Claudia Batten, Avowedly Non-Linear but very Tech-Smart Entrepreneur (and Madonna Devotee) 

“You need to meet…” If I got a dollar for every time I hear that about a woman entrepreneur, I’d have my own rather large early-stage investment fund right now.

THAT being said, I’m so glad I was told that I just had to meet Claudia Batten. She is seriously impressive, has earned her startup chops and is kind, direct and fun in equal measure. As she noted in our interview, she “looks for people with big brains and even bigger hearts.”  

Claudia’s a U.S.-based Kiwi [New Zealander] who will openly admit to being “obsessed” by all things digital.  She has a background in commercial law, and has founded two very successful entrepreneurial ventures, while also extensively mentoring and advising those starting out in their own solo endeavors.

She was part of the founding team of Massive Incorporated, sold in 2006 to Microsoft, where she  subsequently worked to scale the in-game network. In 2009, Claudia founded Victors & Spoils, an advertising agency that used a crowdsourcing business model – a first-of-a-kind for its industry.  It was acquired by Havas, a French holding company, in 2011.

She continued on, founding, with Ale Lariu and Mary Abraham, Broadli, an enterprise that seeks to exponentially improve the power networking experience, and whose beguiling motto is “It’s like crowdsourcing your problem to your “A” team.”  Claudia’s sense of initiative, love of all things digital, and astonishingly reliable insight into industry trends has made her a regular speaker about   connectivity and building businesses that have a laser-like focus on the future.

(Interviewer’s note: As to your curiosity Claudia about whether ripped jeans are possibly ever office appropriate…I say that an office that won’t take me in my ripped jeans, is not my sort of office. AND like you, I’d rather do anything but vacuum and agree 1000% that bouts of solitude are essential for resetting the brain and energy levels.)

Who are your heroes?
My great-grandmother on both sides of my family. Both endured significant set-backs and took on businesses and opportunities that were not de rigueur for women in their time. I think that’s where I get my pioneering (and rebellious) streak.  Oh – and Madonna!

What is your current challenge?
Focus. Or is it choice? Once you know how to start ONE business, you think you can start five businesses. I am having varying degrees of success with that model!

Your greatest achievement?
Packing for a three-week vacation-meets-business-trip in Europe and taking carry-on only. 

What is your motto?
“Big, Brave Bold – be gloriously 100% who you are. Own it!”

Why are you an entrepreneur?
Because I deny any reality where I am required to play it safe or by the rules.

What problem would you like solved?
Please, can we fix email? I don’t know where to start but I think someone needs to “Uber” email and focus on evolving both user behavior and communications. And voice recognition too please — it would be great if Siri understood a Kiwi/America hybrid accent! 

Item you wish you had invented?
The paperclip — my all-time favorite business model. The industry may be in decline now but, even in 2010, 11 billion paper clips were purchased in the U.S.

Biggest regret?
Regret is not part of my process. 

What talent would you like to have?
I can carry a tune, but I would love to be able to really belt something out without hesitation.

Best pat on the back you’ve ever received?
I had an investor recently thank me for being completely above board about a pretty big issue that put his capital at risk. It was a really hard email to write, but I knew it was the thing to do. To be seen as honest is extremely important to me.

Advice you wish you’d had (or had followed)?
Man, that’s a seriously tricky one. Because I don’t regret anything, it’s hard to think what I wish I had known. Every seemingly bad thing has an upside. Like, I wish someone had counseled me out of living in Hells Kitchen when I moved to NYC, but then I never would have met my incredible friend [celebrity fitness trainer]  @JoelHarperFit. So I think I will pass on this. 

Your pitch in 140 characters?
To continue my journey to being the Biggest Bravest and Boldest version of myself, and to help others do the same (see #thesquigglyline #fierce).

 Your bio in 6 words?
“Finding solutions to move businesses forward.” 

The Twitter follower you can’t live without?
I have to give it up to @LCrampsie [global CMO for Ogilvy & Mather] not only for getting me fired up about Twitter, but also rocking a great tone of voice. 

Your nails-on-a-chalkboard moment?
When people don’t listen. It kills me – it’s sloppy and unaware.

The J.O.B. you’d actually like?
Lady Gaga’s personal shopper!

Biggest misconception about being an entrepreneur?
That there is a well-trodden path to success. In fact, you create your own success, and it’s not by following other peoples’ formulae or roadmaps. It’s by being tenacious, passionate, damn diligent and carving your own path.

Inc. or Rolling Stone or…..? Which magazine cover?
I always wanted to be a rockstar, so that one is damn easy: Rolling Stone. God, that would be cool!

What are you reading?
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. She is a Kiwi, and the youngest person to win the Man Booker prize. Over 800 pages of literary genius. And, as always, I have a pile of non-fiction I am plowing through. You only need to read the first and last chapter and the chapter headings right ?

What book is your must-read?
I don’t think there ever can be just one book, but I read Nelson Mandela’s A Long Walk to Freedom when I was pretty young, and it had an indelible impact. You truly have nothing when your inalienable rights are taken away from you. It’s always a point of reflection that my worst day is very survivable.

What book did you read which would have been put to better use as a doorstop?
Can I say Black’s Law Dictionary,  or is that ducking a hard question? I always get something from non-fiction books, and I never feel compelled to read them cover to cover. Fiction on the other hand, there is a long list.

If I wanted to do what you’re doing…what’s your advice?
Just start — too many people spend their life thinking and never acting. Life is too short and there is WAY too much fun to have.

What conference would you like to keynote?
All of them. I want to spread the gospel of the Squiggly Line. 

Short cut, long route, road less traveled? What’s your roadmap?
I am “road less travelled meets #thesquigglyline.” I believe in the power of intuitive knowledge to guide us through every fork in the road – sometimes that takes us the long route, sometimes short, sometimes it dead-ends, and sometimes it circles back on itself.

Podium you’d like to stand on?
The podium of  being recognized for helping other people achieve their dreams. That’s so not a thing and sounds so corny, but that’s what fuels me. 

What makes you LOL?
My golden retriever chasing his tail, catching it and then doing 360 rolly-polly’s while holding onto his tail. I’m in stitches every time.

What’s the most important startup/entrepreneurship lesson you’ve learned?
That perseverance is the name of the game. It’s about being the last person standing, and riding the many waves (and evolutions) of your business.

What would be the title of your biography?
“Like a Squiggler.” It’s a mash-up of “Like a Virgin” and Squiggling.  Squiggling is my belief that the true path to achieving the extraordinary is 100% non-linear and never true to plan.

Your Ferris Bueller moment: if you could goof-off/skip out for a day, what would you do?
Fly to Paris for the day: eat, drink, get my fill of art and shop a little. 

One place in time you’d like to visit?
I would love to hang out with Hemingway, in Paris, in his prime.  Just for a few days.  I’m really not sure I could keep up though. Or go to Wonderland with Alice, just to be completely whimsical for a moment! 

Part of the trick to staying focused?
Spotify, and enjoying what you are working on. 

You take a three-hour ocean tour and get stranded…what three items do you have with you? 
Who on God’s earth got me to do an ocean tour?

 One last thing — what’s the question I should be asking you?

• • • What is the Squiggly Line? Check it out at www.squigglylife.com
    • What is with your accent? I am a Kiwi but I have lived in America for thirteen years. No one understands me!
    • What is your passion beyond being an entrepreneur? Art – I am married to an incredible metal sculptor (www.markcastator.com), and the imbibing of all things art is our shared passion.