Insightful Conversations

Chris Brogan defines a freak as those with a "tattoo-like obsession" with doing business their own way. His new book, "The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth", plots the course for entrepreneurial success for these so-called misfits, laying out valuable rules for turning a passion into a sustainable business venture. In this conversation with Neil Bearse, Chris explains: "When you finally decide to be a freak, when you decide to stop shaving off the weird edges... you are going to find more business value than ever before."

Fred Reichheld and Bain colleague Rob Markey, co-authors of The Ultimate Question 2.0, discuss why the Net Promoter System should “reside in the hearts and minds of every leader.” They show how organizations collect and use NPS data from customers and employees, how Apple Retail leverages NPS every day to build a passionate salesforce, and why organizations need to hire for enthusiasm and use training and recognition to reinforce this service mentality.

A self-described Media Hacker, Mitch Joel is President of Twist Image, a digital marketing agency with offices in Toronto and Montreal. In this episode, Mitch and QSB Insight's Neil Bearse discuss the new digital reality in which businesses find themselves. Mitch argues that the trends that started with social media now transcend marketing and communications; the connected world represents a foundational shift in the DNA of customers and employees alike. His latest book, Ctrl Alt Delete, is a survival guide for the modern organization and the modern employee. While many business leaders react with fear and trepidation, Mitch sees opportunity, arguing that "in the history of work and business, we have never had this moment in time...and nor do I think we ever will again."

A self-described serial entrepreneur, Paul Budnitz has successfully triangulated the worlds of creativity, design, and commerce. Budnitz is the founder of Kidrobot, the trend-setting creator of art toys and fashion apparel, and, more recently, Budnitz Bicycles, a luxury bicycle company. In this wide-ranging podcast, Budnitz talks about his sublimely designed, hand-crafted bicycles that attract rubberneckers around around town; how to decide when to press forward with a risky idea and when to move on; the importance of knowing your limits (“talent isn’t necessary when you’re willing to collaborate”); and the coming age of design simplicity. Budnitz also issues a call to action for a new business model in social networks that would upend Facebook, and reveals his one big dashed dream (hint: has something to do with being a guitar player in a punk rock band).

Google's Digital Marketing Evangelist Avinash Kaushik is a perceptive, if volcanic, thinker about marketing in the online space. In this podcast, he talks with Neil Bearse of QSB Insight about the interplay among business, consumers, and data. The web, he says, is incredibly efficient at destroying inefficiency and killing ideas and business models that don't work. But how do you sell the idea to organizational colleagues that failing is part of success, and that the "perfect" strategy is doomed to failure? Listen in as Avinash shares his insights and unbridled passions. "I love the internet!" he blurts. "I would marry it!"