Blindfolded Musical Chairs & Building Great Culture with Jeff Ragovin
Meet The Operators: Jeff Ragovin, former Chief Strategy Officer of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, (co-founder of Buddy Media acquired in 2012 for $800M) joins #MTO this week to discuss how to stay ahead as a startup, and examples of why culture can make or break a business!
Jeff played a central role in guiding Buddy Media from a start-up into the largest enterprise social marketing suite in the world. Today, Jeff currently serves as managing partner of Ragovin Ventures, investing & advising startups hands-on to scale faster and smarter.
#MTO (conducted by Zaw Thet) had a chance to catch up with Jeff.
3 Fun Facts About Jeff Ragovin
- Favorite Super Power: As a kid, I always dreamt of being able to freeze time.
- If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be? Issac Newton because we have a lot in common!
- Favorite movie of all time. If I had to choose right now…“The Goonies” (CLASSIC)
An acquisition to Salesforce.com, a new venture fund, & some deep sea fishing in between — #MTO Catches Jeff in Action
“It was awesome because, when you’re building a real culture like that, everybody just loves coming to work. It’s just fun!” — Jeff Ragovin
Top 5 Questions #MTO Asked Jeff
- Importance of Pivoting: How did Buddy Media begin? And what were some of the major changes that lead to its success? (1:50 min)
- Hiring: Looking back, how did you find & hire top talent? What would you have done differently? (11:50 min)
- Culture: How important was culture for you and the team? Are there specific examples you did that stand out and want to share? (17:44 min)
- Acquisition: What are some key lessons you learned at Saleforce.com (post acquisition) about how big companies operate, and a few takeaways you can share? (23:35min)
- Advice to Startups: What’s your advice on how smaller companies & startups should apply these “big company methods?” Do you think the same method applies at all levels?
Bonus: A day on the boat with Ragovin Ventures & a dining experience with the future of digital. #theDigitalForks
Read Jeff’s Responses
- Importance of Pivoting: How did Buddy Media begin? And what were some of the major changes that lead to its success?
It’s all a very interesting story, because where Buddy Media started, and where we eventually ended up, was a world apart. As a company, we went through many transformations through pivots.
The early days and original idea of Buddy Media was based on a loyalty platform called AceBucks. Users on Facebook would play games and earn Acebucks to buy real product and merchandize. We monetized Acebucks with brand activations through redemption and media buys. However, while we had some good traction, the brands wanted to create their own social currency and not dilute their messaging.
This took us to our first pivot. We moved into developing what we call an “app-vertising” business and created custom games for brands. We worked with some big players in the space from Anheuser-Busch to Visa, Mattel, New Balance, Intel and more. But, what we were creating was an agency business, and not a scalable technology company.
This brings us to our next, and most significant, pivot. In 2009, when Facebook announced that the pages product would focus on brands, we transformed into a SaaS business. Mike Lazerow, co-founder and best friend, had an amazing vision to launch a content management system around pages. This was a game changer and eventually became the bread and butter of our business and propelled us into a massive technology company.
2. Hiring & Interview Process: Looking back, how did you find & hire top talent? And what would you have done differently?
I’m often asked this question. During the growth of Buddy Media, I was too eager to hire a national sales force without having the necessary product strategy fully defined. Learning from this experience, I’m able to help companies avoid similar mistakes. It’s important that as a company is pivoting, you don’t look to expand across multiple locations too soon. Remote employees often feel disconnected from a company in this time of rapid change.
Keep it simple. Attract and hire the best people you can. It’s important that you focus not only on technical skills you need to grow your company, but also on the culture you are looking to foster. Once I found the right set of candidates, I always involved my team in the decision making process. As a growing company, every hire was a key piece to solving the puzzle.
3. Culture: How important was culture for you and the team? Are there specific examples you did that stand out and want to share?
Culture is the core of every successful company. It’s so important to get right. Kass Lazerow, co-founder and COO, is a master at creating an inclusive and diverse culture. Buddy Media was a company where people were excited to come to work. Not only because they were challenged and professionally stimulated, but were also given an incredible opportunity to accelerate their careers. Kass created a family atmosphere. People cared about the company and each other.
A couple stand out examples include an annual city-wide scavenger hunt that required us to close business for the day and culminated in a dinner, awards and hysterical karaoke performances. Other examples include kick-ball tournaments, color war, casino nights, and blindfolded musical chairs (video below). Looking back, it felt a lot like summer camp only we were creating an incredible technology company and making a lot of money at the same time.
4. Acquisition: What are some key lessons you learned at Salesforce.com (post acquisition) about how big companies operate, and a few takeaways you can share?
In many ways, Salesforce and Buddy Media are a lot alike. Salesforce has an incredible culture and extraordinary resources to realize their goals. At the core of Salesforce success is leadership and vision. Marc Benioff, CEO and co-founder of Salesforce , is an incredible thought leader. Benioff adopted a strategy called V2MOM. It’s not a process I was familiar with until joining Salesforce.
The entire company developed their own unique V2MOM. Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, and Measures.
More on Salesforce’s first-ever V2MOM — Business Insider
I thought this was a great way to stay focused on what matters and create a roadmap for success.
I definitely think V2MOMs are relevant for any company, regardless of size. Looking back, I would say that V2MOMs are more important for smaller companies. This is about creating opportunities for individuals to succeed, and to succeed as an organization.
5. Advice to Startups: What’s the 1 piece of advice you would tell entrepreneurs listening / reading today?
At the end of the day, you really want to make sure that you are moving in the same direction with your team and that you are constantly rewarding their contributions. “Reward” can be as simple as saying “great job”. I think it’s important to motivate people not only by compensation, but by acknowledging their contribution in other ways. In the end, it’s all about building a great team and culture. This can only be accomplished through leadership and bringing out the best in your team.
I’ve found that many entrepreneurs are ten steps ahead of everyone else. This can be really hard for people and demotivating as employees are constantly playing catch up. I think the key is communication. If your pivoting, and it’s a dynamic environment, you need to communicate, communicate and communicate more.
And finally, it’s important to promote and build positive energy. This doesn’t mean that people can’t have different opinions. Different opinions and diversity builds a better company. However, if you have a bad apple, better to act quickly before others get a bitter taste.
Bonus: Ragovin Ventures & Investing
Ragovin Ventures: You started Ragovin Ventures about a year ago, and you not only invest in companies, but also advise them on a lot of this stuff we discussed (scaling, strategy, culture, etc.) What are these companies struggling with most?(36:05min)
What I find with the companies that I work with is that they have already created a sound technology product. They need help getting from good to great and figuring out how to create repeatable play. One of the most challenging aspects for any new company is pricing strategy. There are many factors that go into this answer and companies shouldn’t be afraid to test different pricing models. Because so many of the companies I help have created completely new and innovative products, it’s important to not price out of the market from the start while creating demand.
As I mentioned earlier, finding the right people is critical to success. When working with my portfolio companies, I often match their unique culture and resource needs with individuals in my network. Early hires are arguably the most important assets for any new company. Getting it right early, leads to a better product, organization, and attracting future top talent.
New companies often struggle getting in front of the right decision makers. Because they may not have a fully realized go to market strategy and team, the founders find themselves trying to do it all. Because I’ve been involved in every aspect of digital for 20 years, I’m able to make introductions and connect these companies to the right people and the right time.
Investing: How do you decide who and what to invest in? Everyone has their own style, what is your process like? (37:19min)
I invest primarily in early-stage technology companies, that have a great product, and are bridging the gap for marketers to create more demand for their products or services.
In addition to my investments, I’m launching a new dinner series with Jackie Stone called The Digital Fork! The Digital Fork is an exclusive opportunity for senior-level individuals in digital. It’s a culinary experience that brings together brand marketers to eat, chat, share knowledge and talk about the future of digital. I’m always looking for creative ways to bring people together, plus I’m a huge foodie.
Find Jeff Ragovin below.
Follow & Connect: Twitter & LinkedIn
Invest: Ragovin Ventures
Dine: The Digital Fork
Fish: Check Out Jeff’s Insane Catches
