Tel Aviv Tech Event Recap

Last night, Evol8tion proudly partnered with the Israel Economic Mission to host an event called Tel Aviv Tech: Transforming the Retail Experience. This exclusive event gave senior marketers an opportunity to meet 23 startups handpicked from Startup Nation and witness 12 live pitches. The evening kicked off with an innovation keynote by Evol8tion’s Co-founder and CEO, Joseph Jaffe, followed by startup pitches. The startups demoed emerging tech platforms that are enhancing retail businesses and revolutionizing the consumer shopping experience across categories such as in-store solutions, big data, mobile and e-commerce.

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When it comes to embracing startups, New York City is more like Gotham City overrun by a schizophrenic Joker.

On the one hand, the city of New York, led by a mayor with a proven track record of entrepreneurial success, pushes the startup agenda with a bold agenda of building on its #2 status in the U.S. and possibly overtaking Silicon Valley as the hot bed of startup success.

Last month, John Battelle and Brian Monahan’s OpenCo. Initiative rolled out in the city, with Robert K. Steel, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, espousing NYC’s startup surge and Rachel Sterne Hoat, the City’s Chief Digital Officer, doing likewise.

However as the one hand giveth, the other taketh away, with a judge ruling two weeks ago that airbnb violates NYC’s “hotel law.” This ruling is the third in quick succession, joining the likes of RelayRides and Sidecar on the sharing “sidelines.” These rulings continue to throw obstacles in the path of startups whose time has come. Treating hosts as common criminals and scaring off potential visitors is not exactly the best way to say, “I Heart NY,” is it?

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Startup Conference Recap

This week, Evol8tion was on the ground covering The Startup Conference (yes, THE Startup Conference) in Redwood City outside of SF.  @Naval said it well, “It’s the sexy thing, everyone wants to be at a startup”.  It was an informative day packed with all star speakers, entrepreneurs, and industry veterans. In addition to a Shark Tank-esque stand off between the 3 startup finalists, Mad Video, FlexScore, and PhoRent, (hat tip to Mad Video- for taking home the prize), there was countless memorable, inspirational quotes from the panelists.  Take these words of wisdom to heart as you’re building your business:

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Entrepreneur’s 100 Brilliant Companies of 2013 

Hopefully you’ve all gotten a chance to catch up on some reading and check out Entrepreneur’s list of the 100 Brilliant Companies of 2013…if not, we have a quick overview for you but while you’re enjoying this beautiful weather, read over the full list in the park with some lemonade (spiked…it’s Friday after all!) 

This year’s focus was technologies that are changing our lifestyles and human interactions ranging from Sustainability efforts to Dating, Rural/Urban Life to Sports and Recreation.

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Mediapost Online Spin: Embrace Your Inner Masochist

Check out the latest Mediapost Online Spin article by Evol8tion Founder and CEO, Joseph Jaffe. Channel your inner Christian Grey and discover how pain and pleasure influence change. 

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I recently had the opportunity to keynote Compete’s Annual Digital CMO Conference. After the sessions, a small group of senior marketing execs had an intimate lunch and discussion about organizational change and cultural transformation.

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APPNATION Cross Platform Summit Recap

Today wrapped up the 3^rd Annual APPNATION NYC Cross Platform Summit in Soho, NYC as part of Internet Week 2013. The two-day extravaganza was jam-packed with educational sessions predominately focusing on how apps and mobile fit into overall cross-platform strategies. With more than 100 thought leaders taking the stage, there was no shortage of insightful discussions and inspirational comments. A shoutout to Drew Ianni, Founder & CEO of APPNATION Conferences, for spearheading another successful event! Here’s a quick snapshot of a few highlight moments from Days 1 and 2.

Day 1 Theme: Actionable Strategies

We particularly enjoyed The Mitchell Weisman Experience: The Evolution of the Liquid Advertising Marketplace discussion with Mitchell Weisman, Founder and CEO of Lifestreet Media. Equipped with a snorkel, Weisman figuratively helped the audience understand and navigate today’s increasingly liquid cross-platform advertising ecosystem. Weisman defined a liquid market as “a market with many bid/ask offers, where it is easy to execute a trade quickly at a desirable price,” enabling faster and easier transaction, increased buyers and sellers and an increased number and value of transactions – definitely sounds like an area to watch. Online advertising is quickly evolving into a liquid market and Weisman highly suggests if your brand is not experimenting in the Real-Time Bidding space and leveraging Re-targeting, you’re missing the mark!

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Uncubed NYC

In case you missed it – Uncubed NYC, hosted by Wakefield, was a great way to kick off the weekend this past Friday. The premise of the event is to help get you “uncubed” - out of a desk job and into startup world (we definitely think it’s the best!) Hundreds of hopeful entrepreneurs and soon to be ex-corporate execs were lined up around the block outside of the Manhatten Pavillion hoping to find out some great information about cool startups that are hiring. With music bumping in the background, copious amounts of booze at the startup stations and a Ping-Pong table to boot, there were plenty of ways to break the ice and chat with some of the coolest companies in NYC. Attendees included Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Spotify, The Ladders, Birchbox, Barkbox,  Reelio, Contently, and Yext to name a few.

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Mediapost Online Spin: CMO- The Chief Muddled Officer

Take a look at the latest article by Evol8tion’s CEO and Founder, Joseph Jaffe. Like what you’ve been reading? Have a look at the new Kickstarter campaign to fund his latest book, ZERO, describing how zero paid media is a new marketing model. Be sure to follow him @jaffejuice! 

CMO: The Chief Muddled Officer 

This past week, we were treated to two very intriguing — and yet seemingly contradictory — pieces of research concerning the state of marketing and the relative health and wellness of its fearless leader, the Chief Marketing Officer.

To begin, we have a Spencer Stuart study that reports the average tenure of the Chief Marketing Officer has doubled, from 23 months (2006 figure) to 45 months.

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Joseph Jaffe Featured on Startupi!

We’re excited to announce our CEO and Founder, Joseph Jaffe, has been featured in an article by Diego Remus of Startupi Brazil. Take a look here and be sure to follow us @evol8tion and @jaffejuice.