At High Alpha, we’re hyper-focused on our broader portfolio community and culture. As part of a High Alpha company, you’re part of a larger community and have access to many exclusive portfolio-wide programs and events. One of my favorite events is our monthly High Alpha Speaker Series.
We really saw these events take off in 2017. Each month we bring in a prominent business leader to share their story to success. There are way too many impressive takeaways from our guest speakers this year, so below are the top 25 quotes (in no particular order) from our 2017 High Alpha Speaker Series events. Full recaps including videos and slides for all our speakers can be found here.
December 2017 — Jeremy Bloom, CEO of Integrate
“The Journey From Professional Athlete to SaaS Entrepreneur”
In the age of social sharing, everyone posts the top moments of their lives, days. When you’re feeling depressed, remember that success isn’t up & to the right… it’s messy.” @JeremyBloom11 #haideas https://t.co/yOtsh0qrOZ
Don't just make culture one page in your handbook." @JeremyBloom11 @integrate #HAideas
November 2017 — Wendy Lea, CEO of Cintrifuse
“Standing on the Shoulders of Giants”
Creating a convening location establishes a center-of-gravity & develops the surrounding small business environment." - @WendySLea on the importance of #placemaking. #haideas
November 2017 — Kristin Richmond, CEO & Co-Founder of Revolution Foods
“Igniting a Healthy Food Revolution”
If I'm making too many decisions, I'm not leading correctly."-Kristin of @RevolutionFoods #HAideas
Develop a mission and focus that resonates with top talent" - Kristin Groos Richmond, @RevolutionFoods #HAIdeas
Our values create our value" -Kristin Groos Richmond on how @RevolutionFoods attracted the worlds best investors #HAIdeas
September 2017 — Melissa Greenwell, COO at Finish Line
“Money on the Table: 10 Steps to Increase Profits Through Gender-balanced Leadership”
It's not work-life balance. It's work-life integration." @mel_greenwell #HAideas
It's leaders' responsibility to call on those not speaking in the room (male or female) & draw out their insights." @mel_greenwell #haideas
August 2017 — Lisa Coca, Managing Director at GE Ventures
“Inside Corporate Venture Capital”
We should be investing in the start-ups that are solving multiple problems or that we know we can help grow."- Lisa Coca #HAideas
Consumer has become a leading indicator for the enterprise #HAideas
July 2017 — Scott Burns, CEO & Co-Founder of Structural-
“Unleashing the Potential of People and Teams”
There is really no formula for innovation in a city. You have to create the conditions for acceleration." @smburns #HAideas
It's poetry when people are doing what they are best at."-@smburns #haideas #speakerseries
June 2017 — Scott McCorkle, Executive in Residence at High Alpha
“The Focus on the Customer”
Every CEO should be thinking 'My business is going to fail.' You have to have that level of paranoia." @smccorkle #haideas
How do you know what to build? You need to talk to customers every day." @smccorkle #haideas
It is important to validate what the customer is saying, regardless if you agree or disagree. @smccorkle @highalpha #HAideas
May 2017 — Gordon Ritter, Managing Partner of Emergence Capital
“The Rise of Coaching Networks”
In your career, as in #vc, what's hot now will bust; what's hard will matter. Invest in yourself!" @gordonritter of @emergencecap #HAideas
If all you do is follow the script, there's no innovation happening. We don't want to create 'crutch' software." #HAideas
Working on hard problems requires high brain energy. Human default is to avoid, take the easy route. #AvoidTheHerd" @gordonritter #HAideas
April 2017 — Dave Knox, Managing Director of WPP Ventures
“Predicting the Turn”
Career advice from @daveknox: "Take the path that people don't expect, because it's always more interesting!" #highalphaideas
It used to be about market share, it's now about managing disruption" @daveknox of @brandery #HAideas #innovation
March 2017 — Sujan Patel, Co-Founder of Web Profits
“Zero to $1M ARR: How to Grow a SaaS Company”
Spend 20% of your time and budget on crazy ideas/experiments." @sujanpatel #highalphaideas
Weed out the bad ideas by simply doing the math." Leverage #analytics to craft smarter #marketing experiments. @sujanpatel #highalphaideas
January 2017 — Angie Hicks, Co-Founder and CMO at Angie’s List
“Founder’s Story: Angie’s List”
People have a different affinity for people than they do for a brand." @Angie_Hicks #highalphaideas
One of the keys to #Entreprenuership is acknowledging what you're not good at." ~ @Angie_Hicks #HighAlphaIdeas
It's all about perseverance" @Angie_Hicks #highalphaideas
Our first Speaker Series of 2018 will be happening soon! We live tweet these events @highalpha- make sure to check out #HAideas for the highlights.
