Founder and CEO of Radiate B2B, Riaz Kanani, on creating value in business
The Leadership Gazette is very excited to feature Riaz Kanani, the Founder/CEO of Radiate B2B, a company with a vision to change the way B2B marketing is delivered.
Riaz’s story begins at the ripe old age of 16, where he would eventually go on to create six startup businesses — with one of those businesses exiting to IBM.
“Ever since I was 16, I have liked to create things that people found valuable and share my knowledge.”
Being an early adopter of the Internet and the services before it, Riaz has always been a forward thinker. He quickly learned that all the great companies ensure people and teams have the spaces to succeed and be curious.
Over the years, Riaz built one of the world’s largest video advertising networks. It delivered the first-ever cinematic launch of a paid-for movie online, scaled companies globally and exited one of his startups to Silverpop, eventually picked up by IBM. He has mentored many startups on building teams, marketing and operations and has regularly appeared on BBC News, discussing the intersection of technology and business.
Nowadays, Riaz is CEO and founder of Radiate B2B: a company that helps other companies to win more enterprise customers faster, by providing a platform to reach the right people proactively.
“Our vision is to change the way B2B Marketing is delivered — when companies use our platform, they start to think of their market in terms of the companies within them and what makes them different rather than a homogeneous list to market at.”
This cutting edge approach places the customer at the centre and delivers a dramatically better buying experience. This approach, alongside Radiate B2B’s platform, puts them at the forefront of B2B Marketing and helps them to take a leadership position.
What are the most fundamental values driving your business?
Curiosity — Drive — Supportive.
Curiosity, to push the boundaries of what is possible.
Drive, push yourself to succeed even in adversity.
Supportive, understanding the clients’ needs and seeking ways to make them even more successful.
We asked Riaz what the best piece of advice he’s been given throughout his career is:
“People want to succeed. Take the time to understand and then provide them with the space to do so.”
One challenge Riaz has encountered along his career path came in the form of hiring their first commercial person too early and misunderstanding what that person should look like in terms of skills. He emphasises, “understanding need versus want is vital; too much focus on the latter can result in a wrong decision.”
Getting people to understand and accept your ideas can be difficult for any entrepreneur, so when asked how he manages this, Riaz puts his success down to understanding the listener and then proceeding to get your point across.
What does the future hold for Radiate B2B, and where does Riaz want to take the company?
“We will continue to grow on all fronts — be it product innovation, sales, marketing, customer success.”
Their next move is a direct result of the shifting needs of the world due to Covid-19. Because their platform delivers both long and short term growth, they can fine-tune its capabilities to highlight which prospects are the best ones to be talking to today.
Thank you Riaz Kanani for joining the list of exceptional leaders featured on the Leadership Gazette. Be sure to follow the work of Radiate B2B online by checking out the website and social media channels:
https://radiateb2b.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/radiate-b2b https://twitter.com/radiateb2b
