Catchfire Media's new home as of Fall 2010.
Just over a year ago, Jon Troen and Nathan Kring hired me to begin building and finessing a new business—what you now know as Catchfire Media. Catchfire was born to fulfill a need driven by Jon and Nate’s current customers—customers that kept asking “What is social media?” and “How do we do this?” Catchfire’s development and launch had a simple, single goal in mind, and that remains our goal today: helping our customers communicate. Our company has traveled quite the journey in just a year’s time, and along the way we’ve confirmed several truths and learned many lessons. There are a few that stand out for me that I’d like to share with you.
Social Media is Radical
The social web is seeping into everything we do, and it’s changing human behavior. It’s a truly radical and fundamental shift in communication. The very basic and human tendency to share and socialize has evolved immensely in the past few years via the social web. In the past, when witnessing something interesting or exciting, you may have had the urge to call a friend or send a quick email; now, you can not only easily and readily capture whatever you’re witnessing via smartphone, but you can also disseminate that information publicly within seconds. Phrases like “I have to tweet that” were not in many of our vocabularies a few years ago. Now, it’s become second nature. This isn’t just a different way to share information with each other—it’s a change at the root, at the core, of how we’re communicating.
This Industry is Young
The world of social media is young, and in its youth, it’s growing exponentially, learning the ins and outs of professionalism and business along the way. This makes our work exciting and unexpected, and as such, our team needs to constantly think, speak, and develop in ways that acknowledge and embrace the cutting edge.
Like any burgeoning industry, this immaturity, along with an intense work ethic, is the force that drives this industry to reach such incredible heights. Though when it comes to doing real business (achieving cash flow, etc.) there’s a lot to learn. Take Dennis Crowley, for example, the co-founder of Foursquare, whom I had the chance to meet briefly at Big Omaha this year. Though our conversation consisted mostly of him bashing my favorite Karaoke song, it was clear that his youth, persistence, and passion for his work had paved the way for his success. During Dennis’ speaking sessions, most questions regarding his plans for growth or business processes were answered with “Ask me that in 6 months, I’ll have a better answer for you.”
In the areas this industry is immature, we inject formal business practices and professionalism for stabilization. At Catchfire we’ve learned that we have the opportunity to witness these growing pains in the industry and
study them in the context of more established industries; as a result, we have the ability to offer more secure, focused services to our clients.
Great People Make It Happen
We have a team of incredibly resourceful, sharp, and creative people. Without Abby’s killer writing and editing skills and Jarad’s instinctive PR prowess, Catchfire would not be what it is today. Add to that a clever, multitalented developer; a passionate, outgoing business development executive; and a smart, tech-savvy intern, and I’d say, you got yourself one hell of a team. Most importantly, each individual recognizes their unique value (but doesn’t let that limit their professional development); we each contribute to the whole in a selfless, all-in way, and do our best to learn from each other. We find that this same attitude of selflessness and teamwork, as well as a consistent focus of offering our clients real value, is really what makes us successful.
I’m proud of the journey we’ve taken over the last year. Our team’s hard work and dedication shine in our accomplishments and partnerships. Where we are today only makes us want to work harder to serve our clients and offer them more, from adding additional products and services to growing the talent of our team.
Admittedly, this post touches on sappy and thoughtful, but I’d love to hear from you—what has your year looked like? How do you feel about the social web and the changes we’ve witnessed in the past year? In what ways do you provide value to your customers?
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My favorite line in this post~ “Social Media is Radical”
great post Kate