Get Valuable Assistance with
Growing Your Company

FREE newsletter delivers valuable growth-driving lessons
on topics such as innovation, marketing and strategy.

4:30 pm

Scott Kroger

Dear Business Executive -- with responsibility for your company's growth:

Thanks for your interest in The Growth Equation newsletter.

This newsletter is our attempt to share with executives, at small to midsized companies, what we've learned about business growth over the last 25+ years. The information presented is focused on innovation and marketing, and related growth-driving topics like strategy, sales, new product development, and intellectual property.

Why we focus on growth

Over the last 30 years, most management training has been focused on how to reduce costs (e.g., lean manufacturing, eliminating the bottom 10% of employees), increase quality (TQM, Six Sigma), and improve efficiencies (reengineering, speed-focused initiatives).

It's our view that a majority of companies (even those outside the US) have gained most of the benefits possible through these initiatives, so they no longer provide a means to create sustainable competitive advantage. In other words, these factors have become commodities in most industries.

Therefore, it's critical that we focus our attention elsewhere -- on the factors that drive growth.

Why we emphasize innovation and marketing

In our experience, innovation and marketing are the primary growth drivers for any business. Peter Drucker emphasized that years ago:

"Business has two -- and only two -- functions: Marketing and Innovation. Marketing and Innovation produce results. All the rest are costs."

Now, even General Electric (the most visible past promoter of cost-reduction tactics, quality improvements via Six Sigma, and enhancing process efficiencies) is pushing for more innovation and better marketing.

Today, we think most business leaders realize innovation is their company's only remaining source of competitive advantage (as we said above, cost, quality, speed are now almost impossible factors on which to compete) and that better marketing is essential so their competitive advantages can be communicated to prospects and customers in the most efficient and effective way possible.

Why the newsletter is written for executives at small to midsized companies  

The three of us have been involved with small to midsized companies for our entire careers and have been constantly disappointed every time we looked for useful and practical advice on business growth.

Either the advice was offered by individuals with minimal or NO actual business experience (lawyers, accountants, ad agency execs) or was targeted at large corporations with millions of dollars to spend on gigantic R&D teams, massive patent portfolios, public sources of financing, sophisticated market research, traditional advertising, and elaborate sales management systems.

Therefore, we found most of the advice we received of NO USE. BIG-COMPANY ideas just don't work for small to midsized companies and untested opinions don't work for anybody.

Anyway, that's the focus of this newsletter -- GROWTH, with a specific emphasis on innovation and marketing, and with content targeted to executives at small to midsized companies.

You can sign up by entering your first name, email address, state/country and ID# (if you have one) in the form above or at the end of this letter. Otherwise, please keep reading to learn more about this valuable course.

The three of us have accumulated, over the last 25+ years as business executives, an extremely diverse and deep business background -- including:

• Degrees in math, engineering and pharmacy and advanced studies in architecture (University of Washington), electrical engineering (Marquette University) and business (Wharton School).

• Business careers where we held such titles as sales representative, engineer, product manager, sales manager, product design architect, director of marketing, R&D manager, business development director, VP of engineering, general manager, president, owner, and chairman - in start-ups to $500 million public companies.

• Direct experience with a large variety of industries from consumer products to high tech business systems, from retailing to manufacturing, and from professional services to pharmaceuticals.

• Innovation of many new technologies in such areas as database development, artificial intelligence, electrocardiology, computer security, medication administration, electronic instrumentation, electronic (RFID) identification, search engine functionality, patent software and cryptices.

• Leading the development and marketing of hundreds of new products and services, many which have become market leaders.

• Dealing with almost every possible type of distribution channel, including direct sales, manufacturer's reps, distributors, dealers, direct mail, and the Internet -- both for US and international markets.

More specifically, either individually or as a group, we've accomplished the following:

• Grew an electronics company from $3 million to $500 million over the course of 23 years -- holding such positions as Product Architect, Director of Marketing, VP of Engineering, and Division General Manager.

• Led the engineering design for over 50 electronics products, including:

o        The world's first portable electrocardiogram analyzer (1985).

o        A pocket digital recorder that packed 24 hours of heart waveforms in solid state memory (1986 - 15 years before the first iPod).

o        Trim knob; a simplified user interface to control medical devices now found on many consumer products and automobiles. 

o        Automatic web page linking software used by major Internet companies.

o        Advanced computer security and authentication system.

o        ECG analysis instrument with a record-setting processing time.

o        Novel technology to assist with medication adherence.

o        Digital monitoring system for high performance boats.

• Led the global marketing introduction of many high-tech products, including:

o        The world's first automatic defibrillator now widely available in airports, schools and other public settings.

o        A range of market-leading electrocardiology products

o        Hospital database system that's become the most widely used system of its type

o        Several revolutionary patient monitoring systems with wireless communications

o        The first 12-lead ECG analysis system for use by emergency medical personnel.    

• Turned around multiple product lines and company divisions, in one case doubling profits within 2 years.

• Originated new products and technologies protected by over 30 patents which to date have generated over $5 billion in global revenues.

• Negotiated multiple patent licensing agreements and settled a major patent infringement lawsuit against a Fortune 100 company.

• Raised millions of dollars of angel, venture, debt and grant financing.

• Founded and now operate four entrepreneurial companies.

• Led sales and marketing efforts for a technology start-up, which ultimately raised over $12 million in venture capital financing.

• Led a strategy revision for a $100 million medical device company, which simplified the product line from 18 to 3 products while increasing revenues by 22%.

• Turned around multiple product lines and company divisions, in one case doubling profits within 2 years,

• Originated new products and technologies protected by over 30 patents which, to date, have generated over $5 billion in global revenues.

• Negotiated multiple patent licensing agreements and settled a major patent infringement lawsuit against a Fortune 100 company.

• Raised millions of dollars of angel, venture, debt and grant financing.

• Founded and now operate four entrepreneurial companies.

• Led sales and marketing efforts for a technology start-up, which ultimately raised over $12 million in venture capital financing.

• Led a strategy revision for a $100 million medical device company, which simplified the product line from 18 to three products while increasing revenues by 22%.

As you can see, in the functional areas that drive business growth, we've almost done it all -- and generally in positions where we had direct profit and loss responsibility.

The result of this diverse and deep business background is a combined ability for us to bring a broad, practical and genuinely useful perspective to the content of our newsletter, thus enhancing its value to our target audience: executives at small to midsized companies.

Beyond our education, experience and training, we have some other attributes which contribute to the value we deliver to newsletter readers. We believe the following traits, which we all share, ensure our lessons deliver new and fresh ideas:

Our newsletter covers information on topics related to business growth, such as innovation, marketing, strategy, sales, new product development, and intellectual property.

Basically, we attempt to share the lessons we've learned over the last 25+ years on how to grow a company through both our successes and our failures.

Here are just some of the lessons you'll learn:

• How to increase the level of innovation within your company.
• How to make your sales efforts more efficient and effective.
•