Jacob Mullins

Emotional Experience (EX): The pinnacle of user and customer experience

Have you ever purchased a product or a service that just makes you happy? And every time you consider using it again, or repurchasing, you’re just happy to pull out your wallet and spend your hard earned money on it? Last week after hearing a company pitch at Shasta Ventures, I remarked to one of my colleagues that you know you have a winning product, when as a customer I’m immediately compelled to start shelling out cash. It got me to thinking, what is that feeling, where does it come from, what companies evoke it, and can it be productized?

In traditional service level businesses this Emotional Experience is key to driving customer loyalty and return visits. Think of the experience you’re provided at a five star hotel establishment, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis. Somehow the staff always knows your name, never says no, and surprises you with amenities before you think of asking for them. Think of dinner at a top restaurant: the sultry ambiance, the amuse-bouche courtesy of the chef, a small army of attendants providing an immaculately timed experience – not to mention the food. These services depend on the demeanor, attitude, and performance of their employees to satisfy this high level of EX. Can this, and does this, exist in technology products?

Lately, I’ve found myself becoming a more frequent user of technology products that provide a high level of Emotional Experience (EX). Companies like Uber stroke my ego, making me feel distinguished and dapper. TaskRabbit makes me feel efficient with my time.  UrbanDaddy makes me feel debonair, like a San Franciscan James Bond. The magic of Cherry brings me pure joy as I walk out to my sparkling-clean car, washed while I worked at my office. Instagram makes me feel like a romantic photographer. 8mm makes me feel like a coy New York film student. My iPhone makes me feel innovative and sharp. Warby Parker makes me feel intelligent and classic. What is it that each of these companies have done? 

This grouping of companies spans the spectrum of industry: from hardware, to software, human services, even eyeglasses and car washes. Yet what makes them similar is that each of these companies has spent precious time going beyond traditional product UI and UX excellence. They take the entire customer experience into consideration and create an EX around the product to build a stickier and emotionally compelling brand. In fact, customers are actually spending more money on these services, than their traditional counterparts, so it seems that a high level of EX may even yield higher revenue and margins. 

By gripping their customers with a strong Emotional Experience, technology companies are not only building a loyal user base, but also harnessing customer excitement to be their strongest evangelists. As venture capital investors focused on product and high level end-user experience, I’m intrigued at how I may apply the filter of Emotional Experience (EX) to companies within the Shasta Ventures Portfolio, as well as new companies that we have the opportunity to meet with in the future.

Leaving Microsoft: From Redmond to Sand Hill Road

After nearly three years at Microsoft, based in San Francisco and focused on our BizSpark startup business, I’ve decided that it’s time to move on and begin the next chapter. I will be joining early stage venture capital firm Shasta Ventures on July 11, 2011.

The past three years at Microsoft have been an incredible experience. I’ve worked with some of the smartest people I’ve ever met, had the opportunity to shape and launch global programs, and be inside of one of the world’s largest corporations as it strategizes, builds, and launches products which affect hundreds of millions of users. What continues to boggle my mind is the sheer scale at which this company operates. We’re not just an operating system software manufacturer, or just a database software company, or just a cloud services provider, or just an email service provider, or just an advertising company, or just a search engine, or just a gaming console manufacturer with one of the largest online communities of gamers, who recently set the record for the fastest-selling consumer electronic device in history. We don’t just help enable students to succeed, or workers to be productive, or banks to be secure, or intelligence agencies to be operational, and cities to be efficient. We do all of it. And it all needs to work, flawlessly. That is a big job.

I’ve had the great opportunity to work with some of our highest potential BizSpark startups, providing support and a tangible roadmap to success by helping connect the dots for them both inside, and outside, of Microsoft. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with the entrepreneurs behind companies like Huddle, LiquidSpace, Rally (née Piryx), Nutshell Mail, Apprenda, Lymbix, Spoke, SocialShield, and partner organizations like StartupWeekend, The Kauffman Foundation, Founder Institute, Orrick, and many many more.

It hasn’t always been a walk in the park. Having evangelized and marketed Microsoft products in Silicon Valley, and other startup hotbeds, I’ve received more than my fair share of snide remarks, insolent quips, and laughing fits in my face. However, over the past three years we’ve seen some incredible traction and positive change in how startups perceive Microsoft in general. We began at ground zero with not much more than spoken word and a banner, and through the tenacious leadership of Dan’l Lewin, we designed and executed a program specifically for startups. The first of its kind at Microsoft, BizSpark provides software, support, visibility and business development opportunities for startups around the world. We now have over 40,000 actively engaged startups in over 100 countries.

I’m not one to shy away from big obstacles, most of my life I’ve been creating new things, and I work best where I have a set of objectives and an undefined path to get there. I thrive at the opportunity to jump in head first, work tirelessly, and can make a tangible impact on the direction and growth of a business.

This is why I’m thrilled to be joining Shasta Ventures. The founding team, Tod Francis, Rob Coneybeer, Ravi Mohan and Jason Pressman have done a phenomenal job building their 6-year old “upstart” firm into an active, well-regarded Sand Hill Road VC firm with an outstanding portfolio including: Mint, LiquidSpace, TaskRabbit, Gowalla, Smule, Zuora, Spiceworks, and more. The team, which also includes Austin Grose, Sean Flynn and Joe Ryan, has brought together their decades of consumer, technology, and investing experience to assemble a firm with an absolute focus on the entrepreneur making a point of always being personally available and quick to provide assistance wherever needed. I have been struck by how genuine and truly approachable each member of the team is. Their honesty, transparency, and lack of ego are extremely important traits of a team that I’m soon to consider myself a part of.

In my role at Shasta Ventures, I will be tasked with meeting the best entrepreneurs with the biggest ideas, helping evaluate startup ideas as candidates for investment, and keeping a finger on the pulse of the industry to identify shifts and new trends as quickly as possible. To me, it’s a dream job, and I can’t think of a better firm or group of people to be joining.

I want to thank the many, many people at Microsoft who have contributed to my experience and believed in me enough to entrust me with some big-ass responsibilities, including Dan’l Lewin, Cindy Bates, Mark Hindsbo, Cliff Reeves, Matt Thompson, Joshua Waldo, and Michael Francisco. I look forward to keeping a close relationship with Microsoft, and all of my friends, in my new role at Shasta Ventures.

Beginning July 11, I’ll be on the lookout for the most innovative companies, strongest teams, and biggest ideas around. If you think there’s something I should see, let’s connect! Email me at jacob at shastaventures dot com; I’m @jacob on twitter, so reach out, let’s catch up, and let’s talk about the future.

I’m an ENFP.

I just took the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator test, I estimated myself as an ESFJ, but low and behold I’m an ENFP.  The NFP were marked as “slight” while the E was “very clear,” out of four levels.  

More on ENFPs…

ENFPs are enthusiastic innovators, always seeing new possibilities in the world around them. Their world is full of possible projects or interests they want to pursue. Imaginative, high-spirited, and ingenious, they are often able to do almost anything that interests them. They are confident, spontaneous, and flexible, and often rely on their ability to improvise.

They value home, family, friendships, creativity, and learning.

ENFPs represent approximately 8% of the U.S. population.

Characteristics of ENFPs

• ENFPs love variety—of ideas, people, and environments.
• They bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to whatever they turn their attention to.
• They are stimulated by new people, ideas, and experiences.
• ENFPs see connections or relationships between ideas or events.
• They make their decisions based on their personal values.

ENFPs with others

• ENFPs are skillful in dealing with people and often have remarkable insight into the possibilities open to others.
• They look for the potential in others and then help them develop that potential.
• They are good at expressing appreciation and giving support.
• ENFPs enjoy meeting people from different cultures.
• They value harmony and goodwill; they like to please others and will adapt to others’ needs and wishes when possible.
• They usually have a large circle of friends or acquaintances and sometimes don’t distinguish between the two.
• ENFPs are extremely perceptive about the attitudes of others, aiming to understand rather than judge people.

ENFPs at work

• ENFPs are always initiating new projects.
• They bring energy and enthusiasm to the group, team, or organization.
• They can become passionate champions of an idea or a vision.
• With talent, ENFPs can succeed in almost any field that captures their interest.
• They are drawn to counseling and other helping professions, as well as to art, journalism, science, advertising, sales, the ministry, or writing.
• They can be inspired and inspiring teachers or trainers, particularly when they have freedom to innovate.
• They are happiest and most effective in jobs that permit starting one project after another, with someone else taking over as soon as the situation is well in hand.
• They are least satisfied in jobs that require routine or in any environment that limits their natural desire to innovate.

Potential blind spots for ENFPs

• If ENFPs have not developed their Intuition, they may rely too much on personal value judgments and fail to take in enough information. They then will not trust their own insights, will be uncertain, and may accept others’ opinions too readily.
• If they have not developed their Feeling preference, they may go from one enthusiasm to another without finishing anything.
• Also, they may have difficulty prioritizing their many possible projects, which can lead to burnout as they try to do it all.
• They may also commit themselves to ill-chosen projects, fail to finish anything, and squander their inspirations by not completing their tasks.
• They tend to hate uninspired routine and find it remarkably hard to apply themselves to the sometimes necessary detail connected with any major interest.
• They may get bored with their projects as soon as the main problems have been solved or the initial challenge has been met and then not follow through.

For the most part, I’d say that’s a pretty accurate assessment.  I’ll look forward to taking this again in a few years, it will be interesting to see how things change.

Long live SXSW: A brand marketer’s paradise, and aren’t we all brand marketers?

With all the hype and “SXSW-hating” over the past few days, much of which is focused on the overwhelming attendee growth and presence of big brands, though mainly written by an elite corps of self-aggrandizing people who make their lively-hoods on page views and twitter followers, I wanted to throw my personal opinion, that of a brand marketer, in to the ring.  This is my own personal opinion, not that of my employer, Microsoft.

SXSW is a strong as ever, if it were a public company the stock would be off the charts, if we were in mainstream media we’d say it had its Oprah moment, and if we likened it to the annual debate of “Who was the Twitter of SXSW 2010?” we’d answer, SXSW, itself, was the Twitter of this year’s SXSW.

This year it did feel noticeably larger, I ran into less people that I knew, and there was as strong of a carnival-like feel as any year before.  But guess what – SXSW is the physical manifestation of twitter, and while all the self-proclaimed social media experts complain about losing its quaintness, they seem to be overlooking the simple fact that social media is about extending your brand, be it personal or professional, and for the first time it seems as though SX has hit its inflection point of being able to provide the correct audience and scale to attract big brand advertisers.  Is this not the goldmine of every startup, blog, or individual?

Before I engage in any marketing activity be it a digital ad campaign, integrated web sponsorship, or physical event presence, I ask myself three simple questions:

1)      Am I reaching my target audience?

2)      How many people in this audience can I reach?

3)      By reaching these people, is there a way that we can ignite word of mouth chatter, and extend the brand through them?

In analyzing a marketing engagement at SXSW, the answer to every one of these is unequivocally, yes.  Think of the brands, Pepsi wants reach for its “Refresh Project” campaign – an entirely crowd-sourced initiative for social good, Chevy was onsite with a sneak peek of its all-electric Volt car – a geek’s dream; Miller Lite, well, connected with all of us on one night or another, I’m sure.  Bing, Azure, Windows 7, Silverlight, Windows Phone 7 Series – this is one of the largest launch years for Microsoft in history, and where are there more tecchies in one location?  Aol., they’re makin a come back!  In fact, aren’t all of these brands doing the same thing that this year’s startups, Plancast, Foodspotting, Foursquare, Gowalla, Mog, Solvate, and more, are trying to accomplish?  Sequoia Capital’s Mark Kvamme just said yesterday that social media marketing can entirely replace traditional advertising.

Then why the hate?  Is it really so hard to walk by a booth, or not take a free taxi ride, or just say “no, thanks” to a free snack?

You can’t blame the big brand, you can’t blame Mike from Cincinnati who came to Austin to meet more social media tech people, and god forbid, run into his favorite blogger and want to meet them in person!  No doubt, SXSW is changing, but so is everything else.  Twitter changed the way we communicate with each other, growing and strengthening our networks, enabling us to brand ourselves and spread the word about our causes.  We shouldn’t be so shocked when the physical world around us begins to adapt: CNN, celebrities, service providers, and yes, brands and average people.  Roll with it, we’re in the innovation business.  Don’t take yourself too seriously; let’s head back to Austin 360 days from now, and I’ll be the first to buy you a beer.

Follow me on twitter @jacob

[Disclaimer: This post is my own personal opinion, and in no way reflects the opinions, beliefs, or strategy of my employer, Microsoft.]