For the 147th episode of our podcast, I interviewed Arik Keller, Founder and CEO of Mable. 

Inspiration for a business idea can come from the most unique scenarios. Case in point, take Arik, who as a serial tech entrepreneur, decided to purchase a small-town grocery store in Vermont at Sugarbush. And pretty much everyone, for good reason as I would have told him the same thing, was that he was crazy and it was just an overall bad idea.

Well, this crazy idea turned into the inspiration that led him down the path of Mable. As he was getting into the weeds of running a local grocery store, he discovered how archaic this industry was in terms of the ordering process, which was still phone, text, or email.

Mable is modernizing the ordering process with an enterprise-level B2B eCommerce platform to simplify wholesale in the grocery and convenience industry. The company recently announced a $3MM seed round of funding led by Venrock, Accomplice, and Founder Collective.

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

• Arik’s career and his different roles in numerous successful startups, including the story of how his company was acquired by WHERE, which was then acquired by PayPal just months later.
• The a-ha moment that led him to start Mable and all the details on the company.
• Tips on what makes a great Product Manager.
• Advice for first-time founders on raising capital.
• And so much more.

If you have been enjoying The VentureFizz Podcast, then please leave us a 5-star review on iTunes. The more reviews we have, the more that people will discover these amazing stories about entrepreneurs across the Boston and New York entrepreneurial ecosystems. Thanks in advance—we appreciate it!

You can listen to the podcast in the player below. To make sure you receive future episodes, please subscribe to us on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or SoundCloud. If you enjoyed our show, please consider writing us a 5-star review—it will definitely help us get the word out there! 

Keith Cline is the Founder of VentureFizz. Follow him on Twitter: @kcline6.

What do the career path and the day-in-the-life look like for an Enterprise Account Executive at SmartBear?

We connected with Jack Downey to find out!

Click here for a list of job openings at SmartBear, or check out the right side of this page!

Where did you grow up?  What did your parents do for work?  

I grew up in Framingham Massachusetts, about a half-hour away from Boston. My Mom is a school teacher and my Dad is also in Sales like myself. Specifically HR Benefits. 

Where did you go to college?  What did you study and what were some of your initial jobs out of school?

I went to college at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I studied “Management Engineering” which combined some science with a core business degree. I actually had a sales internship at the Mathworks during school, and always wanted to pursue B2B sales once getting into my degree. After graduating I immediately started here at SmartBear, June 2015.

What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you to the position you have now?

Having a routine and taking value in your time is the number 1 catalyst to being successful in sales. Time is your most important asset. I attribute learning these concepts from the leaders I had in my life both personally (my dad) and the people I met at SmartBear (manager-level, director, peers). Being open, curious, and coming in with a positive attitude has made climbing the “success ladder” feel almost effortless. 

Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as Strategic Account Manager at Smartbear?

The “SAM” role at SmartBear includes being an account manager (main point of contact) for a set list of SmartBear’s highest spending clients. I have 15 accounts whom I maintain relationships with and help build out SmartBear’s technology portfolio (17 different tools!) where it fits best through my clients. It is my job to grow and maintain our top customers.  

Any tips for someone considering a career in Sales?

Don’t be afraid of failure, embrace it, do your best to reflect why, and then quickly move on. Everyone fails at some point in Sales, it's part of the game

From the previous answer; Time is your most important asset. Always assess how you spend your time on a day-to-day (build a routine)

LISTEN. Listen to your peers, Listen to your management, most importantly listen to your customers. Customers have full control nowadays, all information at hand. You will build trust from being able to understand exactly what a customer is saying, and providing your best recommendation (which should inevitably lead to a sale)

Day in the Life

Coffee, tea, or nothing?

Coffee at least 2. But lately I have been enjoying Yerba Mate tea.

What time do you get into the office? 

7:45 - 8:15

What are three things that motivate you in your role?

Money (duh), Competition, and learning something new every day. Being in the tech space, always something new around the corner, and specifically with our top clients.

Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?

- Sit in seat and open email for 5 minutes

- Coffee, eggs, cereal/banana

- Mentally walk through the calendar for the day

- Comb through any leads

- Comb through internal expectations I’ve set for different deals

- Maybe gym around lunch

- Complete a goal set for day (open opp, get a cold meeting, etc)

- rinse, repeat.

What time do you head out of the office? 

6-6:30

Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?  

Definitely depends. I am an email addict and have it on my phone, so I am always tapped in in that regard. Typically I leave my laptop in the bag, unless it's EOQ  :) 

Any productivity hacks?

Eat breakfast, set a consistent routine,  end your day with planning tomorrow. 

What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?

Uber/Lyft, Robinhood, Reddit

What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?

Consistently being able to visit customers and do large presentations with no longer being nervous. I’ve now done over 12 Customer visits the past year, which was brand new to me. Also being able to close the largest deal in company history this past September, but who knows how long that will be “the largest” (We’re blowing up!)

Who do you admire or call upon for professional advice?

 My Dad. He is in the same profession as I am and he always seems to know what is going to happen two-three steps down the road. He has an intangible knack for foresight, and gives great advice -  Thanks Mike Downey!

Drift CEO and Founder David Cancel discusses tips for time management, as originally seen on The VentureFizz Podcast.

Like what you heard? You can check out the full episode below, and be sure to check out all 140+ episodes of the VentureFizz Podcast by clicking right here.

Keith Cline is the Founder of VentureFizz. Follow him on Twitter: @kcline6.

For the 145th episode of our podcast, I interviewed Paul Martini, Co-Founder and CEO of iboss. 

The best part of hosting The VentureFizz Podcast is getting a chance to talk to some of the most intelligent and driven entrepreneurs in the tech scene. Paul definitely fits the bill on both accounts. He is a highly accomplished technologist, who earlier in his career, actually worked on the broadband network infrastructure that we would all later know as the cloud.

Paul, along with his twin brother Peter, founded iboss to address security issues for a mobile workforce. The problem is that traditional security appliances were ineffective at protecting a cloud-first and mobile world. The iboss cloud has solved this problem by providing organizations and their employees secure access to the Internet on any device, from any location, in the cloud.

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

• What it’s like founding and running a company with your twin brother.
• A deep dive into the early foundation of Paul’s career and various technical initiatives he worked on.
• The full background story on iboss and all the details on their platform.
• Why they decided to move the company’s headquarters to Boston.
• Advice for scaling a venture-backed company
• And so much more!

If you are listening to this podcast, then it is highly likely that you are interested in the founder journey and lessons learned around building companies. Please make sure you don’t miss any episodes by subscribing to The VentureFizz Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or Soundcloud.

Keith Cline is the Founder of VentureFizz. Follow him on Twitter: @kcline6.

For the 143rd episode of our podcast, I interviewed Jamus Driscoll, CEO of Moltin. 

Jamus has a strong history of success in the tech industry. He was an early member of the team at Demandware, which was a massive success story in the early days of SaaS. He played a key role in the company’s growth to an IPO in 2012 and the company was later acquired by Salesforce.com for a reported $2.6B. 

Jamus is now leading Moltin, a venture backed company that embraces an API-first Headless Commerce Service for high-growth businesses with sophisticated consumer engagement strategies.

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

• Jamus’ background and the overall progression of his career.
• A deep dive into the story of Demandware and how they were able to scale the company to an IPO and acquisition.
• All the details on Moltin and how the company and its technology is disrupting the digital commerce industry.
• Advice for executives who are looking to take on a CEO role at a company.
• Tips on how to make the transition into a founder-led company a smooth one.
• And so much more.

Have you checked out our YouTube channel? It is loaded with lots and lots of great content from our interviews with founders, executives, and investors. You will find lots of advice shared from these podcast interviews, plus our popular Inside and CxO Briefing series. Go to youtube.com/venturefizz to check it out.

For the 141st episode of our podcast, I interviewed Nicole Sahin, CEO and Founder of Globalization Partners.

International expansion can offer a tremendous opportunity for companies, but it is also incredibly complex to hire employees in different countries. When you factor in the various legal, tax, and HR regulations that vary from location to location, it is a major undertaking that requires a lot of time, knowledge, and money.

Nicole is an experienced entrepreneur, traveler, and philanthropist who started her first company in the Caribbean right out of college. After gaining industry experience in the software industry for an international business services firm, she founded Globalization Partners to address this issue of international expansion. Through its Global Expansion Platform, they make it easy to hire employees in more than 170 countries.

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

• Nicole’s experience building schools in underdeveloped countries.
• Her background story and professional journey.
• What led Nicole to start Globalization Partners, and how their platform is solving the challenges of hiring and expanding internationally.
• Advice for founders on getting press and coverage from the media.
• Thoughts on building a more diverse and inclusive leadership team.
• And so much more.

The VentureFizz Job Board is blowing up! There are so many amazing opportunities to check out across the hottest tech companies in Boston and NYC. You’ll find positions at all levels of experience across all job functions like product, engineering, sales, marketing, customer success, UX, and more. Go to venturefizz.com/jobs to start searching.

You can listen to the podcast in the player below. To make sure you receive future episodes, please subscribe to us on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or SoundCloud. If you enjoyed our show, please consider writing us a 5-star review—it will definitely help us get the word out there! 

Keith Cline is the Founder of VentureFizz. Follow him on Twitter: @kcline6.

Rave Mobile Safety provides the leading critical communication and data platform trusted to help save lives.

We interviewed Todd Piett, Rave Mobile Safety's Chief Executive Officer, to learn:

• About his background leading up to working at Rave Mobile Safety.
• All the details on the company, including a deep dive into their products and how they are making the world safer.
• The growth plans in terms of hiring and what's the culture like at Rave Mobile Safety.

Are you interested in working at Rave Mobile Safety? Check out their job listings located at the right of this page.

Keith Cline is the Founder of VentureFizz. Follow him on Twitter: @kcline6.

Accountability is something every company hopes you embody, and when it comes down to it, it’s a behavioral trait that I’ve found a number of people struggle with. It’s somehow easier to point fingers and blame another team when things don’t go as planned.  Often, I find people who fail to take accountability, while not intending to be malicious, are stuck in a victim mentality and struggle to understand how they’ve contributed to the less-than-optimal outcome. No more. 

Do you believe that your own success is predominantly in your own hands?  Fantastic,you are off to a great start. People who believe that their choices, actions and behaviors drive the majority of their success versus depending on outside forces which they can’t control tend to be far more successful. Conversely, if we blame the obstacles we face - whether they are personal or professional, big or small, on other people, you are likely to fail. 

Taking accountability isn’t just a mindset shift; it’s a learned skill that everyone can develop with a little practice. 

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY:

When we really take responsibility, we believe that we play an incredibly active role in the success or failure of an outcome.  Yes, that means even if you are on a team and you aren’t the assigned leader, you still believe your actions play a significant role in how things turn out.  You are committed to the result before the team even gets started. 

Ok, I get it.  But how can I put this into action?: 

It’s easy to take responsibility when things are going well, but try doing it when things  aren’t going as smoothly.  To really take responsibility is to do so in both cases.  Next time you take on a project or assignment, commit 100% to the outcome.  Not 75%. Not 90%. 100%. Own it by doing everything in your power to make it successful.  

Anything else?

Believe that you have the power and the responsibility to manage your own career and success; don’t sit around thinking anyone is going to hand you anything, or that any lack of success is at the hands of anyone other than you.   Stop obsessing about what’s happened in the past, and what could have been if only xx person had done something differently. Own your actions, and own your reactions to situations when they aren’t trending the way you’d hoped. It makes a huge difference. 

EMBODY YOUR POWER:

I’m not a huge fan of the term “empowerment” for the reason that it suggests someone actually grants power to you.  Empowerment is something we give to ourselves. When we do so, we take on the activities and risks en route to achieving the outcome we want. Sitting around waiting for someone to tap you on the head with a magic wand and declare, “Poof!  You are empowered!” is unrealistic. Instead, roll up your sleeves and take a step outside of your self-imposed comfort zone and start taking control and making things happen you want to see happen.  

Ok, I get it.  How can I put this into action?: 

Learn how to manage expectations.  I know plenty of people who are so hell bent on looking like they can take on the world, that they say yes to everything.  Guess what happens? They fail at achieving the goal because in their quest to look helpful, they couldn’t manage the insane amount of work they signed up for.  Next time you are about to take something on, manage expectations by asking a whole lot of questions and creating agreements about what’s truly expected, deadlines, metrics for success, etc. 

Anything else?

We have been conditioned to say “yes” to be viewed as a great team player, but “no” is just as powerful a word.  Rid your schedule and calendar of anything that isn’t necessary. Engage in work that is directly relevant. This is not suggesting you need to avoid being helpful to others, or that you shouldn’t tackle additional projects or items outside the immediate goal you are working on.  It is suggesting, however, that you should be mindful of your very valuable time. There is likely plenty of stuff getting in your way towards success that just doesn’t need to be there. Identify it, and purge it. 

OWN IT:

Taking responsibility comes before you even get started.  Embodying your power occurs when you are smack in the middle of it.  But owning it is what happens after the fact. It’s all about how you elect to answer for the outcome based on your choices, actions, and behaviors.  When you really own it, you stop pointing fingers at others, assigning blame, and making excuses. You take the hit when things don’t go well. And you apply humility when they go well, and humbly help others to learn from the success.  

Ok, I get it.  How can I put this into action?: 

Be truthful.  We are human, and we all screw up sometimes.  Trying to cover it up or assign blame to others is just completely uncool.  Be truthful, and own your mistakes. Reality check: people know when we lie.  If you develop a reputation for pointing scrutiny away from yourself or fibbing to save yourself the embarrassment from looking like you failed, people will catch on.  That is NOT how you want people to perceive you. So even if people don’t make the connection at first, by holding yourself accountable, you’re cementing your rep as a stand up person who can be trusted and collaborated with.  In other words, hold yourself accountable even when no one is looking.  

Anything else?

Yes, one more thing, and it’s pretty important.  When things go off-track, as they inevitably will because nothing is ever perfect, ask yourself a few key questions.  

• What is the real problem here?  
• What am I doing - or not doing - that is contributing to the problem?
• What can I do differently to help solve the problem?
• How can I hold myself accountable for the result?

No one has a problem taking the credit when things go well.  However, when we stumble, it can be far too easy to deflect accountability and point to others to highlight what they  did wrong. You have the opportunity to become exceptional - not just at work but in life - when you dig in and put yourself in a position to own your outcomes.  We sure can’t control everything in our lives, but how we engage, operate and respond by taking accountability is a significant contributor aiding us in achieving the results we seek.

Christina Luconi is Chief People Officer for Rapid7. Follow her on Twitter: @peopleinnovator.