TechieBytes

Episode 56: We spoke with Eric Shoup, CEO at Peerspace, a marketplace for meetings, co-working, events, and more. We discuss the explosion of the sharing economy, the recent troubles at WeWork and how Peerspace has avoided falling into the same trap, as well as Eric's experience as a first-time CEO. Enjoy! Eric Shoup, CEO of Peerspace, a Google Venture-backed marketplace for meetings, co-working, events, and more. This year Peerspace has pursued an aggressive national expansion - and their business model is working and is sustainable. Peerspace specializes in allowing people to find underutilized, inspiring existing spaces – while allowing property owners (mostly small business owners) to generate more income from their spaces to support their artistic endeavors, business and more. Of note, companies including Tesla, AirBnb, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, AT&T, Apple, and even WeWork have booked using Peerspace. Peerspace Stats October 2019: 1000’s of bookings from companies including Tesla, AirBnb, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, LinkedIn, Target, Wells Fargo, Buzzfeed, AT&T, Apple, WeWork (corporate internal), NYU and Uber A majority of Peerspace venues are hosted by existing small businesses (helping them generate supplemental income from their existing space) Peerspace attracts corporate customers, giving business to small business owners Over 14,000 spaces across the U.S. Over 3.1 million Peerspace attendees --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/besttechie/support

28 Jan 202049min

Episode 55: We spoke with Tiffany Rose, Co-founder at Lux Life Now (formerly Big Crowd Media), an influencer firm which specializes in loop marketing campaigns for big names including Amber Rose and Kyle Richards. We discuss how to build and measure successful influencer campaigns, the importance of Instagram Stories for brands, and how to best utilize hashtags. Enjoy! READ MORE: Lux Life Now co-founder Jonathan Rose talks about how to measure influencer campaign ROI. Tiffany Rose, Co-Founder of Lux Life Now (formerly Big Crowd Media), is a former actress and model who has graced the front covers of MAXIM and FHM worldwide, and shot to fame in the UK on the TV show HollyOaks. Through Tiffany's hollywood contacts, she was able to create a network of A list celebrities that shared her vision of driving celebrities Instagram traffic to corporate sponsors’ Instagram accounts. Lux Life Now was born and has resulted in clients gaining tens of thousands of new customers with reported spikes in sales and engagement. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/besttechie/support

21 Jan 202051min

Episode 54: We spoke with RJ Talyor, Founder & CEO at Pattern89. We discuss how RJ helped pioneer the concept of SMS marketing in 2002, his time as VP of Messaging Products at Salesforce, and how what he's building at Pattern89 is changing marketing for brands like Fabletics, LIDS, Finish Line, and more! Enjoy! R.J.’s career started at ExactTarget, where he was the mastermind behind the company’s mobile strategy. He would eventually create the concept of SMS marketing in 2002, leading to Bank of America to sending its first SMS text. His leadership was instrumental when Salesforce later acquired ExactTarget for $2.5 billion in 2013, where he would become the vice president of mobile products for the company. A couple years later, he wanted to take his knowledge on marketing, social media and analytics to create a company that would easily integrate Artificial Intelligence with social media marketing, and launched Pattern89. Since its founding in 2018, the company already has more than 700 customers, specifically within the e-commerce industry, with customers such as Fabletics, LIDS, Just Fab, Finish Line, and more. Customers seeing an ROI as high as 65% in as little as 15 days. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/besttechie/support

14 Jan 202043min

Episode 53: Yes, good news! We're back after a little break. I graduated from the Harvard Business Analytics Program in September and have been working on new episodes which will be released every Tuesday! Today we're speaking with Oren Zaslansky, CEO at Flock Freight. We discuss why the shipping industry is ripe for disruption, tips for outsiders of Silicon Valley to raise capital, and what to look for when selecting a Board of Directors. Oren Zaslansky is a shipping industry veteran and CEO of San Diego-based Flock Freight, a company working to modernize the $40B LTL (less than a truckload) freight industry leveraging algorithms and logistics automation to carpool freight. Oren was born both into freight and entrepreneurship. His parents worked for a mover before they started their own freight brokerage. At 21 he started a trucking company and soon after a freight brokerage. Realizing he wanted to work ON the industry not just IN the industry, he started Flock Freight to sidestep common shipping problems. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/besttechie/support

7 Jan 202048min

Episode 52: We spoke with Mitch Grasso, CEO at Beautiful.AI, a company creating a newer and smarter way to design your presentations. Prior to Beautiful.AI, Mitch founded SlideRocket which was acquired by VMWare. We discuss raising venture funding, his approach to customer acquisition, important design rules, and more. Mitch is a serial entrepreneur with strong technology, design and product skills. Prior to Beautiful.AI, he founded SlideRocket, cloud-based presentation productivity software focused on team collaboration and co-founded AdSpace Networks, a digital signage network deployed to over 200 malls and reaching over 48M unique viewers/month. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/besttechie/support

25 Juni 201945min

Episode 51: We spoke with Sujan Patel, co-founder at Ramp Ventures, the firm behind products like Mailshake and RightInbox. We discuss building web-based businesses, how to generate leads and interest for new businesses, enhancing your SEO, and what it means to take risk. Sujan is the co-founder of Ramp Ventures, a firm that helps companies leverage the latest and greatest marketing strategy to fuel their businesses. Sujan has over 13 years of internet marketing experience and has led the digital marketing strategy for companies like Sales Force, Mint, Intuit and many other Fortune 500 caliber companies. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/besttechie/support

18 Juni 201956min

Episode 50: We spoke with Bryan Ciambella, Principal at B Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in the next generation of groundbreaking tech. We discuss Bryan's background as a serial entrepreneur, what he looks for when investing, what industry verticals he's currently interested in, and what it's like working with Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/besttechie/support

4 Juni 201927min

Episode 49: We spoke with Larry O'Connor, Founder at OWC, a computer hardware company known for its Mac-based upgrade kits. We discuss how Larry started OWC 30+ years ago, the company's relationship with Apple, what Larry thinks Apple should do with the MacBook Pro, and why Apple's RAM is so expensive. Also, a quick programming note—we're going to off for a couple weeks but fear not, we'll be back soon with new episodes! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/besttechie/support

16 Apr 201947min