Radish Blog

Seven Tips Beyond Burnout

Have you ever experienced burnout? If so, you’re not alone. This malady is getting so common that even the Wall Street Journal is writing about it (“When the CEO Burns Out,” May 8, 2013, page B6).

What is Burnout?

According to Helpguide, “Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place. When you’re burned out, problems seem insurmountable, everything looks bleak, and it’s difficult to muster up the energy to care — let alone do something about your situation.”

 

What to do about Burnout?

RECOGNIZE IT. Watch for the warning signs in you and the people around you. Be willing to call it by name, rather than mask the indicators. Your inner, wiser self is bringing you a message. What is it saying?
RESPOND. As hard as it may be, take some kind of action with the Practical Pointers below. The worst thing you can do is to ignore it.
REGENERATE. Passionate pursuers — people who find their passion and align with a purpose — have the SUNFLOWER traits. The “R” characteristic stands for regenerate. These people have the ability to revive, renew, and produce again despite adversity, setbacks, and obstacles. With the ability to bounce back, recover readily, and rise from the ashes, they possess the Phoenix Factor (Pursuit of Passionate Purpose, Chapter 6).

 

Seven Practical Pointers for Reigniting Your Fire

SAY NO IN ORDER TO SAY YES. Stop. Put up boundaries. Reduce your workload.
NURTURE YOURSELF. Take a break. Do nothing. Hang out. Pray. Meditate. Pamper. Be kind to yourself. Get out in nature. Exercise. Breathe. Do affirmations. Journal.
SMILE AND LAUGH. When you are ready, see if you can find something humorous or silly in your circumstances. Don’t force it, be genuine. See a funny movie. Read a light book. Let life be a dance. Play.
SEEK SUPPORT. Talk to people. Ask for help. Learn from others. Don’t feel you have to cope alone.
RECONNECT WITH YOUR VALUES AND GIFTS. What brings meaning to your life? How are you really contributing with your current workload and projects? Re-evaluate your goals and priorities — what is important, what is not? This sense of purpose may eventually help you realign with your passion.
CHANGE. Be willing to evolve, flow, learn, and grow. You may need to move on. Consider the past changes you have made and the positive things that resulted. We attract what is needed for the growth of our soul. See this experience as part of your life journey.
BOUNCE BACK. Slowly you will revive and regenerate. Be aware. Celebrate the small revivals of interest and energy. Let it build in its own time.

Theresa’s Case Study. Yep, I’ve been burned out before and I’m burned out now. I have survived and eventually thrived. So will you. Recognize, respond, and regenerate.

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Theresa Szczurek - Leave a comment

Radish speaks 4-11-2013 at Healthcare Behavior Change Conference

Behavior change in #medicine through #mobile tech.  @RadishSystems presents @ChoiceView ‘voice with visuals’ today at private invitation-only conference in San Francisco Bay area.  ChoiceView improves communications between on-the-go mobile device users and healthcare providers such as care givers or insurance companies.   Contact info@radishsystems.com to set up a meeting with Radish VP Tom Colamonico 4-11 or 4-12.

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Theresa Szczurek - Leave a comment

Radish Partners with SPLICE Software to Enhance ‘Mobile to Enterprise’ Multichannel Conversations

Radish Systems and SPLICE Software, provider of personalized multichannel conversations and a specialist in SaaS-based unique human audio, announce a strategic partnership designed to offer Radish’s ChoiceView™ technology as a multimodal solution to enhance mobile and enterprise communications.  Using ChoiceView to improve the mobile user experience, businesses can simultaneously send visuals to mobile device users while talking/texting with them.

Research shows that seeing visuals while talking increases understanding by at least six times. With ChoiceView, companies can share visual information with customers by integrating the technology into existing Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, or utilizing it with live agents. This allows callers to both hear and see information transmitted by businesses. Complex transactions for sales and support are completed more quickly and effectively when callers can say, “Now I see what you’re talking about!TM”

“SPLICE Software’s customers want next generation multichannel communications now,” said Tara Kelly, president, founder and CEO of SPLICE Software. “Integrating Radish ChoiceView technology into our existing solutions allows us to offer businesses a simple way to interact through live visual communications, and brings a unique solution to our customers looking to provide better mobile sales and support.”

“Did you know that many of our enterprise prospects tell us that more than 60% of their callers are now mobile and wanting to leverage the multi-media power of smart devices in completing business transactions? Radish ChoiceView helps businesses implement a mobile strategy to solve BIG support issues!” said Radish CEO Theresa Szczurek. “Radish is pleased to partner with SPLICE to offer next-gen unified enterprise communications and to improve efficiency of contact centers communicating with mobile callers.”

About SPLICE Software

SPLICE Software provides voice, video, phone, text / SMS, landing pages, mobile landing pages, email, direct mail, and web applications in a cloud-based solution through software as a service model (SaaS). SPLICE specializes in unique human audio as an on-demand service for enterprises; offering them the ability to connect with customers using personalized data driven dialog. At the same time, SPLICE uses the data gained through each interaction to populate the company’s calling list database and maintain their Do Not Call list and Preferences & Permissions. For more information about SPLICE Software, visit www.splicesoftware.com.

About Radish Systems

Radish Systems, LLC improves the way organizations communicate with smart mobile device users through its award-winning ChoiceView ‘Communications-as-a-Service’ technology platform. ChoiceView offers the next generation of multimodal unified communications, allowing visual information to be shared during a phone call with smart mobile device users using ANY phone, ANY network. The results are faster communications, lower operating costs, enhanced user experiences, and higher revenues. ChoiceView is available as a general mobile app on Apple and Android mobile devices; software for live and automated agents in enterprise contact centers as well as for individual PC users; and as a Software Developers Kit for inclusion in third-party mobile apps. Use cases include visual interactive voice response systems (Visual IVR), enhanced customer, patient, and technical support, and improved information exchange. For more information and a demonstration, visit www.RadishSystems.com.

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Theresa Szczurek - Leave a comment

Angels and Demons: Four Great Ways to Fund your Venture

I’m not talking about the bestselling mystery-thriller involving the Vatican. I’m referring to what an entrepreneur deals with in funding a business, which is tougher than ever.

Sources of Funding

“There are several million “startups” that are formed each year. In very general terms, roughly 1,500 startups get funded by venture capitalists in the U.S., and 50,000 by angel investors. VCs look at around 400 companies for every one in which they invest; angels look at 40,” says David Rose, CEO of gust.com, an online community connecting investors with deals.  Angels are high net-worth individuals who are often sophisticated, accredited investors interested in early-stage private equity or debt investment in emerging firms with great potential.

“Around 90 Colorado firms were funded by VCs in 2012 with approximately $550 million coming from 125 different venture capital funds.  Over 80 percent of those funds came from out of state,” says James Linfield, Managing Partner, Cooley LLP, a top global law firm with offices in Broomfield, at the recent Venture Capital in the Rockies (VCIR) 2013 Winter conference.

What happens to the other firms that don’t get VC or angel funding?  They may die or they may get funded from other options:

  • Sales.  This is the best and easiest approach.  Just sell more.  No need to get diluted or worry about dissatisfied ‘demon’ investors.
  • Founder’s Capital.  Prepare, save, and dip into your own pockets.
  • Sweat Equity.  Staff members work for equity instead of cash to keep burn rate low and to get a piece of the action.
  • Friends and Family.  These people believe in you and want you to succeed.  They make an emotional decision to invest.
  • Government Grants such as SBIR.  Contact the Small Business Administration (SBA) and your local SBDC (Small Business Development Center) as a first step.
  • Strategic Partners.  These firms need what you have and will fund you in exchange for early use of your product.  They may eventually acquire your firm.
  • Bank Lending and other financial vehicles.  Check with your local banker.  They might even be an SBA lender.

Four Practical Pointers for Funding Your Venture.

Find the Angels or Invest in a Startup.  Attend the Rockies Venture Club’s annual Angel Capital Summit conference tomorrow and Wednesday.  Entrepreneurs, you might find an angel.  Angels, you can learn how to be a better investor and find a deal.  Register now at: www.AngelCapitalSummit.com. This year’s conference kicks off with a live interview with David Cohen of Techstars ,  Jon Nordmark, former CEO and co-founder of eBags and currently CEO of UsingMiles gives the Day 2 keynote speech, and up to 35 of Colorado’s hottest startups will be pitching to investors.

Get Help.  Are you an aspiring entrepreneur?  Get involved in one of the many programs to help you succeed.  For example, The Founder’s Institute, self-described as the World’s Largest Startup Accelerator, has a mission to “Globalize Silicon Valley” and help founders build enduring technology companies. It is working with more than 800 graduate companies and part-time programs operating in 40 cities. Register for the next Denver program by April 14 at http://fi.co/

Surround Yourself with Other Hot Entrepreneurs. Colorado has some cool conferences where innovation lives – learn as much as you can.  Each fall there is the annual Defrag Conference (now with its Blur addition) which explores enterprise collaboration, social media and big data. Coming soon: Glue Conference (http://www.gluecon.com/2013/ ) in Broomfield from May 22 and 23, 2013.  Learn how developers, architects, administrators, and integrators are solving the web application integration problem-set.  Or check out the many other conferences in Colorado.  These will inspire you and provide a means to connect with other potential partners, investors, and customers.

Bootstrap.  Vic Ahmed, successful business man and founder of Innovation Pavilion (http://ipcentennial.com/), an ecosystem for entrepreneurs bringing the Angel Capital Group to Colorado, says it’s a mistake to assume you need to raise funds. “Try to bootstrap your firm.  Cut your team and increase your runway.  If you still need outside funds, ask, ‘Do you really have a high growth company?’ If the dog is not eating the dog food, you are fooling yourself, and it is a dream that you can raise money.”

Seeking to fund your business?  Attract more angels and avoid the demons!

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Theresa Szczurek - Leave a comment

Radish Systems Joins Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado

Radish Systems is pleased to join the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO) that allows start-up entrepreneurs to contribute to the long-term sustainability of Colorado by pledging to share their future success with local nonprofits. Radish joins over 50 other Front Range companies of Colorado that have done the same.

Radish CEO Theresa Szczurek said “Even as an early stage company, we can plan to give back to our community by gifting a portion of our founding equity to EFCO. It’s a positive way to adhere to our core values and commitment to the Colorado community.”

See the posted media release for more information.

Posted on February 26, 2013 by johnp - Leave a comment