10 Tech Trends; Zingerman’s Change; Legal Monkeys’ Appreciation Board; Raleigh May 1 – 4

"…insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

ScaleUpU Launches in Raleigh — are you a high potential growth firm in the Raleigh region? The state of North Carolina wants to know. Apply for this innovative program. More below, but first…

Because it's Easier/Faster — more than half of all internet sales growth in the US in 2016 came from Amazon according to this Fortune article. And Amazon accounted for 43% of ALL online sales – incredible. Notes Slice principal analyst Ken Cassar:

The article goes on to note that Amazon is able to deliver packages in an average of 3.4 days vs. 5.6 days for everyone else. What are you doing to maintain an obsessive focus on removing every pain point in your customer buying and delivery experience? Bring this question to your weekly meeting – every week!

X-Prize Founder's Top 10 Tech Trends — Peter Diamandis has published his Top 10 tech trends for 2016. Go to p.2 to scan down the list of ten then to p.20 to dig into the Artificial Intelligence details. Please start figuring out which apps/partners you need to add AI to your products/services. You won't need to make it happen this year, but you need to start.

Zingerman's Change Process Now in Writing — Zingerman's, the $60 million "best deli in the world" co-founded by anarchist Ari Weinzweig, has the best change management process I've even seen – something Ari guided our audience through at last year's ScaleUp Summit. Ari has finally written down the process for getting employees to own their suggestions and drive improvement ideas through an organization – they create the vision, they get the buy-in, and they drive the improvement – plus it's fun. Go to this link to purchase this powerful (and well-illustrated) step-by-step pamphlet for driving bottom line change.

Legal Monkeys' Appreciation Board (Gazelles idea of the week) — mentioned alongside Southwest Airlines and DreamWorks in this Entrepreneur article, Rockefeller Habits fans Legal Monkeys took an idea for an Appreciation Board from their Gazelles coach Andy Bailey and ran with it. It's an 8×10 picture frame where any employee can use a dry erase market to write a note of appreciation and then present it to another associate for display on their desk. Here's a 2-minute video (I like to see how other companies produce/use video) by CEO Corey Cormier where he shows a board, how it's presented, and then how they extend the appreciation through Facebook and other social media. He also explains how it ties back to their core values – and you also get to see video of their daily huddle. Nicely done Corey and team!

Join me at InfusionSoft's ICON — I'll be keynoting the center of the single largest community of small business owners and marketers from around the world. Gazelles preferred CRM and Rockefeller Habits fan, InfusionSoft's gathering of over 10,000 biz leaders provides some top notch education and entertainment. April 25 – April 27 2017 • Phoenix, Arizona Register now and get $100 off!

ScaleUpU Launches in Raleigh — following the successful launch of ScaleUpU in Kansas City, serial entrepreneur and author Randy Nelson, champion for North Carolina, is seeking applications for the first 15 high potential growth firms in the Raleigh region for a May 1 – 4 launch of the inaugural "Class of 2019." Supported by RedHat, this program honors (including extensive media) the best scaleups in the region and takes them through, with the support of the local community, a 36-month process of education, coaching, and tech support to double their revenues. For more info contact Randy Nelson at [email protected] and visit this link

CEO Boot Camp — spend 4 fun and interactive days with Verne and 10 CEOs in Marathon, FL March 7 – 10. For more info [email protected]

EXITING: Thinking about selling the business for $40 million or more? Want to get 25% to 200% more than you thought? Request the whitepaper from the Exit Strategies Summit at Harvard from Denise Richmond at (610) 299-6466 or email at [email protected]

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients. Contact us at [email protected] for more information.

And if you're interested in becoming a world-class certified Gazelles International coach, please go to gicoaches.com/becomeacoach for more information. If you determine that we're a fit and wish to join our premier organization, we invite you to contact our Dir. of Coach Engagement at [email protected] or 877.217.2253 ext.700.

TECHNOLOGY:

Align Software puts everyone on the Same Page – Literally! See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progressing on their priorities – alongside how they Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.aligntoday.com – on your computer and on your phone.

Better Book Club — What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.