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Dan Pepper

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Founder, Right5

828 points

Indefatigable startup participant with residences and offices in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Detroit and Chicago. Left Oracle 17 years ago on a high note to join Larry Ellison's nCUBE startup and have been toiling in the startup vineyard ever ...

Indefatigable startup participant with residences and offices in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Detroit and Chicago. Left Oracle 17 years ago on a high note to join Larry Ellison's nCUBE startup and have been toiling in the startup vineyard ever since. All 13 of the startups with which I have been involved in senior leadership are either still going concerns or enjoyed successful exits, including three IPO's.

Scorecard (in chronological order):

1. nCUBE - Acquired by C-COR
2. Versant - IPO in 1996
3. PureEdge - Acquired by IBM
4. Peoplemover - IPO (Opus360) in 2000
5. EmployeeLife - Acquired by UNUM
6. AppStream - Acquired by Symantec
7. Responsys - IPO in 2011
8. Citadon - Acquired by Sword Group
9. Mobibucks - Private - Raised $5 million in 2011
10. Eeminder - Private - Going concern
11. Aruspex - Private - Going concern
12. ForteHCM - Private - Launched October 2011

» read more » read less

Feb. 16, 2012

Dan Pepper and 10 other people answered this question

What is the best advertising campaign you have ever seen?

In less than 90 minutes, you can go "inside baseball" by simply viewing this award winning documentary featuring some of the greatest ads and creative minds behind them: ART & COPY http://www.artandcopyfilm.com/.
SUMMARY: ART & COPY is a powerful new film about advertising and inspiration. ... more

Advertising Campaign

Brand Awareness

Dec. 16, 2011

Dan Pepper is now following Michael Goldberg and 5 other people

Nov. 11, 2011

Dan Pepper and 1 other person answered this question

Is it a mistake to not send holiday cards to my clients this year or is it acceptable cost cutting?

Two business axioms come to mind:
1. "Never offer something (to employees or customers) that you plan on taking away in the future"
2. "Out of sight out of mind"
Clearly on #1, the horse was released from the barn 22 years ago, so not much you can ... more

Customer Service

Nov. 5, 2011

Dan Pepper and 10 other people answered this question

What do you think is the scariest job in the United States?

Detroit Bus Driver: http://www.examiner.com/top-news-in-detroit/detroit-bus-system-halted-after-d...
Excerpt: The attack happened at the Rosa Parks bus transit station yesterday afternoon, sending passengers running in fear for their lives according to witnesses. The incident was reported to have went on for some 10-15 minutes without anyone coming to the aid ... more

Human Resources

Career Development

Job Description

Sept. 15, 2011

Dan Pepper and 1 other person answered this question

How do you deal with a customer executive who is a bully?

Dave - One of your fellow thought leaders, Steve W. Martin, espouses a sales philosophy of "Find the Bully with the Juice" with his Heavy Hitter methodology: http://www.heavyhitterwisdom.com/thedud.asp. In my dealings with enterprise buyers over the decades, I have to agree with Steve that the ... more

Sept. 14, 2011

Dan Pepper and 2 other people answered this question

Why do you (or don't you) use Twitter?

Twitter serves as an extension of either an individual's or an organization's central nervous system. The real-time nature of Twitter makes it a business imperative for monitoring contemporaneous events.
In that same vein, it is effective for broadcasting time-sensitive information. For instance, Twitter can take ... more

Customer Service

PR / Brand Awareness

Sept. 14, 2011

Dan Pepper and 7 other people answered this question

What is more effective?: One salesperson selling all products or product-specific salespeople?

In the world of enterprise software, the most effective configuration is a single sales representative selling multiple solutions by exploiting the talents of knowledge workers known as "pre-sales" engineers or product specialists. A recommended ratio is one pre-sales specialist for every 3-5 sales representatives.
This ... more

Sales Management

Sept. 14, 2011

Dan Pepper answered this question

How to be a "salesperson at large"?

Your arrangement should be that of an"Associate" that performs on a 1099 basis at the pleasure of your client. Here is *some proforma legalese* for an Associate Agreement with a fictitious client referred to as "Associate's Supplier" and then abbreviated as "AS" that would be ... more

Information Technology

Sept. 11, 2011

Dan Pepper and 41 other people answered this question

Do you believe smartphones and tablets will eventually converge? Please explain why or why not?

Thanks for the kind words.

Sept. 11, 2011

Dan Pepper and 38 other people answered this question

What do you think of President Obama's proposed American Jobs Act?

My family name is quite real and has a legacy of hundreds of years of ancestry. Unlike you, I have a Focus profile and a body of work that translates into what's known as a "reputation."
You, sir or madame, have NO work history - ... more

Human Resources

American Jobs Act

Economy Payroll Tax

Sept. 8, 2011

Dan Pepper and 1 other person answered this question

How vocal does a startup want to be after raising cash?

Raising Seed or Series A funding is an affirmation that a startup has impressed investors with its market positioning and value proposition. This event puts a check in the box next to "Got Money:" This a good thing and not something to suppress.
Specific to ... more

Small Biz & Startups

Sept. 7, 2011

Dan Pepper answered this question

Is zero unemployment possible? If so, what would be the major repercussions?

It is possible in Monaco: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Monaco
Excerpt: Though official economic statistics are not published, year 2011 estimates place the national product at $6.888 billion and the world's highest per capita income is $186,175. The unemployment rate is 0%, as of 2011.
*Low taxes* have something to do ... more

Human Resources

Talent Management

Sept. 2, 2011

Dan Pepper and 2 other people answered this question

Are people using standing desks in your office?

Yes and you can too. Not only can you work standing up, but you can exercise as well.
Standing Desk - Exercise Set-up: These items with an investment of less than $200 will allow for work and concurrent exercise. You simply extend the height of an ... more

Human Resources

Company Culture

Aug. 31, 2011

Dan Pepper and 3 other people answered this question

Do you think it is a good idea for Oracle to promote their CRM outside of Dreamforce?

Turnabout is fair play and this is one of the longest running, most amusing software marketing wars. In the linked FORTUNE article below from 2001, you will see that Salesforce.com was the prankster 10 years ago:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2001/06/25/305460/inde...
Excerpt: Benioff, who's 6-foot-5, favors Hawaiian shirts, and delights in ... more

Information Technology

Aug. 30, 2011

Dan Pepper and 1 other person answered this question

If you could say or ask one thing to a VP of a large international call center, what would it be?

You must work with Rachel Tait.

Customer Service

Contact Centers

Aug. 27, 2011

Dan Pepper and 16 other people commented on this post

Introducing the New Focus.com

Say what? As a participant that viewed FOCUS.com as a Q&A site with an emphasis on business, this news of spinning off the former Tippit business unit came as a surprise. It was like learning from a friend that his ex-wife had just gotten custody ... more

Customer Service

Human Resources

Aug. 25, 2011

Dan Pepper answered this question

What is the proper job description for a salesperson?

Adam - The answer is *highly dependent* upon the base salary component. If you offer a rich base compensation plan; the job description, including specific duties and Standards of Performance (SoP), should be correspondingly robust. On the other hand, if you offer a sales representative ... more

Account Management

Sales Management

Aug. 24, 2011

Dan Pepper and 4 other people answered this question

Anybody read this FastCompany article on "Human Resources Hate"?

Around the fifth anniversary (2010) of the referenced controversial FastCompany article, William Taylor published a counterpoint, "Why We (Shouldn't) Hate HR," leading with this position:
"The real problem, I'd submit, isn't that HR executives aren't financially savvy enough, or too focused on delivering programs rather than ... more

Human Resources

Organizational and Leadership Development

Talent Management

Aug. 24, 2011

Dan Pepper and 27 other people answered this question

Is arguing on the internet a bad idea?

Jeff - Thanks for the kind words and, perhaps, the upvote.

Aug. 17, 2011

Dan Pepper and 5 other people answered this question

What the $#^! is Project Portfolio Management?

PPM - It is a Gartner TLA (Three Letter Acronym) and defined by Gartner as:
PPM (project and portfolio management)
PPM applications address business processes with functions across multiple domains, which include:
-Planning and scheduling
-Tracking time and progress
-Program management
-Resource profiling and allocation
-Portfolio analysis and prioritization
The PPM market deals ... more

Information Technology

Project and Portfolio Management

Aug. 8, 2011

Dan Pepper and 3 other people answered this question

When a team member is fired suddenly, what is the manager's role in addressing the rest of the team?

Keep in mind that a manager may often be bound by a Confidential General Release and Employment Separation Agreement with the terminated employee. The Separation Agreement will likely spell out what can be disclosed. These written agreements generally don't apply to employees that were terminated ... more

General Management

Human Resources

General Managment

Following 22 Topics

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