Teresa Mastrangelo, Principal Analyst & Founder, Broadband Trends
Teresa Mastrangelo is the founder and principal analyst for Broadband Trends, an independent market analysis firm specializing in telecommunications. Teresa has 31 years of experience and is one of the leading analysts in her field on Broadband infrastructure and services. She joins ConnectThe2 to discuss what she looks for in a pitch meeting, what she wishes PR firms would do differently, and what she likes best about working as an independent analyst rather than for a large firm. If you like what you’re reading, be sure to listen to the entire episode linked at the bottom of this page.
A WFH expert…
Teresa tells us that she has been working from home since 1997. She says she has learned a lot working from home and that although there have been challenges, she wouldn’t change it for the world. She says that she got lucky working with West Coast-based companies that did not mind her working from the East Coast, and she was able to do product marketing for those companies from her home. Teresa founded Broadband Trends in 2004 and has always run the company from home, which made it a lot easier for her to adjust to any changes needed within the company during the pandemic. She says that because the company is smaller, it is easier to make changes to the schedule and to simply say no if there is a request that she doesn’t feel comfortable with.
Always seeking the perfect elevator pitch…
When asked what she is looking for in a briefing meeting, Teresa says she is looking for the “wow” factor. She wants to know why she should care about a product, what makes it different from other products that are already available and what problem the product aims to solve. She says it is important to provide the key points early into a presentation and that often companies make the mistake of never really telling her why their product matters. She says she probably only gets the answers she is looking for 5% of the time in pitch meetings.
We asked Teresa what PR firms could do differently when approaching her about a product, and she said simply that they should do their homework. She states that many interviewers do not research her beforehand and will waste much of their meeting time explaining concepts to her that she is already an expert on or trying to pitch her a product that she will never write about because it is not among her interests.
Beyond analysis…
In addition to researching the latest telecommunications technologies, Teresa is very big on health and fitness, having spent many years participating in marathons and 10Ks. She says that if she was not a Broadband analyst, she would love to work in health and fitness or in technology related to elder care that would help elders maintain their independence. After the interview, we play two games to get to know Teresa better, a trivia game with questions about Teresa’s favorite band, The Grateful Dead, and a This or That style rapid fire game where we learn just how serious Teresa’s sweet tooth is.
Hear more...
If you've enjoyed these takeaways be sure to listen to our full interview linked below. Also, be sure to listen to, rate and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, iHeartRadio or Soundcloud.
Quotes
“The main thing that I’m looking for in a briefing is why should I care? What am I talking to you about? What is it that you’re offering that nobody else is doing? What’s the wow factor? If you have a new product, what’s different about it? What problems is it going to solve? … For me to care lets me explain this to everybody else and promote it. I’m looking for that opening to something unique and different that I believe is going to solve a problem and is something that the industry needs.” (06:04-06:55)
“There’s always that company that’s ahead of its time, and it sounds really great, but nothing really happens with them.” (30:04-30:09)
“[My proudest moment was] without a doubt it was being on NPR’s All Things Considered, when I got to go to a studio and be interviewed about the emerging voiceover IP market. It was quite exciting because I had people I had not heard from in years – coworkers, friends from high school – who said, ‘Hey I heard you on my commute home on All Things Considered.’ So, that was really cool to have people who honestly didn’t know anything about what I do for my career hearing me on the show. That was one of my highlights for sure.” (33:36-34:20)
Links
Teresa's blog (read it like the morning news)
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