How we built ScreenCloud, the customers who are doing more with digital signage and what the future of connected screens really means.

ScreenCloud Podcast with Founders David Hart & Mark McDermott

It’s an enviable-yet-difficult challenge faced by many businesses: how to maintain infrastructure – like digital signage – while scaling. Add in additional obstacles like differing timezones and languages, and you’ve got a logistical nightmare on your hands. It’s a Herculean task. And one WeWork faced when scaling from 6 to 800+ offices in under ten years. 

In this episode of Behind the Screen, ScreenCloud COO David speaks with Robert Hays, ex-VP of IT at WeWork, to learn of his incredible experience implementing a global digital signage strategy – all while ensuring a secure network infrastructure capable of handling thousands of remote screens. This is probably why we have just welcomed him on board as ScreenCloud’s new VP of Enterprise Solution, to help our customers do the exact same thing.

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Connect with David Hart and Robert Mays on LinkedIn.

For all podcast enquiries: podcast@screencloud.io

In this episode of Behind the Screen, ScreenCloud COO David speaks with Robert Hays, ex-VP of IT at WeWork, to learn of his incredible experience implementing a global digital signage strategy.

Scaling up a complex digital signage network I Behind the Screens I Ep 62

Scaling up a complex digital signage network with Robert Mays Former VP of IT at WeWork

Sharing data dashboards across your organization securely has always been a challenge. At ScreenCloud we are about to unveil an entirely new approach for sharing dashboards securely with anybody in your organization. No longer will you have to sacrifice scale and flexibility to meet security requirements for presenting critical company information.

In this episode, David and Mark deep dive into how ScreenCloud dashboards evolved and the upcoming launch.

Details of the launch event on the 25th Feb: Launch Event Link 

Unveiling ScreenCloud Dashboards I Behind the Screens I Ep 61

In this episode, David and Mark talk about the challenges of levelling up a business and how best to approach this going forward.

Levelling up your business the right way I Behind the Screens I Ep 60

Levelling up your business is much more than earning more money and gaining new customers. In order to truly level up any business, you have to take a deep dive into how your teams operate and how they perform.

HR teams have seen a seismic over the last few years in how they function. The classic HR team has been replaced by the more modern 'people' operations team.

In this episode, Mark and David discuss how modern people teams are not too dissimilar to marketing teams when it comes to owning the employer brand.

 They also explore the relationship between marketing and people teams the argument of who is best equipped to own the space of employer branding within an organisation.

Check out the video People Ops as a Product by Jessica Hayes

Mark and David discuss how modern people teams are not too dissimilar to marketing teams when it comes to owning the employer brand.

Where does employee branding live? I Behind the Screens I Ep 59

HR teams have seen a seismic over the last few years in how they function. The classic HR team has been replaced by the more modern 'people' operations team. In this episode, Mark and David discuss how modern people teams are not too dissimilar to marketing teams when it comes to owning the employer brand.

In the world of SaaS, churn rates refer to the percentage of customers who tried out your service and decided to leave in a given period. To outweigh churn, you have expansion revenue, which you gain from upselling and cross-selling to your existing customers. A SaaS company needs to understand, measure, and address these two key growth metrics to thrive and succeed.

In this episode, David and Mark talk about churn and expansion at ScreenCloud. David admits that there wasn’t much effort put into these two metrics in the early days. Instead, the focus was on new businesses and customer support. However, as ScreenCloud got bigger and expanded into the enterprise market, the founders realized they needed to shift their approach.

 Listen to the full episode to learn about the different phases Mark and David have implemented to scale and drive growth at ScreenCloud.

In the world of SaaS, churn rates refer to the percentage of customers who tried out your service and decided to leave in a given period. In this episode, David and Mark talk about churn and expansion at ScreenCloud.

Churn and expansion I Behind the Screens I Ep 58

In the world of business, there’s a constant focus on the next best thing, the coolest apps, the sexiest features. 

People want to solve gnarly problems and build sophisticated products, they aren’t excited about mundane work.

However, in today's episode, Mark and David argue that it’s vital to get the “boring” basics done right and elegantly first before you start working on smart, shiny things. 

The basics are essential in creating a solid foundation for your business. Ignore them, and your company is in danger. Mark and David also discuss why they think documents run a business.

In this episode (recorded remotely) Mark and David argue that it's vital to get the "boring" basics done right and elegantly first before you start working on smart, shiny things. Discover more.

Why getting the basics right is more important I Behind the Screens I Ep 57

Why getting the basics right is more important

We’ve talked a great deal about how, as a startup grows and builds out new departments and structures, there will be more chaos and disconnection. So how do you solve this problem and get more organized while scaling your business? This is where the Cadence comes in. It’s an operating philosophy coined by David Sacks, Founder of Yammer and former COO of PayPal. 

The Cadence synchronizes major functions of a SaaS startup and runs them on a quarterly cycle so that teams can better communicate and collaborate. Under this concept, Sales and Finance are on one calendar, while Product and Marketing are on another. 

In this episode, Mark and David explain why they decided to adopt the Cadence for ScreenCloud, what is working for us, and where the Cofounders think this approach can improve upon. They also promise a more detailed review of ScreenCloud's implementation of the Cadence in six months, so stay tuned!

Learn more about the Cadence via this article or video

Check out ScreenCloud’s first virtual event, Reboot

In this episode (recorded remotely) Mark & David explain why they decided to adopt the Cadence for ScreenCloud, what is working for us, and where the Cofounders think this approach can improve.

Implementing company cadence I Behind the Screens I Ep 56

Writing a book is a nerve-racking leap into the unknown. In Kurt Vonnegut’s words, we have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down. 

A few months ago, two of our founders David and Mark decided to take the plunge. They’re writing a business book about modern approaches to connecting and engaging with employees effectively. 

Today’s episode deep dives into their writing journeys, including the ah-hah moment that inspired them to write the book, the book’s structure, how they divide the workload, how we’re going to promote the book, and the potential outcome. The real gem of this episode is their honest struggles with writing a book (captured in an upcoming video docu-series), their different writing processes, and how they’re balancing these differences to achieve promising end-results.

Check out Scribe Media, co-founded by Tucker Max.

Follow the book’s journey and be the first to hear when the book is published.

Mark and David share the trails and tribulations of writing a book, particularly anything on modern approaches to connecting and engaging with employees effectively.

Writing a business book I Behind the Screens I Ep 55

Pricing is hard and don’t tell anyone this, but in the early days of ScreenCloud, pricing was basically a “pull a number out of a hat” exercise, as Mark explains in today’s episode. 

As your startup grows and expands, however, your pricing strategy needs to adapt and evolve with it, and continual experimentation and testing are essential. 

In this episode, David and Mark discuss their experience and challenges with pricing at ScreenCloud, as well as what they’ve learned from well-respected experts in the industry, including the three tiers of B2B SaaS customers and the four myths of bundling. And how above all, your pricing should be simple and aligned with the value you create for your customers.

Check out the EnterpriseReady podcast episode featuring Adam Gross.

Check out the Invest Like the Best podcast episode featuring Shishir Mehrotra.

Read more about the four myths of bundling. 

In this episode (recorded remotely), we go deep into pricing in SaaS. Mark and David spill the beans on their experiences and challenges with pricing at ScreenCloud. Sharing what they have learned and how they managed to find the ideal balance.

Diving into SaaS pricing I Behind the Screens I Ep 54

Staff are arguably the most expensive “line item” on most companies’ budget sheet. Yet, the lion’s share of effort, resource and creativity is spent on our customers, and far less is given towards creating a truly effective employee experience. 

That’s what today’s podcast episode is all about, as David and Mark question why we aren’t more focused on our biggest asset. From why “HR” is often tactical, reactive and responsive and not considered at a Leadership level, to why top-down announcements in real-time aren’t the only way to share information. 

Suggesting that companies who apply the same approach that revolutionised customer success in recent years, to changing employee engagement, could be the ones who win.

Mark and David talk candidly about the concept of whether employees are the new customers. David and Mark question why we aren't more focused on our biggest asset- our team.

Are employees the new customers? I Behind the Screens I Ep 53

During the current crisis and the almost certain financial downturn that will ensue, many companies are going back to basics. Questioning their positioning, who their core customers are, what their offering is, and perhaps most importantly of all, how this is still relevant to the world today. 

In this episode, Mark and David talk about revisiting our positioning at ScreenCloud and what questions this has brought up. How serving everyone and being a generalist can lead to short-term profit, but why niching to one expert area could unlock an underserved need in the market. With examples of category leaders like Drift, who found a way to change the entire system by specialising in one area, and why looking back to what worked isn’t the way to determine what could be.

Mark and David talk about revisiting our positioning at ScreenCloud and what questions this has brought up. Take it back to basics to best empower your company to tackle the challenges ahead.

Going back to basics I Behind the Screens I Ep 52

With so much change happening in the world right now it can be difficult to not get caught up in the immediate effects without considering which dominos will fall later down the line. 

Also known as second and third-order thinking. In this episode, David and Mark discuss the theory in light of the current coronavirus pandemic and question: what will the second and third-order effects be on the way we work?

 Sharing examples from their own history running an agency where focusing too much on the first order had a detrimental effect in other ways. Plus, looking at how remote work and social distancing will affect the future office, where people choose to live and how access to WiFi could even change how we perceive each other.

Mark and David talk second and third-order thinking. They discuss the theory in light of the current coronavirus pandemic and now many fall victim to the pitfalls of focussing exclusively on first-order thinking.

Second and Third Order Effects on the Way We Work I Behind the Screens I Ep 51

Second and Third Order Effects on the Way We Work

As we enter week six of lockdown in the UK we’re starting to question what the future may hold. Like how long can you respectably justify as a “blip” and if this isn’t a blip, then what does life and work look like as we start to return to a new normal? 

In this episode David and Mark discuss some of the mental and physical changes the lockdown period has had on them personally and what they might do differently should there be advance warning of a second period.

 What a return to normal might look like for office workers and how the rapid adoption of remote working and video conferencing might change the future of work.

In this episode (recorded remotely), Mark and David unwrap adaptation to uncertain times and the mental and physical changes the lockdown period has had on them personally. But beyond the current circumstances, how to we look towards a return to normal?

Speculating on the new normal I Behind the Screens I Ep 50

We’ve always been distributed with the requirement that anyone can work anywhere. Now we’re working fully remote, we’ve seen a huge amplification in the amount of content in our communication channels. We’re also spending an increasing amount of time on Zoom calls, with some of the team and friends we’re speaking to, reporting that they feel less productive. 

In this episode, David and Mark discuss some of the methods they’re using to overcome this, like implementing short daily stand-ups and how to do this well. Why long Slack threads should often be quick calls, and how we can lean into the medium of live and recorded audio or video, in order to be heard. 

Plus a quick note on the side product ScreenCloud Signal we’ve created to help separate what’s most important from Slack or Microsoft Teams, into one consumable content queue.

In today’s episode (recorded remotely), Mark and David discuss some of the methods they’re using to overcome the inevitable Zoom fatigue, like implementing short daily stand-ups and how to do this well.

Dealing with Zoom overwhelm I Behind the Screens I Ep 49

As the world sits 10-feet deep in the coronavirus pandemic, how do you navigate these uncertain waters as an entrepreneur? In today’s episode, David and Mark share their past experiences of running businesses during turbulent times, how their priority at ScreenCloud has shifted, and what’s helping them stay sane and clear-headed. 

Key takeaways? Stick with a realistic goal and long-term vision. Have a plan, but allow circumstances to help you evolve that plan. Leaders will naturally emerge in crisis. Bad things happen—it’s all about what you choose to do next. 

Above all, show gratitude, appreciate how far you’ve come from your initial starting point, and help your fellow humans when you can.

Check out Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts 

How something as simple as a solid plan can help bring calm and keep you on track with long term goals.

Leading a business in turbulent times I Behind the Screens I Ep 48

In today’s episode (recorded remotely), Mark and David talk real talk about staying on track during unique circumstances, (how many different ways can we find to say "unprecedented"?) How something as simple as a solid plan can help bring calm and keep you on track with long term goals.

Every front page in the world is talking about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Many nations are in lockdown and governments are enforcing a distancing rules to help fight the alarming spread of coronavirus. Work from home (WFH) is now the new normal for most businesses. 

In today’s episode (recorded remotely, of course), Mark and David chat about how the coronavirus outbreak has affected ScreenCloud as well as their WFH experiences and the challenges of staying connected. Even though remote work has been around for a while, most companies aren’t set up for it. It can be a challenging adjustment due to the loss of face to face interactions with colleagues as well as the necessity of being online at all times. 

The founders also discuss the steps ScreenCloud has taken to help staff and customers during this difficult time. This includes crediting accounts for clients who have had to close their premises and building out a new WFH solution to help individual employees easily consume information while working from home - outside of already oversaturated channels. 

It's undeniable that we're dealing with a tough situation, but might we be hopeful that many organizations will come out of this stronger and realize that working from home has real benefits?

Check out Remote: Office Not Required by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried

Check out the webinar featuring Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder of SaaStr, and Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKL0gyuf7bY

In today’s episode (recorded remotely), Mark and David chat about how the coronavirus outbreak has affected ScreenCloud as well as their work from home experiences and the challenges of staying connected.

Home is where the work is I Behind the Screens I Ep 47

In the early days, internal communication is a walk in the park for startups. When your company’s only 10 or 15 people, everyone knows every detail of the business and can collaborate effectively to achieve a shared goal. 

What happens when a startup reaches 100 or 200 people and everyone is a specialist in their own department? There’s simply too much information to know everything. Do you err on the side of transparency and risk overloading people with irrelevant details? Or do you restrict communication and risk creating silos and duplicate work?

At this point it can seem like the magic of the early days is lost. This transition is something Mark and David are currently wrestling with at ScreenCloud. In this episode, they talk openly about the challenge of communicating effectively in detail. 

While they may not have figured out a concrete solution for it yet, it’s definitely something scaling startups are, or will, grapple with.

Find out about Point Nine: pointninecap.com

How do you tackle the challenges of communicating effectively as you grow and scale your business?

The Challenges of Communicating Effectively I Behind the Screens I Ep 46

Communication is easy when a startup is small. As a company expands, it becomes a lot harder to deliver relevant information to the right people. How do you tackle the challenges of communicating effectively as you grow and scale your business?

The Challenges of Communicating Effectively

How it works:

Behind The Screens

Scaling up a complex digital signage network with Robert Mays Former VP of IT at WeWork

Unveiling ScreenCloud Dashboards

Levelling up your business the right way

Where does Employee Branding Live?

Churn and Expansion

Why getting the basics right is more important

Implementing Company Cadence

Ready to get your organization connected?