Like many tech companies, marketers are struggling with legacy software that may have done great work in the past but just can’t keep up with today’s fast-paced tech world.

Kitewheel gives these traditional marketing approaches a more modern spin. Their Customer Journey Hub connects a brand’s legacy tools while orchestrating rules across these touchpoints, to deliver personalized, omnichannel marketing campaigns in real-time.

The company was founded in 2013 by Mark Smith, a startup veteran from the UK. Smith got his start in tech as one of the founding members of the Scottish startup Quadstone in the mid-90s. Quadstone was one of the earliest AI companies, mining sales, and retail data.

Based on their innovative technology, several companies in Massachusetts with large data storage were taking note of the Scottish company.

“We came to Boston because it was a great opportunity to grow internationally. We chose Boston because we had connections here to businesses like Thinking Machines Corporation who developed massive supercomputers we imported to Scotland,” Smith said. “We began at Edinburgh University with weather and chemical simulations, but Quadstone was founded on the back of some of the earliest data warehousing and analysis applications.”

In 2005, Quadstone was acquired by Portrait Software, which was then acquired by Pitney Bowes in 2010, and Smith became the GM of Customer Analytics. It was during this time that he began to re-assess how the needs of typical marketing clients were evolving.

“I saw a huge change in the power of the customer with hundreds of Marketing Tech companies trying to give a true, one-of-a-kind experience to brands,” Smith said. “However, most companies want things to be easy, and end up making-do using a legacy platform.”

Utilizing key resources from his business network of 20 years, Smith connected with a New Jersey business, Provenir, with a software engine that could help out with the growing needs of modern marketing teams.

In 2013, Kitewheel officially became its own business and has managed to stay bootstrapped throughout its lifespan. “We were lucky due to existing software being available to us to get started,” Smith said.

In order to fast-start the business, Kitewheel partnered with several nationwide marketing agencies over its first few years, despite some early struggles. “Agencies are sometimes difficult to work with due to the client-driven nature, and communication can become limited,” said Smith.

The company’s SaaS platform is a centralized hub where marketing teams can connect their different communication channels. Similar to Smith’s early tech background, the platform harvests data across the different channels in real-time, allowing teams to get the insights they need before acting on this information during customer interactions.

For example, with Kitewheel, a marketing team can track and personalize omnichannel interactions with a customer throughout the lifecycle, from their first login on a web page to deal-closing conversations with sales teams.

“Customer experience platforms are hot tech. Agencies are spending top dollars on this kind of software,” said Smith. “It’s all about giving customers a real connection.”

Kitewheel’s developments have led them to publish findings on the benefits of increasing consumer engagement with customer journeys. As seen in their report, “State of the Customer Journey 2017,” Kitewheel has managed over 2.5 billion unique customer interactions to help their clients generate ROI.

The platform’s capabilities are not just limited to one specific sector, as lots of other companies are also finding value in Kitewheel. “There are six main industries Kitewheel’s platform caters to insurance, automotive, retail, travel, telecommunications, and healthcare,” Kitewheel’s President says. “We also have four pure tech company partners, three of them from the Boston area.”

This year the company began introducing Fortune 500 companies, like existing client Gerber, to their software through a new direct sales approach.

Currently, Kitewheel’s team comprises 35, with their headquarters located close to South Station. Since the company began utilizing a direct sales approach, Kitewheel has hired Rick Fuller as their new VP

of Direct Sales. Fuller has experience in sales and account management with Tableau Software and IBM through their acquisition of Boston marketing tech success story Unica.

Kitewheel is one of the many marketing companies to be attending INBOUND 2017. Besides Boston-area conferences and trade shows, the company has made two annual appearances at SXSW.

The company has also received accolades for their platform, including being named a Visionary company for Gartner’s 2017 Magic Quadrant for Digital Marketing Hubs.  Today, Forrester named Kitewheel as one of leading companies in Boston’s MarTech sector.

Marketing teams live in an omnichannel world, where consumers frequent hundreds of channels. Kitewheel gives those teams a chance to take advantage of these channels and create a customer experience that is not only personalized but one a client can continue to use.

“It’s all about giving the customer a journey they can remember and ultimately come back to,” Smith said of his company’s mission.

Webster’s dictionary defines conflict as “a sharp disagreement or opposition of interests or ideas.”

Often times, the notion of conflict causes people great stress.  However, there is no workplace without conflict. The question is, how do we turn it into an asset, rather than a dynamic to be feared or avoided?

Let me just put it out there: if you want to be an effective leader, you need to embrace the notion that conflict is part of the game. Disagree? Recall a time where you avoided a conflict.  Did it have a positive outcome?  Exactly. Now let’s proceed.

The ability to recognize and understand the nature of conflict and bring it to a swift resolution is a core component in your leadership toolkit. Avoidance by wishing that said conflict will resolve itself almost never works. And should you fail to address it proactively, not only does the conflict itself escalate – you could be causing some irreparable damage to your career as well.

Even in the healthiest of workplaces, there is conflict. Typically, it stems from two major sources; communication and emotions. With communication, conflict can start with a simple lack of or bad information. Or maybe there is good information, but your team doesn’t know what to do with it. Then what? As leaders, we must ensure communication is clear, concise, accurate, and timely to avoid conflict. And don’t forget the “why?” It’s one thing to share information, but strong leaders will explain the context as well.  

Emotions cause the other major source of conflict. These often surface when people use deceit or other emotional weapons to take negative attention away from themselves. Consider the employee who isn’t performing well, and constantly points fingers at others to shift the focus. Or the person who fails to take accountability when the project doesn’t go as expected. Blaming, stirring the pot, and manipulations cause major drama within the team. And yet, you know what’s worse? The leader who chooses to look the other way. Your team looks to you to set the standard for NOT tolerating this type of behavior; not passively letting it fester.

Finding yourself a bit conflict averse? Try these approaches and see if it helps you build up a bit of strength and courage you might be missing when a nipping conflict occurs.

DEFINE YOUR BEHAVIOR BAR

My entire team has heard me say on infinite occasions, “no drama.” My daughters hear the same message at home. Of course, conflict arises. However, it can be addressed before it turns into a swirling mess of emotional turmoil and wasted energy. By understanding where that bar is for you, and articulating it, you are defining what’s acceptable – and unacceptable. This sets the tone and framework for collaboration, team building, leadership and people development, etc.  

PREVENT THE FIRE INSTEAD OF RUNNING INTO IT

How do you really handle conflict effectively? Attempt to prevent it from occurring in the first place. Pause to identify all the areas of potential conflict, and address it proactively before it causes bigger challenges. This takes some forethought and planning, and almost always circles back to embracing the communication points mentioned above.

GET IN THEIR HEADS

As a leader, you might have a concise and well thought out vision and message that makes complete sense to you, but conflict can arise if you fail to look at the scenario from the other person’s perspective. Conflict can often be avoided if you put yourself in their shoes, and tailor your messages to include proactively addressing what’s important to them.

CONFLICT = OPPORTUNITY

With every conflict comes an opportunity to learn, grow, and get better. Conflict doesn’t have to be contentious or damaging; it can be channeled into a healthy exchange of ideas to get to a better solution. Strong leaders will look to embrace these opportunities, and further their teams along through the healthy exchange of divergent viewpoints.

Nearly any conflict can come to a satisfactory resolution if it is supported by the good intentions and sincere effort to do so. Failure to address conflict, hoping it will disappear or solve itself is poor leadership.  Seek to lead your team to a common ground and shared goals and desired outcomes.  Can’t solve it with these strategies?  One simple trick to resolve just about any conflict:  when in doubt, just do the right thing.

Ask any entrepreneur in the Boston tech scene how they got into their field and you’ll always get a different answer.

For Ken Accardi, Founder and CEO of the digital health company Ankota, it was a series of hospital visits that kick-started a career in working with healthcare companies.

“I was born with a congenital leg issue called pseudarthrosis of the tibia,” recalls Accardi, pointing to his shin. “When I got to be about one year old, I tried standing on my own and I broke my leg. Because of this, most of my childhood was oriented around not being able to walk. We found ways for me to walk, however, and as a result of that, I became interested in health-oriented things.”

Nowadays, thanks to surgeries and therapy, Accardi can walk fine.

While working as a consultant for various Boston-area healthcare companies, Accardi was inspired to start a company based on personal observations. Accardi took note of how some patients in hospitals become frustrated with their lack of extensive care when they are sent home. He also observed how some home care providers were focusing primarily on medical needs and not other ones, such as providing food and water.

Accardi’s startup, Ankota, is on a mission to help the home care providers with a software platform to help the businesses run smoother. “Hospitals know how to take care of you when you are there, but not necessarily when you are at home,” says Accardi. “When we started this company, we decided ‘Let’s make home care better.’”

The name “Ankota” is actually a rough translation from various Eastern European countries that means “healing tree.”

“We had a marketing team come up with a list of names, and thought Ankota sounded cool,” he said. “When we found out what it translated to, we thought it fit the company’s core mission.”

Ankota is a cloud-based platform that provides home care businesses with an intuitive UI designed for both office workers and care providers like home health aides. The company’s product displays several aspects of home care business management, such as when a home care provider should be visiting a particular client, and listing which type of care the patient needs.

Ankota’s software displays detailed maps to help schedule when and where a provider should be. “One thing we are doing is we are scheduling in an optimal way,” Accardi says. “We are connecting the business with home care providers who are closest to the patient, and we have a route optimization component.”

These features are available in both the mobile and desktop versions. The mobile version is designed for caretakers, including its own specific features including a basic clock-in, clock-out feature.

With the rise of Alexa and Siri voice control apps, Accardi is looking to incorporate voice-enabled functionality into their product.

The 12-person company is located in Downtown Crossing. An interesting aspect of Ankota’s dynamic is its diversity, as the employee base is an equal balance of men and women. “We’ve been trying to push for diversity since the company’s founding,” Accardi says.

Most home care businesses are small, but the market itself is set to grow. “The market size today is about 8 million people and 50,000 companies,” Ankota’s CEO says. “We took a look at the demographics, and the market is expected to double with baby boomers starting to get up there in age.”

With those numbers, Ankota is looking to lend a helping hand to an ever-expanding market.

Colin Barry is a contributor to VentureFizz. Follow him on Twitter @ColinKrash.

Images courtesy of Ankota

Congratulations!

You’ve finally landed that promotion you worked so hard to get. Now you can enjoy the fruits of your labor: working on higher impact projects, the opportunity to lead your own team, and the satisfaction of peer recognition that accompanies this shift.

Oh, wait. Your peers. You have a few former peers that will be on your team. This could get awkward.

The transition from peer to management isn’t always an easy one. After all, many of your peers may have applied for the job that you just got.

There’s also the question of what kind of peer were you?

Were you the peer who was a shoe-in for the promotion because you’ve been acting like a leader the entire time, so no one is surprised or outraged by the actual event?

Or…

Were you the type of peer who was found gossiping about office drama and complaining about the end of quarter late nights to finish a project?

Whichever scenario fits, the key to maneuvering this transition with grace is found in self-awareness. Know what kind of peer you were and address any issues there may be authentically and head on. Be clear on what your new role is (as a leader, that role is to develop other people) and make sure your team knows you have their back - regardless of previous dramas.

You can establish authority and credibility without acting like the promotion has gone to your head. Here are some tips for making the transition smoother for yourself and your former peers you now find yourself leading:

Be Gentle

You may have a ton of great ideas about how you want to lead the team, but don’t start implementing anything on day one. Take some time and observe with fresh eyes - ask questions. What do your reports see as gaps or opportunities? Want a more structured approach? Sit down with each person on your team and conduct a Start/Stop/Continue - if they had the resources and authority what would they start doing, stop doing or change. This is a great tool to gain some understanding. It’s important to listen with an open mind - in fact, don’t respond right away. Gather the information and then look for trends and themes to test some of your ideas before you start making changes.  

This enables you to gain some buy-in, open your purview, and act intentionally with purpose.   

Establish Your Authority

You can demonstrate you’re in charge without making a show of your newfound authority.

Stay focused on ways you can show your former peers how you’ll work as a boss. Meet with your team, both as a group and individually, to talk about your vision. This is also the perfect time to get to know your peers all over again, this time as a leader.

Spend some one-on-one time with each of them and ask a few questions that will help establish your authority:

• How do they want to be led?

• How do they want to receive feedback?

• What are their career aspirations?

• What do they love about their job?

• What do they hate about their job?

Articulate how you see the team working and who you want to be as a leader, and then be sure this is the way you show up for work each day.  

Distance Yourself

Some may hate this, but the sad truth is, you can’t continue to have the same kind of relationships with your peers you once did. When the roles change, the nature of the relationship is bound to change. This doesn’t have to be a loss though, you get to design what that next relationship will look like. But, continuing to go out to lunch with a select group or playing ping pong with your former teammate bestie won’t fly because you may appear to be playing favorites. If you want to still hang, you can - but be sure to find space for everyone on your team.  

You’ll also need to think about removing yourself from some social interactions. On Friday nights out, you use to be the one buying the whole team shots. Now, think again, being "the boss" shifts these practical situations to a potential legal burden. If something happens when you are out, being in a people leadership role can make you liable (you’ll need to look into your state or check with your HR team to get the specifics). You have to become aloof and unavailable - go out, buy a round and make a graceful exit. Or, chat with your leader - what is appropriate in your organization? The important thing is to be intentional - pick and choose when to be social.

Show Your Support

One or more of your peers/friends may have been in competition for the job. Depending on their personality, they’re going to be hurt, disappointed, or majorly pissed.

In some cases, there’s nothing you’ll be able to say or do to make the situation any better or easier – they’ll just have to adjust.

Regardless of their response, make it clear that you value that person in and out of the office, and that you want to support their development. You can say something like, “I understand you’re disappointed. You’re an important part of this team, and I’m going to make sure you have what you need to succeed.”

At the end of the day, being promoted offers both perks and headaches. Enjoy the perks, and deal with the headaches as gracefully as you can. Be authentic. Own up to any BS you may have taken part of in the past. Have the self-awareness to know what kind of team member you were in the past and what kind of leader you want to be in the future.

Gabriela McManus is Executive Director at Intelligent.ly. Follow her on Twitter: @GabMcM

“If you’re looking for another dating app, you won’t find it here,” Bill Aulet, the Managing Director of MIT’s Martin Trust Center, joked. “We wanted our entrepreneurs to create companies with a social purpose.”

On September 9, the Kresge Auditorium at MIT was the stage for the early-stage startups in the school’s delta v accelerator. It was their annual Demo Day event where students, alumni, the press, and investors were welcome to take a seat and see what early-stage companies were in attendance.

For the 2017 delta v cohort, Aulet spoke about how the delta v program has grown since its inception and told the crowd this is the largest cohort since its inception. This year, 21 companies have started through the cohort. This year is also the first time the program accepted students and alumni from other schools, as Aulet wanted the program to bring more inclusiveness to the program.

Each year, the event invites a guest speaker. In another first, Aulet welcomed a delta v alumni: Shireen Yates, Co-Founder, and CEO of Nima Labs. Yates took the stage to talk about her time spent in the accelerator. Yates also gave a brief history of Nima.

Six Standout Companies of the delta v 2017 Cohort

The companies presented their products and services, with each of them trying to solve a major problem. For example, Mesodyne created a device for soldiers to charge their electronic devices on the battlefield; Roots Studio is allowing artists in the Middle East and Asia to share and sell their artwork online; W8X uses robotics and machine learning to help athletes get the most out of their strength training exercises.

While every company told a great story behind what they do and had fantastic products and/or services, I chose six standout companies based on their potential overall impact in their particular market.

Infinite Cooling

Founded by two Ph.D. candidates at MIT, Infinite Cooling has created a device over the course of three years to help power plants reduce the amount of water that is being wasted through steam clouds. Co-Founder and CEO, Karim Khalil, projected their devices could save an average power plant close to 150 million gallons of water. Also, in one of the more humorous presentations, Khalil used Homer Simpson’s “career” working in a power plant as part of their presentation.

Biobot Analytics

It’s shocking to hear about the opioid crisis going on in cities and surrounding towns. Biobot Analytics Co-Founder and CEO, Newsha Ghaeli, wants to pioneer a new way of analyzing data while users are still alive. Biobot Analytics created a robot to analyze a city’s sewage to measure opioid consumption, with the goal to prevent further usage in a community. Ghaeli also showcased a demo where their robot (nicknamed Luigi after the Super Mario Bros. character) being deployed in Cambridge.

Klarity

Andrew Antos is a practicing lawyer who was sick and tired of going through packets upon packets of paper to find important information within all kinds of agreements. Antos founded Klarity to create a platform to automate, and curate, the specific information lawyers need regarding sales agreements, leases, etc. At the after party, Antos said the company is launching in the next month.

Sophia

Those who suffer from mental health issues, such as depression or severe anxiety, will sometimes have trouble finding the right therapist. Sophia’s founder, Eva Breitenbach, wanted to create a way for those who are struggling to find the therapy they need. The company has connected with several therapists in the Boston area.

Pine Health

Pine Health is a team of medical students and professionals looking to give a helping hand in the home care market. “When a patient is leaving the emergency room, they are only given 30 minutes worth of training on what they need to do,” Co-Founder Lina Colucci said addressing the problem. Pine Health created a platform that gives personalized and automated responses for patients when they have a question. For example, a user can ask Pine Health which medication to take and it will give an answer.

Waypoint

AR and VR are huge industries in the Boston tech scene, but Waypoint is the only AR-oriented startup in the delta v accelerator. Waypoint is utilizing AR to help spread knowledge amongst employees in jobs that require hands-on work. One of the purposes they showcased was with training new employees. As part of the presentation, Umar Arshad (Waypoint's Co-Founder and CEO) used scientists and electrical engineers as the primary user base for their product.

Colin Barry is a contributor to VentureFizz. Follow him on Twitter @ColinKrash.