At a recent conference for entrepreneurs, Sabeer Bhatia, the co-founder of Hotmail (the web based e-mail system sold to Microsoft for $400 Million) identified the two most critical steps toward Business Success: Create a unique product or service and know the market for your creation. He emphasized that the second step, knowing your market, is the primary differentiator between enterprises that succeed and those that fail. Companies like Apple and Toyota, that really understand their market, are able to identify and fulfill important consumer needs overlooked by their competitors and communicate their products’ unique advantages effectively. From product development all the way to sales, the fundamental law of business is to Know Thy Market!
Robert Bell grew up in a relatively tough middle-class Miami neighborhood where he developed an indomitable work ethic and a fearless entrepreneurial spirit. As chronicled in the Wall Street Journal bestseller "From Lifeguard to Sun King", his story is a case study in successful market-oriented business excellence: Having spent much of his youth as a lifeguard & pool boy at some of Miami's most prestigious hotels, by the time he launched his Banana Boat sun care brand, there was no one who knew the sun care market and its unmet needs better than him. He daydreamed of building his own sun care brand and, while he was still in college, he did just that.
“A great entrepreneur and the ideal of the American Dream”
President George H.W. Bush from a personal appearance honoring the entrepreneurial success of Robert Bell.
Bell formulated his products, branding strategy, and promotional approach around these market insights. In this manner, he was able to surpass the sales of larger and more established brands. In remarkably short order, Bell proceeded to build the Banana Boat sun care brand from, literally, a garage operation to the global consumer products giant that it is to this day. Bell later applied these same market-oriented strategic principles to success with other consumer product brands as well as other industries (commercial real estate, entertainment, etc).
In recognition of both his business success and his role in the fight against skin cancer, Robert Bell has been honored by both President Bush (Sr.) and President Clinton. He has also been a recipient of Merrill Lynch/Ernst & Young/Inc Magazine's prestigious "Entrepreneur of the Year" award and has been inducted into the American Entrepreneurs' Hall of Fame. A statue of his likeness is on display at Florida International University's Hall of Fame where he is honored as a distinguished alumnus.
In short, Robert Bell is acclaimed as one of America's premier business leaders. As such, he has been a highly coveted business speaker and consultant across the world and has assisted hundreds of successful companies across multiple industries. At Know Thy Market, Bell is the lead consultant on select projects pertaining to market positioning, market-oriented product development, effective marketing strategy, international expansion, operational efficiency, and related issues.
Joe Carlen MBA MISM offers a unique combination of technical knowledge, business acumen, financial savvy and superb writing skill. These skills are leveraged for the benefit of clients in the preparation of highly effective strategic documents. Among the leading specialists in comprehensive market assessment and strategic planning, Joe Carlen has been sought out by midsize firms such as Pacific Plastics & Engineering (medical device manufacturing) and Unicom Technology (telecommunications infrastructure) to the likes of Time Warner and Westinghouse Energy.
From consumer products to cancer diagnostic devices, alternative energy to automotive products, Joe Carlen has worked on projects of almost every conceivable industry in his 10+ years of market assessment experience. Carlen is also an innovator in the field of market assessment: In 2010, Joe Carlen was credited as a co-inventor of the "Market Targeted Patent Application" (MTPA) with renowned patent attorneys Russ Weinzimmer & Joe Aufiero (of Russ Weinzimmer & Associates, P.C.). This entirely novel form of patent applies the power & precision of professional market assessment to produce a more defined and defensible set of patent claims (alongside a broader set of general claims).
“Joe Carlen's work on the Westinghouse Energy Software Marketing Initiative was excellent”
Don Hill, Senior Engineer, Westinghouse Energy Center
Joe Carlen and Robert Bell have worked together since 2007, when they co-wrote Bell's bestselling autobiography, "From Lifeguard to Sun King". Bell and Carlen, realizing that they work well together, decided to pool their complementary experiences and skills as a joint strategic consulting team. At Know Thy Market, Carlen's longstanding specialization in market assessment, financial projections, and related work is the ideal complement to the Bell's unparalleled strategic insight. Joe Carlen earned an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and a Masters in Information Systems Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University.
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“The Market Assessment that Mr. Carlen prepared for me was very helpful in launching my company's latest product."
Ken Crawford, Entrepreneur
