You have a good job that pays you well at a solid multi-billion dollar company. Why on Earth would you want to go and join a startup? I have heard these words many times over the last few weeks as I have been contemplating the next step in my professional journey. Sometimes, they were asked by family or friends. Sometimes, by people at startups themselves.
The simple answer is I’d like to get on a rocket ship and help it to fly far and fast.
The more detailed answer has more, well, details…
What is this high flying endeavor, you ask? Am I joining a company that is powering the social media revolution with a new service? Am I getting behind the rapid change in how we use robots in every day life? No. I am going to join Actifio in Waltham in their quest to disrupt the data management and storage markets in the enterprise, and I could not possibly be more excited.
Once I convinced my wife that I was not going to a yogurt company, I explained to her, as I explain to all who will listen, that there are three main reasons I am joining Actifio as their new VP of Digital Marketing.
1. Actifio is already incredibly impressive.
For a company that many in the area have still not heard of, Actifio is about to become very well known because their story is compelling. They solve a real problem that enterprise customers need to address – the run-away volume of data, and copies of that data, that are permeating all businesses – and they do it in an simple, elegant way that saves their customers up to 90% on their costs in this area. Good story.
They have one of the most impressive leadership teams I have ever seen, let alone worked with, and they have already had tremendous success in previous endeavors. They are also moving as fast as a rocket ship (hence the obligatory image above) and growing rapidly.
2. The opportunity and challenge is compelling.
The marketing challenge itself is compelling – how do you take all of what has become possible in the last few years via social media, marketing automation, content production and distribution, etc. and roll it into a 21st century marketing model for reaching enterprise technology buyers that puts a human touch on a technical brand and drives awareness, customer acquisition, and creates evangelists for a great product and company…wow. That is a set of questions and answers to keep one awake at night pondering and now I get to help answer them.
3. Miketrap
The last piece is about my journey to get better at what I do and continue to raise my Marketing game. Mike Troiano, Actifio’s CMO, has long been one of my Marketing heroes. He lives out loud, tells it like it is, and is compelling in how he approaches humanizing and simplifying a brand’s story and driving Marketing’s contribution to a company’s bottom line. I have been quoting his maxims in my own work for the last few years and I really could not find a better person to help me in my quest to be a better marketer. To say I am looking forward to working with him would be an understatement.
Given all of that, this is the right step for me.
I have learned a lot and worked with some great people at The Hanover. I will miss my co-workers and I am sure they will go on to do amazing things. But, for me, I am ready to change my game and to raise my game and Actifio gives me a chance to do that.
I can’t wait to get started. Game On.
Photo Credit – Wikimedia
