sysomos

The Weekly Blogging Wrap

Sep 18, 2011 By Mark Evans in Social Media, Startups No Comments Tags: Blogs, content, globe & mail, sysomos

I write a lot of content each week in a variety of places so I figured it might be valuable to provide a wrap-up:

Monday:

Globe & Mail: Knowing when it’s time to move on – A look at how some entrepreneurs such as TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington have to decide to leave after their business has been acquired.

Sysomos: Is social media ROI that important yet? There’s lots of talk about ROI but some major companies don’t seem too concerned about it.

Mark Evans Tech: The downside of Canada’s start-up buying binge – Everyone is excited about a bunch of Canadian start-ups being acquired but there are some negatives.

Tuesday:

Sysomos: The perils of pissing off bloggers – ConAgra pranked a bunch of mommy and food bloggers, only to discover it was a dumb thing to do.

Wednesday:

Sysomos: Six tips to avoid social media overload – It’s easy to get overwhelmed by social media so it’s important to have a good management plan.

Mark Evans Tech: Should Canadian governments be funding start-ups? – Sadly, the federal and provincial governments in Canada are still in the business of financing start-ups.

Thursday:

Mark Evans Tech: For start-ups, it’s all about traction – Forget about raising venture capital to nurture an idea; go out and attract some users and money

Friday:

Globe & Mail: A best-kept secret no more – The story of WattPad, which recently raised $3.5-million in venture capital from a group of investors that included Union Square Ventures

Sysomos: How would social media impacted 9/11 – What if social media was around in 2001?

Mark Evans Tech: Did a Web browser that sucked kill the BlackBerry? – The BlackBerry has been plagued for years by a bad Web browser. Now, it’s coming back to haunt RIM.

Why the Radian6 Sale is Good for Canada

Apr 1, 2011 By Mark Evans in M&A, Social Media 4 Comments Tags: M&A, radian6, social media monitoring, sysomos

In many ways, the sale of Radian6 was just a matter of time. As a leading player in the fast-growing social media monitoring business, Radian6 was a big target for anyone looking to quickly establish a strong foothold. So when Salesforce.com rolled in with a $326-million offer, it wasn’t much of a surprise.

For Canada, the sale of Radian6 is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s disappointing to see another Canadian company snapped up by a foreign buyer. On the other hand, it shows that successful and world-class technology companies can be nurtured and financed in Canada. Radian6 had enough time and money from investors such as BrightSpark to embrace an aggressive growth strategy to become a $40-million company.

Far too high-tech startups in Canada never get the opportunity to even attempt to get this big because they can’t find the financial support to help make it happen. Even if a startup has strong prospects and sales traction, they often have to pursue money outside Canada.

The sale of Radian6 and last summer’s sale of Sysomos to MarketWire (Note: I’m director of communications with Sysomos) should be seen huge confidence boosters for the Canadian startup scene.

Both companies are home-grown success stories that should embolden entrepreneurs, investors and government that world-class technology companies can be built in Canada.

Last month, Sarah Prevette wrote a column in the Toronto Star wondering why there weren’t more startup success stories in Canada. In many ways, she’s right that Canada’s active and enthusiastic startup community should be doing better.

But the success of Radian6 and Sysomos demonstrate with some financing, it is possible for Canadian startups to not only take on the world but dominate a new and fast-growing market such as social media monitoring and analytics.

My Week in Blogging

Nov 6, 2010 By Mark Evans in Blogs 1 Comment Tags: blog posts, globe & mail, sysomos, Twitterrati

Although Mark Evans Tech is my personal blog, it’s not the only one that I write on a regular basis. I have a Twitter-focused blog called Twitterrati and, as Sysomos’ director of communications, I write its corporate blog. And then, there’s my “Start” column for the Globe & Mail. With so much content being written each week, I thought it might be helpful to highlight a few posts:

Mark Evans Tech
- The Harsh Truth of Social Media Tactical Economics, which looks at how social media tactics is poised to become a low-margin business as companies look at the costs of making social media happen on a regular basis.
- The Renaissance of the Web Site: Social media might be getting a lot of attention but my consulting business is more busy building new Web sites or refreshing existing sites.

Sysomos
- 10 Reasons Why Social Media Fails: A look at some the leading reasons why social media efforts fall flat.
- Five Key Ingredients for a Successful Corporate Blog

Twitterrati
- Twitter’s Ecosystem Revenue Conundrum: The challenges Twitter faces driving revenue and making sure it keeps the developer ecosystem healthy as well.

Globe & Mail “Start”
- Klout Measures Influence level on Twitter: A Q&A with Klout.com founder Joe Fernandez

The Ingredients for Startup Success

Jul 9, 2010 By Mark Evans in Web 2.0, Web-based Services 4 Comments Tags: ingredients, startups, Success, sysomos

In my post about the success of Sysomos (which was acquired by Marketwire earlier this week), I talked about how Sysomos benefited from great timing – having the right product at the right place at the right time. This, of course, is just one of the many ingredients that, along with a healthy dose of luck, have required for successful startups.

So, what else does an online startup need to make it?

1. Perhaps the biggest “ingredient” is having a service that meets a need in a new or different way. Too many startups are vanity projects that cater to someone’s personal interests or needs as opposed to the larger market. They fail because they serve a niche that is far too small to create a viable company.

2. The service must be easy to “get” what the startup is offering and why a potential user should care. In the multi-tasking, time-strapped world in which we live, startups have small windows of opportunity to capture someone’s attention.

If consumers fail to quickly understand the service is being offered, they’ll quickly move on. This means a startup needs messaging that is clear, well-articulated and user-friendly. I’m personally a big believer in the power of the demo video because many people will watch a video before reading even the most well-written text.

2. The service or product has to do the job well. This is something that should be a given but you’d be surprised by how many startups create mediocre or, worse, bad services. This includes startups that launch an alpha or beta that instantly disappoints. Even if the messaging is clear, a bad service will quickly kill any interest from consumers.

4. The service has to be intuitive and user-friendly. Any hurdles, or “grit”, will quickly kill any kind of traction. This starts from the registration process to how quickly someone can start using the service or product. People have little patience, and want a gentle learning curve so having a service that is intuitive and user-friendly.

5. Fanatical customer service is also a key ingredient, particularly in the early days when a service is still being developed. The ability to quickly and effectively deal with problems or issues and actively solicit suggestions and feedback can make a huge difference.

6. Identify and nurture your champions and evangelists. As much as great messaging, terrific customer service and being active within the social media community are must-dos, the real marketing magic happens when a user is so excited with a service that they enthusiastically and actively start telling anyone and everyone. By identifying and supporting these people, a startup can jump-start its marketing and sales efforts.

There are, of course, a lot of other variables that go into creating successful startups such as having terrific employees and, if required, financing, but the ones above are “low-hanging fruit”.

What do you think are the most important “ingredients” for a successful startup?

Sysomos: Life in the Eye of the Hurricane

Jul 7, 2010 By Mark Evans in Social Media 7 Comments Tags: Canada, marketwire, startup, sysomos

As many people probably know, Sysomos, which provides social media monitoring and analytics services, was acquired earlier this week by Marketwire. I’ve been actively involved with Sysomos for the past 18 months as its director of communications.

To say the least, it has been a fascinating experience to see the company evolve from a two-person operation out of the University of Toronto into a fast-growing market leader with customers around the world. In many respects, it’s been like living in the eye of the hurricane in which everything happens so fast – new customers, new products, a new office, new employees and more recognition as an innovative player.

Sysomos is the fourth start-up in which I have worked. The other three – Blanketware, PlanetEye and b5media – were nowhere near as successful but they were tremendous learning experiences.

That said, I’ve always been curious about what it would be like to work for a start-up that had the exactly the right product at the right time at the right place. Sysomos was – and is – that kind of company.

After spending three years developing the technology, Nick Koudas and Nilesh Bansal officially launched Sysomos in late-2008. Over the next few months, Sysomos started attracting interest in its flagship MAP analytics service, and, as important, customers. Sysomos then launched Heartbeat, which quickly gained major traction in the social media monitoring market.

Looking back, what was probably most impressive about Sysomos’ early days was the conviction that its service had real value and customers should pay for it. This was impressive in a world in which free reigns supreme, even for services that offer plenty of utility.

Not to take anything away from Sysomos’ leading-edge technology or the people who have fuelled its growth but, in many respects, it was a beneficiary of great timing. The social media monitoring and analytics market started to gain serious traction in 2009 as more companies recognized social media was becoming a viable and attractive communications, marketing and sales vehicle.

Sysomos was there with impressive technology that met real needs in a way that differentiated itself in an ultra- competitive market. While I’m clearly biased, I truly believe Sysomos’ technology and services are the best, and I have looked at a lot of social media monitoring services.

With Sysomos now part of the Marketwire family, I expect its growth will become even stronger. It’s really hard to believe how far one of Canada’s hottest start-ups has come in the past 18 months.

That said, Sysomos’ success really comes as no surprise. When Nick Koudos showed me MAP for the first time in his office in January 2009, it was immediately obvious it was something different from anything I had seen before.

1 2 3 4