Inc. Magazine 2013-11

Gary Vaynerchuk The hardest-working man in social mediapage 44

Nick WoodmanHow to inspire crazy loyalty

Neil BlumenthalHow to manage

Millennials

Tim FerrissHow to ace a

keynote speech

Gary VaynerchukHow to get Facebook

right

Jenn HymanHow to

elicit honest feedback

Johnny EarleHow to stage

a splashy opening

Alexa von TobelHow to spend

smarter

Scott AdamsHow to be funny at the ofce

THE TOP JOB CREATORS

IN AMERICA page 26

BONUS SECTION How to unite your team behind youafter page 112

Exit Rich: Inside the sale of an Inc. 5000 rm page 104

JASON FRIED WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES

REALLY THINKpage 110

The Magazine for Growing Companies

29 skills everyfounder needs tomaster

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pg.104

What we needed was a home run.jeff kadlic, co-founder of evolution Partners. The private equity rm bought an inc. 5000 company, took it to the next level, then invited Inc. to watch the rm negotiate a sale.

photograph by Steven Laxton November 2013 - inc. - 5


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contents

solutions Turn to the Lead section for insights from some of the most successful entrepreneurs operating today. See page 44.

26 launch the 2013 Hire Power AwardsInc.s salute to the fast-

growing private companies

that are creating jobsmore

than 50,000 of them in the

past year and a half

104 innovate Anatomy of a DealA private equity rm ofered Inc. a

look inside the sale of an Inc. 5000

company. We expected brinkman-

ship, twists and turns, and white-

knuckle tension. We were not

disappointed.

By Jeremy Quittner

78madeBest in ClassThe best gifts are

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the Know-how ReportWe asked two dozen accomplished entre-preneurs for their best stuf: their insights about leading, inspiring, growing, and generally getting stuf done. the result is a 16-page peer-to-peer guide to what works. As told to Leigh Buchanan, Tom Foster, Burt Helm, and Issie Lapowsky

Features

44

on The cover gArY vAYnercHuk, ceO Of vAYnerMedIA, pHOTOgrApHed In neW YOrk cITY BY jAke cHessuM

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contents

96

Departments

14 Editors Letter Creating jobs; sharing wisdom140 Founders Forum Scott Belsky of Behance

19 launch

20 Tip Sheet Dont fear competition. It may just be the best thing for your business.22 Owners Manual Dharmesh Shah, the marketing guru who says marketing isnt necessarily the answer36 Inc. 5000 Insights Lessons on disrupting a staid industry from an innovative building company 40 Eric Paley Sometimes, the best advice is obvious. That doesnt make it wrong.

43 lead

44 Special Know-how Section Our 16-page peer-to-peer guide to what works68 Norm Brodsky Its when you succeed that the biggest challenges arise.

71 made

72 Tip Sheet Turning customers into designers74 How to Boost Small Manufacturing Two steps the U.S. government can take now76 Factory Makeover An inside look at Filsons new production facility in Seattle86 Mark Dwight How to make sustain ability a core value

89 innovate

90 Tip Sheet Pictures speak louder than words on social media. Are you saying the right things?92 Disrupter HealthTap brings the doctors ofce to patients smartphones. 96 Creative Culture You failed? Congratulations!98 How I Did It Former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar is a serial entrepreneur who doesnt stray far from his roots.110 Jason Fried Is your door really always open?

140

20

AFTEr PAgE 112, SPECIAL BONuS SECTION Eight great ideas to make sure your senior management team is united behind your strategy

90

8 - inc. - NOVEmBEr 2013

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NIS SPLENDID ICE CrEAmS; DANIEL SEUNg LEE


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CONTENTS

TOP VIDEOS on Inc.com

Esther Dyson Start-up investor

ON HIRING

The hardest thing for a start-up these days is not finding money. Its finding a team.

INC.COM/INC-LIVE

John Mackey Co-founder of Whole Foods

ON SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Every business has the potential for a higher pur-pose besides just making money.

INC.COM/INC-LIVE

4Tips for Hosting a HackathonNo longer just for tech start-ups, hackathons are a great way for any company to spur inno-vation and bring employees together. Warby Parker co-CEO Neil Blumenthal shares his tips for hosting a companywide throwdown.

INC.COM/PEOPLE

Inc.com

Youll nd the icon at the left on selected pages throughout the issue. Thats your signal to grab your smartphone or tablet and go deeper with the content on the page. Heres how:

1. Download the free Layar app from the Apple or Android store or at layar.com.2. Launch the app and scan any page carrying the icon.3. Enjoy bonus videos and other content designed to enrich the story.

Go Beyond the Page

1MAKE EVERYONE WELCOME

Open the hack-athon to any-one who wants infrom interns to senior execu-tives. Each brings a unique perspective.

2LET GROUPS FORMORGANICALLY

Dont assign groups. Instead, encourage employees to form their own based around similar ideas.

3KEEPEVERYONE WELL FED

These competi-tions tradition-ally revolve around pizza, energy drinks, and candy, but ofering healthier options is also a good idea.

4AWARD PRIZES

Hackathons are exhausting. Reward each teams efort by doling out prizes for inno-vation, original-ity, and other categories.

10 - INC. - NOVEMBER 2013

ADAM VOORHES/G

ALLERY STOCK


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A more efficient supply chain

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Jack Roush

Chairman, Roush Enterprises

When Jack Roush wanted to take the kind of performance

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company he only made one callto UPS. By consolidating

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Jack saved a tremendous amount of time and money.

How does he manage it all? With UPS WorldShipthe carrier-

supplied software that lets companies process and track their

package, air freight and LTL shipments in a single system.

Find out how logistics solutions from UPS make CEOs like

Jack Roush happy at ups.com/happy.

Copyright 2013 United Parcel Service of America, Inc.


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GROUP PUblisheR, iNTeGRATeD MARKeTiNG John M. TebeauCATeGORy DevelOPMeNT DiReCTOR Reg ungbeRg

sAles MANAGeR KeRi haMMeR

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lOs ANGeles/sOUTheRN CAlifORNiA heaTheR MClaughlin,

RiChaRd l. Taw iii: 310-341-2341

PACifiC NORThwesT Julie ChisaR, aliCia gaMble: 415-343-1530

iNTeRNATiONAl John M. Tebeau: 212-389-5360

ClAssifieDs ann MaRie Johnson: 727-507-7505

fRANChise AND MARKeTPlACe ToM eMeRson: 212-655-5220

i n c . l i v e

DiReCTOR, sTRATeGiC PARTNeRshiPs AND eveNTs lynn shaFFeR

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eveNTs COORDiNATOR shannon byRd

b u s i n e s s r e s o u r c e s

DiReCTOR, CONTeNT DevelOPMeNT Jon Feld

sAles DevelOPMeNT DiReCTOR JenniFeR henKus

iNTeGRATeD MARKeTiNG MANAGeRs neil Jones, MaRy MooRe

ACCOUNT DiReCTOR daRCy lewis

seNiOR ACCOUNT MANAGeRs billie gibson, KyRa shapuRJi

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sAles AND MARKeTiNG COORDiNATOR eRinn noRTon

GROUP viCe PResiDeNT, MARKeTiNG paTRiCK hainaulT eveNTs MARKeTiNG MANAGeR MaRCie RosensToCK

AssOCiATe MARKeTiNG MANAGeR linda lau

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p r o d u c t i o n

GROUP DiReCTOR KaThleen oleaRy

ADveRTisiNG OPeRATiONs MANAGeR sung woon Kil

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fiNANCe MANAGeR bob bRonZo

AssOCiATe MANAGeR dave powell

c o n s um e r m a r k e t i n g

DiReCTOR anne MaRie oKeeFe

CiRCUlATiON OPeRATiONs DiReCTOR doug sMiTh

seNiOR MANAGeRs TyleR adaMs, KaThRyn C. KMioTeK

MANAGeR MiChelle TRigosso

d i g i ta l

GROUP PUblisheR, DiGiTAl whelan MahoneyseNiOR ACCOUNT eXeCUTive aMy ChRisTiansen

DiGiTAl PROjeCT MANAGeR/ANAlysT young-John Tung

GROUP DiReCTOR, DiGiTAl DevelOPMeNT Jason Tagg DesiGN DiReCTOR haewon Kye seNiOR ART DiReCTOR JaneT waegel

seNiOR DevelOPeR John guaRagno

DevelOPeRs sean ConneR, shashanK KodupuganTi

PRODUCTiON DesiGN sPeCiAlisT adaM Kelly

d i g i ta l m e d i a a n d o p e r at i o n s

GROUP DiReCTOR sTeven suThiana

seNiOR MANAGeR, bUsiNess OPeRATiONs Jonelle MaRino lasala

seNiOR COORDiNATOR, bUsiNess OPeRATiONs selin eRdinC

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seNiOR MANAGeR, ReveNUe OPeRATiONs david vasqueZ

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AssOCiATes, ReveNUe OPeRATiONs Rian Rooney, JaMes van sweRingen

CONsUlTANT david RosenbauM

a c c o u n t i n g

CONTROlleR eve pai

ACCOUNT MANAGeR JaCqueline nuRse

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ACCOUNTs PAyAble MANAGeR MaRilou oRdillas

PAyROll MANAGeR/ACCOUNTANT ChaReyl RaMos

man s u e t o v e n t u r e s l l c

ChAiRMAN Joe MansueToChief fiNANCiAl OffiCeR MaRK RosenbeRg

DiReCTOR, hUMAN ResOURCes Miles M. MeRwin

DiReCTOR, fACiliTies Randy davis

eXeCUTive AssisTANT loRi plevRiTes

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eDiTOR eRiC sChuRenbeRg DePUTy eDiTOR dan FeRRaRa DePUTy eDiTOR, iNC.COM allison Fass

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sAN fRANCisCO bUReAU Chief niCole CaRTeR

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viDeO eDiTOR andRew MaClean viDeO PRODUCeR TiM RiCe

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PRODUCTiON DiReCTOR RaChel MosKoviTZ-abRahaM PRODUCTiON AssOCiATe doMiniCK sanTise

seNiOR CONTRibUTiNG eDiTOR noRM bRodsKy

CONTRibUTiNG eDiTORs adaM baeR, JeFF bailey, John bRandon, daRRen dahl, MaRK dwighT, donna Fenn,

david h. FReedMan, Jason FRied, JeFF haden, bill haRRis, Meg Cadoux hiRshbeRg, eRiC paley, liZ welCh

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eXeCUTive eDiTOR sCoTT leibs DiReCTOR Of PROjeCT DevelOPMeNT AND web DiReCTOR anni layne RodgeRs ART DiReCTOR ashley bond obRion

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sUbsCRiPTiON seRviCe:

Inc., p.o. box 3136, harlan, ia 51593-0202

800-234-0999 or [email protected]

OffiCe Of The PUblisheR:

7 world Trade Center, new york, ny 10007-2195

212-389-5300; www.mansueto.com

eDiTORiAl PhONe: 212-389-5377 fAX: 212-389-5379 web: www.inc.com

leTTeRs TO The eDiTOR: [email protected] PeRMissiONs: [email protected]

iNC. 500/iNC. 5000 iNfORMATiON: [email protected]

RePRiNTs: 800-290-5460 ext. 128 or [email protected]

bACK issUes: 800-234-0999 our subscribers list is occasionally made available to carefully selected rms whose products or services may be of interest to you. if you prefer not to receive information from these rms, write to the subscription service address above.

hOw TO ReACh Us

www.inc.com/customercare

12 - inc. - noveMbeR 2013


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editors letter

welcome

As I wrIte, economists are still glowing about this mornings jobless claims report, which showed that fewer workers led for unemployment last week than at any time since June 2007. Stocks rallied on the news, and predictions of a coming spurt in hiring began to echo through the

Twittersphere. Although nothing in this fragile recovery is guaranteed (are you listening, Congress?), optimism about job growth is, for now, running encouragingly high.

Doing Your Job, Creating Jobs

eric schurenberg [email protected]

All of which makes this

the ideal moment to honor

the companies that make job

growth possible.

Inc.s second annual Hire

Power Awards does just that.

Though much nonsense has

been promulgated about the

identity of Americas job cre-

ators, the research is clear:

most net new jobsthat is, jobs

created in excess of those de-

stroyed by layofs and business

failurecome from the fast-

growing companies that always

have been at the heart of Inc.s

mission. (For the denitive story

on job creation, check out who

Really creates the Jobs? by

editor-at-large Bo Burlingham,

on Inc.com.)

classic Inc. growth companies

dominate this years Hire Power

rankings, including the home-

furnishings store wayfair, jewelry

maker Alex and Ani, and eyewear

retailer warby Parker. The top

100 Hire Power honorees alone

created 51,327 jobs in the past 18

months, more job growth than 32

states recorded over the same

stretch. You can meet the found-

ers of some of these companies in

the feature that starts on page 26;

the complete list lives on Inc.com.

companies that grow and

create jobs require leaders who

actually know how to do their

jobs. That brings us to this

months cover story, which starts

on page 44 and lls our entire

lead section. Under the guidance

of deputy editor Dan Ferrara, a

team of Inc. writers approached

the smartest founders we could

think ofstarting with our cover

subject, the hyperactive and

compulsively helpful Gary

Vaynerchuk of Vaynermediaand

asked, what practices got you

where you are today? as well as

what are you best at? and

what have you gured out that

other entrepreneurs ought to

know? The result, in my opinion,

is Inc. at its bestpassing practi-

cal know-how and, sometimes,

real wisdom from the entrepre-

neurs on the page to other entre-

preneurs like you.

Theres one other feature that

Im particularly proud of in this

months issue: a special bonus

section created by my colleagues

at Inc.s sister publication, Build.

Builds editors are expert at zero-

ing in on the smartest leadership

and management ideas now in

circulation and distilling them

into amazingly useful, jam-

packed one- and two-page stories.

The Build insert starts after page

112. I think youll nd it addictive.

let me know if Im right.

14 - inc. - November 2013

christopher sturmaN


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As founder, managing partner, and CEO of SalientMG, Erin Mack Mckelvey Prince

ies all over the world helping her clients nd their key source of indus-try dierentiation. SalientMG team members expect to log more than 150,000 miles of air travel in 2013 in pursuit of the kind of face-to-face interaction and human connection that is critical to the success of their business. United Airlines is my connection point to my clients from Helsinki to L.A. and everywhere in between, she says.

McKelvey Prince and her partners, Lisa First Willis and Shannon Chat-los, email, Skype, and talk regularly with their clients, but there is just no substitute for a face-to-face meeting. We engage with other CEOs, CMOs, and heads of business who they have incredibly complex jobs and schedules, and with the speed of our mobile lives, they need real-time interaction and decisions, she says. Getting to know our clients, their culture, and their market cannot happen over the phone. When discussing high-level business strat-egy, product launches, and market shifts, there is a trust that is continu-ously formed through personal interaction. Healthy debates, op-portunity review, and counsel is nearly always more eective when conducted in person, she says.

CAse study: SalientMG

The Global Pursuit of the Human Connection

Air on the Side of Success: The Art of Connecting

McKelvey Princes airline of choice for almost two decades has been United, making it possible at one point for her to live in Maryland and commute to her job in Mountain View, California for three years. As her career horizons have broadened, United has become her global airline as well, she says. From London to Vienna to Barcelona to Singapore, United has enabled me to conduct global business. And when United isnt available in a given geography, a partner in the Star Alliance is.

With hubs in many of the cities SalientMGs principals frequent and an extensive choice of ights, United makes travel to and from the com-panys home base in Laurel, Mary-landvia Washingtons Dulles International Airporteasy. Ameni-ties like global WiFi and the United Club are added bonuses. Weve met several potential clients, partners, and analysts on ights and in the United Club on various business trips. We look at the travel experi-ence as an opportunity to meet fellow business travelers who may or may not be in our target industry, McKelvey Prince says. But she is most impressed with Uniteds cus-tomer service and the sta who provide it. Tey are great at what they do. Tey are quite engaged via social media and have been helpful rebooking me in real time.

PARTnER PERSPECTIVE / UnITED A IRL InES

From London to Vienna to Barcelona to Singapore, United has enabled me to conduct

global business.


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As origin stories go, its hard to nd a more interesting one than Saddleback Leather

Companys. Among its notable aspects are a bullghting ring, the Mexican maa, a dog named Blue, and a crooked Federale who may or may not have been hired to assassinate the company founder. But the most important part of that story is the human connection founder Dave Munson established with a gnarled old leather worker who was able to produce the perfect leather bag Munson had been creating and rening in his mind for many years. Since then, the kind of human connection that can only take place with face-to-face interaction has played an important part in Saddleback Leathers success, and United Airlines helps make that possible.

Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Saddleback Leather is a virtual enter-prise with key employees scattered across the country, its main manufac-turing facility in Mexico, and vendors around the world. Te company relies on technology to help maintain a tight-knit sense of family on a day-to-day basis, but it has found that noth-ing else is as eective at fostering creativity and innovative thinking as face-to-face interaction. So every six weeks its key people y United Air-lines from half a dozen states to San Antonio and spend four days together in the same place, sharing meals and

CAse study: Saddleback leather co.

Face-to-Face Frequency Drives Innovation

down time and getting a chance to connect beyond work.

Weve found that its in those conver-sations that we come up with some of our best ideas, says John Bergquist, Saddleback Leathers Relationship Guy (his actual title). Since 60 percent of what a person says is not verbal, and we have a very strong group of innovative thinkers who verbally process ideas, its the face-to-face times when we come up with our best and most creative ideas and solutions.

Besides those leadership meetings, founder Munson and his wife Suzette maintain relationships all over the world, and travel is a big part of their lifestyle. For most of our destina-tions, we can choose from many airlines, but United is our airline of choice, Bergquist says. Recently, I missed my connection to Portland because of severe weather delays. Te entire airport was in chaos, but I was able to reach out to United through Twitter and get instant help. Stellar customer service is a core value at Saddleback, and when we experience that with another company, like United, it makes a big dierence.

The company relies on technology to help maintain a tight-knit sense of family on a day-to-day basis, but it has found that nothing else is as effective at fostering creativity and innovative thinking as face-to-face interaction.

For more information, go to united.com/yerfriendly


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THE 2013 HIRE POWER AWARDS

PG.26

FOUR WAYS TO SHAKE UP YOUR INDUSTRY

PG.36

From Day One, our plan was to become the worlds premier language-services company.HIRE POWER HONOREE LIZ ELTING, whose company, TransPerfect, has added 489 new jobs

PG.28

NOVEMBER 2013 - INC. - 19PHOTOGRAPH BY ERIN PATRICE OBRIEN


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AFTER INVESTING $5 BILLION to develop a

range of hybrid and electric vehicles,

Nissan-Renault claimed the title of the

leading manufacturer of zero-emission

cars. CEO Carlos Ghosn has found that it

can be lonely at the top. Speaking at the

Frankfurt motor show earlier this year,

Ghosn said he welcomes competition

from other automakers because a bigger

eld would help jump-start the market.

The more companies that buy into

electric cars, the better it is, he said.

If competition is good for a billion-

dollar automaker, why not for your

start-up? Although most entrepreneurs

dream of having a market all to them-

selves, research shows that youre

probably better of with some company.

Professor Michael Porter of Harvard

Business School has written extensive-

ly about industry clusters and has

shown the benets that competition

brings to similar businesses within

an industry.

If nobody is competing in your

space, theres a very good chance the

market youre going into is too small,

says Ben Yoskowitz, an angel investor

and founding partner at Year One Labs,

a start-up accelerator in Montreal. Any

reasonably good idea has 10,000 people

working on it right now. You may not

even know they exist because theyre as

small as you.

James Park, co-founder and CEO

of Fitbit, is well aware of his competi-

tion. His company, which makes a

wireless tracker that lets users monitor

their physical activity, competes against

similar devices made by Nike and

Jawbone. Those big brands, Park says,

have actually helped his business by

lending it an air of credibility and gen-

erating some buzz in the press. More

players in the market implies that

wearable tech is a mainstream activity

and that consumers should be comfort-

able adopting it, Park says. You

need some critical mass to legitimize

what youre doing.

Brad Feld, managing director at the

Foundry Group, a Boulder, Colorado

based VC rm, has some rather cryptic

advice for start-ups worried about

competition: Be obsessively focused

on your competitors while ignoring

them. In other words, know your

rivals products, market positioning,

and nancial status, and how they

engage users, but dont constantly react

to every move they make.

Nor should you be deterred from

entering a market that already has

some competitors. I dont think a

market is ever too crowded, Feld says.

That is, of course, as long as your prod-

uct isnt just another me too ofering.

Most start-ups are competing with the

status quo, says Feld. Instead, build a

company that does something unique.

Apoorva Mehta hopes to do that

with Instacart, the San Francisco

based same-day grocery delivery ser-

The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. I have no problem with their success. I havea problem with the fact that they make really third-rate products.STEVE JOBS

THE MORE COMPETITORS, THE BETTER

Tip Sheet

Winning, at Any Cost Competition may be good for business, but it doesnt always bring out the best in people. A few cases in point.

ornm42

It isnt fun, but competition may be the best thing to happen to your start-up


ILL

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: M

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UC

CA

; S

PR

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FR

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FT:

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2);

AP


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ASK NORM:HOW TO BE A DAVIDIN AN INDUSTRYOF GOLIATHS

ornm42 Senior contributing editorNorm Brodsky tackles yourstart-up questions

Dear Norm,Our year-old start-up is a monthly nail-polish subscription service that donates 30 percent of its prots to charity. Our competitors are very large nail-polish companies that have an extensive network of brick-and-mortar outlets and huge advertising budgets. They can ship globally. We dont know how to. They have ways to achieve interna-tional brand recognition. We cant begin to match it. How can we compete?

GEORGE CUEVAS, SquareHue, Miami

When you have limited resources, you need to be extracareful to use them wisely. SquareHue is a collab-orative venture of three couplessix individualsall of whom have full-time jobs. So they have limited time and money. They shouldnt waste either one guring out how to sell internationally, which raises issues they dont need to think about now. Thats actually the only problem with having competition from much larger companies: It sometimes leads you to focus on the wrong things.

In talking to George Cuevas, it was clear that he and his ve partners are in business primarily to raise money for charity. They are all members of a church that four of them work for. So I urged them to focus on the advantages they have but arent currently using. For example, they had helped stage a church conference for 8,000 people focused on charitable giving. Maybe they can do the same thing with other churches around the country and use the events to raise brand awareness. They can also look for alliances with other businesses that have a charitable focus. I suggested they map out a plan, with specic goals, for the next year or two, and focus on taking advantage of their unique strengths.

Got a question for Norm? Send it to [email protected].

If any of mycompetitors were drowning, Id stick a hose in their mouthand turn on the water. RAY KROC

No. 1, cash is king. No. 2, communicate. No. 3, buy or bury the competition. JACK WELCH

vice he founded in 2012. A former

Amazon engineer, he now competes

against his previous employer and a

handful of other companies that ofer a

similar service. Instacart diferentiates

itself by using personal shoppers to

pick up a customers groceries from

multiple stores and deliver them in

about an hour. Competition has shown

us theres a demand for our services,

Mehta says. Our product is faster, and

we have more selection than Amazon

or PeaPod. Competition combined with

having a better product means were

going to succeed. A little cockiness

never hurts, either. JILL KRASNY

LAUNCH


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Launch

Why is inbound marketing not

the answer? Youve built a big

business on just that.

Imagine you want to buy

something. You nd an incred-

ibly helpful e-book or video, so

you reach out to the company

that produced it (a perfect

example of the power of

inbound marketing). Unfortu-

nately, your experience with

the sales team is miserable.

Now, you dont ever think,

The sales experience was

awful, but I dont mind be-

cause their marketing was so

awesome! A mediocre sales

experience far outweighs

even extraordinary inbound

marketing experiences.

So the process cant begin

and end with your marketing.

Many companies have forgot-

ten they sell to actual people.

Humans care about the entire

experience, not just marketing

or sales or service. To really

win in the modern age, you

must solve for humans. Every

process should be optimized

for what is best for the cus-

tomernot your organization.

But every company claims to

already do that. Most brand

statements say some version

of, We put people rst.

Brand was once the percep-

tion people have of your com-

pany. But brand no longer

lives just in the minds of

humansit also lives inside

algorithms. For example, the

Google algorithm predicts

whether a given webpage

contains quality content, so

your success depends partly

on Googles algorithmic

assessment of your brand.

What does that mean for

the future of brands?

In the future, you wont just

hit Ignore when you get an

annoying sales call; youll

also be able to down-vote

that phone number. Someday,

we wont just see caller ID

on our phones but also caller

reputation. As new tools are

developed, algorithms will do

a much better job of evaluat-

ing a brand than an individual

can, because algorithms will

be based on thousands of

data reactions.

In short, harnessing the

power of consumer advocacy

is the answer.

A delighted B2B customer is

a long-term customer: He will

tell friends and colleagues

(boosting your algorithmic

brand), and if he leaves his

job, hell take your business

with him. But forget about

Customer Lifetime Value.

Person Lifetime Value matters

most. Humans dont buy

from companies; humans

buy from humans, so solving

for humans is every smart

companys primary goal.

OWNERS MANUAL

repeat after me:

the customer is

aLways humanHubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah recently did something unsettling. Hes a self-described evangelist for inbound marketing, or the idea that you use content to pull in customers, rather than ads that push them away. But in front of 5,000 employees and customers, he declared, Inbound marketing is not the answer. Shah tells Inc.s Jef Haden why, as the balance of infor-mation power shifts more toward the consumer, the best strategy is to solve for humans.

Shahs rules for solving for humans:

HuManS dISlIke InterruptIon. People hate ads especially pop-ups when theyre trying to do something else. Its an irritating experience, and irritated people wont buy from you.

HuManS poWer algorItHMS. Vocal customers will increasingly power the algorithms that determine the perceptionand successof your business. Pay attention to what they say and where they say it.

HuManS dont juSt care aBout what You Sell. They also care how you sell it. Most buyers are halfway through the buying process before talking to you. Give them the info they need so they can sell themselves.

HuManS crave a total experIence. Marketing, sales, service, delivery, follow-upyou need to deliver a whole package that caters to the customer.

Photograph by adaM detour

Q

22 - inc. - noVeMber 2013


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*Source: 2013 A ac WorkForces ReportZ130889B 9/13

How will you be prepared?Call your local A ac of ce or download our Employers Guide:

a ac.com/HCRGuide

Is your company

prepared for the

changing health

care landscape?

Only 21% of

companies are

extremely or

very prepared to

address changes

coming to our

health care

system in 2014.*


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Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the marketing name for the global banking and global markets businesses of Bank of America Corporation. Lending, derivatives, and other commercial

banking activities are performed globally by banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A., member FDIC. Securities, strategic advisory, and other investment

banking activities are performed globally by investment banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation (Investment Banking Affiliates), including, in the United States, Merrill Lynch, Pierce,

Powering Americas

Workforce


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Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp., all of which are registered broker dealers and members of FINRA and SIPC, and, in other jurisdictions, by locally registered

entities. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp. are registered as futures commission merchants with the CFTC and are members of the NFA.

Investment products offered by Investment Banking Affiliates: Are Not FDIC Insured May Lose Value Are Not Bank Guaranteed. 2013 Bank of America Corporation 08-13-0679

A strong economy starts with standout businesses.

Congratulations to this years Inc. Hire Power honorees.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is proud to sponsor

these important awards, and to provide powerful

human and financial capital that keeps companies

moving forward.


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Thats the number of jobs createdin just 18 monthsby this years Hire Power Awards honorees. Its an impressive number, produced



WorldMags.net

LAUNCH

by an even more impressive crop of companies. Meet the fast-growing businesses that are putting people to work and keeping the economy moving forward


WorldMags.net

ast-growthbusinesses and great employees

are a natural pairits hard to have one without the other. The 100 companies on this years Hire Power list (a full version of which can be found on Inc.com) employ 141,270 peopleand added 51,327 jobs in the past 18 months. Some of themincluding Warby Parker and Wayfairare new-economy icons; others are still under the radar. Whatever the companies level of renown, their leaders are serious about the task of hiringrecruiting, training, developing, and just plain caring for their new hires. In the following pages, you will meet three companies whose leaders have found distinctive ways to do all of the above. Youll also nd the ranking of the top 25 Hire Power honorees. For the second year in a row, the top-ranked company is Universal Services of America, a janitorial services and security company that added 14,240 people to its payroll. When we say that private growth companies are the heroes of the U.S. economy, that is what were talking about.

FTRANSPERFECT specializes in

helping clients bridge com-

munication barriers, but that

doesnt mean it never faces

any of its own. The New York

Citybased translation com-

pany has grown to more than

80 ofces on six continents

and had $341 million in

revenue last year. And that

has created a problem for

co-CEOs Liz Elting and Phil

Shawe: how to stay in touch

with more than 2,600 em-

ployees, 600 of whom were

hired in the past 12 months.

The company also relies on

5,000 freelancers.

Their solution: small

teams and training. Lots and

lots of training.

To help with that training,

Elting and Shawe tap long-

time employees to lead new

ofcesparticularly those

who embrace the companys

entrepreneurial mindset.

Nearly all of TransPerfects

executives were promoted

from within. Most have been

with the companywhich

started in Shawes dorm room

at New York University in

1992for at least a decade.

Also helpful: These ofce

leaders divide up their busi-

ness units into smaller groups,

to ensure that all employees

get close contact with their

bosses on a daily basis. We

dont have a bureaucracy,

says Elting. People feel like

theyre part of a team and can

really make an impact.

Once new workers are

brought on board, the learn-

ing beginsan education that

continues throughout their

careers. A certication pro-

gram helps linguists boost

their translation skills as well

as their knowledge of the

industries TransPerfect

serves. Sales people attend a

yearly intensive, three-day

When Going to Work Is Like Going to SchoolFor new hires at TransPerfect, the learning never stops

TRANSPERFECT

NO.19

ILLUSTRATION BY JORDAN METCALF



WorldMags.net

LAUNCH

training conference. A dozen

professional development

groups within the company

encourage growth in areas

such as managing and leader-

ship. Another group provides

a place for female employees

to share tips on issues such as

balancing work and family.

It all adds up to a business

that feels as much like col-

lege as it does a fast-growing

company. Theres a ton of

energy, because were grow-

ing so much, says Matt

Hauser, TransPerfects vice

president of content solu-

tions. I feel like Im in grad

school every day, rubbing

elbows with cool, new,

interesting people.

All of those programs,

Elting says, have helped

TransPerfect win big projects

from clients such as the U.S.

Postal Service, Nestl, and the

American Heart Association.

Meantime, employees who

stick with the company can

be richly rewarded for their

service. High achievers who

stay at least three years are

eligible for a big salary bump.

One employee who recently

hit the 10-year mark wrote a

thank-you note to the CEOs

not just for the Tifany clock

he got as a gift but for the

unannounced bonuses and

raises that allowed him to

purchase a home.

TransPerfect also ofers

litigation support, stafng,

and technology services.

To make sure it excels in all

areas, the company runs an

internal innovation contest to

solicit employees best ideas

for improving their depart-

ments. Many relate to boost-

ing efciency and using

technology more efectively.

The chance to innovate, says

Elting, is another draw that

makes people want to stay.

Indeed, Hauser says a great

thing about his latest job is

the freedom to try new sales

methods. If you want to

chase something, he says,

the company is not going to

hold you back.

ELAINE POfELdT

office hours Phil shawe and liz elting spend a lot of time training new

employees. and then the learning really begins.

489jobs created

1,572totaL 2013 jobs

$341.3million2012 reVeNUe

PhotograPh by ERIN pATRICE ObRIEN


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charles sanders is a big

believer in second chances

for his customers, his employ-

ees, and himself. A star

running back in college, he

wound up playing two sea-

sons for the Pittsburgh Steel-

ers in the 1980s. When that

didnt work out (in 19 games,

he rushed for 77 yards and

one touchdown), he did mar-

keting for a semipro basket-

ball team, the Pittsburgh

Piranhas. One day, he asked

the teams owner, How did

you make so much money?

His answer: Real estate.

Today, Sanders is CEO of

Urban Lending Solutions, a

1,564-person company that

provides back-ofce support

for large banks from ofces in

Pittsburgh and Broomeld,

Colorado. More than 1,000 of

those positions have been

created since 2012. How does

Sanders ll so many spots so

quickly? By hiring bright and

ambitious people, regardless

of their background. So while

his rivals are busy competing

for experienced real estate

professionals, Sanders might

tap the manager of a McDon-

alds or an ambitious commu-

nity college grad. Creating

jobs, says Sanders, is about

knowing the barriers to

someone getting a job.

The strategy appears to be

working. ULS, which was

founded in 2002, brought in

$183.1 million in revenue

in 2012 and has grown 257

percent since 2009.

Sanders credits that suc-

cess to the companys unusual

training program, Urban

University. Focused mainly

on educating the companys

mortgage services depart-

ment, the internal training

arm ofers 15 courses in sub-

jects such as underwriting

and loan processing. Not only

does the program get new

hires up to speed; it also

allows the company to shift

gears quickly when market

conditions change. When

Sanders began to sense a

downturn in the mortgage

market in 2007, Urban Uni-

versity quickly launched a

program to give staf mem-

bers skills in modifying

troubled mortgages for

homeowners. Such activity

now accounts for a large

chunk of the companys busi-

ness, and Sanders insists that

his agents bring tremendous

sensitivity to it. We are talk-

ing about someones home,

Sanders says. Think about

the home you grew up in, the

home you hope to have, the

home you dont want to lose.

Given the amount Urban

Lending invests in its people,

ULS plans to keep them for a

long time. It ofers a generous

prot-sharing program and

promotes from within as

often as possible. The com-

pany recognizes that tomor-

rows leaders are already in

the company, says Michael

Alden, a senior vice presi-

dent. Its just a matter of

developing them.

A member of the National

An Eye for Talent Urban Lending Solutions CEO Charles Sanders nds employees where other companies dont think to look

Urban lending solUtions

no. 8

PlayMaker Urban Lending

Solutions Ceo Charles Sanders, a former Pittsburgh Steelers running back, works

to create opportunities for minorities inside and outside his business.

1,022jobs created


$183.1million2012 reVeNUe

PhotograPh by ross mAnTlE

30 - iNC. - November 2013


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LAUNCH

TOP 25 Head of tHe ClasstHe top Job Creators of 2013

HOW HIRE POWER cOmPAnIEs WERE sElEcTEd the list measures the number of jobs added from January 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013. to qualify, companies must have been founded before January 1, 2009, and be U.S.-based, privately held, and independent. Employees are dened as those who are working a minimum of 30 hours per week and receiving benets from the company. Qualifying full-time and part-time employees are included; independent contractors are not.

Meet the cream of the crop from this years Hire Power Awards. The companies below are growing fast and hiring just as quickly. Heading the list for a second year in a row is Universal Services of America. For the complete Hire Power list as well as expanded coverage and features, head to www.inc.com/hire-power.

RANK/COMPANY CEO LOCATION JOBS CREATED

TOTALJOBS

REVENUE

Minority Supplier Develop-

ment Council, Sanders also

works to create jobs outside

his company by ofering

technical assistance to

minority-owned businesses.

I know the challenges facing

the African-American com-

munity as far as jobs and

wealth, says Sanders. As

you grow those rms,

theyll employ more people

who are minorities.

All this activity has engen-

dered a deep sense of loyalty

and purpose among Urban

Lendings employees. Alden,

who joined the company in

2011 after a long career in

corporate America, says the

satisfaction of helping people

through a successful loan

modication is unbeatable.

Youve got people in their

homes because of what we

do, he says. We make a

diference in peoples lives.

E.P.

1 Universal Services of America Steve Jones Santa ana, Calif. 14,240 35,000 $500M$1B

2 Vivint Todd Pedersen Provo, Utah 1,943 6,496 $100M$500M

3 Heartland Dental Care Richard Workman Effingham, ill. 1,759 4,965 $500M$1B

4 Guaranteed Rate Victor Ciardelli ChiCago 1,535 2,784 $500M$1B

5 Wingspan Portfolio Advisors Steven Horne Carrollton, tExaS 1,344 1,704 $50M$100M

6 Strike Steve Pate thE WoodlandS, tExaS 1,236 2,627 $500M$1B

7 Freedom Mortgage Stanley C. Middleman moUnt laUrEl, n.j. 1,080 1,987 More than $1B

8 Urban Lending Solutions Charles Sanders PittSbUrgh 1,022 1,564 $100M$500M

9 Digital Management Jay Sunny Bajaj bEthESda, md. 1,009 1,431 $100M$500M

10 Pacic Dental Services Stephen Thorne irvinE, Calif. 856 4,298 $500M$1B

11 Yodle Court Cunningham nEW York CitY 756 1,173 $100M$500M

12 Flying Food Group Sue Gin ChiCago 717 4,244 $100M$500M

13 Total Quality Logistics Ken Oaks CinCinnati 642 2,316 More than $1B

14 AirWatch John Marshall atlanta 609 891 $50M$100M

15 Residential Finance Michael Isaacs ColUmbUS, ohio 570 901 $20M$50M

16 Ryan G. Brint Ryan dallaS 565 1,356 $100M$500M

17 Monogram Food Solutions Karl Schledwitz mEmPhiS 551 1,471 $100M$500M

18 Wayfair.com Niraj Shah boSton 516 1,347 $500M$1B

19 TransPerfect Liz Elting & Phil Shawe nEW York CitY 489 1,572 $100M$500M

20 Dakkota Integrated Systems Andra M. Rush holt, miCh. 480 1,350 $500M$1B

21 Loyal Source Government Services Seth Eubank orlando 473 552 $20M$50M

22 Summit Security Services Nicholas Auletta UniondalE, n.Y. 459 2,446 $50M$100M

23 New American Funding Rick Arvielo tUStin, Calif. 447 786 $100M$500M

24 The Select Group Sheldon Wolitski ralEigh, n.C. 446 660 $20M$50M

25 Intelligrated Chris Cole maSon, ohio 435 2,300 $5M$10M


WorldMags.net

LAUNCH

A cAreer involved in

shipping truckloads of

lettuce across the country

might not seem to be a natu-

ral draw for young strivers

straight out of college. But

Total Quality Logistics has

found a way to recruit and

hire them in droves.

The Cincinnati-based

freight broker, which acts

as the middleman between

trucking companies and

businesses needing to ship

their products, brought in

$1.3 billion in revenue last

year, serving companies like

the grocery-store chain

Kroger. A large chunk of the

companys 2,316 employees

are recent college gradsin-

cluding many former college

athletes and military veter-

ans. Ken Oaks, the companys

CEO and founder, has found

that this demographic ts in

perfectly with his companys

highly competitive environ-

ment. They have discipline,

he says. They have a regi-

men. Theyre all about

coming in early and getting

the job done.

What makes TQL attrac-

tive is that the business is set

up to reward the hardest

workers. For entry-level sales

jobs, new hires work on a

salaried basis during a four-

to six-month training period.

Once theyve got the hang of

things, the company moves

them to a salary plus an

uncapped commission. At

that point, theyre kind of like

stockbrokers, with the op-

portunity to build their own

book of businessa set of

Slackers Need Not ApplyTotal Quality Logistics has found a way to lure ambitious college graduates into the trucking industry. Hint: It involves money

totAl quAlity logistics

no. 13

tAskMAster Total Quality Logistics founder and CEO Ken Oaks stresses a Work hard, play hard mentality

to his employees.

642jobs created


$1.3billion

2012 reVeNUe

phOTOgraph by ryAN lowry

32 - iNC. - NOvEmbEr 2013


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LAUNCH

clients theyve signed on

and reap the rewards in big

commissions. The average

pay for a second-year em-

ployee is $60,000, according

to Oaks. After three years,

the average jumps to $81,000,

and, after four years, $112,000.

Given that Cincinnatis cost

of living is 10 percent below

the national average, TQLs

employees can live pretty

wellif they are willing to

work for it.

Oaks acknowledges that

the jobs are not for everyone.

Its high stress, high pres-

sure, but a lot of these people

thrive on that, he says.

Thats a good thing, because

they dont work 9 to 5. All

account execs must work

three out of four Saturday

mornings a month during

their rst six months with

the company. Its because

were getting loads from

customers all the time, Oaks

says. Weve got carriers on

the roads that need our help.

Graham Wagner joined

the company in 2010 after

graduating from Bowling

Green State University with a

degree in business adminis-

tration. He says he likes the

companys fast-paced, high-

energy atmosphere as well as

the freedom to control his

income. A lot of other jobs

would be really monoto-

nous, he says. Wagner knew

he wanted to work in sales

and wasnt surprised by the

pressure. During the inter-

view process, he listened in

on live calls with clients

something Oaks likes poten-

tial hires to do to make sure

they know what will be

expected. Any number of

unexpected things can go

wrong with a shipment, and

truckers arent exactly

known for their delicate

manners. They have to have

thick skin, Oaks says. This

isnt the oral industry. Its

the trucking industry.

Theres a reason Oaks

pushes his employees as

hard as he does. Working

years ago for a company that

bought and sold produce,

Oaks was nearly driven

crazy by unreliable freight

brokers. I couldnt nd

anyone who was dependable

and available 24/7, he re-

calls. There were a lot of

unethical and low-service

providers in the industry.

That experience ultimate-

ly inspired him to start TQL

16 years ago. In our industry,

there arent a lot of players

that concentrate on the

service part of it, he says. He

started his business with that

in mind. Were kind of

obsessed with making sure

we treat customers and

carriers the way they deserve

to be treated. This year, the

company is on track for $1.7

billion in revenue, making it

the countrys second-largest

freight brokerage rm

by revenue.

All of this isnt to say that

its all work and no play at the

company. Oaks makes sure

there are plenty of fun activi-

ties at which employees can

blow of steam. This fall, the

company is hosting its rst-

ever TQL Urban Racea

3.5-mile obstacle course run

through the streets of down-

town Cincinnati. Giving back

is also part of the company

culture. Last year, for Breast

Cancer Awareness Week, it

hosted a Great Shave compe-

tition, in which the team that

raised the most money for

charity got to shave its man-

agers head. E.P.

51,327number of jobs created

141,270number of employees in 2013

601median 2013 employee count

HIRE POWER BY THE NUMBERS

HEALTH 11

FinAnciAL sErvicEs 9

soFTwArE 8

HumAn rEsourcEs 7

iT sErvicEs 7

Where the Jobs areIndustries with the most Hire Power companies

the states With the Most hire Power companiescALiForniA 15

FLoridA 11

TExAs 6

oHio 6

nEw york 5

mAssAcHusETTs 5

iLLinois 5

uTAH 5

moneymakersThe revenue range for Hire Power companies

$20 million$50 million





More than $1 billion

$500 million$1 billion

27

20

25

9

5

4

5

34 - iNC. - November 2013


WorldMags.net


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launch

Inc. 5000 InsIghts

how to Take a Fresh approach to a Staid Old TradeA fast-growing builder finds inspiration outside its industryNot much has changed in the construction industry

in the past 100 years or so, says Ann hand, cEO of

Project Frog, a san Franciscobased company that

builds energy-efcient prefab buildings. Its an in-

dustry just waiting to be disrupted. her company is

working to be the one that does it. By using standard-

ized core components and less-expensive materials,

Project Frog can produce buildings in half the time and at 20 percent of the cost of traditional construc-

tion. Plus, a Project Frog building consumes half the energy of a conventional structure. the companys

approach has helped it land more than $40 million in funding from investors. With $28.7 million in

revenue in 2012, Project Frog earned the no. 930 spot on the 2013 Inc. 5000. here, hand ofers tips on

rethinking the way things are done in a slow-moving industry like construction. jEnnIFEr AlsEvEr

1 2 3 4 Look outside your iNdustry

Hand decided that Project Frog should take its cues from com-panies such as Boeing and Toyota rather than traditional construction companies. That can be seen in the way parts and components are put together to churn out a building quickly. Our marching orders were that if Boeing could build an airliner in 11 days, why does it take 12 months to build a school? she says. She regularly calls on executives from G.E., Toyota, and Boeing to oat ideas and get feedback on processes and strategy.

hire a diverse mix

Hands 40 employees include architects and construction experts, but also a mixture of engineers, product designers, supply-chain experts, and manufacturing managers who can draw on diverse backgrounds to brain-storm new ideas and approach construction diferently. The magic of Project Frog is the healthy tension we create between traditional construc-tion, product design, and manufacturing, says Hand.

Get customer Feedback earLy

Hand targeted Project Frogs most promising customersschool districts and health care companiesand talked to them to learn about the building siz-es and features they needed and the prices they were able to pay. She invited them to view early drafts of designs and mockups of real prototypes go-ing up inside a ware-house. We would try some things, evaluate, and iterate over and over, she says. At the end of it, we had something that met customer needs and was therefore sellable.

PartNer uP

For Hand, Project Frog is more of a tech business than a con-struction rm. Like the iPhone, Project Frog serves as a platform for showcasing other companies technolo-gies. For instance, every school the company builds integrates LED lighting, automatic shades, and plasma-TV-screen teaching walls. This story line came in handy when calling on investors and executives at G.E., which became the lead investor in a $22 million cash infusion.

hiP to be square A Project Frog building welcomes visitors to San Franciscos Golden Gate Bridge.

36 - inc. - novemBer 2013

mAriko reed/courteSy Project FroG


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Theres a new icon in the global economy: the entrepreneur who runs a seemingly large operation from his or her kitchen table, basement, or garage. The key to making it work: Creating a larger-than-life image of your business. Image-Building, a new guide from The UPS Store and Inc. magazine, can help you create a plan for delivering bigger than you are.

All Systems GrowImage-Building

THIS GUIDE INCLUDES:

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Pink Ribbons, an extremely compassionate

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BeStitched Needlepoint, a thriving business

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project a big image

To learn more about how you can scale your growth to your aspirations, download your free copy of All Systems Grow: Image-Building at inc.com/theupsstore.

Visit The UPS Store Online: smallbiz.theupsstore.com


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I make the crust by hand.

I make the lling by hand.

But to build my business, I need a hand.

SMALL BUSINESS: YOURE NOT ALONE OUT THERE. Sandy, owner of The Right Slice, makes pies. Amazing pies. And when tourists

asked to ship pies from her Hawaiian island shop in Kauai to the mainland, she went to The UPS Store in her neighborhood. Because while Sandy

knows all about aky crust and fruit lling, The UPS Store experts know all about packing and shipping. And they can even put together

professionally printed yers, business cards and menus, easy as Mango Passion Fruit Pie.

Locally owned and ready to help. At The UPS Store, we love small businesses. We love logistics.

POSTERS . FLYERS . MENUS . BUSINESS CARDS . CERTIFIED PACKING EXPERTSCheck out Sandys video and learn how The UPS Store can help your business at theupsstore.com/smallbiz

Copyright 2013 The UPS Store, Inc.


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launch

The Best advice You are not TakingBefore you dismiss obvious advice, try listening harder

businessmen in suits sit around a conference room

making insanely obvious statements and the tag

line is something like, If business were this easy,

you wouldnt need us.

No matter how obvious these suggestions may

seem, take a minute to really consider the earnest-

ness of your eforts. When it comes to operational

issues, your start-up often succeeds or fails in

accordance with the degree to which your com-

pany embraces these seemingly obvious ideas

or suggestions. The advice may not seem earth

shattering, but very often it is the successful

companies that embrace that advice and put

forward a serious efort in following it.

Take, for example, an exchange between you,

the founder, and an investor. The investor is

concerned about the quality of your customer

development and advises you to get your hands

dirty spending time with clients. Thats completely

obvious to you, and you respond that youve done

so and will continue to do so.

Box checked and issue resolved, right? Not at all.

Yes, technically you are talking to customers,

but are you doing enough of it? Because you are

already talking to customers, its very easy to

shrug of the advice and move on. However, that

advice typically reects the investors concern

about the scale of your eforts. In this instance,

the investor is trying to tell you that whatever

amount of customer development youre doing,

you need to do much more.

When I read Delivering Happiness, by Zappos

CEO Tony Hsieh, I found the book both incredibly

insightful and incredibly obvious. The book explains Zapposs formula for successputting

the customer rst and ofering delightful customer service. Most of what Hsieh writes

about probably seems familiar to any business owner. What business doesnt want to put the

customer rst and ofer delightful service? The diference between Zappos and most other

companies is one of magnitude. Zappos manages to do so at a completely diferent level than

almost everyone else.

As a CEO, you should never blindly follow the advice of anyone be it a team member,

a board member, or an adviser. After all, whatever the outcome, it ultimately belongs to you.

But you do need to seek out the best advice you can get to gure out the right answer.

Sometimes, the right answer comes from someone in a way that seems painfully obvious.

But remember, just because its obvious doesnt mean its wrong.

Most of the business advice youll

receive as a start-up CEO seems

obvious. In fact, its rare that

an investor or adviser makes a

suggestion that you have never

considered. More often than not,

the suggestion is, in fact, probably

already being implemented at

some level.

Your company isnt scaling

as quickly as planned, and a board member says you need to boost

sales. No kidding? Thanks for letting us know, you sarcastically

think to yourself. Even the more concrete suggestions from

experienced advisers or team members often seem either painfully

obvious or just a regurgitation of things the company is already doing

or has tried before. From your viewpoint, it can feel demeaning,

because it suggests that your job is so easy that people think they

can do it just by ofering generic advice.

At times, it can seem like that TV commercial in which a bunch of

THE STArTINg lINE

Eric Paley

eric Paley is an entrepreneur and a managing partner of Founder Collective, a seed- stage venture capital fund. He is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

40 - inc. - NoveMber 2013

evaN kaFka


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Business Insurance

Employee Bene ts

Auto

Home

RT31663A

The Hartford is The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All property and casualty policies are underwritten by Hartford Fire Insurance Company, Inc., and its property and casualty af liates, Hartford, CT. Non-property and casualty insurance underwritten by Hartford Life Insurance Company and Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company. Policies sold in New York underwritten by Hartford Life Insurance Company; Home of ce is Simsbury, CT. 2013 The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., Hartford, CT 06155. All Rights Reserved.

For more than 200 years, through fire, weather and

the unexpected, The Hartford has been helping

over 1,000,000 small businesses prevail. Were at

our best when things seem at their worst, proudly

helping companies like Classic Metal Craft play on.

Let the sparks fly at thehartford.com/200

Because your ame

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ornm42 WHAT PRACTICES have gotten you where you are now?

ornm42 WHAT HAVE you gured out that other entrepreneurs should know?

ornm42 WHERE DO you excel?

We asked those questions of two dozen accomplished entrepreneurs andno surprisegot an abundance of smart, frank, useful answers.

Turn the page for a special 16-page peer-to-peer guide to what works.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JAKE CHESSUM NOVEMBER 2013 - INC. - 43

WALK THIS

WAY WITH

SOCIAL-MEDIA

EXPERT GARY

VAYNERCHUK ornm41


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Of and Running Gary Vaynerchuk is a social-media maven with a lot to say. As youll see.

As told toLEIGH BUCHANAN, TOM FOSTER, BURTHELM, and ISSIE LAPOWSKY

TwitterGotta be quick.

FacebookBe original. Think like a creative agency.

InstagramThis is personal.


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LEAD ornm42 Know-how Edition

HOW TO MASTER

THE FOUR BIG SOCIAL-

MEDIA PLATFORMS

1

Gary Vaynerchuk is the CEO of VaynerMedia.

THINK OF HOW YOU act with your friends versus how you act with your clients. You behave diferently based on your environ-ment. Social media is the same thing. Every

platform is like a diferent meeting, a diferent room, and you have to be cool or quality depending where

you are. Most people think of social media as distri-bution and use the same

messaging on every platform. Thats not fully

exploiting the tools. Instead, its important to gure out how to natively tell stories on each plat-form and which visuals and copy will enhance

the likelihood of a given posts going viral.

Pinterest

Attention, shoppers!

ornm41


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How to Love Your Own CompanyBrooks Bell is the CEO of the technology company Brooks Bell.

3Everyone assumes the companys CEO is fully committed to the vision. The truth is, a lot of CEOs arent. Around 2007, I was one of them.

We were, at the time, a creatively driven email marketing company. People hired us for our email design. We were being very opportunistic. We said yes to anything and werent strategic about it.

It wasnt fun to work there. I wanted Brooks Bell to be a data-driven testing company, where the analysts were the rock stars.

I left the ofce for about a year, going to diferent data confer- COURTESY GARY VAYNERCHUK

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TWITTER

I included #business, because

it was a trending topic at the

time of this tweet. When you

use a hashtag thats trending,

you have a substantially better

chance of getting engagement

from people who arent your

followers. The couple hundred

people who click that hashtag

every hour around the world

might also see it, and I might

get some traction I might not

otherwise have gotten. I also

made my tweet a question,

because it makes your brain

think about the answer. If I can

get someone to stop for half a

second to ponder, Ive got him

in my ecosystem. Also, line

breaks allow your tweet to take

up a larger portion of the phone

screen and attract attention.

FACEBOOK

It all starts with the image.

Notice, this image isnt just the

label of the bottle. Its an origi-

nal piece. When youre develop-

ing images for Facebook, think

about print and magazine adver-

tising. I want people to know

what wine it is (hence the crop

in on the label) and how good it

is (hence the Wine Enthusiast

score). Keep your copy short.

Include the important informa-

tion that people will care about.

In this case, its the rating, the

price, and the right hook: Click

here to buy now. And dont be

afraid to go in for the sale. If you

want someone to do something,

you have to ask him or her to do

it. I made sure to include the

word buy before the link.

INSTAGRAM

Instagram is all about real im-

ages. Where are you? What are

you looking at? What are you

doing now? Unlike the polished

images youll see for Facebook

and Pinterest, this is a simple

shot taken on a phone. Its native

to the platform. That doesnt

mean you cant include informa-

tion or text in your photo. I

wrote some of the tasting notes

directly onto the tablecloth. The

only place where links are click-

able in the Instagram app is in

your bio. Rather than including

a link in the post copy for people

to copy and paste in a browser

(because, honestly, who would

ever do that?), I put the link in

my bio. Remember, the more you

act human, the more you win.

Instagram is personal. Its for

those real-life moments.

PINTEREST

Pinterest is all about aspiration

or utility. Here, Im not just

selling wine; Im giving knowl-

edge. This infographic gives

context and tells you everything

you could want to know about

this bottle. This is just too much

text for any other platform, but

it feels right at home on Pinter-

est. People are shopping on

Pinterest, so theyre spending

more time on the content and

looking at it with a critical eye.

I used a much longer image on

Pinterest than on any other

platform. The platform dimen-

sions are diferent and allow for

it, but more importantsimilar

to what I did on Twitterlonger

pins take up more real estate.

ILLUSTRATIONSBYDAVID WILSON


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ences to learn that world. By the time I got back, I knew what I had to do. I needed to change my team, change all of our clients, shift from creative to data, and completely redo my business model. We started with the team. We let ve people go, which was the most difcult moment Ive ever had. Another ve people left on their own over the next three months. Then I hired 10 people over the next six months, people who were aligned with the new goals. We had four major clients at the beginning of this period, and we retired one of them every year.

It was the rst time I nally embraced the idea of thinking strategically, not waiting for someone to pick me and tell me what to do. I got to go out and create the market I wanted.

Most entrepreneurs wont admit theyre not all in and are feeling less committed than they once did. But realize: It starts with you. Have a vision of what you want. Let there be a huge gap between where you are and how youre going to get there. Map out the next two steps and let the rest be a gray area. Trust that youll get there if you stick to that vision.

PEOPLE COULD DIE if we get things wrong. A lot of our employees are young, and they operate with little direct supervision, putting on events in elds thousands of miles from where I sit. Were a very specic kind of company, and we need very specic kinds of people.

TO FIND THEM, WE HAVE TO DO FOUR THINGS:

run really good recruitment, induct people, train people, and assess people. We use the acronym RITA.

INDUCTION IS THE MOST COMPLICATED.

Its easy to put your values on the wall. It means nothing. Its about behavior. Culture

is really just how people behave when they think youre not looking.

WE TEACH PEOPLEhow we expect them to behave. The induction period is three weeks. We started doing it in May of last year. We got to the stage where we were happy with our organization and the culture we had and felt like we were in a position to scale it.

PART OF THAT TIME is spent sitting in a classroom and having people come and speak. We also have group discussions and give people mentors, with whom they can discuss things condentially. Then we do team bonding activities, like sending people out on trea-sure hunts or taking them surng. The point is to make them feel they have a set of peers across the company. I also personally sit down with groups of new people for an hour and a half and let them ask me anything they want.

CULTURE EATS STRATEGY FOR BREAKFAST,

and its far easier to keep the right culture on track than get the wrong one back on track. So gure out which behaviors are sacrosanct at your organization and which ones are profane. Then take all four steps of RITA and ask yourself three months later, Am I really seeing the behavior I want to see?

KLAUSTHYMANN/TRUNK ARCHIVE

2

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HOW TO BRING NEW EMPLOYEES

INTO YOUR CULTURE

Will Dean is the CEO of the adventure-race company Tough Mudder.


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FORGET WHAT YOUVE HEARD

Neil Blumenthal is the co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parkerand, by a matter of months, a Millennial himself.

HOW TO MANAGE MILLENNIALS ornm427

All those articles that scold Millennials for their sup-posed entitlement? Forget them. Millennials are great employees. There is no reason to plan to accommo-date this nonexistent trait or to break anyone of it.

HOW TO REALLY

CONNECT WITH

CUSTOMERS

Andy Kurtzig is the CEO of Pearl.com, which connects customers to lawyers, doctors, mechanics, and veterinarians, who answer questions and dole out advice online.

SINCE JANUARY, Ive devoted every Thursday, all day, to cold calling current customers. I call it Smile and Dial.

I start in the morning calling East Coast folks, then move to the West Coast later in the day. Its hit or miss. Half the people answer, and of those, 20 per-cent of the people say theyre too busy. The rest are happy to chat at least for a couple minutes. Ill have really rich conversations with about half of them.

When I call, Im thinking, Care, care, care. I pretend like its my mom or my grandmom or my dad. I care about their grandkid, about their dog; I care about their life. Im focused on that, that shows, and they really open up. And then I actu-ally do care. Im so fascinated that I dont have to do a trick.

I want to nd out who they are and how and why they use our service, and how we can be better. I dont say Im the CEO, because I dont want them blowing smoke. I dont try to solve their problems on the call very often or defend us. After the fact, Ill worry about that. I want the truth, whether its good or bad.


JAN

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STA

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T/ G

AL

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Johnny Earle is the founder and CEO of the T-shirt company Johnny Cupcakes, which operates ve bakery-themed stores and regularly opens pop-up stores.

PICK AN OPTIMAL TIMEWeekends and eve-nings are best, because people dont have to rush from work. Dont open your doors at the same hour as everyone else. On weekends, wait until early after-noon. That gives you greater opportunity to pass out iers and stir excitement on the street. Also, fewer hours adds a kind of limited-edition urgency to the experience.

PROMOTE EXTENSIVELY AND CREATIVELYStart reaching out to journalists and calendar editors a month in advance. You can approach bloggers a little later. Make your marketing collateral as distinctive as possible.

INTRODUCEINTRIGUETease peoples curios-ity by ofering a mys-tery gift or a surprise guest. The words freeand mystery are always a good idea. Limit the number of gifts, but keep it reasonably large: for the rst 100 customers, for ex-ample. That wont bankrupt you.

ENLIST YOURNEIGHBORSSurrounding busi-nesses wont love it when your customers block their entrances and overrun the park-ing lot. Warn them in advance, apologize for the inconvenience, and invite them to get involved. Businesses love to cross-promote, so suggest they provide products for your grab bags or other giveaways.

RECRUIT LOCAL FOOD VENDORSPeople show up for free food. So why not get food for free and establish relationships with other local vendors in the process?

STAFF UPINSIDE AND OUTRecruit volunteers if you must, but make sure you have enough people working the oor and the registersand also keeping an eye on the street. Stan-chions will help keep

order. But someone should be out there enforcing the single-le lineand, not inciden-tally, talking up the company and answer-ing questions.

HOLD A SOFT OPENINGInvite friends, relatives, vendors, and members of the press to a run-through a night or two before the event. Employees get on-the-job training before facing more-critical hordes, and glitches will reveal themselves.

ADVERTISE COMING ATTRACTIONSMake sure departing guests walk of with your calendar of upcoming events and sales.

DOCUMENT LAVISHLYProduce lots of photos and videos to post to social media after the fact, so people will see the business at its busiest and liveliest. Youll also want the record for yourself. Youll be so swamped and distracted during the event that the best way to enjoy it may be retrospectively.

How to Stage a Grander Opening

MEET THEM HALF-WAY

Young people entering the job market seek employment at compa-nies with values that match theirs. Implement-ing a thoughtful social mission will help you attract top talent.

Millennials are eager to make an impact, which makes them ideal for start-ups. Let them know exactly how their contribu-tion ties into the big picture by sharing high-level insights and objectives. ornm42 ornm42

GIVE THEM THE BIG PICTURE

DISCOURAGE TWERKINGIt just makes the rest of us feel inadequate.

6

Amanda Peyton is the co-founder of Grand St., an online shop for creative technology.

WE ARE a very ambition-driven organization; everyone who works on Grand St. is sort of ob-sessive about it. Thats why we take a monthly eld trip outside the ofce. It usually takes a whole daywe might go to art galleries, or we might spend the day at the beach. Its not a team-building thing at all. Theres no agenda and no struc-ture. Its about creating an opportunity for blue-sky days. The reason we impose these days is that if we didnt, people would just keep going and going and going. We have to ercely command time for fun.


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