About Purpose and Why We Started Outsell
I’ve been in the midst of writing some posts about Outsell and our most recent event Outsell DataMoney when two things came together: comments about our closing keynote and answering why we started Outsell.
Let me explain.
My last post cited takeaways from our February 1 DataMoney event, which ended with an amazing closing keynote by Jeff Tarr, former CEO of Digital Globe. I wrote:
… Last and most important — have a purpose: If you want to know why the business of data is so relevant, it’s the difference it can make on the planet. It’s not about oil. It’s not about gold. It’s not about a better refinery. It’s about purpose, about linking purpose to results, about making sure good business means more than just performance on the top line. There was no better way to end our conference than to listen to the riveting, jaw-dropping, thought-provoking, heart- inspiring keynote from Jeff Tarr, who recently left Digital Globe after overseeing its amazing growth and exit. What a story.”
He ended his comments with this amazing “must see” video. Here it is.
Jeff’s comments changed the way many of us view the world of data and information. He spoke of the power of purpose, how purpose drives culture and trust in and outside a company, and how all of that leads to business results creating a virtuous circle that builds on itself. Jeff ended the day challenging us to all consider our purpose. What does our data business stand for anyway? My colleague who read that post and saw the video later said: I love that line, “you mean there was a satellite in the sky looking for us?”
And in the moment when I listened to Jeff, and saw that video, I was quite literally moved to tears. Because Jeff, without knowing it re-affirmed Outsell’s purpose, and I shared that as he closed his remarks and I thanked him profusely. Two weeks prior, I had been at an off-site with our entire team. We spoke about Outsell’s vision of believing in the power of data and information for fueling the human spirit and improving the lives of others. We started Outsell because we felt and feel that if we serve the worlds’ data and information providers and ensure they grow and thrive, then we are helping them shape a better world.
You see, we are in the privileged position to be a data and information provider serving the industry. When we started Outsell, I was at a crossroads. The information firm I’d been commuting to in Minnesota (twice a month for two years from California, with two little ones and a husband at home) didn’t go public. I’d joined a re-start. We had a runway to turn the company around and IPO. I was preparing the market validation for the S-1 and our i-banker, as we reviewed it, told me I couldn’t use my own (commissioned) research.
“Where is your independent market validation?” he asked.
“There isn’t any.”
“There must be,” he said.
“It doesn’t exist,” I responded, more emphatic than ever.
And that is when the “need is the mother of invention” lightbulb went off.
The company didn’t go public. I was tired of commuting all over heck and back. I went home and told my husband I thought there was a hole in the market for what became Outsell. We knew the research & advisory model for high tech, coming from firms like Dataquest and Intelliquest. We knew technology, and we knew information, and we knew one was going to affect the other profoundly. So why not?
But we hemmed and hawed and had the idea for Outsell but were also toying with launching what would be the JD Power of healthcare. We felt there was a need in the market to measure customer satisfaction with hospital experiences. We did our research, wrote a business plan, and prepared to start that firm.
We were at a crossroads. Do we pursue our concept for what would become Outsell, or do we pursue our “JD Power of healthcare?”
So, I did what any good executive at a crossroads would do — I booked a gal-pal trip to Santa Fe and decided to go zen at Ten Thousand Waves for a weekend of chilling. I’d been commuting for the better part of two years. I was juggling a young family. I was tired. So, off to the spa I went.
And there with a light afternoon rain, in an outdoor studio, after a glorious massage, I laid quietly on the table meditating. I put out the question: Which way do I go? Quite literally pondering which road to take, which enterprise to launch. What would come next: Outsell or our “JD Power of Healthcare?”
Call it the gods speaking. Call it prescient. Call it a great massage. What became crystal clear was a knowing that pointed to Outsell. I asked why?
To this day I will never ever forget the response that came to me.
If you choose the healthcare journey, you will be working with one information company in one domain. If you choose Outsell, you will be working with all information companies in all domains and have a wider impact.
And knowing that we could have a broader impact on the industry and mankind was profound. To this day, I still get goosebumps when I think about it. In a way, I think Outsell was gifted to us because we’d be able to understand the complexity of this industry. We’d be able to honor the privileged position to be of the industry we serve. And we’d respect our ability to serve so many data and information companies and in doing so serve others. Information and data supports commerce, health, innovation, a civil society, entertainment, learning, and so much more. As Jeff so poignantly pointed out, it helped save, quite literally, stolen souls, lost on the other side of our planet, adrift in a wide-open sea. That is the power of information, and it’s why executives in our industry do what we do. To make a better world. And It’s why we at Outsell get up in the morning and commit to serving those executives.
Afterwards, I told Jeff that his presentation is one I will never forget. I have been blessed to hear amazing speakers: Bill Clinton, Tom Peters, Colin Powell, Barak Obama, and so many more. And in all my days, his will be the one I will take with me forever.
Later in an email exchange:
“Thanks for including me today. Was really fun to tell the story, and your closing heartfelt comments made it very meaningful to me to have done so. I couldn’t agree more. Data and information businesses make the world a better place; and by helping the industry, Outsell helps the world. Let’s keep in touch.”
And so, on a cold winter day in the middle of Manhattan, one man’s amazing journey and message about purpose came full circle to stand for why Outsell exists. If you ever want to know Why did we start Outsell?” Just watch that video and read this.
— Anthea Stratigos
To learn more about Outsell and its solutions, visit us here, or contact us.