATES likely 

would be an example of an 

ambivert,” author Daniel 

Pink says. “Here’s a guy 

who’s stimulus-seeking 

and risk-taking—he drops 

out of Harvard and goes to 

Albuquerque, of all places, 

to start a company. That’s 

risk-prone behavior. But he’s 

also a guy who leaves work 

for one or two weeks every 

year to go off by himself and 

read, which is very much 

introverted behavior.” 

“JIM QUIGLEY, who was 

the CEO of Deloitte for some 

time, noticed that when he 

walked into a room, people 

would shut up and listen for 

him to talk,” Grant says. “I 

don’t know where he falls 

on the personality spectrum 

by default, but he very 

deliberately decided to act 

more like an ambivert and set 

a goal that he was only going 

to talk during 20 percent of 

meetings, max. When you 

do that and let other people 

carry the floor 80 percent of 

the time, you are more or less 

mimicking the advantages of 

being an ambivert. You get to 

hear other ideas, and people 

feel more empowered.” 

I call ‘beta culture,’ which I 

compare to an orchestra. 

You have virtuosos in all areas, 

and you organize around 

tasks and what needs to be 

done, with many voices and 

a conductor who brings them 

all together.” 

According to Ardi, alpha 

culture emerged in the 

Industrial Age and crystallized 

in the years following World 

War II. The organizing principle 

took its cues from military 

hierarchy, with a general— 

the CEO—serving as a 

centralized decision-making 

authority, issuing orders to 

the lieutenants, sergeants 

and privates serving under 

him. That approach no longer 

works, Ardi believes. 

“Contemporary leaders 

are betas,” she proclaims. 

“They are good listeners, they 

understand how to mine organizations 

and curate them, 

and they have an amazing 

sense of communication. 

They’re not leaders in that all 

decisions have to come from 

them—they drill down to make 

sure that everyone in the organization 

is sharing ideas and 

playing well together.” 

The beta mindset must 

extend to all facets of a company, 

from how its physical 

space is organized to how 

employees communicate to 

how teams are rewarded for 

their efforts. “Then [betas] 

need to bring people together 

and have the community start 

to brainstorm around how they 

can become more effective at 

all of the markers of being a 

beta culture,” Ardi says. “What 

are the challenges of our 

company moving forward? 

What are the things we want 

to get better at? What are 

the opportunities for us in the 

marketplace? What are the 

things we’ve been doing that 

we take for granted that maybe 

we need to rethink? There’s 

a whole internal dialogue to 

becoming self-actualized.” 

There are risks, Ardi warns. 

Some entrepreneurs embrace 

the beta concept too aggressively, 

opening up all discussions 

and decisions to internal 

debate. “Doing that becomes 

groupthink,” she says. “The 

best advice I can offer is to 

be what I call a ‘productive 

narcissist’—to believe in your 

idea, to understand the direction 

you want to go and how 

you want to move the group, 

but to be open, to be a good 

listener, to be a good communicator, 

to seek advice and 

counsel, to do something with 

that advice, and to always 

challenge common wisdom.” 

In other words: Be an 

ambivert. —J.A. 


LEADERSHIP 

Generation 

PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES/MACIEJ NOSKOWSK 


gaps 

MILLENNIALS ARE TAKING 

OVER THE WORK FORCE 

AT A RAPID CLIP. 

WHAT’S AN OLDER 

LEADER TO DO? 

ByRobReuteman 

>>>> 

PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES/THOMAS BARWICK 

43

LEADERSHIP 

isa Orrell is a hot property. The author of Millennials 

Incorporated is one of a handful of trainers and 

consultants who advise companies on leading the 

newest generation of workers. 

“I’ve had more calls for seminars for managing 

Millennials in the last two years than the previous five 

or six,” says Orrell, whose clients include Cisco, eBay, 

Johnson & Johnson and Blue Cross Blue Shield. 

Also known as Generation Y, the 80 million Americans 

born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s 

began entering the work force nearly 15 years ago. But 

now they’re taking it over, with experts saying they’ll 

comprise nearly half of U.S. employees by 2020. And 

leading them successfully is an altogether different 

proposition than leading previous generations. 

Today’s successful leader has a built-in awareness 

of the similarities and differences between generations, 

and how the various age groups prefer to be engaged. 

This is especially true when it comes to attracting, 

getting the most out of and retaining the outspoken 

Millennial group. 

Dan Epstein is CEO of ReSource Pro, a New York 

City-based company that provides outsourcing services 

for the insurance industry. He says his staff is roughly 90 

percent Millennials. 

“I do see a culture clash between some managers and 

young employees,” he says. “With top-down management—‘Just 

do what I say’—there’s gonna be that clash.” 

Tammy Erickson, author of Plugged In: The Generation 

Y Guide to Thriving at Work and an executive fellow at the 

London Business School, co-directs a leadership program 

for senior executives. “I’d say 90 percent of the Gen X 

managers I work with are exasperated by Millennials,’’ she 

says. “They say, ‘I had to wait my turn; you need to wait 

yours. I had to follow rules. So do you. You’re asking for 

something quite different than what I had to go through.’” 

Those feelings are “very human, very normal,” she 

says, “but I tell them, ‘It’s not going to do you any good 

to feel that way. There’s no upside for you. If you want to 

keep them, then motivate them and make their work more 

meaningful and challenging than Boomers made it for 

you. That’s water over the dam.’” 

As a leader, Epstein attempts to satisfy the newer 

generation’s desire to be creative, to have important, 

interesting roles and to have a say in their company’s 

activities. “We’ve taken a hard look at our work process, 

to give people a better sense of where they fit in and how 

they’ll feel more engaged,” he says. 

To that end, he conducts annual employee engagement 

surveys that have led to significant changes at 

ReSource Pro. For example, in recent years he implemented 

budgets for employees to do social activities 

together. “They get to choose how they spend it,” he says. 

“Some decide to go on trips together. We want to create a 

culture where employees feel their values are respected.” 

He also adjusted his company’s compensation program 

to accommodate Millennials who want to move up the 

corporate ladder quickly. “They want forward progression,” 

he points out of his young work force. “Rather than 

infrequent promotions with large increases, we do more 

frequent with less increase. It lets people feel they’re 

moving forward.” 

Indeed, more than previous generations, Millennials 

are living for that immediate satisfaction. “The biggest, 

most important difference between Millennial workers 

and their Boomer or Gen X managers is that they really 

focus on characteristics of what they are doing in the 

moment,” Erickson says. 

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LEADERSHIP 

Why? Their formative years were heavily influenced 

by terrorism and school violence, “inexplicable things 

that can happen to anyone anytime,” Erickson says. 

“That’s why, in the workplace, they’re constantly asking, 

‘Is what you’re asking me to do today meaningful and 

important and challenging?’” The best leaders of 

Millennials “think of their role as similar to a teacher 

preparing lesson plans,” she adds. “What are we 

going to accomplish this week, and what will the team 

learn? They integrate a learning component with an 

executional component.” 

Millennials, in fact, have grown up in a more 

inclusive, participatory environment than previous 

generations. Successful leaders will be those who 

evolve toward evaluating task completion rather than 

the individual. 

“A lot of their schooling was designed around 

teamwork,” Erickson says. “They do a lot of their social 

activities in groups; they’re very comfortable with that.” 

That can lead to conflicts in the workplace, where 

traditional corporate cultures have been set up for individual 

evaluation. Explains Erickson: “We’re hung up on 

assessing individual raw performance. We lose focus on 

the fact that collaboration may get the task done better 

and smarter than if done by individuals.” 

Then there’s the issue of feedback on those tasks. 

Continued on page 48 

ILLUSTRATION © OLIVER MUNDAY 

5 TIPS FOR 

LEADING 

THE NEW 

GENERATION 

Emphasize training and 

personal development. 

Surveys show that Millennial 

workers rate training and development 

as an employee benefit 

three times higher than they 

rate cash bonuses. “Put your 

training program on steroids if 

you want to retain this group. 

It’s money that is worthwhile 

to invest,” says Amy Lynch of 

Nashville-based consulting firm 

Generational Edge. 

However, this should not 

necessarily mean laying 

out every facet of a Millennial 

employee’s role. Tammy 

Erickson, author of Plugged 

In: The Generation Y Guide 

to Thriving at Work, advises 

against “over-specifying.” 

“These are people who have 

gone through school not necessarily 

reading a textbook from 

start to finish, but getting a 

snippet of information from here 

and there on the internet,” she 

says. “Give them a challenge 

and let them figure it out.” 

Encourage collaboration 

and transparency. 

“The new-era employee 

assumes they can and should 

contribute to conversation and 

decisions that affect where 

they work,” says Lisa Orrell 

of San Francisco Bay Areabased 

consultancy The Orrell 

Group and author of Millennials 

Incorporated. Meetings should 

be open, collaborative sessions 

in which everyone is encouraged 

to share ideas. 

A good leader will know 

how to incorporate that input 

and channel it. “Switch from 

top-down to side-to-side 

management,” Lynch says. 

“Focus on: ‘Here’s what we 

have to get done, let’s figure 

out how to get there.’” 

Reconsider the schedule. 

Many leaders are restructuring 

the workweek to accommodate 

young people’s stamina 

and give them more time to 

recharge. “Be more flexible 

and try four 10-hour days to 

give employees a three-day 

weekend. You’ll make your 

business a workplace of choice 

for Millennials,” Lynch says. 

Focus on mentorship. 

“Millennials have grown up with 

a lot of guidance from their 

parents, society and teachers. 

They truly value and seek 

hand-holding at work,” Orrell 

says. “I’ve spoken with many 

Millennials who have quit jobs 

quickly because they were 

promised mentorship but never 

received it.” 

You may also try reciprocal 

mentoring, such as pairing a 

smart, tech-savvy Millennial 

with a senior exec. “Have the 

exec learn social media while the 

Millennial learns leadership and 

management skills,” suggests 

Jeanne Meister, founding partner 

of New York-based consultancy 

Future Workplace and co-author 

of The 2020 Workplace: How 

Innovative Companies Attract, 

Develop, and Keep Tomorrow’s 

Employees Today. 

Commit to social causes. 

Leaders who prioritize volunteering 

and a connection to 

social causes are finding success 

in attracting and retaining 

Gen Yers, many of whom stress 

their desire to work for a business 

that has a positive impact 

on society. Successful leaders 

of young people are incorporating 

such activities and values 

into their business models and 

communicating them in compelling 

ways. Suggests Lynch: 

“Talk about the ways you are 

connected to the community, 

the ways you make the world a 

better place.” 


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LEADERSHIP 

Successful 

leaders 

will be 

those who 

evaluate task 

completion 

rather than 

the individual. 

Employee surveys by both Harvard Business Review and 

PricewaterhouseCoopers have found that Millennial employees 

want a constant stream of review and recognition. 

“I was brought up in an environment of 

‘no news is good news,’” Erickson points out 

about the generational difference. “Feedback 

meant I was going to be judged in some 

way, usually negatively.” But for Millennials, 

“feedback is getting a tip. It’s coaching, and 

they want it multiple times a day.” 

That’s right—annual reviews, long a 

staple of corporate culture, don’t cut it anymore. 

Gen Yers want to know how they’re 

doing much more often—and the best 

leaders are finding ways to give it to them, 

through social media updates, peer evaluations 

or extensive mentorship programs. 

“The biggest complaint from Millennials 

about managers that I hear is, ‘My 

boss cancels my one-on-ones all the time,’” 

Orrell says. “They conclude, ‘Oh well, 

he doesn’t value my time.’ And the No. 1 

reason Millennials leave companies is that they don’t feel 

valued or respected.” 

Retention of Millennial employees has indeed proved 

problematic for companies whose older managers have 

failed to evolve beyond traditional corporate leadership 

strategies. Orrell and her firm spend most of their time 

counseling executives on how to help such managers 

work with their Millennial charges. “They tell me, 

‘There tends to be dissension and frustration on the 

part of our managers. How can we reduce the amount 

of friction in the workplace? How can we get everyone 

on the same page?’” 

Orrell is blunt. “People don’t leave companies; they 

leave managers,” she says. “They’re not mad at the 

building. They’re mad at who they work with on a dayto-day 

basis. We may have tolerated it for five to 10 

years. [Millennials] will tolerate it for five to 10 months. 

“Most people think the problem would be a 52-yearold 

who can’t relate to a 24-year-old employee, but 

that’s not typical,” she adds. “The biggest friction is with 

the 35-year-old Gen X middle manager who resents the 

whiney Millennial who needs hand-holding.” 

This is leading to significant changes at many 

companies, where savvy leaders are shaking up the 

long-stagnant management level. “Smart companies 

are getting really serious about this, stepping up their 

game with management, finally willing to go through 

the hassle of firing mediocre managers,” Orrell says. 

“Because if someone doesn’t like their boss, they’re 

gonna leave. The other stuff doesn’t matter.” 

ROB REUTEMAN IS A DENVER-BASED JOURNALIST 

WHO TEACHES BUSINESS REPORTING AT 

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY. @ROBREUTEMAN 

PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES/THOMAS BARWICK 


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LEADERSHIP 

Decisions, decisions 

THE REAL LEADERS ARE THOSE WHO TAKE ACTION 

By Raymond Hennessey 

A 

ny time I have a tough decision to make, I wonder what 

James Burke would do. 

Burke isn’t a household name, certainly not in the 

modern pantheon of entrepreneurial leaders like Steve Jobs or 

Elon Musk. But that’s not surprising. Burke spent nearly 40 

years with the same company—Johnson & Johnson (13 of them 

as chairman and CEO)—then went into public service as chairman 

of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Neither role is 

“hip” to the modern entrepreneur. 

But you should know Burke—like, have-a-picture-of-him-onyour-office-wall 

know him. If you’re serious about leadership, 

serious about being a leader that your employees, 

customers and stakeholders can be proud 

of, you should understand, as he did, that it all 

comes down to how you approach decisions. 

Leadership is about bringing order to chaos, 

fighting ambiguity and staying true to your 

company’s—and your own—principles. 

In Burke’s case, that meant making what 

remains one of the riskiest corporate decisions 

ever: spending $100 million to recall a product 

that wasn’t actually faulty. 

Burke led J&J through its darkest period. 

In 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died 

after taking capsules of Extra-Strength Tylenol 

that had been laced with cyanide. Folks were 

scared. No one knew how the drugs were being 

tampered with. It was random. And it wasn’t 

really J&J’s fault. The company wasn’t poisoning 

its customers—a crackpot was. 

But there was uncertainty among executives 

and shareholders about what the company 

should do. The costliest option was also the 

most unprecedented, and it was the path Burke 

chose: pulling 32 million bottles of Tylenol off store shelves 

across the country. 

In the end, it was worth it. Burke retooled the packaging 

to make tamper-proof bottles, then relaunched. It wasn’t 

long before Tylenol regained its market share, and J&J shares 

regained their market capitalization. 

I wouldn’t have done the same. I admit it. I would have 

looked for a less-severe option, justifying this by saying I had 

to be a steward of my shareholders’ capital. I would have loudly 

defended my product’s safety and hired a team of PR pros and 

marketing whizzes to deflect the negative press and put the focus 

on the real criminal (who, incidentally, was never caught). 

And I would have failed. Failed hard. I would have been guilty 

of not responding to the true issue: the chaos and uncertainty 

facing my customers. You see, Burke knew that the thing successful 

leaders have in common is their ability to make difficult 

decisions quickly and to remove doubts. They take uncertain, 

amorphous situations and turn them into opportunities. Real 

Train yourself 

to recognize 

chaos and to 

hate it the way 

nature abhors 

a vacuum. 

leaders are defined by what they do, not who they are. 

That runs contrary to a lot of teaching these days. There’s a 

cottage self-help industry that will tell you how many hours of 

sleep you need, how much exercise to get or what books to read, 

but it’s usually a load of crap, peddled by people who have never 

led anything more than a conga line. 

It’s not that easy. Managing employees, selling products and 

staying innovative requires decision-making, not eight hours of 

REM sleep. Every company, from startups to the largest corporations, 

faces ambiguity. Leaders need to decide whom to hire, 

which customers to target, which products to develop and how 

to market them. Some of these decisions are 

life-or-death—as was Burke’s dilemma at 

J&J—while some lean toward the mundane. 

But none are easy. There is rarely a right or 

wrong outcome. Most choices come with 

some degree of risk. 

Think of the worst CEOs. Almost all 

their failures came from a hesitancy to 

make decisions. That means not setting a 

clear vision for the company, not dropping a 

customer who was taking up too much time 

and resources for too little revenue, not responding 

to new technology or competitors’ 

innovations, not firing a problem employee. 

Rather than rising to the challenge, such 

CEOs simply choose inaction. 

Of course, you could make the wrong 

decision. (There was, after all, New Coke.) 

But the danger lies more in allowing ambiguity 

to fester than in the consequences of 

a poor move. To quote President Theodore 

Roosevelt: “In any moment of decision, 

the best thing you can do is the right thing, 

the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you 

can do is nothing.” 

Rather than look at leadership as an all-or-nothing, bornnot-made 

equation, the answer is simpler. Train yourself to 

recognize chaos and to hate it the way nature abhors a vacuum. 

It won’t matter if you decide you need a team of great people 

to tackle a problem, or if you just want to do it yourself. It 

doesn’t matter if you approach an issue with absolute certainty 

or with a healthy amount of self-doubt. No one will care if 

you create a clear communication plan or keep your reasons 

to yourself. Just make a decision—unambiguously, and without 

shame or worry. 

In making the toughest decision a CEO can make, Burke 

showed how easy it can be. That’s why I channel him now, and 

why I often reach for a bottle of Tylenol when my own leadership 

responsibilities start getting the best of me. 

RAYMOND HENNESSEY IS EDITORIAL DIRECTOR OF ENTREPRENEUR.COM. 

ILLUSTRATION © SHUTTERSTOCK/DIEGO SCHTUTMAN 


MAGAZINE 

Available on newsstands, the App Store, Google Play, 

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TECH 

SHINY | ONLINE ‘TREP | GEEK | THE FIX 

he HP Sprout ($1,899), the 

company’s latest all-in-one 

T desktop PC, unleashes the era 

of affordable 3-D scanning—and 

changes how you think about your 

computer. Running Windows 8.1 

Pro, the Sprout uses a 20-point 

capacitive touch mat in place of a 

keyboard; the mat can morph from 

a virtual desktop to a graphics 

slate to a second screen. 

Atop the 23-inch HD touchscreen 

is the Sprout Illuminator, 

an LED desk lamp that doubles as 

a projector (beaming interactive 

images onto the touch mat) 

and a 14.6-megapixel camera that 

not only scans images and documents 

in 2-D but captures 3-D 

renderings of objects at the push 

of a button. 

| SHINY OBJECTS | 

Scan and deliver 

HP’s new Sprout reimagines the PC 

Integrating Sprout’s scanning 

solutions into software like 

Microsoft Office 365 and Evernote, 

this computer can save graphic 

and industrial designers dozens 

of steps. For instance, if they want 

an image of a new widget to add 

to a PowerPoint presentation, 

they can grab said widget, put it 

on the mat and capture a full-size 

scan of it. They can also map it in 

3-D just as easily. 

Behind the new interface 

is a high-powered computer 

with an Intel Core i7 processor, 

1 TB hard drive, 8 GB of memory, 

webcam, memory card readers 

and surround sound. 

And yes, it also comes with a 

keyboard and mouse. 

—John Patrick Pullen 

ENTER THE THIRD DIMENSION 

THE SPROUT is among tools that herald the next evolution of 3-D printing 

and graphics, as it does away with the need for expensive CAD engineers and 

software. Now product designers can send full 3-D renderings of their inventions 

to a 3-D printer to make additional samples or replacement parts. 

But really, 3-D scanning has applications for almost any small business, 

according to Brad Short, a distinguished technologist at HP and the inventor 

of the Sprout platform. He cites the example of a restaurant owner looking 

to make eye-popping menus. “They can scan actual entrées,” he says. “The 

physical outcome of that resulting menu is very sophisticated-looking. All 

the colors look good, the rendering is great, and it looks 3-D because there 

are shadows.” 

PHOTO © BEN ALSOP

TECH 


A greener thumb 

Smart Gardener brings ag-biz tech to the backyard 

N 

ot long after planting her 

first vegetable garden, 

Kristee Rosendahl realized 

she was spending most of 

her time indoors researching 

gardening topics, not actually 

digging in the dirt. 

“I had a stack of gardening 

books a mile high, but it 

wasn’t helping me figure out 

what was best for my garden,” 

she recalls. Her need for 

a hyperlocal resource led 

Rosendahl, a user-experience 

designer at Apple, to develop 

Smart Gardener, an online tool 

for planning and managing 

one’s vegetable patch. 

Users enter their ZIP 

code, garden size and household 

size, and the program 

aggregates historical weather 

statistics from a national 

database to make recommendations 

for the best vegetables 

for the climate and when to 

plant. It also provides a weekto-week 

guide for maintaining 

one’s garden through the 

growing season. 

For example, gardeners 

who want to plant tomatoes 

will receive recommendations 

about which varieties will produce 

the best results in their 

area; data can be narrowed 

further, limiting suggestions 

to, say, heirloom varieties or 

those that perform well in 

containers or partial shade. 

After testing the program in 

her garden in Sonoma County, 

Calif., Rosendahl 

recognized its 

potential as a 

business. “There 

was so much buzz 

about sustainability 

and local food 

systems, and technology 

was getting 

much more sophisticated,” 

she explains. 

She decided to release 

Smart Gardener as a free 

service. Her hope? To build 

a robust audience as proof of 

concept, then figure out how 

to monetize. 

Since she launched in 

2012, more than 250,000 

people have created accounts 

at smartgardener.com, 

making it the leading U.S. 

gardening website. 

Armed with that user 

base, Rosendahl has introduced 

small add-ons and 

apps, ranging in price from 

$0.99 to $4.99, that include 

a guide to growing berries 

and a harvest calculator. 

The site has also partnered 

with seed companies and 

retailers, including Southern 

Exposure Seed Exchange 

and Peaceful Valley Farm & 

Garden Supply, to generate 

revenue from affiliate e- 

commerce sales. Although she 

declined to disclose revenue, 

Rosendahl estimates that 25 

percent of users purchase addons 

or products from Smart 

Gardener’s partners. 

Last year Rosendahl 

created a B2B product, Smart 

Backyard, designed to help 

landscapers use the technology 

to help with garden 

planning and maintenance and 

improve customer communication. 

For example, after a 

landscaper has completed a 

list of recommended chores, 

an auto-generated newsletter 

is emailed to clients. 

With demand for Smart 

Gardener and Smart Backyard 

continuing to grow, Rosendahl 

believes she can expand 

her empire beyond the garden 

in the coming years. Among 

her plans are complementary 

services such as Smart 

Chickens, Smart Beekeeping 

and Smart Orchardist. 

“We want to be part 

of the whole smart-home 

movement,” she says. “Smart 

Gardener is the first step.” 

—Jodi Helmer 

PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES/CHRIS PRICE (GARDENING); PHOTO © SHUTTERSTOCK/JULES_KITANO (TOMATOES) 


T 

here’s a new breed of security tools that allow small 

businesses to offer transactions as safe as those 

of their larger competitors—and charge a healthy 

markup in the process. 

“We see over and over how small firms that connect the 

security dots for their customers can fetch solid margins,” 

 

Safety first 

Four security tools that earn their keep 

LEMONSTAND 

Benefit: e-commerce checkout platform controlled by you 

says Steve Hultquist, chief evangelist at RedSeal, a cyberthreat 

analysis firm in Sunnyvale, Calif. 

We’ve sussed out four easy-to-use tools that can lower 

costs for your business and change your perception of 

cyber safety from pain point to value-added benefit. 

—Jonathan Blum 

Vancouver-based LemonStand has rolled out a virtual payments app perfectly suited for 

e-commerce. In testing, we liked its easy-to-customize shopping cart and analysis tools and its 

ability to enable customers to make purchases seamlessly on a PC, tablet or smartphone without 

any back-end programming. But the real kicker is that LemonStand runs on web pages that you 

host—so no worries over infections from shared servers. And the price is right: no transaction 

fees, just a flat monthly rate starting at $49. 

 

OKTA MOBILITY MANAGEMENT 

Benefit: idiot-proof access for cloud-based apps 

“Managing keys and passwords in increasingly virtualized cloud-based office software is one 

of the most intractable problems in all of security,” says Jeff Williams, CTO at Contrast Security, 

a Palo Alto, Calif.-based software developer. Enter Okta, an identity management app that 

permits any business owner to control and manage how employees access critical web-based 

office software. Worried that a recent hire—or fire—is somewhere in Salesforce they shouldn’t 

be? Okta lets you block them remotely, a boon for managers overseeing skeleton staffs scattered 

around the country. Plus, at $2 per user per month, Okta cuts the pricey IT costs to set up or 

lay off employees. 

HP STREAM NOTEBOOK 

Benefit: near-enterprise-level financial data security for peanuts 

The simplest way to build a serious financial wall around your business is with an HP 

Stream Notebook (from $299). Set it up in your office, then turn on the Family Safety 

features that come standard in any Windows 8 operating system. This allows you to limit 

web access to your e-commerce platform, bank, accounting packages such as Quicken and 

FreshBooks, or other secure sites that your business relies on—and that’s it. The computer 

can’t be used for email, social media or anything else. 

QUICK TIP: Unplug the unit at the end of each day. “Every security professional will tell 

you that this kind of ‘air gap’ between your critical data and the outside world is ideal,” 

says RedSeal’s Hultquist. 

 

TELEGRAM 

Benefit: secure and private messaging for free 

Telegram’s encrypted chat program brings secure communications to any small business or group. 

Simply load the app on a device or computer, create an account and find someone in your contacts 

with whom you want to have a private chat. Voilà! In no time, you can start communicating secretly 

with groups of up to 100. Use it to discuss critical businesses issues such as human resources, 

intellectual property and clients without leaving a digital trail. 

| TO THE CLOUD | 

GET IN THE FLOW 

Jim Coe, founder, The Yeomen, 

Richmond, Va. 

“The Yeomen is a 20-employee company providing 

high-quality, front-facing customer phone, 

chat and email support for growing firms like 

Vimeo, MacRumors and AppShopper. I started the 

company 18 months ago, and as CEO of a growing 

business, I never have enough time. Late last year, 

my director of ops showed me the free Workflow 

app. I’d already been doing more work on my 

iPad, and Workflow helps me do even more. I use 

Workflow to automate processes like scheduling 

meetings, gathering daily headlines and letting 

my wife know when I’m leaving [the office]. I like 

how I can customize the app, testing out the 

smoothest way to do a certain task, until I like 

each step. Each customization saves me a bit of 

time, and those bits add up. I’d say I’ve gained 

back a couple hours each week from using it. And 

for me, that is huge.” —As told to J.B. 


TECH 


| ASK A GEEK | 

Social diver 

Q: Do better social media 

analytics really help? 

There’s an ever-growing 

range of companies offering an 

A: array of social media analytics 

tools, from entry-level platforms such 

as Hootsuite and Sprout Social to 

sophisticated stand-alone products 

like Socialbakers and Radian6. 

All of these products use an API 

to capture data—the exact same data 

already available to you and your business 

for free from Facebook Insights, Twitter 

Analytics and many other social media 

networks. The only differences between 

the native analytics and the more sophisticated—and 

expensive—options are the 

interface and the math used to calculate 

ambiguous metrics like “potential reach” 

and “engagement.” 

As it turns out, the more you pay, 

the prettier the interface, the sexier the 

reports and the more complex the math. 

How much “pretty” you need or can 

afford depends on your budget, the scope 

of your marketing effort and the nature 

of your business. 

To help you determine what’s right 

for your business, we turned to New 

Hampshire-based Katie Delahaye Paine, 

author of Measure What Matters and selfdescribed 

“measurement queen.” 

—Mikal E. Belicove 

Why should my company engage 

in social listening? 

If your customers are talking about 

you, you want to hear what they’re 

saying. If you’re spending good money 

to talk at them, why not devote some 

percentage to listening to what they 

have to say? Research shows that the 

conversations your customers have among 

themselves drive about 13 percent of 

business decisions and can amplify 

your advertising by 15 percent. What 

business owner wouldn’t want to be a 

fly on that wall? 

Are these expensive analytics tools 

good investments? 

You’ll first have to go through the considerable 

time and expense to conduct 

rigorous modeling ahead of time to ensure 

that the metrics provided by a third-party 

analytics program are meaningful to you 

and your business. Otherwise, you’ll just 

end up with a flood of data that you can’t 

really do anything with or trust. 

Assuming I do the modeling exercise 

you suggest, what features would I look 

for in a third-party analytics tool? 

Because you want the right data—not 

lots of data—you need a tool that filters 

out spambots, auto-retweets and payper-click 

results. Next, if the tool is 

providing sentiment analysis (i.e., classifying 

content as “positive,” “neutral” 

or “negative”), you need to go into the 

data to validate the sentiment. That’s 

because sentiment analysis tools tend to 

be keyword-driven, and a lot of keywords 

mean lots of different things. And finally, 

price is a factor. If you buy a cheap tool 

but have to invest tons of time cleaning 

up the data you get from it, you haven’t 

saved yourself any money. 

What’s next? 

The most important thing to consider— 

and then create—is a strategy to deal with 

what you hear from your social media 

feeds. How will you manage or redirect 

customer complaints, requests for service 

or sales inquiries? In social media time, 

you have about three hours before people 

start to get impatient and complain 

because “no one is listening.” 

Can I make do with the free metrics 

provided by social media platforms? 

Unless you’re doing the extensive modeling 

mentioned above, it’s best to stick 

to the free basic metrics provided by the 

social media platforms you use. This lets 

you easily decide which metrics matter to 

your business. For instance, a restaurant 

has very different goals for social media 

than a bank or car dealership. Two places 

to start are with revenue directly tied to 

social media or audience size. Once you 

decide which direction you’re going, you 

can figure out the most important role 

for social media. Is it to drive traffic to a 

website, generate leads or build customer 

engagement? From there, you can determine 

the metrics that matter to you. 

THE STAT: 18% 

The number of American adults planning to buy a wearable tech device 

such as a Fitbit or Apple smartwatch in 2015, according to market research 

firm Ipsos MediaCT. 

Source: Ipsos US Online Omnibus, October 2014 

ILLUSTRATION © ROMULDO FAURA 


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TECH 


The cure for the conference call 

A wireless device cuts down the pain of connecting 

hink of videoconferencing like drinking freetrade, 

independently roasted coffee: Tons of 

T people are doing it, but nobody’s really doing it 

efficiently or cost-effectively. Legacy systems cost anywhere 

from $2,000 to $10,000 and require significant 

hardware in each conference room. Then there’s the 

issue of support—because of the systems’ complexity, 

companies must set aside tech-support resources to 

troubleshoot when errors occur. 

At Mimeo.com, a content distribution and printing 

company based in New York City but with employees all 

over the world, the challenge was particularly onerous. 

Last year, after Mimeo.com acquired another printing 

company in Germany and needed to assimilate disparate 

work forces, executives had to figure out an affordable 

way to incorporate efficient videoconferencing into their 

management routine. They tried to run video calls over 

Google+ Hangouts, but found the service unreliable. 

Vice president of marketing Doug Bohaboy knew there 

had to be a better way. “We just weren’t getting everything 

we wanted out of what was available,” he says. 

THE FIX 

That better way came when Mimeo.com got on the list to 

beta-test a new videoconferencing solution from Silicon 

Valley-based Highfive. The plug-and-play integrated 

hardware-software solution with a built-in camera retails 

for $799 per device and is designed to handle all the 

videoconferencing needs for one conference room. 

Each device delivers HD video and high-fidelity audio. 

Installation is easy and straightforward. The interface 

is intuitive. There are no extra cables or wires; instead, 

each user downloads a special extension for the Google 

Chrome web browser, which allows the system to 

share screens wirelessly from the main interface onto 

individual employees’ laptops or smartphones. 

The solution appealed to Bohaboy for its ability to 

keep employees’ interest during meetings. “One of the 

reasons we like videoconferencing so much is because 

we’ve found our people to be more engaged than they 

are on a phone call,” he says. 

THE RESULTS 

Bohaboy says more Mimeo.com employees across the 

world are participating in videoconferences than ever 

before. The ability to join the sessions via mobile devices 

has also transformed the way employees participate— 

now anyone who’s in the conference can drive any part 

of any meeting, no matter where they are. 

Even better, Highfive has cut costs. Shawn Winters, 

Mimeo.com’s IT director, estimates that the system saves 

the company more than 60 percent over the old way of 

installing big-ticket systems from multiple vendors and 

allocating IT support for each conference. 

Winters notes that the new technology has made such 

a difference that a handful of Mimeo.com departments 

are toying with ways to use the setup outside the office. 

He points to the Learning and Development team, which 

wants to use Highfive to implement the company’s training 

platform. “They can save thousands on travel, as 

the typical [training] trip for these guys is one to two 

weeks,” he says. 

A SECOND OPINION 

Philipp Karcher, senior analyst with Forrester Research, 

a market research company in Cambridge, Mass., 

believes the price point and related savings make the 

technology perfect for small businesses that are trying to 

maximize efficiencies by cutting overhead. 

“Highfive makes videoconferencing accessible for 

smaller companies via the cloud with a low-cost package,” 

he says. “It’s about time someone paid attention to 

that market.” —Matt Villano 

Give me a Highfive: 

videoconferencing, 

the next generation. 

PHOTOS © MELANIE RICCARDI 


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MONEY GUY | STARTUP FINANCE 

he day you enter into a business 

partnership is much like the day 

T you say “I do.” Both events create 

a contractual relationship that can be 

extremely costly to untangle, and most 

do need to be untangled. 

San Diego-based attorney Robert J. 

Steinberger says 80 percent of business 

alliances fail for one of two reasons: 

“They are undercapitalized, or the 

parties involved cannot agree on how 

to run the business, including issues 

around money.” 

I certainly didn’t expect to be on the 

wrong side of this stat. I co-founded a 

business I knew would be successful, 

Partner problems 

Don’t let money matters destroy your relationship 

By Steph Wagner 

but money matters tore the relationship 

apart. I assumed my partner and I both 

understood the responsibilities of equity 

ownership and the way distributions 

would be made. Then I realized she 

expected to be paid monthly, and as 

a percentage of revenue, not earnings. 

That was the beginning of the end. 

Maybe it’s one partner wanting to 

purchase new equipment, while the other 

believes it’s a waste of money, or one 

using an increase in earnings to supersize 

lifestyle, while the other prefers to 

reinvest in the business. Whatever the 

case, varying opinions about money can 

sabotage the partner relationship, as well 

as the profitability—and, consequently, 

the value—of the business. 

When you enter into a business 

partnership, you’re literally tying your 

fortune to that person. Therefore, it’s 

important to discuss your perspectives 

on money upfront. 

The two biggest monetary issues that 

sink partnerships are compensation and 

financial infidelity.

ILLUSTRATION © MARK SMITH; PHOTO © SHUTTERSTOCK/MIHALEC 

Disagreements over salaries can 

stall a business right out of the gate, so 

it’s important to get on the same page 

before anything is formalized. 

“Discuss the expectations of the 

parties,” Steinberger says. “What type 

of personal overhead does each party 

have to have? Is each party willing to 

take less money out of the business 

to help it grow? From there, you can 

execute employment agreements, which 

provide for a base salary and allow 

for quarterly or semiannual distributions 

or commission income to be tied 

to performance.” 

Financial infidelity is more difficult. 

Suspicions that your partner is stealing 

money from the business can be 

devastating. However, accusing your 

partner of the act, while failing to 

establish and document the allegations, 

could result in defamation claims and 

create a highly contentious relationship 

going forward. 

To avoid this scenario, create a 

process of checks and balances wherein 

one partner oversees the day-to-day 

accounting, while another is responsible 

for account reconciliations, including 

(but not limited to) banking, credit 

cards, trust accounts, accounts receivable 

and accounts payable. 

When you enter into a 

business partnership, 

you’re literally tying your 

fortune to that person. 

It’s important to discuss 

your perspectives on 

money upfront. 

You can also prevent fraud by 

requiring dual signatures on checks 

that exceed a specific amount and/or 

establishing limits on bank withdrawals 

or credit card transactions. 

Most important: If you and your 

partner truly want to put your trust 

in one another, conduct comprehensive 

financial background checks. Poor 

credit scores, tax liens, judgments 

or bankruptcies are all red flags that 

need to be discussed before signing 

any agreement. 

STEPH WAGNER IS A PRIVATE EQUITY 

INVESTOR AND A FINANCIAL STRATEGIST 

FOCUSED ON GUIDING WOMEN TO FINANCIAL 

INDEPENDENCE. @STEPHLWAGNER 

| VC VIEWPOINT | 

Great expectations 

Create value—not just buzz—for your customers 

By Sam Hogg 

A 

s an active investor in agricultural technology, I hear pitches from startups that 

have found ways to make crops bigger, stronger and more resistant to pests, 

usually through some proprietary formula or advanced biotechnology. 

I always challenge these folks with a little drill. I tell them there is an item on the 

table that can do the exact same thing, and I point to my glass of water. I explain 

that more water can make plants bigger, stronger and more resistant to pests; more 

fertilizer can, too. But farmers don’t use excessive water and fertilizer because of wellknown 

diminishing returns. 

This is the point where we begin to have a constructive talk about value, and 

whether the whiz-bang product being pitched truly has the potential to add it. 

To customers, value is the difference between what they perceive and what they pay. 

For a farmer, this new super-product needs to return more profit than it costs, but it 

has to do sufficiently better than well-known and completely de-risked options such as 

additional water and fertilizer. Doing something because it’s new or supposedly easier 

simply doesn’t cut it—you have to keep growing value to be sustainable. 

There are many ways to do this. Henry Ford didn’t invent the automobile, the 

assembly line or the conveyor belt. He did combine them, however, and drove down 

the time it took to build a car to 93 minutes. In doing so, he created a cost curve and 

customer value spread that revolutionized an industry. 

Conversely, the price of an iPhone has never gone down, yet sales have climbed with 

each new model. Apple creates a value spread not by reducing costs, but by adding 

features that make buyers feel they are getting more with each version. 

Too often I see startups focus on their cost curves so much that they neglect the 

most important goal: determining why someone would want to buy what they’re 

selling. A business needs to show that there is a compelling reason to buy its products 

and to keep buying them for a long time. Once companies figure that out, the cost 

curve takes care of itself. 

If you find yourself pitching your company to a VC like me, don’t be surprised if I 

spend more time discussing your customer than I do learning about you. Successful, 

sustainable companies are the ones whose leaders know more about their customers’ 

economic expectations than their own. That’s the value proposition I look for—and you 

need to prove you can deliver it. 

SAM HOGG IS A VENTURE PARTNER AT OPEN PRAIRIE VENTURES. @SAMHOGGVC 


MONEY 

YOUR MONEY | VC VIEWPOINT | 

MONEY GUY | STARTUP FINANCE 

| ASK THE MONEY GUY | 

Money to grow on 

Q: Should I go after debt financing 

or new investors? 

By Joe Worth 

There are benefits to both: Giving up equity to 

A: investors typically results in more money to grow 

the business than you’d ever get from a lender, but debt 

allows you to retain control. That makes it tough to 

decide which route to pursue. Consider these factors. 

Q 

& 

A 

DEBT EQUITY WINNER 

AVAILABILITY 

If your company has been in business for less 

than three years, has no record of regular 

profitability or has a negative net worth, most 

banks won’t take your call. Other options are 

out there, including the SBA and nontraditional, 

high-interest-rate lenders. 

RISK 

Taking on debt raises risk: Interest charges 

increase your company’s break-even level, there’s 

the possibility of foreclosure if the lender can’t 

be paid, and principal and interest payments soak 

up cash flow that could be used in stressful times. 

In many cases, small-business loans involve 

pledging personal assets, including your home, 

as collateral. 

Finding equity investors can be a long process 

with an uncertain outcome. You could spend 

months searching for funding in vain. 

The investors assume nearly all the risk. 

It’s a draw. 

Equity. 

CASH FLOW 

Interest payments and bank fees are taxdeductible. 

Taking on debt is also cheaper in 

the long run than the time and consulting fees 

involved in selling equity in a company. 

There are no periodic payments, but there 

are sizable upfront costs associated with 

funding rounds: advisors, lawyers, outside 

accountants, extensive travel and entertaining 

potential investors. 

Debt. 

PAYBACK HORIZON 

Debt can be short term, with lines of credit 

that finance cash-flow swings, or long term, 

with loans of seven or 10 years (or longer with 

real-estate loans). 

Equity financing is by nature a long-term deal 

that’s more appropriate for sizable investments 

in equipment or real estate. 

Debt. 

REPORTING AND COMPLIANCE 

Assuming you’re careful not to violate the 

covenants listed in a bank loan, all you need to 

do is make your minimum monthly payment 

on time. 

All investors will want and be entitled to regular 

reports of what’s going on with your company. 

Does your accounting staff have the expertise and 

bandwidth to handle these reports? In addition, 

you may face monthly board meetings. 

Debt. 

EFFORT AND EXPENSE 

Getting a bank loan is a straightforward process, 

although it can require time to gather documents 

and prepare the loan application. 

You can work full time for months to close a 

VC round. Few can afford to take their eyes off 

the business for that long. 

Debt. 

ILLUSTRATION © GARY NEILL 


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MONEY 

YOUR MONEY | VC VIEWPOINT | MONEY GUY | STARTUP FINANCE 

Game on: 

Jeff Caruso 

of Crisloid. 

More than half the borrowers use PayPal loans to 

buy inventory, says Darrell Esch, the company’s vice 

president of SMB lending. Other popular uses for the 

money include temporary hires, warehouse expansion 

and website overhauls. “It really helps merchants grow,” 

he says. 

Hitting pay dirt 

Inside PayPal’s microlending program 

s the owner of Crisloid, a maker of high-end backgammon, 

checkers and cribbage sets, Jeff Caruso knows that if he 

A buys more raw materials in late summer, he can make more 

money during the holidays. The problem is coming up with the 

extra cash. That’s why he borrows from PayPal, which began 

issuing single, fixed-fee loans of $1,000 to $20,000 to qualifying 

customers in 2013 through its Working Capital program. (The cap 

was raised last year to $60,000.) 

Caruso has taken three business loans through PayPal’s microlending 

program, borrowing $10,000 to $15,000 a pop—$35,000 

in all. He uses the money to meet his Providence, R.I.-based 

company’s fourth-quarter spike in demand, which helped revenue 

exceed $500,000 last year for the first time. 

“Come August, if I can take $12,000 and turn that into finished 

goods, it’s all going to sell,” Caruso says. “It helps us finish 

the year that much stronger.” 

Since launching the Working Capital program, PayPal has 

paid out more than $200 million, granting some 35,000 loans 

to 20,000 U.S. small businesses. Last fall, PayPal expanded the 

program to the U.K. and Australia. 

HOW I SAVED … 

$41,200 

Andy Wiederhorn, CEO, 

Buffalo’s Cafe, Los Angeles 

HOW IT WORKS 

PayPal lends approved borrowers up to 8 percent of their 

annual sales made through the platform, the equivalent 

of one month’s processing volume, according to Esch. 

There’s no due date on the loan; instead, PayPal automatically 

draws payments from a borrower’s account 

after a sale is made, until the loan is repaid. (Borrowers 

get a reprieve on days with no sales.) 

Borrowers can elect to designate from 10 to 30 

percent of their daily sales as repayment; Caruso, for 

example, chose to repay 15 percent of daily sales and 

has paid off each of his loans in three to five months. 

Borrowers can make extra payments or pay a loan off 

any time at no additional charge. 

“Once the loan is paid in full, you can come back and 

apply again,” Esch says, noting that about 80 percent of people 

who close loans take out another one. 

WHATITCOSTS 

PayPal loans run from 2 to 11 APR of the money borrowed. The 

higher the percentage of each day’s sales that goes to repayment, 

the lower the loan cost. If PayPal tries to retrieve a payment 

after a sale but the account balance is insufficient (presumably 

because you moved the money elsewhere), the platform will 

withdraw the necessary funds the next day, Esch says. There’s no 

charge for these “catch-up” payments. 

HOW TO QUALIFY 

Loan applicants must have at least $20,000 in sales through 

PayPal during the previous 12 months and at least 90 days of 

processing history on the platform. “It doesn’t take long to build 

it up,” Caruso says. (Esch points out that PayPal doesn’t prohibit 

borrowers from using other transaction platforms.) PayPal also 

checks applicants’ identity and credit history. 

Just be sure you don’t get in over your head. Caruso suggests 

initially borrowing less than you’re approved for and repaying 

at a lower percentage. “Start small,” he advises. “Make sure you 

know your margins. Plan what you can handle for a repayment so 

you don’t choke yourself.” —Michelle Goodman 

When we consolidated french-fry vendors, we lowered 

costs by nearly 12 percent on product alone. We also 

increased each pack of fries from 27 to 30 pounds, 

lowering our distribution fees by another 10 percent. On 

the burgers, we went from several bulk ground-beef products 

in 20-pound cases to a perfect 8-ounce patty that now 

comes in a 27-pound case. The quality of our product went 

up, consistency of product and sizing improved, cook times 

came down—and we spent no more money for it. With the 

larger case size, we saved 26 percent in distribution fees, 

and burger sales are now up almost 30 percent over last 

year. In total, the changes to our fries and burgers saved 

Buffalo’s Cafe $41,200. —As told to Grant Davis 

PHOTOS © SHUTTERSTOCK/NATA-LIA (FRIES), GORILLAIMAGES (HAMBURGER); PHOTO COURTESY OF CRISLOID PRODUCTS 


For THE 

N tworker 

Learn more about upcoming conferences 

now at entrepreneur.com. 

YOUR SUCCESS 

IS OUR BUSINESS

START IT UP 

WACKY 

IDEA | WHO’S GOT VC? | Q&A 

Shaking things up 

Earthquake survival kits get a luxury makeover 

Entrepreneurs: Ryan Kuhlman, a film 

director, and Lauren Tafuri, a stylist 

and costume designer, founded Preppi, 

which makes stylish emergency 

survival kits packed with high-end 

items. They run the startup out 

of their downtown Los Angeles loft. 

“Aha” moment: After experiencing 

a small earthquake in 2014, the 

couple realized they should have a 

kit of supplies at home for emergencies. 

“We started asking friends what 

they had in their earthquake kits and 

were quickly surprised how few of 

our friends had anything prepared at 

all. Of 10 friends, maybe one had an 

earthquake kit,” Kuhlman says. 

Pre-packed kits sold at military 

surplus and sporting goods stores 

were pricey and didn’t have exactly 

what they needed, so they decided to 

make their own, packed with necessities 

recommended by the Red Cross 

and other organizations. They chose 

a stylish but utilitarian mason’s tool 

bag and loaded it up. It struck them 

that others might want to purchase 

such a product. 

Be prepared: In March 2014, the 

couple launched Preppi by posting 

a mock-up for The Prepster, their 

concept for a chic earthquake kit, on 

Instagram. Within five days they were 

contacted by an editor for a Dutch 

magazine, Fantastic Man. It was then 

they realized they had to turn their 

Photoshopped idea into reality. 

They found a bag maker in their 

industrial neighborhood to stitch 

three bags; the first Prepster sold a 

few weeks later. 

“We didn’t want to put a $50,000 

investment into something and take 

something very seriously,” Kuhlman 

says. “We wanted to take it lightly and 

experiment and test the waters. But 

because it was scalable and because so 

much of the stuff is made locally, the 

bag maker was able to let us start with 

three bags.” 

Seismic shift: With each sale, the 

pair reinvested funds into ordering 

bags and the nearly 170 items that 

fill them. In November, The Prepster 

was featured on Gwyneth Paltrow’s 

website, Goop, which resulted in 

them selling out of all 200 bags they 

had thought would see them through 

the holidays. 

After T: The New York Times Style 

Magazine featured the product in 

December, Preppi placed its first fourfigure 

order. What started with three 

samples has gone “from 50 to 100 to 

200 to, now, 1,000,” Tafuri says. 

It’s in the bag: The handsome 

Prepster, with its jaunty stripe and 

monogram, sells for $345 packed 

with survival items for one person, 

or $395 for two people. Within the 

cotton-canvas-and-leather carryall is 

everything needed for an emergency, 

including tent, blanket, flashlight, 

knife and hand-crank radio/solar 

phone charger, plus luxuries such 

as grooming products from Malin + 

Goetz, TCHO chocolate and a deck of 

playing cards. Preppi’s Prepster Lite, 

a trimmed-down backpack containing 

essentials that will last one person for 

72 hours, sells for $145. 

The bags are sold at preppi.co and 

at design-focused boutiques in Los 

Angeles and San Francisco. “I like 

the idea of bringing an emergency 

or safety item into different types of 

spaces,” Tafuri says. “So you could be 

doing your Sunday leisurely shopping 

at a boutique and interact with a 

Preppi bag, instead of having to think, 

‘I have to go to REI or an army surplus 

to get my safety bag.’” 

Aftershocks: This year, the couple 

plans to expand distribution to shops 

in New York City and Japan. They’ll 

also launch their latest product: a 

hurricane- and tsunami-focused 

waterproof bag that floats. And to 

prove that they’re not trying to make 

products just for the wealthy, they’re 

planning a disposable yet stylish 

survival kit with a price point 

that won’t make the average Target 

shopper flinch. —Jenna Schnuer 

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PREPPI 


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START IT UP 

WACKY IDEA | WHO’S GOT VC? | Q&A 

Big bucks for a blooming business 

A startup disrupts the once-thorny florist model 

rdering flowers online can be a frustrating experience. 

You spend a small fortune, only to have the recipient 

O get a bouquet that looks nothing like what you thought 

you’d ordered. 

Onetime investment banker Farbod Shoraka had felt this 

disappointment. He’d also witnessed a dramatic decline in foot 

traffic and sales at his aunt’s flower shop since the rise of online 

delivery services. Shoraka believed the floral industry was ripe 

for change. So in 2011, he tapped friends David Daneshgar, a 

professional poker player looking to segue into business, and 

Gregg Weisstein, an MBA student, and began conducting research. 

“Every single florist had the same frustrations,” Shoraka says. 

Leading online flower brokers took too big a cut, driving down 

florists’ profits. As a necessity, the florists cut corners, which 

doesn’t thrill customers. Deciding they could do better—and 

buoyed by $30,000 in poker winnings—the trio of thirtysomethings 

built a prototype 

for BloomNation, a 

marketplace for locally 

designed, hand-delivered 

floral arrangements. 

Florists began lining 

up nationwide—and after 

raising $1.65 million in 

seed money, Shoraka and 

his team fleshed out their 

“Etsy for flowers.” By the 

end of 2012, BloomNation 

launched a site with 500 

florist profiles. 

Today the marketplace 

boasts some 3,000 U.S. 

florists offering same-day 

delivery of 45,000 handcrafted 

bouquets. Sales 

have grown at a steady 15 

to 30 percent per month, 

Shoraka says. Last October, 

the Los Angeles-based 

startup closed a $5.55 

million Series A round, led 

by San Francisco-based 

A Capital, with contributions 

from Andreessen 

Horowitz, Spark Capital, 

Chicago Ventures and 

Mucker Capital. 

“They’re going after a 

market that seems ripe 

for disruption and is 

also a very big one,” says 

Ronny Conway, A Capital’s 

founder and general partner. 

“The U.S. cut-flower 

business is a multibilliondollar-a-year 

business.” 

Coming up roses: 

Farbod Shoraka 

of BloomNation. 

BloomNation keeps 10 percent of sales made through the site; 

Shoraka believes this is significantly less than the proceeds of 

1-800-Flowers.com and others. “We think of this as a local commerce 

platform for small businesses,” he explains. “They’re able 

to manage their business a lot more efficiently, driving down the 

price of sending a bouquet.” 

To ensure product quality, BloomNation forbids florists from 

using stock photography on the site, a rule the company enforces 

with software that checks that images are original. In addition, 

customers receive a “BloomSnap”—a photo of the handcrafted 

arrangement they purchased—immediately before it is delivered. 

The site also features customer reviews of florists. 

Since raising the $5.55 million, Shoraka has been adding 

engineers, marketers and customer-support staff. Among 

BloomNation’s expansion plans: an iOS and Android mobile app 

that Shoraka says will launch in the second quarter of 2015, and 

a wedding and events section 

of the website, where 

customers can get price 

estimates or schedule 

in-person appointments, 

expected to debut in the 

third quarter. 

The company is also 

developing a suite of 

online services that 

BloomNation florists 

can use at no additional 

charge, including a tool 

for building their own 

websites. “So even if 

you go directly to their 

online flower shop, it’s a 

BloomNation experience,” 

Shoraka explains. Also 

in the works: point of 

sale, inventory management, 

customer management 

and analytics tools. 

The plan is to collect 

10 percent of online 

sales made by florists 

using this software. 

“We’re here to increase 

their revenue,” Shoraka 

says. “For us, it’s about 

letting florists focus 

more on creativity, styling, 

design and service so 

that the consumer is 

wowed by their work and 

continues to go back to 

BloomNation.com or the 

florist’s own website. And 

then we can share in that.” 

—Michelle Goodman 

PHOTO © JEFF CLARK; SHOT AT LA PREMIER FLOWERS IN LOS ANGELES 


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START IT UP 

WACKY IDEA | WHO’S GOT VC? | Q&A 

Do your research 

A data specialist offers insights for startups 

he first step in launching any 

successful business should be 

T conducting research into prospective 

markets. Capturing and sifting through 

such data is Dionna McPhatter’s specialty. 

Before co-founding New York-based 

marketing firm The Strategy Collective, 

which builds custom analytics platforms 

to better understand customers and 

influence business decisions, McPhatter 

was responsible for unearthing data 

insights for British consumer-goods 

company RB (formerly Reckitt Benckiser) 

and its suite of global health and home 

brands, such as Airwick and Lysol. 

Here, McPhatter shares how a bit of 

market research can benefit startups. 

—Claire Gibson 

WHAT ARE SOME MISCONCEPTIONS 

ABOUT CONSUMER RESEARCH? 

One of the biggest misconceptions is that 

it’s unnecessary. Often, new entrepreneurs 

adopt the “if you build it they will 

come” mentality, assuming innovation 

alone is enough to grow a business. I 

encourage entrepreneurs to see data as 

a GPS. A GPS helps only when you’re 

navigating streets you haven’t been on. 

In the same way, research should actually 

uncover things you don’t know to help 

you get where you’re going, faster. 

WHAT KIND OF DATA SHOULD 

A BUSINESS LOOK FOR? 

If you have an inspiring product and 

know your audience, start with a painpoint 

study. Traditionally, it’s called 

the “path to purchase,” but that’s an 

outdated term because the path to commitment 

is no longer linear. It’s filled 

with voluntary distractions. Your goal 

should be to be a relevant distraction 

that can alleviate some tension. 

One way Lysol does this is by publishing 

flu numbers. StubHub appears as an 

ad on Ticketmaster as soon as you learn 

that the tickets you want are sold out. If 

you find those pain points, your brand can 

alleviate the pain and bring consumers 

closer to your solution. 

WHAT STEPS CAN ENTREPRENEURS 

TAKE TO GATHER DATA AFFORDABLY? 

The digital world is your biggest resource. 

Use Google Trends to uncover the search 

words that exist around your particular 

solution. How are people filling that need 

today? Get into the weeds a bit. And get 

to know your audience fully. Tap into 

your networks. You may not be a mother 

yourself, but if your target audience 

is mothers, then watch what they’re 

watching, read the blogs they’re reading. 

Go where they are and then just listen. 

Don’t try to sell. 

Data maven: 

Dionna McPhatter. 

IF SO MUCH INFO IS AVAILABLE 

FOR FREE, WHY SHOULD ’TREPS 

HIRE A PROFESSIONAL? 

The only way to grow your business 

is to exploit people’s innate behaviors. 

Unfortunately, research shows that 

in a 10-minute conversation, most people 

lie at least once. A consumer might 

say he used online reviews to make an 

educated decision, when he really just 

picked the product that was his favorite 

color. You need a trained eye and ear to 

sense that and to sift through the fog 

to get underneath the true motivation 

for consumer behavior. 

WHAT SHOULD STARTUPS DO WITH 

THE DATA ONCE THEY FIND IT? 

Data always tells a story. Your job is to 

find the main characters—the metrics 

that matter most to your business. But 

remember, the richest part of a story is 

the connection between characters—the 

why behind the action and its result. 

You can only get to this if you understand 

the physical, social and emotional threads 

that reveal how people really think and 

feel. Then, act on what you discover. 

The worst data is the kind that doesn’t 

inspire you to move. 

PHOTO © RANDY HARRIS 


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HLC1719

BYJOANNECLEAVER 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY 

DAVID JOHNSON 

Get 

ready to 

wow 

’em 

WHETHER YOU’RE LOOKING FOR PARTNERS, INVESTORS 

OR GUIDANCE, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE 

A SUCCINCT SUMMARY OF YOUR STARTUP’S VALUE. 

HERE ARE THE STEPS TO CREATING A WINNING PITCH. 

Chelsea Fagan launched The Financial 

Diet last year as a real-life money blog 

for Millennials. This is not your father’s 

investing newsletter: Posts have included 

“One Day, I Woke Up and My Car Was Missing” 

and “How Not To Be an Egg Donor.” 

Fagan had previously worked as creative 

director of brand content at Thought Catalog, 

an independent online magazine that reaches 

more than 18 million readers monthly. When she 

decided to pursue The Financial Diet full time, she 

figured that with her experience creating custom 

content, shaping a compelling three-minute pitch 

to attract corporate sponsors would be easy. >>> 

72

Money talks: 

Chelsea Fagan of 

The Financial Diet.

But crafting that pitch proved harder 

than expected. “I’d never had to distill an 

entire brand concept down to a few minutes 

in front of a client. It was an entirely 

new arena of communication,” she says. 

Casual surfers might be pulled in by the 

mission statement—“The Financial Diet 

is a blog about the luxury of spending 

less”—but potential partners would need 

more. They’d wonder how The Financial 

Diet was different, and why Fagan should 

be the one to crack the mystery of how to 

reach underpaid, underemployed, overly 

indebted Millennials with usable financial 

insights. She needed to deliver these 

answers concisely, and with confidence. 

Even if you aren’t looking for sponsors, 

the challenge remains the same. When 

startups attend pitch days in front of 

prospective investors, there is a formulaic 

approach to the ask. While you may not 

need to adhere to a script for a slide deck, 

a solid three-minute pitch can help you 

attract vendors and suppliers, woo landlords 

and advertisers, recruit employees, 

and win over other advocates. And, yes, 

maybe even investors someday (at which 

point you’ll revisit that pitch deck). 

Follow these three basic principles 

to frame your pitch and easily adapt it 

in the moment. 

GET THEIR ATTENTION 

A three-minute pitch isn’t just an 

expanded mission statement or the 

“About” section of your website. It 

Outline for the 3-minute pitch 

1. Introduce yourself, with a summary of your experience and qualifications. 

2. Profile the market need you have identified. 

3. Explain why you and your company are uniquely suited to fill that niche. 

4. Explain the “What’s in it for me?” relevance for your specific audience. 

5. Ask to continue the conversation. 

is a short opener that tells what your 

company does, why it’s unique and how 

it serves your customers. Your goal is to 

encourage your audience to want to hear 

more. When they’re interested, you have 

won permission to tell them additional 

details about your company that might 

intrigue them, be it the underlying technology 

or the potential financial return. 

That’s how and why you need to customize 

this template for each audience and for 

each occasion. 

At the most basic level, you should explain 

your concept, your target audience 

and how your idea solves a problem. Vendors, 

suppliers and investors will want to 

know more about the potential market; 

customers and prospective partners will 

want to know more about the product. 

You can start by pulling winning 

metaphors, terminology, phrases and 

examples from existing materials: both 

short and snappy (e.g., your elevator pitch 

or tagline) and long and leisurely (case 

studies and market research). 

Take that cherry-picked material and 

organize it into three parts: an opener, an 

explanation of what your company does, 

and a very short story or technical detail 

designed specifically to invite your audience 

to pick up the conversational ball. 

This is how PerryCrabb, an Atlantabased 

company that sells complex 

engineering services (mainly to healthcare 

systems), operates. 

“I’m not a salesman,” CEO Jim Crabb 

admits. For help honing his company 

pitch, he turned to Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk 

of bbr marketing, also based in Atlanta. 

Crabb knew that his company’s 

engineering case studies were too 

technical, and the copy on the website’s 

homepage too general, to be incorporated 

into a pitch. Ruszczyk helped him find 

the sweet spot of being specific without 

plunging into too many technical details 

and being engaging without making 

sweeping statements. 

“Don’t just say, ‘We improve lives,’” 

Ruszczyk says. “It’s important to convey 

what you actually do. But then segue in a 

way that is relevant to that audience.” 

An opener that resonates and conveys 

personality is especially important. “The 

first line is essential—‘We are an engineering 

firm in the business of healthcare,’” 

Crabb says. “That gets us out of 

geekdom and says that I’m comfortable 

Anatomy 

of a 

pitch 

Angie Allison of Bellies 

and Babies worked with 

marketing consultant Megy 

Karydes to come up with a 

snappy opener to pitch her 

wellness service to potential 

licensors or franchisees: 

“Bellies and Babies 

simplifies the business of 

simplifying life for moms.” 

THE AUDIENCE: Women who are intrigued by a business that helps other women, and healthcare 

practitioners who want to add lifestyle services to their practices. 

HOW THE PITCH ADDRESSES THEM: Those who wish to own a Bellies and Babies location are 

most interested in the fast start Allison provides through management training, marketing support 

and consulting for finding qualified staff. For health practitioners looking for add-ons for their 

practices, the pitch is that Bellies and Babies’ services can expand existing client relationships. 

THE PITCH: “Our wellness services, such as therapeutic massage and yoga, help moms with the 

physical ailments of pregnancy and being a new mom, and help moms stay healthy. If you’re a 

mom, partnering with us lets you turn your experience into a successful business for other moms. If 

you’re already a wellness or medical practitioner, partnering with us enables you to expand into this 

wellness category. We not only provide the tools for this business model, but I come to your location 

and help you hire and train the right team to provide the customer experience. We’ve gone through 

the marketing learning curve so you don’t have to, with marketing through the two proven modes 

of winning clients: social media and referrals from medical practitioners. That’s what we’re about. If 

you also are about wellness for new moms, let’s set up a time to talk.” 

WHY IT WORKS: Allison provides specific examples of the services Bellies and Babies provides. 

These are translated into an action plan with the explanation that Allison will be on-site to coach 

partners as they open their own location. Two examples of marketing techniques—social media and 

referrals—build the claim of expertise. 

THE KICKER: The pitch ends with an invitation to continue the conversation. 

PHOTO © SHUTTERSTOCK/VALIK 


Fifteen years ago, David skipped buying 

a new car and, instead, invested in being 

an Allstate Agency Owner. A good choice 

that’s paid off. 

Today, David’s business has nearly tripled 

in size. His hard work and devotion to 

clients have helped David and his wife, 

Vanessa, enjoy a wonderful life together. 

One that finally includes that new car 

he’s always wanted. 

David has built a good life by staying 

true to himself and the people he helps 

protect. Now you can, too. Talk to 

your local Allstate recruiter today at 

877-875-3466. 

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Subject to all terms and conditions as outlined in the Allstate R3001 Exclusive Agency Agreement and Exclusive Agency program materials. Allstate agents are not franchisees; rather they are exclusive 

agent independent contractors and are not employed by Allstate. Allstate is an Equal Opportunity Company. Allstate Insurance Company, Northbrook, IL. In New Jersey, Allstate New Jersey Insurance 

Company, Bridgewater, NJ. © 2014 Allstate Insurance Co.

Great catch: 

Sabin Lomac and Jim Tselikis 

of Cousins Maine Lobster.

THE MAINE 

COURSE: 

A CASE 

STUDY 

BY JASON DALEY • PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEFF CLARK 

How two 

cousins took 

their love of 

lobster from 

food truck 

to national 

franchise

When cousins Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac 

were growing up outside of Portland, Maine, 

family gatherings invariably meant locally caught 

lobster on the table. Like sweet corn in the 

Midwest or fresh salmon in the Pacific Northwest, lobster was 

a regional delicacy they took for granted. 

On a roll: Cousins’ 

signature fare. 

Both cousins eventually moved away: 

Tselikis, now 30, to the Boston area, 

where he sold medical devices, and 

Lomac, 33, to Los Angeles, where he 

worked in real estate while pursuing 

an acting career. 

In 2011, Tselikis flew to California for 

some sunshine and a visit with his cousin. 

Playing their favorite childhood video 

game, NHL ’94, they reminisced about 

all the good meals they’d had as kids, and 

how difficult it was to find high-quality 

Maine lobster throughout the U.S. Even in 

some parts of Maine, Tselikis had discovered, 

there was a preponderance of cheap, 

low-quality lobster from other areas. 

Impressed by the burgeoning L.A. 

food-truck scene, they hit on their big 

idea. “We said, ‘Let’s take what we grew 

up with—this awesome Maine lobster— 

and let’s bring it to where it’s not accessible,” 

Tselikis recalls. “Food trucks were 

blowing up then in L.A. We thought if 

we served it via truck, the trend was 

bound to continue and expand to the 

rest of the country.” 

Over the next year, the duo worked on 

the project while holding down their day 

jobs, and in April 2012, the first Cousins 

Maine Lobster truck lifted its window in 

L.A., serving lobster rolls, lobster tacos, 

bisque and clam chowder. There was 

a 60-person line throughout that first 

night, and they completely sold out. 

The truck’s popularity continued, 

and six months later Tselikis and Lomac 

quit their jobs to work on the concept 

full time. By 2014 they had a fleet of four 

trucks serving Southern California and 

had signed on 10 franchisees in locations 

across the U.S. They also launched 

a mail-order business that overnights 

lobsters and other New England-inspired 

products directly to customers’ doorsteps. 

Revenue since launch has topped 

$8 million, a figure they hope to increase 

exponentially as their franchisees come 

online over the next couple of years. 

IT SEEMS like there’s a new franchise 

concept every few days. While some, like 

Cousins Maine Lobster, come out with 

buzz and grow quickly, most take years to 

reach double-digit unit figures—if they get 

that far at all. Many would-be franchisors 

eventually close their doors or simply 

remain small, local chains. Some spend 

time and energy perfecting a concept, but 

where they get into trouble is in adapting 

that concept for franchise expansion. 

Tselikis and Lomac weren’t thinking 

of franchising when they opened their

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ely heavily on the opinion of his cooks. 

“After the candidates come out to L.A. 

and spend some time in the truck, I’ll ask 

the cooks how they’re doing,” Tselikis 

explains. “They’ll tell me, ‘This guy’s 

ready,’ or ‘They’re clueless.’ The guys in 

the kitchen are usually right.” 

For Lomac, the most difficult part of 

the process has been making the transition 

from an independent business owner 

to a franchisor, putting his concept into 

other people’s hands. “I went to Phoenix 

for our first grand opening, and I was 

looking at this truck in the street,” he 

remembers. “It was mine, but it was not 

mine. It’s a crazy feeling. You feel proud 

and uncomfortable and excited.” 

He also felt a duty to enforce the standards 

he and his cousin had worked hard 

to develop. “I was more tough with their 

cooks,” he says. “If I didn’t like the way 

the food looked, I was fierce. You have to 

set the tone for the quality you expect.” 

Leaving that quality control in the 

hands of a franchisee for the first time 

was nervewracking. “Getting on the 

plane I was very nervous. It’s like having 

children going off to college,” Lomac says. 

“We want the best for them, but, boy, it’s 

scary. We have to do check-ins and secret 

shoppers. Still, I had to pinch myself and 

ask if this was really happening. I mean, 

this is an idea we came up with over 

drinks. It’s a very powerful feeling.” 

While developing their franchise, 

the cousins are glad they haven’t made 

any drastic errors in judgment. They do, 

however, wish they had made their initial 

operations manual more detailed. 

“Some things seem so obvious that 

we didn’t even think to put them in the 

manual—like the exact amount of ketchup 

or mayo to give a customer,” Tselikis 

explains. “There are things we missed 

that would have made our franchisees’ 

lives a lot easier. Including pictures in our 

manual for how to lay out the truck and 

exactly where things like plates and pans 

go would have been helpful.” 

Such realizations will help them as 

they continue to expand. But they have 

not set any quotas. “We’re not in the 

business of having 100 mediocre trucks. 

We want 10 that are phenomenal and 

want to make whoever signs on with us 

extremely successful,” Lomac says. 

Looking back on the past two and half 

years, he has no regrets: “In hindsight, 

I know we wouldn’t have done anything 

differently. It was stressful, and at times 

we did go a million miles an hour. But 

we wouldn’t change it at all.” 

MADISON, WIS.-BASED JASON DALEY IS A 

FREQUENT CONTRIBUTOR TO ENTREPRENEUR.

FRANCHISOR 

he problem with being generous is that eventually word 

gets out. That’s what Jeff Sinelli, founder of the 11-year-old 

T Dallas-based sandwich franchise Which Wich, discovered. 

Philanthropy was always a core element of his concept, 

with each of his 300-plus franchises supporting two to three 

charities per year, and corporate pitching in toward dozens more. 

Eventually, requests for donations got to be overwhelming. 

“There were so many people asking for contributions, we 

could have hired a full-time staff member just to deal with it,” 

Sinelli recalls. “I’d be at dinner with my wife talking about it, 

and we’d just say, ‘There has to be a better way.’” 

He found that solution after meeting Kip Tindell, CEO of 

The Container Store, at the Conscious Capitalism CEO Summit 

in 2013. Sinelli’s business card includes the line “Making 

the world a better place,” and Tindell asked him how he was 

doing that. 

“We have our mission statement on our cards, on our walls, 

in books,” Sinelli says, “but nobody had ever called me on it.” 

A thought he’d had for years finally gelled. “I answered him 

almost subconsciously,” Sinelli says. “I told him we were going 

to buy trucks and give out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 

and that’s how we were going to make the world a better place.” 

Thus was born Project PB&J. Under the initiative, which 

launched in January 2014, Which Wich stores donate one 

sandwich to a local charity for each PB&J sold, while corporate 

makes a donation to a global charity. 

We got Sinelli to spread the word on how his gooey gift 

initiative works. —Jason Daley 

Food with thought 

A simple PB&J makes a big difference 

There is such thing as 

a free lunch: Jeff Sinelli 

of Which Wich. 

WHY NOT JUST GIVE MONEY? 

The thing that tore my heart and guts out about donating 

money was that after we wrote a check, there was a sense of 

emptiness. There was no connection to where it was going. 

We sent it almost blindly and hoped it did something good. 

But with a sandwich … My first day back in Dallas after the 

Conscious Capitalism Summit, I made six PB&J sandwiches, 

walked out the door and there were two people in need. I 

made the first gift right there. 

HOW DOES IT WORK? 

Each PB&J sale is recorded at the store level; the POS system 

tallies it. Through our back-end software, we know at the 

corporate level how many have been sold each day and each 

month. It’s our responsibility to donate through our global fund, 

and our franchisees’ responsibility to donate locally. Since we 

launched this, sales are up, morale is up and energy is up in 

our stores. It’s a mood-lifter. A lot of customers don’t even take 

the PB&Js they buy—we call them virtual PB&Js. 

WHAT HAS BEEN THE REACTION? 

It’s been amazing. Our franchisees, vendors and suppliers 

have a cause they can align with, and that’s easy for the brand 

to understand. 

We’ve had pro athletes and singers calling from out of the 

blue asking how they can help. We had an ad company donate 

30 people for three days straight. It’s been somewhat magical. 

It turns out my daughter’s birthday is on National PB&J Day. 

Now it’s something we can celebrate together her whole life. 

HOW MANY SANDWICHES ARE YOU GIVING OUT? 

We really just started, but our stretch goal for 2015 is to give out 

more than 1 million sandwiches. It’s been a fun way to give back. 

It’s so satisfying getting a roomful of people together making 

PB&Js. They put love into the sandwiches, and there’s something 

great about physically touching what you’re donating. 

PHOTOS © SARAH WILSON

FRANCHISEE 

Stakeout takeout: 

Audra De Vera 

at her Corona, Calif., 

restaurant. 

I 

The investigator 

A federal agent takes over a Chronic Tacos 

t wasn’t an accident that Audra De Vera 

became an agent for the U.S. Department 

of Housing and Urban Development. 

She’d spent her entire adult life training 

for the job, and she was good at it. 

For five years, she ran task forces, 

testified in court and scoured ledgers 

searching for complex financial fraud. 

But the work meant being away from 

home five days per week. The government 

sequester and looming cutbacks also 

unsettled De Vera, who wondered 

whether she and her husband, a U.S. 

Marshal, could rely on their jobs to gain 

financial autonomy. 

That’s when a relative told her about 

a Chronic Tacos franchise near her home 

in Corona, Calif. Despite a great location, 

a bar and a hip brand, the unit was 

hemorrhaging money, and the owner was 

ready to sell. De Vera, who was familiar 

with the restaurant, saw its potential but 

needed to know exactly why it wasn’t 

profitable. So she put on her federal-agent 

cap and looked into it. 

“With my financial background, I 

approached it just like a case,” she says. 

“You have to follow the money and go 

from there.” 

Since taking over in April 2014, 

De Vera has improved the unit’s sales 

by $12,000 to $15,000 per month. We 

got her to declassify her story and tell 

us exactly what she found during her 

investigation. —Jason Daley 

Did you really stake out the restaurant? 

Yes, I had the opportunity to observe it 

for a month. I spent a long time watching 

the employees, watching customers and 

going through the books. When I started 

looking at the numbers, I saw that payroll 

was super high. The owner was never 

there, so the place wasn’t staffed appropriately. 

There weren’t enough employees 

when they needed them, and there were 

too many when they didn’t. They were 

paying lots of overtime. Really, there was 

no one in charge. The employees were 

running the store as they saw fit. 

What other problems did you find? 

Food costs were really high, and I 

wondered why they were spending so 

much when sales were so low. It turned 

out portions were way too large. A 

franchise is generally standardized, but 

as I watched, the servers would give 

someone they knew two heaping 

portions, and someone they didn’t 

know would get one that was too 

small. There was no guidance. 

Also, the décor was almost scary 

when you walked in. It had been 

decorated by the West Coast Choppers 

[who designed a taco truck 

and some restaurants for Chronic 

Tacos in 2009 and 2010], and 

there was an eyeball hanging from 

the wall and monsters and stuff. It 

needed a facelift. 

What about the bar? 

This is one of three Chronic 

Tacos that serves beer and 

wine, so it should have been 

doing better than the others. 

But I wouldn’t have brought 

my kids in there. The bartenders 

were half-naked; it was 

almost like they were wearing 

rags to work. It might be fine 

for male customers, but the 

way it’s designed, the bar and 

the dining room are mixed, so 

women and mothers coming in 

here were offended. We even 

had male customers say, “This 

is a little much.” There’s an 

old saying that if women want 

to hang out somewhere, the 

men will follow. 

What happened to 

the employees? 

I retained six out of 12 people, 

and I made one guy the 

manager; he’d never been given the 

opportunity before. I couldn’t have turned 

the store around without great management. 

[With] the other people I kept, I 

could see they liked working here—they 

just needed more structure and training. 

Wouldn’t it have been easier to find 

a franchise that was in better shape? 

Coming from my background, if I just 

took over a store and ran it, I wouldn’t be 

satisfied. I went to school to be a federal 

agent. I accomplished that and won 

awards. To throw that away for something 

that was a no-brainer wouldn’t be 

worth it. All those skills I developed as 

an agent—coordinating multiple police 

departments, putting teams together, 

doing financial investigations—I use for 

this. Except to me, this should be a much 

less stressful environment. I mean, we’re 

serving beer and tacos. It should be fun. 

PHOTOS © MARC ROYCE 


FRANCHISE 

Our list of the 

top new franchises 

By Tracy Stapp Herold 

ILLUSTRATION © THEISPOT.COM/JING JING TSONG 

Many franchisees cite the benefits of 

teaming up with a well-established 

brand. But for others, franchising 

offers the exciting chance to get in on 

the ground floor of what could be the 

next big thing. If you fall into this latter group, take a 

look at our list of the top new franchises. 

Nearly a quarter of the 927 companies that applied 

for Entrepreneur’s 2015 Franchise 500® have been 

franchising for five years or less. On the following 

pages, you’ll find the top 75 of those newbies, ranked 

based on Entrepreneur’s objective, quantifiable criteria, 

including system size, growth rate and financial 

>

FRANCHISE 

Mac Tools 

1 Automotive tools and equipment 

Franchising since: 2011 

Startup cost: $86.2K-$240.3K 

Total franchises/co.-owned: 617/5 

mactools.com 

strength and stability. Other factors considered in the 

ranking are startup costs, litigation, terminations and 

whether the company offers financing. 

This list is not intended as a recommendation of any 

particular franchise. Always do your research when 

considering a franchise opportunity, whether it’s with 

the new kid on the block or a tried-and-true industry 

veteran. Read the company’s legal documents, consult 

with an attorney and an accountant, and talk to as 

many franchisees as you can. 

The breakdown 

The 75 companies on our list represent a 

wide range of business sectors. Here’s how 

they shake out. 

Personal care 16 

Children’s businesses 9 

Maintenance 9 

Services (other) 8 

Quick-service restaurants 8 

Business services 5 

Retail 5 

Retail (food) 5 

Health 3 

Financial services 2 

Tech 2 

Full-service restaurants 1 

Home improvement 1 

Hotels 1 

2 Rent-A-Center 

Rent-to-own furniture, 

electronics, computers, appliances 



Total franchises/co.-owned: 94/2,963 

rentacenterfranchising.com 

The Grounds Guys 

3 Landscape maintenance 




groundsguysfranchise.com 

FirstLight HomeCare 

4 Nonmedical home care 




firstlightfranchise.com 

Hallmark Homecare 

5 Caregiver search, recruitment 

and placement 




hallmarkhomecare.com 

Sweet Frog 

6 Premium Frozen Yogurt 

Self-serve frozen yogurt 




sweetfrog.com 

Fresh Healthy Vending 

7 Snack and beverage 

vending machines 




freshvending.com 

HUMAN Healthy Markets 

8 Healthful-food distribution 




healthymarkets.com 

ILLUSTRATION © THEISPOT.COM/JING JING TSONG 


Join a unique franchise that talks about love, 

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Discover a great franchise partnership. E-mail us or call us today! 

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www.seniorshelpingseniors.com 

©2015 Seniors Helping Seniors. Each offi ce is independently owned and operated. All trademarks are registered trademarks of Corporate Mutual Resources Inc.

Pinot’s Palette 

18 Paint-and-sip studio 




pinotspalette.com 

PHOTO © SHUTTERSTOCK/SYDA PRODUCTIONS 

Orangetheory Fitness 

19 Group personal training 




otffranchise.com 

Waxing the City 

20 Facial and body waxing 




waxingthecity.com 

The Exercise Coach 

21 Personal training, nutritional guidance 




exercisecoach.com 

Beef Jerky Outlet Franchise 

22 Jerky, sausages, specialty foods 




beefjerkyoutlet.com 

Flippin’ Pizza 

23 Pizza, salads 




flippinpizza.com 

24 iLoveKickboxing.com 

Kickboxing fitness classes 


Startup cost: $110K-$299.9K 


myilovekickboxing.com 

Join the european leader in home delivery pet food 

Master franchise opportunities available 

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Proven concept since 1987! 

Since 1987, the Swedish home delivery pet food company Husse has grown more than 20% annually with a business model proven successful in 42 countries. 

Husse is now looking for enthusiastic, motivated and entrepreneurial master franchisees throughout the US to develop this concept. 

As a Husse master franchisee, you will obtain exclusive rights to the Husse trademark and product range for your State. Your objective will be to build a network of 

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StQEMJQNOKPENWFKPIƒPCPEKCNCPFOCTketing support, access to an online shop, a backQHƒEGU[UVGOCPFCUVCrt-up prQƒNGRCEMCIG 

Husse is looking for business minded entrepreneurs with a passion for sales and high personal standards of quality and service. 

Prior managerial experience, the capacity to work independently and to build customer relations are highly valued in the role 

as a Husse master franchisee. 

Minimum investment required: $100,000 

If interested do not hesitate to contact us at master@husse.com or visit www.husse.com 

We will be happy to tell you more!

FRANCHISE 

Go Mini’s 

25 Portable Storage & Moving 

Portable storage containers 


Startup cost: $224.6K-$453K 


gominis.com 

26 Yesco 

Sign and lighting services 




yescofranchising.com 

27 TRYP 

by Wyndham 

Hotels 


Startup cost: $1.3M-$21.5M 


tryphotels.com 

NYS Collection 

28 Eyewear and accessories kiosk 




nysfranchise.com 

101 Mobility 

29 Mobility and accessibility equipment 

sales and services 




101mobilityfranchise.com 

BlueGrace Logistics 

30 Transportation management 




mybluegrace.com 

Wine and Design 

31 Paint-and-sip studio 




wineanddesign.com 

Companion Connection 

33 Senior Care 

Medical/nonmedical personal care 




companionconnectionseniorcare.com 

34 Zagg 

Mobile device accessories 


Startup cost: $26K-$60K 


zagg.com 

ActiveRx Active 

35 Aging Centers 

Physical therapy, strength training and 

chronic-disease management for ages 55+ 




activerx.com 

TGA Premier Youth Tennis 

36 Youth tennis programs 




franchisetga.com 

The Waiting Game 

37 Free monthly waiting-room publication 




waitinggamepublications.com 

Best in Class 

38 Education Center 

Supplemental education 




bestinclasseducation.com 

39 Quesada 

Burritos & Tacos 

Mexican food 




quesada.ca 

NZone Sports 

40 of America 

Sports leagues and camps for ages 3 to 18 




nzonesports.com 

32 Enviro-Master 

Franchise 

Restroom hygiene products 

and services 




enviro-master.com 

PHOTO © SHUTTERSTOCK/BIKERIDERLONDON 


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Learn More at eServices.Entrepreneur.com

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PHOTO © SHUTTERSTOCK/ALEXANDER DASHEWSKY 

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Leading Industy News 

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EntMagazine

Araya Clean 

52 Commercial and residential 

power washing 




arayaclean.com 

PHOTO © SHUTTERSTOCK/JOSHUA RESNICK 

LED Source 

53 LED lighting 




ledsource.com 

Men In Kilts 

54 Window Cleaning 

Window and exterior cleaning 




meninkilts.com 

Above the Standard 

55 Procurement Group 

Procurement and financial services 




atsprocurementgroup.net 

Fastest Labs 

56 Drug, alcohol and DNA testing, 

background screening 




fastestlabs.com 

Live 2 B Healthy 

57 Senior Fitness 

Exercise programs for seniors 




franchise.live2bhealthy.com 

Big Smoke Burger 

58 Burgers 




bigsmokeburger.com 

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Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar 

59 Franchise Development 

Full-service restaurant 


Startup cost: $590K-$1.4M 


baddaddysburgerbar.com 

Mosquito Joe 

60 Outdoor pest control 




mosquitojoefranchise.com 

Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza 

61 Assembly-line pizza 




blazepizza.com 

Club Pilates 

62 Pilates classes 




clubpilatesstudio.com 

63 IceBorn 

Ice and water vending machines 




ice-born.com 

Chocolate Works 

64 Chocolate, candy, parties 




chocolateworks.com 

Imagination Yoga 

65 Yoga programs for children 




imaginationyoga.com 

SuperGreen Solutions 

66 Energy-efficient products and services 




unitedfranchisegroup.com/supergreen-solutions 

Amada Senior Care 

67 Senior care 




amadaseniorcare.com 

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Digital Doc 

68 Electronics repairs 

and accessories 




digitaldocrepair.com 

Office Evolution 

69 Virtual office services, 

executive-suite and 

conference-room rentals 




officeevolution.com/franchise 

French Fry Heaven 

70 Gourmet fries 




frenchfryheaven.com/franchise 

71 Bio-One 

Crime-scene and 

trauma-scene cleaning 




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72 FroyoWorld 

Frozen Yogurt Lounge 

Self-serve frozen yogurt 




froyoworld.com 

73 TapSnap 

Digital photo booths 




tapsnap.net 

74 GradePower 

Learning 

Supplemental education 




gradepowerlearning.com 

Payroll Vault 

75 Payroll services 




payrollvault.com

FRANCHISE 

Skin in the game 

Waxing the City fuels passion with permanence 

Franchise concepts are often here 

today, gone tomorrow—and it’s 

tough to predict which ones will 

last. But two franchisees of Waxing the 

City, Josh and Melissa Narro, have no 

doubt their business is here to stay … 

just like the tattoos they got of the company’s 

initials. 

Waxing the City held its first franchise 

conference in September 2014, in conjunction 

with the conference of its much 

larger sister brand, Anytime Fitness. 

The fitness franchise is already known 

for inspiring more than 2,000 franchisees, 

members and staff to get tattoos 

of its “running man” logo, and for the 

past three years the company has invited 

celebrity tattoo artist Jimmy Hayden to 

its conference to ink people for free. As 

the Narros watched dedicated Anytime 

Fitness franchisees line up for the service, 

they decided to start a Waxing the City 

tattooing tradition, too. Josh got one on 

his upper arm; Melissa on her ankle. 

The Narros aren’t just the first to go 

under the needle for Waxing the City— 

they’re also the company’s first franchisees. 

Their love for the brand goes back 

to its roots, when the first studio opened 

in 2003 in Denver, and Melissa worked 

there as a technician. As the company 

expanded, she became its first manager, 

then head trainer. Having seen her juggle 

all three roles successfully, the founders 

naturally thought of her when they 

started to consider franchising. 

In 2009 the company opened a corporate 

studio in Dallas but found it difficult 

to manage from afar. The corporate office 

offered to let the Narros take it over 

Branded: Melissa 

and Josh Narro. 

as franchisees—if they were willing to 

relocate from Colorado. “It was a little 

nervewracking,” Melissa admits, “but 

I think we were more excited about the 

opportunity than anything.” So they 

made the move to Dallas and took ownership 

of the studio in 2011. 

Until that point, Josh had little to do 

with Waxing the City, other than accompanying 

his wife to company functions. He 

had experience owning businesses—retail 

stores and a barbershop—but the femaledominated 

world of waxing was new to 

him. When Josh stepped in to replace a 

front-desk staffer who was let go, he was 

quickly thrown into the heart of it. 

“We were concerned about a guy working 

the front desk, but clients have taken 

it really well,” Melissa says. “And throwing 

a guy into the mix has really changed 

things [for the company]. There’s a lot 

of husband-and-wife franchise owners 

now, and they even consider hiring studio 

coordinators who are men.” 

Josh estimates that their original studio 

gains 200 to 300 new clients every month. 

Its success, and the couple’s passion 

for the brand, inspired them to venture 

out with a second location in January; 

they’re planning to have a third open by 

summer. “It’s been a really rewarding 

experience, interacting with people,” he 

says. “Just helping people look and feel 

their best through waxing.” —T.S.H. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF WAXING THE CITY (TATTOO); PHOTO © JEN SULAK/PINK LIGHT IMAGES 


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