2012 was as demanding as ever in emerging technologies, as clients searched for funding, strategic partnerships and solutions to business dilemmas that ran the gamut. From CES to CEO, 2012 was an amazing and unforgettable year of service for some incredible companies.
5. CES 2012
My first Consumer Electronics Show serving multiple clients made it my most challenging CES yet. One of the world’s largest trade shows, spanning not only the Las Vegas Convention Center, but also several hotels, CES is a challenge period. The only way to make standing in a booth for eight hours/four days look easy is to run across that convention center for back to back meetings in unreasonable shoes instead. But, hey I ran off literally every holiday pound I’d put on! Most importantly, we met with several Fortune 500 companies that are field testing our technologies today!
4. Saying No
It’s heartbreaking to conduct a strategic analysis for a great team, on a great product, with a great business model and still tell them “No, this is not the space for you”. Doing so has also fostered one of my strongest professional relationships to date. Honesty in the face of enthusiasm, dedication and motivation is tough. Watching your client flounder underfunded in a “red ocean” of brutal competition racing to the bottom is worse.
3. Strategic Pivot
One of my favorite tasks in business is teaching others to embrace change. This is especially important in emerging technologies, where it’s easy to have your nose to the grindstone just long enough to miss a competitor or market shift that leaves you unawares. When this occurs, the most capable companies plan and execute a strategic shift or pivot themselves. This can be a daily occurrence and nearly was for several clients in 2012! No one gets to ski straight down the tech mountain! We also add automated resource review so that the shifts don’t happen without our clients knowing.
2. BP4B
I was honored this year with an appointment to BluePrint for Business. When the opportunity to mentor five start-ups in Oklahoma’s Premier Business and Technology Accelerator arose, I jumped at the chance to help these extremely dedicated, motivated, passionate and brilliant business people question EVERYTHING, then question EVERYTHING again. These are some of my best spent hours of 2012, undoubtedly.
1. CEO
Sometimes simply developing a Strategic Plan is not enough. This year I accepted the appointment by BuLogics, Inc. to execute the most complex Strategic Plan of which I’ve been a part to date, as CEO, an honor for which I cannot express my appreciation in words. My appreciation can only be expressed by exemplary execution on that plan. Bring on 2013!
BONUS: Scott Klososky’s Business Intelligence and Big Data Workshop
Grow! Grow! Grow! The world is changing faster than ever and the best way to stay on top is to remain diligent in your own professional growth. 2012 included a rare moment when my world gets turned phenomenally upside down. Scott Klososky’s Workshops do this for me EVERY TIME! My biggest challenge after unlearning everything I thought I knew about the topic is prioritizing all of the change I want to occur thereafter! This year it was Klososky’s Business Intelligence and Big Data. Mind blowing. As Klososky says, “The race to the future has no finish line”.
