disruptive companies 2020 profile

ScaleX, Inc : Expediting The Sales Process Through Innovative Solutions

Founded in 2017, ScaleX is a leading firm that resolves the sales pipelines issues by leveraging artificial intelligence and sales automation. It offers an entire suite of services to fill your pipeline each month, guaranteed. With swift growth in mind for businesses, the venture helps sales professionals increase revenue by focusing on the only two things that matter in sales – increasing frequency and competency.

Chad Burmeister, Founder & CEO started this firm when he saw that the sales software as a service market was getting over-crowded by new entrants. But to be successful, experience in sales and marketing operations and deep domain expertise in tools and technology were required. In early March of 2020, when the world had to deal with the Coronavirus for the first time, work from home became the only way to sell, and ScaleX.ai became more important to B2B companies than ever before.

Chad Burmeister is not only the CEO of ScaleX, but he’s also ScaleX’s biggest client! He has a successful career in building high-velocity sales teams at companies including Cisco-WebEx, Riverbed Technology, ON24, ConnectAndSell, and RingCentral. He was the Founding Chapter President of the AA-ISP Silicon Valley Chapter which was voted two years in a row as “Chapter of the Year”, Director of AA-ISP Frontline Friday, and Colorado Chapter President to help advance the profession of inside sales to the next level of professionalism and performance. Chad is currently on the team who launched the Denver Enterprise Sales Forum. Chad has
been voted Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professional by the AA-ISP 10 years in a row (2010 – 2019) and continues to be at the forefront of inside sales and high-velocity selling strategy & execution.

ScaleX has used it’s own solutions to more than 2X sales each year for the past 3 years. Chad is committed to the inside sales profession – and has earned the title of Top 25 Inside Sales Leader for the past 10 years by the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals. Chad also recently launched SalesClass.ai, the first and only “Netflix for sales” platform that delivers relevant sales training content through live and on-demand training.

Message from the CEO
“Make sure to check out SalesClass.ai.
When you sign up for a subscription,
your first month is just $1!
We hope to see you there.”

Advanced Solutions

ScaleX offers three core solutions – ScaleX Social, ScaleX Pipeline as a Service and ScaleX Introductions. ScaleX Social enables sales and business professionals to connect with hundreds (or even thousands) of their best prospects on LinkedIn, passively. ScaleX Pipeline as a Service delivers data + digital outreach + dials and regularly delivers 3 years of outbound in 3 months for clients. ScaleX Introductions leverages powerful artificial intelligence to determine the best influencers to reach out in order to ask for their help in making introductions to a target list of prospects. A recent client landed a meeting with the CMO of Microsoft as a result of this solution.

Awards & Recognitions

Not only has Chad has earned the coveted Top 25 Inside Sales Leader for 10 years in a row, his company ScaleX.ai was voted Top 10 AI for Sales Solution in 2019, was ranked a Vendor Neutral Top 100 technology company and ranked in the top 5% of growth companies in SaaS for 2019 by Nathan Latka.

Point Of View on Current Market

Although 2020 has had a lot of very deep seeded challenges, out of every challenge comes opportunity. We’ve seen that as people move from working at an office to work from home, the skills and technologies that have been mainstream for inside sales professionals are now getting adopted by remote field sellers everywhere. Technology like Zoom Video is obvious, but also Social Selling Technology like ScaleX and other AI-related prospecting technology is now becoming mainstream too.

Hurdles on the Way

The biggest challenge at ScaleX was in March 2019 when company revenues went from $100,000/month to $30,000/month. When a company doesn’t have investors, that’s a big dip. The positive outcome from that experience – they learned to double down on “ScaleX powered by ScaleX” where they use their own technology to drive pipeline more than they did previously.

Contributing Factors behind Success

“You are the five people you hang out with” is a phrase I’ve heard Jourdan DuFort on our sales team use before. In 2019, Gerhard Gschwandtner challenged a group of 25-30 leaders to find mentors. So I did. Robert White is an expert in organizational design and mindset, Townsend Wardlaw, CRO is a mindset expert and incredible CRO. Rich Blakeman is the former SVP from Miller Heiman, the biggest sales training organization in the world. All of these individuals and more are now part of my daily interactions. These strategic thinkers help us drive the company strategy and pivot as required.

Creativity And Innovation in The Workspace

“Recently, the sales pipeline was down. Rather than call a meeting and punch people in the mouth, I held a meeting with a blank screen and asked the team to strategize on a way forward. The solutions were amazing – far better than if I would have beat the team-up that day”, Chad Burmeister shared.

Customer Relationship

“Client Success is the lifeblood of ScaleX. Many of the processes and technologies that we role out are true “magic”. They can enable a sales team to 10X the number of sales touches, at higher quality, and drive 3-5X in the pipeline. Getting the rocket off the launch pad is important since launches can be delayed at times. So we recently deployed Monday.com for client onboarding. So now we provide the best technology, the best dashboards (from ClicData) and the best onboarding experience in the industry”, stated Chad.

Road Ahead

ScaleX will continue to innovate and bring to market technologies and solutions that are highly unique and different designed to outpace cheaper and less effective solutions. As we scale from $337k to $1.2M to $2M+ in 2020, we’re looking at M&A opportunities to bring the best-of-breed players under one brand.

HappleyFit: Simplified Journey towards a Healthy Lifestyle

Sapna Talreja, an IT professional, fitness enthusiast and motivator to many for leading a healthy lifestyle, is the founder of HappleyFit. Before fulfilling her dream to be an entrepreneur, she worked with renowned companies like Persistent Systems, Zensar, Fulcrum, and Clarion. It was in 2016, that she decided to become a full-time entrepreneur with her start-up venture, ‘SchoolDigiApp’- a collaboration platform designed for the education domain. It was her own journey to fitness that was the driving force for her setting up HappleyFit, a platform for achieving a holistic, healthy lifestyle. We interviewed her to get an insight into her life as an entrepreneur and to find out what keeps her ticking.

How did you become an entrepreneur? Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Ans: Entrepreneurship comes naturally to me, coming from a business family. Somewhere at the back of my mind I always had the desire to become an entrepreneur and provide something new and unique – something that had not already been thought of! Joining the corporate world provided me exposure and the chance to try new avenues. I volunteered for and played multiple roles-developer, analyst, client coordinator, tester amongst others. Problems challenge me and I will not sit idle till I find a solution, be it a code or any other issue that needs solving. I step into the other person’s shoes to understand every nuance from their perspective before I move to the next step. As an individual, I am passionate and committed to what I believe in. With a high level of integrity, I am honest and expect honesty from others as well. Honest feedback is something I appreciate and take seriously. My main strength however, is that I am in a very happy and contented zone in my life, having found peace in fitness and healthy eating.

What was your driving force for starting HappleyFit?

Ans: My lifestyle choices and sedentary work pattern resulted in me having a lot of health issues. Looking for solutions, I came across a lot of contradicting information about what one should or shouldn’t do to lead a healthy life. Additionally, most of the programmes available exhibit a lack of expertise or a ‘one size fits all’ approach when dealing with fitness. The result of these programmes instead of making a person healthy has exactly the opposite effect! It was therefore, my own personal experience, which I noticed is the experience of many others out there today, and the lacunae in expert, customized fitness regimes that was the driving force for my starting HappleyFit.

Tell us a bit more about HappleyFit?

Ans: HappleyFit is about staying healthy by eating home cooked, cultural and regional food with nutritionist guidance, clubbed with regular exercise. We advocate a wholesome Indian diet instead of ‘Fad Diets’. Our programs are realistically designed and are sustainable, where the results do not disappear! Plans are designed considering seasonality and accessibility. The benefits-can be easily followed; have zero side effects; affordable.

How can our readers benefit from HappleyFit programme?

Ans: Our live sessions and regular social media posts have been an immense hit! They have motivated many to take a serious view of their health. We provide each individual with customized, realistic and practical advice, while at the same time debunking myths by creating awareness of how one can follow a healthy lifestyle! We are invested in encouraging people to lead a healthy lifestyle and have come up with a number of programs catering to these needs. In addition to following our social media handles, we have a number of online paid programs which can help someone looking for a sustainable healthy lifestyle programme with goals like weight loss, healthy eating habits and those with medical conditions. Some of our most popular programs include:

HappleyFit Fitness Program
HappleyFit Nutritionist Program
HappleyFit Live Group or Personal Workout Programs

You can visit our Plans page for more details on these plans.

What has been the most rewarding part of your role with HappleyFit?

Ans: The most rewarding part has been to have inspired people to change and lead a healthy lifestyle. Many have started working out, planning their meals, which includes home-cooked food, no fad diets, and no quick solutions! I am contributing to a lifestyle that is sustainable, hence happy! Through my personal experiences, I have become a confidant and motivator to many and watching them live a fit life has been my success. A bigger success is that those who were inspired by me are now inspirations themselves! Integrity and the ability to deliver quality results without compromising health is what HappleyFit hopes to achieve.

Who is your idol?

Ans: One of my earliest and constant idols has been my father. He had a never say die attitude, which I have imbibed. Losing him suddenly at a very young age, was a big blow. But the few years I spent with him left an indelible mark on who I am as a person today. Our company has been named after him-Vasudev Fitness Private Limited.

Who inspires you?

Ans: My family has been my biggest inspiration, their belief in me is what keeps me going. Having lost both my parents at a fairly young age, my eldest sister, Soni took over the role of a mother by default. Her sound advice is what helps me keep my business on track, while her appreciation and encouragement for everything I do, even the smallest of milestones makes it all worthwhile. My jiju, Sudhir, too, is a big inspiration to me. He has been a father and brother figure and his positive attitude is something I am constantly working towards implementing. A great listener and business mentor, he always lends a keen ear to what I have to say! I can’t think of what I would have done without the support of these two stalwarts!

Do you think your mindset has anything to do with your success?

Ans: Yes, definitely! It’s your mindset which plays a huge role in defining who you are as an individual. It determines how you react to a challenge and how you overcome it. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and you always learn from it. It’s your experience which makes you a mature individual and helps you take the right decisions for your business.

What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?

Ans: To me there are two key elements to running a successful business – your team and satisfied customers. I am strong believer of Zig Ziglar saying – “You don’t build a business. You build people, and people build the business.”. At HappleyFit, we are like a family, we give each other enough space to give their best, while respect and transparency is what we practise. Our customers are our brand ambassadors! We are convinced that honesty and good service are what counts in the long run. On our side, we always listen and appreciate feedback from our clients, keep improving ourselves and we are fine with saying ‘no’ rather than taking on something we’re not good at. It is our ability to say no that has helped us to earn our client trust and to many we are not just ‘fitness consultants’, but ‘family fitness consultants’.

How do you generate new ideas?

Ans: We like to solve actual problems-we keep listening to our customers and their constant feedback, observing issues people are facing and identifying what are the gaps and how we can improve it. Till date, it’s all based on the personal experiences of our team and the actual problems faced by our customers, which has helped us to keep innovating

What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who are starting out?

Ans: I have some very simple bits of advice, which is what has helped me when I started out as an entrepreneur and has kept me afloat since then.

Always follow your passion
Look for solutions for actual problems-no matter how small, as long as the solution will create a major impact
Identify gaps in the market and fill these gaps ASAP
Keep things simple
Always focus on quality
Don’t let the competition deter you
Let your customers drive your business

What are your future plans?

Ans: Having achieved a fair amount of success in the B2C segment, we are planning to venture into the B2B space. This will open doors for us to create a healthy lifestyle environment at the organization level and motivate employees to do the same.

What can our readers do to know more about HappleyFit or to contact you?

Ans: You can learn more about us on HappleyFit. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to get daily tips on staying healthy. You can also drop us an email at info@happley.fit or sapna@happley.fit – would love to hear from you.

Demiurgic Hospitality: Delivering quality through a sustainable business model

The hospitality industry got a shot in the arm when investments in the sector were booming between 2005 and 2010. With large private equity and bank funding, hotel and tourism infrastructure, the sector came to be defined as a separate entity from real estate. However, the sector has advanced rather unpredictably since then. Factors such as oversupply of hotel rooms, competition from shared economy models, and a blind spot in events based tourism, and experiential hospitality to appeal to a new generation has changed the landscape of the Indian hospitality sector today “Demiurgic Hospitality” is a company that was launched in early 2017 with a vision to create a National Brand.

“When I started this company, there was no prior entrepreneurial experience but had a vision and technical knowledge of the culinary field. I always wanted this brand to soar heights and to have the market presence across cuisines & boundaries by creating a consortium of brands. I wanted this brand to be a market leader in quality, quantity & hygiene. Following my dreams and my passion, I started on this journey in January’2017 and took over a running brand called “World in a Box”. The operations of the brand started in Aug’2017 and gave the company a good start. Very soon our first internal brand started its operations under the banner of “Deseez-The Food Designers”. Deseez is our Indian cuisine brand which primarily focuses on Kababs, Biryani’s & Indian Curries. The brand was accepted well and is well known in the market,” says Gautam Chaudhry, MD, Demiurgic Hospitality.

The company’s vision is to be the biggest F&B operator in the country serving quality food, prepared in hygienic kitchen & delivered with impeccable service. To facilitate and deliver on the vision, the firm has defined the USP’s as below:

We operate a state of art kitchen in the heart of the city.
Strongly believe in digging out lost recipes.
Hiring the right team is our strength. Each and every member has to pass through the final round of interview with our Managing Director “Chef Gautam Chaudhry”, to have the same vision floating through the team.
We take pride in our processes and strictly adhere by them.
5 Star experienced team and always focused on delivering personalized service.
Food, counters & platters styling.
Creating food theatres.
Conceptualizing theme restaurants and standardizing operations.

The Founder

Demiurgic Hospitality is the brain child of “Chef Gautam Chaudhry”, who is focused on delivering quality through a sustainable business model. He understands that delivering for a long term goal is only possible with attention to details and being more proactive than being reactive to situations. Demiurgic Hospitality under the able leadership of “Chef Gautam Chaudhry” works with NGO’s like Chef & Child foundation, Sneha Nilaya and many more. He is an active mentor to “Rasoi Queen”, a COWE (Confederation of Women Empowerment) initiative. He is a joint secretary at ICF (Indian Culinary Forum) working for the chef’s community and building up the chefs for the future.

Milestones Achieved

The firm has achieved many awards and recognition such as

Most promosing entrepreneur” by “Economic Times.
Top 10 Chef’s of the country”, by “Hotelier India”. It was an honor sharing the space with Chef Hemant Oberoi & Chef Ananda Solomon.
Michelin Recommendation for my restaurant in Beverly hills named “Tanzore”.
Silver Hat Awardee by Indian Culinary Forum.
The Pink Poppodom, was conceptualized and launched by “Chef Gautam Chaudhry” won various awards & accolades and was covered bby “BBC Good Food” as the best Modern Indian Cuisine Restaurant in Asia.

Work Culture

“Identify the best talents in the organization & then empower them to take decisions starts with letting them take baby steps towards decision making and gradually help, guide & hand-hold to bigger ones. The firm conducts regular meetings with the team and let them do the talking which will eventually motivate them to come up with ideas. Discuss the concerns with them and make them a part of ideation sessions,” added Gautam.

Customer Relationship

“There is only one strategy to build a long term association with your customer and that is keeping yourself in his shoes. Always take every feedback very seriously; it keeps you a step ahead of bigger issues in future. Criticize yourself before a client does. Use your product or services yourself on regular basis and think keeping yourself in your client’s shoes. It is better to over criticize than being left behind.”

OUR MISSION

To establish Demiurgic as an international brand by leveraging quality excellence and cornering demographic barriers.
To grow the market presence across cuisines by creating a consortium of brands.
To emerge as a market leader in terms of quality, quantity and hygiene.
To indulge customers with innovative experiences matching global standards of service excellence.
To excel in customer satisfaction and loyalty.
To create next generation FMCG products for the millenials.
To establish a network of base kitchens and restaurant models.

Future Roadmap

“Industry is growing at a fast pace and it is important for any F&B organization to keep up the pace with technology. The company has plans to spread its wings in various segments of Food & Beverage. Immediate plans are to establish the social catering division “The Catering Inc.”, in the industry and make a mark as a market leader in the segment,” concluded Gautam.