A technology company has
undertaken a very novel approach for launching their business in the
U.S. The approach reminds me of a scenario that might be employed in
Donald Trump's television show
The Apprentice.
Here is how
I imagine Donald Trump would announce the task:
In a few short weeks, your
team will orchestrate the U.S. launch for Podio, a Copenhagen-based
technology company, by creating a store in San Francisco to host events
over a period of one week that will include developers, partners, media
and potential customers. If this event does not come off as planned,
someone will be fired.
I
am happy to report that it doesn't look like anyone is going to be
fired. Podio and firms supporting them are doing a terrific job of
executing this "task" if opening day is any indication.
Podio
is focused around improving execution and collaboration for projects,
business processes and knowledge. Business teams can define their
own highly-customizable work spaces; external programming support is not
needed.
Podio provides an application programming interface (API) to
allow data to flow in/out of Podio. It is possible to invite people to
one or more work spaces within Podio - - either internal or external
members.
Podio
developed its technology by hosting on-site workshops for developers and
business people alike allowing multiple organizations to come together
and learn first-hand about Podio's technology. This long-standing
practice follows them to San Francisco and their U.S. launch.
While many technology firms
would be hesitant to put diverse people together in the same room to
learn and experiment, this practice seems to be a key factor in the
pragmatism and efficacy of Podio's solution.
Podio's open environment has
benefited all who employ their technology today. This isn't just a "if
we build it, they will come" model employed by far too many technology
companies. Podio's solution is all about the customer and what their
customers are able to achieve using their technology.
Opening the Podio
Store -- a Herculean effort
At a very high level, it was
necessary to complete the following:
�
Find an appropriate space
in a downtown San Francisco location available for a lease of only
one month or so
�
Design the space
�
Implement the space design
including getting the infrastructure in place, e.g., painting,
decorating electrical, lighting, Internet connectivity, furniture
�
Plan events to engage with
different constituencies
�
Invite people to the
events and obtain RSVPs
�
Bring the entire Podio
team (17 people) from Copenhagen to San Francisco for the launch
event
�
Catering
�
Collateral
�
Publicity
The team got the keys to the
store just 3 days before the opening on Sunday, March 20th. The San
Francisco-based support team included Vanessa Camones and her team from
The Mix Agency
and Erica
Lee at
StrategicLee, Inc.
The United States Launch
Event
An event orchestrated on
The
Apprentice might conclude in a few
minutes or hours. The Podio launch event takes place over five
event filled very full days!
Sunday, March 20th: Work 2.0 HackDay
�
Podio is hosting Work 2.0
HackDay at the Podio Store. Join us and teams from Mashery, Yammer,
Zendesk, Disqus and others.
Monday, March 21st: Store Opening, Lunch 2.0 and Scandinavia Tech
Meet-up
The Podio Store opens at 9AM
(and closes at 10PM).
Podio is hosting Demo Lunches
starting at 12:30PM. Bring your laptop and build your own apps and we
will provide the food and drinks.
Scandinavia Meet-up: This
event starts at 6:30PM and will bring together people in SF with an
interest in or connection to the Nordic countries and technology. Learn
about the Scandinavian tech scene, meet start-ups, etc. Details are
here:
https://launch.podio.com/scandinavian.html
Tuesday, March 22nd: Lunch Demo at 12:30
The Podio Store opens at 9AM
(and closes at 10PM).
Podio is hosting Demo Lunches
starting at 12:30PM. Bring your laptop and build your own apps and we
will provide the food and drinks.
Podio Palo Alto Day: Podio
will be hosting a Lunch workshop and evening BBQ down in Palo Alto.
Learn more here:
https://launch.podio.com/bbq.html
Wednesday, March 23rd: Lunch Demo and The Pioneers of Work Tools Panel
The Podio Store opens at 9AM
(and goes closes at 10PM).
Podio is hosting Demo Lunches
starting at 12:30PM. Bring your laptop and build your own apps and we
will provide the food and drinks.
Podio has brought together
some of the industry's pioneers of work tools, like Ross Mayfield from
SocialText to talk about the evolution of the industry over the last 40
years.
See details here:
https://launch.podio.com/evening.html
Thursday, March 24th: Launch Day (7PM)
The Podio Store opens at 9AM
(and goes closes at 10PM).
Podio will host Demo Lunches
starting at 12:30PM. Bring your laptop and build your own apps and we
will provide the food and drinks.
Today is the day that the
Podio goes live to the general public! We go live at 8PM, but start at
7PM. Details are here: https://launch.podio.com/launchparty.html
Closing Thoughts
The Podio United States launch
was both
a very ambitious undertaking and an impressive series of
highly-orchestrated events. I am not familiar with any other technology
companies who have used a similar launch approach. The store is warm and
inviting. And, one cannot help missing the superb way the Podio team
engages with guests. The entire team executed this launch
magnificently. No one is going to be fired based upon this result!
David
J.
Gardner, has held management and
senior management positions in Product Development,
Manufacturing, Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service, and
Product Management. He joined Tandem Computers in 1979 where
he was responsible for Corporate Documentation Standards for
Tandem's highly configurable and expandable computer
systems. In 1983, he designed and implemented a
Configuration Guide for Dialogic Systems instituting a
process that greatly simplified a complex, modular product
such that the field sales organization and international OEM
customers could easily define their order requirements. This
methodology satisfied the product definition needs of sales,
marketing, engineering, manufacturing, customer service and
finance. David founded his consulting practice in 1991. He
is a graduate of San Jose State University (BA) and Santa
Clara University (MBA). David is a member of the Society for
the Advancement of Consulting (SAC) and has been Board
Approved in the Area of Configurable Product & Services
Strategy and Implementation. In 2010, he was inducted in the
Million Dollar Consultant� Hall of Fame. Out of
over 1,000 consultants who have completed Alan Weiss�s
mentoring program, only 26 have been inducted in the Hall of
Fame.
