HubSpot products failed for much of last Thursday. (Since today is April Fools’ Day, I want to emphasize — this is over, but it really did happen.) The company’s apology email was sufficiently straightforward, clear, and contrite that two different people sent it me with complimentary notes. So let’s take a look at what HubSpot…
You should read Disrupted, by Dan Lyons. And you should take notes, because this is not just a story about startups, culture clash, and the technology industry. It’s full of lessons for every worker and every business. My post is biased, because I know nearly everybody involved here (for full disclosure*, see the end of the post). At first…
Around 14,000 people came to Boston for HubSpot’s #INBOUND15 conference this week. Fourteen thousand. For a company that helps you run your Web site more effectively. What’s going on here? This is what disruption without the swagger looks like. And it ought to be a model for every startup from now on. “Inbound” is a…
Here’s what I expect from a major newspaper: news. That is, reporting on things that are new. When it comes to sensational headlines about HubSpot, the Globe appears to have forgotten about the “new” part. Like many of you, I’ve been following the titillating saga of the executives that left HubSpot because, allegedly, they used…
Effective writing creates a change in the reader. Whether you’re writing an email, a blog post, or a strategy document, four elements determine your success: Reader, Objective, Action, and iMpression. I use the (slightly skewed) acronym ROAM to keep all four in mind as I write. Readers: Who is the audience? Before writing anything, visualize your readers….
A company with a clear mission has a soul. The soul motivates workers to contribute in positive ways to a shared goal. What do you call a company that has no soul? A zombie company. A zombie keeps moving forward but exercises no judgment. A zombie company has financial incentives where the soul should be. People do things because it…