Tinder Owner's New CEO Signals Urgency to Rebuild User Trust
'Too often, our apps have felt like a numbers game rather than a place to build real connections, leaving people with the false impression that we prioritize metrics over experience,' CEO Spencer Rascoff wrote in a note to employees that he posted to his LinkedIn profile Thursday. 'That needs to change.'
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Forbes
a day ago
- Forbes
B2B Digital Selling Tactics That Work In 2025
In 2025, B2B buyers research, compare, and interact across more channels than ever before. Relying on cold calls or a single weekly post is unlikely to spark a steady stream of leads. Businesses need an approach tuned to each platform—one that builds trust and invites prospects to engage when they're ready. The practical ideas discussed below are designed to support pipelines without overloading audiences or stretching budgets. LinkedIn LinkedIn still leads the pack for B2B connections, but too many businesses treat it like a broadcast tool, with dry updates, spammy DMs, or endless 'just checking in' messages. But that approach commonly misses the mark. In a recent conversation, a friend of mine Charles Gaudet, CEO of Predictable Profits, a top business coaching firm for CEOs, put it like this: 'Most people treat LinkedIn like a digital megaphone. Post. Pitch. Pray. But sustainable growth comes from creating, capturing and nurturing demand with thought leadership, meaningful comments, and a profile that works like a magnet.' Here are a few tips to follow that playbook: This approach can help shift LinkedIn from a numbers game into a relationship channel that helps prospects see that you understand their needs. TikTok Many decision makers scroll through TikTok when they're off the clock, whether that's during late evenings or quick breaks. That relaxed setting can open doors for you to stand out where competitors aren't looking. In a recent interview, Maxwell Finn, CEO of TikTok marketing specialists Unicorn Innovations, noted, 'Most B2B companies are still stuck thinking their customer isn't on TikTok, which is insane when there are 75+ million targetable users over 35 in the U.S. alone.' He noted that he had a client selling four- and five-figure industrial equipment to middle-aged factory managers, and they began getting a 4X return on their ad spend within the first month on TikTok. 'You can reach the same CFO who ignores your LinkedIn InMails while they're mindlessly scrolling at 9 p.m., and that's where a huge ROI opportunity exists,' added Finn. TikTok usually needs a different content mindset. Unlike LinkedIn, where polished visuals and thought pieces perform, TikTok thrives on authenticity, quick edits, humor, and 'edutainment.' Finn argues that what works on LinkedIn—polished corporate content—is a guaranteed waste of time and money on TikTok. Content on TikTok should prioritize entertainment and/or education, then subtly incorporate your offer. Here's how to match the platform's style: For organic posts, aim for regular uploads that maintain quality and follow themes that already engage viewers. If you explore paid ads, test new hooks, motion styles, and text overlays each week. Instagram Decision makers often scroll through their Instagram feeds looking for insight and inspiration. Even if prospects aren't ready to buy today, your posts can shape their future choices. A brief look at your team, a quick tour of your office, or a client success story in a short video can humanize your efforts and inspire audiences. You can even break down complex ideas, like a white paper or case study, into simple slides or a 30-second Reel that anyone can understand. Make sure you are being consistent on the basics: If you try ads, make them feel like part of the feed. A quick tip in a Story with a clear next step often performs better than a generic 'Book a Call' banner. By keeping your tone personal and your content useful, you give viewers a reason to follow, engage, and remember you. Cold Email Outreach Cold email still works in 2025, but only if you approach it with a high level of personalization, relevance, and persistence. The days of blasting generic templates to 5,000 contacts are gone. Effective cold email starts with research. Know your prospect's pain points, company context, and industry trends so your outreach feels like a conversation and not spam. Your subject line should be clear and curiosity-driven, while your opening sentence should immediately center the prospect's world, not your service. The body should acknowledge a challenge your prospect likely faces and introduce a solution or insight you can provide. Use clear language, not jargon, and keep it under 150 words whenever possible. Crucially, follow-up is where many give up too early. A structured cadence of three to five emails spaced out over weeks, each adding new value (like a case study, a tip, or a relevant piece of data), increases your chances of getting a response. Avoid 'just checking in' messages. Instead, add a new insight or perspective that gives the prospect a reason to reply. Personalization beyond the first name is key. Personalization that shows authenticity includes: When cold emailing is done this way, it remains a scalable, effective B2B tactic in 2025. Nothing beats the old-fashioned approach of starting real conversations with real people. Show Up Where Your Buyers Are B2B digital selling in 2025 usually rewards brands that adapt to how and where buyers prefer to engage. If you show up consistently, speak your buyers' language, and focus on educating rather than hard selling, you can stand out in a crowded digital market. Your competitors may still be stuck in outdated tactics, but you don't have to be.
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
This is keeping California Forever and other utopian cities from becoming reality
In 2020, the rapper Akon declared he would build his own eponymous city on the site of the coastal village of Mbodiène, Senegal. Akon envisioned Akon City as a real-life Wakanda, the Afro-futurist utopia from the film 'Black Panther.' But his extensive plans — 100% solar power, Africa's most advanced hospital, a high-tech university, an economy running on Akon's personal cryptocurrency — omitted one crucial detail: How Akon City would be governed. Akon's failure to plan for governance stalled construction and created questions he could never answer. Last month, the Senegalese government confirmed that the project no longer exists. The rapper's combination of ambition and disinterest in governance is remarkably common. With the world seeming stuck, more celebrities, oligarchs and governments are seeking to create futuristic, paradigm-shifting cities to advance new aesthetics, technologies or sustainability standards. But for all their awesome grandeur, these proposals offer no new ideas — and often no details at all — about city governance. In this failure, the world's rich, famous and powerful demonstrate a planetwide lack of imagination in local democracy and government. This fundamental failure to think about governance is perhaps most evident in California Forever, a proposed city in Solano County backed by venture capitalists who pride themselves on world-changing ideas — including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen and Emerson Collective's Laurene Powell Jobs. California Forever's founder-CEO promised a 21st-century city (population 400,000) to embody the California Dream — and prove that great things can still be built there. City plans include North America's largest advanced manufacturing site, job centers integrated with housing and energy-efficient neighborhoods and infrastructure. The plans don't include any clear idea of how this city would be governed. At first, California Forever unsuccessfully sought voter approval for an unincorporated community. More recently, the project has been looking at combining with existing cities. It's a similar trajectory to Bill Gates' cutting-edge tech city of Belmont, proposed for Arizona in 2017, and stalled since. Gates' plans were heavy on tech innovations and light on any governance plans that go beyond the billionaire's personal beliefs. (Belmont also never found a reliable source of water.) To be fair, California Forever, at least, is operating in the democratic realm of local government. Other technology visionaries reject democratic governance as they pursue their own utopias. For example, Peter Thiel — a Trump supporter who declared, 'I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible' — and provided the seed funding for the Seasteading Institute, which supports the building of cities that float in international waters, beyond democratic accountability, like the corporate island-state of Próspera. One Próspera investor was San Francisco venture capital firm Pronomos, which invests in 'prosperous cities that grow to empower entire nations.' Pronomos' project, the network-state Praxis, has registered more than 2,200 citizens but no territorial home. Its plans declare a commitment to 'vitality' and opposition to 'mediocrity' but say little of governance. To be fair, it isn't just tech bros who forsake democratic governments for their dream cities. National governments have shown the same distaste for democracy. Indonesia's increasingly autocratic national government has decided that the country's new capital, Nusantara, now under construction on Borneo's east coast, will have no local government at all. China's government is developing future cities — like Chengdu Future Science and Technology City — without detailing how they'll be governed. Mexico and Malaysia have proposed new 'forest cities' to improve ecology — but don't have governance on their agenda. Saudi Arabia has said not a word about the governance structure of The Line, a planned city in the northwest region of Neom. Renderings of The Line are mesmerizing — two skyscrapers that stretch 100 miles across the desert, with space to house 9 million people — but they do not include any sign of local autonomy. Not all visions of future cities exclude governance. Plans for former Wal-Mart executive Marc Lore's city of Telosa call for transparency in all government decision-making, participatory democracy and an i-economic system in which residents would share in the city's wealth. At smaller scales, new places have made advances in self-government. Mexico City's award-winning 'utopias' — experimental neighborhood developments in the Iztapalapa borough — are models of shared participatory governance, with authority divided among the mayor's office and residents. But many visionary cities, without clear governance, will never be anything more than dreams. Indeed, in Switzerland, the packaging mogul Daniel Model let Avalon, the libertarian town-republic he declared within the rural village of Müllheim, remain imaginary. Akon's city in Senegal is not a total fiction. But the rap star only built a welcome center and a basketball court, which is why the Senegalese government reclaimed most of Akon's land. On a small remaining patch, Akon may build a resort.
Forbes
a day ago
- Forbes
The Platform That Could Change How Every Professional Connects
'Around 2022, I started noticing a major shift in LinkedIn. Thought-provoking content was being replaced with shallow business ideas. There was a rise of generic advice, more ads started creeping into my feed, and people would connect with you but refuse to follow-up or respond to DMs,' shared Louis Byrd. Louis, along with his wife Arlene Byrd, started a professional connection platform called Hiyer. Louis explained, 'How Hiyer works is straightforward. It's a professional elevation platform…dedicated to helping independent professionals elevate their business through curated relationships with other independent professionals, while providing them the tools necessary to focus on business outcomes and mindset shifts.' Hiyer has a unique model—the platform is invite-only and community members must vouch for others they believe will be a great addition to the community. When someone in the community vouches for you, you're able to receive an invite. Hiyer incorporates elements of Clubhouse, a platform that initially gained popularity based on its invite-only structure, along with aspects of the world's largest professional networking platform, LinkedIn. What sets Hiyer apart is the thorough vetting involved when a member seeks to join the community. 'It's an invite-only community,' Louis explained, 'Where an existing Hiyer member vouches for another entrepreneurial person they believe would be a great addition to the community and sends them an invite.' The Byrds also integrated an AI-powered business coach, Sage, into the platform to help users create an optimized profile and set competitive prices for the services they offer. Arlene shared, 'We hope founding members will help us shape a culture of genuine reciprocity and transparency that's completely missing in the business world today.' For $100, founding members can join the Hiyer community. 'Our $100 founding membership is our pre-launch rate, used as an incentive for early adopters,' Arlene indicated. 'Once we launch, the annual membership fee will change, and we'll introduce additional tiers. There will be no free-mium model, and that's intentional.' Unlike LinkedIn, Clubhouse and most social media platforms currently available, to access Hiyer, users must pay. Arlene explained the rationale behind this. 'The expectation of free isn't valued. When something is 'free,' you don't take it seriously. For business owners just starting their venture, it's unrealistic to ask them to offer their services for free. You can't live and support yourself without finances, and you have to invest in yourself first before you can invest in others.' Arlene went on to explain how she and Louis are curating the platform to reflect the values they want founding members to embody: 'Know your worth, charge accordingly, share openly, and practice genuine reciprocity with peers,' she said. Although the platform hasn't launched yet, there is a lot of anticipation from professionals who see Hiyer as a chance for something different. 'I want change, and I'm committed to doing my part in every way possible to make it happen,' shared Shari Gribbin. Gribbin is a managing partner at her firm CNK Solutions Group. 'We need leaders with different values to have more control over our social platforms for professional and personal use. It is clear the only way we will make that happen is to fund it ourselves. Too many of our information sharing sources are dominated by a handful of corporations and individuals running them in the same way; inauthentic, algorithmic-controlled, pay-to-play priority platforms that suppress or amplify preferred content for profit.' For professionals from underrepresented and historically excluded groups, Hiyer may offer deeper and more meaningful professional connections. 'Most LinkedIn connections don't really 'connect,'' shared Kevin S. Brokenbrough. Brockenbrough is the lead strategist and imagination architect for Clever Ideas, LLC. 'Finding work in advertising while being both Black and gray-haired has been damn near impossible. Racism and ageism are real and consistent. I have many well-respected connections on LinkedIn, but many won't return a call or direct message…and the overwhelming majority don't take the time to get to know you. When I was job hunting, I would call up the ones I knew the best and ask them to make an introduction and nine times out of 10, they would say 'We're connected on LinkedIn, but I don't really know them that well. I've never actually spoken with them.'' The intentionality behind community-building is what drew Brockenbrough to the platform. 'If you make just one connect that is good for your business, the membership will have paid for itself.' Louis explained, 'We're focused on building a platform dedicated to the independent professional, not the employee. Independent professionals' needs are completely different from career employees. We don't need recruiters and job boards or suppression when we make our offerings or have an ask. We need qualified leads, less noise and focus, people to bounce ideas off of, and not the pressure of spending hours either by hand or with GPT trying to craft the perfect post, hoping it will connect with someone who wants what we have.' The Byrds emphasized that one of the unique features of Hiyer is a focus away from the vanity metrics that have become commonplace on social media. 'So much of what we experience on social media networks is theater…more performance than reality,' Louis shared. 'We're building a space where all the performative aspects of social media aren't necessary.' He stressed that Hiyer wasn't necessarily created to compete with LinkedIn but to occupy a different space altogether. 'It's a completely different experience, for a completely different audience, fulfilling a specific need, by design.' For years, social media users, especially those from marginalized communities, have highlighted patterns of suppression online. In a time when discord and disconnection are rampant, Hiyer was created to offer something different—a chance to market your skills, find professional opportunities, and build community intentionally.
