Earlier this month, Shadow Partners and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) launched a collaboration to leverage our Strategic Partner Network and drive innovation and solutions to challenges facing the built environment.
When a salesperson or business development professional starts a new role, their first priority is to come in and build their "top of funnel." This roughly translates to booking as many meetings as possible with prospective customers. These leads...
I am by no means a crisis communication expert. This is a global crisis, and we are all doing our best to pay the bills. This is not the new norm, but it will look something...
Since the beginning of 2020, I have written quite a few articles. My purpose has not been to create marketing content, but rather to create scale with my time by sharing key topics with my team and our startup...
I recently attended a conference with some of the largest real estate developers and owners from New York City. Most of them have invested in PropTech. However, they are all first wave investors. They were excited...
A large corporate strategic partner is an elephant; a startup is a mouse. I did not create this metaphor, but I do use it a lot. The elephant has the size and the resources but can be a bit slow; the startup has...
I must admit that I can be a little "old school." To build a great, fast-growing company, your activities should be focused on acquiring customers, talent, and investors. I have tried to be open to understanding the...
Desmond Tutu once said, "there is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time." Not sure who is eating elephants, but I get the point. When you face an enormous task, it's helpful to take just a little...
What is a lunch and learn? I'm sure the term is used in other industries, but for the building industry specifically it is when a building product representative--or any vendor, for that matter--comes to an AEC...
When we launched Shadow Labs almost two years ago, I didn't want to call it an incubator. Instead, we called it a lab. We still call it Shadow Labs, but when people ask us what it is, we usually refer to it as an incubator...
I remember the day in 2008 when my bank called me and asked for a meeting. I was running a startup that was gaining incredible traction--until 2008, that is. My startup was focused on the construction industry. The bank gave me notice on our line�
Last night, I was at dinner with a mentor, and we were discussing my goal of writing an article every day. So far, this goal hasn't been easy, but it also hasn't been the hardest thing that I've done. He asked me �
This week I had a great conversation with a friend who does freelancing consulting. She was facing the challenge of hitting her income potential. She's a one-person operation and has a fixed number of hours that she can work. So say...
I've built a dozen companies in my career, and I know that human resources decisions can be complicated. In my early businesses, I used contractors because payroll was a pain. It wasn't just the tax burden...
If you are reading this because of the above title, you already need to adjust your thinking.My first sales hire was a total bust. I was 26 years old and came from a civil engineering firm. I hired someone on commission only...
My recommendation to entrepreneurs embarking on customer discovery is to watch a few hours of Law and Order. The original, not the derivative work.See, I've traveled about 150 days a year for the last 10 years of my career...
When I was 22, I launched my first tech startup. I was working in civil engineering by day, and coding on nights and weekends. I was both sales and development. At 25, I went full-time. I owned sales while my partner owned development...
Building an effective team is one of the hardest tasks for any entrepreneur. It's like how I shop for my house (yes, I am comparing people to furniture). I go out looking for a dining table, but end up finding a sofa that I love at a great price...
In fifth grade, we got an Apple computer at school. The computer was carted around from class to class in a wooden credenza with wheels. I was a nerd (which I always saw as a positive thing -- I'm glad other people are starting to see it that way...
Most of my entrepreneurial career has been spent chasing markets. In the last few years, though, I've had the fortune of the market moving my direction. It's a lot less exhausting and disappointing. And I've gotta admit -- as a civil engineer...
Going it alone as an entrepreneur is often a recipe for disaster.I'm not saying you don't have what it takes; I've just seen far too many solo entrepreneurs fail. Startup success is not just about the entrepreneur and their idea. It has a lot to...
Welcome to the wonderful world of sales and marketing. If you're a startup and need a foundational understanding of sales and marketing technology, you've come to the right place. Here's everything you need to get...
This post by Andrew Ackerman originally appeared on Alley Watch. He graciously updated it to share 5 business networking fails we should all avoid to make networking a little less painful.
Our "Ask Me Anything" series shares conversations between industry experts and our Labs startups. Anand Thaker is an advisor focused on marketing technology and growth leadership. He is the CEO of...
Starting a new innovation hub is basically like founding a startup. That's according to Lakshmi Shenoy who six months ago left her role as VP of strategy and business at...
Two years ago, venture fund and startup accelerator Dreamit Ventures, based in Philadephia, was trying to determine what their next industry vertical would be -- they had previously launched a HealthTech-specific program to much success...
KP Reddy on The Culture of Innovation For PMI Atlanta. What does innovation mean to you? The best definition I've borrowed is that innovation is about creating abundance where there was once scarcity...
Barry Clark's career has been characterized by tackling projects that on the surface seem straightforward -- but in reality are deceptively challenging. As co-CTO of of SoftWear Automation, he's disrupting the $100B sewn products industry by...
I have been a passionate entrepreneur since launching my first business at the age of 19. With my first IPO reaching a market cap of some quarter-billion dollars in my 20's, I quickly learned how to take a good...
I used to host this "salon" at my house called "Chai with KP" on Friday mornings. It was a time when people could get together and talk about different subjects, strengthen relationships and...
The H2H (Human2Human) concept has taken hold of the marketing sector. But it's not just customers who benefit from an honest, personalized and straightforward exchange with another person? What's really happening is that we're living in...
Business is all about relationships, right? So what happens when a friend comes to you wanting to know if you have any feedback on their incredible business idea? I get hit up by fifty entrepreneurs...
A couple of years I was CEO of a company called Software Automation, a leading robotics company in the apparel industry. But here's the thing. I wasn't an expert in robotics or apparel. So why...
With M&A increasingly becoming the likely outcome for most startups, what are the things that you--as a founder--need to know in order to generate acquisition interest in your company, navigate to a close and how to maximize the outcome?
This episode of Venture sees us catch up with renowned entrepreneur KP Reddy as he takes on his new chapter. This tech incubator uses their wide breadth of expertise to nurture good ideas into great companies. Watch, as our special host...
Two recent encounters with young, new entrepreneurs have solidified a concept in my brain that I've known for a long time, but have not had the opportunity to explain until now. There's this myth that being a startup founder is romantic and...
In a couple of months I will be giving a talk in Estonia on Startups, Ecosystems and Innovation. 1500+ people are coming to a city that very few can find on a map. How have they consistently pulled this off? Focus focus focus. The entire...
When you hear the term, "civil engineering" your eyes and ears usually don't perk up in anticipation like they do when you hear "new iPhone" or "driverless cars" or "Artificial Intelligence." Instead, you think bridges, roads...
Sometimes, I'll put good money after bad. Not this time. Recently, I've seen some proposed down rounds on some investments I made a couple of years ago. I was offered the "opportunity" in invest more at a lower valuation. Sometimes a down...
My dad died suddenly when I was 15 years old. He was a bit of a trailblazer, the first of his friends to migrate to the US in the 1960's, landing at the University of Minnesota. I'm not sure how that process even worked. I can't imagine...
Not everybody is cut out to be a parent. Not everybody wants to be a parent. Same with management. Sometimes people become managers from a very intentional career path they have crafted over the years. Sometimes someone who never once expressed a...
This week I was at a Family Office conference. It was a great group of family and multi-family offices. There was a great appetite for private investments and specifically early stage. 1. Active Investment- FO have historical been passive...
Georgia Influencer: What's the best reason and the worst reason to become an entrepreneur?K.P. Reddy: The worst reason is -- "I want to make a lot of money. The entrepreneurs I know all drive nice cars." The best reason is -- "I want to carve...
Here are five takeaways from my recent fireside chat with Dana Barrett at General Assembly Atlanta: 1. If you have a great idea and market but you aren't getting funded, look in the mirror...
This has been year 2 of me giving a talk at SXSW. It is an eclectic and overwhelming event that is very different than most business events. Oops, I called it a business event. I was there for 4 days, and yes I had a lot of fun, but also di…
Investors talk about betting on the jockey, not the horse. By-the-way, it doesn't hurt to race a fast horse. While this list is not exhaustive, it is a great place to start. How do investors evaluate the startup CEO?
In the world of startups, we continue to hear complaints about lack of funding. Most startups ignore the fact that the venture capital world is a marketplace. It's not quite as efficient as some markets, like the public market, because it's...
In my travels, the local evangelists are quick to share how great their startup ecosystem compares to all the other ones. This comparative analysis is always an effort to engage in funding conversations and how VCs should...
My last post was focused on free will and how to effectively understand the concept to manage teams and your own focus. Another concept that I leverage is natural harmonics. With free will, it is about understanding ourselves and how we work our...
So, this seems to be my current mantra until I get distracted to a new one. Past mantras have included...Write checks, write code or keep your day job. Great entrepreneurs are unapologetic about exploiting opportunity. Building an army is...
First off, I am awful at time management but I think I am great at task prioritization. I also believe in Free Will and Natural Harmonics. For most of the people around me, these concepts sound like a broken record until they start seeing the...
I must admit that I was not the best student in school. It was very disinteresting and seemed more about paying my dues. Georgia Tech was truly about "getting out". Surprisingly, I found myself being the best student when I started my first...
