talkTECH Communications

Which outlets should you target for your launch?

Chathri Ali — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 05:09:16 +0000

At talkTECH we often get questions on which outlets to target for a product or website launch. The short answer is it depends. I know, I hate that phrase too! Mainly it depends on what your announcing, who your target audience and your intended outcome for PR. In many cases, we can actually get two to four disparate verticals for the same launch date because of the nature of our client’s business.

For example, our client Yekra was featured in tech, entertainment, and female-focused outlets all for the same launch. But, tech writers are a self-proclaimed special breed and hear a lot of bullsh#t. Hence, you must approach your PR strategy with tact and due diligence.

For more on whether you should even target the tech outlets specifically, head on over to Both Sides of the Table. This rich and in-depth blog is written by one of our favorite LA-based venture capitalists, Mark Suster. His post title “Should You Bother Targeting Tech Blogs for Your PR Campaigns?” elucidates different scenarios you should consider prior to executing your PR campaign.

Do you agree with his approach?

When to hit reply on an email

Chathri Ali — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:05:09 +0000

I just received an email from a friend of talkTECH’s who we had asked a favor for at 2:25pm on a Monday. His reply came in at 3:28pm today, a Tuesday. I had completely forgotten all context of the favor, as well as the sense of urgency. But, that’s not his fault. It just happened to be a day later and I’ve been on six different calls and probably forty-five different emails since I hit Send to him.

It got me thinking about email response time and what is actually the best method for responding to emails. We’ve all fine-tuned our own methods on how to get to Inbox Zero and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. But, when should we hit reply? For example, when it comes to a business deal that got greenlighted, should you wait a few hours to respond, “we’re excited to be working with you,” for sake of sounding to desparate? Maybe.

When it comes to your investor asking about user acquisition stats, do you respond immediately with one number? Or do you respond immediately saying you’ll have your team create a comprehensive report by tomorrow morning? Probably the latter. By doing so, you’ll display a sense of thoughtfulness and thoroughness that you couldn’t possibly do by answering the question immediately.

The point is that not emails are created equal. At talkTECH we like to respond to clients emails within 24-48 hours, not only out of courtesy and professionalism, but also because we are effective and have our iPhones duct-taped to our wrists! It helps build a rapport and sense of trust that is much needed in the services business and also applies to any business relationship.

A great resource to consider before you decide what works for you is Inc Magazine: 25 Tips for Perfecting Your Email Etiquette. I think the best point they consider is whether or not to just pick up the phone and make a call. Sure, scheduled conference calls are the norm, but sometimes reaching out directly can streamline decision-making and allow you to GSD!

What’s your standard practice? What is your maximum response time?

Mike Butcher’s “How to deal with tech media”

Kristen Tischhauser — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 23:04:16 +0000

There is nothing better than an editor or journalist acknowledging just how difficult it is [for us PR folks] to figure out what the heck they want. Moreover, the shifting tides of media and technology make it evermore challenging to keep up with which writers are covering what topics, let alone which publications employ them.

After having worked with nearly one hundred brands, personalities, and startups over the past eight years, answering questions about why certain publications weren’t interested in their story or why they aren’t getting coverage still makes my stomach sink. My answers range from “I have no idea,” to “they said they aren’t covering that topic at the moment”; but in the end it’s never fun to tell someone they won’t appear in “X” publication. Mostly, because in their mind this “hit” would automatically catapult them into a crème de la crème category.

In a recent presentation, TechCrunch Editor Mike Butcher offers a fairly straightforward overview as to why he makes the decisions he does with regard to media coverage.

Below are quick bullet points that he expounds upon in the presentation. Click Here to go directly to “How to deal with tech media.”

Enjoy!

So What IS a Story?
•Competition/Drama:“X will Kill Z”
•Gossip:“CEO/Company rumour…”
•Insight: “Trend X will change the world”
•Evolution: “Startup Y is like the X for Z”
•Success: “Awesome Y created!”
•Failure: “Company X dying / screwed up”
•You arethe Story: “Kid creates Facebook”
•Celebrity: “Ashton Kutcher invests in X”
•Breaking News: “Krakow company hacks Facebook!”

Terms of Service: a List for Social Internet Users

Kelly Byrd — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:00:29 +0000

Following Instagram’s recent changes to their Terms of Service, I thought it may be helpful to provide a list of Terms of Service/User Agreements for popular social communities and websites because it is important and smart for both casual and professional users of these sites to remember what they’ve agreed to.

Here are your resources:

…and on behalf of the entire talkTECH Communications team, I want to wish you all a happy, healthy, safe and fun holiday season.

Cheers,

An Interview With Film Industry Veteran and Yekra Co-Founder, Lee Waterworth

Kristen Tischhauser — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:30:57 +0000

Yekra is a Los Angeles-based film distribution technology platform for digitally delivering movies direct to consumers through online, affinity communities. The company offers quality content to end-users in a seamless environment enabling traditional distributors, independent filmmakers and content producers to monetize their content with transparency and ease.

I spoke to Yekra Founder and CEO Lee Waterworth about his career in the film industry, the Los Angeles Tech scene, and what makes Yekra different.

KT: What inspires you about entrepreneurship and innovation?

LW: I recently made the conscious decision to spend as many of my working days investing my effort into endeavors that align with my core values and that add meaning and purpose to my life. Endeavors that hopefully, one day, will add value to many more lives too.

Honestly, I have never once wholeheartedly enjoyed working for working’s sake. Despite making the choice to do that for the majority of my life, I believed that was the only way to pay my bills and afford the lifestyle of consumption I’d tricked myself into thinking I needed. It’s not that I don’t like working – my fiancé will happily confirm that I’m nothing other than a workaholic, whether working for myself or someone else, much to her chas grin – I just really enjoy innovating so much more, painting the vision of new possibilities that could make other people’s lives easier and more fruitful.

Entrepreneurship and innovation allow me to transform these far-reaching ideas into reality and there’s no thought or opportunity more rewarding than that for me. The opportunity to make a change is the biggest inspiration of all and where all of my efforts will continue to be directed.

KT: What got you started? In other words, when did you get “bitten” by the entrepreneur bug?

LW: I believe it was at about 8 years old. My aunt and uncle had an old record case that they didn’t want anymore. I rescued it from the bin and transformed it into my “office” having spent hours watching my aunt busy at her desk and found myself wanting one too. Once I had arranged a stack of classic car and guitar magazines in it (my papers!) I got my aunt to take me to WH Smiths where I managed to convince her to buy me a pad of blank invoices.

Over the next few weeks I started to write up invoices for my fledgling operation, Waterworth Enterprises – no job too big or too small. I spent my spare time during weekends and holidays carrying out odd jobs at our house, my relatives’ houses and eventually family friend’s houses – washing the dishes, polishing teaspoons, hovering up, gardening, whatever was required yet preferably avoided – later on I even diversified my offering to include 30 minute foot rubs! I just saved, saved, saved, with distant dreams of leaving my hometown and visiting this mystical and magical place called California, a place that my aunt had visited just a few months prior and that she had told me so much about. It was the home of Mickey Mouse for goodness sake. Now, here I am, but the interest in Mickey has wained slightly over the years.

KT: How is Yekra setting the stage to disrupt your industry?

LW: Ah, so many answers to this question… At the most basic level, Yekra puts the power back into the hands of rights holders, democratizing the process of digital distribution. The platform offers full control of content for the first time ever, providing a direct interface for marketing and sales direct to consumer, offering everyone the ability to cut out at least one middle man.

With Yekra, distributors can set their own prices, windows, and territorial availability for content. The portal also provides a way to monetize back catalogue efficiently. Further, a home can now be offered to many of the films that distributors turn away each month but wish that they didn’t have to because Yekra provides a cost-effective way to monetize without the inherent need for a whopping P&A spend, through intelligent cross-promotion between properties and by having community owners promote films on their behalves.

For the 95% of filmmakers who do not get a distribution deal year-on-year, they now have a top-of-the-line option for digital distribution and one clear path to transparent monetization. Then it just comes down to how good the content is, how hard the rights holders are prepared to work on marketing it within the social space, and the reception the content receives from the public. Good content will naturally rise to the top as crowd-sourcing continues to prove time and time again.

Finally, the really exciting thing for me is that Yekra provides the very real opportunity to offer a true global day and date release, to every connected device in the world. As much as people may scoff at my saying this, imagine if Batman just opened to 400 million screens at a cost $10 per screen, instead of 15,000 screens? Warner Brothers could have potentially blown all records in the opening weekend with a title like that, but I understand that’s too big of a risk for a company of that size to take right now so we need to build up to it. There is no doubt in my mind that this is where distribution model is headed, it’s just a question of when we get there and when the revenue lines cross.

KT: In your opinion, where (what industry segments) are the most opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs?

LW: Well, film industry specific, the cost of producing high quality content is over ten-times lower today than it was a decade ago. Low-budget, independent producers can produce near studio-quality content at ever decreasing costs. Meanwhile online video growth is exponential and shows no sign of slowing. If you’re not in the distribution game, but are interested in production, I think it’s a good time to start rallying the troops. There’s a reason why YouTube and others are diversifying into this. My vision for Yekra to develop a production arm as soon as possible.

Other than that, I believe that as long as you’re bringing a disruptive concept to the table within any industry, it’s going to be afforded more opportunity than anything else.

KT: What are three things that you love about being in the Los Angeles tech scene?

LW: 1. Having a base in LA that is so close to and involved with Hollywood really allows our company to straddle the world of entertainment and technology successfully. It’s incredible to see how the tech scene down here has matured – LA is now a legitimate hub for accelerators, VCs, startups and some of the biggest companies on the web, Google and Facebook even have a presence. It’s a perfect scenario for our startup and really offers us the ability to test and learn, ensuring that we can stay nimble on our feet as we grow, allowing us to create the best distribution strategies with our partners as possible, all without even having to get on a plane!

2. I get the feeling that everyone down here is focused on advising, promoting and really helping one another which is a way of living that I can stand for wholeheartedly and participate in.

3. The good old Californian sunshine – there’s just nothing quite like it in England. And the beaches, well…

KT: When things get tough, what keeps you going? What are some of your tricks? In other words, how do you stay sane?

LW: Spending quality time with family and friends – eating great food, trying to catch a wave or two down by the beach when there’s time or heading out to the ACE hotel in Palm Springs for the weekend – that’s a favorite of mine. Oh, and gardening too. I really love being outdoors and in the garden – there’s nothing quite like seeing fresh organic vegetables that you’ve planted and rescued from the heat of the Valley time and time again, bloom, which then brings me back to cooking and eating… I’m a simpleton at heart.

KT: Who inspires you? Do you have any mentors that have been an integral part of your success?

LW: As far as mentors go, three years ago I self-imposed myself on a guy called Seth Willenson, who is a distribution and marketing veteran out here in Hollywood. Having worked in the industry for well over 40 years, Seth knows everyone and everything there is to know about how business gets done traditionally in this town. He knows what a film is worth in the marketplace and how best to sell it – information from which elements make it valuable, to the factors that drive the consumer to pick it out of a line of twenty similar products on a Walmart shelf. It has been invaluable for me to develop a relationship with someone who will share what has taken him over forty years of test and to learn from his experiences.

As for entrepreneurial inspiration, Richard Branson is pretty much my hero. I love how bold, relentless and risk-taking he has proven to be time and time again. He’s got a real passion for his companies and a great eye for business.

KT: What is one [surprising] thing about you that most people don’t know?

LW: I used to sing on the west end stage many moons ago – I even donned the infamous Technicolor Dreamcoat for a period of my life!

Learn more about Lee and Yekra here:

@leewaterworth

linkedin.com/in/leewaterworth

yekra.com

facebook.com/yekrabute

apps.facebook.com/yekrabute

@YekraFilms

American-Canadian Horror Story

Chathri Ali — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 21:03:06 +0000

The well-documented Radian6 fall from grace last week has shown that not all employees are treated equally. Salesforce announced significant layoffs, representing approximately one third of the Canadian company, which caught the social engagement industry by surprise (boo!).

According to Canada’s TechVibes:

Salesforce was “decimating” Radian6′s marketing and social community departments. According to a source familiar with the matter, people from the vice-president level down are facing layoffs “left and right” today at Radian6.

Well, what can we learn from this startup horror story (yes, we are dramatic here at talkTECH) just in time for Halloween? Let’s start with trick and not the treat:

The Trick

Back in the day, SalesForce saw the Radian6 2011 acquisition as, according to Techcrunch, “gaining the technology and market leader in social media monitoring” and seeing it “as a huge opportunity.” Radian6 was helping clients like Dell, GE, Kodak and UPS monitor, analyze and engage in hundreds of millions of social media conversations. Thus, Salesforce argued that the acquisition of the company would enable it to enhance all of its products, including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Chatter and Force.com.

So what’s the trick of last week’s layoffs? There was none. This was not a surprise. If you were employed at Radian6 in 2011 as an account manager or in the marketing department, you should have seen it coming.

As a startup employee, what I would have advised redundant employees to understand is how mergers and acquisitions function. Which departments are valued in an acquisition?

Was it an acqui-hire or simply a sweep up of patents? Be cognizant of every step in the process, ask lots of questions and simply put, don’t be ignorant. Companies like Salesforce like to be streamlined; layoffs were an obvious move.

The Treat

The treat is these employees were part of a former behemoth. So much so, that the majority of them have already been courted by competitors as well as other firms in the social engagement space; their skills and knowledge will hopefully not be wasted. The treat is these employees, since they’re already uber social, have probably amassed a 500+ profile on LinkedIn and a higher Klout score than Kristen and I combined! I have no doubt that by leveraging their contacts, resources and experience, these employees will be treated to a better 2013.

Finally, a few Halloween 2012 costume suggestions I would recommend to the fallen Radian6ers:

Deluxe Velvet Hefty Santa Marc Benioff
Bloody Zombie Marc Benioff
Angry Gorilla Marc Benioff

An Interview With Appboy’s Bill Magnuson

Kristen Tischhauser — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 14:00:47 +0000

Bill Magnuson is the co-founder and CTO of Appboy, a customer relationship management platform for mobile app developers and marketers.

As developed by Bill, Appboy’s SDK plus web dashboard enable mobile app owners to create and receive feedback from/market to user segments and provides individualized user insights, event monitoring, feedback forms, and marketing options.

I recently spoke to Bill about Appboy, entrepreneurship and the New York tech. scene. Here’s the interview:

KT: What inspires you about entrepreneurship and innovation?

BM: When someone creates new, great experiences that never existed, innovation provides the right tools to enable this experience. For example, innovation allows us to put more people behind the “idea” while replacing people with robotics or technology to do 95% of things we don’t need to do to free up what we want to do.

As for entrepreneurship, the feeling of living and breathing the product and finding a market to cause meaningful impact comes with a sense of pride. Not only are you creating a new product for your customers but you’re also creating a new experience with your employees.

KT: What got you started? In other words, when did you get “bitten” by the entrepreneur bug?

BM: When I was an undergrad at MIT, I had the opportunity to join my professor, Hal Abelson’s pilot program. This program allowed us to reconstruct MIT’s Computer Science curriculum. Through this, Hal became my mentor. I then began working with Hal on App Inventor for Android at Google, where he was working on a program for foreign mobile applications to be useful, teach people fundamentals, and how to use tech to educate people on how to solve real world problems.

From there, I worked as a Software Developer at Bridgewater Associates but left because the company went from small to large very quickly.

With these experiences under my belt, I opted out of a weekend trip to join my friend and future co-founder, Jon Hyman, at a hackathon. After winning the hackathon, people came out of the woodworks, yearning for space to cause real world change. That’s when I was bitten by the entrepreneur bug!

Shortly after, through serendipity, I met Mark Ghermezian and from there got into the mobile space.

KT: How is Appboy setting the stage to disrupt your industry?

BM: Appboy combines services instead of just providing silos. We’ve realized that it costs the same amount of money to make an app that fails compared to making an app that succeeds and are seeing a lot of apps that can make change but there are no opportunities for user engagement. Those creating apps cannot differentiate themselves, keep users engaged, and bottomline – generate revenue. Appboy is trying to solve these problems in mobile by offering insights after reports, not just data, but a marriage of intense analytics and marketing tools. This will allow the user to build out several marketing channels with analytics. Built on these fundamentals, Appboy is figuring out how to monetize and enable this; giving people the tools to continue, engage user base, look at how to improve meaningful user experiences, which will then translate into much better mobile products.

KT: In your opinion, where (what industry segments) are the most opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs?

BM: Hardware and software. Both are an investment with more resources to pull from. In the software space, free tools are provided to build and innovate on top of them such as open source tech and cloud services. The marginal costs are zero (e.g. rent a server, ability to operate in software space), distribution is available (e.g. an app on the app store), there is a unique value add, brick and morter becomes obsolete, and you’ll have an immediate audience because the distribution mechanism is already built.

This has created a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to stand on the high shoulders that the software community has come together to build.

Overall, the tech community is figuring out ways to help technologists succeed.

KT: Three things you love about being in the NYC tech scene?

BM: New York City is a dense, urban area – with this being said, so many different facets of human experience come together for a more creative, diverse community, creating more industries that are more viable. There has been a ton of cross-pollination, in turn creating more diverse ideas.

KT: When things get tough, what keeps you going? What are some of your tricks? In other words, how do you stay SANE?

BM: When things get tough, I enjoy it because it makes things more challenging. When I’m bored, I need to find motivation.

To keep sane, I don’t keep work and my personal life separate – they run together and balance each other out and I never shut off life with work. I find things like traveling and going to events such as Burning Man, a way to keep sane.

KT: Who inspires you? Do you have any mentors that have been an integral part of your success?

BM: Hal Abelson (per my previous answer). He said, “Whatever you do, just make sure you’re building great things.” This has stuck with me.

Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX. I’ve never had the pleasure to meet him but I like his way of thinking, which is beyond reasonable or insane.

KT: What is one [surprising] thing about you that most people don’t know?

BM: I grew up in rural Minnesota across the street from my family’s homestead during the Great Depression. Most people are surprised when they find out that I came from a family that isn’t tech savvy and grew up hunting, fishing, doing construction, and fixing cars. Also, many do not know that I was a first generation college student.

For more information on Appboy and Bill check out Appboy.com, Facebook.com/Appboy, @appboy, @appboysupport and @billmag.

Defining The Roles of PR Professionals and Their Partners

Kelly Byrd — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:50:38 +0000

After reading Jen Pedde’s post “What a Community Manager is Not” – especially the comments – I started thinking about the grey areas between the roles of PR professionals and those under the departments and titles of

Community
Marketing
Social Media

In the post, Jen states

“‘Community’ is not marketing, support, PR, product, or communications, but it sure plays a role in all of them, and should have a seat at the table for each area in order to bring the voice of the user/member/participant to the forefront.”
So it could be said that

Marketing lets people know about the conversation
Public Relations sets the messaging
Social Media is the platform/location of these conversations
Community keeps the conversation going
Support answers any follow up questions

Creating conversations is also a part of sales, which Rick Rice has noted is quite simliar to PR, but the term public relations and PRSA’s new definition (which I’ve discussed before) works for several roles under the areas noted above:

“…strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

That may include facets of community, marketing, social media, etc.

Keith Smith recently noted in a Holmes Report post that “…when you block out the white noise that surrounds the multiple channels in which we all operate, that we are coming to a confluence that places PR practitioners where they need to be; at the very heart of corporate and customer communications.”

Aren’t community, marketing and social media professionals at the heart of this communication as well?

As a fairly new industry professional, what I would like to know is:

How do PR and other noted industry veterans + HR and recruitment professionals distinguish the differences between roles under these categories?

I’d love your feedback.

This post originally appeared on PRBreakfastClub.com

Avoid Burnout: How to give your startup employees a break

Chathri Ali — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 20:50:56 +0000

Two years ago Boulder-based investor Brad Feld gave a TED Talk at the TEDxBoulder event about work-life balance and his algorithm for it. In short, his solution is what he calls The Quarterly Week Off the Grid. Watch the full video and absorb his wisdom. Yes, I mean you – baggy-eyed startup founders and small business owners. It will save your sanity, business and even, in Brad’s case, your marriage.

I know a thing or two about burnout. I’ve worked at five different startups and watched each startup CEO take a nosedive in his or her personal relationships, work productivity, or overall sanity due to burnout. They all thought that working weekends, slaving away till 1am and neglecting their close family and friends was the key to founding a successful startup.

Overworking does not equal productivity

Jason Fried, Founder and CEO of 37signals based in Chicago, champions the four day work week during the summer. As quoted in a recent Fast Company article, Fried states:

“I would never trade a short-term burst for a long-term decline in morale. That happens a lot in the tech business: They burn people out and get someone else. I like the people who work here too much. I don’t want them to burn out. Lots of startups burn people out with 60, 70, 80 hours of work per week. They know that both the people or the company will flame out or be bought or whatever, and they don’t care, they just burn their resources. It’s like drilling for as much oil as you possibly can. You can look at people the same way.”

He recognizes that most startups focus on the end goal: hoping they hit their Series A so they can beef up their human capital. That may or may not happen, so why burnout the people who are helping you get to that pivotal point?

At talkTECH we like to encourage our employees to have fun and take the appropriate amount of time off the grid. We will frequently do retreats to a cabin in the middle of nowhere (we don’t go as far as shutting off our phones like Brad Feld did, but close enough). We use this as a time to not only reenergize, but also reflect on what’s working and not working at our company.

To get your juices flowing beyond just assigning more vacation days, we offer a few tips on how to side-step burnout and increase productivity in the long term:

Work out of the office – We like to use co-working spaces to come together and work. At the same time, some of our best work gets done from home on a Friday or at an airport lounge on the way back from a power networking conference. You can’t expand your network, meet investors or potential business partners if you’re tied to your desk!
Mix up meetings – I personally hate being tied to the same tiny conference desk for each meeting. Jon Ferrara at Nimble.com takes his team for a walk during meetings. As stated at SXSW, he finds that the change of scenery and the act of walking helps build momentum and unlocks creativity. “The Pacific Ocean is our meeting room,” he says. So while talkTECH is lucky to have the Pacific Ocean as a possible meeting space, your team can consider your local central park (NYC), lake (Chicago) or river (Washington DC).
Outsource the rest – It’s pretty clear that we’re not all champions of the inner workings (read: Operations) of a startup. From bookkeeping to keeping the office clean, there is at least one task you can outsource to a staff that knows what they’re doing.

As Vinod Khosla impeccably stated in a recent Techcrunch article:

“Figure out why you’re doing what you’re doing — fame, fortune, friends, fervor, impact, whatever it might be —be clear and don’t mix objectives. You can ‘change the world’ and ‘have a great family life.’ Other things can be sacrificed instead.”

So, whether you choose to take one week off per quarter or choose to let your fellow startup employees work from home a couple of days a month, pick one thing but don’t sacrifice what’s important to you and your startup employees.

Founder Interview with Eugene Luskin, CEO of Pure Devices

Kristen Tischhauser — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 21:34:07 +0000

Have you ever tried to teach your grandparents how to use a computer? I know I have and yes, it is really frustrating. Eugene Luskin, the CEO of Pure Devices, has created a touch screen tablet which allows your grandparents to connect to the virtual world with a touch of a button.

Pure Devices, a Seattle-based technology company focused on integrating software and hardware solutions for the senior market. He is also CEO of 3D Digital LLC, the creators of the patent-pending technology “My 3D Dream” – a solution that converts a non-3D TV in to one that can receive 3D content.

His successful engineering and management career includes experience with large corporations and startups, full cycle product development, and managing startups from inception to millions of dollars in revenue. Currently Pure Devices is running its Kickstarter campaign.

Want to learn more? Check out a Q&A with Eugene below…

1. What inspires you about entrepreneurship and innovation?

My main inspiration is all those things around us, in our everyday lives, that I know can be done better. The passion comes from so many things in technology that are not finished, not polished enough, released to the market prematurely. My main inspiration is the fact that I know I can do things better, I have the knowledge and experience to bring the processes, products and solutions to the next level of perfection, to the level that can really get the customer satisfied, to really improve people’s lives by bringing something new and innovative.

The entrepreneurial steps in creating a business – the idea, creation, release, market, and putting the product in the hands of customers, is a very exciting process for me. It’s nice to see the steps come full circle, all while executing these steps with full transparency to your customers.

2. What got you started? In other words, when did you get “bitten” by the entrepreneur bug?

Since I was a child, I’ve always wanted to do something that no one else was doing, and create something new. I was fascinated with how we use things and how they make our lives better. I think people started to see that and they started coming to me with questions.

3. How is Pure Devices setting the stage to disrupt your industry?

The main idea is to purify technology and come up with solutions to improve lives, coming from the customer side. We are consumed with devices/products that are complicating our everyday lives. Pure Devices remedies that problem because we are focused on offering focused products that take the complication out of the mix. Computers were made for scientists, not for the average person – we take this into consideration when creating our product.

4. In your opinion, where (what industry segments) are the most opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs?

I think entrepreneurs need to differentiate between what inspires them and the current trends/hype. This boils down to the definition of an entrepreneur. Some prefer to create something for money and whether it’s trending and some prefer to inspire. We position ourselves in between – our company is focused on our customers, polishing and perfecting a finished product, and doing things the “right” way. Money is a bi-product.

5. Three things you love about being in the Seattle tech scene?

With Seattle serving as a hub for major corporations such as Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, etc., it creates a global human resources environment for startups. Majority of Seattle startup founders are beginning their careers at these major companies, where they gain the “ideal” experience on how leading companies operate and then apply it to their next endeavor. Because of this, the scene is more conservative and the startup community is changing the mold mindset mixed with an international component.

6. When things get tough, what keeps you going? What are some of your tricks? In other words, how do you stay SANE?

We don’t want to be average, we want to be different, create better ideas, and better approaches. With this in mind, the end result is what counts but things will get tough on the way. My advice would be to have a goal in mind, keep a quality, diverse team intact, and stay focused.

7. Who inspires you? Do you have any mentors that have been an integral part of your success?

I had the chance to meet Bill Gates while working for Microsoft. I admire and respect him because he invented something that didn’t exist and built a whole industry, not just a product.

On another note, even though I never had the pleasure of meeting Steve Jobs, I’m truly thankful for what he created. His vision of creating a very polished/focused product, gave me guidance to live by – create a polished product. Do it right and do not release anything until its 100% perfect. You can build an extremely successful company based on this way of thinking.

Mentors in my personal life are my direct managers from previous companies I had worked for. They forced me to think of additional solutions by giving me constructive criticism. This means I caused some sort of spark, which I’m grateful for because its helped me as an entrepreneur.

8. What is one [surprising] thing about you that most people don’t know?

I have a passion for flying airplanes and have my pilot license. Once the gear is off the ground, you’re solely responsible for getting back to land safely. This passion of mine teaches you how to be focused and on the task. You can apply this feeling to your business and technology. Your company is your airplane – make sure everything functions properly (team, product, etc) so you can get to where you want to be.