3 Surprises from Millennials on the Purchase Process
I love working with Millennials as well as understanding their purchasing habits.
From IBM's Institute of Business Value's study on Millennials, I had 3 Aha moments about how they like to purchase!
- The world's gone social! Millennials meet with vendors face-to-face during the sales cycle, but they would much rather interact remotely during this initial phase
- In God we trust, all others bring data. Millennials place equal weight on data analysis and the opinion of family and friends when deciding whether or not to make a B2B purchase costing US$10,000 or more
- Millennials are eager to share positive experiences, but very reluctant to share disappointments
These 3 ahas, tell me that in order to meet their needs, we need to:
- Be social in the sales cycle ! Since this social network scene makes the most sense to millennials, consider setting up an internal private social site to gain more input, and answer questions.
- Share data and analytics to assist in the progression! Since millennials want the data, share it! Do your homework to make it valuable but don't forget the "word of mouth" as well.
- Make it easy to shout it from the mountain tops! Since this new generation likes to share positive experiences, make it easy for them to do so. This enables them to become your brand ambassadors!
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3…2...1… Houston, we have lift off! IBM at the NASA Challenge with Internet of Things leading!
Over the weekend of April 11th and 12th, IBM partnered with NASA on their International Space Apps Challenge. Over 12,000 attendees participated in the 48-hour hackathon in 133 cities around the world creating apps to solve some of the most challenging issues we face here on earth, in space, around robotics and as human beings. IBM Bluemix was used as a development platform during this hackathon and we saw Bluemix adopted by more than 3600 developers during this event.
Combining the real time data provided by NASA about earth & space, and the ready-to-use Cloud services and app development tools provided by Bluemix, developers rapidly created powerful solutions to address the challenges we see everyday. .NASA Astronaut Catherine "Cady" Coleman made this bold statement at the New York City Main Stage Event: "Having the tools, having a platform like Bluemix, to get these people in this place solves problems that we don't have enough people to solve, and I think we're going to see some amazing solutions." - Watch the video at youtu.be/88KtkdVD8gs.
In this blog, I want to drill in and highlight three key things that I have learned
1. Creativity by combining IoT data and mobile
Wildfires are an immediate danger when they are close to human communities. When evacuating these areas, it turns out that the chosen route is crucial to people's survival. A NYC based team created the Wildfire Navigator Mobile IoT App that analyzes the CO2 sensor data and combines real time imagery coming from NASA satellites Aqua and Terra, and builds optimized safest route API using Bluemix Python services. The route API will make predictions about potential areas that wildfires can spread to. Finding routes will take into consideration these predictions. Learn more at ibm.biz/BdXHrr
One of the NASA Space App topics was "Food Direction" - the country decision makers and the general public need to to understand the self-sufficiency of their country across decades and under fluctuating market conditions. To meet this challenge, Noordwijk team from Europe created the app "Can You Feed Me?". This Android app uses space data combined with other data sources to create insight into the imports and exports of food in the world. It was built to withstand global demand and supply data. The app's backend mapping web service was built on Bluemix using its Web app services and is capable of telling if there’s enough food for the population of a specific country. Learn more at ibm.biz/BdXHj8
The Great British Space Race, created an app that uses British astronaut Tim Peake's inaugural mission to the ISS to encourage people on Earth to keep fit. Keeping track of the exercise they do, participants can pit themselves against friends to earn mission badges and astronaut wings as they race towards orbit. Groups can challenge each other, and in conjunction with gyms, teams across the world can race around the solar system by earning "rocket fuel" for their physical exercise.
2. Women can do this too
In keeping with NASA's focus on Women in Data for the 2015 Space Apps Challenge, the Space Apps Data Bootcamp was led by many exceptional women making an impact on the world through their engagement with data. This was NASA’s first Data Bootcamp and it was a huge success for women in or interested in coding.
Women of all ages got a chance to hear several women panelist speak about their first hackathons, problem solving tips, and more. Panelists included 13-year-old Olivia Ross, who represented Black Girls CODE. She got started in coding when she was just 11 and definitely embodies what we’re looking for in future Bluemixers. Learn more at ibm.biz/BdXHsd. two creative solutions out of these thousands of apps that developers came up with in solving our earth problem in the 48 hour period.
My colleagues at IBM have recognized this trend and will build programs that specifically help women of all ages to take the leap and help them acquire necessary skills that transform their ideas into the next great product.
3. Innovation is happening everywhere.
In this rapidly evolving world, we have transitioned into an innovation economy - where capital and computing infrastructure is becoming a commodity, while creativity + speed have emerged as real differentiators in how a business can leapfrog their competition. The #SpaceApps challenge has shown that by leveraging developer's creativity and a rapid innovation platform's speed, you can create new solutions within 48 hours. I challenge your team to join us in our future Hackathons that my colleagues have created to challenge you to create your innovative solutions. http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/events/
Internet of Things Foosball on BlueMix With Social Linkage!
Yes, the students have done it! This is an Internet of Things Foosball Table designed by Fabian Eitel and Marcel Seibold. In this picture, they are the 2 gentlemen playing against me !!
This table with sensors throughout does the following:
- It tweets the scores.
- It rates the probability of the winning team (my team was not rated high -- even though I did score one point!)
- Others can tweet to cheer you on!
Here you can find our final result in Twitter as a little souvenir. https://twitter.com/TischkickerEhn/status/590534529464467456)
It is a very innovative way to showcase the value of the Cloud. Marcel and Fabian are not hard core coders but were able to get this up and coming quickly because of Bluemix.
How does it work?
Sensors capture the "game" and then send the results to the cloud, where the data is analyzed and stored. Then based on the game, Tweets are automatically sent and the probablity of a Winner Calculated!
What fun!
IBM's Global Entrepreneur Program for Cloud: Focus in Germany
IBM has a long and deep commitment to the entrepreneurial community. IBM works with more than 400 leading venture capital firms in 30 countries to get an early-look into new technologies and upcoming entrepreneurs. Through the IBM Global Entrepreneur Program, IBM already works with 6,000 startups worldwide, mentoring them to help them grow with free software and technical expertise, exposure to 600+ expert mentors of corporate executives and serial entrepreneurs, plus access to a global network of clients.
In Germany, we have been working together with 150 Startups. On Thursday, I will be in Berlin meeting with some of the best of the best German Ecosystem members -- from startups, to VCs to incubators.
Last time here, I met with the Investment Punk https://de-de.facebook.com/investmentpunkpage
The IBM Global Entrepreneur Program for Cloud Startups is the leveling up of IBM’s current entrepreneur progam, combining the incredible power of IBM Cloud with the company’s vast, existing network of resources for startups. This program is a game changer for entrepreneurs, offering them $120,000 of free IBM Cloud platform credits for one year and deep connections to IBM’s enterprise client base. This financial offer is higher than any other cloud vendor has offered startups to date.
This is the highest value cloud startup offering in the market for two reasons: the power of IBM Cloud, and the face-to-face connections and visibility for early stage startups to large enterprise clients. We want to help ignite even more the growing community in Berlin and beyond in Germany.
IBM Cloud also offers startups an advantage in technical breadth: IBM is the leading vendor to provide a full suite, from bare metal to platform services with DevOps, in both virtualized and hybrid environments. Bluemix is IBM’s cloud platform as a service, which offers a tremendous breadth of services to help startups build and scale their innovations quickly, as well as leverage rising volumes of Big Data from growing mobile and social networks, IoT devices and more.
“IBM is the only large tech firm offering face-to-face, in-person connections to enterprises and mentoring that is so critical for early stage companies,” said Robin Hrassnigg, CEO of Diabetizer, a German startup and IBM partner recently recognized by the World Health Organization for its innovative health care app, in a statement. “As our company continues to scale our app, which uses cognitive computing and cloud to help diabetics manage their treatment with flexibility and accuracy, we will increasingly look to these types of in-depth connections to bring our approach to big data to different industries.”
IBM is also offering entrepreneurs connections to its enterprise client base through regional face-to-face events, as well as CIO and entrepreneur meet-ups. These face-to-face connections with enterprises are invaluable to early-stage companies, and IBM is the only large tech firm to offer interactions at this level.
The IBM Global Entrepreneur Program for Cloud Startups also offers entrepreneurs the most extensive global network of local technical expertise through IBM’s 43 Innovation Centers, all of which also host local tech community events and meet-ups. And Using IBM Bluemix allows companies to accelerate the time it takes to bring their innovation to market - from weeks and months to hours and days.
Go Entrepreneurs!
5 quotes from German Authors -- Celebrating my time here!
I love quotes and have been sharing some of my favorites. Since I am in 3 cities in Germany this week, I thought I'd look up some favorites from German Authors.
1. Aller Anfang ist schwer “All beginnings are hard.”
So true! Anything that you start is always hard! Transformations are particularly difficult but the outcomes are sweet! As an entrepreneur, starting that business is hard, and keeping persistent harder. But you have to begin to finish!
2. Aus Schaden wird man klug. Translated it means “Failure makes smart.”
You learn so much from experimenting and failing and taking those insights back into the business. This experimentation is now part of our learning skills!
3. Erst denken, dann handeln. “First think, then act.”
Sometimes we are all impulsive. But thinking, and finding that time to study, is always crucial to your success. In today's world that doesn't mean planning for months, but it does mean pausing to think it through.
4. He who begins many things finishes but few – German Proverb
Stay focused on the right things. I see lots of entrepreneurs trying to do too much (yep, sometimes that me too!) but staying honed in on the right items really makes a difference.
5. Übung macht den Meister
Practice makes a master
I love this concept. I created one that says " Homework is not a MooC point". The thought is that you have to work at what you want to accomplish! I love learning from serial entrepreneurs as they have learned some things of value!
Growth Hacks for Startups!
Small is beautiful ! Listening to your clients! Just some of the essentials ways to grow with some cool hacks!!
[youtube=http://youtu.be/jOAiOiBiKKo]
My Top 3 Ahas from the NASA Space App Challenge
I loved spending the last 2 days at the NASA Space App Challenge.
The first day I was at the Women of Data with 75 amazing women ranging in age from 13 to 75. Each was incredible -- and I learned so much from each one. Saturday was the first day of the Hackathon ,and while IBM was engaged in over 70 of the hacks and the virtual hack with IBM Bluemix, I was at the NYC hack today with 3 astronauts, the NASA CTO, and Beth from NASA who runs the Innovation Program. I had so many AHA moments but I thought I'd pick out my top 3 and share with all of you!
1. Community Matters.
Yesterday I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes by Brian Solis: "Community is much more than belonging to something; it's about doing something together that makes belonging matter." As we were chatting yesterday after a session, our circle of "girls" kept growing and growing. I loved the community that formed as we were all united in a common goal!
2. Hacks Give Confidence
Today I met amazing people who have gained tremendous confidence through hacking. Olivia who "borrowed" an XML book from her brother, and then googled Ruby to learn language, Tae who attends Leigh University who could hardly sit still for a chat cause he wanted to go and code, and Katie who is a great combo of theater and code !!
3. NASA's Data Gift not only helps NASA, but all of us! Open source and crowdsoucing has a MAJOR impact!
During this Space Apps Challenge, NASA opened up new APIs and 200 data sources. They did this not for their own gain, but for helping space, earth, and entrepreneurs. Their own astronauts are committed to the collaborative economy -- authentically !
This era of the collaborative economy is going to change the world. And that's what I witnessed today -- a world changing event!
