Rob Ciampa’s Musings, Meanders, and Machinations

Rob Ciampa came up through the Italian restaurant and wine business in Boston’s historic North End to become a tech entrepreneur, provocative speaker, bestselling book author, and a successful operations, sales, marketing, product, and services executive. He manages Business Catalytics, a cool analytics firm that helps companies compete better. This is Rob’s personal site, where he shares thoughts on a variety of subjects and collaborates with interesting, opinionated, and informed colleagues.
- Six Business Lessons from a Burger JointStarting a new venture is hard. It can also be lonely, especially if you’re the sole founder. These days, entrepreneurs quickly learn to work virtually and inexpensively, especially if the company is pre- or self-funded. For an extroverted entrepreneur such as me, co-working spaces and coffee shops not only fit the economic bill but also …
- Rubio on Rails: My Experience with the Apple Genius Bar and Going Off MessageAs a lover of politics and technology (and a little bit of mayhem), I don’t think there’s been a better time than the one we are in right now. The American presidential campaigns are proving quite raucous, giving voters lots of entertainment and a fair share of trepidation. Meanwhile, the tech world is producing its …
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- Digital DarwinismI take hiring very seriously. Though it sounds like a platitude, please allow me to elaborate. For a recent marketing position of mine, I looked at 274 resumés, conducted 18 phone screens, had 8 face-to-face interviews, managed 5 group interviews, and hired 1 person. She’s been a great addition to the team. Before I actually …
- Career and Business Lessons from Curious GeorgeI recently attended a company offsite where my fellow executives and I took a hard look at our rapidly growing business. Often, growth can blind companies to latent problems that subsequently arise at the worst possible time. Good management teams regularly go offsite to step back, wake up, work together, fix problems, and plan ahead. …
- The Tyranny of the OR in Sales and MarketingRunning Sales For the past year and a half, I have been the executive vice president of both sales and marketing for a great company called Pixability in Cambridge. It’s not great because we have amazing technology (though we do) and passionate people (got that, too); it’s great because we consistently help our customers achieve …