I always find it a bit ironic that the advice given to someone looking for a job is to network. The time to network is when you don't need something. This becomes obvious when you look at the steps to building a successful network: 1) Truly like and enjoy talking and listening to people. 2) Call someone and invite them to lunch, dinner, drinks or just have a conversation over the phone. 3) Ask them about their business, their family, their life. 4) Listen 5) Identify opportunities where someone you know can help this person with one of their issues or problems. Ask permission to connect the two. 6) Call, email or otherwise introduce the person who can help to the person who needs help. 7) Expect nothing in return. Think about what you've just done. You've helped two people. Do you think they will be more likely to take your [...]

“Our competitor just added this feature.” “This prospect won’t sign up until this feature is in place.” “Can we add more pictures or video here?” “My wife thinks it would be better if it worked like this.” “I don’t like this color.”How do you cut through the noise and keep your product development and delivery resources focused on what’s important? As a start-up with a digital product, the investment in and optimization of your development resources will be critical to your success. To get the most out of your finite resources and development efforts, it is important to dedicate the right business resource to the product development process.While you are likely to have a dedicated digital producer or technical project manager, it is important to have a strong leader on the business team who can speak for the business as a whole. A strong product person will drive and prioritize initiatives [...]