Greg Cochara

Exciting News! 7Rivers is thrilled to announce a $50,000 donation to the MKE Tech Hub Coalition to launch AI innovation workshops in Southeast Wisconsin. Milwaukee is poised to become a powerhouse in the AI revolution, and we at 7Rivers are excited to help fuel this transformative journey. Our partnership with MKE Tech Hub Coalition is a pivotal move to supercharge the region’s AI and data capabilities. We’re not just investing; we’re igniting the limitless potential of AI in this vibrant market, setting a path for dynamic growth and innovation. This first initiative empowers small and medium-sized manufacturers and students with the skills and resources needed to harness the transformative power of AI. I urge other leaders and organizations to join us in financially supporting this transformative journey. Contact Kathy Henrich, CEO of MKE Tech Hub Coalition if you are interested in donating. Together, we can ignite the limitless potential of AI in our vibrant market. Your financial support can make a significant impact as our region rises to prominence in this ever-evolving market. Let’s make Milwaukee a beacon of innovation and growth! Learn more about the upcoming workshops and other events at https://lnkd.in/g6h3c5Fq #AI #Innovation #TechGrowth #Milwaukee #7Rivers #MKETechHub #AIWorkshops

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Excellent read my partner shared on the changing face of logistics. Something we've been forecasting for a couple of years now - the fact that from the manufacturer to the retailer, and on to the customer: it's a unified commerce system that has to be planned and executed carefully. With giants like Levi-Strauss working to expand D2C amid declining wholesale revenue, are we in fact, starting to see the pendulum swing back towards more investment in D2C channels?

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It's really interesting to chart the parallels between consumer sentiment (as measured by the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index) and the way that SaaS founders are prioritizing growth vs. profitability (i.e. "expense management"). Consumer Sentiment Index in May '23: 59% Consumer Sentiment Index in May '23: 69.1% ☝️ Percentage of SaaS founders in the ($5-10M ARR range) prioritizing *Growth* over *Profitability*... May '23: 56% May '24: 66% Salacious news headlines aside, consumer sentiment is a hell of a lot better than it was a year ago and the pendulum for SaaS founders (including us) has swung back towards the direction of (sustainable!) growth.

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Versus may be one of the few alternatives for creators to monetize content apart from advertisements.

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This is a good article for mid-market companies looking to mature up. It's nice to see McKinsey giving some love to mid-market companies through I think the advice is application to lower mid-market SMEs below $100m revenue too. #midmarket #matureup https://lnkd.in/geszv7kd

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🎧🍌 New podcast with Nilam Ganenthiran, Founder of Beacon Software and ex-President of Instacart He takes us inside key moments from his 8+ years at Instacart, joining as the 12th employee and helping scale the company to the public markets. We talk tactics for customer research, building customer relationships, balancing strategy and execution, how to serve on and manage a board, what happened when Amazon bought Instacart’s biggest customer Whole Foods, inside its COVID response, surviving eight months of runway in 2015, his new company Beacon Software, and more. Search "The Peel" in your favorite podcast player, or link to listen / watch in the comments 👇

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Celebrate unstoppable entrepreneurs who are changing the game, including Blumira CTO Matthew Warner and CEO Jim Simpson! Learn more about these inspiring finalists here: https://okt.to/wtLFNb #entrepreneurship #Midwest

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What outcomes came from your last board meeting? From a recent Summit Venture Studio portfolio company board meeting here’s a breakdown of the key takeaways and suggestions from the Board: I really like what Joan Garry put together with this schedule for 6 board meetings per year! Thanks for your great insight Joan! Our company board meeting outcomes: 1. Leverage Conferences and Networking Engage Actively: Attending industry conferences can significantly boost your pipeline. For instance, attending a major industry conference led to numerous in-depth conversations and demos that strengthened our sales funnel. Follow-Up Strategy: Instead of counting quick demos at conferences, schedule detailed follow-up Zoom meetings to dive deeper into your clients' specific needs. 2. Track and Analyze Sales Activities Monitor Effectiveness: Keep detailed records of your sales activities, such as client visits, promotional merchandise drops, and demo calls. Refine Your Approach: By understanding what works, you can streamline your efforts. For example, visits to client locations have led to high engagement and better client relationships, proving the value of in-person interactions. 3. Create Engaging Content for Investor Outreach Short, Impactful Videos: When reaching out to potential investors, use short videos (2-4 minutes) to pique interest. These should be designed to generate questions and discussions. Ask for Advice, Not Just Money: In the early stages of fundraising, focus on seeking advice rather than directly asking for investments. This approach not only provides valuable feedback but also opens doors for potential introductions and future investments. 4. Utilize Customer Feedback and Case Studies Highlight Success Stories: Use your successful client stories as springboards for engaging similar prospects. Collect and Implement Feedback: Regularly collect feedback from your clients to refine your product. Adjustments based on client feedback have helped us better cater to their needs and show our flexibility and responsiveness. 5. Effective Marketing and Outreach Multi-Platform Presence: Ensure your social media activity is consistent across multiple platforms. Mirror your LinkedIn posts on other social media platforms to maximize reach and engagement. Targeted Campaigns: Run targeted marketing sequences and A/B tests to identify what resonates best with your audience. Tailor your messaging and landing pages to suit different segments of your market. 6. Continuous Improvement and Experimentation Try New Approaches: Don’t be afraid to experiment with new strategies. Measure and Adapt: Always measure the outcomes of your new initiatives and be ready to adapt. Tracking the success of our webinars and outreach campaigns has provided us with insights that we use to continually refine our approach. Let me know how to make these suggestions more actionable.

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I wrote a post this morning about avoiding Vendor Lock-in, and then I caught the news that Claude-Sonnet-3.5 was just launched, and it beat GPT-4o with impressive leading scores across many benchmarks. (https://lnkd.in/gTYfPHSe). So, I started playing with it in SkyDeck, where it was immediately available, and I am really impressed. Here are some additional posts about it: https://lnkd.in/gYgWCask https://lnkd.in/gkfySCQp Anthropic #claude #sonnet and SkyDeck.ai #businessai

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💡 I'm thrilled to share that I'll be speaking at the 🤖 Chicago AI Conference on June 25-26, 2024. Join me and others to delve into topics like the GenAI Revolution, Responsible AI Deep Dive, and AI for Impact. More info at www.chicagoaiweek.com. #ChicagoAIConference #ChicagoAIWeek #AI2030 #AI2030Summit AI 2030, Xiaochen Z.

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"One of the hardest things for growth-minded leaders is to acknowledge and accept that they cannot be everything to everyone," says our CEO David Keil in his latest Fast Company article. What does this mean in today's AI world? See for yourself in this compelling article.

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Back in May Mark Stiving, Ph.D. at Impact Pricing LLC and Steven Forth at Ibbaka did a well received webinar on how new AI functionality is being priced. More than 500 people registered. This week, Mark and Steven connected again on the Impact Pricing Podcast. The conversation focused on a theme that had emerged in the webinar comparing the disruption of the SaaS model with the current generative AI disruption. Is generative AI disruption smaller or larger than the SaaS disruption? - For customers - For vendors - For pricing Mark and Steven have different views on this. https://lnkd.in/gjujda3d #podcast #pricing #SaaS #generativeAI #disruption

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"When evaluating whether to make investment in AI a strategic priority, members of the C-suite should turn their attention to AI's implications for productivity, alignment and revenue growth. 87% of GTM leaders say using AI-powered technology in the workplace boosts productivity, and 84% see it as a virtual partner with great potential across their organization." How should the C-suite evaluate AI-powered technology? In Forbes, Seismic Chief Business Officer Toby Carrington shares what to look for when arming your GTM team with AI. Learn more:

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Every professional – regardless of their field – has a tool they can't live without. 🛠️ For go-to-market (GTM) professionals in B2B selling, that tool is enablement technology. With the ability to leverage data and insights, provide continuous learning and coaching, and streamline communication, enablement is a top priority for companies in 2024 and beyond. Discover why by diving into the highlights of Seismic's latest study, the Generation Enablement Report: The Rise of Enablement's Influence, here ➡️ https://bit.ly/3JK8sjf ​

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Today marks an important milestone in my career. Excited to share that I’m joining VistaXM, an innovator in AI enabled CX-as-a-service, as Chief Product & Technology Officer. VistaXM is revolutionizing how firms compete with an elevated Customer Experience, to drive business growth for themselves and their customers. 93% of mid-market firms invest in CX as a key driver of business growth. Yet, 75% of these firms take no action on the business insights derived from these CX investments. The result? Stagnating growth, low customer retention/high churn and an inability to rapidly expand into new customer segments. A $20B market problem waiting to be solved in what is known as the ‘last mile’ of customer experience. However, the solution requires a unique mix of human expertise, an industry leading CX methodology, a capital efficient business model and the power of AI to rapidly scale across a wide range of industry clusters. A solution that VistaXM is pioneering specifically to match the economics of mid-market. Our team is focused initially on the deeply underserved industrial manufacturing & distribution segment. Our mission is clear - we’re bringing a best-of-breed, full stack CX-as-a-service solution to firms that do not have the capability to build a turnkey customer experience program by themselves. We aim to serve B2B customers that see the importance of CX and AI-enabled-Services as a differentiator in their OEM-supplier ecosystems. And we will help them lead mid-market into a new era of double digit growth and profitability. I’m deeply grateful to our mentors, advisors, design partners and investors for their support and guidance, as we embark on this journey. I’m equally excited to partner with my long time friend and colleague, the incredibly talented Erik Vogel who leads VistaXM as CEO. I invite you to follow us at VistaXM and help reimagine a new future with customer experience at its center. Lets go! #CX #customerexperience #AI #midmarket

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Very interesting demo of the “all apps in one” scenario and the new customer experience

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It’s exciting to witness how the hyperscalers are enabling a hyper-collaborative marketplace ecosystem that allows the multiplication of revenue opportunities. I see this happening in two ways 1️⃣ ISVs are being encouraged by hyperscalers to build with interoperability in mind 🔧 All three #hyperscalers have, over the course of the last few years, incrementally deepened their partnerships with on-page "competitors" like Salesforce and Snowflake to break data silos and leverage #GenAI on more comprehensive data sets. AWS, GCP and Azure are not just strengthening their own associations, but they are also actively encouraging collaboration between these ISVs to drive interoperability, aimed at the creation of joint solutions that significantly expand the universe of customers who can benefit. Snowflake’s most recent Polaris Catalog launch also reaffirms its commitment to interoperability with a wider library of industry players (beyond the three clouds) including hyperscaler partners like Salesforce and Confluent. That brings me to point 2…. 2️⃣ Hyperscalers are actively inviting the participation of channel partners to piece complementary solutions together 🤝 As ISVs focus on creating compatible offerings with each other, and with hyperscaler services, buyers have the opportunity to find end-to-end solutions for specific use cases right from the marketplace catalog. To do so, they’re relying on partners to identify, connect and manage these increasingly complex technologies. This presents a tremendous opportunity for channel partners to add value to these marketplace-led deals by helping piece solutions together into a comprehensive whole. Hyperscalers are also cognizant that the “channel is the glue between them and the lower enterprise, midmarket and SMB,” as I’ve hear my friend and founder of Ultimate Partner Vince Menzione put it, and are actively developing strategies to incorporate channels into marketplace deal workflows. There’s a clear signal to shift the perception of marketplaces from being potential threats to traditional partnership associations, to what they really are – growth opportunities. Channel partners who recognize this sooner rather than later, have biggest opportunity to capture net new business.

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