I had the privilege to get tickets to the World Premier of the Rock Opera “American Idiot”, based on the hit album by Green Day of the same name. It was a tempo filled performance at Berkley Repertory Theater Wednesday night by a very talented group of musical artists. The anticipation was high, the house was full and the standing ovations rocking. So was the opening party. I can warmly recommend the show!
You may recognize this song, Boulevard of Broken Dreams:
However, American idiots and broken dreams were not what I intended to write about – rather the contrary. Something that captures the spirit of the American Dream. One lesson the entrepreneur & CEO freedom fighter Christine Comaford learnt by Bill Gates in terms of growing a business, reducing risk and securing revenue was “Sell first, build later”. Ask provocative questions and find the need of your individual clients. Find the pain of the clients, come up with and sell the solution that will remove it. Know that you with your commitment, capability and connections can make it happen.
You could also market your idea and create a buzz before it actually has been materialized. One individual who did just that was the now entrepreneur and CEO Coach Mark Friedler. As an exchange student [correct me if I’m wrong Mark] in Stockholm, Sweden, 22 years ago he realized in essence that Swedes “suffer from the pain” of not having American Chocolate Chip Cookies. After a successful sample test serving cookies in Humlegården, by the Royal Library in Stockholm, he happened to step into the same elevator as a visiting journalist from the Wall Street Journal. That is literally when an elevator pitch comes handy! Sharing his story resulted in the below notice in the WSJ and later on the creation of what today still exist as American Cookies in Gallerian in Stockholm.
Mark was this weeks keynote speaker at the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce (SACC) San Francisco/Silicon Valley’s monthly luncheon with the topic “10 tools to grow your bottom line”. Life was too busy to let you know ahead of time – but keep your eyes open, I’m sure he will appear elsewhere. The next mothts speaker will be the founder of Craigslist!
What is the pain that you can identify with your clients? What could you create as a solution to remove it? What do you need to do to sell it and close the deal?
I went to the concert yesterday with “The Pain of Being Pure at Heart” at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The concert was OK, but I have secure sources that say the group will become very big, so I kept the ticket ;). I loved the facility. The promoter in me looked around with the eyes of “what event can be created here?” It would be perfect for a US release party of Spotify – I guess I should sell them the idea! Anyone wanna join?
Go painkillers!
Johanna
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