http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/ Follow the journey of entrepreneur Ryan Allis as he builds his company iContact into the worldwide leader in on-demand software for online communications, publishes his book Zero to One Million, travels the country as a speaker on entrepreneurship, explores the worlds of public policy, technology, marketing, management, leadership, venture capital, and organizational behavior, and lives a passionate life as a North Carolina entrepreneur and CEO. en-us 2008-06-26T00:19:36-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000327.html Entrepreneur & Social Entrepreneur Meetup #18 is tonight (Thursday) starting at 8pm. Presenters Include: Mary Musacchia - Council for Entrepreneurial Development John Glushnik - Intersouth Partners Jinan Glasgow - Economic Development in Ghana Please feel free to bring friends and colleagues. PARKING Plenty of parking is available along Park Bluff Road DIRECTIONS FROM DOWNTOWN CHAPEL HILL From HW54 (aka Raleigh Road) coming down the hill from Chapel Hill, take a left on a Meadowmont Lane, go to end of road (1.5 miles) then take left onto Park Bluff N. then first cul de sac on right into Millingport Court. House is #102. FROM DURHAM/RALEIGH Take I-40 East to exit 273 toward Chapel Hill. Take right at Meadowmont Lane. Go to end of road (1.5 miles) then take left onto Park Bluff N. then first cul de sac on right into Millingport Court. House is #102. SCHEDULE FOR REST OF YEAR: While the meetup will usually be once per month on a Thursday at 8pm, this may change from time to time due to travel. Here is the schedule for the next few months (all Thursdays unless otherwise noted): June 26 July 24 August 26 September 25 October 23 You can RSVP at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=19916001713 You can join the group at http://unc.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19139128576 for updates.... ryanallis 2008-06-26T00:19:36-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000326.html ryanallis 2008-06-13T00:19:05-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000325.html Last night iContact was honored by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development as the 2008 Technology Growth Company of the Year at Bay 7 at American Tobacco Campus.Aaron and I accepted the award on behalf of the iContact team. You can watch a video of the award announcement.... ryanallis 2008-06-06T11:25:53-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000324.html Hey everyone. I was in New York today visiting with partners and customers and filming for The Big Idea With Donny Deutsch. I was glad to be on the show again for the first time since I was on last May 31. I'm told the episode will air tonight at 10pm on CNBC. I think I'll be on for about 3-4 minutes about halfway through the show around 10:30pm. The topic of the show will be 'how to prepare your children to be driven, be passionate, and follow their dreams.' They have an expert from NYU Dr. Harold Koplewicz and a guy named Troy with seven kids who debate the various methods of encouraging and supporting children and then bring on Kimberly Burleson Spinks co-author of the book 'Prepare to Be a Teen Millionaire', me, and 25-year old artist Amanda Dunbar. Hey everyone. I was in New York today visiting with partners and customers and filming for The Big Idea With Donny Deutsch. I was glad to be on the show again for the first time since I was on last May 31. I'm told the episode will air tonight at 10pm on CNBC. I think I'll be on for about 3-4 minutes about halfway through the show around 10:30pm. The topic of the show will be 'how to prepare your children to be driven, be passionate, and follow their dreams.' They have an expert from NYU Dr. Harold Koplewicz and a guy named Troy with seven kids who debate the various methods of encouraging and supporting children and then bring on Kimberly Burleson Spinks co-author of the book 'Prepare to Be a Teen Millionaire', me, and 25-year old artist Amanda Dunbar.... ryanallis 2008-05-28T15:14:54-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000323.html Podcast Description: Ryan Allis is the 23-year-old co-founder of iContact.com, a 95 person email marketing company in Durham, NC. Ryan spoke in this podcast with Stever Robbins about how he ended up where he is and the role passion plays in business. Download/Listen Now (21:37, 9.9MB) Podcast Description: When the economy is soft, we have to maximize sales opportunities with marketing campaigns that don't break our budget. Ryan Allis talks with Small Business Advocate Jim Blasingame about how to use email marketing to pull off maximizing sales while minimizing marketing expenses. Ryan also explains his company's capitalization strategy, including how he acquired venture capital. Download/Listen Now (15.26, 7.1MB) my recent interview with Jim Blasingame (on the Small Business Advocate show)... ryanallis 2008-05-04T21:32:39-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000322.html ryanallis 2008-04-20T13:19:19-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000321.html On Thursday May 1 from 7:30pm to 10:30pm, we will be hosting a Barack Obama for President 2008 Chapel Hill Fundraiser at our house in Chapel Hill. All are welcome. Please feel free forward this invite to your friends and colleagues who may be interested. Additional details can be found at the event page on Facebook Additional Information We will have heavy hors d'oeuvres, an open bar, and band entertainment. Representatives and a surrogate (TBA) from the Obama campaign will be attendance. Attire is formal. The event will be in the Meadowmont subdivision at: 102 Millingport Court Chapel Hill, NC Directions DIRECTIONS FROM DOWNTOWN CHAPEL HILL From HW54 (aka Raleigh Road) coming down the hill from Chapel Hill, take a left on a Meadowmont Lane, go to end of road (1.5 miles) then take left onto Park Bluff N. then first cul de sac on right into Millingport Court. House is #102. FROM DURHAM/RALEIGH Take I-40 to exit 273 toward Chapel Hill. Take right at Meadowmont Lane. Go to end of road (1.5 miles) then take left onto Park Bluff N. then first cul de sac on right into Millingport Court. House is #102. PARKING Plenty of parking is available along Park Bluff Road Ten Reasons I Support Barack 1. An Enlightened Foreign Policy: An End to the Us Vs. Them Mentality 2. A Commitment to a Balanced Budget 3. An Understanding of the Importance of Education 4. An Awareness of the Importance of Entrepreneurship 5. A Commitment to Work Toward Reducing Domestic and Global Poverty 6. A Commitment to Ensuring Sustainable Energy 7. A Varied Life Perspective 8. A Commitment to Reducing Climate Change 9. An Understanding That All People In All Countries Are Equal 10. An Ability to Bring Us Together... ryanallis 2008-04-20T11:37:04-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000320.html ryanallis 2008-04-19T17:02:00-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000319.html ryanallis 2008-04-12T16:50:25-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000318.html Untitled Document Who Are Your Role Models? I've given some thought to the people I follow, read about, and try to learn from. While we all have faults, secrets, and imperfections, there are a good two dozen people that I consider today to be my role models in a few different fields. The question I want to know is who are YOUR role models? Who should I consider starting to follow and learn more about that isn't on this list? Would you leave the names of your role models in the comments? Here's to all the solemn souls who have cared for humanity that have come before and all those blessed brothers and sisters who come after. Here are my current role models. SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR/ACTIVIST ROLE MODELS Mahatma Gandhi (The non-violent revolutionary) Mother Theresa (The lady who cared for the sick and poor) Martin Luther King, Jr. (The Man with a Dream) Susan B. Anthony (Civil rights and suffrage leader) Paul Farmer (Doctor for the Poor, Mountains Beyond Mountains) Mohammed Yunus (Banker to the Poor) Dennis Whittle (Founder of Global Giving) Bill Drayton (Founder of Ashoka) Matt Flannery (Founder of Kiva) Jessica Jackley Flannery (Founder of Kiva) Dan West (Founder of Heifer International) Bernard Kouchner (Co-Founder of Doctors Without Borders) Kerry Kennedy (Human rights activist) Laura Arrillaga (Venture philanthropist) BUSINESS ROLE MODELS Bill Gates (the innovator and hard-line businessman) Jeffrey Skoll (the eBay founder and social entrepreneur innovator) Warren Buffet (the smartest fundamentalist around) Marc Benioff (the SaaS phenomenom-maker) Marc Andreessen (keeps hitting home runs) Steve Jobs (he comeback kid) Larry Page (the technologist and business innovator) Sergey Brin (the dynamic duo part deux) Richard Branson (loses his virginity every day) Thomas Edison (succeeded by failing 3,635 times) Steve Jurvetson (the VC gadget-lover) Andrew Carnegie (the library funder) J.P. Morgan (the financial system saver) John D. Rockefeller (the competitor) John D. MacArthur (the PBS funder) Sam Walton (the great retailer, scaler, and SIFE founder) Henry Ford (his ability to scale, not him per say) Larry Ellison (his ability to sell, not him per se) Tom Perkins (his ability to put together venture deals, not him per se) Jimmy Wales (the maker of ubiquitous information) ECONOMIST ROLE MODELS Jeffrey Sachs (End of Poverty, Common Wealth) Hernando De Soto (The Mystery of Capital) George Soros (Open Society) Milton Friedman (Capitalism and Freedom) John Maynard Keynes (The General Theory) JOURNALIST/AUTHOR ROLE MODELS... ryanallis 2008-04-03T02:34:08-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000317.html Tony Hsieh, the 34 year old CEO of Zappos is giving a talk at the Underground web marketing seminar in Los Angeles. He sold LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265 million in 1998. His speech is titled The Path to $1 Billion as they are on track to hit $1B in sales this year as a private company that started in 1999, did $8.6 million in 2000 and $32 million in 2001. They have 1,600 employees today and a 500 person call center. Tony is emphasizing the importance of 'above and beyond' great customer service more or less regardless of cost. 75% of his orders are from repeat customers. He talks of 'surprise upgrades.' Tony shared that they orient new team members with 4 weeks of customer loyalty training at their headquarters in Las Vegas plus week in Kentucky for warehouse training for every single employee. He tells the story of when a customer ordered pizza from their customer service line at 3am and the customer rep found the nearest pizza places in Santa Monica that were still open. He encourages entrepreneurs to train great people if you want the company to scale as 'you can't do everything yourself.' He provides a culture book to their team members each year. Every single team member writes a couple employee on what the culture means to them. Their core company values are: Deliver WOW through serviceEmbrace and drive changeCreate fun and little weirdnessBe adventurous, creative, and open-mindedPursue growth and learningBuild open and honest relationships with communicationBuild a positive team and family spiritDo more with lessBe passionate and determinedBe humbleI am wondering what their customer acquisition cost and customer lifetime value is and what their monthly CPM and CPC spend is and what networks they use to acquire customers via CPA.... ryanallis 2008-03-28T14:27:53-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000316.html ryanallis 2008-03-27T02:37:21-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000315.html Untitled Document Here are two recent podcast interviews on entrepreneurship done by Written Voices and Daxle. Enjoy! Written Voices Podcast Interview With Ryan Allis (17min 38 sec) - A discussion with Allan Hunkin from Written Voices about: Building a team My personal motivation The importance of finding mentors An overview of Zero to One Million including opportunity evaluation, raising capital, marketing and creating sales, giving back, and setting goals Finding your core motivation Focusing on providing a great product Social responsibility The Entitlement Generation vs. The Enlightenment Generation The Enlightened Entrepreneur Finding Your BHALG - Your Big Hairy Audacious Lifetime Goal Daxle Interview with Ryan Allis (17 min 02 sec) - A discussion with Brian Oates from Daxle about: The entrepreneurial itch Finding a partner Evaluating entrepreneurial opportunities Ensuring demand for your business idea The value of teamwork How internet sales are different from door-to-door sales Generating leads from the web Bootstrapping and doing what it takes to keep expenses low... ryanallis 2008-03-23T20:18:28-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000314.html Today in Berlin we met up at 3pm for a walking tour of the city, then ended up at 5pm at the British Council office at Alexanderplatz 1 in East Berlin next to the Fernsehturm television tower that was a major symbol of the GDR in the communist era. We began at 5:30 with a brilliantly led introduction and 'The Great Transatlantic Debate.' We lined up in order of height, grouped into teams of 5, and then separated into planning rooms. Each of the six teams (we were team 3) had a provided thesis they had to prepare to prove in the upcoming debate. Our team was tasked to prove that 'the relationship between America and the E.U is strong and getting stronger.' In our five minutes, Peter Macleod from Canada played the American husband and Angela Brunete from Spain played the European wife. Peter allegorically referred to the EU/US relationship as a marriage in which there were ups and downs but at the end of the day we would always be together. Angela accused Peter of cheating on her with India, and Peter accused Angela of cheating on him with China. But they reconciled as Rabah Ghezali from France shared the cultural and historical ties including the core values of liberal democracies and the Marshall Plan, Dragos Pislaru from Romania shared the strategic and military ties including our recent learnings of what can happen when we don't truly work together in global conflict, and I shared the economic ties including trade and FDI growth. Team Four proceeded to present the other side of the argument for five minutes, followed by a one minute rebuttal. Following the debates, we discussed issues including the identity challenge, citizen media, technology and mobility, E.U. enlargement, the relative stasis of the U.S., whether there were 4, 5, or 7 continents in the world (Europeans learn 5), red blue and purple America, the Stockholm consensus, lateral relationships between the U.S. and Eurozone countries, whether the West or East would most define the 21st century, demography, and our shared history. After the group discussion we held a reception and dinner and followed on with about three hours of networking in the lounge of the British Council's office. Around 10, Jeff Johnson and I worked to persuade the group to go to 'Weekend' the dance club across the street in the Sharp Aquos building until we... ryanallis 2008-03-16T22:04:18-05:00 http://www.ryanallis.com/blog/archives/000313.html Last Thursday afternoon in Denver at Metro State College we decided to break it down in the quad in front of the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour Bus with Doug Fath, Arel Moodie, Sheena Lindahl, and Michael Simmons. After falling underneath Carla the Metro State professor we recover and finish with the avante garde high-five of our generation--the 'pound explosion.' Can't I get a Ye-Ah? Soundtrack: Crush by Paramore... ryanallis 2008-03-16T20:31:05-05:00