Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

We wrap up our discussion with Ian Campbell of Mission Suite with a look at touch points and automation. They are essential pieces of his approach to networking. We all want to be heard and feel that we bring value. A regular conversation does that better than occasionally making contact and only when something is needed. Automation is not the most personal thing we can do. However, it helps us do things on a schedule. Improve Efficiency Through Touch Points And Automation Networking takes time. We have to go back and forth to the event and spend time meeting and greeting. Likewise, there is the additional time required to log and cultivate those connections. That can add up. However, using simple touch points and automation to enforce those strengthens our connection with less time invested. That frees us up to invest more valuable time in a conversation. Therefore, we can get things done instead of worrying about the administrative side of networking. A Little Background Ian Campbell is an entrepreneur and business owner who works with small business owners and other entrepreneurs to help them build automated sales processes to more predictably build their businesses through networking and referrals. With over 20 years of sales, business, and entrepreneurship experience under his belt, he's "been there and done that...or at least tried it a few times." and has worked first hand with clients and business partners to REALLY grow their businesses with networking and referrals. Ian lives in Vermont with his wife and two-year-old son, and is also a performing and recording musician just about to release his first EP in the world of streaming. You can usually find him out exploring the woods, on a ski lift, or out on the water (depending on the season ;)). A Listener Discount Go to this link: https://www.themissionsuite.com/crm-for-entrepreneurs/ for a special offer. It is an offer to sign up for a Mission Suite account with a discounted setup fee. There are additional offers valued at $800.    

This episode continues our discussion with Ian Campbell of Mission Suite. We go into his approach to building a better professional network by identifying layers of contacts. He uses a baseball field analogy that fits the approach very well. His approach walks us through a way to give weight to those that provide us the most benefit while cultivating others. Be Intentional For A Better Professional Network We start with a plan and goals. These are familiar as we do the same for almost every activity. We must define what that looks like when aiming to build a better professional network. That includes identifying who our ideal customer is and how to get connected to them. Once we have the core (home plate) then, we step back and examine who can connect us to those we most desire to connect to. Then we step back again and repeat to connect to that second layer. We end up with a way to categorize everyone we meet. A Little Background Ian Campbell is an entrepreneur and business owner who works with small business owners and other entrepreneurs to help them build automated sales processes to more predictably build their businesses through networking and referrals. With over 20 years of sales, business, and entrepreneurship experience under his belt, he's "been there and done that...or at least tried it a few times." and has worked first hand with clients and business partners to REALLY grow their businesses with networking and referrals. Ian lives in Vermont with his wife and two-year-old son, and is also a performing and recording musician just about to release his first EP in the world of streaming. You can usually find him out exploring the woods, on a ski lift, or out on the water (depending on the season ;)). A Listener Discount Go to this link: https://www.themissionsuite.com/crm-for-entrepreneurs/ for a special offer. It is an offer to sign up for a Mission Suite account with a discounted setup fee.  There are additional offers valued at $800.    

We end the year with an announcement to become a better developer at school.develpreneur.com. This is our new portal for learning and training. We have free courses you can run through in roughly an hour or less, up to classes that will take you days or weeks to complete. The goal is to provide you with a full library of options to become a better developer. Building A Better Developer That has always been our motto, and we regularly make changes to help you do so easier. We looked at the mountains of content on the site and decided we needed to make some changes. So there will be changes on the site to find material easier. However, there will also be courses added regularly to our new portal to help you keep up and earn some certificates and valuable tools and references along the way. Happy New Year! It is the end of another year, and we can not thank you enough for your continued support and investment of time. We look forward to the year ahead and ways to serve you better. We started with a 21-day challenge and suggest you sign up again. It is a good way to start the year by building a habit or two that can make 2023 your best yet.  

Ian Campbell, the CEO of the SaaS solution Mission Suite, shares his unique journey from marketing consultant to software CEO. He discusses the advantages of SaaS for small businesses, emphasizing reduced costs and greater flexibility. Trust and personal referrals play a pivotal role in software consulting, as Campbell explains the challenges of traditional advertising. He also highlights the importance of strategic networking to identify ideal clients and enhance business relationships, ultimately redefining success in the entrepreneurial landscape.

In our last episode, we discussed the value of diverse perspectives. We wrap up our William A. Adams interview with ideas for solving diversity issues. We have seen where he has made great strides in raising awareness. However, we do not wrap up our conversation without offering solutions to this problem. It makes no sense to complain about a problem without suggesting solutions. A Blueprint For Solving Diversity Issues I enjoy the idea of "tech bros" that William brings up. This is a concept we see in all sorts of groups and cliques. Gatekeepers in the group need to be won over before we can become a part of it. We can focus on winning them over in those situations or create a different group. That new group allows us to build momentum and credibility to win over gatekeepers better than one person alone. Nevertheless, William broke those barriers on his own and now uses those experiences to guide the next generation to be seen for what they bring to the table instead of what has been defined as valuable to employers. He gets it all to a simple point. Diversity loses its value if we try to whitewash the diversity out and force hires to conform to our experience. A Little Background William A. Adam is an award-winning D&I innovator, engineering trailblazer, and philanthropist. After rolling out critical XML code globally in many of Microsoft's core products, he was named the first Technical Advisor to the CTO, Kevin Scott. Plenty Of Accolades As co-founder of the LEAP apprenticeship program – named Microsoft's D&I Program of the Year in 2020 – William helped launch the training of more than 26 engineering cohorts worldwide. Today, 98% of LEAP participants work at Microsoft or other high-tech companies. His most recent collaboration is with the leadership of the U.S. Virgin Islands to establish and train a technical talent pool and build critical technology infrastructure. Early in his 30-year career in software engineering, he was one of the first Black entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and was recently profiled by the Computer History Museum. Through his company, Adamation, William developed mission-critical custom enterprise apps for Steve Jobs' NeXT computers and pioneered a network instant messaging service purchased by the CIA. He's been awarded two patents. Where Is He Now? Today, in addition to his role at Microsoft, William is the philanthropic founder of The EV3NT, a collaborative, community-based hackathon designed to use technology to address critical real-world needs. William is busy as a husband and father of three when he's not tinkering with bits and bytes. He builds kitchen cabinets, knits, and tries to recapture the exhilaration of riding a motorcycle in India. His Web Site: https://www.william-a-adams.com  

Our annual Christmas special includes a wish for you to embrace positive thinking during this season. Better yet, we hope you will also embrace that mindset in the year ahead. We know that confirmation bias can make us think we are correct and our view is right. Therefore, we should craft that view to be where we are content, successful, and even happy. We can help set our environment through our attitude, and it makes no sense to avoid doing so in a way that benefits us. The Power of Positive Thinking Many studies have been done on how our attitudes and assumptions shape our lives. This goes all the way to the core of our being and impacts our health and other areas of our personal lives. A mindset that has us looking to achieve things instead of as a victim also helps us set better goals. There is no reason to set goals when life defeats you. A positive mindset will allow you to shoot for the stars. Even if you fail to achieve those lofty goals, you will be far better off having tried and getting partly there. A Happy Year Ahead If nothing else, a positive attitude can help you whistle while you work or laugh more often. Those simple changes will make you more likable to those around well, lifting your spirits. A happy you is a healthy you.  

We continue our conversation with "The" William A. Adams with a foray into diversity. Differing perspectives that are correctly managed and embraced are a part of high-functioning teams. Diversity is a popular term to use to get good press. However, that is not useful in itself. We must look for diverse experiences and backgrounds and then utilize them to improve the team. This benefit only occurs when we work with the differences rather than force them to conform. Differing Perspectives For A Complete Picture There are countless stories of companies that built a product they thought would take the world by storm only to release it to the sound of crickets. These often come from a team that was in a form of a bubble that kept them from considering the real world outside. When we hire a diverse group and incorporate those differing perspectives, we open ourselves to a larger world of opportunities. We discuss examples in this episode, including the idea of men coming up with a menstrual tracking application. A Little Background William A. Adam is an award-winning D&I innovator, engineering trailblazer, and philanthropist. After rolling out critical XML code globally in many of Microsoft's core products, he was named the first Technical Advisor to the CTO, Kevin Scott. Plenty Of Accolades As co-founder of the LEAP apprenticeship program – named Microsoft's D&I Program of the Year in 2020 – William helped launch the training of more than 26 engineering cohorts worldwide. Today, 98% of LEAP participants work at Microsoft or other high-tech companies. His most recent collaboration is with the leadership of the U.S. Virgin Islands to establish and train a technical talent pool and build critical technology infrastructure. Early in his 30-year career in software engineering, he was one of the first Black entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and was recently profiled by the Computer History Museum. Through his company, Adamation, William developed mission-critical custom enterprise apps for Steve Jobs' NeXT computers and pioneered a network instant messaging service purchased by the CIA. He's been awarded two patents. Where Is He Now? Today, in addition to his role at Microsoft, William is the philanthropic founder of The EV3NT, a collaborative, community-based hackathon designed to use technology to address critical real-world needs. William is busy as a husband and father of three when he's not tinkering with bits and bytes. He builds kitchen cabinets, knits, and tries to recapture the exhilaration of riding a motorcycle in India. His Web Site: https://www.william-a-adams.com  

We start a new discussion in this episode. Our conversation with "The" William A. Adams begins with a background that shows he was made for a career in software. He makes the most of the hand he was dealt and has an incredible resume with experiences to match. By the way, William also happens to be a black man in a predominately white world of IT. However, more on that in later episodes. A Career In Software Was An Obvious Choice As we look at the stories and activities of his childhood, this man was born to be in IT. These are stories that might feel familiar even and relatable. Thus, his story is motivational and shows that effort and hard work can pay off. Fortunately, he now uses that success to find others that can follow in his footsteps or even go beyond his lofty heights. A Little Background William A. Adam is an award-winning D&I innovator, engineering trailblazer, and philanthropist. After rolling out critical XML code globally in many of Microsoft's core products, he was named the first Technical Advisor to the CTO, Kevin Scott. Plenty Of Accolades As co-founder of the LEAP apprenticeship program – named Microsoft's D&I Program of the Year in 2020 – William helped launch the training of more than 26 engineering cohorts worldwide. Today, 98% of LEAP participants work at Microsoft or other high-tech companies. His most recent collaboration is with the leadership of the U.S. Virgin Islands to establish and train a technical talent pool and build critical technology infrastructure. Early in his 30-year career in software engineering, he was one of the first Black entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and was recently profiled by the Computer History Museum. Through his company, Adamation, William developed mission-critical custom enterprise apps for Steve Jobs' NeXT computers and pioneered a network instant messaging service purchased by the CIA. He's been awarded two patents. Where Is He Now? Today, in addition to his role at Microsoft, William is the philanthropic founder of The EV3NT, a collaborative, community-based hackathon designed to use technology to address critical real-world needs. William is busy as a husband and father of three when he's not tinkering with bits and bytes. He builds kitchen cabinets, knits, and tries to recapture the exhilaration of riding a motorcycle in India. His Web Site: https://www.william-a-adams.com  

The discussion with Chip Nightingale concludes with his story about hitting rock bottom and then turning around to grow back to success. He was in about as bad a place one can be and was ready to call it quits. However, he was stopped and managed to turn things around. His story is one that points out that while we can be in a bad situation, that does make it the end. Sometimes it is where our story truly begins. Rock Bottom Is Not An End Chip's story about rock bottom may not feel quite the same as yours or someone you know. Nevertheless, it is an example of how we can flip from a focus on our mistakes to focusing on how we can improve. The good news is that we have a lot of areas where we can improve in that situation. When we have nothing more to lose we are perfectly positioned for self-examination and growth. A Little Background Chip Nightingale is a pastor, international conference and Bible teacher, entrepreneur, and leadership coach. He loves coaching sports and encouraging leaders through coaching in business and in the church. He currently serves as the Director of Advancement at Word of Life Fellowship. Chip lives in Hudson, Florida, with his wife, Audrey, and they have four amazing children. His Web Site: chipnightingale.com Yes, You Can Lead That is the title of Chip's podcast. It is s podcast about life and leadership lessons from everyday life.  There is also a link to his new book, Ceasefire on the website. It is on how to handle conflict.

This episode continues our discussion with Chip Nightingale. We explore how it can be risky to invest in your team but also rewarding. The view of employees as quick to leave once they receive training is short-sighted and often wrong. There is a natural fear that people grow to a certain point and then leave. However, that is not always the case. Many times they will stay because they know they will continue to grow. Invest In Your Team For Growth You can invest in your team as a leader or mentor by training them to move up in the organization. Yes, you might be training them to take your job, but that is not a negative. It is a problem to be the sole path for a process and a limit to organizational growth. They should be able to get along without you so you can grow as well. A Little Background Chip Nightingale is a pastor, international conference and Bible teacher, entrepreneur, and leadership coach. He loves coaching sports and encouraging leaders through coaching in business and in the church. He currently serves as the Director of Advancement at Word of Life Fellowship. Chip lives in Hudson, Florida, with his wife, Audrey, and they have four amazing children. His Web Site: chipnightingale.com Yes, You Can Lead That is the title of Chip's podcast. It is s podcast about life and leadership lessons from everyday life.  There is also a link to his new book, Ceasefire on the website. It is on how to handle conflict.