Open Source - (n) Noun - 1) A hypothetical business model that has made money exactly once (see RedHat) and is often bandied about as the next new thing. Also, known as the last ditch effort to save a failing software company. This is not to be confused with...
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Get Your Mindset Right – Focus is Your Friend Podcast
What really I do is encourage my clients to do is use a framework I call AIM. And AIM stands for Approach, Innovation, and Mindset.” – Ken Rutsky
Leapfrog Your Competition – Ambitious Entrepreneur’s Podcast
However in today’s reality of information commoditization and buyer led purchases, if you cling to those ways, you’ll forever be in the weeds of priority and importance...
The Hero’s Journey Featured on The Salesforce.com Marketing Cloudcast
"with us today, Ken Rutsky, one of the top B2B marketing authorities in the country..." @JoelBook, co-host
Message-Market Fit Trumps Product-Market Fit?
Product - Market Fit is an important concept in very early stage start-ups. It is the thing that is perceived by founders and investors alike as THE milestone to signify that customers want the product and it is time to accelerate growth investments. As Marc...
Show Me – Selling by Word Alone Not Enough – On ThoughtLeadersLLC.com
Why we need to add experience and engagement to our sales and marketing efforts
Pure Go To Market Harmony – Why We Need Both Classical and Jazz Performers and Performances
"We built the best deck ever, and sales just insists on changing it, they can't stay on message" - Head of Marketing "That marketing deck is out of touch, our audience just doesn't want to listen to that" - Head of Sales Sometimes, as a consultant, I just want to go...
Creative Warriors PodCast – Telling Your Customer’s Story, Not Yours
Yes, Jeffrey Shaw does decide I am the Ant-man Warrior! Good stuff...
The Way of the Go To Market Warrior – Charting Your Leadership Journey
"When you can snatch the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave." — Master Kan, speaking to the young Caine in Kung Fu. Today, being a Go To Market leader in an organization is harder than ever. I've written in the past that to be a Go To Market...
Profile InMenlo Local E-Zine – Bringing a new perspective to B2B marketing
Hanging out at Cafe Borrone chatting about B2B Marketing!
A Chat with Onward Nation’s Stephen Woessner
In this podcast, Onward Nation's Stephen Woessner and I chat about my story, working out, making your customer the hero and other stuff! Hope you enjoy!
Are You Selling Like it’s 1999? – My Guest Blog on The CEO Magazine
In the late 1980s I had the privilege to attend IBM’s vaunted sales training. We learned techniques for rapport building, need finding, objection handling, and closing, even including, and I kid you not, the highly praised “assumptive/alternative close” which went...
The New Math of Competitive Differentiation, 7 – 1 = 3!
New Math: 7 - 1 = 3. Stick with me here all you quant types! How many times have you seen this drawing in a piece of marketing? And the pitch goes something like this, "We are the only ones who can give you D, which is super amazing, because only we have A, B and C,...
Work with Me and Help Me Scale My Business and Launch New Offerings
My work-life is great but getting a bit crazy, so I am looking for help to capture and take advantage of growing and new business opportunities. Opportunity #1 - Business Manager This is a genuinely unique part-time opportunity for a high energy, organized, and...
So You Want to Be a Market Leader?
"To be fair, these are tough questions. And Rutsky knows it. The easy answer is that everyone wants to be a market leader. But, as Rutsky earnestly proclaims, some companies lead while others lag. The leaders. They focus on winning by articulating and connecting their...
Launching to Leading Featured on the Marketing Book Podcast
Host Douglas Burdett said in his commentary... It’s (the Viewpoint Story) ingeniously simple, but not simple to develop. Fear not – the book walks you through all the details of how to create and implement it. I found the viewpoint story concept so compelling that...
Launching to Leading Released – Read the Press Release Here!
LAUNCHING TO LEADING How B2B Market Leaders Create Flashmobs, Marshal Parades, And Ignite Movements By Ken Rutsky Publisher: Morgan James Publication date: February 2017 Price: $17.95 / trade...
A New Skills Mastery Model for Go To Market Leaders
I've been working on a model for clients who need to figure out how to build go to market leadership in their organizations, both at an individual and team level. I've come up with the following idea and would love to get your feedback. The eight slices of the pie...
Spirion – Stopping Sensitive Data Sprawl
Challenge: Ken engaged with Spirion in April of 2016. Spirion, then known as Identity Finder, had been recently acquired by a Private Equity firm. The new CEO believed that revised messaging and positioning would be crucial to accelerating the already strong growth of...
Ken Named By Brand Quarterly as Top 50 Marketing Thought Leader Over 50!
3Scale – Winning in the API Economy
Challenge: Ken engaged with 3Scale in June of 2013. At the time, 3Scale was looking for a way to stand out in a small but crowded market in API Management, where they had a price advantage and different go to market approach, but were not known as well as their larger...
Business, Religion and Politics…When Should they Mix?
When should they mix, until now, I've said, "Never". But I've changed my mind, here's why. It's been 6 days since Donald Trump has become the President-Elect of the United States of America. In that time, I have lost sleep, worried about what this means to my...
Transform or Inspire – Messaging to Start a Movement – Part 2
(This is a continuation of a multi-part post on igniting and leading a market Movement. To start at Part 1, go here. ) Purpose or Movement Messaging, as I describe in Part 1 of this series, must either transform or inspire a business issue or society. With the 4...
Thinking BIG – Four Types of Messaging to Start a Movement – Part 1
You have a successful product line, you are a known leader of a meaningful market parade, sales are growing, and so is your valuation. To quote a famous t-shirt brand, "Life is Good". Congrats. THEN you raise the big round, make the big acquisition, start to worry...
Politics, The End of Truth and What B2B Marketers Can Learn…
(Authors note: It's no secret among my friends and family that I have a preference between the two candidates in this election. However, I have tried to keep politics out of my business communications, and this blog will NOT try to be a case for voting for either of...