WEBVTT

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Hello, welcome back to Networking Unleashed,

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the podcast where connections aren't just conversations,

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they're the currency of success. I'm your host,

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Michael Foreman, and today we're talking about

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one of the most exciting intersections in business

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where product success meets the power of people.

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My guest today is a seasoned product expert who

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uncovered the five keys to product success. But

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here's the twist. It's not just about features

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and functionality. It's about the relationships

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that bring a product to life. From co -creation

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to customer discovery, from team dynamics to

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strategic partnerships, we're unpacking the how

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networking fuels every stage of building something

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truly successful. Whether you're launching a

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new product, scaling an idea, or trying to find

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product market fit, This episode will give you

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a fresh perspective on how your next big win

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might come from your next big connection. So

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buckle up, get ready to take notes, and let's

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unleash the network behind the product. And my

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guest today is David Fraden. And before I butcher

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his background completely, I'm going to let him

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do that for you. So David, how are you? Welcome

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to the show. I'm doing great. My background is

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I've been involved in product success for 55

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years. I currently consult and teach product

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management and product marketing. My number one

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client is Cisco, and I and my trainers have probably

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trained about half of the product managers at

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Cisco worldwide. Okay, that's very good. And

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what is it? And I read something in your background

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about Apple Computer and a business manager.

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Yeah, I was the business unit manager for the

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Apple III product line. And at the time, there

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was just two profitable product lines for the

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company, the Apple III and the Apple II. And

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Steve Jobs Macintosh was still under development.

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And I was actually working for a computer company.

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when all of that first came around. Back when

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the Macintosh was, ever hear of a Macintosh Lisa?

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Yeah. Okay. So that's when I started working

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with the computers. So that long ago. Okay. So

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let's delve right into this. How does networking

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impact product success, especially in those early

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ideation and validation stages? Well, networking,

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I'm here in Silicon Valley, and one of the reasons

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for Silicon Valley's success is the ease of networking.

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In the culture of Silicon Valley, if I introduced

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you to somebody else and you turned out to be

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a bum, it does not reflect on me. It's just that

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everyone expects everyone to network. In other

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cultures, like the Japanese culture, If we were

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in Japan and I introduced you to somebody else

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and you or somebody else turned out to be an

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idiot, then it would reflect poorly on me. They,

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for many years, have had a culture of if a nail

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sticks up, you got to pound it down. Whereas

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in Silicon Valley, if a nail sticks up, you try

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to help it grow and thrive. I see that the networking

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around in the U .S., anyway, if I were to refer

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you to somebody, and you turned out to be an

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idiot, that would reflect poorly on me because

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the end person would say, the last person that

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Mike referred to me, he really didn't turn out

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to be the best, so I'll just take him over with

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a grain of salt. So I guess it really depends

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on what part of the country you're from or what

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country you're from. Well, that's what many places

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like Silicon Valley, I think in New York and

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in San Francisco and others have studied the

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culture in Silicon Valley, which is about 45

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miles south of San Francisco. And they've tried

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to adopt the same level of entrepreneurship and

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ease of networking. And some of them have succeeded.

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Some of them have not succeeded because of the

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cultural differences around the country and for

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that matter, around the world. Okay. You talk

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about five keys to product success. Can you walk

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us through them and show and share how relationships

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played a role in each one? Yeah, the five keys

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are a mnemonic of my company's name, Spice Cow.

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This is the word spice, where S stands for product

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market strategy. P stands for repeatable processes.

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I stands for having the information available

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necessary to make important decisions. C stands

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for understanding what it is that your customer

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wants to do, when they want to do it, why they

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want to do it, how they want to do it, where

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they want to do it, how important is it for them

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to get it done, what's standing in their way,

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and how satisfied are they with the current solution.

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And then the E stands for the employees and staff

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and consultants for the company to ensure that

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they have all 130 competencies or skill sets

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that I've identified that are essential to product

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success. Going back through each of them in terms

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of putting together your product market strategy,

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no one product manager can do it by themselves.

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They have to get involvement of senior executives,

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finance, legal, HR, engineering, sales, marketing,

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purchasing, manufacturing. They have to be able

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to easily network, mediate, and negotiate to

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get everyone on the same page and on the same

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product strategy. In the P area, that's a repeatable

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process. And it was either Harvard or MIT found

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that those organizations that had repeatable

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processes that they enhanced and improved over

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time tended to be more and more successful. I

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had one client I was consulting with, and I asked

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him if his company had repeatable processes.

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And this VP of product management said no. They

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introduced five new products. All five failed.

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And then when they went into their retrospect,

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everyone sat around pointing fingers at everybody

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else because they didn't have a repeatable process

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that everyone agreed to. The eye for information,

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you have to network to get that information.

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You may have to go to your corporate marketing

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department and make sure that they subscribe

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to the market research studies and reports that

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are necessary for the market that you're in.

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The C is composed of three or four steps of networking.

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First, to observe what your customer is doing,

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then interviewing your prospective customers

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that fit the personas that you're targeting and

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the target market, then surveying a representative

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sample. Then if you have big data available,

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you can do analytics on that and employ artificial

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intelligence to mine that information. And then

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lastly, in terms of the 130 skill sets that your

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employees have to have, some of them or a lot

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of them are going to just get picked up on the

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job. So to be able to network with people, find

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mentors that will help mentor and coach you through

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developing the skill sets and the competencies

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necessary for your success and for product success.

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Okay. Okay. When building your product team.

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How did your network influence who you brought

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on board? It's usually their references, their

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introductions, and then I would go on and interview

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them from there, check out their references,

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and before I'd offer them an opportunity. The

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second thing I would do is also assure myself

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that the values that individual holds. maps into

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the values that I have and that the organization

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that I'm working for has. Because if there's

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a conflict of values, usually the chances for

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success are substantially and severely diminished.

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Right. So when you have an employee that's been

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with the company for a while and they bring you

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in, how do you deal with that when they really,

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they don't match what you are looking for? Well,

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one of the things I, every time I became a product

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manager, I would go out to lunch with each of

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the other people in the other areas that I mentioned

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earlier, manufacturing, engineering, HR, legal,

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and so forth. And as part of that lunch, I would

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ask them, what is their personal goals in life?

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Where do they want to go? And I told them, if

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I can help you get there, I'll be willing to

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do that. The result of that is whenever I would

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go into a meeting and a decision needs to be

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made, I know where that person is coming from

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and where they want to go. And I can pitch the

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decision along the lines that I know will help

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them out in their personal aspirations. And therefore,

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everyone can come together and be more successful.

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It means a lot more to the employee when the

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management is looking out for them. Yeah. Okay.

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So how do you balance listening to your network's

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feedback and staying true to your product vision?

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By having the data to know what it is that your

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product needs to do for the customer. I had one

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instance where I was teaching the Botswanian

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telecommunications company in Botswana. And I

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wanted to go to Botswana because I was wondering

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how can you get a country northeast of South

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Africa? And a product manager from one of the

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South African banks asked if he could come to

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Botswana and sit in on the class. And he did.

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And about halfway through the product management

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class, he said that a person that was just hired

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as a general manager in another area of the bank

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convinced the president to cancel his product

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line. And he had 12 engineers and two or three

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product managers and they were all just scared

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to death that they were going to get fired. And

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I asked them, did this, if you had what's called

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a DAISY or RACI chart, which is DAISY stands

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for decision maker, who needs to be advised,

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C stands for who needs to be consulted, and I

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stands for who needs to be informed, which I

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advocate everyone to do, put together such a

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chart before they start their product exploration

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and their strategy and development. Because when

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it comes time to make a decision, not everybody

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is the decision maker. Some people need to be

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consulted with. Some people just need to be informed

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what the decision is. And he responded that they

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did not have that for this product. And I said,

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if you did have that, would this new general

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manager have been on the Dacey chart at all?

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And his response says that general manager would

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not be. So the thing to go back to when you go

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back to Johannesburg is ask for a meeting with

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the president. Show him your data as to why this

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product is important to the bank's customers

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and that he should resurrect the product. And

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if necessary, tell the president he should ask

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this new general manager as to what their data

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is that recommends the cancellation of the product

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rather than that individual's personal feelings.

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Always bring the data. If you have the data to

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back you up, there's nothing that they can really

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say except for ultimately no. If you have the

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data to back you up, you prove to be a great

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argument for that. Can you give an example of

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how a customer or a beta user, beta user connection,

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led a breakthrough in your product? Yeah, I was

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working for a company called DocuGraphics, who's

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no longer around. And they were trying to build

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a new computer workstation built upon Motorola

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components. Also write a word processing program

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and a computer -aided drafting and design program.

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So they're trying to do something like WordPerfect

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and AutoCAD plus a workstation sitting on top

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of a relational database, which I think they

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were writing from scratch, versus using someone

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else's database. And so that was, they're trying

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to accomplish with a few million dollars what

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in four major areas, four multimillion dollar

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companies were doing, like Apple, Microsoft,

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IBM, Sun, WordPerfect, Autodesk, and so forth.

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without the resources. So they were trying to

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go after that broad market of desktop publishing.

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So I went out and I interviewed the half a dozen

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or so customers that we had and found that's

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not how they were using the product. That in

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fact, what they were doing is using it to create

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and manage work instructions, manufacturing instructions

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that are sent down to the floor. to show the

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assembly people how to build the product and

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also manage all the engineering change orders

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so that the right components are used in the

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right product. One of my lead customers was Lytton

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Applied Technologies, and they made fighter jet

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fuzzbusters. So they had this little device in

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their jet, and when the enemy popped off a missile

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at them, this fuzzbuster would detect the missile

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and put out a signal to jam the incoming missile.

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Now, if something's screwed up between understanding

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that the enemy has changed their frequencies

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and this fuzzbuster was not picking that up,

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then the result was the pilot gets killed and,

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of course, the plane is destroyed. So it was

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absolutely essential and important that the right

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version of the components for each build of the

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product was done correctly each time. So I was

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able to move the positioning of the product away

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from the general word. publishing business to

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focus specifically on manufacturing instructions

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with the additional benefit that nobody else

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was in that marketplace at the time. So we could

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niche that puppy, as they say in the business,

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and maximize focusing all of our resources on

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that little market niche and become profitable.

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Yeah, usually when in business, when your focus

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isn't exactly focused, when you have such a broad

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spectrum and then you focus in on one task, one

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thing, you become light years better than what

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you were before because you're focusing on that

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one thing. You're not everything to everybody,

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which really you can't be. So you're focusing

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on your lane. And that really is very good. What's

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the role of strategic partnerships and how do

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you build those relationships from scratch? A

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strategic partnership is very critical because

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you always have to go through a build versus

00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:55.100
buy scenario. And if you could find a partner

00:15:55.100 --> 00:15:59.379
that can provide some holes in your product and

00:15:59.379 --> 00:16:02.139
or in your service, it's far better to partner

00:16:02.139 --> 00:16:04.759
with them than it is to try to go out and build

00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:08.090
a duplicate of it. And the way you do it is you

00:16:08.090 --> 00:16:10.110
approach them and say, hey, we're interested

00:16:10.110 --> 00:16:13.330
in a strategic relationship. This is what we're

00:16:13.330 --> 00:16:16.070
doing. I understand what you're doing. Can we

00:16:16.070 --> 00:16:18.149
sit down and talk about some way that we can

00:16:18.149 --> 00:16:21.490
work together? I had, when I was the business

00:16:21.490 --> 00:16:25.490
unit manager for the Apple III, about 500 hardware

00:16:25.490 --> 00:16:28.750
and software developers that had built products,

00:16:28.830 --> 00:16:32.029
hardware and software for the Apple III. And

00:16:32.029 --> 00:16:34.850
I sat down with them. all of them, to put together

00:16:34.850 --> 00:16:38.809
a strategic partnership to make sure that the

00:16:38.809 --> 00:16:41.490
money they were investing in my product line,

00:16:41.629 --> 00:16:43.470
that they'll get a return on that investment.

00:16:43.750 --> 00:16:46.529
And that included when we were getting close

00:16:46.529 --> 00:16:49.330
to shutting down the product line, no longer

00:16:49.330 --> 00:16:53.389
using it as a cash cow for the company, I focused

00:16:53.389 --> 00:16:56.629
on moving all of my developers from the Apple

00:16:56.629 --> 00:17:00.269
III platform to the Macintosh platform so that

00:17:00.269 --> 00:17:04.480
they can continue to be a going entity. And when

00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:06.759
you're talking about the Macintosh, it brings

00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:09.839
me way back. I told you before that I started

00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:12.660
when the Mac Lisa was still around, when the

00:17:12.660 --> 00:17:16.839
SE30, SE80 was just that one little nine inch

00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:20.779
black and white screen. So I really, it brings

00:17:20.779 --> 00:17:25.359
me way back to my roots. A lot of founders struggle

00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:28.579
with getting their first users. How can networking

00:17:28.579 --> 00:17:33.130
accelerate user adoption? Well, I'll give you

00:17:33.130 --> 00:17:35.890
an example. I joined a company that I was recruited

00:17:35.890 --> 00:17:39.529
to join called Rich Relevance back in 2007 or

00:17:39.529 --> 00:17:43.589
so. And they had a bunch of people come out of

00:17:43.589 --> 00:17:46.970
Amazon's recommendation engine research and development

00:17:46.970 --> 00:17:50.549
area. And they had built a personalized recommendation

00:17:50.549 --> 00:17:54.849
system like Amazon's. And they got some venture

00:17:54.849 --> 00:17:58.130
capital investments. And one of the venture capitalists

00:17:58.130 --> 00:18:03.210
knew the... VP of IT at Sears, the holding company.

00:18:03.509 --> 00:18:08.430
So he introduced us to Sears. I flew out to Chicago,

00:18:08.750 --> 00:18:12.089
went to the Sears campus, which is off of one

00:18:12.089 --> 00:18:15.029
of the suburbs there, met with that VP and with

00:18:15.029 --> 00:18:17.769
the general managers and with the head of Sears

00:18:17.769 --> 00:18:21.450
.com and worked out an agreement for them to

00:18:21.450 --> 00:18:24.930
buy this recommendation engine and install it

00:18:24.930 --> 00:18:28.640
on their website. It was like a $15 million deal.

00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:34.039
And then in typical Sears style, they insisted,

00:18:34.099 --> 00:18:37.240
since I was going to be a vendor of Sears, that

00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:41.079
I also have to give them some stock in rich relevance.

00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:45.579
And that's what Sears did for many decades with

00:18:45.579 --> 00:18:48.920
many of the suppliers to Sears and turned owned

00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:51.539
pieces of the companies that were supplying them.

00:18:52.269 --> 00:18:55.069
We worked all that out as a strategic partnership,

00:18:55.329 --> 00:18:59.109
and I emphasized the importance of making sure

00:18:59.109 --> 00:19:02.470
it worked, even to one point after the president

00:19:02.470 --> 00:19:06.069
of the company promised Sears that if his recommendation

00:19:06.069 --> 00:19:08.529
engine, which is running on other servers, crashed,

00:19:08.890 --> 00:19:12.630
it would not crash the Sears website. One morning,

00:19:12.670 --> 00:19:14.769
about 5 o 'clock in the morning, I get a call

00:19:14.769 --> 00:19:17.769
that says the Sears site is down. We think it's

00:19:17.769 --> 00:19:21.480
rich relevance. Fix it. So I organized a task

00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:24.380
force to jump in there and fix it before more

00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:26.980
than several million dollars in sales were lost.

00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:29.680
And they were happy with that to the point in

00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.740
which I could ask them for references and referrals

00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:39.019
to Kmart .com, SearsParts .com, and the rest

00:19:39.019 --> 00:19:42.759
of the other 93 .com websites that Sears Holding

00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:47.319
owned at that time. Wow. Wow, that was really

00:19:47.319 --> 00:19:50.599
good. What networking advice would you give to

00:19:50.599 --> 00:19:54.740
product creators who are great at building, but

00:19:54.740 --> 00:19:58.980
not great at connecting? They got to get out

00:19:58.980 --> 00:20:03.259
of their shell or find somebody for marketing

00:20:03.259 --> 00:20:06.519
or business development or sales that are good

00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:09.240
at that and let them go and don't be paranoid

00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:13.960
about it. That's one thing that in my. talk.

00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:16.880
So I go coast to coast and I'm a public speaker.

00:20:17.180 --> 00:20:19.980
I always talk about introverts and extroverts.

00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:24.200
The people building are usually introverts and

00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:27.200
they always have to get with an extrovert. And

00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:29.420
that's the sales and marketing and everything

00:20:29.420 --> 00:20:32.299
else, part of the business, but the introverts

00:20:32.299 --> 00:20:34.460
are the builders. So that's how I get to them.

00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.940
You also run across a personality that thinks

00:20:37.940 --> 00:20:42.160
they are number one. and they cannot allow somebody

00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:46.140
else to take the lead. This guy that was one

00:20:46.140 --> 00:20:48.240
of the founders of Rich Relevance was one of

00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:51.279
those. And I remember we went to a conference

00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:55.339
in Orlando, Florida, and the primary value proposition

00:20:55.339 --> 00:20:58.140
for Rich Relevance is it helps increase your

00:20:58.140 --> 00:21:01.599
sales, or what in the e -commerce business is

00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:05.349
called Lyft. So I said, let's get a bunch of

00:21:05.349 --> 00:21:08.829
balloons and put Rich Relevance on it and tie

00:21:08.829 --> 00:21:11.250
them up to shopping carts, which is related to

00:21:11.250 --> 00:21:13.589
the shopping cart on the e -commerce site. And

00:21:13.589 --> 00:21:15.730
this was an e -commerce conference that was going

00:21:15.730 --> 00:21:18.529
on with other companies there like Sears looking

00:21:18.529 --> 00:21:21.109
for products like Rich Relevance, personalized

00:21:21.109 --> 00:21:24.289
recommendations. So he got his nose a little

00:21:24.289 --> 00:21:26.750
out of joint because I had come up with a...

00:21:26.970 --> 00:21:30.490
better idea for marketing the company. And I

00:21:30.490 --> 00:21:34.170
started talking on the floor with a lady from

00:21:34.170 --> 00:21:37.269
Steva, which is an alternative sugar sweetener.

00:21:37.650 --> 00:21:40.609
And he had to budge his way into that conversation

00:21:40.609 --> 00:21:44.549
and brag about how much he likes Steva, which

00:21:44.549 --> 00:21:46.690
had nothing to do with the strategic partnership

00:21:46.690 --> 00:21:49.329
I was trying to put together. And as a result,

00:21:49.349 --> 00:21:52.259
I wasn't able to develop anything there. Yeah.

00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.640
So you have to tell these guys better off that

00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:57.460
you keep your nose out of my business. Let me

00:21:57.460 --> 00:22:00.319
do the thing that I do best and let the company

00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.420
go. But you're right. But some people just don't

00:22:04.420 --> 00:22:06.720
want to let go. And that's what happens. That's

00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:10.160
what could happen. OK, so what's one relationship

00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:13.960
that had a major impact on your product's trajectory

00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:20.920
and how did you build it? I guess one thing that

00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:24.450
comes immediately to mind is that When I took

00:22:24.450 --> 00:22:26.630
over the Apple III product line as the business

00:22:26.630 --> 00:22:30.430
unit manager, that was as a result of Steve Jobs

00:22:30.430 --> 00:22:33.069
convincing the executive committee at the time,

00:22:33.089 --> 00:22:36.930
this is 1983, to cancel the product line because

00:22:36.930 --> 00:22:39.529
Steve felt that the Apple III was in the business

00:22:39.529 --> 00:22:42.069
and office market where he wanted his not -yet

00:22:42.069 --> 00:22:45.210
-shipping Macintosh to be. He had not yet learned

00:22:45.210 --> 00:22:48.109
from Dave Packard and Hewlett Packard that it's

00:22:48.109 --> 00:22:50.349
better for him to cannibalize his own products

00:22:50.349 --> 00:22:53.660
rather than have someone else do it. After it

00:22:53.660 --> 00:22:55.960
was canceled, I was called into the president's

00:22:55.960 --> 00:22:59.119
office and he said, Dave, we canceled the Apple

00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:01.259
III product line. I said, I know you did and

00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:03.619
you didn't bother to ask me about it. I have

00:23:03.619 --> 00:23:07.079
the full responsibility, but no authority. And

00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:10.200
he said, so Scully says, what should we do about

00:23:10.200 --> 00:23:12.859
it? And I said, what do you mean we, pale face?

00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:17.059
get the joke. So I had to explain to him that

00:23:17.059 --> 00:23:19.200
there was this fictional character, the Lone

00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:22.079
Ranger, that more white, rode a white horse.

00:23:22.380 --> 00:23:26.460
I got it right away. Rode a white horse, had

00:23:26.460 --> 00:23:30.119
one silver bullet in his belt, and he rode around

00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:33.599
doing good and fighting evil. And he had an Indian

00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:36.900
sidekick by the name of Tonto. And when I tell

00:23:36.900 --> 00:23:39.500
this story to Indian Indians, I have to say an

00:23:39.500 --> 00:23:42.180
American Indian sidekick. And the story goes

00:23:42.180 --> 00:23:45.450
is that the Lone Ranger and Tato are surrounded

00:23:45.450 --> 00:23:48.230
in the desert by 10 ,000 yelling, screaming Indians.

00:23:48.630 --> 00:23:51.049
And the Lone Ranger turned to Tato and says,

00:23:51.329 --> 00:23:53.869
Tato, we're surrounded by 10 ,000 yelling, screaming

00:23:53.869 --> 00:23:56.369
Indians. And all they want to do is scalp us.

00:23:56.390 --> 00:23:59.829
What should we do? And Tato, who was an American

00:23:59.829 --> 00:24:02.150
Indian, says, what do you mean we, pale face?

00:24:02.490 --> 00:24:07.329
Yeah, that's right. Scully snickered and I explained

00:24:07.329 --> 00:24:09.809
to him that I have all the responsibility, but

00:24:09.809 --> 00:24:13.549
none of the authority. Give me. full authority

00:24:13.549 --> 00:24:16.970
as an independent business unit, which he and

00:24:16.970 --> 00:24:20.490
the executive committee later did. And as I was

00:24:20.490 --> 00:24:26.049
running that, we had sold 23 ,000 of the 25 ,000

00:24:26.049 --> 00:24:29.170
Apple 3s that we had in inventory, representing

00:24:29.170 --> 00:24:31.690
about a third of all the Apple 3s that were sold

00:24:31.690 --> 00:24:35.549
up to that point in time. And then the company

00:24:35.549 --> 00:24:37.390
announced that they're going to have an Apple

00:24:37.390 --> 00:24:40.259
II Forever event. And the same day, they're going

00:24:40.259 --> 00:24:43.599
to announce the Apple IIc. And they're going

00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:47.160
to have 24 demonstration stations at the Moscone

00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:50.099
Center up in San Francisco showing different

00:24:50.099 --> 00:24:53.140
Apple II products. But they would only give one

00:24:53.140 --> 00:24:58.019
to me for the Apple III. director of communications

00:24:58.019 --> 00:25:00.700
who had been around apple for many years at that

00:25:00.700 --> 00:25:02.900
time came to me he says look we're just opening

00:25:02.900 --> 00:25:05.640
up another can of worms to explain to the dealers

00:25:05.640 --> 00:25:08.119
that the company's still behind the product but

00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:11.039
only one out of 24 demo stations is the apple

00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:13.619
iii and i don't think we can do that anymore

00:25:13.619 --> 00:25:15.500
i don't think the dealers are going to believe

00:25:15.500 --> 00:25:18.539
us or trust us so i think we should shut the

00:25:18.539 --> 00:25:22.559
product line down so i did that day in april

00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:27.430
1984 But in the process of doing that, I also

00:25:27.430 --> 00:25:30.869
had as a customer a company out of Utah called

00:25:30.869 --> 00:25:33.849
Sun Remarketing. Remarketing, no relationship

00:25:33.849 --> 00:25:37.789
to Sun Microcomputers. And he would buy end of

00:25:37.789 --> 00:25:40.630
inventory products from like Osborne and Compaq

00:25:40.630 --> 00:25:44.420
and so forth and then resell them. So I flew

00:25:44.420 --> 00:25:48.000
out to Utah and sat down with him and we cut

00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:50.700
a deal for him to buy the remaining 2 ,000 Apple

00:25:50.700 --> 00:25:53.819
3s so that when I shut the product line down,

00:25:53.980 --> 00:25:56.640
all of them had been sold, all the profits had

00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:59.559
been gained. It was enough money to help pay

00:25:59.559 --> 00:26:02.420
for the finishing of the Mac development and

00:26:02.420 --> 00:26:05.880
also to keep about 1 ,000 to 1 ,500 Apple employees

00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:10.220
employed until the following January. In 1985,

00:26:10.500 --> 00:26:14.880
Steve had cut the Salesforce, eliminated it.

00:26:15.019 --> 00:26:18.299
He discontinued the Lisa product line that he

00:26:18.299 --> 00:26:20.119
had been made general manager of in addition

00:26:20.119 --> 00:26:23.279
to the Mac. And Mac sales dropped to four units

00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:25.900
because there was nothing you could do with the

00:26:25.900 --> 00:26:29.079
existing Macintosh at the time because the largest

00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:32.200
program you could write was 10K and it had to

00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:35.019
be an Apple Basic, which was not a very verbose

00:26:35.019 --> 00:26:37.599
programming language. And a couple, three months

00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:40.839
later, the board fired him and then moved on.

00:26:43.400 --> 00:26:46.900
That's all right. I know I keep saying this over

00:26:46.900 --> 00:26:49.099
and over again, but you're talking all about

00:26:49.099 --> 00:26:51.319
your background in Apple and everything else.

00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:56.019
And that was my beginning in the computer era.

00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:59.559
And it's like old home week. That's really because

00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:02.799
everything you're discussing, I was part of that

00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:06.109
dealership. But I was also a systems engineer

00:27:06.109 --> 00:27:09.569
with Apple Computer. So everything is all coming

00:27:09.569 --> 00:27:13.650
together. If someone is just launching a product

00:27:13.650 --> 00:27:17.369
today, what three networking moves should they

00:27:17.369 --> 00:27:22.609
make in their first 90 days? Once they've started

00:27:22.609 --> 00:27:24.630
putting together their product market strategy,

00:27:25.130 --> 00:27:28.450
one component of that is their distribution strategy.

00:27:29.930 --> 00:27:31.789
So that's what they figured out. Are they going

00:27:31.789 --> 00:27:34.190
to use a distributor? Are they going to go direct?

00:27:34.369 --> 00:27:36.890
Are they going to build a direct customer website?

00:27:37.849 --> 00:27:39.970
Are they going to use a sales force? Are they

00:27:39.970 --> 00:27:42.529
going to use a value -added reseller? Are they

00:27:42.529 --> 00:27:45.029
going to use an original equipment manufacturer?

00:27:45.529 --> 00:27:47.869
So you have to figure those things out as to

00:27:47.869 --> 00:27:49.829
what is the best way to bring your product to

00:27:49.829 --> 00:27:52.470
market. Do you want to do it in the United States

00:27:52.470 --> 00:27:55.529
first, then Europe second, and then Asia third?

00:27:56.009 --> 00:27:58.089
And then you start cultivating relationships

00:27:58.089 --> 00:28:00.630
in each of those areas that your distribution

00:28:00.630 --> 00:28:05.609
strategy tells you that you're going to do. That's

00:28:05.609 --> 00:28:09.450
great. David, you apparently are very successful

00:28:09.450 --> 00:28:12.089
and you're very knowledgeable in what you do.

00:28:12.769 --> 00:28:16.430
What's your biggest mistake that you made and

00:28:16.430 --> 00:28:26.509
how did you overcome it? I think the biggest

00:28:26.509 --> 00:28:29.890
mistake that I've made in my entire career is

00:28:29.890 --> 00:28:32.509
going to work for companies or organizations.

00:28:33.660 --> 00:28:37.599
that either did not have a set of values or did

00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:41.700
not follow those set of values. And third, did

00:28:41.700 --> 00:28:45.319
not map into my values. And one of the things

00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:47.799
I did when I was writing Building Insanely Great

00:28:47.799 --> 00:28:51.539
Products, which is available on Amazon, is that

00:28:51.539 --> 00:28:54.779
I was familiar because of my work in the high

00:28:54.779 --> 00:28:57.940
-tech business and in dealing with the supersonic

00:28:57.940 --> 00:29:00.880
transport and the space shuttle. When I was in

00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:05.319
college, I was personally known to or knew of

00:29:05.319 --> 00:29:08.759
the presidents of most of the Fortune 500 companies

00:29:08.759 --> 00:29:12.160
in the first Fortune 500 list. And I had read

00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:16.000
many of their annual reports. So I made a list

00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:18.900
of those Fortune 500 companies and I had three

00:29:18.900 --> 00:29:21.420
columns. The first column was, did they have

00:29:21.420 --> 00:29:24.500
values? And if so, did they follow those values?

00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:28.099
And the third column is, are they still in business?

00:29:28.599 --> 00:29:32.039
And I found with almost without exception, those

00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:34.480
companies that either did not have values or

00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:37.299
did not follow values, they were no longer in

00:29:37.299 --> 00:29:40.339
business. So that began to tell me how important

00:29:40.339 --> 00:29:43.450
the values are. And I wondered if that applied

00:29:43.450 --> 00:29:46.089
to my personal career. So I made a list of about

00:29:46.089 --> 00:29:49.549
25 organizations that I've been associated with

00:29:49.549 --> 00:29:52.430
throughout my career. These are for -profit companies

00:29:52.430 --> 00:29:56.130
like Hewlett Packard and Apple and others, nonprofits

00:29:56.130 --> 00:29:59.190
like the nonprofits that I started and the flying

00:29:59.190 --> 00:30:02.250
club that I started at Michigan, and the homeowners

00:30:02.250 --> 00:30:04.910
associations of which I've been president of.

00:30:05.450 --> 00:30:09.930
Without exception, those that had either no values,

00:30:10.069 --> 00:30:13.089
did not follow their values, and or did not map

00:30:13.089 --> 00:30:16.369
into my values, I either got fired, and that

00:30:16.369 --> 00:30:18.690
was a mercy killing, and I felt better the next

00:30:18.690 --> 00:30:21.890
day, or I quit, and I felt better the next day.

00:30:22.089 --> 00:30:25.630
But in those in which all three columns mapped

00:30:25.630 --> 00:30:28.509
up, they had values, they followed values, like

00:30:28.509 --> 00:30:31.769
Hewlett Packard and Apple, I thrived, and I was

00:30:31.769 --> 00:30:34.049
very happy, and very happy to get up in the morning

00:30:34.049 --> 00:30:37.829
and go to work there. So the number one mistake

00:30:37.829 --> 00:30:41.019
that I made And those organizations that didn't

00:30:41.019 --> 00:30:44.319
have that is I didn't examine that before I agreed

00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:48.539
to join them. I had a property manager for my

00:30:48.539 --> 00:30:51.099
rental property that I owned on the beach in

00:30:51.099 --> 00:30:54.039
Maui. And he came back to the Bay Area and was

00:30:54.039 --> 00:30:56.019
looking for a job. And I told him that story.

00:30:56.680 --> 00:31:00.049
And I said, After they start interviewing you

00:31:00.049 --> 00:31:02.450
and they finish their questions, you ask them,

00:31:02.509 --> 00:31:05.710
what are their values? And then you decide whether

00:31:05.710 --> 00:31:07.190
or not you're going to join that organization.

00:31:07.769 --> 00:31:10.769
He said a few days later, he went out on an interview

00:31:10.769 --> 00:31:13.849
and he started talking about values. And he talked

00:31:13.849 --> 00:31:16.130
with the hiring manager for four hours about

00:31:16.130 --> 00:31:18.910
values. They hired him and he said he's never

00:31:18.910 --> 00:31:22.450
been happier in a job in his entire life. Sometimes

00:31:22.450 --> 00:31:24.690
that's all you need is just a push in the right

00:31:24.690 --> 00:31:28.430
direction to make sure that your values align

00:31:28.430 --> 00:31:32.450
with the company's. And it's very good advice.

00:31:32.869 --> 00:31:36.490
David, this was a blast. I love talking to you,

00:31:36.529 --> 00:31:40.269
especially about Apple Computer. But if somebody

00:31:40.269 --> 00:31:42.690
wants to get hold of you for whatever reason,

00:31:42.829 --> 00:31:45.509
how would they get hold of you? They can go to

00:31:45.509 --> 00:31:48.369
my website, to Spice Catalyst, oneword .com.

00:31:48.630 --> 00:31:51.750
All my contact information is there. All my books

00:31:51.750 --> 00:31:54.230
are there. All my training courses are there.

00:31:54.470 --> 00:31:57.630
And then there's an extensive blog with hundreds

00:31:57.630 --> 00:32:00.630
of articles about all aspects of product success.

00:32:01.150 --> 00:32:03.470
They can also go to Amazon, any place in the

00:32:03.470 --> 00:32:07.319
world. Look up my name, David Frayden, and all

00:32:07.319 --> 00:32:09.920
my books will come up, including workbooks for

00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:12.779
many of my courses that people can use to put

00:32:12.779 --> 00:32:15.579
together their five keys to product success.

00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:20.160
Fantastic. David, this was so great. I thank

00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:23.480
you so much for coming on the podcast. Glad to

00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:27.480
be with you. Well, hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere.

00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:30.299
Let me just read a few of our sponsors that we

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and teens from sexual abuse. exploitation, and

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learn more, go to revvedupkids .org. That's R

00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:43.720
-E -V -V -E -D -U -P -K -I -D -S dot org. Well,

00:33:43.880 --> 00:33:47.210
that's a wrap, folks. A huge thank you to our

00:33:47.210 --> 00:33:50.089
special guests for sharing such incredible insights

00:33:50.089 --> 00:33:53.450
today. And of course, a big shout out to you,

00:33:53.549 --> 00:33:57.170
our amazing listeners for tuning in and spending

00:33:57.170 --> 00:34:00.769
your time with us. Remember, networking isn't

00:34:00.769 --> 00:34:03.430
about being perfect. It's about being present.

00:34:03.690 --> 00:34:06.450
So take what you've learned today, get out there

00:34:06.450 --> 00:34:09.730
and make some meaningful connections. If you

00:34:09.730 --> 00:34:12.230
enjoyed this episode. don't forget to subscribe,

00:34:12.530 --> 00:34:15.289
leave us a review, and share it with someone

00:34:15.289 --> 00:34:17.469
who could use a little networking inspiration.

00:34:18.369 --> 00:34:21.789
Let's keep the conversation going. You can find

00:34:21.789 --> 00:34:26.150
me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or my website,

00:34:26.409 --> 00:34:29.610
michaelforman .com. Remember, until next time,

00:34:29.650 --> 00:34:33.110
keep practicing, keep connecting, and keep building

00:34:33.110 --> 00:34:35.650
those relationships. This is Michael signing

00:34:35.650 --> 00:34:38.349
off. Take care and happy networking.
