Month: February 2017

Top Tech Executive Steve Johnson on the Most Important Things in Life & Business

Top Tech Executive Steve Johnson on the Most Important Things in Life & Business

 

If anyone knows how to grow revenue exponentially, it’s long-time tech executive Steve Johnson. Steve is President and COO at Vidyard, the video intelligence platform for business. Before joining Vidyard last year, he was Chief Revenue Officer for Hootsuite. At Hootsuite Steve helped grow the company from a sub-$100 million valuation to over $1 billion and from 27 employees to more than 800.

 

 

Steve has a broad range of experience with strategic accounts, global partnerships, web analytics, SaaS to database and email marketing applications. He has served on executive teams for startups and established companies including Constant Contact, Blackbaud, Scopus, ACI 4th Dimension and others.

To master a spectrum of skills, the key to learning, Steve says, is to “always be curious.”

 

Failure, inevitably, is a part of learning. And Steve has advice on how to confront this challenge – if you must fail, fail fast.

 

For Steve, the most important aspect of life and work is making a real impact. He founded a SaaS application called iAbida for special needs children, to help improve team communication. And he continues to ask himself, “Are you really making an impact? Are you learning? Are you having fun?”


I had a great time talking with Steve Johnson about the insights he’s gained from his years as a top tech executive. For the rest of my conversation with Steve and for insights from other exceptional leaders, check out DaveCarvajal.com/videos.

CTO Alain Benzaken on Conquering Super Bowl Challenges in Life & Business

CTO Alain Benzaken on Conquering Super Bowl Challenges in Life & Business

Alain Benzaken has decades of experience developing innovative technology for some of the most successful Internet companies in the world. Most recently, Alain has served as CTO, Americas of Decisyon. He was also Vice President of Development at Priceline before leading the technology organization at Ladders with me in 2005. Alain also led the technology organization at Buddy Media during its $800M acquisition by Salesforce.

Alain and I have trained together for Ironman triathlons. In business and in sport, Alain understands that strong mentors help you achieve bigger results faster.

Alain was one of the first technology hires at Priceline and was an integral part of building the company’s core systems. During the dotcom boom, Priceline was one of 3 companies valued over a $1B. Alain talked to me about the importance of choosing tech opportunities wisely.

Throughout his career, Alain has had to overcome what he calls the “Super Bowl challenges.” It all comes down to hiring the right people to help you conquer.

Alain also talked with me about how strong leaders master influence. Understand which levers to pull, adapt to each situation, and remember to solve new problems without fighting old battles.

For more insights from my good friend Alain and from other outstanding executive leaders, visit DaveCarvajal.com.

Conquering Super Bowl Challenges: Insights with Alain Benzaken

Conquering Super Bowl Challenges: Insights with Alain Benzaken

Alain Benzaken has decades of experience developing innovative technology for some of the most successful Internet companies in the world. Most recently, Alain has served as CTO, Americas of Decisyon. He was also Vice President of Development at Priceline before leading the technology organization at Ladders with me in 2005. Alain also led the technology organization at Buddy Media during its $800M acquisition by Salesforce.

Alain and I have trained together for Ironman triathlons. In business and in sport, Alain understands that strong mentors help you achieve bigger results faster.

 

Alain was one of the first technology hires at Priceline and was an integral part of building the company’s core systems. During the dotcom boom, Priceline was one of 3 companies valued over a $1B. Alain talked to me about the importance of choosing tech opportunities wisely.

 

Throughout his career, Alain has had to overcome what he calls the “Super Bowl challenges.” It all comes down to hiring the right people to help you conquer.

 

Alain also talked with me about how strong leaders master influence. Understand which levers to pull, adapt to each situation, and remember to solve new problems without fighting old battles.

 

For more insights from my good friend Alain and from other outstanding executive leaders, visit DaveCarvajal.com/videos.

Insights: Exceptional Business Leader Liza Landsman

Liza Landsman is an exceptional business leader who recently graced the cover of Adweek for her visionary leadership as Chief Customer Officer at Jet.com. Before she joined Jet, Liza served as CMO at E*Trade, Managing Director at BlackRock, Partner at Bravas Group and Managing Director at Citi.

“Jet is a totally different spectrum than Citi or E-Trade, and she’s succeeding in all of those different roles because of the core skill sets she has,” said Hema Widhani in the Adweek cover story on Liza. Hema is CMO at Prudential and worked with Liza at both Citi and E-Trade. “Liza’s one of those super-versatile business leaders that finds a way to make every business environment successful.”

Liza’s success story is a stunning example of why in business and in life, for creating stronger communities and enterprise value, women are the greater sex. When it comes to women leading in tech, Liza has big dreams.

Liza’s first mentor was another strong female entrepreneur, her mother.

As former CMO of E*Trade, Liza is often asked what happened to everyone’s favorite little guy on TV — the E*Trade baby. Where is he now? Retired on an island in the Pacific, Liza says.

Liza’s experience is truly global in scope and she has deep insights on what it takes to lead international teams.

It was such a pleasure talking with Liza about leadership and what the future holds for women in tech. For more of my conversation with Liza and other outstanding leaders, check out DaveCarvajal.com/videos.