Ryan Ing – From Business Student to Entry-Level to Executive

Coronavirus Stocks Are Like The New Cannabis Stocks.

Corona virus medical stocks are like the new cannabis stocks.

On January 21st the World Health Organization began to investigate if the virus was a public health emergency or not.

Since that day, certain companies have seen their stock prices skyrocket (🚀📈50% in one week) on speculation of creating a vaccination or increased sales of medical equipment (surgical masks, for example)

Example companies: $INO, $LAKE, $APT

In 2018 we saw cannabis stocks hyped up daily by the media. Some companies had fundamentals to back up their valuations, and some did not. A year later, after the speculation and media hype cleared away, some companies were left standing on their firm foundation and some dissolved like sandcastles in the rain. E.g. TLRY & CTST down -95%

The effect that world news can have on the valuation of companies is very intriguing.

Cause & effect is a beautiful thing.

This is not investment advice, but if you’re a risk-seeking speculator feel free to ping me.

Img credits: Contratheheard.com

#Stocks #CoronaVirus

How to Cold Email / Run A Coffee Chat Workshop (Nov 2019)

Last Winter I hosted a workshop for first-year business students at Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University on how to cold email and how to run a coffee chat. Here were the results:

(A majority of the 50+ students sent out emails, more than half received replies, and a handful forwarded the results back to me)

To gain the confidence to introduce yourself to someone new takes time. To find the right mentors to support you takes time as well. Together, both are fundamental soft skills that give an aspiring businessperson the tools for success.

Thank you to the 40+ contacts who volunteered to offer advice to students 👏

👉 Thursday I’m hosting another workshop where I’m giving a few students LinkedIn Profile Makeovers, haha. Along with some tips on writing bios/headlines/networking with others. Ping me if you want any more details or help.

#BreakthroughProgram #TRSM

The 7 Degrees of Employment in Tech

People often think there are only two options: Working for a company or doing your own start-up.

In fact, there is a broad range of employment you can do. Like doing corporate contracts or being a freelancer. Each one has its pros and cons.

Here’s a draft I have in progress. Will make more edits later.

B2B Tech Sales Landscape

Do you want to work in tech sales but are not sure which company you want to work for? Here’s how we can categorize tech companies into 4 quadrants.

Media Darlings

They are called darlings because everyone LOVES the brand and wants to work there. These companies make most of their money from selling advertising (E.g. Google makes 80% of its revenue from Google Ads), hence “media”.
Pros: Best brand name, your employability skyrockets. Generally cool products
Cons: These companies do not typically have established new grad programs, they usually poach experienced hires from other companies.

Old Guards

These companies have proven themselves, have 50+ years history, and household names. They are generally market leaders in the product areas.
Pros: High pay, long training program (6 months), brand recognition
Cons: Culture can be lacking. A lot of company processes and bureaucracy

Midmarket

These companies have a market capitalization of $100mil-$5bil. So they are not startups but they are more established.
Pros: Often have really cool culture. Shopify/Salesforce consistently win top employer awards in Canada
Cons: Usually restricted to Inside Sales roles. Because the company is still scaling, mostly 100% outbound cold calling for entry-level.

Work Horses

These are companies that are solid employers (often on Best Employers List), however are often resellers of other companies products / companies that are not perceived to be market leaders, so do not benefit from the same powerful brand image that other companies have.
Pros: Great training
Cons: A lot of outbound cold calling due to poor brand recognition

Other/Related

These companies are in the technology space but work on slightly different business models. Teksystems is really in the staffing business but places for technology roles. Also good choices, but I don’t have much information available.

Movement Between the Quadrants – Here’s the magic!

It is easier to make a horizontal move than vertical one. Generally speaking if you get a job at Google, it’s easy to land an interview at IBM or Shopify. But if you get a job at Xerox, it will require some work to land yourself an interview elsewhere.

This was originally taught to me from Asad Zaman, from Sales Talent Agency. Credits to him.

The Differences Between B2C Sales and B2B Sales

In this post I will help educate you on differences between B2C (Business To Consumer) Sales and B2B (Business to Business) Sales.

It’s the difference between working as a Real Estate Agent selling homes to families, and working in Commercial Real Estate for CBRE selling offices and buildings to businesses.

It’s the difference between working as a Teller in a bank (Retail Banking) vs working as Equity Research Analyst on the Sell Side (Investment Banking).

Selling cellphones at Best Buy is completely different from selling business software at a B2B Technology company.

Different Types of Sales
	B2C Sales	B2B Sales	Enterprise Sales
Problem solving/Products	Simple problem	Helping businesses Save time/money	Solving complex business problems “Consultative sales”
Style	Emotional	Logical	Emotional + Logical + Business Case
Sales Cycle (length of deal)	Hours, within a day	Weeks	Months “Triple decker”
Training	On-the-job	Week-long	Six-month longs
Pay	100% commission	Base + commission40k + 20k typical for new grads	Base + commission 50-60k base + 15-20 typical for new grads
Culture	Often students or non-university graduates	Sexy startup, cool perks	Not as cool, but generally cushy
Cold calling?	100% prospecting	80% prospecting20% inbound/account management	20% prospecting80% inbound / account management
Clients	Any joe blow	Business owners	F500, large businesses

Ryerson Sales Initiative – Why Sales? Speaker Panel

Speaking on a panel tonight at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. My goals to serve as an effective panelist tonight:

1️⃣. Be entertaining, not just informative. Information without emotion is not retained. Students can be tense, or nervous since they are putting themselves out there. As a panelist I think it’s great to share inspiring stories, make jokes, use analogies, use body language, and other creative ideas to help the audience feel comfortable and open to receive the most from the Q&A.

2️⃣. Share industry insights, not general business advice. Students who attend extracurricular events are usually already very self-motivated, so they don’t need to be reminded of things like “follow your passion” or “be a team player”. They need more something like “What are some common misconceptions about working in sales?”

➡️Community, please share with me any advice on what you think makes a panelist effective. Examples welcome.

Tonight I hope to add some creative flair to my presentation. Hint: I love music 🎵🎵🎵

hashtag#b2bsales hashtag#ibm hashtag#trsm hashtag#ryersonsalesinitiative hashtag#speakerpanel

Work Conditions Cannot Provide Satisfaction. They Can Only Prevent Dissatisfaction.

Working at Google? Free lunches? A six figure salary? Ability to work from home?

These are all “work conditions”, or formally known as “hygiene factors”. And I’m here to tell you that cannot provide you job satisfaction. They can only prevent dissatisfaction.

That means that, if you didn’t have these things: you would complain about them.

So what can give you job satisfaction then?

How does this relate to finding my dream job?

This is an elaboration on Herzberg’s two-factor theory.

Don’t seek hygiene factors e.g. “I want to work at Google! Have you heard about how amazing their office is?”, instead, seek motivating factors “I really find meaning in doing this type of work, I would probably even do it in my free time.”

With that in mind, you should probably first define what type of work you like doing, then second define what type of company you’d like to work for.

As a sidenote, I’ve actually been to the Google office. It’s true, they have slides and fuzzy carpets, and free 24/7 lunches! But still, I’ll abstain from saying I’d love to work there, since I have no idea if I’d be interested in the actual work.

Now to put this idea on a catapult and launch it further, I’m wondering if this can apply to spousal relationships. E.g. Physical attractiveness is a “condition” that cannot provide you relationship satisfaction, it can only prevent dissatisfaction.

Let me know your thoughts!

LinkedIn Posts Archive 2018-2019. Documenting my IBM Journey for year 1.

Rather than publishing on my blog, I’ve been publishing directly on LinkedIn. A lot of the posts have had great engagement, so I’ve saved them here for safekeeping. Below each post I’ve copied and pasted the text, but you can just ignore that. This post was May 2019 so all the dates e.g. (10 months ago…) are dated from that point.

Friends, what impact do you think free snacks have on employee engagement? 🤔 IBMers, how do you feel about the free snacks?
#Comedy hashtag#News hashtag#Puns hashtag#EmployeeEngagement IBM
To me, small perks like these make a difference! And to see one of the largest technology companies in the world offer a perk that is most often found at the smallest technology companies in the world… to me that represents a shift in culture. If this gave you a chuckle, give it a like. I may make more videos about every day business life in the future. 😊

Some people love to watch sports competitions. Me? I love to watch business competitions! 🎬 What a great show! If you see the photo in the top right, the judge pretended he was on a phone call, got up in the middle of the presentation, then sat back down just to see the competitor’s reaction 😂.
The scenario was about installing network infrastructure into a building, so the competitor said “hey your customers get phone calls at random times, look how he has a phone call right now…” haha loved that comeback. Although the student I was coaching did not make it to the finals, they were close!
They said they learned a lot and will give it another shot next year. And I’ll be ready to train them again… like Yoda waiting for the Return of the Jedi hashtag#B2BSales Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University
Ryerson Sales Initiative

I have officially ‘landed’ on IBM
‘s Data Science team. Here’s a picture expressing the way I feel about it: 🚀🌕 Data Science isn’t rocket science – in simple terms its helping clients discover insights from their data to improve business decision-making. Lead by experts Lee Cratchley
and Robb Corrigan
… it’s gonna be a great year of tremendous learning and exploring new heights. “I feel like a boy playing on the seashore, diverting myself now and then to picking up stones and shells whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” – Isaac Newton If anyone in my network knows any other experts I should be learning from, feel free to tag / let me know! hashtag#IBM hashtag#DataScience hashtag#Analytics hashtag#IBMSummitProgram

Sales training? Everyone’s got a method. Software demo training? Rarely taught, but critical for tech workers 💻! Last week I attended Demo2Win, a two-day workshop that teaches professionals how to effectively demo software. Learning: Imagine you are showing your manager a report, a customer your software, or even a friend a new app that you love… here’s a proven methodology you can follow: Don’t just jump into “showing” right away! 😲 1️⃣ TELL them what you are going to show them in simple 1-2-3 steps (Or else they might get caught thinking.. ok where is this presentation going?)
2️⃣ SHOW them (Avoid saying “click this or that”. Say “If you want to…” Focus on their intention, not features.)
3️⃣ TELL them the benefit. Answer the most important question – SO WHAT? Demos are to help people see what they can achieve, not to show how a technology works. Thanks for the workshop & for awarding my demo with a mobile tabletop. Now I can stand while I demo like a pro 🤵 If anyone is working on a demo, feel free to reach out – happy to share more of what I learned to help you out. 2Win! hashtag#IBM hashtag#IBMSummitProgram hashtag#GlobalSalesSchool

Our final project for IBM Global Sales School was a written proposal + 30 minute presentation to a panel of judges roleplaying a client. Applying our learnings from the previous six months, and working together in a hotel room til midnight for two nights, Team Red was able to deliver and score 1️⃣ First Place in our class Here’s a 3 minute cut-down version of our 30 minute presentation. I’d love to show more but we can’t give away too much to future students of the program =)
When I was graduating I selected IBM
over various options because I believed it to provide one of the best corporate sales training programs in the world. I can now affirm it to be true. ✅✅ The past six months of training have been so valuable and jam-packed with unique offerings delivered from the best, all across the USA ✈️. I felt the need to capture a piece of it in video form before it was all over. I’d like to thank Team Red for a memorable finish and the Summit Program Management for providing what I wanted and more out of a New Graduate Program 🙏. I look forward to bringing this solid foundation to our clients as I transition to the field over the next 6 months. hashtag#IBM hashtag#IBMSummitProgram hashtag#GlobalSalesSchool

IBM Global Sales School: Trip 2. “Dad had taught me that a good businessman has to be an actor.” – Thomas Watson Jr. A few months ago we had our very first ‘Mock Sales Calls’, where we have former IBM
sales executives roleplay as customers. These ‘Sales Advisors’ act as VPs of various companies and we apply everything we learn in the classroom to simulate a live business meeting. The focus is on gaining a deep understanding of the client’s business problems and discovering ways to solve it. Accelerated learning requires a very fast feedback loop – people fixing your mistakes immediately after they are made. That’s why after each presentation we stop as a group and ask “What did they do well? – What could they do better?”. We then rotate presenters, and do it again. And do it again. And again. And eventually you forget you are even acting, because leading a professional engagement becomes natural! Great training and great fun 😊 Top photo: David Glenn (Wins an unofficial Oscar for best actor) Kailyn S. Max W. Eric M. Bottom photo: David Simms (provided an extra fun challenge, by roleplaying an angry customer with me) Right photo: Isabella Sanchez with Eric Billups – great listening skills right from the first call! hashtag#IBM hashtag#GlobalSalesSchool hashtag#IBMSummitProgram hashtag#EnterpriseSales

As one of the volunteer Judges at the DECA Invitationals today, I’d like to give a shoutout to Domenic Salituro
, whom I offered a near-perfect score for delivering an excellent presentation demonstrating confidence, creativity, and a business acumen. DECA Inc.
is a business simulation competition, with lightning fast preparation – only 15 minutes. He came in and sat across from me with a stack of looseleaf paper, where he had hand-drawn graphs of revenue projection, market share, a Bloomberg statistic on acquisitions, and various facts from the case. Throughout the presentation he held up the pages and flipped through them one, by one, almost giving me a manual ‘powerpoint presentation’. Impressive creativity and resourcefulness! The kicker? He’s only in first-year!! I felt invigorated to witness such potential. To close, I asked him why he chose Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University
– and he mentioned it was recommended to him because of ‘co-op’. You made the right choice my friend. I came here under the same recommendation. Make sure to seek out Laura Henshaw
=) You have five bright internships ahead of you and a potential gold medal at DECA Nationals one day – keep thinking outside of the box!

Top Gun Award # 2️⃣! ✅✅ This is the second and final half of our formal product training, and the 💎 recognizes top 10% of the class. A week before, I told my managers I had the intention to try and go for the win. When you share a goal with others it can give you a healthy type of pressure to work harder because you are no longer doing something only for yourself, but also doing it for others. It might give you an extra dose of motivation. Find what ‘motivational tricks’ 🧠 work for you! • Topics covered: IBM Services (Consulting and Technology Services), Watson Health, Watson Talent, Watson Customer Engagement, Watson IoT, Bluewolf, Blockchain, along with a series of Summit Alumni and Senior Executives serving as our role models. Coming from various backgrounds like golf caddies, manual labor workers, TV actors, but all carving their own paths within the company to reach their potential. Don’t forget to align your joy (smile) with the objectives of the company you are working for! IBM
hashtag#GlobalSalesSchool hashtag#IBMSummitProgram hashtag#TopGun

Spent the weekend at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University
as part of the IBM Sponsor for the QBET Conference. Last year I competed in the competition component, this year a judge! It’s nice to go full circle. It happens at all stages of our lives. Babies grow up to be babysitters. Students become teachers. Children become parents. Sports players become coaches. Mentees become mentors. The guy competing in the case competition joins the company, rewrites the case instructions so it’s easier to cut, then comes back next year to judge it. Full circle ⭕. You don’t always have to go and complete the loop – but it’s rewarding and a bit surreal when you do. Had a good time watching students put together their best presentations, and was well taken care of by the team – ☕ Madeline Jackson & 📷 Jacob Wolfe! hashtag#IBM

Top Gun Award! ✅Ranked within Top 10% of scores in the final written examinations. The focus of this 5-day boot camp is 50% product training, 50% career education… and 100% free food at the hotel buffet! • Offerings we covered: Hardware (Data Processing, Data Storage), Cloud, Managed Services, Analytics, Business Automation, Blockchain, Financing Deals, Compliance, etc. 🎯 • Career topics we covered: Focus on putting your client first in building a long term business relationship – and your quota will take care of itself, how technical sales and salespeople support each other, managing your visibility as part of career advancement, and a day-in-the-life of an IBM NA Executive. Always exceeding expectations with delightful surprises ; like a birthday cake being brought out for one of our classmates in the middle of the week, and a video from the class manager’s 8-year old daughter wishing us a great trip. Looking into this crystal ball (cube), I foresee myself applying to come back as a speaker next year 🔮. IBM
hashtag#IBMSummitProgram hashtag#GlobalSalesSchool The IBM Summit Program

My grandfather was complaining to me that his phone bill was too high, so I offered to call in to help. After talking to two customer service reps, one retention specialist, and one account creation rep, I saved my grandpa $50/month 😊. I even got them to throw in a technician to help with installation on the bundle deal, just in case he couldn’t figure out how to plug in the router.
After going through two months of corporate sales training at a very professional level, it is HILARIOUS to talk to other salespeople. I really appreciate businesspeople who really take time to understand your underlying needs before making suggestions. The first couple reps just tossed out random upsell offers that were irrelevant to the reason I was calling, “But for another $50 you can 4K TV with HDR!” Maybe it’s just a numbers game for them. I know how that feels. Safe to say, I am glad we are learning to think strategically like in a chess game, rather than statistically like in a dice game.
#IBM hashtag#GlobalSalesSchool hashtag#sales

IBM Global Sales School: Trip 1. On the first day of training, lead by Dave LaPenta
, we took a DISC personality assessment. Surprise! 60% of the class identified as “I”, 20% as “D” and “S” and “C” as 10% each. Certain jobs have certain archetypes, so it is no surprise that much of the class fit into the ‘people person’ category! Our class is 50+ students of the top grads of US/Canada, including business degrees/MBAs. This model is helpful for not only understanding how you communicate/behave, but also as a shortcut to finding out to motivate others. If you are meeting with a:
• Dominant: Allow them to feel in control, get to the point and focus on objectives.
• Influencer: Allow them to feel stimulated, show enthusiasm and encourage collaboration.
• Steadiness: Allow them to feel supported, show appreciation and build a stable environment together.
• Conscientious: Allow them to feel knowledgeable, be logical and systematic in your approach. (My best understanding so far, feel free to share your opinions) What did I score? Over 90% on the “C” category. People have often commented on my thoughtful approach to communicating and the thoroughness of my work. Want me to help analyze your personality? Reach out! (I find this fun) Comments / Ideas? Feel free to share.

Week 2 at IBM – Flown out to New York to the IBM Learning Center (IBM’s unofficial school) for a week of training. Among the cool things: • Very professionally run orientation covering IBM’s history, values, organizational structure, and an overview of enterprise sales lead by Sales Leaders of 20+ years experience.
• Solid hour long discussion on diversity, inclusion, and how people “cover” at the workplace. Clear 50/50 gender balance, not just in new-hires but also in management present (rare in tech).
• Meeting other 50+ other Summit Hires from across the States for both the Sales / Technical Sales track.
• Strong emphasis on internal networking. Class is stopped 5-6 times/day to break out into an open reception to chat with your future coworkers.
• We’re given a yearbook with photos + fun facts of our entire cohort so we can keep in touch. Feels like school all over again 🙂
In University, you pay tuition to learn. Here in Global Sales School, we are getting paid while we learn. IBM making a great investment in future talent. Feels good to be immersed in a group of people fit for a high performance culture and potential to make an impact on the bottom line. And this was just the first week of class!! hashtag#GratefulEveryday IBM
hashtag#GlobalSalesSchool

I have returned to IBM
Canada. Not an intern this time 🙂 First day, of a long journey through the Summit Program. Goodbye Ted Rogers School of Management
I have officially left the nest. Over five years you taught me how to flap my wings and keep a high altitude in the business world. I am ready to fly.

Featured on the TRSM Co-op Website

As a former leader of the Co-op Students’ Association I always advocated for co-op an excellent career option for other students. I did 3-4 class talks throughout the year. So I was called in to be profiled.

https://www.ryerson.ca/trsm-co-op/student-profiles/Ryan-Ing/

My top reasons to choose co-op
(1) Discover what your dream job is by exploring mulitiple companies, in different roles, in varying industries. I explored Financial, Retail, and Technology!
(2) Earn a great wage and graduate debt free… or you can spend your co-op money buying a used car like me
(3) Build a ton of relationships with different companies to increase your chances of a full-time job offer when you graduate.

If you haven’t had a 1:1 meeting with your counsellor in the BCH, do so.

They have an endless list of job opportunities and their job is to help you succeed.

2017 – The Year I Taught Myself Investing & Trading

Me: Hi, I placed an order to buy to buy one share of IBM but the order is not going through!!

Questrade Helpline: Sir it’s only 830am, the stock market doesn’t open until 930am.

Me: Oops!! Wow, the things they don’t teach you in business school 😳

I believe that everything in life is a skill. If you are unsatisfied with some area of your life, chances are you lack a skill in that area.

Tip: Most books are available free at the Toronto Public Library.

For me, I lacked skills and knowledge in investing. Business school teaches you how to read a balance sheet, but they don’t teach you how to buy a stock. So I taught myself.

Learning investing is never really ‘urgent’ – most people wait until they’ve accumulated a bunch of wealth and then scramble to figure out what to do with it. Many people hire a financial advisor to figure it out for them. I decided to the opposite. I figured by learning all of this now, the moment I have a windfall of cash I will know what to do with it. I will be able to be my own financial advisor.

Besides that, every working professional has some edge on the market – doesn’t hurt to set aside a small amount for speculative plays 😉

.“If you read three books on any one topic, you are basically an expert compared to the general population”

If you want a book recommendation, give me a shout!