Barbie, the iconic fashion doll by Mattel, has spanned generations and remains a cultural symbol since her inception in 1959. While Barbie’s popularity initially stemmed from her fashionable looks and various accessories, the doll’s evolution over the years has been closely tied to advancements in software and digital marketing.
As this week sees the release of the Barbie movie starring the fabulous Margot Robbie (and Ryan Gosling) BoS is going pink for the day to celebrate this iconic brand and – more importantly – the savvy business model behind it.
So how has Barbie successfully integrated software technologies into its marketing campaigns and adopted innovative business models, making her an inspiring case study for businesses looking to learn from their strategies?
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought concerns about potential job displacement. However, it is possible to navigate this landscape and safeguard your career by taking proactive measures. AI will not be taking over your job any times soon, but others who use AI better than you might.
There are many things you can do to protect yourself, for example:
Understanding the motivations behind job switches is paramount in building and retaining a high-performing workforce. Katherine Thompson and Bob Moesta’s research brings to light the often unexpected factors that drive career moves, offering invaluable insights for organisations looking to attract and retain exceptional talent. By incorporating these insights into your hiring process, you can create an environment that aligns with the desires of top professionals, leading to increased employee satisfaction, engagement, and ultimately, organisational success.
Bill Spruill, co-founder of Global Data Consortium, shares five valuable lessons he learned while building his company over a span of ten years. These insights can help entrepreneurs navigate their own path to success and avoid common pitfalls.
In a candid and insightful talk, Bill Spruill, the co-founder of Global Data Consortium, shared his experiences and the lessons he learned while building his company over a span of ten years. Despite making several mistakes along the way, Bill successfully sold the company to the London Stock Exchange Group for $300 million in 2022.
In this blog post, we explore five key lessons from Bill’s entrepreneurial journey that can help you navigate your own path to success.
Join Bill in this insightful talk as he reflects on the significant mistakes encountered while co-founding and developing Global Data Consortium (GDC) over a span of ten years. Bill will share valuable lessons learned, including the assumptions he made while making critical decisions and how he navigated the company’s course when adjustments were necessary.
In this NEW talk from BoS Europe, Brennan Dunn demonstrates how both B2B and B2C companies are dynamically repositioning their offerings and achieving tangible results. They employ behavioural research, customer insights, and data-driven research to deliver the right messages to the right people at precisely the right moments. Through Brennan’s insights, you will discover how to implement these strategies and start achieving similar outcomes, regardless of the size of your company.
In this captivating talk, Dharmesh Shah, co-founder of HubSpot, invites you to discover the highs and lows, accompanied by candid stories, of mistakes and the valuable lessons learned building one of the most successful marketing and sales software companies. Gain a unique insight into the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in the ever-evolving tech industry, all presented with humour and humility.
In a series of sessions at BoS Conference USA 2023 we’ll deep dive into how Autobooks retooled their business and ask the question, “What Happens if Product, Sales & Marketing Work Together?”
By focussing everything they did on the needs of their customers and helping them grow, they also grew faster, made their lives easier and changed the way they think about collaboration across the company.
The Background
Back in 2018, Autobooks was an 18 month old startup with a team of 35 running as fast as they could in many directions. They were starting to get obvious traction, primarily in the banking community where they could deliver on the challenge of servicing SMBs efficiently and effectively. Autobooks’s co-founders had built and exited a previous business successfully but their new startup needed to move faster.
The Team
Chris Spiek (Product), Derik Sutton (Marketing), Justin Dickow (Engineering), and Kyle Bazzy (Sales) joined the company at a time when they knew they had to build scalable processes in order to grow rapidly and sustainably. They came from different companies with different ways of working and often felt sales, product and marketing were on at least three different pages. They had similar mindsets and philosophies about Go To Market and wanted to build the system that they all wanted other companies to be.
In these sessions we’re going to talk about product engineering, demand side sales, Jobs to be Done (JTBD), the sales and marketing interface in the company as it adopted a radical and new approach to the way the business operated.
We’ll look at how their software was built and sold before they adopted Shape Up and JTBD thinking across the entire business.
We’ll look at the challenges each part of the organisation faced as they adopted new ideas and strove to work more collaboratively.
Don’t expect it all to be a bed of roses. There were plenty of challenges along the way.
Want more of these insightful talks?
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In today’s highly competitive landscape, providing exceptional customer experiences has become a key differentiator. It is no longer enough to simply offer a great product or service; customers now expect a memorable journey from start to finish. One of the most effective ways to enhance customer experiences is by focusing on the little touches that can elevate enjoyment and leave a lasting positive impression.
So let’s explore the importance of customer experience and how paying attention to small details can significantly impact overall satisfaction.
BoS had the pleasure of sitting down with Lucy Heskins, the brilliant mind behind Oh Blimey, to discuss a topic that many professionals ponder: hiring an agency. Our conversation shed light on the intricacies of this decision and the valuable insights Lucy shared are worth considering for anyone looking to collaborate with an agency.
When you take part in a BoS Conference, you get much more than you do anywhere else. Starting the day before our BoS USA 2023 conference, on Sunday 1 October, you can take part in a pre-conf treasure hunt to help you get to know your fellow attendees and explore Downtown Raleigh before settling in for an evening of networking and drinks at Pre-Reg.
Storytelling has been a fundamental part of human culture for thousands of years. Before the advent of written languages, stories were passed down orally from generation to generation, serving as a means of preserving traditions, sharing knowledge, and conveying moral lessons. Storytelling in business isn’t new, but most people don’t understand why and how to use it.
Why should you use storytelling in your business?
Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. The middle is where the hero/protagonist is at their lowest point – the bit where disaster looms and everything is up to the hero to make it right. The bit before the protagonist in the story has found the key to unlocking the path to triumph.
I had a conversation with April Dunford recently to discuss her brand new talk for BoS USA 2023 and the question of why positioning fails in sales came up a lot.
April’s obviously awesome by the way. And yes, that is a new speaker announcement!
She had some super insightful things to share about why positioning fails in sales – and what to do about it.
I’m summarizing some key points below on why positioning fails to make the leap to sales and more important, what you can do about it.
BoS USA 2023 will be held at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown Raleigh. We’ve managed to secure a special rate just for you at the hotel just a short walk from the venue at the Raleigh Marriott City Center. Rooms are $259 (including tax) but are subject to availability – so book early to secure.
PLUS if you book via the link below you get free wifi (normally $11.95 per night)!
You know those people have one million pictures of their dog in their phone’s camera album? Well, that’s me. However, in my phone’s album, the one million pictures are of me attending Business of Software events.
I’ve got pictures of speakers, of the lunch, of Mark walking around introducing people, of speaker’s slides, of the venue the BoS team has chosen to hold the event. You name it, I look like I’m obsessed. There are so many pictures.
And this year’s BoS in Cambridge only added to this growing collection.
BoS, Cambridge, was my second in-person event. The first (BoS USA) involved me flying to Boston, US, to watch some amazing speakers and experience what the BoS community really was all about. This one – on “home soil” – allowed me to continue the fun and play a part in contributing to the community.
What I enjoy about BoS is that it’s a single-track event. It provides attendees with a unique experience to listen to some of the most interesting speakers when it comes to building software businesses. You don’t have to pick a speaker, it’s been curated in a way that you get to watch people who take you on a journey of growing your business. It’s thoughtful.
Unlike other events I’ve attended, it’s clear to me they put a lot of effort into who they choose to speak to, ensuring the speakers are as diverse as their audience and the customers who buy their products.
