People’s Choice Award

Posted by & filed under Community, Updates.

They told us it doesn’t mean much…but perhaps it means everything.

After a beautifully delivered heart-to-heart from our CEO Mr. Talieh, we were able to capture the attention of a few Synergy participants who were curious about the first Citrix Accelerator batch. There was really no competition, in the sense that every Accelerator team member was rooting for the other and vise versa. Shout outs to iron.io, Unifyo, Primio and Core Mobile for bringing down the house.

One of the most memorable lines that Shervin gave seemed to really resonate with the audience: “Cut your call center costs by $50 dollars per Customer Service Representative, per day.”

That’s definitely one to take back to your Monday meeting and ponder about.

What if that was indeed just the tipping point? Can you really put a cost on great customer service? With sites like Yelp organically evolving to a direct “suggestion” platform (more specifically, a negative suggestions platform), can business owners truly afford to oversee the new world order that is to come? It’ll be exciting to see who catches on to the trend and adjusts accordingly. I hope that all companies will realize that their Acquisition costs are directly correlated to their existing customer service platform — or lack thereof.

Thank you for everyone who voted for Drumbi as the Citrix Synergy’s “People’s Choice”. It signifies that even enterprise folks can understand the importance of building a user-centric products. By the way, if you happened to miss the live stream that I did (via my iPhone) of Shervin speaking on stage, I’ve archived the video for your viewing pleasure: View Shervin’s Talk

Cheers,
Anthony
@singalongwithme

Synergy 2012

Posted by & filed under Marketing, Updates.

There is a huge problem that Drumbi is looking to fix, and it’s more prevalent now than ever.


Whether you’re a strapping young VP of Support for a Fortune 500 or perhaps you’re the Manager of the IT department at a much smaller business, you’ve gone years overlooking key statistics that will later come to haunt your next quarter end goals. The numbers are: 58%, 86%, and “5x.”

  • 58% signifies the percentage of people who are “not at all satisfied” with the IVR system that is powering your call center.

  • 86% represents the percentage of people who want to have the option of opting out to a live agent.

  • 5X is the average cost of acquiring a new customer, as opposed to engaging your existing ones correctly.

Now, if this isn’t alarming, I’m not sure what is. With the social stream becoming extremely active and easily accessible, customers are going to extraordinary heights to share their negative sentiment, as well as their positive ones. If you don’t believe me, see it for yourself.

This is no gimmick folks, it’s a call-to-action. Which spectrum will you fall in to?

We will continue to ask these tough questions and others like it at the Citrix Synergy 2012 Event in San Francisco. We’re both excited, and honored that we’ll be able to present our solution at an event of such high caliber. We want to thank the Citrix Accelerator team for being very hospitable and accessible in our time in their incubator. We hope to see you all there!

Cheers,

Anthony
Community Architect
@singalongwithme

The Most Engaging Form Of Communication

Posted by & filed under Telecommunications.

One of most interesting aspects of the human experience is that we take everything we do and learn for granted, and have a hard time believing that our methods and processes have actually evolved over a very long period of time.

Take the process of communicating with others. Today, we text, email, Tweet, Skype, IM, message through Facebook, or call. Most of these interactions are asynchronous (“async”), meaning that we send a message, wait, and then receive a message back. In fact, we are increasingly moving away from synchronous (“sync”) interactions (face to face meetings, phone calls, Webex, Facetime, Skype) as our primary or initial interaction, and are using async for the entire process, or at least to setup the sync portion.



Let’s explore phone calls. We know that people hate leaving voicemails just as much as they hate receiving and retrieving them. We also don’t like being interrupted or surprised by their ringer when they are busy. This has resulted in us texting one another (async) and asking “when can you talk?” prior to making a phone call (sync). While we take this form of interaction to be the norm, it’s a far cry from how we made calls even five years ago. Anyone remember answering machines? Pagers? Answering services?

Another example of changing behaviour is how we have more context about the person we are calling before initiating contact. Through Facebook, Instagram, Foursquare and any number of other social streams we have access to who, what, when and where. An example would be how you see a pictures of a place your friend visited, or a check-in at a great restaurant, resulting in a call saying “how was your trip to L.A.?…was the food at Osteria Mozza as great as everyone says it is?”

Context is changing the way we communicate. It give us an awareness of your availability (no need to call someone if you see they are on vacation), what you’re into these days (food, music, activities), where you’re hanging out, and who you’re spending time with. All of this is new, and yet we feel as though it has always been this way. Moreover, the pace of change is just going to get faster, thanks in no small part to the booming adoption of smartphones, and the increasingly normal practice of sharing information through apps and social networks.

What does this mean?

My prediction is that over the next 5 to 10 years we will see completely new forms of communications, one’s that orchestrate sync and async methods seamlessly, and predictively. Imagine having multiple options for connecting with a friend, and having the context determine what method is best? What if the platform could tell if your friend was busy, and dynamically turn a call into SMS? Why make a call when your friend is just around the corner? Why not fire up video if she too is online and ready? How about having the subject of a call travel before the ringer engages, giving the recipient some idea what you want to talk about and how urgent it is?

Irrespective of the device, application or method, one thing I know for certain: people will still talk to other people. Period. When we need comfort or guidance, need to laugh or cry, we reach out to other people with our voice.

People need to be heard. That will not change.

 

Thanks for Listening,

Shervin

The Kids Do Stand a Chance

Posted by & filed under Community.

There is something brewing in the quiet, but smart campus of UCI. It’s not quite Stanford, but it’s less pretentious and rather communal.

On the night of November 22nd, ICS/Engineering students from UCI gathered for the first ever “Appjam.” This event consisted of 9 teams battling neck and neck to see who can build a fully functioning mobile application in a week’s time. The only requirements were to create an app that would improve the life of UCI students academically, professionally, and socially.

I won’t get into the logistics of the event, because I’d much rather give praises to the ICS council for directing the students in the right direction. It’s one of my greatest fears that bright, young individuals would not harness their talents to create things. It was remarkable to see those who were more younger, and more experienced lead the team. It was even more moving to see those that weren’t familiar with the Android SDK, try their best to contribute to the overall app design. This is a beautiful thing; contrary to popular belief, teamwork also happens in real life. The most successful people plan out strategic partnerships ahead of time, because they know they won’t be able to grow otherwise.

Last night was a promising first step to change the perspective of students who are too afraid to try. I beg the pioneers of this movement to be evangelists for others; lead by example and pave the way for those who need you. By the way, as a word of advice…”time” should never be an excuse.

Special shout out to the winners “Time 2 Go,” who built an app that would remind students how long it’d take for them to travel to a certain class. I wish you were around when I was running from Jack in the Box to MSTB…

Cheers,

Anthony
@getdrumbi

How To Pursue a Job

Posted by & filed under Community.

 

If you’ve been anywhere near the current job market, you’d realize that finding a job is nearly a Mission Impossible. I have little to no experience on this subject matter, but I will give you a few ideas about how I positioned myself to land a great position. For those of you who are “awkward” or “nervous,” this post will be your first step into liberation.

 

1. Become a Professional Stalker:

What does this mean? Basically, take what you do with your Facebook and apply it here.

When looking for an employer, utilize their social profiles such as Linkedin and Twitter, to familiarize yourself with their likes and interests. It won’t guarantee you a position, but it definitely helps.

 

2. Post to Impress

Believe it or not, your Facebook tells employers a lot about you. It’s the new way to screen people. Therefore if you say you’re interested in a political profession, you shouldn’t be flooding your updates with other unrelated things. This doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with your posts! Does the name Colbert ring a bell?

I try to post links that are relevant to my career path. There are tons of great blogs out there that cover virtually everything. Find a good handful of them and start subscribing! More importantly, you’ll start to understand and adopt the lingo directly from industry leaders.

 

3. Get linked into Professional Networks:

Linkedin is a great way to stay connected. People who are apart of this network aren’t particularly keen on “poking” people; but they’re actively looking for a job. If they aren’t looking, they’ll probably have a lot of knowledge about how you should go about looking for one. Don’t be afraid to add people you “barely” know – think of it as the equivalent of taking business cards.

You can also join professional groups relative to your interests via Linkedin. These groups have walls dedicated to everything and anything related to the specific group. I’ve personally seen many people get jobs through being an active member of the group (i.e. posting good content and commenting on other posts).

 

4. Coffee Dates:

Ask some people out for coffee! It’s totally acceptable (from what I’ve seen); to ask someone to impart wisdom on you during a coffee meet up. As a general rule of thumb, you should probably pay for their coffee. During these meet ups, ask a lot of questions about their experiences and try to minimize rambling about your own.

You may also want to try Meetup, a site for local groups to come together to talk about different resources relative to your desired job.

 

Before blaming mystical forces for your unemployment, make sure you’re doing everything humanly possible to amaze your future employer. Self-preparation should occur on a day-to-day basis, and not just 30 mins before an interview. When you find that job that you think is right, fight for it, even after the rejection.

 

 

Stay Hungry My Friends,

Anthony

@singalongwithme

 

 

 

 

 

What the heck are you talking about?

Posted by & filed under Inspiration, Technology.

Recently a friend asked me what “Twitter” was. Quite honestly it seemed very trivial to me. So much so, that I had to pause and think about what I was going to write in response. Oh, you know, Twitter, the thing that everyone in the world uses! She might as well have asked me what sliced bread was, right?
Wrong.

 

 
photo taken by Viper12
After attending Disrupt SF, I’ve realized that we naturally perceive others as the early adopter type, or at the very least, “tech savvy.”  We then make the mistake of treating them as such, without evaluating what we’re really doing.This is especially true when we are in tech-centric locations like Silicon Valley. If you aren’t working on something “revolutionary” or “Facebook-esque,” then you can’t contribute to everyday conversation.

 

Right?

 

As bonafide geeks, I think it’s best that we keep in mind that we aren’t the only “cool” people in this world, and in fact, there are others who will simply do not understand what we are talking about. This is a great thing! It is in the conversion of the people who are outside of our circles (+1 for that reference), that is the metric for true reach. Not only that, but there is an untapped population of people who are begging us to be less nerdy and more relative.

 

Twitter has done something remarkable. They aren’t just another “cool tech fad.” They’ve strategically become a new way to communicate. People who aren’t techie can dig that.  Why? Because all their friends are on it and it’s simple.

 

Let’s respect everyone–those who understand us and those who don’t. There is something beautiful that happens when you can convey what you’re inventing to everyone and anyone. More importantly, you’ll quickly realize through their reactions if you are even on track to creating something worthwhile.

 

Anthony
@singalongwithme

 

How to Admit That You’re Thankful

Posted by & filed under Inspiration.

As a startup CEO, I do four things: focus on the big stuff, focus on money, coordinate what needs to get done, and build/motivate/retain a great team. As startup life involves a weekly, if not daily rollercoaster ride, it’s hard to keep the balance and you inevitably let one or more of the aforementioned areas go unchecked for a while. This is typically done because you can “afford” to take something for granted, and it becomes easy to defocus from one of your primary tasks.

 

 

For me, its motivating my team.

 

I am downright spoiled when it comes to my team. They are the most amazing group of individuals I have ever had the privilege of working with. Notably, I would like to share my thoughts on Faiza (more commonly known as @faizaca), and what it has been like to work with her.

 

Faiza came to us through a lengthy courting process. My co-founder, Farsheed, and I had made the decision that we wanted her, even after she turned us down. As luck (and perseverance) would have it, she kept the communication lines open and we ultimately convinced her to join us 3 months later. Little did either of us know that we were about to undertake a major pivot, and that our mission would become exponentially more complex.

 

Over the past 9 months, we have asked a great deal of Faiza. She inherited two major customer relationships from me, and was then asked to build and deliver the solution we had “painted” for them. This was made especially challenging as we were trying to be deadline and client oriented, while still maintaining our desire to learn and optimize what our production solutions would ultimately look like.

 

On many occasions – too many, in fact – she had to deliver tough news to our customers and partners, and had to smile and listen as they vented some of their frustrations.

 

So several months in, she decided it was time to make a change….and “no”, she didn’t leave.

 

She worked weekends. Late nights. Early mornings. She sacrificed her personal life. She took ownership of the quality and testing process. Stepped in when our hiring was too slow. She dug deeper. Faster. Harder.

 

The crazy thing? We never had to ask her to do any of this. It’s the rare case of a professional seeing what needed to be done, and then making it happen. In return, I have forgotten to give her the gratitude she rightfully deserves. This blog post is my attempt to fix that.

 

Faiza, thank you for being on our team; I cannot have imagined this past year without you.

 

To the rest of the team, it goes without saying that you’re a remarkable group of people. Shout outs to our developers in Cebu who give up many sleepless nights in our Philippine office. You guys are the backbone of our company.

 

Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.

 

Best,

Shervin