The Agile Scaleup

Holiday Miracle; Key to Sustained Energy; Kezia vs Jobs; Happy Holidays

"...keeping you great" HEADLINES: (Happy Holidays!)   The first wealth is health.   Ralph Waldo Emerson Vitamin C IVs, Stem Cell 100, and Meditation -- during this holiday season, I'm most grateful for my family's health. If you are healthy (sufficient energy), everything else is manageable. Three things have helped me the most - regular Vitamin C IVs with glutathione (cleanses the liver); taking Stem Cell 100; and meditation. More below, but first... O'Rourke's "No Squares" -- following up on last week's insight about doing business in December, Mushahid Khan, President & COO of Houston-based O'Rourke Petroleum, noted "One of our leadership team members, Tony Garcia, implemented a fun and interesting way to fill our December sales pipeline. It's called 'No Squares.' It's a creative way to challenge the notion that during the holidays it's hard to get people to make decisions to do business with us!!" More Yes's than No's -- Khan continues "Each sales rep is given a grid on a piece of paper and they have to call on Customers. Each time they get a 'No, we don't want to do business in December' response, they fill in the grid with that customer's name. We have a competition to see who can get the most No's. Here is the interesting thing; it is really tough to collect lots of No's because Customers say Yes! And when we do get No's, we have a readymade pipeline of follow up calls for January." To their point, I landed several critical pieces of business for Gazelles this week alone and the time between Christmas and New Years is the best time to connect with decision makers. Stem Cell 100 -- two years ago I volunteered to start taking a product called Stem Cell 100, produced by a firm in which a dear friend from my college days is involved (one of the smartest guys I know). In essence, recent research indicates that the ends of chromosomes (i.e. telomeres) play a key role in aging. Carl's firm has found a way to reverse this process naturally. I've noticed the benefits (without any adverse effects so far), so I've been encouraging several of my friends to try it out - it's especially useful for those engaged in an active lifestyle. One Friend's Results -- Notes David Meerman Scott, top marketing guru and author of the New Rules of Marketing and PR, "I've been taking the magic stuff since you told me about it in Barcelona. Maybe I just decided to get fit. Maybe it's unrelated. Or maybe this stuff really works. But I've lost 10 pounds since you saw me last and I feel much better. I feel stronger and I have more stamina. Two weekends ago I surfed nonstop for 2 hours which is something that would have been tough for me at age 30! Many people who I've known for a while tell me I look great. I am actually stronger and fitter than 30 years ago when I was in university! Anyway, thanks for that. Even if it is a placebo, it works!!" Here's a link to more info. Kezia Lives! -- over 125 Vitamin C IVs later, one of the greatest blessings of 2011 is that 5 year old New Zealander, Kezia, survived her Stage IV Neuroblastoma and is alive - healthy, growing, and full of energy. I wish I could say the same for Steve Jobs. I tried every channel I could to get his team to consider high dose Vitamin C IVs to fight his cancer, to no avail - let me explain the journey for those interested. Request -- For those that have read enough already, here's my request: I've been personally funding Kezia's IVs ($60 - $150 each) and now there are other children (a 13 year old next) who want the IVs but insurance won't pay for them. If these insights have benefited you and your company in 2011, please consider "paying" for the insights ($1/week?) 100% of which will be used to fund Vitamin C IVs for other cancer patients in 2012 - your help is greatly appreciated. Here's a link to pay for the insights. Now for more of Kezia and Jobs stories... First Kezia's Story -- In June 2010 Kezia (4) was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma - she had multiple solid tumors in her abdomen and cancerous cells throughout her bone marrow. She underwent six months of painful chemotherapy at Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland. By November her parents were given two options - continue with chemo with only a 30% chance of survival with permanent disabling side effects or go to palliative care with a 10% chance of survival. Her parents decided on a third option - prayer, rigorous healthy living, and high dose Vitamin C IVs. Here's a link describing her 12 month journey - please share with others with cancer and other chronic diseases. Using Riordan Protocol -- Kezia's father had read about my enthusiasm (and personal use of) Vitamin C IVs for general health and as nature's own cancer-fighting chemo and contacted me. For those new to my insights, I've been receiving 50 gram Vit C IVs for over a decade, as have many of my family members and friends. My dear friend, the late Dr. Hugh Riordan, picked up the torch from two time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling, and continued his work with high dose Vitamin C IVs the past 30 years. Today, it's Riordan's protocol that is the standard practice used by the National Institute of Health and others in their research and application of Vit C IVs to various chronic illnesses including cancer (and prevention, which is why I do it). Here's a link to The Riordan Clinic's info on Vit C IVs and the official protocol for proper use. Steve Jobs Story -- when I first heard about Steve's cancer, I reached out to several close friends of Steve to encourage him to explore high dose Vit C IVs. Universally there was huge pushback. Only after reading Steve's biography did I understand why. When Steve first found out he had cancer (but not announced), he refused traditional approaches and decided to pursue an alternative approach mainly based on diet (you just can't get enough of the right nutrients orally, in most cases). Anyway, his approach not only failed, but his closest friends and wife felt it gave the cancer a chance to spread - and it closed down all approaches except those recommended by his traditional oncologist. It was just a matter of time after that. I've wondered ever since if I really did all I could to reach Steve. The Bigger Story -- you can't imagine the roadblocks Kezia's family has faced in NZ, getting the traditional health care system to even allow the Vitamin C IVs. The "system" supports our present cutting, burning, and poisoning approach (exact words used by Isaacson in Jobs biography) which nets the system $350k to $1 million for each cancer patient. And now big pharma wants the FDA to become an independent agency like the Federal Reserve so it's free from oversight. And my apologies, but this is also why I've not signed on to support the various traditional cancer fundraising initiatives (American Cancer Society, Dana Farber, etc) when asked by many of you - these organizations just continue to reinforce what I consider a bad system that has caused such massive pain and suffering that is unnecessary. Dosage is Critical -- while high dose Vit C isn't the whole solution, it's a critical component in almost every chronic disease (including your everyday viral or bacterial infection). The key is getting the dosage right. It drives me nuts when I see all these studies (most funded by big pharma) that claim Vit C ineffective for this or that when the dosage used in the study is totally inadequate. Big Pharma knows dosage is critical when it comes to their own drugs, but ignores this fact when it comes to Vit C (and other natural cures). Quite simply, you can't get enough Vitamin C to maintain sufficient health and energy, long term, without taking it intravenously (which is 60 times more potent than taking it orally). Biggest Benefits -- Vitamin C is critical to the production of collagen - necessary to prevent wrinkles, problems with arteries, etc. And it's the key "drug" for reversing all the oxidation that occurs daily within our bodies - the slow rusting of our innards. Like squeezing lemon on an apple to keep it from turning brown, Vitamin C does the same internally. We now fully understand how Vitamin C kills viruses and cancers, so none of this is a mystery. It's only big pharma and the FDA that stand in the way (and their counterparts in other countries). Where to Find a Doctor -- for those living in the DC area, my doctor has a clinic in Bethesda and Ashburn - Dr. Mahsin Habib -- 703-724-4000 - he's done hundreds of these IVs now (I just had another one from him a few weeks ago when I passed through Ashburn for a few hours). For those outside DC, here's a link to find a doctor that will administer the IVs -- most everyone can find a doctor within 20 minutes of where they live in the US. And when there are options, I tend to pick a doctor that appears to come from another country outside the US. They are much more open to these ideas than US trained docs. My doctor, for instance, is from Bangladesh. Energy -- again, it's all about energy management. Entrepreneurial firms with the most energy win! And to handle the stress on the body which comes from growing a business, you have to address the ongoing rusting and aging of the body and maintain high energy levels. Thank You, Again...for all of you willing to help me fund more Vitamin C IVs in return for the help my insights have provided you and your firm. Wishing You a Healthy and Prosperous New Year! (no insight next week).

Resending (BOG/EMP Reunion; Five Management Metrics; Fill Pipeline in December; Power of Pricing)

"...keeping you great" HEADLINES:   A wise man's questions contain half the answer.   Gabirol (ca. 1070) MIT BOG/EMP Alums -- block Oct 25 - 28, 2012 on your calendar for the 20th anniversary of EO's premier executive program. With over 1300 grads, we're expecting a fantastic turnout on the campus of MIT. I've been invited back to emcee and we're putting together an outstanding program of learning and fun. Come meet your fellow grads. Here's a short invitation video -- please spread the word to your classmates. Five New Management Metrics -- Notes James Slavet of venture firm Greylock Partners, "most managers only measure outputs, not inputs, which is like telling a Little League team to score more runs, rather than actually explaining how to swing a bat and make contact with the ball. Similarly, most companies measure traffic, revenue or earnings, without considering how to improve the company at an atomic level: how to make a meeting better, or an engineer more productive." Slavet's investments include Coupons.com, Groupon, One Kings Lane and Redfin. Greylock Partners has invested in Facebook, LinkedIn and Pandora. Flow State Percentage -- Slavet's first recommended metric is Flow State Percentage looking at how much "flow" time those doing brain work (programmers, designers, etc) are getting. Take four minutes to scan through the other four entitled: The Anxiety-Boredom Continuum; Meeting Promoter Score (James was kind enough to give me a shout-out on that one); Compound Weekly Learning Rate; and Positive Feedback Ratio. Ratio of Questions to Statements -- another key metric is the ratio of Questions to Statements you make i.e. why I love the opening quote above. Implementing Value Pricing -- and this note from Toby Jenkins, GM of Australia-based Bluewire Media: "On your recommendation I read Implementing Value Pricing by Ron Baker. I loved it and blogged about it. We applied it immediately and managed to increase our price for a single piece of work by 100%, then delivered every bit of the promised value in our best project in 7 years of business. As always, a huge thanks for pointing us in the right direction and making fantastic recommendations." Not enough thought is given to pricing! BTW, here's one of my favorite newsletters on pricing -- consider signing up for it. Fill Your Pipeline In December -- below is Caryn Kopp's latest tips for driving sales - and why late December is a great time of the year to reach decision makers. By: Caryn Kopp, Chief Door Opener® Why spend the last two weeks of December cleaning out files when you could be filling next year's pipeline with new business? Most business owners and salespeople believe that trying to reach prospects at year-end is pointless and instead spend time getting organized for the coming year. In doing this, they miss out on one of the best times of the year to reach decision makers live. Here's what we've learned about prospecting in December... Companies have fewer internal meetings during the last two weeks of the year due to employee vacations and mid-day holiday parties. This means decision makers are more likely to be working at their desks and available when you call. Many assistants take year-end time off (especially if they have school-age children), leaving decision makers to answer their own phones...without gatekeepers. Decision makers who are in their offices at this time of year are more relaxed and chatty. Your competitors don't think this way. They usually stop calling prospects the 2nd week of December. Your "share of voice" when leaving voicemails and reaching prospects live will be higher and you will get more accomplished with each call. Decision makers will typically not accept a meeting from mid to end of December. However, if you request a date to meet NEXT year (which is just days away), their calendars are usually wide open. Ask for a meeting in early January and watch your calendar fill up. This works especially well with hard-to-reach and senior level decision makers.

BOG/EMP Reunion; Five Management Metrics; Fill Pipeline in December; Power of Pricing

"...keeping you great" HEADLINES:   A wise man's questions contain half the answer.   Gabirol (ca. 1070) MIT BOG/EMP Alums -- block Oct 25 - 28, 2012 on your calendar for the 20th anniversary of EO's premier executive program. With over 1300 grads, we're expecting a fantastic turnout on the campus of MIT. I've been invited back to emcee and we're putting together an outstanding program of learning and fun. Come meet your fellow grads. Here's a short invitation video -- please spread the word to your classmates. Five New Management Metrics -- Notes James Slavet of venture firm Greylock Partners, "most managers only measure outputs, not inputs, which is like telling a Little League team to score more runs, rather than actually explaining how to swing a bat and make contact with the ball. Similarly, most companies measure traffic, revenue or earnings, without considering how to improve the company at an atomic level: how to make a meeting better, or an engineer more productive." Slavet's investments include Coupons.com, Groupon, One Kings Lane and Redfin. Greylock Partners has invested in Facebook, LinkedIn and Pandora. Flow State Percentage -- Slavet's first recommended metric is Flow State Percentage looking at how much "flow" time those doing brain work (programmers, designers, etc) are getting. Take four minutes to scan through the other four entitled: The Anxiety-Boredom Continuum; Meeting Promoter Score (James was kind enough to give me a shout-out on that one); Compound Weekly Learning Rate; and Positive Feedback Ratio. Ratio of Questions to Statements -- another key metric is the ratio of Questions to Statements you make i.e. why I love the opening quote above. Implementing Value Pricing -- and this note from Toby Jenkins, GM of Australia-based Bluewire Media: "On your recommendation I read Implementing Value Pricing by Ron Baker. I loved it and blogged about it. We applied it immediately and managed to increase our price for a single piece of work by 100%, then delivered every bit of the promised value in our best project in 7 years of business. As always, a huge thanks for pointing us in the right direction and making fantastic recommendations." Not enough thought is given to pricing! BTW, here's one of my favorite newsletters on pricing -- consider signing up for it. Fill Your Pipeline In December -- below is Caryn Kopp's latest tips for driving sales - and why late December is a great time of the year to reach decision makers. By: Caryn Kopp, Chief Door Opener® Why spend the last two weeks of December cleaning out files when you could be filling next year's pipeline with new business? Most business owners and salespeople believe that trying to reach prospects at year-end is pointless and instead spend time getting organized for the coming year. In doing this, they miss out on one of the best times of the year to reach decision makers live. Here's what we've learned about prospecting in December... Companies have fewer internal meetings during the last two weeks of the year due to employee vacations and mid-day holiday parties. This means decision makers are more likely to be working at their desks and available when you call. Many assistants take year-end time off (especially if they have school-age children), leaving decision makers to answer their own phones...without gatekeepers. Decision makers who are in their offices at this time of year are more relaxed and chatty. Your competitors don't think this way. They usually stop calling prospects the 2nd week of December. Your "share of voice" when leaving voicemails and reaching prospects live will be higher and you will get more accomplished with each call. Decision makers will typically not accept a meeting from mid to end of December. However, if you request a date to meet NEXT year (which is just days away), their calendars are usually wide open. Ask for a meeting in early January and watch your calendar fill up. This works especially well with hard-to-reach and senior level decision makers.

Jobs Fielded Service Calls; YPO Europe Event; Employee Savings; Political Request

"...keeping you great" HEADLINES: (apologize for the warnings and urgencies!) WARNING: Political Request Below (PRB) -- but first... URGENT: Specific Story Needed Today -- did any of you work at a large company; decide, on the side, to make an angel investment in a company (friend, relative, etc); then end up jumping into the venture yourself? Please email me immediately - [email protected]. Thank You Readers ... Atlassian, Armenta Collection, Pixability, PropelGrowth, and LEFKO Renovations for contributing your clever marketing ideas for my latest FORTUNE column - I greatly appreciate my insight readers providing material for my various writing projects - keep those ideas flowing. Jobs Directly Involved in Customer Service -- given Apple's high customer service scores (ACSI), it didn't surprise me to learn that Steve Jobs got directly involved in customer service issues. Notes Mark Milian, author of Letters to Steve: Inside the E-mail Inbox of Apple's Steve Jobs, "He fielded e-mails about broken laptops and intervened on support calls." And Jobs proclivity for responding to e-emails led to Apple repurposing all the messages he personally received "to be used as data points for internal use, evidenced by a graph charting customer complaints about the ill-fated Internet service, MobileMe." Take two minutes to read this excerpt from Milian's book - and then figure out how you'll be more involved in fielding customer concerns more directly - a great way to learn and make improvements. FORTUNE's Blue Ribbon Companies -- 38 companies appeared on the most FORTUNE lists in 2011. My guess is a basket of stocks in these companies might do well over the next decade - but this guess is worth about as much as you pay for these insights! Anyway, worth one minute to peruse the list (and if someone wants to calculate the cost of owning 100 shares in each of these 38 companies, please send me the total and I'll publish!). Real Savings for Employees -- Jim Curcuru, an employee with Appletree Answers, just saved $138 on his Firestone repair bill. Appletree signed up for Abenity at the Fortune Growth Summit - it's a FORTUNE 500 quality employee benefit program where your employees get substantial discounts on many regular services they use - like car repairs. Notes Emily Ratliff, head of HR for Appletree "Great feedback about our new Abenity program! I have heard so much positive feedback! So glad we found them at Gazelles Growth Summit!" Get in touch with Brian Roland at Abenity - a great holiday gift for 2012 for all your employees. Real Savings on Books -- Mastering the Rockefeller Habits is part of a December Kindle promotion - just $3.99. If you've been wanting an e-version of the book, now's the time to grab a copy. European YPOers -- Prague 30th May - 1st June -- Gene Browne, Greater European YPO chapter, is Day Chairing a 2.5 day YPO "Rockefeller Habits" workshop I'll be leading 30th May (19:30) to 1st June (17:00) in Prague. Limited to 10 more YPOers and their executive teams. Here's a link to more info or just email Gene. WARNING: PRB -- Charles Koch, head of the largest private firm in the world, has been an acquaintance for decades (EO is headquartered in DC because of his help 25 years ago, for instance). Anyway, roughly 3% of all companies in the US are the real job generators (most of you reading these insights), but we have no voice. So Koch's foundation wants to help give us a voice and put several of you on tour, in short videos, etc. Here's a summary of what they want to do - email me if interested in telling your story: Because so often no one speaks for the entrepreneurs and business owners who drive economic growth, we want to launch a national and local campaign to showcase (1) positive stories of job creation and growth and (2) how government policies (such as overregulation and crony capitalism) prevent or make job creation difficult. Our research suggests that real stories told by real entrepreneurs are the most impactful. For example, we've all heard "regulations hurt business." Let's put a face on it. This campaign could entail some or all of the components below depending on the story, the spokespeople, the comfort level of the individuals involved, sensitivity to time constraints and ability of the story to resonate with audiences: Short video clip of story Local talk show circuit with the media National media tour Media training in DC office Leverage the story and add expert commentary from economics professors or others qualified to comment on the policy and economic ramifications of specific stories

Latest Fortune Column: 5 Clever Marketing Ideas

"...keeping you great" HEADLINES: Latest Fortune "Venture" Column -- take three minutes to scan through 5 clever marketing ideas for your business - something you might consider at your next weekly marketing meeting (you have one, correct?). Here's a link to my latest Fortune "Venture" column both online today and on the newsstand.

Senior Team Buried; Key to Leading; Latest Growth Guy Column

"...keeping you great" HEADLINES: Senior Team Buried -- the senior team will get crushed if their frontline supervisors and middle managers are not effectively developed. According to a recent McKinsey study, "while frontline employees receive extensive training and development, their managers - who may have had no previous experience leading others - do not. At all levels, executives believe that the little training they do receive fails to prepare them to take on leadership roles successfully." I couldn't agree more. Management Development: 3 Simple Strategies -- my latest "Growth Guy syndicated column outlines three simple approaches for developing your supervisors and managers: pay to read; virtual learning; and peer groups. Please take three minutes to read how several growth firms are applying these simple approaches to developing their management ranks. Peer Group Interactions -- Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic and now professor of management at Harvard, notes that the key to effective leadership development comes down to self-awareness. And gaining such self-awareness requires three things: Experience in real world situations, including leadership opportunities Reflection about your experiences Group interactions where you can share your experiences The missing link in leadership development is having a safe place where people can share their experiences, challenges, and frustrations and get honest feedback. That's why small, intimate groups of peers where people can talk openly in confidential settings are critical to management development and why Gazelles is pioneering an approach over the phone to fit this need. GE's Process for Management Development -- GE's Crotonville has been the standard for management development - so I visited them several years ago to get an inside look into their approach. Combing their best practices with other research, here's the recommended process: The senior team immerses themselves in outside learning -- the role of the Growth Summits and Leadership Summits - plus virtual monthly education. The senior team teaches and passes down their knowledge and DNA to the middle managers (GE is adamant that senior leaders should do this vs. outside instructors). This is the importance of a well structured Monthly Management meeting. The middle managers also receive formal training during the Monthly Management meeting - the role of virtual education, books, videos, etc. Senior leaders and managers are part of peer groups - the role of our new phone forums. 4 Step Process - it works! It's inexpensive. And it's not as time-consuming as most management development initiatives.