Twenty years ago, technology and marketing were considered completely separate worlds on opposite ends of the spectrum. Today, we live in a digital world where marketing and technology departments are inextricably linked. The marketing department integrates technology with other departments. Over the last ten years, we have seen a rapid increase in marketing technology suppliers. But even with all its potential, MarTech presents many challenges for businesses. For example, there are many ways...

There are many critical factors that contribute to the success of a company, and having a great leadership team is definitely high on this list. But if you don't take the time to carefully set out your organizational leadership principles, your business won't have a guiding star.  In this episode of the Reverse Engineered podcast, our host Jon Penland welcomes Aran Khanna, the founder and CEO of Archera. They chat about the importance of having leadership principles, encouraging your people...

The internet has become an unpredictable place, and companies need to do everything in their power to secure their data, information, and processes. If you want to protect your organization from bad actors trying to take advantage of your data, you need to consider implementing a Zero Trust security model.  In this episode of the Reverse Engineered podcast, our host Jon Penland welcomes John Engates, the Field CTO at Cloudflare. They talk about why security threats are not what they used to...

Mistakes are an inevitable part of business, and that's the most common reason entrepreneurs are so scared to give up control and give their employees more freedom.  But giving autonomy to your team members will make them more motivated to produce better results and share their best ideas. This, in turn, will help your company grow. In this episode of the Reverse Engineered podcast, host Jon Penland welcomes Adii Pienaar, the founder of Cogsy. They chat about the importance of flexibility at...

If you want to make a change in your career and start something on your own, go for it. But of course, that's easier said than done as you must take many things into account and know how to prioritize.  The good news is that all successful entrepreneurs were once where you are today. They had to embrace failure and learn from their mistakes. But, they all had something in common: faith in their skills and devotion.  In this episode of Reverse Engineered, our host Jon Penland, welcomes Lloyed...

Most companies, especially big ones, have a lot of data. As a business leader, you need to be able to pull it all together and make it accessible to everyone in your organization to maximize its usefulness. Grafana Labs is an open-source analytics platform and interactive visualization web application. Grafana takes a unique approach to providing a "single-pane-of-glass" by unifying your existing data, wherever it lives. As a result, it helps to facilitate a culture where data can easily be...

A recurring revenue model is one of the most popular business models today. Whether you run an online or a subscription-based business, you rely on this payment model to ensure recurring revenue and stable income.  But a simple payment failure can disrupt your entire business flow and even make you lose customers. In this episode of the Reverse Engineered podcast, our host Jon Penland welcomes Casey Graham, the Founder and CEO of Gravy. They talk about the reason for failed transactions, why...

''Follow your dreams and do what you love'' is easier said than done. However, many have chosen to take this path. There will be bumps on the road — some more challenging than others — but you can reach the desired destination if you have a clear goal.  And while you can rely on your knowledge and experience, don't overlook the importance of luck. However, you must recognize it first to be able to make the most out of it. In this episode of the Reverse Engineered podcast, our host Jon Penland...

After four years of working as a business lawyer, Emeric Ernoult knew he was made for entrepreneurship. He and his co-founder’s first company Affinitiz was launched in 2000 and the first ten years were faced with failures, setbacks, and very little money. Then in 2012, they launched Agorapulse, a social media management platform. Though still faced with challenges in the first few years, Emeric’s hunger to win and data-based decisions ultimately led the company to success. Agorapulse now...

Consumers are no longer attracted to flashy ads. Instead, they want to see the people behind the brand or hear about real-life experiences of collaborating with a brand or using their products. That's why influencer marketing is so popular these days (and has been for the past decade).  But, as customers' habits change, they perceive brand ambassadors or macro-influencers as less trustworthy, and they are more likely to trust small or micro-influencers — people from their surroundings — when...

Aleyda started her career as a frontend developer. After being continuously asked by clients how to get more traffic to their site, she stumbled into the world of SEO and the rest is history. These days, you’ll find Aleyda running her highly specialized SEO agency Orainti, giving out free tips in one of many SEO resources she maintains, presenting in Spanish and English at industry events, and more.  In this episode of Kinsta’s Reverse Engineered podcast, host Jon Penland asks Aleyda about...

Remote work may have been a niche in the past, but it's certainly the standard now. And more and more companies are going fully remote.  However, you can't expect to create a fully operational remote culture overnight. Remote is a mindset, and until you try it out, you won't know if it's the right choice for you. In this episode of the Reverse Engineered podcast, our host Jon Penland welcomes Ilma Tiki, the Co-Founder and CEO of The Remote Company. They get into the importance of living and...

It’s easy to see a successful blog and want to replicate it. But behind that blog is often years of hard work. The truth is, you can't expect to start making money off your blog overnight. It takes a lot of time and effort to turn your blog into a lucrative side business.  In this episode of the Reverse Engineered podcast, Jon Penland welcomes Ryan Robinson, a successful blogger, podcaster, and as he calls himself, a recovering side project addict. We get into ways to monetize your blog, how...

As an entrepreneur, the best feeling is when your business starts to take off. When you have more business than you can handle, that means your hard work is paying off, even if it does cause some sleepless nights. You'll need to hire employees to help share the load to scale your business, but it can be hard to let other people take over some responsibilities. Not expanding your employees to keep control over quality is a sure-fire way to stop business growth in its tracks. In this episode of...

Everyone uses data, but that doesn't mean it has to stay in a static or numeric form permanently. Giorgia Lupi has been transforming data into meaningful visual versions for years. She recalls being highly analytical and creative even back when she was a child organizing items in her grandmother’s tailor shop. Since then, she’s co-founded Accurat, a data visualization design studio, presented a Ted talk, become a Partner at Pentagram, and more. In this episode of Reverse Engineered, Jon...

In today's episode of Reverse Engineered, Jon Penland welcomes Brad Miller, Vice President of Client Strategy at 10up. Brad focuses mostly on new client growth and strategy but has years of experience working in web design, UX design, and web development with WordPress. Brad’s journey into 10up is unique. He first approached the agency as co-founder of Lift UX to see how the two agencies could work together on some upcoming projects. What he unexpectedly left with was an acquisition offer....

In today's episode of Reverse Engineered, Jon Penland welcomes John Doherty, Founder and CEO of Credo and EditorNinja.  Credo, a company dedicated to helping companies hire the right digital marketing agencies, is John’s primary focus. Credo is completely bootstrapped - in fact, John spent 6 months doing consulting work in order to build up nine months of runway in the bank.  To keep costs low and profits high, Credo uses a lot of automation. With this approach, John was able to cut out...

Google Drive and Google Fonts are some of Google’s most popular products. Behind these incredible inventions are some hard-working, innovative people. One of them is our guest, David Wurtz. David is a Founder in Residence at Google, a role that is part of Google's Area 120, an internal incubator program for experimental projects. Google Drive and Google Fonts are some of the many projects in David's rich portfolio of inventions.  In today's episode, our host Jon Penland and David discuss the...

Karmen Kendrick is the Web Design and Support Specialist at Karmen Kendrick Creative. She is devoted to helping small businesses optimize their WordPress websites and getting them ready for digital growth. Karmen specializes in membership websites, which is her big differentiator from her competitors in the web design area. She reveals what inspired her to take her path and the problem she wanted to solve in the first place. As an entrepreneur and a highly devoted business person, Karmen...

Loyalty programs retain customers, which we can all agree is the primary goal of every business owner. They also indicate that you’re a trustworthy service provider. In this episode of the Reverse Engineered podcast, Zsuzsa Kecsmar joins our host Jon Penland to dive deeper into the importance of loyalty programs to B2C companies. Zsuzsa is the Co-founder and Head of Marketing and Partnerships at Antavo, a loyalty management platform.  Zsuzsa and Jon also discuss some key ideas that were...

Cory Miller, the CEO at Post Status,  is an entrepreneur on a mission to make people's lives awesome, especially the lives of his team.  In this episode, Cory highlights the importance of a company-wide shared vision. According to him, the best results come when every member of your team believes in a company's path and has the freedom to grow as an individual while contributing to the organization's growth.  Cory and Jon also talk about how people see entrepreneurs. As Cory explains, the...

In this episode of Reverse Engineered, Jon Penland introduces Donata Stroink-Skillrud, President at Termageddon and the vice-chair of The Privacy Committee of the American Bar Association. Donata explains why companies need privacy policies and emphasizes the risks if businesses don't comply with the law. She also talks about Termagedoon's services, including the advisory. As a business owner, Donata faces many challenges, so she reveals ways of dealing with them. tune in to hear Donata's...

In this episode of the Reverse Engineered podcast, Austin Ginder joins the host Jon Penland to discuss his experience running a one-person business in WordPress hosting. Austin is the owner of Anchor Hosting, a company providing hassle-free web hosting services to clients worldwide. Austin explains why he doesn't do sales to get clients. According to him, everything you do as a business owner should attract customers, not the other way around. Austin's perspective on marketing and sales might...

What's a good life? No one knows, but we all have a vision of it. For Shane Pearlman, the CEO of Modern Tribe, a good life is when you are in a balance. He says balance is the combination of the four F's: family, fitness, finance, and faith. Peter, Shane's business partner and the co-founder of Modern Tribe, adds a fifth F: fun.  In this episode of the Reverse Engineered, Jon Penland and Shane Pearlman discuss business success. According to Shane, success is the combination of strategy and...