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Arlene Childers – Marketing SME Interview with Donna
Marketing is a critical part of every business, yet successfully promoting a business can be tricky. Below is a list of questions and answers with a marketing expert that explore marketing concepts. Donna has started multiple marketing businesses and has a wealth of knowledge to share.
1. What is your general job description?
I currently own two marketing businesses. Symphony Concepts provides marketing research and innovation to companies. They also provide programming to the resort development industry. Heartbeat Marketing provides sales and marketing consultants to companies and is a service provider for Symphony Concepts.
A meeting with Dean Hieser
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dean for five years now. I actually met Dean through one of my friends, Danielle, who happens to be Dean’s daughter. As a venture capitalist, Dean has been through many successful investments through his life; he’s also been fortunate enough to learn from some unsuccessful ones.
So how does one even become a VC? This is something I asked Dean when we sat down together and he was kind enough to enlighten me with the knowledge he has attained through the years. “My initiation into the VC world stemmed from my belief that I could do it better.” Dean was originally asked to invest with a family friend, who he wishes to leave unnamed, that offered Dean a chance to get involved with the development of a golf course. As you can imagine, Dean is not the silent investor type. He fought for as much control as he could, but found out later it would not be enough. Dean originally took the opportunity because he believed the idea had potential and it would be successful with his help. Unfortunately, he had barely any say in the more important matters and had little impact on the development of the project. Fortunately, Dean lost next to nothing in the investment, but, until this day, all he can think about is the opportunity cost.
Interview with Tammy Magid of TMC Working Solutions
This interview was conducted with Tammy Magid of TMC Working Solutions, a lender offering microloans, business coaching, and education for San Francisco Bay Area entrepreneurs. I first encountered Tammy when I contacted her company regarding a microloan for my own business. After talking with her for awhile, I became aware of the depth and breadth of her knowledge in her industry. She agreed to an interview, which follows. I found this interview to be extremely informative, and at the same time accessible.
LINDSAY: How did you get involved with financial lending as a career?