Zvi Band is the cofounder and CEO of Contactually, a leading CRM platform for relationship-oriented businesses. He is author of SUCCESS IS IN YOUR SPHERE: Leverage the Power of Relationships to Achieve Your Business Goals (McGraw-Hill). As an entrepreneur and relationship marketing strategist, Zvi has been named a Washingtonian Tech Titan four times. He lives in the Washington, DC area.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
When business started difficulties overcame:
“one of the things that I found a big challenge when starting contractually was balancing the long-term opportunity of contractually with the short-term opportunity of my consulting work… I definitely encountered that balance a lot. And especially when we struggled raising funding, when we struggled hiring, when the initial product no one liked, all these different things that are very standard for entrepreneurs. The biggest challenge I had was not necessarily persevering in the light of those issues it was more hey I could always take a safe route. And so for me the safe route is the biggest hurdle I had to overcome”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Technology Products to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. MooreFavourite Quote:
“most people won’t” Bryce Roberts
Recommended Online Resources:
- Quora is a question-and-answer website where questions are asked, answered, edited, and organized by its community of users in the form of opinions. Its publisher, Quora Inc., is based in Mountain View, California.
- Reddit gives you the best of the internet in one place. Get a constantly updating feed of breaking news, fun stories, pics, memes, and videos just for you.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“it’s not going to be fun every day but you have got to wake up every day as an entrepreneur and pursue your dream, pursue something that you wanted to see in the world. That’s a fun experience. That’s something that most people won’t, most people don’t have the opportunity to do. For you as an entrepreneur no matter how much adversity you may face remember this is an incredibly fun amazing part of your life. So just have fun”…[Listen for More]
More About Zvi Band:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Cyril Northcote Parkinson/Parkinson’s Law
Other Quotes From the Chat with Zvi Band:
- “Build relationships. A start-up in a business is a marathon not a sprint. You are going to need an incredible amount of resources along the way. A number of the early investors that had come on board I had known for years in advance. Some of the Highers that we have even hired recently I’ve known for 10+ years… Absolutely start today”
- “culture is a framework that is used for people to make decisions in the business. And so having the right culture means empowering people in your team, yourself included – will make the right decisions”
- “it’s about constant forward motion… we were incredibly good at making sure that no matter what we maintained a constant forward momentum every single day”
- “when you go from early adopters to early majority you need to focus on a particular niche”
- “great leaders are readers”
- “you don’t need to have the right answer, you don’t need to be the smartest person in the room, you don’t need to be the most well-connected people in the room. Just keep in mind that most people won’t, most people will sit on the sidelines, most people will complain, most people won’t take that risk. Those that do win the world”
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