The Mistake Bank Podcast

Monica Gould audio story - the importance of focus

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Mon, 23 May 2011 10:17:00 PDT

Monica Gould is the president of Strategic Consulting Partners. In this story, she talks about her early days in consulting, when she fell prey to a common mistake of consultants (I can tell you from experience): the temptation to say you can solve any problem.

Download the story here (1min 57sec).

Monica Gould audio story - can chasing a large customer simply be a time drain?

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Fri, 20 May 2011 10:16:00 PDT

I love this story, recorded during our longer interview with Monica from 2010. It felt to me, as she was relating it, that she was discovering and analyze this situation in the moment; as if, in fact, she was coming to terms with her feelings about it just as we were talking. She argues with herself a bit: "I'm not sure it was a mistake... [but] it's just not a fruitful use of time..." just like we do when we are evaluating something that isn't working out as we'd planned. Magic!

Download "Monica Gould - realizing a strategic opportunity is actually a waste of time" (2:21)

Monica Gould audio story - learning to work with subcontractors

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Thu, 19 May 2011 10:16:00 PDT

Monica Gould is the president of Strategic Consulting Partners. She discusses bringing on a subcontractor to help with a big project, and how she felt when she saw the sub doing things much differently from how she would have done them herself. This story came from our longer interview with Monica from 2010.

Download the story here (3min 43sec).

Charlie Crystle - investing time in someone else's dream

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Wed, 18 May 2011 10:14:00 PDT

This story is from Charlie Crystle, who founded Chilisoft, a web infrastructure provider which in 1999 was sold to Cobalt Networks for $70 million. He and two partners later started Mission Research, which offers low-cost business software to support nonprofits.

His new venture is Jawaya.com, a social search site. You can sign up for the private beta of Jawaya here.

Charlie discusses working crazy hours for someone else, and how that experience prompted him to first go into business for himself.

Charlie Crystle - investing in someone else's dream (1:56)

John Bliss audio story - don't give away equity for nothing

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:41:25 PDT

John Bliss is the founding principal of BlissPR. He sat down for a lengthy interview in 2010, from which this story is excerpted. John talks about inviting a partner in when he started his PR business, since "50% of something is better than 100% of nothing." But when the business changed, the partner's role became less important, and John had to eventually buy him out.

You can listen to the story here (3:01).

John Bliss audio story - for entrepreneurs, the cost of losing focus

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:40:56 PDT

John Bliss is the founding principal of BlissPR. This story is part of a longer interview from 2010. John discusses getting more and more involved with a nonprofit side project, and the challenges that created in his main business.

You can listen to the story here (2:37).

John Bliss audio story - a couple of hiring mistakes

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:40:27 PDT

John Bliss is the founding principal of BlissPR. This story is part of a longer interview from 2010. John states that hiring experienced people was much more risky than "growing your own," and provides two examples.

You can listen to the story here (3:30).

John Bliss audio story - the downside of going downmarket in tough times

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:39:48 PDT

John Bliss is the founding principal of BlissPR. This story is part of a longer interview from 2010. John talks about the risks of going downmarket to get clients when the economy turns bad.

UPDATE: Fixed broken link
You can listen to the story here (1:48).

Monica Gould audio story - the importance of focus

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:12:52 PDT

Monica Gould audio story - can chasing a large customer simply be a time drain?

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:12:16 PDT

Mistake Bank Video Podcast #7 - Sue Pera on growing her business

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:59:20 PDT

Sue Pera and her husband Al own the Cornerstone Coffeehouse in Camp Hill, PA (where I live). Sue was very gracious to sit down and talk about an important mistake they made while considering expansion and what they learned from it.

Download: Sue Pera Mistake Bank Podcast (4:36)

To find other podcasts in this series, please visit http://mistakebank.com.

If you are an entrepreneur or know an entrepreneur who should be interviewed for this podcast series, please email me at john (at) caddellinsightgroup (dot) com. Thank you!

Mistake Bank Podcast #5 - Monica Gould of Strategic Consulting Partners

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:11:44 PDT

#5 in our series of interviews with successful entrepreneurs in which they talk about the mistakes that helped shape their careers. Our guest is Monica Gould, who founded her business, Strategic Consulting Partners, after a successful career at MCI, and has sustained it for more than 10 years.

Monica, like so many of the entrepreneurs I've talked to, is very candid and self-reflective, and willing to talk about mistakes, to teach others and to ensure they themselves learn from them. I was struck by Monica's sense of humor when she discussed the cobbler's kids dilemma - while she helped companies improve their planning she tended to neglect planning for her own business (something I've experienced myself). I'm sure you'll enjoy the interview.

Monica Gould podcast (31:24)

Content:

0:30 How she got started
11:10 An early mistake...the "we can help you with anything" brand
13:30 Consequences of a consultant losing focus
15:15 A more recent mistake: how long to try to break into a new market?
17:10 "Time is your biggest commodity"
18:50 A difficult situation with a subcontractor
23:45 A final thought on planning...

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)

If you are interested in contacting Monica , please visit her website.

Previous podcasts can be found here.

Silicon Pasture Podcast #1 - Jason Kichline of OnSong

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:54:15 PDT

In our inaugural Silicon Pasture podcast, we talk to Harrisburg-based Jason Kichline, developer of the OnSong iPad application that helps musicians and bands manage chordsheets.

My favorite part of the interview is when Jason, when asked why he was able to succeed in building his own business developing websites, credited good timing rather than his own brilliance. Good for you, Jason!

Highlights:
0:35 How he got started
2:45 How can you build a sustainable business out of a hobby?
4:07 The idea for OnSong
7:05 What the app does
9:13 What's happened since the product's release
12:30 Marketing OnSong
14:45 On new computing form factors

You can download the podcast here: Silicon Pasture Podcast - Jason Kichline.

[A collection of other Silicon Pasture posts.]

Theme music: "Odyssey" by Woolfy.

Mistake Bank Podcast #3 - Tim Berry, Founder of Palo Alto Software

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:13:39 PDT

Here's another in our series of interviews with successful entrepreneurs in which they talk about the mistakes that helped shape their careers. Our guest is Tim Berry, a co-founder of Borland Software and founder of Palo Alto Software the publisher of Business Plan Pro and Marketing Plan Pro, among other titles.

Tim has shared many other great mistake stories on his blog.

Tim Berry Mistake Bank Podcast

Content:

0:40 The making of an entrepreneur
5:10 An early mistake - with serendipitous results
10:10 "Adjusting the aim" when evaluating people
15:16 Believing the hype of the dot-com era
19:12 The importance of killing mediocre products

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)

Previous podcasts can be found here.

Mistake Bank Podcast #2 - Charlie Crystle of Chilisoft and Mission Research

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Tue, 25 May 2010 05:25:52 PDT

Here's our second podcast focusing on the mistake stories of successful entrepreneurs. Our guest is Charlie Crystle, who founded Chilisoft, a web infrastructure provider which in 1999 was sold to Cobalt Networks for $70 million. He and two partners later started Mission Research, which offers low-cost business software to support nonprofits. Now he is working on a new venture and advising startups.

Download the Charlie Crystle podcast (28:27).

Content:

1:10 Investing in someone else's dream
4:00 On breaking up with a business partner
5:53 "Lessons learned doesn't necessarily mean lessons applied."
7:40 Personnel mistakes
12:50 Knowing when to step aside
16:45 On mistakes by your employees
20:00 Consequences of a culture of withholding information
21:00 "Startups have a lot to do with learning along the way"

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)

Mistake Bank Podcast #1 - John Bliss, founder of Bliss PR

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:31:15 PDT

Welcome to the first in a series of podcasts in which we explore learning from mistakes with successful entrepreneurs. First up, John Bliss, founder of Bliss PR, discusses starting out working for the family business, then going out on his own, and what he learned along the way.

Download the John Bliss podcast

Content:

0:45 A brief history of Bliss PR
4:35 When you're starting out, you'll take any business you have
6:55 A mistake - sharing equity with a business partner
10:00 Another mistake - losing focus
12:20 A few hiring mistakes
15:30 Going downmarket in bad times
17:15 Learning from mistakes my dad made
19:40 "It's a 'we' business"

(Thanks to John, and also to Elizabeth Sosnow for connecting us.)

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)

Shop Talk Minipodcast - Sydney Finkelstein on 4 Decisionmaking Red Flags

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:18:00 PDT

We talked to Sydney Finkelstein, co-author of "Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions and How to Keep it From Happening to You" back in March. In this excerpt, Syd discusses 4 red flag conditions that could indicate faulty decisionmaking.

Minipodcast (4:59)

For more information, you can access a web site with more resources about "Think Again."

Minipodcast with Robert Wiesheu - in-country agents for selling

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:15:25 PDT

In this minipodcast, my friend Robert Wiesheu, who has sold in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for more than 10 years, discusses a little-known corner of the sales world: the use of local agents to break into a new country market. It's a challenging area with lots of traps - listen to Robert's common-sense recommendations.

Podcast file (2:21)

Related post:
Full Shop Talk Podcast with Robert Wiesheu

Shop Talk Podcast: Roberto Verganti on "Design-Driven Innovation"

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:00:05 PDT

Roberto Verganti's book "Design-Driven Innovation" is one of the best business books of the year. It discusses the methods certain companies use to create products with radically new meanings, offering customers something they never realized they wanted and generating long-term competitive advantage and outsized profits as well. In this podcast, Professor Verganti discusses the ideas behind the book and how it applies to companies like Apple, BMW, Artemide, and Harley-Davidson.

For more information, visit the book's companion website.

Podcast: Roberto Verganti on Design-Driven Innovation (mp3, 39:41)

Timeline:

0:35 What is the "meaning" of a product?

6:00 The meaningfulness of the iPhone

13:50 The role of "interpreters" in Design-Driven Innovation

19:50 Relationships between companies and interpreters

23:45 What is the CEO's role in Design-Driven Innovation?

30:00 How much of the CEO's time is required?

33:25 More resources on Design-Driven Innovation

Related post:
Review: "Design-Driven Innovation"

[Theme music: "Up the Coast" from West Indian Girl's CD "4th and Wall"]

Shop Talk Podcast: Update from Honda's Todd Mittleman on Green Cars

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:33:22 PDT

We talked to Todd Mittleman of Honda last spring about Honda's environmentally-focused cars, the Civic GX natural gas vehicle and the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle (which, at the time, had not yet been released).

Well, a lot has changed in a year. The FCX is now out, and that's the least of the news since then. People have reined in spending in many ways, not least of which is their utter reluctance to purchase a car from any manufacturer.

So how do green vehicles fit into Honda's strategy now? We brought Todd back for another discussion. Podcast file: todd-mittleman-mar-2009 (21:37).

Highlights:
0:25 Description of Civic GX and FCX Clarity
4:15 Positioning of "green" vehicles in current economic climate
8:20 Does the US government's support of alternate energy help the GX and Clarity?
10:45 Positioning of the new hybrid Insight versus the GX
14:17 More on the FCX Clarity
15:50 First customer feedback on the Clarity

(Photo: the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle)

Shop Talk Podcast #17: Sydney Finkelstein on "Think Again"

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:46:14 PST

I recently finished "Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions and How to Keep it From Happening to You" and it is my favorite business book of the year so far. Sydney Finkelstein and his co-authors, Jo Whitehead and Andrew Campbell, systematically dissect why we sometimes make and carry through terrible business decisions--whether it's a poor acquisition decision, an ill-fated product redesign, or even deciding to park our money with Bernie Madoff or Allen Stanford. Even better, they let us know how to create structures that identify possibly faulty decisions in order to avoid them or, at minimum, monitor their outcomes carefully so bad ones can be reversed as quickly as possible.

Syd is a clear, engaging speaker, and was a delight to have on the podcast. Listen in for a 20-minute lesson on how we decide and how we can decide better. The podcast file is here.

Summary:

0:33 - Why studying decisions gone wrong is interesting and useful

1:05 - How our brain's evolution impacts sound decisionmaking

2:35 - Has the complexity of our businesses outpaced our brain's ability to keep up?

3:38 - Four red-flag conditions indicating possible faulty decisionmaking

8:03 - Decision-affecting attachments to people, ideas, things

9:20 - Important decisionmaking process safeguards

For more information, you can access a web site with more resources about "Think Again."

Shop Talk Podcast #16 - Robert Wiesheu on Selling in Different Cultures

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:40:22 PST

For this edition of the podcast, I'm delighted to spend some time with my friend Robert Wiesheu, one of the most interesting guys I know and someone who's spent more than a decade selling to customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As such, he has a great perspective on what it takes to successfully sell even if you don't look or sound like the people you're selling to.

Podcast file (18.2 MB, 15min51sec)

Highlights:

1'25" Challenges in selling into different regions
5'00" Preparing to sell in a country for the first time
6'10" Is there bias against a foreign salesperson?
7'25" What to think about when preparing a product for worldwide sales
9'10" Working with in-country agents

Theme music: "Up the Coast" from West Indian Girl's album 4th and Wall.

Tags:
podcast, sales, culture

Shop Talk Podcast #15 - Scilla Andreen on the changing indie film business

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:30:55 PDT

The latest podcast features a discussion with Scilla Andreen, co-founder and CEO of Indieflix, about the current state and future prospects of the independent film business.

Here's Scilla's official bio:

Scilla Andreen (Filmmaker, CEO & Co-Founder IndieFlix) producer, director and Emmy nominated costume designer Scilla has deep roots in the entertainment industry and is a popular speaker and tireless champion of independent film. Scilla along with producing partner Carlo Scandiuzzi created IndieFlix, an independent film distribution and discovery site founded on the principles of community, promotion, syndication and transparency. They also created indie-fest.com and are launching the Filmmaker First Initiative. IndieFlix believes Independent films can and will be profitable. You can find IndieFlix on the web at http://www.indieflix.com.

It was a great chat. You can download it here.

Highlights:

(00:50) About the US indie market

(02:20) Options to get indie films to their audiences

(06:20) Where does a filmmaker's advance go?

(09:13) What Indieflix does

(12:03) The many ways people access films and videos today

(13:00) About the "Bridge to Everywhere"

(15:35) What is a "hit" film for Indieflix?

(19:08) Promoting the filmmaker and the story behind the film

(19:33) Making meaningful recommendations for films members might like

(21:06) "If your film is worth stealing, it must be worth something"

(22:39) Looking ahead: the future of filmmaking and film distribution

(Theme music: "Nova" by Nomo, from its album Ghost Rock)

Scilla mentioned the challenge that exists for filmmakers to get clearances to use the music they choose for the film. Today's Wall Street Journal had an interesting article about this very subject: the settlement of a lawsuit between Yoko Ono and a documentary filmmaker over the use of 15 seconds of "Imagine."

Tags:
content, distribution, filesharing, film, movies, podcast, entrepreneurism

A meeting in Boston goes awry

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:01:24 PDT

From The Mistake Bank.

This happened to me some years ago, but the unpleasantness of the encounter still is fresh today. And aren't all great lessons like that?

You can download the podcast here (5 minutes).

Please consider rating and reviewing The Mistake Bank for the Forrester Groundswell awards by following this link.

narrative, mistakes, meetings, Mistake Bank, customer relationships, conflict, preparation

Shop Talk Podcast #14 - Jill Konrath on selling to big companies

inquiry@caddellinsightgroup.com (John Caddell) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:29:53 PDT

I had a great time talking recently with Jill Konrath, author of "Selling to Big Companies." She had a lot to say about, among other things, how some tried and true sales techniques are outmoded. Jill's website is sellingtobigcompanies.com.

Download the podcast here (20 minutes, 27 seconds).

Segments:
0:00 Introduction
0:30 The difference between selling to big companies and to small ones
1:50 What's changed in selling in the past decade?
7:30 On follow-up
9:10 On "always be closing"
11:25 Using web2.0 technology to help make sales
15:20 Learning from mistakes

(Theme music: "Nova" by NOMO, from their album "Ghost Rock")
Tags:
sales, sales improvement, podcast, lead generation, web2.0