Mark Lazarus’ Post

I spoke with a marketing person this week who said I need to "bring people along the Oprising journey with me", and it's also a good thing to sit back and have a "history" of what went on for the future. So, here's a quick post about what has been going on this month for Oprising... ✔️ Officially Registered: We’ve officially registered Oprising as its own entity, which feels like a big milestone in turning this idea into reality. 🖼️ Defined Our Identity: We’ve solidified our branding and switched from roaring "Oprising" like a viking to a rocket kind-of-theme (because we’re all about helping MSPs reach new heights). Plus, we’ve nailed our brand voice - fun, punchy, and conversational - because service improvement doesn’t have to be boring! 😵 Product Development: Our CSI (Continual Service Improvement) module is in build, featuring assessments across leadership, people, process, tech, and customer for all aspects of an MSP, including the dashboards for tracking progress to help you stay accountable for implementation. Behind the scenes, we’ve spent hours defining the logic behind these assessments to make them as impactful as possible. 💻 Website: The main website is built and hidden (for now). We’ve also built and tested subscription processes, ensuring everything works smoothly when we launch. In the meantime, this has a landing page in place that shares what we're looking to create! 🌍 Going Global: I can’t even begin to explain the hours lost figuring out how to provide the platform globally—the devil’s definitely in the details there! ⏱️ Locking in Timelines: We’ve locked down test plans and timelines for our beta testers, and we've even got dates for handover and launch. 👋 Community & Content: We’re considering some form of community/peer group to bring MSPs together and share knowledge. We've also started making a move on the onboarding guides and how-tos—making sure everyone knows how to get the most out of Oprising from day one. My marketing buddy also shared "entrepreneurs are prepared to live like most won’t, so they can live like most can’t", and what keeps me going is the goal of making a real difference to 350,000 MSP/IT folks by 2032. Without that mission, I might’ve thrown in the towel during the tough moments. But knowing the impact Oprising can have makes all the difference. So, as you can see, it’s been a whirlwind month with tons of behind-the-scenes work, but it’s all coming together. If you’re interested in joining the journey or want to be a part of our Beta Testing Team, head over to the website, www.oprising.com, and send us your details!

As we close out the year, I’ve been reflecting on the journey so far. Here are 4 things I wish I’d known at the beginning of the year, and would’ve saved me a lot of "oops" moments ⬇️ 1) Don’t *just* "run fast and break things" 🏃♀️➡️ As an early-stage startup, it’s tempting to prioritize speed over everything. But we’ve learned the hard way that sometimes quality should come first. For instance, we now prefer releasing well-planned features even if deployment takes a few more days, or having a lean team but hiring superstar team members. 2) Growth hacks actually work, and they’re free 🤯 Paid campaigns didn’t deliver much for us on a limited budget. Creative growth hacks, often thought up late at night or on weekends (my favorite message from Nadav Gutman: "I’ve just thought of a new cool free tool") became no-brainers: fast to execute, provide immediate value, and require minimal budget. 3) Invest more in community relationships 🤝 We’ve found that building connections within the data and startup communities is key to strengthening our brand at Sherloq. These included our Partners Program, sending Limoncello gifts to data professionals we’ve connected with, talking at Data Conferences, and engaging in WhatsApp, Reddit, and Slack data groups. 4) Invest more in co-founder relationships 🫶 I've learned that keeping goals aligned, maintaining clear communication, giving honest (and sometimes brutal) feedback, and having fun together—like regular “Date Nights” or “Date Days”— are all part of building a healthy co-founder relationship and essentially are key to growing the company. Below: Nadav and I on one of our recent “Date Days”. Cheers to 2025 🥂

I tricked my Captions app into not bleeping out a word - see if you can figure out how I did it. Time for your #dailydose Ep 287 - grow your brain pan and sound intellectual at parties - all in under 90 seconds. "The quickest growth hack is to stop looking for quick growth hacks." - Dickie Bush We are indeed mired in short-termism. Everyone is looking for the quick fix. I need to get it done quickly and easily to get in front of everyone else. When in actual fact doing the work is the shortcut. Where have I heard that before? Pretty sure I said it in my book. (insert shameless plug) Doing the work is the shortcut. Simply do the work and you will bypass everyone else who's running around trying to find the quick fix or the easy way or the shortcut. Just do the work and you end up miles ahead of anyone anyway. People stay happy, stay healthy. The quickest growth hack is to stop looking for hacks. Talk to you soon. #dailydose #dothework #discipline #antifragile #keynotespeaker Hi, I’m Paul Watkins. I help teams develop discipline, antifragility and building an adventurous mindset, driving performance across their entire lives. Let me tell you a story.

Ever been a part of a deathbed confession? 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 is among the 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝟯 😱. Here's how to prevent this from ever happening to you: 💡 Analyze: Regret from missed opportunities hurts more than failing after trying. 💪 Solution: Take bold actions without fear—GrowthApp will guide your steps. 🚀 Execution: What’s one risk you’re afraid to take? Make that your action plan 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆. #GrowthApp #Growthisms #ActionOverInaction #FailForward #TakeRisks

Microblogging has exploded my world, fine tuned my focus and provided a platform for increasingly courageous action – through true connection. I saw this – BETA TESTERS, WANTED 20 December 2023 I signed up. -To speed up my writing -To share the simple concept we have developed -To simplify the current complexity of our approach What happened next is stunning -Lessons started 4 Jan -My daily blogging started 13 Jan -73/77 daily microblogs posted to date More importantly… I have found and connected with a community of leaders who care, communicate and act on stuff that I believe is important. They also care about me and our movement and the actions that we are taking to create change in this world, and they share our stories. It’s not about the numbers. It’s about the power of the growing collective that not only give a s#*t about our world, but take action to enable better – together - every day. Microblog Bandits feature in this stellar cast, with leader of the cheer squad Alice Ramsay. Many of us shaking in our boots as we started to hit post. Thanks David Hieatt for leading the way. You are one super smart and generous human. This is not just numbers. This is a collective heart beat connecting our world. #justbringitback #discipline #connection #femalefounder

Before starting up full-time,  We built a few tools to experiment Most never saw light,  But Snoopie did. Mainly, we needed conviction that “building stuff” truly gave us happiness. Snoopie scaled to 190 installs, And 30 users who get value. After starting up full-time,  Chasing large(r) opportunities made most sense. So we ended up selling it. This obviously isn’t the multi-million acquisition post that’s typical on LinkedIn. It’s only an additional year of “Ramen Runway” and a small angel cheque we’ll write ourselves to find the next problem to solve. If you’re starting up, I recommend doing this once. Money isn’t important, But unlearning the time leverage, And learning the code leverage is.

📧 Start the month right by organizing your inbox! I can help you delete or archive unnecessary emails. Say goodbye to clutter and hello to a well-organized inbox. Let’s make this month the most productive one yet! 🚀 #EmailOrganization #InboxManagement #Productivity #StartFresh 😊

You are not doing good, Amelia! My manager opened with this statement in our last call. Instantly, my heart sank. Despite meeting our targets and things appearing to run smoothly, he delved deeper. By the end of the call, I was left feeling like I needed some honest feedback. It was a wake-up call. Although everything seemed fine on the surface, my manager's insights made me realize there were areas where I could significantly improve. Picture this: you own a cozy little coffee shop on the corner of a bustling street. Every morning, your regulars shuffle in for their dose of caffeine and conversation. One day, amidst the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, you overhear a customer whispering to their friend about how they wish the wait times were shorter. Ouch, right? But here's the thing: that simple comment holds the key to unlocking your shop's full potential. ☕💡 You see, feedback isn't just about criticism; it's about opportunities. So, what do you do? You roll up your sleeves and get to work. Maybe you invest in a state-of-the-art espresso machine to speed up service, or perhaps you introduce a mobile app for pre-ordering. Suddenly, those once disgruntled customers are raving about your lightning-fast service, and your little coffee shop becomes the talk of the town. 🚀🌟 Moving on from analogies, I got a learning today. When was the last time you were open to an honest feedback? When was the last time your COFFEE SHOP (iykyk) had a tech check-up? If you are thinking about an answer, we can connect. Bluebash offers free tech consultations, ensuring you have a detailed roadmap of possibilities without any strings attached for implementation. But here's the kicker: Don't overlook valuable feedback. At Bluebash, we're passionate about turning insights into action! Let's chat about how we can use feedback to elevate your coffee shop experience. Are you ready to take your business to new heights? ☕✨ Let's make your coffee shop the talk of the town for all the right reasons! #feedbacks #techconsultancy #Bluebash #techcheckup

Interesting piece of software (from SKOOP - Instant Video) that promotes personalization with candid video and a number of other powerful tools. Really good "conversation" to "booked meetings" rate. And strait for the LinkedIn Direct Messages (DMs) They are even adding AI in their next update. 🤔 #growth #ai #relationshipmarketing

How to get more responses from interested prospects. The truth is you just can't click a button - you have to: 1. Have something they deem valuable (not what you think is valuable). 2. Adjust yourself and your brand to be an industry leader. 3. Use tools, strategies, and methods to personalize the conversation and build relationships. The people SKOOP - Instant Video have a good tool for that. It takes 2 minutes to: Create a proper text response + a candid video + personalized title. Don't want to do it? Well, one question. ↓ How much is the lifetime value of a high-value client? Want to do it now? 🤷🏻♀️ #personalization #skoop #salesgrowth