There’s a small advantage to losing around 65-70% of your revenue almost overnight (as explored in Part 1): the important things become crystal clear.
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At rTraction we do quarterly reviews. As the CEO of the organization, we have decided that the review will be a 360-style format conducted by our COO Rachel Berdan. A CEO performance review is different than other types of reviews. I think the main key difference is that everything is your fault as the CEO. The buck truly does stop here.
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So, you’ve landed that Big Fish. Congratulations!
…
Now what? We’re here to help you through the next stage of your journey.
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To be fair, it wasn’t exactly a secret.
Regardless, I suspect we weren’t supposed to overhear it. “We’re a big fish in their little pond.” A comment made by our primary contact at our Big Fish client to a colleague in the halls. Our client knew what this meant - that we would service them to the moon and back - and we certainly did.
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For as long as I’ve lived here, London Ontario has had an identity crisis. The departure of the finance and insurance industry in the 60s and the collapse of manufacturing in the early 2000s caused part of the problem. Every time London tries to craft a new identity, the world changes and that identity crumbles.
I believe I may have found the brand for the City, and want to put together a multi-media experience to tell our story.
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It’s an exciting time to be an entrepreneur. When I say “entrepreneur” I could just as easily mean a for profit business owner as a nonprofit leader, as the point here is entrepreneurial spirit vs. governance structure. I believe we’re just at the start of the sustainable business revolution, but I think there is more that we can — and must — do to accelerate that movement. Here’s why.
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On December 30th we had the joy of sharing our love of Star Wars with a planned 600+ guests (to read the why please visit Sharing Star Wars). We were treated to a festive environment, with characters in costume greeting the kids to make the event extra-special.
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The community fundraiser to support “Prom Queen” at The Grand Theatre was an outstanding success. We nearly doubled the goal of $30,000 - ultimately raising over $58,000. Many people cheered the success of the financial results of the campaign - but I’m afraid an important part of the narrative was missed.
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This year, we’ve forgone some of the typical activities you’d see from a business around a holiday season. Instead, on December 30th, we’re taking 700 people to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi. We are inviting children from all different backgrounds (and their families) who may not have the means to experience the wonder and joy of the films as I did as a child. Here is the why.
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This story may appear, at first glance, to be about me. It is actually about the team that I have built. Truly, it is a team of superheroes. I can credit one overarching skill that has brought me whatever success that I have had - my greatest skill is hiring good, smart people. To be clear, I don’t mean ‘good’ just from the technical skillset perspective; I mean ‘good’ in a far more impactful way -- I mean good-hearted.
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Since starting rTraction, we’ve always had a community lens and a strong corporate social responsibility program - but we have only recently looked inwards to see how we can use our assets, skills and people to focus on making a positive impact in our community versus a separate program or values set. The businesses at the accelerator will start with their social purpose firmly entrenched.
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I recently wrote about our change back to using the rTraction brand, and the outcomes of the process that led to that decision. What I did not write about, at the the time, is how damned hard it was to come to those conclusions.
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I have some exciting news I would like to share about some organizational changes at rTraction.
I think that one of the great revolutions of modern business theory is the shift from getting the right people on the bus to getting the right people on the bus and in their right seats.
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Baseball references are often applied in business situations. Our President, David Billson, shares his take on how the two are more similar than we might realize.
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Our President and CEO, David Billson, sheds some light on the pitch process and how to connect with your prospect effectively, even if your forte isn't sales.
Read MoreRecently, an article appeared in the London Free Press stating that businesses in London don’t want light rail. A few of us in the tech community wanted to state that clearly not all businesses are against light rail. As businesses in the technology sector (with over 1,000 open jobs currently), we know how important it is to be able to attract and retain talent.
Read More... was a frustrating year for me because our story was stuck in an uncomfortable place. Actually, we were literally stuck in an uncomfortable space as our new office was yet to be completed and our temporary space was terrible. Soul-killing, team-killing, productivity-killing, terrible. We were producing excellent work and things were going well on the business side of things but our culture and our team development felt like it was on pause.
Read MoreThe first Art & Science of Creativity was a two-hour incubator hosted by Rick Miller at the beautiful Grand Theatre, and sponsored by Ellipsis Digital. The invitation-only event was created as a new patron experience for The Grand, one intended to spark some energy and build community around the idea of creativity...
Read MoreIf you haven’t heard or noticed, Google updated its logo recently, trading a fair share of their signature “personality” for a refined treatment that looks toward a “simple, uncluttered, colorful, friendly” future.
Read MoreWe talked to the dynamic development team at Engine SevenFour about their top tips for building good websites. Turns out that despite their skill in sweating the small details, their tips tend toward big-picture thinking, and could be applied to almost any project…
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