As your business moves to the cloud, your hosting environment becomes a critical piece of your existence. Most companies rely on a single hosting provider with multiple redundant locations to ensure customers and use their software. This is what Netflix did and when Amazon Web Services had an outage last December, Netflix was unavailable to customers. Amazon said they had, “connectivity issues and degraded performance,” which caused outages to Netflix, Reddit, Airbnb, Flipboard, Pinterest and Fast Company. No matter how much redundancy your hosting provider advertises, having a single hosting provider is not sufficient.

Customer data, employee data and operational data all help your company generate recurring revenue. What do you know about the applications and companies you use to analyze, process, and store this data? Large companies like Kroger, TiVo, Marriott, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One and Walgreens thought they knew a lot about Epsilon, the worlds largest provider of e-mail marketing services, until in a split second all of their customer data was gone. This loss of this information cost each of these companies dearly. 

Contrary to what you may think, I encourage you to use cloud vendors and to outsource your data management but I challenge you to ask the hard questions when selecting those partners. Here are some questions that you should ask yourself and your partners:

• If your vendor goes bankrupt and quits providing service immediately, what will you do?
• If your vendor is responsible for an outage of your software or a loss of your data, do you know if they have any financial responsibility?
• If your vendor does have financial responsibility in the event that they cause you a financial loss, do they have the funds to cover that or an insurance policy that will cover the loss?
• Do you have any single employee who holds the keys to the IT environment?
• If you do, what would you do if that employee put in his two weeks tomorrow?
• Do you know if any of your developers are introducing infringed or malicious computer code into your environment? 

  Travis Holt is a partner of Brush Creek Partners and principal for Brush Creek Risk. His expertise is in helping professional service firms and, more specifically, technology companies protect their balance sheets in the event of a loss. Focusing on malpractice suits, data breaches and failures of technology, he spends a significant amount of time with his clients addressing the contractual transfer of risk to third parties. He is a frequent speaker and presenter at conferences focusing on data breach prevention and cyber security. 

Why invest time and money in video?

Online video has become the most important tool in an online marketer’s toolshed. To point: 85 percent of Internet users viewed some type of online video content in September 2012 alone, and by 2014 online video will account for 50 percent or more of all traffic online.

Businesses, if they haven’t already, need to budget video into their online and offline marketing efforts. At FINDitKC, we believe video allows a business to reach a broader audience and increase the impact of its marketing campaigns.

Using our video-centered approach, businesses have obtained higher retention rates and converted customers at significant percentages.

If more than 100 million people in the United States watched an online video in 2012, what will 2013 and 2014 hold? Kansas City businesses and entrepreneurs want and need to be part of that statistic.

Now that video is more versatile than ever, there is really no reason not to implement the heck out of it. With proper planning, video can be used in all of the top five marketing tactics (social media, website articles, email newsletters, blogs and case studies).

Video engages new customers and secures and retains current ones. Using video in your client relations process keeps people in-tune to what is going on. If an electrician sends out a video tip about why regular maintenance is important to a household’s safety because it reduces the risk of accidental fires, and that video then leads to more maintenance calls, it’s well worth it. It’s always easier to keep a client engaged than to find a new one.

What do great videos look like?

There isn’t necessarily a special sauce to creating impactful videos. At FINDitKC, we’re open to all types of videos and customize each video experience based on the business and team. As with most marketing tactics, originality is key. Just as duplicating blogs and other written content can hurt a business, so can duplicating video content. Embedding a code or URL that has been used by many will not help your business.

The key to using video is producing videos regularly. Search algorithms are based on frequency, which is why FINDitKC suggests that businesses do multiple videos a year. For this reason, we have built our model around keeping video affordable, so businesses can do more with less.

As for the style of video, people like buying from businesses that they know others, their peers, have enjoyed and recommended. That is why FINDitKC includes testimonials in so many of the videos we produce. Video testimonials have really proven to be gold for a business.

The true beauty of online video, however, is its versatility. Videos can be embedded on websites, shared on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and even emailed or texted to customers and clients. Now that smartphones have outsold PCs, we can look forward to even more uses for video. Statistics are showing that viewers watch videos 3 times longer on mobile devices than on computers.

So, here’s to you and your next video campaign. One that will be used across many platforms. One that will engage, secure and retain customers!

Cheers!

Chris Olsen is the Founder/CEO at FINDitKC. At FINDitKC, we help businesses achieve top-of-mind awareness through video-driven digital media services; giving your business the right tools to engage, secure and retain customers. We are also the creators of FINDitKC.com, a place where Kansas City can find videos about places to eat, shop, play and live in the KC metro; giving you the chance to FIND it, WATCH it, then TRY it.

If you’re a leader in your company, finding and recruiting great employees for your firm is likely a big part of your job. In this way, business parallels sports: One of the biggest responsibilities a coach has is to find the best players out there.

For example, all the coaches who made it to the Final Four this year had one thing in common: They’re all great recruiters! Each coach made compelling arguments to each of his players to join his team. Simply put, they closed the deal.

So, business leaders, if you work at an “A” level company but aren’t pitching your company exclusively to star candidates, you’re making a big mistake. If you don’t already have a pitch, create one. You need a high-impact pitch that elevates and summarizes your company in less than 30 seconds.

For example, Bill Self would probably talk about how his team leads the Big 12 in graduation rates, has a very high ratio of players that go on to the pros and is on TV more than any other team in the Big 12. That would be a solid 30-second pitch to a young recruit. Here’s how to find your game-changing recruit and avoid the ones who don’t deliver.

Create the Perfect Pitch

• Create a list of 10 things that make your firm better than your competition.
• Edit your list down to three main points that really define your company.
• Create your pitch, practice it, and have it ready. Sometimes a few tailored variations are a good idea.

Seem simple? It is. Be prepared; you might bump into your next star recruit today.

Hire a Hunter

The Internet and job boards have provided an expansive place for the unhappy and unemployed to find new employment. However, they’re unlikely places to find a star recruit. Star recruits are found happily grinding out world-class code or doing financial work in their current offices. They are top performers at the company they currently work for. 

The fact is, of the entire employment pie, the top 20 percent of performers aren’t searching for a job. If you’re looking for this type of talent, you are going to need a hunter, one who knows where they thrive and one who has the tools to close the deal.

  Matt Denney is the owner of StarRecruit, LLC. He is also the former Director of HR for BATS Trading and Tradebot Systems. While at BATS, Matt was one of the early members of the team that helped grow the Exchange by finding and recruiting great employees. During his time there, he saw the trading volume grow. First doubling, then tripling, and then eventually hitting one billion shares traded a day. After his stint at BATS, he followed the founder of BATS back to Tradebot, resulting in tripling the number of employees at the firm, and helping the company reach several record-breaking profitable years. After partnering with these firms to find star employees, Matt is back to helping other companies reach new heights.

Nobody knows better than the KCNext community that technology is changing the landscape of Kansas City. From business to healthcare, education and social interaction, high-tech entrepreneurs are revolutionizing the way we interact and overcome challenges. That’s part of the excitement of this high-tech industry. When innovators have the tools they need to succeed, anything is possible—we’ve seen that firsthand in Kansas City.

The Partnership for Technology Innovation recently hosted a panel discussion in Topeka that explored the ways that expanding access to high-speed Internet creates jobs and improves quality of life. If the energy of that discussion is any indication of the appetite for tackling issues of importance to the high-tech industry on the state level, we’re in for an exciting couple of years. That’s because, when government bodies at the local, state or national level work together with private companies—especially fledgling startup—to create an environment in which innovation thrives, it’s a beautiful thing. Companies make it easier for kids with autism to learn, for employees on the road to communicate with headquarters and for businesses to build relationships with their customer base. These are just a few examples of the companies and individuals we have been highlighting though our “Faces of the New Economy” series.

As the innovation in Kansas City’s high-tech industry fuels demand for more mobile products, faster Internet and data-hungry devices, it puts stress on the infrastructure. The transition to modern, high-speed Internet Protocol-based (IP) broadband networks can help make this explosive growth in demand sustainable. However, deployment of these advanced networks requires private investment and policymakers to promote regulations that encourage this investment. That’s why it’s so important to keep the channels of communication open between the entrepreneurial community and state governments in Kansas and Missouri, because that’s where the regulatory decisions that govern these services are made.

Most of our technology laws were created to govern a long-extinct monopoly on telephone service. Today, communications technology is highly competitive and the industry is much more diverse than the marketplace the telecommunications laws were written to regulate. Our tech economy here in Kansas City is proof positive of that. So it’s important that our laws and regulations be updated to reflect our 21st century technologies and the reality of the modern marketplace. Regulations ought to propel, not hold up, innovation and investment. And it’s important for us to speak up on these issues, as many people outside of the tech community don’t give much thought to the communications infrastructure that makes it possible for everyone to stay connected.

Ultimately, the progress we have seen can only continue in a collaborative environment where private industry and the public sector work together toward solutions to ensure that investment continues, competition flourishes, and innovations continue to deliver the best to consumers.

Don’t wait to get to know your elected officials until you need something. Join the Partnership for Technology Innovation. Let us introduce you to your elected officials, so you can start building relationships now. Share your story through a “Faces of the New Economy” profile. And most of all, pay attention. The decisions being made at the state level today will affect the health of your business tomorrow.

Recruiting talent is the life blood of success. Think of your company like a pro sports franchise or college team. Hopefully, your team is winning, if not, keep reading.

Like winning coaches, winning companies know that staying on top requires a constant renewal of top talent. The fact is, there should be some similarities to finding great players for a top sports team, and your company. College coaches understand that they must recruit and have a network of relationships to ensure that their bench will be deep next year with new players. How is your company different from this? It really isn’t.

Pro teams have a bit more of a luxury when it comes to finding talent in that they can buy free agents in the marketplace. Most pro teams choose to use free agency to win, along with drafting college players to build their franchise. I would suggest that your company should use both models. Recruiting college talent from universities and using “free agency” like pro franchises.

So, you may be asking… how am I going to find and recruit top prospects out of local colleges? The fact is it isn’t that difficult. You can use your current employees who are alumni at those schools to help build those bridges.

Here are three steps you might take to find a recent computer science grad from a local university:

1. Get online, and find the website of the Computer Science Department. Most schools have several employees that their only job is to get students connected to employers, and help connect employers to their students (what a concept!).

2. Utilize your current employees to help you find soon-to-be graduating talent at their Alma Mater. Ask your employees to help with the process. This is also a good tool for employee enrichment, management training, day out-of-the-office, etc. 

3. Have your employee contact the department and get involved. Volunteering to come and talk about your company, participate in a career fair, or volunteer to mentor students are all great ways to build that recruiting relationship. You can even gain access to student’s resumes and recruit that way. 

So we covered half the equation here. Now, how do you find the top free agents? Let me tell you first where you won’t find them, job boards. Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice, etc. are full of B and C-level players. How do you find the A-player free agents? Find out next month in the Blog…The Truth about Recruiters.

For more information, please visit starrecruitllc.com.

Matt Denney is the owner of StarRecruit, LLC. He is also the former Director of HR for BATS Trading and Tradebot Systems. While at BATS, Matt was one of the early members of the team that helped grow the Exchange by finding and recruiting great employees. During his time there, he saw the trading volume grow. First doubling, then tripling, and then eventually hitting one billion shares traded a day. After his stint at BATS, he followed the founder of BATS back to Tradebot, resulting in tripling the number of employees at the firm, and helping the company reach several record-breaking profitable years. After partnering with these firms to find star employees, Matt is back to helping other companies reach new heights.

Gibson estimates the current ratio of open software developer positions to developers is 4:1 and that the shortage has empowered developers to challenge traditional corporate ideologies. How else are developers flexing their muscles? 

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SilverFern Blog | March 2013

Digital Sandbox will provide early-stage resources to promising startups showing breakthrough-potential in data management and mobile applications fields. Applications for the first round of projects are accepted through March 1, 2013 and can be completed at the Digital Sandbox KC website. Entrepreneurs, mentors and professionals are encouraged to learn more about the project and to consider their potential role in the collaborative process. For more information, view the Digital Sandbox KC video clip.

KANSAS CITY, MO—February 12, 2013—H&R Block and Think Big Partners have announced the top 10 finalists who will present at the Hackovate Health Finale on February 26, 2013 in Kansas City, Missouri. These 10 finalists will continue in the pursuit of the $15,000 grand prize, the $10,000 runner-up prize and the $5,000 second runner-up prize.

Hackovate Health is a health-focused innovation competition hosted by H&R Block and Think Big Partners. The competition is designed to identify innovative mobile, online, social and other applications that help consumers navigate the new healthcare landscape and the Affordable Care Act. Tech entrepreneurs, startups, innovators, healthcare professionals and other teams from around the world were encouraged to compete in the three-month long competition, which has culminated in H&R Block and screening judges identifying 10 teams to convene in Kansas City in February to turn their promising ideas into new companies. The Hackovate process involves coaching and mentoring from business, policy and investor community leaders in the entrepreneurship and healthcare arenas.

The Hackovate Health semi-finalist judging panel consisted of 19 diverse experts from a variety of fields. The panel includes experts and leaders in the healthcare industry, entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, professional association executives, as well as public and private sector officials.

The 10 Hackovate Health finalists are:

1. Anant Vinjamorri, Aavya Health (Boston, MA, USA) 
2. Tami Hutchinson, eLuminate Health (Kansas City, MO, USA) 
3. Liam Ryan, GetHealth (Dublin, Ireland) 
4. Scott Speranza, inAssist Health Management Solution (Torrance, CA, US) 
5. Asher Hasan, NAJA JEEVAN REJUVENATE: Transformation Healthcare for the Uninsured (New Life) (Karachi, Sind, PAK) 
6. John McCluskey, OkCopay, Inc. (Seattle, WA, USA) 
7. Matthew Kafka, ReMARK Health (Kansas City, MO, USA) 
8. Karan Srivastava, SHHADE (Miami, FL, USA) 
9. Jug Stanovcic, HealthPlan Select by Stenuus (Overland Park, KS, USA) 
10. Chrys Sullivan, My Healthcare Reform Guide by eXperient Interactive & Useagility (Kansas City, MO, USA) 

The above Hackovate finalists are invited to present pitches for their businesses at the Hackovate Health Finale on February 26, 2013 at The Extreme Screen in Union Station, Kansas City, Missouri. Finalists will submit a presentation and deliver a 10-minute pitch before a panel of finale judges. Presentations will be followed by five minutes of questions from the judges. The finalists must be present at the Hackovate Health Finale to be eligible for a prize.

The Hackovate Health Finale is a free event open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. At the event, attendees will have the chance to watch the final pitch presentations, network and learn more about healthcare technology and entrepreneurship.

“We are extremely impressed with the quality of Hackovate Health submissions,” says Herb Sih, co-founder of Think Big Partners. “Those selected to participate in the Hackovate Health Finale now have a real opportunity to solve real problems in the healthcare industry. We cannot wait to watch these companies come to life on stage.”

For more information about Hackovate Health or to express interest in becoming a partner, please visit hackovate.com or call 816-842-5244.

For more information or to register to attend the Hackovate Health Finale, please visit hackovate.eventbrite.com.

About H&R Block
H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) is the world’s largest tax services provider, having prepared more than 600 million tax returns worldwide since 1955. In fiscal 2012, H&R Block had annual revenues of $2.9 billion and prepared 25.6 million tax returns worldwide. Tax return preparation services are provided in company-owned and franchise retail tax offices by nearly 100,000 professional tax preparers, and through H&R Block At Home™ digital products. H&R Block Bank provides affordable banking products and services. For more information, visit the H&R Block Online Press Center.

About Think Big Partners
Think Big Partners is an early-stage startup accelerator and mentorship-based collaborative network located in Kansas City, Missouri. Think Big Partners has successfully launched or grown over 150 successful companies with its creation of coworking spaces (bizperc), entrepreneurial conferences (Think Big Kansas City and iKC), essential services, startup resources and funding (Think Big Ventures). To learn more about Think Big Partners, please visit thinkbigpartners.com.

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