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Brian Krider
Director & COO, Ben's Soft Pretzels Franchising, Managing Partner Provident Capitalism, CEO Live Large Distribution Inc, Board Member INDIANA Restaurant & Lodging Association
Professional Background
Brian Krider is an accomplished Managing Partner with extensive experience in the restaurant industry. He has built a career characterized by a strong focus on business development and has served in various high-level capacities that have enhanced operational efficiency and business growth. His remarkable proficiency encompasses various facets of business operations including Purchasing, Negotiation, Account Management, Sales, and Inventory Management. Brian's adeptness in these areas not only showcases his skills but also reflects his commitment to driving success wherever he takes the lead.
Brian's leadership style is defined by a blend of strategic insight and practical experience, allowing him to navigate the complexities of the restaurant sector with ease. His ability to develop and implement business strategies has positioned him as a key figure within the organizations he has been part of, making significant contributions to enhancement and sustainability in a competitive market.
Throughout his career, Brian has held notable positions including Managing Partner at Provident Capitalism, Inc. and Chief Operating Officer at Ben's Soft Pretzels Franchising Corporation. His tenure at Ben's Soft Pretzels marks a significant achievement where he wore many hats, including Managing Partner and President/CEO. Brian's leadership helped foster an environment of growth and innovation within the company, ensuring that their unique product offerings reached a broad audience, establishing Bon's Soft Pretzels as a recognized brand within the food service industry.
Education and Achievements
Brian Krider's educational journey began at St. John the Evangelist Catholic School and continued at Goshen High School where he laid a solid foundation for further studies. He pursued higher education at Purdue University, a renowned institution that is known for its commitment to academic excellence and research-driven programs. Although specific degrees earned at Purdue were not mentioned, the experiences gained during this time undoubtedly contributed to his multifaceted skill set and business acumen.
As a Board Member at the Indiana Restaurant & Lodging Association, Brian is actively engaged in the community and plays a crucial role in shaping policies and initiatives that support the restaurant and lodging industries within Indiana. This position underscores his commitment to fostering collaborative efforts that benefit both industry stakeholders and the broader community.
Achievements
Brian's career achievements speak volumes about his capabilities and dedication within the business realm. His experience as Managing Partner at Provident Capitalism, Inc. and the various leadership roles at Ben’s Soft Pretzels Franchising Corporation demonstrate his expertise in managing large-scale operations efficiently.
Under Brian's leadership, Ben’s Soft Pretzels not only expanded its market presence but also maintained the integrity and quality of its product offerings. His skills in sales and account management have been pivotal in negotiating partnerships and customer agreements that reflect mutual growth and success.
Furthermore, Brian's negotiation skills speak to his ability to forge strong alliances and relationships with vendors, suppliers, and other business partners, which are crucial in the restaurant industry's dynamic landscape. His focus on purchasing and inventory management ensures that businesses run smoothly and cost-effectively, driving profit margins and enhancing customer satisfaction.
In summary, Brian Krider exemplifies a strong business leader whose extensive experience and skills reflect a passion for the restaurant industry. His past roles demonstrate a robust ability to manage and lead successful teams, negotiate effective agreements, and maintain strong partnerships with other professionals. As an influential figure in the industry and an active community member, Brian continues to set a positive example for aspiring business leaders and established professionals alike.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.