From Dyslexia to SugarCRM: John Roberts (Part 5)

SM: Can you take us through the process of building your sales team?

JR: People started calling from all over the world, so we built four different sales channels: an ecommerce engine, an inside sales team, a channel sales team and enterprise sales team. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: Saki Seat

Along with posts on education and health care, Deal Radar will also be featuring entrepreneurs who have managed to turn adversity into opportunity. Today’s post looks at the story of Glen Malmskog, an electronics engineer by training who had been laid off from his job in the tech industry and switched to becoming an entrepreneur. >>>

From Dyslexia to SugarCRM: John Roberts (Part 4)

SM: Who is your customer base? Do you mainly have small businesses?

JR: This is a very interesting area to explore. In open source there is very little control over who your customers are. As a result, we have everything from big banks to the Men’s Warehouse. >>>

Designs of the Week: Social Entrepreneurship

By guest authors Charles W. Bush and Kathy Hwang of 3Strand Innovation, a brand, design and business consultancy

Social entrepreneurship is a topic that is close to our hearts because we believe that this is an area where effective interaction between design, business and technology is most needed. As many people are mindful of their finances this year, the market is showing trends of customers mixing gift-giving with philanthropy. Here are some of our favorite jewelry designs that support social entrepreneurs around the world. >>>

From Dyslexia to SugarCRM: John Roberts (Part 3)

SM: The situation you described is not a pretty one. Why did you do it? Did you have any idea how you were going to make money?

JR: We just believed. It was pretty early on. We did not know how we would make money. We hoped to be able to create a commercial version, which we did. >>>

Postcard From Bali

We’re in Ubud, a village in Bali, Indonesia, staying in a small boutique hotel amidst rice paddy fields, and surrounded by lotuses, coconut trees, banana trees and beautiful tropical scenery. A great backdrop to access the zone beyond mind that Eckart Tolle talks about. >>>

Design That Moves Business: The Motorola RAZR Effect (Part 3)

By guest authors Charles W. Bush and Kathy Hwang of 3Strand Innovation, a brand, design and business consultancy

What happened after the RAZR?

The RAZR has sold over 50 million units to date and was named #12 of the “50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years” by PC World magazine. It pushed Motorola’s stock up at least $10 a share and brought the company a new brand of innovation and edginess. And it did this in relatively half the time that it took Apple to get its iPod off the ground. However, on June 23, 2008, the company’s stock hit a five-year low of $7.44 a share. With the current economic woes, they’re now sitting around $4 a share. What happened to the company that was defining innovation on the mobile phone market in 2004?
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From Dyslexia to SugarCRM: John Roberts (Part 2)

SM: During that timeframe, what did you think were the bright flashing lights of OpenSource?

JR: It was all about hope and belief. That is why in the fall of 2003 I decided to go for it. I asked my wife for six months to chase this idea. >>>