Put Yourself in Spencer Dinwiddie’s Shoes
Spencer Dinwiddie is one heck of a busy guy. Most people know him for his amazing prowess as point guard with the Brooklyn Nets, but he’s so much more than that. He has been leveraging his talent and drive into a highly successful shoe brand – K8iros, an investment company, and in giving back to the community through his philanthropic work.
Many times, when athletes reach a certain level of success, they naturally look for ways to leverage what they have attained. They turn to investments, products, and endorsements. It’s the smart thing to do. But often, these athletes will turn to agents, managers and companies to take care of it all. Spencer, by contrast, is hands-on. He’s the entrepreneur.
Rethinking Work in the Digital Age
As a traveling pro-athlete, his schedule demands immense flexibility. It is far from a nine-to-five job. But because of this, he and his businesses are actually fully representative of commerce in the digital era. It’s about availability and engagement from wherever you are, at any time that fits. From a hotel room, a car, a meeting space, even courtside, he expects to be face-to-face, mind-to-mind with the people in his worlds. Delay and downtime come with a cost. Opportunity favors the well-prepared.
Cisco Webex — An Obvious Choice for Entrepreneur, Pro-Athlete, and Philanthropist
So it’s no surprise, at least to us, that he keeps a cool hand on the tiller by using Cisco Webex for communicating, collaborating, and growing his empire. People often think of Cisco Webex as the go-to tool in the boardrooms and workspaces of big glass-tower companies. Sure. We’re there. We’ve always been there. But Spencer’s a great example of numerous other situations in which people work together in companies large and small. People in business need clarity of communication. They need immediacy and simplicity. They need to build on their momentum and synergy. Their technology should be a facilitator of these needs, and not an obstacle.
“Cisco Webex is really easy to use and set up,” Spencer told us. “From both the viewpoint of my executive assistant setting up a meeting, or an end user who was invited to a meeting. It’s good to know that the software will automatically adjust for time zone changes since many of my meetings are with people all over the country.
I like the fact that my business team and I can screen share as well to display documents. I also like the fact that when I’m traveling, Webex will help me feel connected to my business team as if I was there. The interface is very elegant and attractive too.” -Spencer Dinwiddie
Collaboration Technology You Can Depend On
Entrepreneurs seldom have the time to get deep into the weeds of technology. Look at phone apps, for example. They drop into your phone and they work. Right away. And if they don’t, they will be deleted immediately. That’s the expectation that drives the success of the app marketplace. Collaboration technology must work the same way if it is to work at all. Connect. Click. Swipe. Speak. Make it happen.
But it also has to be intelligent, and it has to be secure.
Effective Collaboration to Achieve Optimal Productivity
It’s a positive circular pattern. Whether he’s in Brooklyn, LA, or anywhere else, he can get together with his coaches to analyze his on-court performance on his Webex screen, and the important parts can be marked up and saved. Constant observation and improvement of his game allows him to spend his off-court time conferring with designers, suppliers and customers of the K8iros line of athletic footwear. This in turn allows him to flip over to his investors and to the people in his community who benefit directly from his philanthropy, all without any of them having to think about the technology at all. It’s just there. It works. Energy is directed to creativity and achievement, as it should be.
Scalable Communication in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Over the past few decades we have seen computer and internet technology move into our lives, and its impact and benefits have been world changing. Each iteration of the technology has sought to do more, while making it easier for the end user. More intuitive and less “programmy.” Now we are entering the era of artificial intelligence and machine learning, which are making productivity and communication even more proactive and user-friendly than ever before.
Multi-talented entrepreneurs like Spencer often find themselves rising to the top on the strength of their abilities, drive, persistence and business acumen. Cisco certainly can’t take the credit for that. But we do feel that the tools we make available to businesses of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 100s, can help people do more, faster and better. Tools that place people first by making the technology easy.
Learn more about Spencer’s journey, and sign up for Cisco Webex, free.
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