VALKRE | Value Creation

Michael Cain

He is not an actor, nor is he British….but he does love Batman. Simply known as Cain in our office, Michael Cain is Valkre’s Creative Director and resident man in black. Though you would not confuse him for Alfred the butler, Cain has performed in a manner worthy of an Oscar.

He is our workhorse for maintaining our branding in sales and marketing collateral, the look and feel of RENDER, and our image at public events. Like a Valkyrie on the front line, Cain ensures we are winners of sales and marketing battles, often illustrating and creating graphics for conferences overnight.

Often a man of few words, Cain holds much close to the vest. But over the years we’ve learned a few things about him. He is quite the angry bowler. He believes everything is better with Old Bay. He is a “Fast and Furious” driver.

So, no, our Michael Cain is not Alfred Pennyworth. On the contrary, he really is Valkre’s Dark Knight.

Q: What’s an accomplishment that you wouldn’t put on your résumé?
A: The Legend of Sir Miguel

Q: What is your favorite place you’ve traveled to?
A: Amalfi Coast

Q: What is your drink of choice?
A: Lagavulin 16

Like I said, Cain is a man of few words.

Super Bowl XLValuePropositionIII

We often talk about how important customer feedback is to grow and maintain a good Value Proposition. However, can you apply that tenet in order to get feedback on the Super Bowl winner? A quick poll around the office turned out that not all feedback is good feedback.

Some basic facts for readers who may not be savvy on American sporting events — the Super Bowl will be Sunday, February 2nd between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. When I asked my co-workers for our company pick for Super Bowl XLVIII, to write a gratuitous blog on the big game, the answer was clearly the Seahawks. However, the reasons for the pick were not what you would expect from such a confident decision. Some of my favorites:

• Pete Carroll’s chin
• Russell Wilson’s ability to throw “crazy bombs in the end zone”
• Peyton Manning ruined previous Super Bowl parties
• Seattle lost their basketball team to Oklahoma City, and they need a pick-me-up

What learning does this Valkre office anecdote bring to Value Propositions. You are not going to get good customer feedback with a poorly defined Value Proposition. The companies that use RENDER put their Value Proposition at the core of getting direct feedback from their customers. They frame their customer meetings around the Value Proposition to elicit actionable insights that focus on the specific needs to help the customer grow.

Which brings us back to the Super Bowl. A Seattle Seahawks Value Proposition with weightings of well defined attributes could have inform the quick interviews I conducted on the outcome of the game. That Value Proposition might have highlighted a few high scoring Seahawks attributes: (1) They have the number one defense in the NFL, (2) They have a great “passer-rating differential,” and (3) their impressive running game. The Seahawks thrive in the anticipated cold weather this Super Bowl will offer….and everyone loves an underdog.

Whoever wins this year’s Super Bowl will not be decided because of some Value Proposition created, backed up with interviews, and analyzed to create new opportunities a customer would like to see is being done for them. The post-game will not be a simple easy to use report that increases customer relationships, shows growth and drives sales. But it promises to be a good game, complete with end game Richard Sherman profanities and rants.

Five Years of Valkre

On this day five years ago we launched Valkre. Since that day I’ve been asked and explained many, many times why we chose the name. Here’s the story:

When we launched the company we were building our SaaS platform around a methodology we called Customer Value Creation. Right out of the gate, C.O.O. Brian Kiep thought we should name the company ValCre. But when we searched on the domain name, it was not available...dang!

Disappointed, we then went off the deep end and brainstormed a bunch of other names. One of those names was B-da-B, which was a play on the idea that we served business-to-business customers, but as a tribute to our Chicago origins, replacing the "to" with how a good Chicago Bears fan might pronounce B2B.

 

Yeah, that name was out there. we were obviously grasping at straws, until a moment of brilliance  and we came up with ValKre. 

For those who don’t know Norse mythology, Valkyries are the maidens who determine winners and losers of battle. The Valkyries bring the winners to Valhalla where the soldiers eat their fill of beast and drink mead. We liked the analogy that our company empowers B2B businesses to win with their customers through Value Creation. 

The deciding factor for us was the tie to The Ride of the Valkyries, the well-known opera by Richard Wagner (though probably better known in the Air Cavalry scene of Apocalypse Now). So we were sold. Plus the domain was available! 

Fast forward five years later and the name Valkre has represented us well.

Today, the speed and structure driven by RENDER is helping companies stay ahead of competitive offerings by aligning on customer value and innovation needs. Thanks to all who work at Valkre and to our customers, I believe we have at least another five years of innovation to contribute in the battle of creating value for customers.  

Valkre's Championship Chili Recipe

Regular readers of our blog know that Valkre's value proposition includes RENDER software, the Differential Value Proposition methodology, expert services and support. However, one differentiator about Valkre that is not widely knows is that we have a few master chefs in house who sometimes delight the office with some amazing culinary delights. So, since winter has peeked its head around the corner here in Chicago, we thought we would end the blogging week by sharing Jay Ablian's chili recipe that won Valkre's chili cookoff.

Here's some of Jay's comments about his chili: "My chili takes time and effort to layer in the flavors to develop a complex taste. Its not about just throwing a bunch of ingredients in a pot at the same time and boiling it for 3 hours. I know this will sound corny, but making chili is a lot like creating value for your customers -- it's an endeavor that takes dedication and attentiveness, and if you put in the effort to do it right, everyone will love what you've created!"

 

Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Chili

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs of beef chuck, cut into ½” pieces
1 ½ lbs of pork shoulder, cut into ½” pieces
½ lbs of Mexican chorizo
6 ancho chile pods, seeds removed – if you don’t have pods, use 1/3 cup of ancho chile powder
2 pasilla (or guajillo) chile pods, seeds removed - if you don’t have pods, use 2 tbsps of pasilla powder
1 large white onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 large poblano pepper
1 tbsp of cumin
1 bottle of Edmund Fitzgerald porter (you can use any dark beer but then you have to rename the chili)
1 28 oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 canned chipotles, chopped finely, with adobo sauce
2 cups (or more) of beef broth
1 ½ oz of Mexican chocolate (Ibarra brand works nicely)
2 tsp of Mexican oregano
1 15 oz can of black beans

Instructions:

Cut open the chile pods, toast both sides in a hot skillet, put in a large bowl, and cover with hot water. Soak for 15-20 minutes. Once they pods are super soft, put them in a blender with just enough of the soaking liquid to puree until the consistency of tomato paste.

Roast poblano over an open flame until the skin gets black and blistered. Once the poblano has cooled, peel the blackened skin, remove the seeds, and dice the poblano.

Season the beef and pork with salt and brown in a heavy bottom pot (French oven preferable) at medium high heat. Do this in batches (otherwise you’ll get boiled meat). Remove meat from the pot and set aside.

Turn the heat down to medium. Add chorizo to the pot and cook till the chorizo starts to Render its fat. Add the onion and jalapeno. Sauté  until the onion becomes soft and translucent. Add the garlic and the roasted poblano and sauté for a minute. 

Add the pureed chiles and the cumin to the pot. Stir to incorporate in the onion mixture and gets heated through. Be careful to not allow the chile puree to burn. Add the browned meat back to the pot.  Stir to ensure meat is well coated with the chile puree. Cook for a few minutes so that the meat starts to absorb the chili flavors.

Add the beer. Bring the mixture to boil until the beer has reduced. Add the roasted tomatoes, chipotles, and beef broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Add the chocolate. Simmer for 90 minutes (or until the meat is super tender) and stir occasionally to ensure bottom doesn’t burn.

Add the beans and oregano. Cook for 5 more minutes.  Taste for seasoning. Add salt to your preference. Serve up with accompaniments of your choice -- sour cream, scallions, and tortilla chips are great additions to this chili.

Our Open Office Layout

We fall into the “no walls” structure like most starts-ups choose when creating a workspace. It has its share of collaboration bonuses when working on a small team. Yet Jason Feifer of Fast Company would probably disagree with our office set up. In his article, Feifer talks about the negatives of the open concept plan, explaining how that office layout affects productivity, workforce and social interactions and the distractions that come with it.

We recently had an open house which required us to move furniture for the event space, people, booze – you get the idea. Every time we consider moving a desk or getting some new piece of furniture, the idea of rearranging our space to be more efficient comes up. Yet we default to a layout that keeps us out in an open space with room to wheel around.

To Feifer’s point about open concept offices, the distractions can often be just that distracting. However, Valkre is not one for offices; even our CEO sits out in the steno pool with the developers and services guys. We have offices but we don’t use them as personal offices.  They’re used primarily for brainstorming or making phone calls with customers or significant others, and being on hold with Ventra. Now before you go losing your red Swingline staplers, or the single pair of scissors we have at the Valkre office, our developers have a different point of view towards the open concept.

Technology is the ruler of the office, not the space around you. Google Talk can be more of a distraction than a wild Michael Cardinale appearing over your shoulder. Amongst the funny gifs and complaints, developers get most of our work done in silence and effectively without walls. If you have not seen the Valkre office, our developers like it quiet and dark, especially when a deadline approaches or testing week. But you’ll often hear an uproar of comments and banter. Once the ear buds come out, the distractions (Nerf guns, remote control helicopters, and all) become full blown, and it is a welcomed change to the silent droning of keyboard clicks whispered swears from frustrated devs. Like Feifer’s Friday whiskey parties, we too will get rowdy but then again who wants to be left out of that.

Our office may change the layout if we need to, but like most start-ups, Valkre can work in an open setting. Without it, we could not talk about the latest Walking Dead or anticipated Game of Thrones episode...oh, and collaborate on the next customer solution.