Small businesses are now competing in a marketplace dominated by low-cost large enterprises, says Herby Duverne, CEO at Windwalker Group.

Media 7 | May 28, 2020

Andy Brown, Chief Executive Officer at ENGAGE has worked in the research and consulting industry for 25 years. He was previously a Partner at Mercer Consulting, a Global Practice Leader at The Empower Group (the strategic consulting division of Manpower), Managing Director of YouGov Consulting and Head of Research at The Gallup Organization. Andy co-founded ENGAGE and has worked for the company since 2008 and, in 2013, co-led an MBO of the firm. He works with CEOs, boards and executive teams in FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 firms, as well as with a range of fast-growing entrepreneurial start-ups. MEDIA 7: What are you most passionate about? ANDY BROWN: I’m passionate about four key things: helping organisations improve their performance; helping leaders to be as effective as possible; helping employees to feel a sense of purpose in their work; and, of course, my family!

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Media 7 | April 22, 2020

Cameron Worth, CEO & Founder of SharpEnd leads the company’s mission to help brands move closer than ever to consumers by connecting packaging, retail and experiential activity. He is a regular speaker and writer on how to build brands in a connected world. He has spoken at Cannes, the Festival of Marketing, LuxePack Monaco and New York, Ad:Week Europe and New York, DMA, the Connected Consumer Conference, Mobile World Congress and the IoT World Forum. MEDIA 7: How did the idea of “the agency of things” come to your mind? CAMERON WORTH: SharpEnd was created in 2015 as the world’s first Internet of Things focused agency, so there is a slight play on words when we say we’re the Agency of Things. I think the idea of giving things their own agency is an interesting concept, and the strapline fits our capabilities on multiple levels. M7: In what way does technology drive the association of SharpEnd with global brands? What approaches are followed to enable sustainability? CW: Our simple proposition is to help build brands in a connected world, and to do that you must always start with identified consumer needs or pain points and look at technology as just an enabler to deliver an appropriate solution (when appropriate).  Take the issue of sustainability, which is often a pain point for brands that grapple with issues such as how we can reward sustainable behaviour change. One of our approaches to this could be to look at communicating the recycling credentials of the different products. Whilst the consumer can engage with a product as part of a wider consumer experience, the same technology could also house content that could tell you whether the product is recyclable, which type of bin it goes in etc. SharpEnd’s work with Unilever is a case in point. We built a digital product that incentivised recycling through gamification but also served to educate through informing people how and where to recycle in a clear fashion. All users had to do was simply scan their packaging to have all this information at their disposal.

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MEDIA 7 | January 9, 2020

Sangram Vajre, Co-Founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus is also an author and host of the podcast FlipmyFunnel. He is one of the leading minds in B2B marketing. MEDIA 7: What are you passionate about? SANGRAM VAJRE: Three things: Lead professionally. Grow personally. Love family. M7: Terminus has been recognized as one of Georgia’s 40 fastest-growing companies by ACG Atlanta. What factors contribute to this pace? SV: One of our core values is #OneTeam – which means we think and act as one team and know that if we treat our team right, they will treat our customers amazing. There are no great companies, only great people that make those companies.

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FINANCE

At-Bay | January 19, 2023

At-Bay, the leading insurance company for the digital age, announced that it is launching a new cyber insurance product for small businesses. At-Bay's admitted policies, approved in 47 states, will be sold solely through its expanding partner network and will assist small businesses with their insurance and security needs. At-Bay will provide cyber insurance policies that have been approved by an AM Best A-rated paper backer. Like At-Bay's additional cyber offering, policyholders of admitted cyber will have access to At-Bay's complimentary Security Report and their active risk Monitoring services, which are backed by At-Bay's in-house Security team. Furthermore, policyholders from At-Bay will also have access to the same best-in-class Claims team and preferred cyber response providers that the surplus policyholders have. Kristie Felton, Head of Digital Partnerships at At-Bay, said, "Our new admitted cyber insurance product allows us to better serve small businesses which face just as much digital risk as their larger counterparts with affordable cyber coverage." She also added, "Releasing this new offering solely through our digital API partners aligns with our mission as a digital-first specialty carrier." Partners who have already integrated At-Bay's other API offerings will see shorter integration times because of the shared architecture across the products. In addition, the modular design makes sure that quoting works smoothly in any partner environment. Automated quoting capabilities create bindable quotes in less than 30 seconds for policies with limits of up to $1 million for companies with up to $25 million in revenue. About At-Bay Founded in 2016, At-Bay is a cyber insurance provider built from the ground up to assist businesses in dealing with digital risks. At-Bay combines industry-leading insurance with world-class technology to help clients face risks head-on. Through our partnerships with both brokers and business owners, the company offers cutting-edge insurance products and proactive risk monitoring services to organizations of all sizes and in all sectors. At-Bay is supported by Glilot Capital, Acrew Capital, the HSB fund of Munich Re Ventures, ION Crossover Partners, Icon Ventures, Khosla Ventures, M12, entrepreneur Shlomo Kramer, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Qumra Capital.

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FINANCE

Merchants & Marine Bank | January 17, 2023

Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc., a century-old banking institution established in Mississippi, has introduced Voyager Lending, a division focused on providing small business owners with lending solutions. Voyager Lending is led and staffed by industry professionals. The staff cares about the community and tries to give borrowers knowledgeable and personalized service. It makes lending easy and gives people access to money they wouldn't have otherwise! President and CEO of Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Clayton Legear, said, “Our company’s commitment to small business owners reaches beyond standard banking services and has been a priority for us for more than 100 years.” He added, “You achieve a legacy of that nature by creating partnerships with leaders who are committed to growing the local economy by investing in the communities we serve. Voyager Lending’s mission to secure financing for entrepreneurs and small business owners is exactly that. This lending division is a direct reflection of our philosophy, and we’re very proud to offer financial expertise to partners who are working towards the same vision.” (Source – Business Wire) Voyager Lending is excited to provide a diverse range of small business owners with competitive products that the United States government backs via the Small Business Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture. The company offers loans to pay for buying a business or a piece of real estate, buying out a partner, buying equipment, getting a business started, and paying bills. It is committed to growing communities and enhancing the local economy by aiding small business owners that need funding. About Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc. Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc., is a Mississippi-chartered community bank serving the Gulf South region. Initially formed in 1899, the bank was revived in 1932 during the Great Depression, the most significant economic disaster in the history of the United States. In over eight decades, the bank has grown from $25,000 to over $700 million in assets and from 2 offices to 16 offices servicing Mississippi & Alabama Gulf Coast and Mississippi Pine Belt.

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SMALL BUSINESS ADVICE

Melio | January 25, 2023

On January 24, 2023, Melio, the industry-leading B2B payments platform for small businesses, announced a new integration with the cloud-based accounting software platform Xero. Through this integration, Melio's small business clients will be able to seamlessly sync their accounts payable and receivable data with Xero, therefore saving time on bill payments, facilitating reconciliation, and enhancing insight into incoming payments. Melio's co-founder and CTO, Ilan Atias, said, "This two-way sync with Xero will help small business customers better understand how much money is going in and out of their accounts at a time when it is critical to keep a close eye on cash flow." He explained, "Moreover, this integration will help save customers time and simplify the bill-paying process while providing them with more visibility and control over their day-to-day finances." (Source – PR Newswire) The United States is home to 33.2 million small businesses, which accounts for 99.9% of the nation's businesses. This integration will enable these businesses to spend less time on accounting and more time growing their businesses. In addition, small business bills, payments, and invoice information will be seamlessly synchronized across the two platforms, saving time typing data into separate accounts and eliminating the guesswork of matching charges to open invoices. The VP of Partnerships, Americas, at Xero, Carol Haverty, stated, "Melio's integration with Xero offers tremendous value to our accounting and bookkeeping partners and their small business clients." She also said, "Melio and Xero have a shared vision of championing small business. We look forward to helping our customers streamline workflows and save time with this integration so they can focus on growing and running their business." (Source – PR Newswire) This is Melio's fourth synchronization with an industry-leading accounting software vendor, extending the company's track record of collaborating and integrating with financial institutions, software providers, and markets. About Melio Melio is a market-leading B2B payments technology firm that helps small and medium-sized businesses send and receive payments rapidly and without hassle, thereby improving their cash flow and productivity. Melio, one of the fastest-growing B2B payment platforms in the United States, is revolutionizing the transfer of funds between businesses. It serves banking institutions and software firms that want to provide accounts payable and receivable solutions to small business clients. The company was founded in 2018, with headquarters in New York, a research and development facility in Tel Aviv, and headquarters in Colorado for the western United States.

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