Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

Richard Langlois, author of The Corporation and the 20th Century, discusses the transition to multi-unit businesses, antitrust regulations, and the impact of the depression on financial institutions. He explores the success of large corporations, illegal contracts with beneficial outcomes, the evolution of holding companies, and recommended biographies of influential business executives. The podcast also touches on the gold and silver standard debate and its impact on the US economy.

Jon Cobb, a LinkedIn expert, shares his unique style of posts, which are short, concise, and impactful. His biggest post this year has received 236,000 likes and almost 18 million impressions.  It highlights the importance of leadership and culture change, which resonates with many people due to the timing of layoffs and the appreciation for empathetic leadership. Jon also shares a few of the most popular posts, including one that emphasizes hiring someone with the right mindset over someone with the right resume, emphasizing the importance of understanding the motivations behind an individual's interest in a job. He shares posts that suggest people should focus on long-term growth opportunities rather than just the most lucrative job offers. Jon talks about his company called Jon Cobb Coaching, and an app he built called the Job Search Boot Camp. The app helps people identify mistakes they might be making in their job search process and adopt a more strategic approach. He advises people to step back, think more strategically about their job search, and focus on networking before applying. He encourages people to apply for companies they truly want to work for, as this will lead to a full-quality application. Jon’s app includes an audio course that walks people through these stages, such as networking correctly, reaching out to new connections on LinkedIn, building a compelling resume, and interviewing effectively. By following this structured approach, people can increase their chances of success and happiness in the long run. Job Search Boot Camp offers resources, resume templates, cover letter templates, negotiation letter templates, and a community forum for users to connect with the author. The course is affordable and designed to help people get hired faster and make more. He  left Deloitte consulting a few years ago and focussed on business consulting. He works with people across different elements of their life and challenges they face. He now runs a life coaching practice, helping entrepreneurs, relationship challenges, and developing a mindset of success, and career coaching is a significant part of this practice.   Best Practices on LinkedIn Posts Jon's approach to LinkedIn posting began with posting on topics that matter to him. He has found that success involves trial and error, experimentation, and understanding what matters to you. He began posting about work culture and personal and professional progress, and over time, refined his voice by focusing on what mattered to him. He found that the overlap between what he cared about and what he had to offer was what resonated with people who appreciated it. When he committed to posting, he started using square image posts with quotes, which are thought graphics that are larger than text. This allows for more real estate on the LinkedIn scroll feed and makes it easier for people to read what they have to say. Additionally, making the idea or thought easy for people to quickly identify with is crucial. LinkedIn is not the place for long, complicated posts, but it is not as limited as Twitter, so it is important to make it easy for people to like, react, leave comments, or follow the author quickly.  Jon shares how posting on LinkedIn has helped him grow his following. He tried different formats and polls. His goal is to post twice a day, but sometimes misses days due to lack of inspiration or commitment. Consistency is a key aspect of success, but it's not the number one priority in his life. Jon emphasizes the importance of nurturing posts and responding to comments within the first hour after posting. The first 20 minutes are the most important and recognised by the algorithms. He sets aside an hour after the post goes live to interact and respond to people, as the algorithm evaluates how much people are interested in your post. To avoid LinkedIn's algorithm evaluating links that take people off the platform, Jon recommends waiting five to 10 minutes after posting to leave comments or links to avoid lowering the exposure the post is given.  When a post performs well, Jon uses a lesson learned from the value ladder from Russell Brunson of Clickfunnels to stay in touch with people, get them to sign up for newsletters or apps, and build an email list. He also suggests using lead magnets, such as offering free resources or digital books, to build an email list. He acknowledges the importance of collecting email addresses, as it allows you to control access to the audience and avoid penalizing you for marketing posts. He plans to launch webinars on digital courses and one-on-one coaching. Another way to collect emails is on your LinkedIn profile, where you can put a link to your best posts or other content and encourage viewers to sign up for the posts.  This will help you stay connected with your audience and build a strong online presence. The ROI on LinkedIn Success Jon has gained 17 million views and is now reaching a steady stream of clients. However, the challenge lies in product market fit, as people who are unemployed or have been looking for work for three months without much success are less likely to invest in high-ticket items like coaching. To overcome this, he suggests understanding his customer base better and offering a digital resource at a reasonable price. He also suggests a webinar to help people understand the value of coaching and answer their questions. Jon responds to a high percentage of comments on LinkedIn, and he addresses the problem of finding comments that haven't been replied to due to the platform's lack of filtering features. To engage more clients, he offers three ways to help career transitioners: following him for insights, downloading his app, attending the job search bootcamp course, or contacting him about one-on-one coaching. By providing options and letting people decide what the best way is for them to help, Jon hopes to increase his conversion rate and reach more potential clients.  LinkedIn’s New Feature LinkedIn has a new feature called "Scheduled Posts," which allows users to schedule posts for the future. This feature is relatively new and may vary depending on the platform and device, but there may be different functionality for macs or pcs. Consistency is important as your audience is typically around the same time, and you want people who are used to seeing your posts. However, it's important to remember that engagement is not solely based on the number of people who engage with your post. The algorithm is looking for certain subjects and keywords related to what you're known for. Building a Niche Audience and Using Hashtags on LinkedIn  To help identify and build your audience within specific niches, you can use the influencer option for your LinkedIn profile, called Creator mode. When you turn on Creator mode, LinkedIn recommends using two to four hashtags, which may be too many for some users. However, it's generally recommended to keep it to two or three. Some people argue that hashtags are dead, but they are still useful in posting well. In summary, LinkedIn's algorithm is designed to help users identify and build their audience within specific niches. Consistency in posting times and using relevant hashtags can help users build their audience and attract more followers. Developing Your Voice and Watching Your Tone Jon discusses the importance of being on target and on topic when posting on LinkedIn. He shares an example of a post about entrepreneurship that didn't perform as well as expected due to being irrelevant for a small subset of his audience. To avoid alienating them, it is crucial to focus on a specific message and avoid off-topic posts. Jon also shares his experience with using an edgy tone in his posts, which can make them more thought-provoking and controversial. He emphasizes the need to be careful what you say, as it might go viral and ruin your reputation. He also shares his experiences with posts that get only 12 likes, but he encourages people to learn from them by considering their tone, specific words, and timing. He acknowledges that not every post will be seen by 17 million people, and it is important to remember that not every post will be seen by everyone. In conclusion, Jon emphasizes the importance of being on target and on topic when posting on LinkedIn, and the importance of being genuine and sincere in your content.   Timestamps:  06:48 The three qualities of an influencer 10:37 How Jon developed his LinkedIn posting approach 12:41 The importance of intentionality in influencing leaders 14:25 Nurturing social media posts 19:13 The power of appealing to shared objectives in influencing 20:38 How to create a lead magnet system 25:07 How others can help you develop influence skills 29:09 Time of day to post 34:19 How many hashtags you should tag   Links: Website: JonCobbCoaching.com   CONTACT INFO: Email: help@joncobbcoaching.com Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jondcobb     Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.  

In this episode of Unleashed, Will Bachman and Huijin Kong discuss her new book, Positive Influence, The First and Last Mile of Leadership, co-authored with Tsun-yan Hsieh. They talk about the basics of influence and how to present different influencing techniques. Huijin’s book emphasizes the importance of focusing on both task outcomes and relational outcomes, as well as the impact of one's own heart and soul on others. Huijin emphasizes that people are influenced more by how they feel about the task and their purpose in influencing others. She explains that traditional consulting can be more powerful if professionals spend more time on mindshare and their own heart, rather than just defining and laying out the task.    The book lays out three aspects of influencing: personal qualities that are universal, such as courage, care, and compassion. Courage helps us face difficult situations and fears, while care involves caring about people's experiences and challenges, rather than just the task itself. Compassion is crucial in challenging times, as it builds the basis for being more open to what people are resisting and why. Humility and curiosity are also central to creating a powerful common ground for discussing difficult issues. By focusing on these qualities, professionals can create a more powerful and impactful influence on their clients and clients. She also mentions ‘state’ which deals with composure and being present. It is important to align your state to your intent. These two-thirds can mean the difference between being  a good influencer or a great influencer. Defining Influence Pathways Huijin talks about the importance of being deliberate in influencing others. Huijin emphasizes placing focus on positive outcomes and the importance of considering the context and pressures in higher stakes situations, in addition to the starting attitude of the people who need to be influenced.  This intentionality allows for the development of an influence pathway, which involves guiding each person to think, feel, and do differently than their natural current inclination. She qualifies that being deliberate is not like military planning, but rather requires being conscious of how your influence attempt is going and how the person is responding to your actions. This allows you to adjust your strategy and align your being, state, and emotions with the person and desired outcomes. She also states that it is important to be open to changing outcomes and updating your own understanding of desired outcomes.   Changing a Leader’s Influencing Approach Huijin shares a case example of helping a leader change their influencing approach by coaching them through role plays. The example involves a transformational project where the key leaders’ relationship has become a barrier to constructive participation. To help the leader change their approach, Huijin explores several angles, such as the degree of care one has for the project and the importance of setting ambitious influence outcomes. Huijin gives examples of the choices the executive has to move forward and understand the degrees of freedom in influencing situations, such as defining one's role as defining the technical solution or pointing out where the leader needs more leadership. This can be done in one-on-one or small group situations. The book also discusses the use of the deliberate conscious influencing process in MBA programs, where participants go through real-life situations and role play to learn how they show up in the heat of the moment. By adopting this conscious influencing process, individuals can internalize it and apply it in various situations, both in school and beyond.     Expanding the Toolbox of Influencing Huijin emphasizes the value of building common ground and shared objectives. Engaging the person about them and not just their thoughts about the task at stake is highly effective. This is important in situations where people's motivation  is in doing the difficult work. To build a strong connection with the client, it is essential to delve into their feelings about themselves, identity, attitudes, and inspiration related to their work and the task at hand. Another underused tactic is confronting, which involves acknowledging that they may not feel the same way about something, they may have different beliefs. Asking them to tell more about their point of view helps build a deeper foundation of shared understanding and feelings, and enables a stronger foundation on which to deal with difficult situations or tasks.   Setting High Ambitions Huijin talks about Linhart's high challenge, high support model. This model involves setting high ambitions for oneself, which can apply to influence effectiveness, leadership, sports, parents, and business situations. High support often comes in the form of quality feedback, real-time feedback, as it helps improve self-awareness and confidence. She also mentions potential sources where freelancers can get high support. Huijin emphasizes the importance of reflecting on your why, and the positive outcome you want. This involves paying attention to purpose and ethos, and most importantly, individuals. She explains that this will introduce new horizons about what you are doing. High challenge and high support models can help individuals develop their influence skills and achieve greater success in various aspects of their lives.   Timestamps: 06:48 The three qualities of an influencer 10:48 Basic tools of influencing 12:41 The importance of intentionality in influencing leaders 15:37 A case example of leadership challenges in influencing 19:13 The power of appealing to shared objectives in influencing 25:07 How others can help you develop influence skills   Links: Website: www.positiveinfluence.life Book: https://www.amazon.com/Positive-Influence-First-Last-Leadership/dp/1944660569/ Company:  https://www.linhartgrp.com/   Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.    

Soren Kaplan, author of Experiential Intelligence, talks about scaling consulting businesses and how his software company, Praxie.com, helps consultants digitize their processes. He discusses the benefits of using a no-code software platform for streamlined workflows and generating ongoing revenue. Soren also emphasizes the importance of combining experiential intelligence with IQ and EQ for personal and organizational success.

James Agres, founder of 2nd St Strategy, sheds light on the pivotal role of market sizing in commercial diligence. He breaks down essential terminologies like TAM, SAM, and SOM using relatable examples, such as a barbershop business. Agres explains the importance of understanding market dynamics and competitive analysis to identify valuable opportunities. He also discusses methodologies for various industries, including software and healthcare, showcasing how precise market assessments drive better business decisions.

Brian Ortiz, real estate investor and LinkedIn expert with 70,000 followers, discusses managing LinkedIn presence with CRM systems. He shares insights on managing the inflow of messages, using AI tools, and sorting messages into granular groups. Ortiz mentions LeadDelta, FOLK, and Raindrop as helpful CRM systems. The podcast also covers handling viral posts, managing connection requests, and strategies for creating and sharing content on LinkedIn.

Show Notes: LinkedIn has become a powerful platform for professionals to connect, share insights, and build their personal brand. But how can executives effectively leverage LinkedIn to maximize their content strategy? To answer this question, Will Bachman talks to Justin Nassiri, founder of Executive Presence, who conducted a comprehensive analysis of client posts on LinkedIn. Justin talks about software his company uses for data analytics to see valuable data on engagement and trends and how to use it.  The Power of the Hook One of the most significant insights from Justin’s analysis is the importance of the hook in LinkedIn posts. The hook refers to the first line of a post, which aims to capture the reader's attention and entice them to engage further. Nassiri emphasizes the need for a bold and provocative hook, stating, "The first line of a post really determines its success." By taking an extreme stance or making a surprising statement, executives can stop the scroll and compel readers to delve deeper into their content. Justin  advises executives to avoid generic and overused hooks, such as "I'm humbled to be featured by Forbes." Instead, he suggests crafting hooks that are concrete, surprising, and contrary to common beliefs and offers a few examples. Furthermore, Nassiri highlights the importance of formatting the post to make the hook stand out. By using line breaks and creating distinct lines, executives can make their hooks more visually appealing and increase the chances of capturing readers' attention. The Visual Advantage Another key finding from Nassiri's analysis is the significant impact of visuals in LinkedIn posts. According to the study, posts with photos receive 115% more views than those without any visual content. Graphics, on the other hand, result in a 28% increase in views. He emphasizes the need for original and relevant visuals. Stock images are not effective in capturing readers' attention and should be avoided. Instead, executives should use their own photos or graphics that directly relate to the content of their posts. For example, if the post discusses leadership, including a photo of a team or a relevant graphic can enhance the post's impact. Justin also offers a few tips on how to generate ideas for visual content.  The Power of Data Analysis Beyond the specific findings, Justin highlights the broader value of LinkedIn as a tool for data analysis, and how executives can use LinkedIn to gain insights into the topics and ideas that resonate with their audience. By analyzing the performance of their posts, executives can identify their "zone of genius" and focus on topics that generate the most engagement. He encourages executives to view LinkedIn as a platform for testing and refining their content strategy. LinkedIn provides a data-driven approach to understanding what content is valuable and to whom. This data-driven approach allows executives to refine their messaging and focus on topics that truly resonate with their audience. The insights from Justin’s analysis have significant implications for executives looking to enhance their presence on LinkedIn. Looking ahead, it is essential for executives to continue evolving their content strategy on LinkedIn. While certain tactics may become overused or lose their effectiveness over time, the fundamental principles of effective writing and storytelling remain timeless. Executives should strive to provide valuable insights, educate their audience, and create engaging content that resonates with their target audience. Frequency of Posting on LinkedIn Another important aspect of LinkedIn thought leadership is the frequency of posting , the type of post, and the audience.  Justin explains how the post is displayed, breaks this down line-by-line, and emphasizes the need to post consistently and frequently, recommending two to five posts per week. He highlights the significant impact of increasing the frequency of posts, with a three and a half times increase in monthly views and a 3.7 times increase in monthly likes when going from two to three posts per week to five posts per week. He also suggests posting at 7am local time, as this allows for maximum visibility and engagement. Content Development Tips In terms of content, Justin advises against using articles, links, and reposts. Outbound links and reshared content tend to receive significantly fewer views compared to original posts. However, Nassiri provides two workarounds for including links in your posts. One option is to publish the link as the first comment in the post, while the other is to add the link after the first hour of the post. He talks about how short-term fads can be exploited but should not be relied on as evergreen content. Justin recommends ending your posts with a statement rather than a question. According to his analysis, posts that end with a question perform 30% worse than those that end with a statement. This suggests that people may be fatigued by the overuse of questions to drive interaction. Instead, focusing on authoritative content with clear takeaways and actions can lead to better engagement. Justin shares pros and cons on the types of content commonly created. In conclusion, optimizing your LinkedIn thought leadership requires a strategic approach. By using visuals effectively, posting frequently, avoiding articles and links, and ending with statements, you can enhance your visibility and engagement on the platform. As LinkedIn continues to evolve, it is crucial to stay informed about algorithm changes and adapt your content strategy accordingly. By following these insights from Justin Nassiri, you can position yourself as a thought leader on LinkedIn and maximize your impact in the professional community. Timestamps: 01:19 Methodology and scope of the study using Shield App.ai 02:09 Insights from the study: Best practices in posts 04:39 Importance of the first line and the need for bold and provocative statements 09:40 Tips for creating a strong hook and the importance of distinct lines 10:14 Factors affecting the visibility of the post and the need to entice viewers to click "See more" 14:07 Importance of using original and relevant photos in posts 17:35 Selfies may not perform as well after algorithm change. 19:11 The best time and frequency to post 26:28 What to avoid in LinkedIn posts. 32:12 How to end a LinkedIn post Links: Website: ExecutivePresence.io CONTACT INFO: Justin@executivepresence.io   Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes: Will Bachman welcomes Alex Boyd, the founder of Revenue Zen, a B2B organic growth marketing firm. Alex talks about organic growth marketing and how it is simply sharing knowledge about a product or service through platforms like websites, forums, and social media without relying on paid advertising. Alex's strategy works because clients are drawn to the content and reach out to him. He is now helping other B2B companies achieve success through organic growth marketing. Developing Organic Content for B2B Markets Alex Boyd works with B2B clients who typically have an average order value of at least 20k to 50k or more. He helps them to find their voice, clarify their thought process, produce content, get it out there, and watch that turn into leads and pipeline. His clients are usually software companies, consultancies, and other service providers who sell digitally and have a higher than average ticket size. By writing LinkedIn content that is well targeted and speaks to their audience and producing blog posts that are targeted to niche, lower volume keywords, his clients can see a huge ROI with just a few leads. Alex talks about how they help software companies create content. He explains how they have a structured interview with the founders of the companies to understand their needs and goals, and draw out their expertise. Then, they create content that focuses on the specialty of the company as well as how technology can be used as part of the process. He emphasizes that the founders may not be social media writers, but they can provide valuable insights on how to implement the solution. Alex offers a sanitized case study of a software client. Most of his clients receive targeted, well-written content that they can post themselves.  Alex’s business helps clients craft effective social media content that can help them generate leads. He advocates for a structured interview process to draw out the client's expertise, and then they can coach them or produce content that the client can edit. Alex shares a few interview questions that help draw out valuable information on the company that helps build engaging content that yields results. He identifies the type of content that works.    Tips on Creating Engaging Content  He suggests starting with an origin story, as it helps the client's network to understand why they started the business. He also suggests asking about the client's favorite interview questions to draw out the information. Alex believes that making up content for social media does not work, and that it is important to draw out the expertise and knowledge of the client to create effective content. He emphasizes the need to be short and insightful in content marketing.  Alex explains how to manage reaction and engagement to social and content posts, and how to transition from commenting on someone's posts to having meaningful conversation. He offers tips on backlinks, messaging and responding, and how to prep the groundwork for posts.  Alex said that the majority of the 135 engagements he has brought in from his LinkedIn posts and comments have been inbound. He suggests that the best way to have a conversation with someone is to have a natural conversation that doesn't have a direct lead into one's service but is still relevant. Will asks for tips on how to move from commenting on someone's posts to having a live conversation. Alex suggests providing a targeted note expressing interest in talking and engaging in meaningful conversations that don't lead to a sales pitch. He adds that the best conversations are those that don't lead to a sales pitch but are still relevant. When engaging potential customers on social media, it is important to be mindful of how you approach them. Instead of leading directly into a sales conversation, it is best to demonstrate your expertise by asking questions that show your credibility. To do this effectively, ask questions related to the topic that you know about, and make sure they include your expertise. For example, if your expertise is in SEO, you could ask questions about backlink distribution and content production. Pretend you are giving a micro-consulting engagement and think about the value you can provide. This will help you create questions that demonstrate your expertise without feeling like a sales pitch.   How to Gain and Engage with Clients on LinkedIn Alex explains how to choose questions that demonstrate your knowledge, and how to comment on a LinkedIn post. In addition to using a Sales Navigator account in order to highlight posts from those people, he suggests using a bookmarking system or a spreadsheet to track the posts, and how focusing on a smaller group of potential leads is the best way to comment on relevant posts. Alex also suggests engaging with other people in the same space, such as influencers, consultants and software companies, as this can be more effective than engaging directly with the prospects. To find these people, Alex suggests creating pre-made influencer lists, which can be done by looking at which creators and consultants get the most engagement from decision makers. Finally, Alex recommends having offline conversations with others who also sell to the same market. Alex talks about the software he created, Aware, to help with posting content on social media which orchestrates all LinkedIn activity on one platform to organize the process and save time. The typical person using Aware are usually growing on LinkedIn but want to spend less time managing LinkedIn data. Sales Leadership on Social Media Alex shares tips on how to drive engagement and points to Dan Morris as an example, whose posts do not get a lot of engagement but are targeted to a specific niche and resonates with them. He suggests creating content that is targeted to the right audience and that asks questions or request for reposts to encourage engagement. He talks about sales leadership and how to best use social media to increase engagement and reach more people. One of the tips is to make sure the first couple of lines of a post are as powerful as possible, and to take the best line from the end of the post and put it at the beginning. He also shares how to respond when a post does gain a lot of attention to take advantage of the momentum. He suggests that virality often does not lead to much net new pipeline and it can even be distracting. If clients do have a post go viral, Alex suggests that they not try to respond to everyone, but instead look for the signal in the noise and prioritize business development. Alex also offers insight on the best and worst days and times to post on LinkedIn. Alex states that it is more important to post quality content than to post frequently. He suggests that people should choose a quality threshold above which their content must be and be consistent. He also advises against pushing out half-assed content in the name of frequency. He suggests that if people are able to spend 3-4 hours a week planning and creating good content, they will do better. He also offers recommendations on formatting content whether text, video, or images.  He also offers one last piece of advice on sharing content for best results.    Timestamps: 01:30 Unlocking the Potential of Thought Leadership for B2B Clients  06:36 Uncovering the Power of Interviews for Content Marketing Success 13:03 Connecting with Social Media Engagers  14:54 Transitioning from social media to Live Conversation  18:22 Commenting Tips for LinkedIn 25:16 Proactive Ways to Engage with Clients and Followers  25:48 The Benefits of Using Aware for LinkedIn Success 31:23 Tips for Generating Engagement on LinkedIn 35:32 Maximizing Engagement and Business Development Through Social Media Posting   Links: Website: https://revenuezen.com Website: https://useaware.co CONTACT INFO: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcboyd/ Get in touch with Alex: https://www.gated.com/@alexboyd Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes: Chris Heivly and Will Bachman discuss the concept of startup communities and the importance of building them. Chris is the co-founder of MapQuest, which was sold to AOL for $1.2 billion, and the author of the Build the Fort. His second book, The Startup Community Builder's Field Guide, focuses on how five simple lessons learned as a 10-year-old can set entrepreneurs up for startup success. Chris defines a startup community as a set of people involved in innovative activities in a particular geography. He explains that startup communities can be incredibly powerful in helping entrepreneurs to succeed and should be proactively built by providing resources, mentorship, and capital. The Benefits of a Startup Community Chris talks about the concept of startup communities and how they are no longer geographically bound. He believes that networks are essential in order to develop a successful startup community, and that all members of the community, such as corporate innovators, investors, founders, researchers, and university students, should work together for the greater good. Additionally, he mentions that the concept of startup communities applies to industry-specific communities as well, and not just geographically bound ones. He believes that the key to advancing technology is through startups and corporate innovation, and that these networks should be utilized to the fullest extent. Chris points out that it is important to rely on people outside of one's geographic network to build a successful community.  He explains that it can be difficult for founders to invest time and energy into the community due to the amount of tasks they have to complete in their business. He mentions that it is important to build meaningful connections in order to make a successful community and connect with venture capitalists, local investors, and to get involved in the local economy to make sure that it is thriving, and that one will gain knowledge and potential customers by doing so.  Chris suggests startup lawyers, marketing experts, economic development professionals, and people from universities want to ensure the success of startups and help create a vibrant local economy, and he shares a case study on a startup community he was involved with. The Advantages of a Local Tech Scene Chris talks about the advantages of being in a local tech scene, rather than working in a virtual space. He adds that the local physical advantage is that one can easily access mentorship and advice in a formal sense. He notes that this may come in the form of attending events, or engaging with other startups in the same building. He also points out that networking with local resources can be beneficial for finding answers to questions, and finding the right attorney for legal needs. He explains the importance of providing resources, such as programming and co-working spaces, to help new entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. Chris emphasizes the value of what they call gear, or ad hoc advice and mentorship, as an invaluable resource. These resources can be found through serendipitous sparks, such as running into people at coffee shops or events.  Chris suggests that the best way to create events and activities that will engage the community is to listen to what the people want and find a leader who is motivated to make a change. He encourages grassroots-style initiatives that come from the bottom up, and to move forward with the goal of helping or supporting others. The Three A’s that Help Build Local  Community  To help the local community, Chris suggests that it can be done in various ways, such as running a Little League team or getting involved in the arts. He recommends getting involved in the entrepreneur community and how it can have a great economic impact.  Chris talks about the three A's framework in his book which stands for actors, activities, and attitudes. This framework is designed to make the ecosystem more inclusive and inviting for everyone to play a role. Actors can range from economic developers, government bureaucrats, university people, corporate members, founders, investors, and more. Activities vary depending on the maturity of the ecosystem. Attitudes are the most forgotten part of the framework and are important in creating a collaborative, supportive, and inclusive mindset. Chris encourages everyone to adopt a better attitude and behavior in order to create a better ecosystem. He offers a few steps to drive this forward. To build an active network that you can lean on, Chris suggests introducing two people from your network who don't know each other, and having a 'gift first mentality' by reaching out to others without expecting something in return. He shares a story from 2009 to 2010, where he ran around doing 275 connections in five months, and at the end asked a simple question: What can I do for you?. He encourages people to ask what keeps them up at night, and what their challenges are, so that they can be helped. Building a Network of Trust Chris believes that by helping others without expecting anything in return, a strong network of trust and support is created that can benefit everyone. He has met with over 4000 people in the Raleigh-Durham area to build these relationships. He encourages young people to do the same to get more done faster. In return, these contacts are more likely to help him with projects such as writing a book or speaking at events. Chris believes that by investing time and effort into forming meaningful relationships, success can be achieved more quickly. Chris has encountered thousands of people over the past 15 years and has created a system of pre-investing with each of them individually. He explains that he has an open office hours system where anyone can sign up for a 20 minute meeting. He also explains that, although he doesn't have a strong connection with all 4000 people, he can activate them whenever he needs to. His purpose is to support and empower founders to create successful businesses and cities. He hopes to accomplish this through his meetings and connections. Chris shares a few success stories from the people he has met and connections he has made, and the path he took after the success of his startup MapQuest. Timestamps 01:49 Building a Startup Community  03:47 Conversation on Building a Startup Community  06:48 Exploring the Benefits of Joining a Local Startup Community  13:58 The Advantages of Being Local in a Start-up Scene  16:52 Building a Startup Community in Raleigh, NC  25:14 The Four Stages of Ecosystem Maturity  29:33 Exploring the Benefits of a "Gift First" Mentality in Building Community Connections  36:33 Connecting People for Mutual Benefit  43:06 Career Development and Corporate Venture Funds  45:20 Writing the Build a Fort Series  Links: Website: http://heivly.com/ The Book: Build the Fort  CONTACT INFO: Twitter: @chrisheivly Email: Chris@buildthefort.com Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.  

Former McKinsey partner and data analytics specialist, Adam Braff, discusses the implications of using Chat GPT for data analysis. He explores the challenges of applying these tools to large datasets and highlights the importance of an intuitive interface and data visualization. They also discuss options for uploading data into Chat GPT and the landscape of data analytics, including AI tools and forecasting. The episode concludes with a discussion on the incredible abilities of AI language models.