Launch Key

The most direct route off the corporate merry-go-round is you.

 Leverage your experience to launch digital products at any age. 

Join 1000+ execs and late career entrepreneurs reading the Launch Key newsletter as we share modern tools, old school wisdom and free knowledge gleaned from decades of digital innovation.

Founder | Publisher

EnergyXchain

EnergyXchain was awarded a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant to conduct research and development work using blockchain technology for transaction processes in the natural gas industry. The company has a growing IP portfolio and patented technology processes that may also be utilized for energy transaction management via smart contracts, with equal applicability in sectors such as hydrogen, carbon attribution tracking, natural gas and electricity.

CEO, co-founder

Empowered

Empowered grew from one question: What if benefits enrollments were easy? Everyone struggled with insurance. Brokers needed more time with clients, HR managers drowned in paperwork and employees couldn't enroll in a basic medical plan without hassle. We wanted to provide everyone with a simple, transparent enrollment process. A process that made it easy for someone to pick the best benefits for their family.

In 2000, we launched our first consumer-driven healthcare programs, sprinting ahead of the industry by prioritizing people. Today millions of employees trust this platform for their benefits. Empowered is  wholly owned by Aflac.

Chief Innovation Officer, co-founder

Leader of the effort to redesign, develop and deploy EDA’s flagship data product as an online analytics tool. Product launch led to 20% increased sales and returned 100% of the investment in the first year post development.  

With the insight that EDA brings to the table, businesses can make better decisions by identifying trends, exploiting market opportunities, supporting sales service dealer strategies, being informed about regional hot spots, and emerging markets.

If you sell, finance or service capital equipment, EDA offers you the priceless information and timely market intelligence you need to get ahead. www.edadata.com. EDA is a Randall-Reilly company.

VP of Sales and Marketing

Vialogix

Web development company focused on user-based web solutions for internet, intranet and extranet applications.  Solutions included e-commerce, Web-enabled and database applications that enabled clients to reduce business costs or increase sales. The business cultivated long-term relationships with a broad client list that included Fortune 500 level companies Baker & Taylor, Bank of America, First Citizens Bank, National Gypsum, Novant Health, and Wachovia.

Rob Norris Communications

Built technology consulting practice specializing in digital asset management. Apple expertise used for creating networks, managing infrastructure with corporate clients - First Union National Bank, Interstate/Johnson Lane, Royal Insurance, advertising agencies in the Charlotte area. Created multimedia CD-ROM projects, interactive projects and first web based tools in 1994.

President

Coleman Lew & Associates

Recruited advertising and marketing executives for a retained search firm. Interviewed prospects and researched backgrounds. Wrote recommendations, presented candidates, negotiated salaries and benefits with clients.

Executive Recruiter

30+ years of business experience creating and leading innovative technology businesses. From the 90's internet to AI, I've carved out a living explaining and building solutions to solve business problems. 

Expertise in application development has been leveraged across energy, health care, financial services, ecommerce and data analytics businesses. I've sold to both Fortune 500 companies and SMB. I've bootstrapped and won National Science Foundation grants. There have been my fair share of entrepreneurial mistakes but have also published patents and even won a SXSW award. 

I'm not quite finished with technology and can help you avoid a few headaches with your own digital products. I recommend resources, and tools to add to your career portfolio and spin up your dream in weeks - not years. My network includes experts in literally every business function and I will happily recommend people who will level up your startup. Win/Win/Win.

Join the Launch Key newsletter for free: 
https://launchkey.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Rob Norris

Happy Thanksgiving 🍁 

And especially to entrepreneurs who have a lot to be thankful for. We never succeed all by ourselves. Take time to show gratitude to customers, employees, partners, mentors, backers but most importantly family. 

This weeks Launch Key ⬇️

Founder | Publisher @ Launch Key 🚀 | Add to your career portfolio with a passion project or side hustle. Join like-minded execs, SMB owners and late-career entrepreneurs reading the Launch Key for digital inspiration.

Open article: Thanksgiving for entrepreneurs by launchkey.beehiiv.com

This week’s Launch Key reminder is that there is no perfect career path. But there are plenty of options to make your own career portfolio far more interesting. 

Just 3 subscriber examples from Dean Otto, Tom Hewitt and Christopher Jones. 

Get in there and read about them for yourself ⬇️

Open article: Career portfolios by launchkey.beehiiv.com

We can't all have a bear steal a chainsaw on camera. 

But if we do, it's a chance to build an audience. Husqvarna social media folks effortlessly joined a funny online conversation and created buzz with humor and product giveaways. 

This week's Launch Key with a little more on the Creator Economy and using your wit. ⬇️

Open article: Creator economy of chainsaw bears by launchkey.beehiiv.com

Growing an audience with humor and experience

Did you see Taylor Sheridan's Billion dollar deal? 

In a time when Hollywood types are scared that AI will replace them, Sheridan just won generational wealth because of authentic talent. All because he bet on himself. 

That's the topic of this week's Launch Key 🚀

Outsized results are possible when you bet on yourself. 

Get in there ⬇️ 

https://lnkd.in/eMZntXVB

Open article: Bet on yourself by launchkey.beehiiv.com

Not all products are digital. 

Your late-career side hustle might not always come out of your work knowledge. Christopher Jones created a non-digital Bloody Mary mix while working on his weekend sailing hobby. 

This week's Launch Key 🚀  has the latest. 

Get in there ⬇️

Open article: Not all products are digital by launchkey.beehiiv.com

Turn your passion project into a late-career side hustle

Geha Mental Health Center

Clinical Psychologist

Blue Water Shield 

Chief Psychologist

Critical Impact

Psychologist

Yariv Ganor Startup Psychology

Psychologist for Startup Founders & Professionals

Kado thin technologies

Kado™ - Thinnest Charger in the World 

Kado is a global innovator of thin power conversion technologies. The company was founded with the vision of setting new power transforming standards, replacing traditional bulky power adapters with ultra-thin and highly compact alternatives that best match today’s mobile lifestyle. 

Successfully unveiled at CES 2017, Kado develops new topologies and power electronics components that offer high power density and excellent performance.

Established in 2016, Kado has three pending patents and was awarded Top Tech of MWC 2017 by Digital Trends.

Sheba Tel HaShomer City of Health

Deloitte

Crisis Manager, Consultant

Yariv Ganor

I combine psychology with years of experience in marketing, advertising, strategy and research, to offer practical ways brands can bring out what they're all about - uniquely creative and relevant concepts for people.

Creative Brand Strategy

La-Mark Vision Ltd.

Responsible for all marketing activities of a market-leading company specializing in educational mobile content in countries such as Brazil, Italy, Russia and the Philippines.

Marketing Manager

Comverse

Middleware and Applications, Mobile Advertising
Senior Marketing Manager

Product Marketing Senior Manager

Industrial & Clinical Resident Psychologist specializing in Startup Professionals & Founders.
After 15 years in tech & startups, reaching CMO positions, I “pivoted”, and became a Psychologist. 
Today I work with startups, founders and CXOs in exploring professional & personal aspects of living in a startup environment; the ups & downs, the performance & planning, the logic & emotion, the soft & hard skills - with the aim of discovering the most relevant insights.

My personal journey has taken me from Hi-tech to Freud, from a CES booth to a CBT clinic, from Branding to Crisis Management, from garage startups to international companies, working with seasoned industry leaders & up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

It is this unique mix that excites me every time anew, whether it's delivering psychology-based counsel to growth company managers or assisting individuals with their emotional needs.

Feel free to DM me if I can help.

0, nothing, nada, niks, nul, zilch 

Last week at Slush - Huge event, hundreds of startups, 100+ speakers, thousands of visitors, AI on every corner…. not even one word on #mental #health issues in the startup ecosystem.

As if they didn't exist.

And it’s not that there wasn’t an attention to details with each trash collection point having 2-3 recycling attendants who did their job impressively.

But…
#Founder anxiety? Never heard of it.
Emotional roller coasters? Nah.
Cofounder fallout? Isn’t there a chatbot for that…

Honestly, I wasn’t surprised. 
It’s not the first or last event to overlook the importance of mental wellbeing in the industry. 

It’s not “sexy” enough for a main stage, not “shiny” enough to guarantee a packed fireside chat,
and if you can’t tell it as a success story, who cares… right?

In private, byvthe way, everyone I spoke to expressed their concernes and wanted to find ways to help improve founders’ mental wellbeing.

I get why with naerly an equal number of investors roaming around the venue in bright yellow badges no founder wants to be seen as a “regular” human being affected by strain and stress. Why burst the over-confide bubble.

But the truth is simple.
Founders and investors alike carry the responsibility to deal with emotional hardship and mental distress as part of building successful companies.

Raising awareness and giving the topic a proper space, especially in trade events such as Slush  WebSummit LLC SXSW VivaTech TechCrunch Disrupt will only help startups get the resources for proper support, leading to lower stress rates, higher efficiency, better decision-making and more innovation.

For investors, it’s a win-win strategy to increase their ROI. 

Aren’t these things everyone wants?

The Inner Circle by Startup Snapshot

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Is “startup culture” real?

What does it mean? Starting at a garage and moving to a fancy building? Grinding to the bone? Millions in the bank? 

Research found that there is a global concept of what startups culture is.
It’s mostly based on myths.

In realty, #startup #culture is a rich and meaningful tool that can serve as a glue, a filter, a safety net and a compas!!

Yet it all starts with the #founder as I mentioned in the discussion I led last week at The Inner Circle by Startup Snapshot.

How, with what and why is something we tried to define, so that this fluid and amorphous notion could become a tangible resource.
How does your

View company: The Inner Circle by Startup Snapshot

Startup culture isn’t something that happens automatically, it’s something that needs to be shaped consciously.

In 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, host Yariv Ganor guided our members through a discussion on the founder’s impact on company culture. His goal was to collectively develop a wireframe for a term that isn’t precisely defined: startup culture.


Based on his insights and the breakout discussion, we’re sharing three key takeaways with you:

1. A founder’s emotional regulation, clarity and decision style become the blueprint for culture 🧠

2. Teams thrive when rituals, norms and open communication reduce ambiguity and create shared meaning 🤝

3. External influences – past workplaces, previous leaders, and ecosystem pressures – quietly influence how a culture develops 🌐



We’re already excited to soon see & share the results from Yariv’s further work on this. But for now, we’d love to hear from you:

What do you think further influences startup culture? 💬

—
P.S. If you’re a coach, therapist or expert who supports founders in their wellbeing and mental performance, apply now to become part of The Inner Circle by Startup Snapshot. We’re opening the next batch at the end of January.

Rotem Kazir Sayle Hutchison Janis Machala Laurent Notin Kay Foss Yael Benjamin Carina Schulte Huria Ogbamichael Christina Richardson Cristina Poindexter Dr. Eldad Rom

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The Battle

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