Since my internship at the Boston Ballet was connected to credit within Bentley's marketing department, I had to write a reflection on a marketing-related book. I chose Disrupted by Dan Lyons.
Disrupted by Dan Lyons
Disrupted by Dan Lyons is a nonfiction book centered around the author’s time in a startup Software as a Service (SaaS) company, Hubspot. At 52 years old, Lyons was comfortable, with a sick wife who quit her job and two kids he felt he was financially able to care for alone, when he was laid off from his job as a technology writer for Newsweek. He was forced to levy his entire network to find a suitable position that paid enough and was stable enough for his family. Eventually, he discovered a “marketing fellow” role at Hubspot, which offers small businesses marketing software. After reporting on the technology industry for so many years, Lyons felt his experience and media background had equipped him to join a tech company. Once he was offered the position and started working, he was still unaware of what his official duties were. He eventually learned he had to create content for the Hubspot blog, a tool for “Mary the Marketer” who is a a small-business owner or low-level person in a marketing department. The blog is supposed to offer her information on very simple, yet effective marketing strategies. She then is given the option, at the bottom of every article to input her email address for a free Hubspot e-book on Marketing. In essence, the Hubspot blog’s purpose, therefore Lyons’ purpose, is to generate potential leads for sales. Disrupted showcases the unique culture of tech startups and questionable operation strategies that they adopt.
Dan Lyons explains how Hubspot, like many other tech startups, hire mostly young, white college graduates and overwork them for little pay until they are “graduated” (fired) from the company. In exchange, these employees are given bean bags for seating, video games and free candy, and very enthusiastic words of encouragement for completing menial tasks. This company mindset translated into Hubspot’s operations in a negative way. If an inexperienced employee came up with an original, but ineffective, idea for a marketing campaign, it would likely still be implemented as there are few knowledgeable marketing workers at these startups. If the campaign failed, they would either be fired or consoled, with no in between or constructive punishment. Hubspot’s software itself is not even used by the company, instead they use cold calls to generate the majority of their sales.
I do believe Disrupted is useful for marketing professionals, especially those working on the sales side of operations. While I felt that Lyons was an unreliable narrator at times, due to his unnecessary harsh criticisms about certain aspects of Hubspot, he did provide valuable insight into the sales strategies of many current tech startups. One important concept that is beneficial would be customer acquisition cost. Marketing and sales professionals have to ensure that every dollar they spend on certain campaign and strategies have a high return on investment. Hubspot’s call center is a prime example of inexperienced team making ineffective decisions. Since their product is not of quality, they turn to old and expensive methods of sales. They fill an entire room of their building with fresh, underpaid college graduates that are willing to do this grueling work that can often feel unfulfilling. Because they their software is so cheap, they have to use cheap sales tactics to keep their accounts. Dan Lyons also explains some of Hubspot’s public relations strategies. Throughout the book, he criticises the public relations manager, an inexperienced Hubspot veteran. Towards the end, when he reveals the drama surrounding the news that he was writing his book, he gives an example of Hubspot’s incompetence. Once the news of Disrupted’s existence came out, a few employees tried to unethically, not illegally, obtain a copy of a transcript. Obviously, this was revealed to the public and made Hubspot appear worse than it already did. Instead of being transparent, the founders released a vague press release that did not sound remorseful. Overall, the situation showed how companies need to be open about such negative news if they want to keep a positive brand image.
Since Hubspot is a startup company, I found that Lyons discussed many topics from MK 330, New Product Development. One that stuck out was the software’s product inception. In the book, we learned that many tech startups ask investors to fund their companies with substandard products or even just an idea. These companies ignore the basic principles of product development and fail to create a product that effectively fulfills a consumer need in a market. In regards to Hubspot, their product fulfills a consumer need ineffectively. Disrupted also related to my work for the group sales department of the Boston Ballet. I manually generate leads by researching key potential patrons in the surrounding area. This book has made me realize how ineffective this strategy is and how greatly it can be improved. While the Boston Ballet is significantly smaller than Hubspot, there may be software that can generate a greater amount of leads and increase the customer conversion rate. In the future, I will try to remain open-minded to other ideas. Lyons explains how many young employees’ egos are inflated above their abilities and they refuse to listen to more experienced workers. I have a better understanding of the importance of adapting marketing campaigns based on previous successes and failures. This also underlies the significance of marketing research as a foundation for campaigns to make them worthwhile instead of just trying expensive, ineffective strategies with no research.
Although not directly marketing related, Disrupted taught me that I do not want to work in the tech startup industry. Beyond my obvious need for diversity in the workplace, I want to be able to work in a place with competent individuals and a quality product. Lyons explained how many startups are simply founded for top executives to make a profit off an IPO. Ethics is very important to me and I would like to believe in what I am selling; the only people that believe in Hubspot’s product are the low-level sales associates. These companies’ strategies are ineffective, and I think having to follow them would frustrate me to no end. Overall, the insight into the industry was very useful in helping me decide what industries I might want to work in.