Jeff Sims

My Business Partner Samantha Rufo asked the Google AI what the future of the Ski Industry would be in a post. I thought it would be interesting to see what ChatGPT would "think". A much more thorough answer for sure although I think this all falls into the "Duh" catagory. What is the future of the ski resort industry? ChatGPT The future of the ski resort industry is shaped by several key trends and challenges: 1. Climate Change and Sustainability Impact: Warmer temperatures and reduced snowfall are major threats. Resorts at lower elevations are particularly vulnerable. Adaptations: Snowmaking: Increased reliance on artificial snow. Diversification: Expanding summer activities like mountain biking, hiking, and festivals. Sustainability Initiatives: Reducing carbon footprints and investing in renewable energy. 2. Technological Advancements Impact: Technology is enhancing the customer experience and operational efficiency. Innovations: Mobile Apps: Real-time information on weather, lift status, and wait times. RFID and GPS: For tracking skier movements and enhancing safety. AI and Big Data: Personalizing marketing and improving snowmaking efficiency. 3. Demographic Shifts Impact: Changes in the population and interests of younger generations affect demand. Strategies: Youth Engagement: Targeting younger generations through social media and school programs. Diversity and Inclusion: Creating more inclusive environments to attract a broader demographic. 4. Economic Factors Impact: Economic downturns and changes in disposable income can influence the number of visitors. Responses: Flexible Pricing: Dynamic pricing models to attract visitors during off-peak times. Value Packages: Bundling services to provide better value for money. 5. Health and Safety Concerns Impact: The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness around health and safety. Measures: Enhanced Cleaning: Strict cleaning protocols for shared spaces. Contactless Services: Minimizing physical contact through digital solutions. 6. Competition and Consolidation Impact: The industry is seeing increased consolidation, with large companies acquiring smaller resorts. Outcomes: Economies of Scale: Larger companies can invest more in technology and infrastructure. Standardization: Improved consistency in service quality across locations. 7. Environmental Stewardship Impact: Growing environmental awareness among consumers. Initiatives: Eco-Friendly Practices: Reducing waste, protecting natural habitats, and promoting eco-friendly tourism. Certifications and Partnerships: Engaging in environmental certifications and partnering with conservation organizations. The ski resort industry is at a crossroads, requiring innovation and adaptability to navigate these challenges and capitalize on emerging opportunities.

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I've had calls with 5 of the highest-earning Clay agencies in the last week. Here's what I'm hearing re: data providers 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 1️⃣ Agencies are fleeing big league data providers for flexible data tools 2️⃣ Most of this is driven by pressure to sign 12-to-24-month contracts w/o knowing if data accuracy is any good (how is this even a way to do business) 3️⃣ These companies are beginning to squeeze customers for revenue with bolt-on, required features (like "re-enrichment") that quickly deplete plan credits. 4️⃣ Data coverage is the next frontier - can you provide accurate contact data for EU? APAC? LATAM? EMEA? Most providers haven't scratched the surface. 5️⃣ In addition to data coverage, everyone wants verified mobile phones - not just work emails. On a side note, agencies focusing on outbound-as-a-service are beginning to pivot to RevOps agencies. They are crazy bullish on this. Stoked that Wiza is positioned well as a Clay integration / data provider and continues to deliver on best-in-class accuracy, data coverage, and pricing flexibility. #GTM #Sales #Clay

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Why Your Startup Is Failing: You're Chasing Product-Market Fit the WRONG Way! 🚨 Nick McEvily Take: Product-market fit isn’t something you "find"—it’s something you consistently create. I recently spoke with Nick McEvily, Fractional Product Leader, and his perspective changed how I see product development: 💡 Without human validation, you’re building tech in a vacuum. If you can’t find people to talk to about your product idea, you won’t find people to buy it either. The solution? ✅ Treat validation as an ongoing process, not a one-time event. ✅ Test small, gather feedback, iterate - then repeat. ✅ Understand your buyers as humans, not just "users. 👉 Founders: How much time are you dedicating to real conversations with your market? #strategy #techgrowth #startup #businessstrategy #product #marketfit

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Here’s an update in case you missed the recent news: - My technology company, CourtReserve, launched its new Branded Mobile App for tennis & pickleball clubs. - My new pickleball club, Old Coast Pickleball, is fully up and running + the ground is broken on another 12-court flagship facility. It’s been a crazy ride. After 8 years building software at CourtReserve I doubled down on pickleball by opening my own club in my hometown. We built one of the top club management platforms in the industry, now we will build one of the top facilities. The experience of doing both will benefit each venture. Running a pickleball club he taught me to recognize patterns and come up with new solutions, which then find their way into our software (for any club to gain from). In some ways, I’ve had to do it this way to truly/deeply understand our customers. But also to imagine where the next 3-5-10 years will be heading for club management software for myself. It’s not like there’s a school for building pickleball club software. Let alone build a solution customers will actually pay for and use AND get value from. For now, the fundamentals rule the day: 1. Choose court reservation software that’s easy for staff and members. It should streamline operations and enhance experiences without causing headaches. A simple, intuitive system with a mobile app is ideal. 2. Ensure the software can be tailored to your club’s unique needs. It should be adaptable to your setup and include all areas you want to manage digitally. 3. Determine what the software should do and what it should connect to, like membership databases, payment tools, marketing software, or sport-specific platforms like DUPR. 4. Evaluate the reporting and analytics it offers. Good data is essential. The best tools provide detailed insights into court use, membership, booking times, revenue, and more. 5. Finally, consider training and support. Make sure the vendor assists with setup, offers staff training, and provides ongoing support. This is where CourtReserve excels. Hope that helps, my team has an epic buying guide coming v. soon – you'll wanna stay tuned for that!!

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Thanks for the insightful pitch strategies. When can I get a slot to pitch to you?

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One of the classic traps as a revenue leader once you are past $20M in revenue? Mistaking *activity for progress* 🤷🏽‍♀️ When the pressure to deliver $$ is high and your existing game plan isn’t driving the results you had hoped, it’s easy to want to abandon your plan and try ‘new stuff’ to find a way to win… 😅 But sometimes this translates to a CRO special called: ‘Change for the sake of change’ 😩 It’s typically well intentioned and comes out of desperation to improve things. But if it isn’t well thought it can lead to.. 1️⃣ thrash for your teams with the constant in directions 2️⃣ poor execution across the board given the multiple initiatives and the chaos this type of leadership brings 3️⃣ loss of long term confidence in strategy and leaderships ability to pick the right one for the company Don’t get me wrong — being agile and making changes in real time as you get insights is a key part of revenue excellence but it has to be well thought out at scale… ✅ Strategy: A well thought out strategy coupled with an execution game plan ✅ Patience: making sure you are giving enough time to each leg of that strategy ✅ Opportunity Cost: Considering the cost of adding new initiatives to the existing work As you go from a scrappy startup to scaling up, the hardest thing to do is say no and hold the line on prioritization. 🔑 Say no to say yes 💪 That’s where excellence lives!! Happy scaling friends 💰 #changemanagement #cro #leadership #decisionmaking #revenueleader

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For the past year, I’ve spoken to hundreds of founders and gtm leaders and watched even more on LinkedIn. My goal? To figure out the future of community, the most potent, but increasingly ambiguous gtm lever. After nearly five years in the community space, I’ve helped brands drive demand by tapping into RevGenius’s trust and audience. Our community relies on us to showcase the best, newest, and most interesting products, and it’s been a powerful channel for them. my backstory: I got into community building long before RevGenius. My first was a fashion mag, where I used social media to grow an audience, hosting events to connect deeper and collaborating with brands for mutual growth. Community was the glue, but it went beyond a Slack group (we only had a Facebook page back then). fast forward, saw a massive gap for both brands and gtm professionals: •⁠ ⁠gtm professionals needed a safe space for all, to learn and progress in their careers. •⁠ ⁠brands needed to be a trusted part of this vs solely relying on old school marketing tactics like paid ads and seo. built RevGenius to address this. a recent aha: the most valuable aspect of community for demand gen is its engaged audience. Building their audience is the top growth driver for SaaS founders. Leveraging communities (like RG), a unique POV, and other audience-building channels (social, events, newsletters, podcasts) is a powerful strategy. but is focusing on building audience the most important growth lever? the answer is a resounding yes! when framed as ‘audience-led’ vs ‘community-led’ it incorporates all these adjacent strategies (community, ambassador, newsletter, content, social, etc) and gives cohesion and crystallization to it all. The big question early founders face is: What should I focus on in GTM? After years of watching it play out, the formula has evolved to audience-led growth as the core thing. Think about it: Audience-led growth lets any company—PLG or not—attract people without paid ads. Today, your content and POV are part of your product. (Just look at Adam Robinson, selling his content and community access bundled with RB2B’s annual plan.) You can measure: • ICP acquisition into your audience • Activation with your content • Engagement with your content Tracking these metrics shows when you’re creating value for your audience. When aligned with sales, these intent signals multiply effectiveness and reveal prospect needs. All this to say, audience-led growth is the future of go to market and I’m going to dive in to track it deeply and share my learnings and playbook to help founders grow. Founders deserve it.

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I talked a big game in the Wynter Games. Now it's time to look at how the top 3 2024 GTM bets I shared are performing.... 1) Unique, personalized events: We’re seeing over 1000% ROI on our targeted events in Q1.  Our Real Retreat series is one of our most successful, higher ACV pipeline-generating initiatives in 2024 and we’re investing even more here next quarter. 2) Programmatic, AI-enhanced outbound: We set a stretch goal of $1m in outbound pipeline in Q1, which was a big jump given that we’d only been running this experiment for a couple of months and outbound pipeline was previously at $0. We’re on track to hit that goal, and the ACV and conversion rates for outbound-generated pipeline are higher than projected. 3) LinkedIn for demand creation AND capture LinkedIn touchpoints show up in more and more of our deals (we use HockeyStack to give us a richer picture of all of the touchpoints in a deal cycle). We’re getting more inbound DMs from people saying, “I was just thinking about this” or “I’m exploring a gifting tool, this is interesting” or “I liked your post yesterday. Can we chat?” I've gotten multiple Linkedin inbounds this week! The number of demo requests from people saying that they’ve heard about us on LinkedIn or through word-of-mouth has increased. We’re just getting started with thought leader ads, so much more to come on this front. If you're thinking "cool, but HOW are you getting these results?" check out my summary: bit.ly/3Um2jji

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I left the firm three years ago already, committing the next phase of my career to building HostWise.co. What started with 22 properties and <$1M revenue has grown to over 100, with ~$5M projected FY24 revenue. Growth is continuing to accelerate, rather than slowing down (further proof that #airbnbust is a myth spread by bad operations). Reflecting on this journey, if current me could talk to old me before taking the leap, here are a few things I'd say: -On Hard Work: You know that starting & running a business is hard work, but you really have no idea. Weekends off? Nope. Love skiing? Too bad. Tired of 10 hour days? Get ready for 15 hour days as your new normal. Your phone will become an extension of your hand (I have a "pinky rest" callus now). Friends & relationships? You're lucky they're patient with you, because they won't be seeing you much. - On Managing People: Leading a team is challenging, especially with highly variable experience, knowledge, & skillsets. At the firm, there were two defining characteristics - everyone was incredibly smart and highly motivated. Finding those traits in a small business setting takes significant time & effort. Letting people go is tough, but not as tough as working with people that don't share your passion. - On Ragrets: You won't have many regrets (not even one letter)! Are there parts of consulting you'll miss? Absolutely. Working with the C-level of $500M companies, helping them thrive, and working across a multitude of industries was interesting work. Dinner every night with intelligent people and discussing (sometimes debating) what's going on in the world was always fun, and let's not forget those airline miles! That said, building a business from the ground up has taught you more than you could imagine about marketing, finance, sales, management, HR... and loads more. Every day will bring a new challenge, but you (rarely) get tired of them. - On Networking: Building relationships in industry is much more important than you realize. Turns out conferences aren't just for drinking - you'll build friendships, learn a lot from those late night conversations, build partnerships, and more. There's value in just talking to someone that has, or is, walking in your shoes. When I started building this business, I was told not to be so committed to guest satisfaction & ratings, because "it's impossible to maintain quality at scale." Well, we now have over 11,000 reviews, STILL a 4.93 / 5 rating, 12 full time employees, over 30 cleaners, and we're still just in the early innings. We also have an exclusive registered trademark for Chore-Free Checkouts® , furthering our commitment to an incredible, easy guest experience. With properties now in Pittsburgh, Winter Park, Silverthorne, Austin, and Siesta Key, we're starting to move towards a national presence - stay tuned for more updates!

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The founders of FanDuel built a $500M company but ended up with nothing. Here's how investment terms wiped out their equity (based on an analysis of hundreds of deals): Many founders focus on growing their business but overlook the sneaky game happening in the fine print. When you raise capital, you're actually playing two separate games: First, Running the business, Second, Protecting your equity!!!! Here are the 4 most dangerous terms that can wipe out founder equity: 1. Liquidation Preferences Investors get paid 2-3x their investment before founders see any returns. It's like investors cutting to the front of the line during an exit. 2. Board Flipping Rights These allow investors to control the board with a minority stake. Miss one milestone, and suddenly, you're just the "Director of Marketing" at your own company. 3. Drag-Along Rights This forces you to sell when investors decide they want out, regardless of timing or price. You lose all control over the sale. 4. Anti-Dilution Protection If the company’s valuation drops, investors get more shares to preserve their ownership percentage—leaving you with even less. Say Hi to our Tech Network Community, the 1% club chat for investors, founders and developers! https://lnkd.in/d3pBiFfq

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If you haven't watched Google I/O this year, please do. I know lots of people are excited about the cool new developer tools, but for me... the awesome use cases for consumers really blew my mind. One is "Homework Help" with Circle to Search. I have friends (you know who you are...) who send images of their kids' homework to the group chat to ask for help. Now, you can just circle the problem with your finger and get step-by-step solutions almost instantly. Another feature I'm excited about is the new scam call detection feature. This one got a few laughs and a lot of applause... With the surge in phone scams lately, especially in Asia, it's important to keep finding new ways to protect consumers. Soon, we'll get real-time warnings during suspicious calls, alerting you to why this call might be a scam. Go check out the demo. And I'm so happy to see Android’s continued focus on making products that are accessible for everyone. Project Gameface, which lets you control your mouse with facial expressions, is now available on Android devices. This is a “game-changer” for gamers with disabilities, giving them the ability to play their favorite games on their phones. My personal favorite? Project Astra, I want it now so that I can ALWAYS ask my AI assistant where I've left my stuff, instead of irritating my family members. This is my first I/O as a Googler, and I can't help but feel some pride in being part of this. I can't wait to see how people and companies use these new tools to make great products for the world. If you want to know more about these consumer tools (and more) watch it here. https://lnkd.in/gC6sv_XZ #io #ai #gemini #projectastra #projectgameface

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I am excited to share my latest guest column on GI Friday! "The New Era of Casino Marketing: Harnessing Causal AI for Optimal Results" In this piece, I discuss how Casual AI is allowing casinos to understand the 'why' behind player behavior rather than just identifying patterns. One casino saw 20% more player engagement and 25% higher earnings by moving to Causal AI. #CasinoMarketing #CausalAI #GamingIndustry https://lnkd.in/gUi7fxzu

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After some recent news in the #sports start-up space, I got to thinking... Navigating Change When a Competitor Closes: A Strategic Approach When a major competitor goes out of business, it presents both opportunities and challenges. Here’s how your company can navigate this significant change strategically: 1. **Assess the Market Impact**: Understand the reasons behind the competitor's closure. Analyze how their exit affects market dynamics, customer expectations, and potential gaps in the industry. 2. **Seize Opportunities**: This is a prime time to attract new customers. Tailor marketing strategies to highlight our strengths and unique value propositions that differentiate us from the closed competitor. 3. **Enhance Customer Relationships**: Reach out to the competitor’s former clients with personalized offers. Demonstrate how we can meet their needs better and provide a seamless transition. 4. **Innovate and Improve**: Invest in innovation and product development. Use the market shift to introduce new features, services, or solutions that address unmet needs and set new industry standards. 5. **Strengthen the Team**: Leverage the situation to attract top talent from the closed competitor. Their expertise and insights can be invaluable to our growth and competitive edge. 6. **Monitor Market Trends**: Stay vigilant about market trends and emerging players. Adapt quickly to changes and ensure we remain agile and responsive to new challenges. 7. **Communicate Transparently**: Keep our stakeholders informed about how we’re responding to the market change. Transparency builds trust and reinforces our commitment to stability and growth. The closure of a major competitor is a turning point. By acting strategically, we can not only fill the void they leave behind but also strengthen our position and drive future success. #BusinessStrategy #MarketShift #Innovation #CustomerFocus #GrowthMindset #sportsbiz

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Quick BFCM weekend stats thus far: More than 21,000 businesses hit their highest revenue day on Stripe, and businesses on Stripe have already processed over $16 billion in payments this weekend! More live stats here: bfcm.stripe.com.

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DraftKings sends an erroneous email to a ton of users citing an issue with a golf bet they didn’t actually make. This causes confusion to users who bet regularly of “did I make that bet?” And concern to other users who think, “has my account been hacked?” Either way everyone runs to log in, traffic can’t be handled and causes crashes leaving both sets of users without answers. So now their users have questions and can’t self service the answer. So who gets the shortest end of the stick? Their CS team…. Attention to detail matters when sending blast emails.

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One golfer using Noteefy 🔔 has created recurring searches at a single club weekly through 2055. Yes really. 🤯 ⛳ The thing is that this is not an anomaly. We are seeing golfers across the board at our partner facilities using recurring searches to continue to be alerted when their favorite course opens long into the future. This recurring demand stream for the facility is why Noteefy 🔔 is not a "waitlist" but really a demand generation and marketing funnel for the course operator. We are like every course & golfer's friendly assistant that lets the customer know in a personalized manner when their preferred time opens each week. For example - if a golf course opens their tee sheet 7 days out, but the golfer has every single weekend morning for the full season selected to be alerted, they will continue to get a nudge to come back and play. As a result - the golfer will play more often, increasing their customer lifetime value (CLTV) at a roughly $0 acquisition cost for the facility (CAC). We are big believers that technology driving more loyalty and a frictionless booking experience is critical to the future sustainability of the bull run the market is on.

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I am looking forward to joining the folks on Techstrong TV today to talk about how companies can successfully implement AI into business processes without heavy developer lift or long development cycles. Plus, why you'd want to and how to do it safely and securely. Pop on over and watch if you're curious about making AI work smoothly for your whole team. https://lnkd.in/ehP_XC8K #AI #CIO #DigitalTransformation

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Big News: Peloton Interactive now does rental! 👀 Here's why I think it's a super smart play: One of the biggest issues Peloton faces? High price, high commitment product ($1,000s up front + monthly membership) And selling this in a notoriously fickle, flakey market (gym memberships and diet books go unused All. The. Time) Committing to owning a Peloton bike is a BIG decision for most people. However: 💡 Bringing in a rental option significantly increases the "conversion pool" of people who are willing to become a customer. Now, they're able to service three different types of customer: 1/ Those who are 100% committed and KNOW they'll use the product all the time. These people will still buy from new. 2/ Those who are committed, but are on the fence with regards to price. These people will still buy refurbished for a discount. 3/ Those who've heard of Peloton and like the idea, but are worried it'll just be another failed fitness attempt along with the unused diet books and gym memberships. Until recently, the only options for that third group were: 😤 Suck it up and pay 😭 Don't buy at all I'd guess that A LOT of people chose the latter. But now? Instead, you can: Rent a bike. Cancel anytime. Get the membership included. Buy your bike at any point. It's effectively a paid "try before you buy" that opens up a whole new world of customers for Peloton. Plus, they can now position themselves against a gym membership in a much stronger way. Why join a gym when you can get the equipment and classes in the convenience of your own home for a similar price? Overall, a super exciting move from Peloton. Seeing brands like this shift towards usage-based billing is incredibly validating of our vision for Supercycle 😎 P.S. I have thoughts on how Peloton has gone about pricing their offer. Would this be a useful separate post? Let me know in the comments. 

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Some takeaways from TSIA interact: 1. Hibachi still rocks 2. AI had been around in the contact center space for a long, long time. It’s just now being considered for broader application in other departments / workflows 3. Still more AI hype than substance (for now) lots of people are experimenting with things…many of which are incrementally helpful…but very few 10x improvements. 3. CS orgs are changing charter way too much. I spoke to over 50 CS leaders and 100% of their departments had experienced a change in focus or charter in the past 2 years. 5. Order of departments where AI is showing real value: -support -product -marketing -customer success -sales

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