Ex-Reddit CEO Ellen Pao Returns to Venture Capital

Ex-Reddit CEO Ellen Pao Returns to Venture Capital. Her previous stint as a VC ended in 2012 when she sued her employer, Kleiner Perkins, for gender discrimination.

Ellen Pao, the technology investor who made headlines by suing one of Silicon Valley's most successful VC firms for gender discrimination, is finally making her return to venture capital.

Pao on Tuesday announced she will be joining Kapor Capital as a senior member of the firm's investment team. Kapor Capital is known as one of the few firms in Silicon Valley that places a strong emphasis on supporting entrepreneurs who want to make a social impact or who come from underrepresented groups.

"Ellen is an inspiring change leader," said Mitch Kapor, partner at the Kapor Center, in a statement. "We are fortunate to be able to tap into her vast business expertise and passion as we challenge Silicon Valley to build diverse and inclusive tech workplaces."

Pao told Inc. that the bulk of her work will focus on tech diversity efforts. She said she will work with Kapor Capital's portfolio companies to help them drive diversity and inclusion as they grow their teams. Additionally, Pao will be joining the Kapor Center for Social Impact as its chief diversity and inclusion officer. In that role, she will help formulate strategies tech companies can use to improve their hiring and retention of women and minorities and other underrepresented groups.

Aside from some angel investing here and there, Pao's work with Kapor Capital will be her first time in venture since leaving Kleiner Perkins in 2012. There, Pao served as a partner for seven years, but she left after suing the firm for gender discrimination. The high-profile case continued through 2015 and culminated in Pao losing on all counts. The case, however, was a wake-up call for many, highlighting the challenges women face in Silicon Valley.

For a brief period in 2014 and 2015, Pao also served as the interim CEO of Reddit, the popular link aggregation and social forum service, but Pao left the company after receiving a barrage of abuse from users after she fired a popular employee.

Pao used both the legal battle against Kleiner Perkins and her exit from Reddit as a springboard for a career as an advocate of tech diversity.

Last year, Pao and a number of other women in tech banded together to create Project Include, a group intended to collect and share data with the purpose of helping tech employers with their diversity efforts. Pao said Project Include is now formally a nonprofit organization and will soon be hiring an executive director and a full-time team. Pao said she will be handing off her responsibilities over time but plans to continue to be involved.

"With the Kapor Center, I see it as implementing solutions of scale across the whole tech pipeline," Pao told Inc. "It allows me to have an even bigger impact."

Article Source: http://www.inc.com

The Importance of Lead Validation in Internet Marketing

After building a lead generation campaign, one thing should be clear: how you are going to manage the many inquiries your site will generate. If you mismanage your leads, your site can turn into a wasteland, and that won’t be good for anyone. While many companies rely on Google Analytics for this task, there are a few holes in that type of tracking:

• There is no qualitative analysis; it only counts form submissions.
• Sixty percent of vital data is excluded because phone calls are not included.
• The Google Analytics goal doesn’t show the actual form submission.
• Most importantly, you cannot validate that the completed Google Analytics goal was a sales lead.

Those kinds of holes can cause you to miss out on valuable opportunities — so, what is the alternative? Lead validation, which is the process of separating sales leads from non-sales-related conversions, will give you the most accurate data from your lead generation campaigns.

“The Critical Importance of Lead Validation in Internet Marketing” study reveals that half of a company’s website inquiries are not sales leads. Other key findings from the lead validation study:

• The highest number of leads, with 19 percent for both days, converted on Mondays and Tuesdays, followed by 18 percent on Wednesdays and 17 percent on Thursdays.
• Most leads, 85 percent, converted on the first visit. After the first visit, the drop-off is significant, proving that site quality is a big deciding factor for website visitors.

Having this critical data will aid you in filling those holes in your lead generation campaign because you will discover:

• Which online marketing channel was responsible for each validated sales lead.
• The accurate number of sales inquiries versus other non-sales conversions (e.g., customer service communication, sales solicitations, job applications, phone misdials, spam form submissions, etc.).
• The cost per lead will be accurate as opposed to the cost per conversion, which the study proves can be misleading.
• How to optimize campaign performance based on sales leads instead of only inquiries, which can include a large amount of other types of conversions.

When marketers judge the success of their campaigns (SEO, PPC, email, etc.) on the number of inquiries they receive, there is a chance their results are largely overstated. A campaign that brings in a lot of inquiries may in reality be generating very few leads, whereas a campaign that generated few inquiries may be generating more solid leads.

Lead validation will ensure that marketers work off reliable data so that they can adjust campaigns accordingly to generate an abundance of quality leads.

This will improve the efforts of your sales team as well, and who doesn’t love great sales and marketing alignment? When the marketing team validates leads, the sales team spends less time sifting through a lot of non-leads and more time moving prospects further along the funnel.

This will get the best leads into their hands in the most effective way, improving follow-up response time and quality close rates.

Why Lead Validation Is a Necessary?

Based on our extensive data, an extremely high percentage of inquiries — roughly 50 percent — are something other than actual sales leads. Without a validation process, clients will easily fall into two serious traps:

First: they will overestimate the results of their campaigns, possibly by as much as 50 percent. This will lead them to invest in campaigns judged to be contributing ROI — campaigns that are in reality generating minimal returns or even losses.

Second: they will not be able to accurately determine which campaign elements are generating sales leads, as opposed to inquiries. This means campaigns will improve more slowly, or campaign changes judged to optimize lead generation will instead have a neutral or negative effect.

Article Source: SBWire

5 Ways to Build Emotionally Intelligent Leaders in Your Organization

Emotional intelligence has been identified as a strong indicator and even predictor of effective leadership. It has been studied and researched resulting in evidence that strongly suggests that organizations with emotionally intelligent leaders results in a higher return on investment. We have all read that EQ is defined as our ability to identify and manage our own emotions as well as recognize that of others and groups. It requires effective communication between the rational and emotive centers of our brain – it represents the path between feeling and reason.

The brain science surrounding EQ is quite powerful and compelling. As reported by Daniel Goleman in his book, "Primal Leadership, Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence", the four skills that together make up Emotional Intelligence include; self awareness and self management, which are about personal competence; and social awareness and relationship management, which are about social competence.

Goleman goes on to state that "Gifted leadership occurs where heart and head - feeling and thought - meet." Studies have found: EQ is a required competency for effective leaders; EQ is the #1 predictor of professional success & personal excellence; and EQ affects organizational profitability and performance.

Developing emotionally intelligent leaders is a smart business strategy and can start with embracing the following 5 practices:

1) Develop Inner Strength

Leadership begins and ends with inner strength requiring the ability to understand ourselves while consistently learning, growing and pushing in new ways. In addition to enhancing self awareness, strong leaders are adaptable to their surroundings, transparent, exhibit positive energy and practice emotional self-control.

Effective leaders are empathetic, service-oriented and organizationally aware of their surroundings, reading people and cues well. Lastly, they are relationship builders, inspiring others, influencing effectively, coaches, people developers, team collaborators and able to manage conflict as well as change. All of these are dimensions of emotional intelligence. Ongoing self assessment and exploration is key to leverage strengths as well as create development plans for growth.

2) Create a Culture of Compassion

Employees need to feel valued, appreciated and acknowledged for their contributions. Showing vulnerability and compassion is a sign of strength and creates an environment of trust. Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, discussed his own transformation and appreciation for the power of compassion as a foundation of leadership in his organization. He shared the impact it will have when you create a culture of compassion that guides all decisions, even the difficult ones resulting in a higher level of transparency, credibility and outcomes that are mutually embraced.

3) Enhance Relationship Building Across Levels and Functions
Open communications and a focus on establishing, building and nurturing long lasting relationships is essential. Connecting with individuals cross functionally and within other locations, geographies should be expected and encouraged throughout an organization. Engaging across, up and down should be a common standard that is supported with resources and tools to do so effectively. When we provide a venue for this kind of deep and rich relationship building, it creates a platform and norm enabling social competence to be developed and mastered.

4) Encourage and Invest in Continuous Learning

Working with leaders to understand and build their level of emotional intelligence also develops their capacity to role model behaviors that will empower and enable others to unleash their own leadership skills resulting in a strong talent pool for the organization. Great leaders are life-long learners always looking to further develop their knowledge, competencies and skills. In fact, there are a number of assessments that help us to determine our level of emotional intelligence allowing us to identify elements of strength as well as areas for improvement including the highly regarded BAR-ON EQ-i self assessment and 360 tool. There are also several resources available on this topic including the book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves.

5) Reinforce Qualitative AND Quantitative Metrics to Measure Outcomes

Learning organizations appreciate the value of using data analytics to make the business case to support development initiatives. There are a number of compelling findings included in Goleman's book that support this point as well. According to the Center for Creative Leadership, the three most significant causes of career derailment for executives involve deficits in emotional competence:

1. Difficulty Handling Change.
2. Inability to Work Well in a Team and 
3. Poor Interpersonal Relations.

According to Tony Simons, Harvard Business Review, the more associates feel trust in their bosses, an emotional response, the higher the profits for the organization. In one study, a 1/8 point improvement on a survey of employees' perceptions of how much managers earned their confidence increased profitability by 2.5%. That increase in profitability meant a quarter million dollar profit increase per business unit per year. The business case is strong for building emotionally intelligent leaders for positive impact on profitability and performance.

Building emotional intelligence is not only a strong predictor of effective leadership but can contribute to greater productivity, performance and ultimately profitability for all. What level of EQ do you and your leaders possess? Invest in developing your staff and your leadership potential at all levels of your organization. Remember, individuals do not have to be in a leadership role to be a leader. Unleash leadership skills in all!

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/

Top Trends to Watch in 2017: The Freelance Economy

Freelancers now account for nearly 35% of the U.S. workforce and the trend is only picking up speed with more professionals opting to create their own jobs in lieu of more traditional full-time employment.

As we head into the new year, we want to shed a bit more light on this burgeoning sector of the workforce. What kind of location, industry and demographic trends are surfacing among the freelance professionals of 2016? You might not know, for example, that a whopping 40% of our freelancers are concentrated in just four states: California, Texas, Florida and New York. Or that more senior men are most likely to take the leap into freelancing.

The time is ripe to be a freelancer in America so we’re revealing insider insights like these to help you learn more about this trending profession. Check out the report below - gleaned from a survey of more than 9,500 of our ProFinder professionals - to see what we discovered.

Methodology

The results of this analysis represent the world seen through the lens of data collected via a LinkedIn ProFinder survey. As such, it is influenced by how members chose to respond to survey questions, which can vary based on professional, social, and regional culture, as well as overall survey availability and accessibility. These variances were not accounted for in the analysis. The survey was distributed to ~53,000 active ProFinder professionals. This final analysis is comprised of data submitted from 9,589 of these LinkedIn ProFinder members.

Industry Favorites

 

Marketing, Business Consulting and Design topped the charts as the leading industries for freelance work in 2016. In fact, these three categories accounted for nearly 50% of our ProFinder survey respondents.

Who’s Doing What?

 

Younger freelancers lean on skills and technology, while older freelancers leverage experience and established personal networks. According to our data, skills-based fields like writing, photography and home improvement are the most popular amongst younger freelancers. On the other hand, more senior freelance professionals tend to take on roles as coaches, business consultants, real estate professionals and marketers.

Bright Lights, Big Cities!

 

According to our data, 40% of freelance professionals are concentrated in four states with major urban populations: California, Texas, Florida and New York.

Profile Patterns

 

The average freelancer is currently an older male. According to our data, the more senior a professional is in their career, the more likely they are to take on freelance work or transition into freelancing as an alternative to retirement. On top of that, nearly two-thirds of all professional freelancers surveyed were male.

Money, Money, Money

 

According to our data, just over half of all freelance professionals report earning 100% of their annual income from their freelance work. That leaves a massive number of freelancers who are taking projects on the side of their day jobs, hoping to grow their self-employed income distribution next year.

Paid Per Project

 

According to our data when it comes to hourly rates, there’s a broad spectrum of how much freelancers are charging for their time. Average hourly rates tend to be in the $50-$150/hr. range, with older freelancers typically charging more than their younger counterparts. When it comes to billing, more than two-thirds of freelancers charge either by the project, feature or on a retainer basis, which reduces the need to track hours for projects.

Top Earners

 

Certified pros are in high demand. According to our data, freelancers who practice law, offer certified coaching or financial services tend to charge significantly more than other types of freelancers. The freelance fields of work that command the lowest rates, such as writing, design and software development have lower barriers to entry and measurably more competition.

10 Powerful Habits for Building a Personal Brand

CREDIT: Getty Images

Building and promoting your own personal brand is as important for you as it is for any company. Maybe more.

We all know the power of brands. Who anywhere in the world isn't familiar with McDonald's fabled golden arches, Coca-Cola's distinctive red-and-white logo, or the green Starbucks mermaid?

But here's a secret--building and promoting your own personal brand is just as important for your success and happiness as it is for any business. In fact, since it's you we're talking about, it might be even more important.

In her book Personal Branding and Marketing Yourself, executive coach, trainer, and consultant Rita B. Allen explains that there are 10 habits you should adopt to market yourself while building a more powerful personal brand.

1. Identify specific target markets
When you're building your brand, it's better to first focus on a few, most-promising targets, than to try to reach out to the entire world all at once. You'll get the greatest payoff for your time and money by identifying the segments of your market where you are likely to achieve the greatest rewards, and then pursuing them relentlessly.

2. Know your marketplace
Your brand is only as good as you are. Stay up to date with your industry--the latest news, practices, companies, and other information. The moment you begin to fall behind is the moment your brand will begin to tarnish.

3. Be visible and "in play"
Building a brand means getting out of your office and becoming very visible to your target audience and potential customers and clients. Attend networking events and become active in your profession and community. The more visible you are, the stronger your brand.

4. Become a source of relevant information
You should be someone people contact when they want expert advice or information on a particular topic. When you build a following as a content expert, you put yourself in position to be viewed as a trusted authority, which will attract people to you.

5. Always give something back to your profession and community
When you give back to others, not only will you gain the personal satisfaction that comes from doing it, but you'll build your brand in ways that money can't buy. People will remember the good deeds you have done, and your personal brand will benefit as a result.

6. Practice networking etiquette
Networking is all about marketing yourself, but it's also about giving others the opportunity to market themselves to you. Make sure that your networking efforts are beneficial to both you and to the people with whom you are networking. It's a two-way street.

7. Maintain your shelf life and develop an effective social media presence
In the publishing world of which I am a part, you're only as good as your latest book. Don't rest of your laurels, as impressive as they may be. Continue to do great work and achieve great things. And in these days of social media, don't ignore your LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other accounts.

8. Create a networking database
Keep an up-to-date computer listing or database of all your networking contacts and social media connections.

9. Have a clear, brief message to deliver
The founder of every startup has a well-honed elevator pitch--ready to break out at a moment's notice when the opportunity presents itself. You should have a similar pitch ready for your own personal brand. What is your value proposition? Why should someone work with you?

10. Don't ever stop!
Building and marketing a personal brand is all about generating momentum--and then sustaining it over a long period of time. Once you get the ball rolling, then keep it rolling. It's a lot easier to keep the momentum going than it is to start all over again from scratch.

Source: Inc.com