By Mark Evans
Canadians are, by and large, nice and polite. Unfortunately, we’ve made this approach part of our business and entrepreneurial landscape as well. While we may be confident, we’re not bold, cocky or aggressive.
South of the border, entrepreneurs are a different breed. They truly believe they’re the best, the smartest, pioneers and world beaters. It may not, in fact, be true but it doesn’t stop them from thinking it or, at least, trying to get other people to think it.
With this in mind, it was encouraging and refreshing to see five early-stage entrepreneurs hit the stage recently at Extreme Ventures Demo Day. They oozed with confidence and a go-for-it attitude.
Before Jeff Lawrence, Granify’s co-founder and CEO, launched his presentation, he hit the audience with the pitch that “if you sell something online and you don’t have your own data science team, come talk to us.” Jay Parmar, the co-founder and CEO with Picatic, declared his online ticketing service was “disruptive and distinctive.”
Nice.
For entrepreneurs, a key part of the marketing mix is confidence. I mean, if you’re not willing to tell potential customers about the awesomeness of your product, you might as well pack up shop and go home.
Whether you run a startup, small business or a large enterprise, being bold and brash is the oxygen that keeps marketing and sales rocking and rolling. Being polite and nice may get people to like you but you’ll probably end up watching from the sidelines.
First published on markevanstech.com.
