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Developing an app isn't easy. Hundreds of decisions about what to create and features to include are made every day. 

In this interview, Adam Tratt of Giant Thinkwell and maker of Haiku Deck, meets JP Werlin of Pipeline Deals. Each rivals the market leaders in their respective categories, presentation and customer relationship management (CRM) software. Haiku Deck is a startup, Pipeline Deals has been around for 6 years. They're opposites in many ways, yet when it comes to dealing with startup and growth issues, they have a lot in common: 

  • Nailing the CROI (Consumer Return on Investment)
  • How to "productize" best practices into an app
  • Finding developers
  • The importance of treating customers right
  • Cash flow, and yes, even cats


Podcast:
09_08_12.mp3
File Size: 44141 kb
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Robin Crowder, Lucy Norris
You've probably been to farmers markets, but recently a special one was held for business buyers at 21 Acres in Woodinville. Robin Crowder is the Director of Development and Marketing at this self-sustaining farm, store and test kitchen. Lucy Norris of the Northwest Agriculture Business Center talks about their resources for developing and marketing food products.

Learn how to choose the right eggs -- organic, cage free, ad infinitum. And join host Robbin Block at the market as she puts Britt's Pickles to the test.

Tune in for a full grocery bag of information about the foods we create and buy.

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21 Acres in Woodinville has a test kitchen, event space and store; Britt's is oh so good!

Podcast:
08_04_12.mp3
File Size: 44342 kb
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Developing products that sell well at retail is no easy task. Sometimes there's the willingness to take a risk. At other times, the determination to invest in what you think is worthwhile.



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One thing we learned from our guests, Lori and Llance Kezner of GarLic It and Becky Morrette of Sunday Drive Designs, is that creating successful products is personal.
  • Why the Kezner's got into business for themselves
  • The path from manufacturing 24 units of GarLic It to commercial quantities
  • How a blog post turned a potato into a bestseller for Sunday Drive Designs


Podcast:
07_28_12.mp3
File Size: 43530 kb
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Kari Erickson-Valenzuela, Susan Chace
Even in this digital age, there are some toys that just last. Take Play-doh, for instance. Hear the story about how this product came about, tech toy clips from the 109th American International Toy Fair and scenes from the documentary Toyland. It's a movie about how toys are invented.

Susan Chace of HoopDelite and Kari Erickson-Valenzuela of Mama K's Aromatic Play Clay are crafty masters of reinvention, but on a startup scale. Listen to their stories of how they have made old products new again on this show about reinvention, repurposing and rethinking.

Podcast:
myb_021812.mp3
File Size: 43468 kb
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Valentine's Day is almost here and you know what they say. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage. And after that, business ideas to help Moms with their little charges – at least for Mompreneurs like Sari Crevin. She's the inventor of a successful line of products to help parents make their lives easier.



She’s not alone. The market for infant and kids products has exploded. According to the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, U.S. wholesale revenue for prenatal through preschool items, not counting clothing and food, has grown to almost $3 billion. Hear Sari tell her story of how she is grabbing her share of the market, from when she bought her first sewing machine to selling into some of the biggest retailers in the country.

Also on this week's show, a new website from the SBA, the interactive media industry and the app economy in Seattle.

Podcast:
myb_021112.mp3
File Size: 42600 kb
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Guests David Dallaire of Fennec Consulting and Alan Regala of ShelfGenie of Seattle join Robbin to discuss product development, what it means to go from your own company to a franchise, and why branding is still relevant -- even for the smallest businesses. The show opens with an update about the new tolls on the 520 Bridge and tips for keeping your creative juices flowing.


Podcast:
myb_121011.mp3
File Size: 36727 kb
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