Blog
Part of personal and professional development is the consumption of new information. No matter if you’re just going through university, perhaps doing your masters, or reading for your own betterment, there are so many amazing resources out there: frankly, it’s hard to keep up.
Recently, we’ve been getting questions for those that are interested in strategy, intelligence, and insights: “What should I be reading?”
Communication and all its different facets have been a huge part of my life. As a highly skilled, certified ski instructor since the age of 16, the international director of the Inline Skating Association and the person responsible for training examiners around the world, good communication was always key.
Today, in our hectic world full of outside influences, there is a tremendous amount of information flying at us every minute. When this information is sent to us out of context, it is just downright frustrating, and it makes it hard for us to feel productive. While preparing for this webinar, I was looking back to the good old days when I was making money by doing nothing and having fun.
Recently, several members of the CI Fellows organization, Dr. Tom Tao, Dr. Craig Fleisher and Dr. Brad Ashton (a whole lot of doctors!) presented a fascinating discussion (you can watch the video at the bottom) on what is called Competitive Technical Intelligence, or CTI. Now, before you say, “that’s not me!/for me!”, don’t jump out just yet... in fact, if you have a company with some sort of technology that you develop or use, it probably is very much for you.
When I was working at Apex Industries, I had an opportunity to learn a lot about doors. For those of you that don't know, Apex Industries, headquartered in Moncton, N.B., is one the leading manufacturers globally for a number of items, including security doors. More specifically, they do some fascinating work with bullet-resistant doors and windows.
For many new or existing exporters, entering a new market can be one of the most costly line items in terms of expense. While the cost of entry for a business will vary widely based on the type of business, industry, customers served, distance from current locations, distribution (well, you get the picture), for most businesses, entering a new market comes with a significant price tag. So, it’s important that you evaluate this correctly.
What’s my competitor doing right now? Why are they doing THAT? What do I need to be considering in the next six months? These are all questions that leaders of organizations have (and rightly should). Depending on your industry and the true nature of your competitive environment, competitors’ actions can have a significant impact on your business.
Alicia Roisman Ismach is a serial fintech entrepreneur from Israel, the country that has been dubbed the ‘Startup Nation’. With just a population of 8.5 million people, Israel has become a giant on the global tech startup stage. Tel Aviv for instance is home to a number of established accelerators and incubators, and has seen the rise of many successful startups as well as huge exits.
Maybe it is because it is getting close to tax season, but seeing people WASTE money is really getting on my nerves. Case in point (again): hiring a PR firm to send out generic pitches on your behalf. I don’t care if you’re a startup, an entrepreneur, a professional in the professional services area or small business owner or whatever! STOP doing this.
Names have been removed to protect the senders…and the text has been edited down to reduce the cringe-factor of reading the full text of the desperately-seeking-media-attention pitches. Have a read, a chuckle (in all likelihood, a painful one), and yes, I’ll provide you with a far better solution to connect your startup or business smarts to journalists, bloggers and writers.
Monday afternoon, during an interview with students from the School of Visual Arts, I was asked what developments in technology or innovation generally excites me. What immediately popped into my mind wasn’t the latest subscription service or productivity app or (supposed) Facebook killing social network, it’s the fact we’re taking a harder look at innovation (what it means, where it is headed, at what cost to us) — and vocalizing our angst and concerns.
