Tom Pick's Recent LinkedIn Posts

Sort of logical.

Love this. Nails the overused #broetry writing style of LinkedIn posts.

Attended another remarkable Think & Link event last evening, hosted by Aaron Keller and his team at Capsule. The discussion featured Randy Hunt from Notion and Ben Erwin, until recently with Charitybuzz (and myterious about where he's going next) sharing their insights on design. It was worth driving through the snow to hear their thoughts and hang out with amazing people like Jenna Redfield (interested in Notion AI? She's REALLY good at this!) and the always-awesome Abby Kelsey. #AI #branding #design

Attended another great Club E event yesterday hosted by the always-gracious (and phenomenally well-connected) Rick Brimacomb. The panel, discussing how to grow a #SaaS business, featured some incredible intellectual horsepower in this space: Raza Hasan, Scott Burns, Mike Scoville, and John Tedesco. Among the takeaways: * SaaS startup CEOs need to active in sales, and founders need to spend a lot of time with customers. * To be successful, treat it like a sport - play where you can win. Pick a niche you can dominate. * Product-market fit is the most basic requirement for growth. * Customer churn is the cancer of SaaS companies. * VCs look at risk differently from founders, and often encourage founders to take more (calculated) risks. * Create a plan working backwards from where you want to exit then build a plan to make that happen; don't let budget constrain you (unnecessarily). * Contrarian / counterintuitive thinking will win in this market. * Don't micromanage - trust and empower your people as "self-directed torpedoes.” Focus on what you want your team to accomplish, not how to do it. *Don't make small decisions big or big decisions small. The color of your office walls doesn’t matter. Changing your business strategy to accommodate the desires of one large customer does. * Instead of doing market research, see if you find a customer for it and sell it. * Hire SME's and teach them to sell; focus on value to customers, not features. * Find complementary partnerships – these lower the cost of sales. * Key metrics: sales win rate, growth rate, customer retention, customers using the product for what they bought it for, and CAC. * Don't hire too senior, too expensive, too soon. * Base pay increases on revenue growth, not on money raised.  * Price high (you can always discount); pricing has to be the CEO'S responsibility. #startups #entrepreneurship

Even as the use of AI in the workplace expands rapidly, employees are expressing fear of the technology. Concerns range from increasing performance expectations and difficulty keeping up with rapid technological change, to a shortage of practical training and the fear of losing their jobs to AI. This fear isn’t so much a technology problem as a leadership and communication challenge. When messaging is unclear, or "managing through fear" in an effort to increase performance only increases anxiety and disengagement, then morale, trust, and productivity all suffer. This post examines the reasons behind employees’ fear of AI at work, the risks it poses to organizational performance, and how leaders can reframe AI in a more optimistic light. It also discusses what leaders should do instead of spreading fear and how team building can help build trust around AI. (link in comments) #AI #futureofwork #leadership

Attended another excellent Club E event last Thursday, hosted by Rick Brimacomb. The "Grumpy Old VCs" on his expert panel -- John Trucano, Mac Lewis, Richard C. Perkins, CFA, and Jack Frid -- shared stories and wisdom from their decades of venture capital experience. Among their insights: - Companies and computer tech swing back and forth from centralized to decentralized. - "Winners make profits, losers make excuses." - Close every meeting with "what's the next action and who owns it?" - What makes an investment opportunity attractive? A unique product with a strong value proposition and differentiation. - Also: a founder with integrity who has a good team and treats all employees well, and who can clearly say who the customer is and why they will buy. - "Being wrong and being early look exactly the same." - (My favorite) "Just when you think you have the key, some SOB changes the lock." - AI is at risk of revenue models that don't work and circular revenue models, creating a risk of collapse. - The team, the market, and the product -- look for at least two out of three when investing. - Or, alternatively: People, product, potential. #venturecapital #startups #entrepreneurship

Check out last week's top marketing AI news stories in this quick, ~6-minute video, summarizing news stories from ContentGrip, EMARKETER, Axios, Observer Media, MarTech, TechRadar, Scale AI and the Center for AI Safety. The overall vibes of this past week’s AI news stories? AI is officially moving from shiny toy to corporate wrecking ball. Analysts are warning that companies are about to deploy AI way too fast — especially in customer-facing roles — and it’s going to backfire. Meanwhile, the money says the bubble might pop. VCs and martech analysts are hinting that if this bubble bursts, marketing will take the first punch — bloated tool stacks, unclear ROI, and more “AI strategy” decks than actual strategy. Creators admit they’re secretly using AI for everything, but they’re terrified it’s killing originality and stealing their IP. What’s more, Amazon cuts thousands of corporate jobs while saying AI isn’t the reason — which totally sounds like the kind of thing you say when AI is definitely the reason. The message between the lines is clear: you don’t need to fear AI. You need to fear the restructuring AI enables. Want to keep up with everything happening in #marketing and #AI? Subscribe to the newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gYYHtagt

Attended another fantastic MSP Social Media Breakfast last Friday. Mykl Roventine and Jen Roventine always draw a great crowd to these events, especially for case studies. If you're in the Twin Cities and you marketing or PR, I'd highly recommend these. It's not just social media -- the case studies presented last week, on Sunkist Growers, Red Baron Pizza, DECKED (from Greg Swan) and more -- incorporated strategy, graphic design, paid promotion, content development (writing and images), influencer marketing, and analytics. Check out next month's #smbmsp event with Arik Hanson.

Attended another fantastic Marketers'​ Community event this week. So many #leadership lessons shared by the amazing panel: Laura King, William Cripe, Jennifer Jorgensen, and Maria Pergolino. It was great catching up with former client and long-time friend Billy, and to finally meeting Maria in person after 15 years of social media connection. Outstanding job as always by Abby Kelsey and everyone involved. #marketing #wisdom

The best directory of AI marketing tools anywhere continues to expand. Tools recently added include GWI Spark, Kyutai SST, FLORA, Rime, SocialBee, SketchPro.ai, SharedChat, StepFun, Signal AI, Fish Audio, Photoroom, Repurpose.io, TextJam, Dropbox Dash, Omada.AI, and Distribution.ai. Much more than a list, every entry here includes the number and combined score of ratings and reviews for every tool from Capterra, G2, and TrustRadius—giving you an objective overview of each tool’s popularity and user feedback. These #AI tools help across the #marketing function, from ad management and agents to #CRM, strategy, #podcasting, and writing tools.

Here’s a look at some of the stereotypes and misconceptions about managing #GenZ employees; the unique challenges this generation faces in adapting to the corporate world; and proven strategies, from research, for managing these workers more effectively. #leadership #RTO #futureofwork

Great news for all #marketing / PR / comms / graphic design consultants and freelancers -- our roles are safe from #AI (at least for now). Per research from Scale AI and the Center for AI Safety: "The best-performing current AI agents achieve an automation rate of 2.5% (humans=100%), failing to complete most projects at a level that would be accepted as commissioned work in a realistic freelancing environment." "This demonstrates that despite rapid progress on knowledge and reasoning benchmarks, contemporary AI systems are far from capable of autonomously performing the diverse demands of remote labor."

Planning to attend "Real Talk Conversation: Maintaining Authenticity in an AI-Driven World" on April 8? It's going to be a fascinating panel discussion featuring Patrick Schaber, Greg Swan, Lori Ryan, and Moria Fredrickson. Hope to see you there!

Quiet quitting (basically, doing the absolute minimum a job requires) by employees was a concerning trend throughout 2024 and into early 2025. That’s now been replaced by “quiet firing,” where managers use fear and indifference to push employees out the door without formal termination or layoffs. Here's a deep dive into how quiet firing works, how to recognize it, why some managers are engaging in this deplorable tactic, its negative impacts, and what effective leaders are doing instead. https://lnkd.in/gqkfUSBw from Best Corporate Events & Team Building® #leadership #quietfiring #employeeengagement

Fantastic news! If you're a marketing professional in the Twin Cities, definitely check out Marketers'​ Community. And if one of these Roundtables is a fit for you, even better.

News moves fast at the intersection of innovative marketing practices and advancements in AI technology. The latest marketing AI news stories are updated here daily: Top #Marketing #AI News Stories today: https://lnkd.in/gmAk8V8i Top stories today from Cornell University, Axios, TechNewsWorld, InsightOnWork, Demand Gen Report, Investor's Business Daily, AiThority.Com, The Australian Financial Review, MarTech Blockchain Council, Digiday Marketing Dive, and more.

Here's your opportunity to shape the future of the #marketing community in the Twin Cities. Abby Kelsey, Laura King, and everyone at Marketers' Community would love to get your thoughts in this quick survey. Thanks!

Today’s hybrid and remote workplace structures have dramatically changed the communication dynamics of the prevailing pre-2020 “everyone in the office every day” model. While the increased flexibility has many benefits for businesses and their employees alike, remote work has also introduced communication challenges. Workers and bosses are recognizing the value of face-to-face communication, at least on a periodic or part-time basis. High-performing organizations are taking steps to maintain flexibility in their workplace structure while balancing that with the in-person communication crucial for effective collaboration and leadership. Here’s a look at why face-to-face interaction is so important and how companies can make it happen effectively without losing the benefits of a hybrid workplace. #employeeengagement #futureofwork #RTO

With the Minnesota Vikings kicking off their regular season tonight, I'm sharing this post again from early 2023: Business Lessons from the Greatest Comeback in NFL History At halftime in their game on December 17, 2022, the Minnesota Vikings trailed the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 33-0. Forty minutes of playing time later, the Vikings had pulled off the biggest comeback in NFL history, emerging with a 39-36 victory. What lessons can business leaders take away from this historic achievement? Here’s a closer look at the building blocks O’Connell and his staff put in place to enable the Vikings to go from a mediocre 8-9 team in 2021 to that incredible comeback against the Colts en route to a 13-4 season and a spot in the playoffs—and how organizations can build them into their enterprise DNA. #leadership #teamwork #professionaldevelopment

The best list of AI marketing tools anywhere continues to expand! Unlike other directories of AI tools which just list the products, every entry here includes the number and combined score of ratings and reviews for every tool from Capterra, G2, and TrustRadius—giving you an objective overview of each tool’s popularity and user feedback. Recently added tools include Kyutai TTS, Odyssey 2, Amplitude, Propel AI, Instantly.ai, Cartesia, Canva Creative OS, Browse AI, Tutorial.ai, AeroChat, HockeyStack, Inworld AI, and Sonura. #martech #AI #marketingtools

Attended another fantastic Club E lunch last week, hosted by Rick Brimacomb and featuring Aaron Keller, Paul Mooty, Dave Harig, and Stine Aasland on a panel of founders sharing thoughts on brand building. A few takeaways from the discussion: - When is it time to rebrand? It depends. Rebranding should happen in response to big changes in your market or within your company and operations. - What does brand mean to you? In times of historically low trust, we still trust the best brands. Brands that last need to be rooted in authenticity and strong values. Your brand tag line is your promise to the market. - The toughest thing about building a brand: the need to keep moving ahead, have the tenacity to stay with it, and tell a story that resonates emotionally. Stick with it until you hit the growth curve (but then the challenge becomes scaling up without losing what makes your brand special). - Make people feel something and feel like part of something. Stay true to your values as you grow.  - A process for low-cost branding: writing down archetypes, how you want your brand to behave, writing (physically, not on a computer). - Advertising is the tax you pay for not being interesting. - Engage authentically on social media, especially with non-influencers who have small followings -- the interaction means more to them. - Go to events to get your name out there. - Create great stories. Social media amplifies both the good and the bad. - Stay humble and listen to your customers. - Be distinct -- not just distinctive. - Make it crystal clear why you exist. #branding #startups #entrepreneurship

Here's a quick six-and-a-half-minute video summary of last week's top stories in #AI and #marketing. If you subscribed to the Marketing Tech AI newsletter, you could automatically get a video like this every week -- along with a link to all the week's marketing AI news and commentary. And memes. 😉

Enterprise Rising is, without question, the single most valuable conference I attend each year. It's one of very few I will take an entire day for, with no regret. Just got a preview of the speakers at this year's event. Here's the thing: what is most amazing about the #EnterpriseRising event isn't the insightful speakers or even the real-world wisdom shared by B2B SaaS veterans. What's most amazing is that, somehow, Casey Allen manages to outdo himself every year and raise the bar a bit higher. For founders, funders, friends, and the startup-curious, this event is so worth it.