Ep 37 - Mike Troiano - How to create your compelling company story that helps you win B2B customers, employees and investors alike

09/12/21 • 50 min

In today's episode with Mike Troiano, Partner at G20 Ventures you will learn
1. The major changes in marketing and why creative storytelling is becoming increasingly important in today's world.
2. What makes a good company story and a step-by-step guide on how to master effective storytelling
3. How to turn marketing and sales into a go-to-market team that drives your company's success
About Mike
Mike is a successful venture capitalist who brings nearly 25 years of business management and marketing experience to help entrepreneurs. A graduate of Cornell and Harvard Business School, he spent his early career at leading global advertising agencies including McCann-Erickson and FCB. Later, Mike served as President of NASDAQ-listed systems integrator Primix, among others, and helped companies like m-Qube and Actifio to incredibly successful exits. Today, besides being a partner at G20 Venture, he is a TechStars mentor, podcast host and board member of Hometap and Hack Diversity. He is one of the top 1% most influential people on Twitter and one of the most popular writers on venture capital on Medium. In his spare time, he enjoys the outdoors, whether on the water in the summer or in the mountains in the winter.
About G20 Ventures
Founded in 2013, G20 Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Boston, MA. Backed by more than 20 of the Northeast's most successful entrepreneurs, the company provides early-traction capital to East Coast tech startups. They believe that good business is personal, which is reflected in their "Human Scale Venture Capital" approach to investing. G2 Ventures looks for great teams that have fallen in love with great problems and are at or near the inflection point of customer validation. Thereby, their focus lies not on optimizing transactions at the expense of relationships or on scaling their own business, but clearly on the growth of the companies they invest in, and the capital entrusted to them. Their portfolio includes successful tech companies such as Evergage, 128 Technology, CloudZero and Mulberry.
About the host Sammy
Sammy is Managing Partner and founder of SAWOO. SAWOO helps companies with Social Marketing and Lead Generation to leverage the power of LinkedIn in a sustainable way. No spam, no bots, but building real Human 2 Human connections between you and your B2B buyers.
Shownotes Mike
Find Mike on LinkedIn
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/mtroiano/)

Connect with Mike via Twitter
(https://twitter.com/miketrap?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)

Check out Mike’s blog and podcast
(https://miketrap.medium.com/)
(https://racket.com/miketrap)

Mike’s company G20 Ventures
(https://www.g20vc.com/)

Mike’s favorite business book: Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy
(https://www.amazon.com/Ogilvy-Advertising-David/dp/039472903X)

Mike’s favorite business leader: Steve Jobs and Scott Galloway, Clinical Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business and founder of L2

Connect with Mike via Twitter
(https://twitter.com/miketrap?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)

Check out Mike’s blog and podcast
(https://miketrap.medium.com/)
(https://racket.com/miketrap)

Mike’s company G20 Ventures
(https://www.g20vc.com/)

Mike’s favorite business book: Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy
(https://www.amazon.com/Ogilvy-Advertising-David/dp/039472903X)

Mike’s favorite business leader: Steve Jobs and Scott Galloway, Clinical Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business and founder of L2

Previous Episode

Ep 36 - Dr. Nikolaus von Jacobs - How to start & grow your own conference

In today's episode with Dr. Nikolaus von Jacobs, Partner at McDermott Will & Emery you will learn
1. The slow transformation of the legal industry from traditional reputation-based business to the use of marketing and sales.
2. How Nik developed the highly regarded MuMAC and successfully adapted its model to the circumstances of the pandemic
3. A step-by-step guide on how to efficiently build your own conference from scratch
About Nik
Nik's great passion is driving deals, where in his role as Partner at McDermott Will & Emery he usually, as a first step, takes on the role of a matchmaker by presenting deal opportunities to interested parties. He has considerable expertise in private equity, M&A, venture capital, China outbound & inbound, among others. In addition, Nik is very keen to connect people and co-chairs McDermott's annual cross-border M&A conference "MuMAC", which brings together international M&A and PE professionals in Munich every September. Additionally, Nik has been recognized numerous times, for example as Leading Lawyer for Corporate Law by the Handelsblatt in their Best Lawyers 2021 Germany Ranking. In his spare time, he sees his true vocation in spending a lot of time with his family, and he has a great weakness for books.
About McDermott Will & Emery
McDermott Will & Emery is an international law firm with a diversified business practice headquartered in Chicago, USA, with revenues exceeding $1 billion. The firm partners with leaders around the world to advance missions, transcend boundaries and shape markets. With more than 20 locations worldwide, McDermotts' team works seamlessly across practices, industries and geographies to deliver highly effective - and often unexpected - solutions that drive success. The more than 1,200 attorneys bring their personal passion and legal skills to bear on every matter for their clients and the people they serve.
About the host Sammy
Sammy is Managing Partner and founder of SAWOO. SAWOO helps companies with Social Marketing and Lead Generation to leverage the power of LinkedIn in a sustainable way. No spam, no bots, but building real Human 2 Human connections between you and your B2B buyers.
Shownotes

Find Nik on LinkedIn
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-nikolaus-von-jacobs/)
Nik’s company McDermott Will & Emery
(https://www.mwe.com/)

McDermott's annual cross-border M&A conference MuMAC
(https://mumac-conference.com/)

Nik’s favorite business book: Monkey Business by John Rolfe and Peter Troob
(https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/0446525561/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1629784969&sr=1-1)

Nik’s favorite business leader: Ray Dalio, Co-Chief Investment Officer & Chairman of Bridgewater Associates, L.P.
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/raydalio/)

Next Episode

Ep 38 - Chris Apostel - The Importance of Uniqueness in Sales

In today's episode with Chris Apostel, Sales Director DACH at GUURU you will learn
1. The present state and enormous future potential of the customer service landscape.
2. How GUURU stands out from today's digital noise by taking a unique approach to selling.
3. How to discover the passion you want to make a living with and the key traits of a great salesperson.
About Chris
Chris is a seasoned professional, passionate about the conversational commerce megatrend, SaaS solutions and consulting for e-commerce and omnichannel brands in the DACH region. As a graduate in strategic marketing, he started his career in various sales positions at companies such as indeed and Mediafix before joining GUURU as Sales Director DACH. In this role, he helps clients deliver high-quality 24/7 digital customer service and support. Besides, Chris is an active sales advisor for the SaaS customer experience platform Topikon and co-founder of the conversational24 blog, focusing on conversational commerce in DACH and emerging, innovative solutions. In his free time, Chris enjoys sports and keeps himself grounded with meditation.
About GUURU
Founded in Switzerland in 2015, GUURU helps companies improve their customer service by combining AI with the human experience of their product users. They believe that authentic human advice is still crucial for consumers when choosing a product or service or deciding to renew or switch. Therefore, the company leverages the extensive knowledge of certified product users - Guurus - and combines it with AI. The growing pool of Guurus guarantee instant live support, while their SmartBot is trained by and in a constant feedback loop with them, allowing it to learn faster. GUURU has a diverse team of talented and fun people in Switzerland, Germany, Portugal and the UK. Today, users in 12 different languages and regions benefit from the always-available support whereby their client portfolio includes sky, REWE toom and vertbaudet.
About the host Pablo
Pablo is a continuous learner with excellent people skills and a very driven can-do attitude. Finding the right solutions and helping clients to grow is his top priority and enables him to build strong business relationships. Prior to working at SAWOO, Pablo founded his own Startup and worked for many years in different positions to widen his understanding of Sales & Business Development.
Shownotes
Find Chris on LinkedIn
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-apostel/)
Reach out to him via [email protected]