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Looking Good for Fun and Profit: Evolving A Visual Identity Business of Software 2015 | Boston | September 21 st , 2015 Robert J. Moore
Looking Good for Fun and Profit: Evolving A Visual Identity
Business of Software 2015 | Boston | September 21st, 2015
Robert J. Moore
rjmetrics.com
Before we begin…
Disclaimer
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“During digestion, your body breaks down the nutrients in food. This causes a rise in blood sugar that triggers your pancreas to release insulin into the bloodstream. Insulin increases the amount of serotonin and melatonin that flood the brain, two chemicals associated with drowsiness.”
-Science
Hope You Enjoyed Lunch
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Willpower Depletion“The longer we work on mentally strenuous tasks, the more mental energy we expend, and eventually we’ll run out and start falling back to these easy — and often wrong — default decisions.”
-Also Science
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Willpower Depletion“The longer we work on mentally strenuous tasks, the more mental energy we expend, and eventually we’ll run out and start falling back to these easy — and often wrong — default decisions.”
-Also Science
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If you feel yourself getting sleepy during this talk…
Disclaimer
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If you feel yourself getting sleepy during this talk…
If you feel, with each minute that goes by, you are somehow dumber than before I
started talking…
Disclaimer
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If you feel yourself getting sleepy during this talk…
If you feel, with each minute that goes by, you are somehow dumber than before I
started talking…
blame science!
Disclaimer
Looking Good for Fun and Profit: Evolving A Visual Identity
Business of Software 2015 | Boston | September 21st, 2015
Robert J. Moore
rjmetrics.com
At RJMetrics, our mission is to inspire and empower data driven
people
RJMetrics CloudBIOur Core Product
RJMetrics PipelineBeta Release Date: 10/6/2015
The RJMetrics Mission
rjmetrics.com
We are 130 people who are crazy… about data.
We Love Data
@robertjmoore
We started out just like any other company: a few
passionate people with a big idea
@robertjmoore
But what happens when you grow?
Everything Breaks
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What Breaks?
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What Breaks?Communication!
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What Breaks?Communication!Management Style!
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What Breaks?Communication!Management Style!Recruiting!
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What Breaks?Communication!Management Style!Recruiting!Compensation!
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What Breaks?Communication!Management Style!Recruiting!Compensation!
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What Breaks?Communication!Management Style!Recruiting!Compensation!Workflows!
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What Breaks?Communication!Management Style!Recruiting!Compensation!Workflows!Office Space!
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Communication!Management Style!Recruiting!Compensation!Workflows!Office Space!
…how about identity?
What Breaks?
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Company DNA: The most potent attributes of the founding team.
Common Convention: this identity sticks with a company forever.
My Take: This is a weak metaphor. Company DNA mutates in its own lifetime.
What is company “DNA”?
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Our story is just one case study on how company DNA can evolve.
We’ve changed a lot. We’ve also made a lot of mistakes. I hope you can learn from the story.
RJMetrics DNA
So, what was in our DNA?
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Frugality.
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Frugality. To a fault.
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Frugality. To a fault.
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
County Prison
State Prison
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$400/mo? Sold!
State Prison
County Prison
What was not in our DNA
Clown Tie
Wrinkled MC Hammer Pants
Act I: Outsourcing
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Fake It Until You Make It
What do you do if style isn’t in your DNA?
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You buy it!
…but what if you’re a broke company?
Fake It Until You Make It
@robertjmoore
You outsource it!
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
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We were disrupting an industry as old as software itself
The bar for design and UX was low
No Pressure
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Standards for consumer use impacted expectations for business use
“Consumerization of the enterprise”
By 2008, Our Founding Year
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We grew. We started hiring.
Our needs evolved, and our DNA did too.
Meanwhile…
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Meanwhile… External Pressure
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We A/B Tested our Want Ads
Meanwhile… External Pressure
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We A/B Tested our Want Ads
Few job hunters are as risk-seeking as startup founders. Frugality gave way to convenience
and security.
Meanwhile… External Pressure
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We Moved to Philly.
Founder DNA Evolves, Too
Act II: Hired Guns
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RJMetrics: A Philadelphia Company
Still No Designer On Staff
Meanwhile…
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Borrowing From Our Mentors…
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Website Redesign
“Can you throw in a logo?”
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@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
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Self Analysis
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Act III: Identity
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DNA Mutation
Frugality Became Efficiency
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“We need a new visual identity.”
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@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
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Risky click of the day…
@robertjmoore
Risky click of the day…
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
Google customer survey results:
@robertjmoore
Google customer survey results:
@robertjmoore
What do we do?
Abandon the dodecahedron?
Hang our heads in shame?
@robertjmoore
@robertjmoore
50,000 uniques0.1% view-to-SQL50 SQLs
19.8% SQL-to-paid10 paying clients
$20k ARR ACV$200k of new ARR/year
15x ARR Multiple (w00t!)
$3MM of Equity Value
@robertjmoore
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A Secret Society…
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A Secret Society…
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A Secret Society…
@robertjmoore
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Lesson: Hackathons Are For Hacking
Epilogue: Dodeca Pride
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Identity Is a Part of Culture
Inputs:• How people treat each other• Your core values
Outputs:• Perks• Identity
Mixing these up is a common mistake
We didn’t find identity until we found ourselves
@robertjmoore
rjmetrics.com
Doubling Every Year = Perpetual Newness
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rjmetrics.com
At RJMetrics, our mission is to inspire and empower data driven
people
RJMetrics CloudBI
RJMetrics Pipeline
The RJMetrics Mission
