The Internet of Things is also the Internet of Wearables

The Internet of Things is also the Internet of Wearables

A new category has emerged over the years and it’s all about wearables. To me it’s the Internet of Wearables or IofW as we push the data into apps and the cloud and use analytics to better manage our fitness.

At a recent developer conference it was inspiring to see a table full of smart watches and wearable fitness trackers to play around with. Each had a common purpose but varied in form and function to deliver the same result. We are really at the tipping point wear the onslaught of Chinese products in the sub $30 range will be available at discount stores everywhere.

The biggest complaint is that you do need to be prepared to charge your device every few days because the small form factor means a small li-on battery. I found out the hard way when I went to Japan and forgot my special charging cradle for my Samsung Gear watch. I could not for the life of me find the cradle in Akhibara or Wilsons so I was not able to ever know what time it was. I used a compass and a sundial instead.

Let’s take a look at what’s the latest offerings timed for the Christmas season.

High End Wearables

Years ago Furla an Italian leather bag maker came out with a bag for travellers that included a built in light. The Boarding Bag as it was called did not start a trend.

Now Ralph Lauren has announced its “Ricky Bag with a Light”. The Ricky bag is $3500 and when you add a built in LED light and also a USB charger it now becomes a $5000 bag.  This is luxury item and is hand made in Italy with the finest leather, gold hardware and purple nappa satin liner. The artisanal craftsman takes at least 12 hours to stitch this together buy hand and maybe a soldering iron as well. Naturally, Ralph will have you order this item as a special order which is just fine with its well-heeled consumer. Now the fashionistas have power to go and can look forward to plugging their bag in at the end of the day.

But the House of Ralph Lauren has been busy in their lab experimenting and prototyping their high tech Polo Tech shirt. Sensors and conductive silver coated thread are embedded to capture the wearer’s heart rate, breathing and stress levels. This is all game changing with more products from other manufacturers surely to follow.

Aspinal of London also has a wonderful pebble leather tote bag (again made in Italy by artisanal craftsmen) that comes with an optional usb charger in a leather pouch. Not so creative as it really is a Mophie battery pack and Tumi did the same thing with their travel charger I bought 5 years ago. What is innovative is how fashion designers are embracing new technology and implementing them in a way that can enhance the consumers brand experience.

I heard rumors that Tory Burch was also looking into technology and did announce a Fitbit arrangement housed in a brass bracelet. I think she will add sensors in her iconic line of flats (shoes) soon.

Diesel partnered with Samsung with their version of the Gear S Smartwatch. Vertu does the same in enhancing cellular devices (notably the Blackberry)

Tommy Hilfiger not to be left behind has a solar panel jacket with built in battery and I expect Burton to do the same for snowboarders. This is creativity at its best and forces better thinking and better design for the consumer.

I look forward to Roots Canada working on a solar powered toque, charger equipped Muskoka weekender bag and even a campfire series of usb battery equipped sweat pants.

At Dreamforce 14, Will.i.am announced his smartphone cuff that had some really awesome features but also included battery equipped clothing and a speaker equipped backpack. This type of creativity is to be applauded. Will.i.am also announced a sensor in its shoe line that its sensor also measures weight (using a pressure sensor) and can integrate with a fitness app that can coach you through a work out. This is interesting as the technology is being implemented in a better way to assist the consumer in getting fit

Even Dewalt and Milwaukee are doing wearables with their heating element equipped and usb battery equipped winter jackets. Just what the trades needs to survive the harsh Toronto weather on the job site.

I expect to see a lot more in the Internet of Wearables #IofW marketplace in the coming year.

So where does that leave the rest of the traditional wearables? Lots to choose from and the price points are dropping to where consumers will buy one instead of filling up their car with gas.

These devices continue the same story of counting steps, calories burned, some monitor sleep or track heart rates, or even gps enabled location information. Push it to your smartphone or even into the cloud for that matter. Then take the watch which adds the time function, Evernote and PebbleBucks along with the fitness apps. The smartphone does this too now so what do I do with my Fitbit? My Fitbit holder cracked under normal use so I think my mom’s dog will enjoy it more than I will if he doesn’t chew it first. With several smartphones and watches to play with I am not sure I need a purpose built gadget to monitor how many steps I walked that day.

The foundation is set for these devices to measure ekg (Nyomi does it) and blood sugar or urine levels and help manage our health care in the future to come. I applaud this innovation and how it promotes better fitness for its wearer.

Lets take a look at some of these Activity tracker wearables:

Fitbit

They have several models based on functionality and form and do a fantastic job at measuring steps, distance, stairs, sleep and calories burned. They integrate with various smartphones and have a great dashboard. I love how simple the One charger is. However, there have been complaints about quality. The ability to just clip it on is a popular feature as well as a little display. Customer service was no help in getting it fixed

http://www.fatguyshrinking.com/fitbit-ultra-repair/

BodyMedia

This is an arm band worn on the upper arm and also does temperature and movement tracking. By adding the additional sensors over its competitors it does offer a more accurate calories burned calculation.

Jawbone

Their bracelets are also popular and also have created a stir as they gave users a rash. They have no display but can vibrate to tell you to get up off your chair and move around.

Withings Pulse 02

This device offers some creative elements such as altitude, pulse and can even estimate blood oxygen levels.

Garmin Vivofit

They also have an action camera so why not a wearable. The really wonderful feature of this device is the battery is said to last a year (all other devices do need regular charging every few days). The display is very useful and it can be used in the shower or while swimming.

Nike

The Nike Fuel caused a stir with its iPhone app and sensor placed in the shoe but the FuelBand edition offers some enhancements and is worn on your wrist instead. I tried the shoe sensor but returned it for a better Fitbit so I can use it with any shoe until the Fitbit build quality started falling apart.

.Microsoft Band

Wow they also have added a cloud based health app that works on android, iOS or windows. It crunches the data for you and is planned to offer proactive actionable insights and  advice. This could be the killer app we have been waiting for. There is a heartrate monitor, GPS and a  UV sensor as well. Plus it adds email and Cortana as well.

Apple Watch

No clue yet as it is not available in stores yet but it will need to be charged up at the end of every day.

As a cyclist, I have not looked at any technology or apps that can improve the rider experience beyond the cycling computer. I will investigate and report back in another blogspot post.

So what does this all mean?

It means you have things to by that can be great gifts or stocking stuffers that will help motivate the user to better fitness and it will fund future work on wearables and IofW to predict health issues, manage our health or help cure our ailments. We are still at an early age with lots of upside for innovation to occur.

We are able to provide real time information from your wearable (those that are 4G or Blue Tooth or Wi-Fi equipped) and plot it on a map and use it to highlight your Facebook status so when you get  text you can double flick your wrist and bleat out a response with a Google Map link showing you are running along the Santa Monica Pier, sweating profusely and unable to take calls at this time. I would not mind a wearable that will figure out that I have fallen asleep, turn the house alarm on, turn off all forgotten lights, lower the NEST thermostat, and put my smartphone on do not disturb and have the refrigerator do an inventory check and text me a shopping list when I awake. Trust me the technology is there and people are able to do just that today. I would like to add the app that says “we noticed in your urine that you had a vitamin D deficiency” and add that to my IofT powered smoothie machine to add some vitamins to my drink. The party animals among us will enjoy the top selling “You Got a Hangover” app informing you upon wake up that you are hung over and your smoothie will help alleviate the symptoms before brunch time.

9 Quick Internet Marketing Tips for SMB

9 Quick Internet Marketing Tips for SMB

After delivering a social media workshop to a local business community, I was asked at the end of it. ”what is my take away? Anything to get me started?” sure and here you are.

What is Your Goal?

When developing your website you need to develop a set of goals. Think of whom your audience is, the target, demographics, and its functions. Are you selling products? Generating sales leads? Providing information? Have a professional quality brochure and information sheets that can be downloaded.

Content Evaluation

Content is King and so much so in social networks. It is imperative to know what information your customers and clients are looking for. Provide that content and they will be able to understand that your company has expertise in that subject matter.

Analytics

Big Data is popular right now and Google Analytics offers a ton of useful information. It’s Free. It will provide reports on how your site is doing, what pages get traffic, and how long users spend on your site. You can also track the device they are using and location information.

Local Business Directories

There are various free local business directories that can help you gain more web traffic. Use them.

Competition Spying

What are your competitors up to and also do keyword ranking searches to see what your potential keywords get ranked and where they go to.

Keywords

Keywords are key in SEO so use the Keyword tools offered by Google. Look at the different search results and think of more exact keywords that can drive a better search result. Pizza is too broad but Tandoori Pizza is more exacting.

Review

Be diligent in checking your website for accuracy, errors and look and feel. Also I strongly recommend a mobile version as 50% of internet users are mobile. Ensure you have a sharp and clean looking site.

Blogging

Blogging allows your organization to become a thought leader and start to engage customers in dialogue. It also adds valuable search engine optimization benefits as well.

Video

Video use is surging so ensure you have high quality video segments that show the world what it is you do. Also populate these on your Facebook and YouTube accounts in order to increase brand awareness.

These are some quick tips to get you set up and thinking on how to better make use of the internet for marketing. Several ethnic vendors have also created additional mirrored site with their specific language choices. It is important to set time aside every week to spend a few hours in creating content, refining keywords and reviewing analytic reports to improve upon. This stuff works but it works a lot better with constant efforts.

Good Luck!

Random thoughts on the Retail Industry Fall 2014 Edition

Random thoughts on the Retail Industry Fall 2014 Edition

The ongoing debate about the health and wealth of retail is a lively one and retailers are getting smarter and dumber. I enjoy discussing with others about why they buy, how they buy and even where. I am just curious.

Our front load washer after 14 years decided to shout its anger during the spin cycle and shake the foundations of our house. Ok, so the bearing is gone and it’s a $700 repair. Time for a new one and guess what the Koreans are in play. Samsung and LG offer alternatives to the Kenmore and GE brands. The problem is that our model has now been replaced with a taller and wider front load system meaning my laundry room needs the built in space to be renovated. Not only do I need to buy a new washer but also a matching dryer AND need to renovate the space to accommodate their larger sizes. I still will need to build out an Arduino to tweet me when the drying or washing cycle is done as they do not have an Internet of Things option. The only thing I can salvage off the washer is the motor that can be reused somewhere else. The buying options are big box hardware, furniture store and Sears and The Bay. My wife visited the local Sears for showrooming and then called around (retail customer service over the telephone is a challenge and on-line experience differs among retailers). Since, her face to face sales experience with Sears was a positive one they had no problem price matching her other quotes and that included free delivery. (see below). The in-store sales person is valuable. However, we are in the process now of sorting out the reality of all promises made during the sale were no longer valid during the actual delivery that was delayed another 10 days due to paperwork error. Good thing is the store manager has taken interest to resolve and provide some customer satisfaction. What was promised? Free delivery, installation, old appliance removal and smiles. We were invoiced for delivery and installation but none was provided.

The Flyers story continues as the local paper delivers the bumper crop Thursday issue. Guess what as Target complains about poor sales, they still do not include a flyer. No wonder, we continue shopping at Walmart, Hudson Bay and Sears. Retailers need to PUSH content out to their consumers and the weekly flyer is still King. Guess who did not send out a Black Friday flyer?

With gas prices so low and my energy stocks losing money, many consumers are excited that they have another $30 - $60 a week of disposal income. It doesn’t go into a RRSP plan but will be spent this Christmas. The Retail ETF looks to be an attractive play if consumers spend their savings at the mall this winter. You can save more by getting scurvy and avoiding the high priced lemons and limes this winter as well. Many iPhone 4 users coming off contract will be getting the iPhone 6. Big data tells us this in a simple dashboard report pulled off their CRM. Retailers are looking forward to busier cash registers now that there is more disposable income but it appears Black Friday was a bit of a let down.

Consumers are a savvy bunch and they always expect more for less and will line up for days to get a $9 plasma TV on Black Friday and a $2 Blender. Retailers are savvier because their employees are also consumers. Retailers also complain about competition but the smaller retailers don’t because they are still in business 10 years later by offering good old fashioned customer service and expert product knowledge. Retailers will have to invest more into the multi-channel experience in order to continue their success. Retailers need to focus heavily on customer service and a positive 1-800 experience. Social Media is even more important as many complain about poor service over the Twitter broadcaster.

Shopper traffic in Canada fell 7% last year while on-line increased about 9%. No wonder there is a concern because on-line sales is costing the retailer more money. It has become too easy to research and price compare before jumping in the car and making a purchase. However, in some cases the consumer needs to rely on the sales person in the store for expertise. Not every sale is a real on-line sale.

Example 1: The $60 book in store is $40 on-line with free shipping. The book arrives in a few days in your mailbox. A no brainer as it’s just a simple book off the New York Times best seller list. The book retailer is not happy about free shipping that costs them some $$$ and Amazon doesn’t care about shipping.

Example 2: The washer/dryer needs to be bought in person as too many things need to be figured out like delivery, size, installation and logistics. Once you shake every one down as to who offers free delivery, who wants $79, sorry we deliver in 6 weeks to want it tomorrow, free installation and removal to we have to charge more if it’s in a condominium. Go in person. Have them write down every promise made.

Example 3: Groceries: Anything that has a short shelf life like fruits, vegetables and meats and such need you to buy in person. Cereal, flour, sugar and Oreos can be bought on-line.

Retailers have now found a way to be like UPS. UPS will try once to deliver your package after which you have to go pick it up at their depot (hmmm you pay shipping to go pick it up yourself). Canada Post will either leave it in your mailbox or have you pick it up at their very local depot located at Shoppers Drug Mart or a variety store. Retailers are trying to not ship your product for free anymore. They are being creative in having you order on-line and then pick it up in the store. They are looking to expand how you can pick it up at their store or at a community locker at a mall. If I can order a $60 book and pick it up in the store maybe I should buy it on-line for $40 with free shipping and let  Canada Post deliver it to my door in 2 days? That is the interesting question mall owners and retailers are trying to answer.

Big Box becomes Mid Box

The days of these mammoth big box stores are now becoming smaller and more efficient. Take the big box and do some space planning and it can fit in a smaller store. Consumers are no longer going to feel excited walking into a wide expanse of blinking lights when all they need to do is go to a locker to pick up their order. Bad news for the retail developers as space needs are dwindling. Why must I pay list price because your heating costs are so high to warm up a 20000 sq foot store?

Amazon Threat

More so in the USA but less so in Canada as they continue their location wall for services across borders (Sorry the Kindle book is not available in Canada…means I get it from Kobo in Canada) but they do have 50 million products available. AMZN continues to be a 800 pound gorilla stateside. Consumers also do not care if the retailer makes any money on what they sell because they can buy the same product from other retailers. Now how come everyone doesn't offer similar to Amazon Mayday?

WalMart Threat

Their new Grab & Go service will be interesting as they try to get consumers to buy on-line and then pick up at a locker in-store with an access code. Wait, I am ordering my toilet paper and shampoo on-line with free shipping as I do not want to go take a drive to go buy it. Wait, if I go to the store I can get a RedBox DVD for $1.50. Wait, what do I do?

Home Delivery vs Pick Up In-Store

Let me defend the in-store picker uppers as they are not home during the day to take delivery so they are happier picking the stuff up on their way home from work and can run in and empty the locker and zip home. Ok, just do not park in the front entrance as it is a Fire Zone – No Parking. I thought the idea of the lockers being near busy transit might make more sense for the busy consumer. Ok, I park in a real spot and then enjoy a haircut, a McDonalds coffee and then hot the Grab & Go locker on the way out.

The Last Mile

In Telco, the last mile was always key and so it has now become the same in retail. How do we get orders to our customers in a cost effective fashion? Do not offer free shipping as this is a cost the retailer must bear and can account for considerable profit loss. Let us find a way to get the customer to pick up their on-line purchase in-store at their expense not ours. There is a cost associated with Free Shipping that retailers have their eyes upon. Right or wrong we need to celebrate those retailers that will offer options for how you shop and how you pick up your purchases. Every retailer and now mall owner is looking for ways to keep the consumer in their car and not in the store. I can get go to the drive through ATM, get a coffee at a drive through Starbucks, pick up my antibiotics at a drive through Shoppers Drug Mart, pick up my on-line groceries at a drive through Loblaws, pick up my Shampoo, Diapers, Pet Food and Kindle charging cord from WalMart Grab & Go (ooops it too cold to get out of my warm SUV so I will wait until its warmer) and I am late for my Back Massage from the RMT that does in-car services. The world is changing as we speak.

Mall Overhaul

In Canada we have seen a raft of store closures and American Retailers pulling out and new American Retailers jumping in. The mall is changing and they are trying to find better ways to attract shoppers into their environment. Look for more events, activities and promotions to take place in the year to come. Look for tier B and C malls developing tenants that are not retail. These empty spaces are ideal for medical clinics, libraries, entertainment, restaurants and maybe even community centers or schools. This is a good idea because over time the mall will be more people orientated than consumer oriented. This is slowly happening here with more Dollarama’s showing up in these smaller malls but a local mall begging for tenants has a fitness center, an employment center, several non-chain restaurants, a medical clinic embedded in a Pharmacy and a day care center.  This is adapting to the local consumers’ needs a lot faster than any on-line experience. Humans will continue to crave and experience tactile and social interaction in their daily life and why not so at the local mall.

On-Line going Bricks and Mortar

Sure Amazon is opening up a store in New York City as a test to expand to other major cities but then Clearly Contacts is a web store first and is seeing great results in adding retail stores to its fleet. There are other examples that are experimenting with a pop up before going bricks. In Toronto, the successful food trucks will go bricks to get revenue during the cold winter months that the food truck is parked which to me I feel the food truck is a virtual on-line service almost.

We love to buy and we love to buy and we hate to buy. We love to buy things that satisfy our souls and bring us happiness and we love to buy things from brands we trust and more so when it’s an easy experience. We hate to buy when it becomes a hassle and gets complicated. Many still buy poor quality for the short term and treat it as disposable products. Many buy because it’s cheap or on sale while others buy a heritage item that will last. Regardless, retailers are using big data to better understand the consumer’s behaviour and better serve your needs. Loblaw’s is pulling all levers in healthy food, big data, better service, new buying options and in-store services that is improving their bottom line.

Brilliant Example: A book store has an app that allows you to create a Christmas wish list and also share it. Tell me that the big data analytics is not in a huge play here? We are telling the retailer what we want for Christmas, where we rank it and what we do not want. If no one wants Broccoli flavoured candles I would let my buyers know immediately to stop buying that stuff and maybe throw it up on sale to free up valuable floor space. However, if the Samsung Tablet is a top item please have a selection of cases and accessories available at the time of purchase because I surely do not want to buy the tablet from you, get the case from an on-line source shipped to my house and the screen protector from a bricks store because I could just go buy that from one place and wait a few days for delivery (all with free shipping). Do I buy from a book store or an electronics store? I may just buy from a one stop shop store.

Bricks

All we want is to be able to go to the store and choose among 4 electric tea kettles at various price points and pick one. If you succeed we will buy $10 worth of tea and maybe some other impulse purchases while we are at it. If you have a poor selection or we sniff that pricing seems high then we walk out and promise o never waste our time again. If we are in your store, live bodies that can assist in our purchase will be of immense value especially if we are dropping $2000 on a washer/dryer combo or even a $2000 DSLR. If we need no help then we can just go to Costco and buy whatever camera is on the skid but then we cannot buy a camera bag, filters, another lens, flash or accessories that are recommended by the sales person or get a coupon for a free photography class in-store.

Retailers and Consumers alike will jostle back and forth, exchange big data, try to trick the analytics and forever continue their journey to get the best product, at the best price delivered with the best service.

BTW I have cancelled my non-chip credit card as its been hacked too many times and due to its higher fees to the retailer is not widely accepted.

BTW I cannot use Apple Pay as my iPhone 4 is now a slow iOS7 camera device and my primary smartphone is an Android. My payment of choice will continue to be cash, debit and credit (both with chip card security enabled). Paypal is still my on-line payment service. There will be some interesting debates about who will have the app of choice for universal use. I think that Starbucks won’t care because I can buy a coffee and pay with an app or just have them scan my watch and let Pebblebucks do all the heavy work. Do I need Apple Pay to buy a coffee at Starbucks?

BTW I still get excited to go through the stack of flyers every Thursday evening. Grocery shopping continues to be based on low price and highest quality and really only 2 stores are on the short list. Buying decisions and impulsive ones continue to be based on the Staples, Best Buy and Future Shop flyers with the occasional Canada Computers and Tiger Direct. When on business in the USA, I can be influenced easily by a Target or Macy’s flyer included in the morning newspaper. Bricks, Flyers, On-line or word of mouth …pick 1 or 2 and go fill that shopping cart.

Central vac Repair

I needed a new motor and calling around the price varied from $169 to $299 for the same part number.

I called the manufacturer and the wait time was over 20 minutes while listening to some poorly recorded announcements. Finally, after providing the part number which was unfamiliar to the CSR another 10 minutes of wait time (they probably could have Googled it faster) to be told to call the dealers as they do not deal direct with the public. Why can’t they say that up front or in the announcement queue?

I saw that I could get it on-line for about $120 but preferred to go local and when I inquired with each store owner as to why the price was so high a few mentioned that they are made in china. My response was “shouldn’t they be cheaper?” I guess not. Hopefully this motor will last another 15 years and they were all surprised that it lasted that long stating 5 years of use was typical. I learned something new today and that was that a motor should last about 5 years. So shop around to get the best deal for the same item.

Silicon Valley: 25 Technology Disruptors to Watch

October 31, 2014 12:29 pm

Courtesy of the Financial Times

Silicon Valley: 25 to watch

From drone control to grocery shopping, ingestible sensors to sleep monitoring, Silicon Valley is setting the pace. Here, in no particular order, are the products and projects you might not have heard of yet

01. Instacart  Grocery delivery service

Silicon Valley Special

Hungry but too lazy to go to the shops? Pull up the Instacart app and they’ll take your order and send someone there for you. Instant delivery is a growing trend in ecommerce as smartphones make digital shopping ubiquitous. Amazon and Google are also getting into this space, sometimes called “Uber for X” after the app that delivers drivers instantly. Instacart remains one of the fastest-growing start-ups in the area, launching in more than a dozen US cities this year and beginning to look at international expansion.

02. August Smart door locks

Designs by Yves Béhar range from the “One Laptop Per Child” project to Jawbone’s Jambox speaker and Up fitness tracker. His latest is the August Smart Lock, which has been hailed as the best “connected home” gadget since Nest’s thermostat. The device automatically unlocks the front door when it detects the homeowner’s phone approaching, via Bluetooth. It is already a top seller in US Apple Stores and chief executive Jason Johnson says a second product is in the works.

03. ClassDojo Classroom management app

Getting young students to behave in class and keeping their parents in the loop are not easy tasks, especially for teachers who may struggle with too many students and too little time. ClassDojo allows educators to track student behaviour, award points for improvement and email parents a weekly report about how their son or daughter is doing. Founders Liam Don and Sam Chaudhary, both raised in the UK, worked in the education field before relocating to San Francisco to launch the company.

04. AngelList Early stage investment

An online platform for individuals looking to invest in promising new companies, AngelList has ridden the start-up boom. Its syndicates allow people to invest alongside more established investors in return for giving up some of their gains. It is also developing a recruitment business on the side by doubling as an employment network for the start-up industry: encouraging entrepreneurs and engineers to list themselves on the site.

05. Airware Drone brains

Commercial use of drones – or unmanned aerial vehicles, as the industry calls them – is still a legal grey area. But that hasn’t stopped entrepreneurs, and Airware, founded in 2011, leads the pack. Its autopilot software is cheaper than military versions, safer than consumer drone equivalents and acts as a platform from which to build systems for any industry, from wildlife conservation to vaccine drops in remote areas.

06. Stripe Online payments technology

Not many start-ups can claim Apple, Facebook and Twitter as major partners. Stripe can. Founded by the young Irish Collison brothers, Stripe has developed a system that makes it easy for online retailers to process payments. Their code underpins some of Facebook and Twitter’s forays into ecommerce, and they worked with Apple on turning iPhones into digital wallets.

07. GitHub Code-sharing social network

GitHub has revolutionised the management of software development. The site lets developers store open-source code, which they can then modify as needed. That makes it easier for developers to build on the work of others. Companies can also pay for private code storage. It has had some management issues, however. Earlier this year a female developer quit, accusing some colleagues of sexual harassment, and a co-founder stepped down following an investigation.

08. TechShop ‘Maker’ spaces

TechShop is a playground for makers. The nationwide chain of workshops gives members access to impressively sophisticated power tools and 3D printers, allowing them to invent and build products far more sophisticated than any tinkerer could do in his or her garage. The possibility that TechShop could help rejuvenate American manufacturing has also caught the attention of some powerful people in Washington. It partners with Darpa, the Department of Defense’s engineering research wing, and Barack Obama dropped in on a branch in Pittsburgh to give a speech on the state of the economy.

09. Proteus Digital Health Ingestible sensors

Embedding ingestible sensors in pills to help doctors monitor their patients in real time sounds like sci-fi but Proteus is already piloting its digital medicine system in the US and Europe. The California-based company also raised an impressive $172m in funding this summer from backers including Novartis and Oracle. Its tiny “chip” reacts in the stomach to emit radio waves that are then picked up by a chest strap and transferred to a smartphone which sends them into the cloud.

10. FireChat Chat app popular with protesters

Proof that an app designed for one thing – sending messages when there is no mobile reception – can be transformed into something totally different. FireChat, an app which uses Bluetooth capabilities to create a private internet, made its name earlier this year after Iraqis adopted it as a way of communicating when the government was restricting internet access. Its use soared during the recent protests in Hong Kong.

11. Slack Workplace collaboration app

Many successful start ups are created when a struggling company “pivots” to a new idea. Stewart Butterfield has done it twice, first with photo-sharing pioneer Flickr and now with Slack. After an online game failed, his company released Slack, its internal messaging tool, as a free app for other companies. Aimed at teams of five to 150 people, it provides a searchable group chat and has become the “back channel” of choice for many Silicon Valley start-ups.

12. SwiftKey Predictive keyboard app

SwiftKey improves on the most used but least liked part of any smartphone: the keyboard. Founded in London in 2008, the team expanded to San Francisco last year just before Apple opened up its iPhones and iPads to third-party keyboards. It is already among the most popular Android apps in the world. SwiftKey learns your writing style by analysing your emails and text messages, and suggests what it thinks will be the next word you’ll want to use even before you’ve started typing it.

13. Coinbase Bitcoin wallet

If the digital currency Bitcoin is a vehicle for disrupting the financial services industry, then Coinbase is one of its most ambitious creations. Founded by software engineer Brian Armstrong and Goldman Sachs trader Fred Ehrsam, Coinbase is a leader in the race to attract consumers with easy-to-use online accounts and merchants with the promise of low-cost transactions.

14. Unity Technologies 3D gaming platform

As a nine-year-old company, Unity is hardly a new start-up. But in that time, the gaming world has expanded to include smartphones, tablets and PCs as well as new consoles and, soon, virtual reality. Unity’s gaming engine works with them all, making it the platform of choice for millions of developers and hundreds of millions of players.

Interactive

View this list according to sectors and investors

15. Storehouse
Smartphone-friendly storytelling

While there are plenty of social apps for distributing single images, Storehouse co‑founders Mark Kawano and Tim Donnelly have created a new kind of “visual storytelling” platform. Its templates, slick design and smooth animations can make a day out look like a magazine photo spread.

16. Medium Blogging

Sometimes 140 characters is just not enough. After pushing the world to adopt the brevity of a tweet, Twitter co-founders Ev Williams and Biz Stone founded Medium, a long-form blogging platform, in 2012. Writers can opine for however many lines they want, making it a home for bloggers, journalists and academics, as well as some pretty awful PR pitches.

17. Homejoy Uber for domestic chores

This start-up is trying to rethink one of the most universal problems: how to keep your home tidy. Its platform lets users book cleaners by the hour and at short notice. Just two years old and a graduate of prestigious start-up incubator Y Combinator, it is already operating in more than 30 metropolitan areas in the US and Canada. The company’s work has proved somewhat controversial, however, for its reliance on contract workers who are not formal employees and therefore lack guaranteed hours or benefits.

18. Super Evil Megacorp
“Hardcore” tablet games

Super Evil Megacorp says its mission is to “destroy the productivity of mankind with endlessly entertaining games”. But it wants to do it with more intense, “hardcore” games, not just another Angry Birds. It has a stellar team of experienced games executives drawn from Grand Theft Auto makers Rockstar Games, social gaming pioneer Playfish and Riot, the company behind League of Legends. And now that devices such as the iPad have much more powerful graphics and processing capabilities, their new target is tablets.

19. Calico A mission to defeat death

Calico (short for California Life Company) is Google’s attempt to “defeat death” – or, at least, tackle the chronic diseases of ageing. Its chief executive, Google non‑executive director Art Levinson, once led Genentech to become the most successful US biotech company and has reassembled some of that company’s former leaders for his new venture. In one of its first big initiatives, Calico reached a partnership with drugmaker AbbVie whereby each will invest up to $750m in early-stage drug research.

20. wealthfront Automated investment management

Wealthfront is one of the fastest-growing online investment tools. With more than $1bn under management, it offers low-cost, diversified funds with a twist, claiming to adjust individual portfolios automatically to reflect a customer’s risk tolerance. Wealthfront has marketed itself heavily to staff at Silicon Valley companies that have gone public, using this rich young clientele to get its name out.

21. Houzz Home decor

With Amazon dominating most of ecommerce, it can be tricky for start-ups to find a niche. One promising area is home decor. Houzz is a star of the space, raising $165m this autumn to accelerate its move into selling home goods online. The site has already built up a business among users who plan their renovations on it, mining its inventory of design ideas and database of architects and contractors.

22. Vicarious Artificial intelligence

A list of personal investors that reads like a who’s who of the tech world – including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Peter Thiel – has made Vicarious one of the hottest new start-ups in artificial intelligence, even though its technology is still experimental. Vicarious hopes to mimic the human neocortex to carry out tasks such as image recognition – a notoriously difficult problem for computers.

23. IFTTT Control anything with anything

All software works on the principle of “If This Then That”. IFTTT allows people who aren’t programmers to control that cause and effect between dozens of different apps. That could mean automatically saving all your Instagram photos to Dropbox or triggering a text‑message alert if it is going to rain tomorrow. It also works with a range of internet-connected devices such as “smart” lightbulbs and thermostats that may not otherwise “talk” to each other.

24. Shape Security Botnet protection

Shape Security has developed a technology that allows web pages to change constantly. This shape-shifting code means hackers cannot use botnets – vast virtual networks of computers – as a cheap and quick way to discover passwords. Backed by Google’s venture capital arm, the company is led by a former senior adviser to the US defence secretary.

25. Hello Sleep monitoring

At a time when many health-tracking device developers are nervously eyeing the Apple Watch, Hello’s first product, Sense, has found a niche: sleep monitoring. Founded by 23-year-old Brit James Proud, Sense raised $2.4m on Kickstarter this summer. Hello is also backed by a who’s who of Silicon Valley angel investors.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/a8bdaef6-5fb3-11e4-8c27-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3Kra36w8o

How to Prepare an Awesome Sales Kick Off Meeting

How to Prepare an Awesome Sales Kick Off Meeting

Every year the sales kick off ritual takes place around the world in January. In some cases it’s at a location out of province or even country and in some cases it’s at a convention center in town, regardless of the location it’s an ideal time to get sales aligned with marketing and operations. It is also a time to celebrate success and inspire the team to a new year of successful sales

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Planning this pep rally requires an awesome agenda delivered with style and leadership.

What is the purpose of the Sales Kick Off?

• ·         Communicate the corporate vison and strategy
• ·         Network with peers
• ·         Announce new products
• ·         Provide the new product and services roadmap
• ·         Deliver high impact training
• ·         Recognize and reward success
• ·         Engage and align with marketing and Operations
• ·         Inspire and motivate the attendees
• ·         Understand failures and outline remedial plans

Get it right and there is happiness, get it wrong and the disappointment starts as the bills get paid.

Every year it’s a new theme which provides the backdrop for t-shirts, swag and slide backgrounds. I have been to these things where 1200 sales people get to hear Tony Robbins and where 62 people get a miserable slide deck and Chinese buffet. Regardless of the budget or attendee size it’s important to have the right elements for success.

The Agenda

The agenda can be broken down into 5 key areas that needs to be addressed

1.       The Corporate Vision

Now that everyone is in the room you have the ability for the C Suite to communicate the corporate vision and strategy for the year.

Marketing is next up, the product managers’ start sharing the product initiaves and road maps.

The last messaging is from the sales leadership team with growth, innovation, sales strategy, value proposition are the key buzz words.

Sales operations may also join the stage outlining the new quotas, incentives and performance expectations.

 I think every last item on the list is telling everyone where the next President Club location is.

Ok Now its lunch time and the buffet gets busy.

Depending on the length of the kick off, usually the teams break out into department tracks with more in depth workshops and sessions.

Partners and vendors usually host these sessions and the evening is usually the trade show or vendor fair.

Networking Opportunities

Attendees have the opportunity to network with their co-workers and is the most useful for those that are in other branch office locations as well as to make contacts with the partners.vendors.

This is a very important part of any kick off because it provides a chance to build relationships that will be very valuable in sales scrums later on in the year.

The sales rally should include opportunities for activities that promote networking, cross team building and old fashioned conversation. This can be wrapped into team activities.

Training

After all those costs to gather everyone across the country in a single location it would seem natural to offer training to the sales teams. This can turn into a big waste of money because in many cases there is just too much information being transmitted and it becomes a brain overload. Everything is forgotten by the time the bar opens, and the ability to concentrate becomes difficult. It would be better to align some training tied to guest speakers or team and breakout activity. I recall attending a 5 day kick off that was held in two hotels with a back to back 8am to 6pm agenda. More time was spent running around trying to get to the sessions you chose, get your passport stamped and results in picking up another binder of information.

Competitive Insights are easy to address and more useful and can include some light training.

Key Win Sessions are also a great way to demonstrate the path to success that was followed and a chance to showcase the key differentiators or sales strategy.

Training should occur a few weeks after the kick off and aligning it to the event theme helps keep the branding and messaging consistent. This is more effective as retention is better and can be delivered virtually.

Sales Operations

The compensation team has their chance to outline and communicate the new game plan. It’s also the time to discuss any sales automation plans, process changes and how to make “ club “. Time this session carefully because if you are doubling quota and halving commissions then don’t start the event on a bad note.

Motivation

Humans love social settings and making connections and they also love motivation. The kick off is a great time to celebrate the success of the previous year with the winners circle but also talk about key wins, and those that contributed to the company success (hint: celebrate the support team and other departments). Contests, draws, incentives are all ways to bring motivation and competition to incite more sales. It is very helpful to offer programs that will reward sales in new products, cross selling, bundling or service contracts in place of just making a routine sale.

The Speaker Team

It’s wonderful to listen to Tony Robbins live, or have a sports star talk about their career and how they faced adversity or how the latest sales guru achieved success and this all depends on the budget. Regardless of who is chosen ensure it is relevant, inspiring and aligned to the corporate goals. I find it very powerful to include customer’s testimonials and a chance for them to get on stage and tell everyone how great you are.  The message is motivation and a chance to learn from an expert. Seek out experts within your company to also be on stage as it is a low cost option and inspires a better culture.

High impact speakers will do more for you than celebrity speakers that have weak stage presence. Again it is all about the budget, the message being reinforced and sometimes the theme.

Entertainment

The after party and entertainment is also a chance to spend money that the partners and vendors pay for. It could be Bruno Mars at a Salesforce event or Hootie and the Blowfish as the Nortel band. Frankly, I found the B-52s to be the most intriguing but it can be casino night, team scavenger hunts or ping pong (that is actually true). Most of the time the entertainment is part of the event theme. So a tropical event may have Jimmy Buffet up on stage. As long as it is fun, promotes engagement and has an open bar then the event team will get a top mark in the survey for this category.

I recall the value an attendee got from a 30s Al Capone themed casino party event: “Thanks for this party and for having top shelf liquor available and open for more than 2 hours. I drank a ton and will feel it tomorrow”. Most enjoyed the evening as it was a lot of fun and it was the theme that turned a boring casino night into a more engaging event. Today, the 2 drink ticket is the norm so plan accordingly.

Open Forum

Transparency and listening to our employees a mission statement line item? Regardless if it is or not I would suggest an open microphone to have the brave to ask questions of senior management.

Considerations

Kick offs that are low budget but are fun and inspiring have a longer lasting stickiness than those that are blow out affairs that have too many slides and too many sessions.

Balance the sessions to have serious slides, fun slides and breaks in between with a suitable pace. Avoid the “We cannot afford 3 days so we are packing it into 2 days with 14 hours of sessions the first day and 8 hours the second”. That becomes overwhelming.

The Time Bell: To avoid the whole thing falling apart ensure that the times be adhered to. Attendance tracking is also important to ensure attendees actually attend. I have seen doors locked after 15 minutes of a start with the gatekeepers taking notes of those who are late.

Not Having a Kick off? That is a mistake and will prove costly in the long run so it will be better to have a 1 day light event. If travel costs are prohibitive the travelling kick off road show with the executives is a good idea.

Swag needs careful consideration to avoid being thrown out. How many caps, pens and T-shirts must be included in the registration bag? If the vendor partners are paying for it or the company is why not think about providing useful stuff like a cellphone battery packs, productivity tools, mobile or laptop stuff. Actually, have the attendees bring food for a local food bank in return for an “I gave T Shirt”. All those squishy balls, rulers, and tape measure flashlights are always left behind for the hotel maids to give to their kids or sell on eBay.

Mid-term metrics

I have been with a couple of companies that are very much quarter driven and have a mid-term kick off. This is done to measure the sales numbers, celebrate any contest activity, refocus the objectives and bring in training elements. This activity keeps the momentum strong and is usually done at a local level with some national broadcasting happening but training should not be included at this event. The reason for this is that if you are bringing training in mid-year then it’s too late to cause an impact in the year end numbers. Solution Selling or Advisor Skills need to be taught at the beginning of the year to get the most impact. A big prize contest will drive motivation to close harder.

Virtual Kick Offs

We have the technology to do these events in a virtual format and I doubt they offer any effectiveness. I have attended similar product kick offs that last a day and the attention span of the viewer is too short. I can log in, go enjoy a 3 hour lunch and ask some questions at 4pm to show that I was active in the session. Most people will fiddle around doing other things and not pay attention. I think a hybrid approach can be more useful with a mix of a broadcast and local activity sessions mixed in. 

In this case, the head office could have the broadcast messages pushed out to the enterprise and then local activity taking place at the branch offices. The branch manager can take his team out for dinner and tie in a team activity. The vendor sessions can also be spread out virtually with local swagging taking place during the session with local presence.

A successful Sales Kick Off requires advance planning and coordination among the sales and marketing departments. It is a chance to inform, educate and motivate the sales team while aligned to corporate objectives and have the closers hit the ground running after the event.