8-Month Taxi Ride Ends in Cloud Success: Duel Masters the Customer Experience

The more time I spend with clients, the more I notice all the change that’s taking place. Customer behavior is getting harder to predict. Technologies are evolving more and more quickly.

At Oracle, we want to help you stay ahead of these trends. One way we do that is by supporting and nurturing startups through our Startup Cloud Accelerator Program.

This program is truly a two-way street; not only do our customers benefit, but we get to soak up the energy and innovation of the startups with which we work. We harness this spirit as we enhance our products—thus keeping you and your company ahead of the technology curve.

So, how are our customers actually faring in the Startup Cloud Accelerator Program? What are they getting out of it?

In an effort to answer these and other questions, I recently sat down with Paul Archer, co-founder and CEO at Duel, an automated customer advocacy marketing platform. Duel has been in our Accelerator Program for more than seven months, which made this a great time for Archer to share some of his early wins from the program.

What Duel Can Teach You About Your Best Customers

What’s inspiring about startups is that if they want to survive, they have to deliver an unbeatable customer experience. We can all learn from how Duel is doing just that. But first, a bit more background on their company.

After Paul Archer and his college buddies completed their world record-breaking taxi ride, you might think they’d look for other fascinating adventures. And they did—as entrepreneurs.

Their taxi adventure has certainly helped them in their business adventures. Companies recognized that guys who could take a whimsical idea and turn it into a profitable enterprise (the taxi stunt raised £20,000 in sponsorship money for the Red Cross) might be able to help them accelerate their brand. Soon, a new adventure emerged: Duel.

“I started working with a lot of brands and discovered a common theme,” Archer explained. “Their problem was that they couldn’t build up a relationship with their customer. And brands are being crunched down by bottom-line shopping.”

As they began researching how to help struggling brands, Archer and his colleagues realized that some brands had broken free from this race to the bottom. The most successful companies were those in which the brand had been defined and built by their customers.

“We built a piece of software that would allow brands to activate their customers, find the most passionate ones, and turn them into advocates,” said Archer.

With Duel, brands can empower customers to create content, refer friends, and so on. The concept is brilliant: Companies can reward their best customers in ways that turn these customers into advocates for the brand. I think is a huge opportunity for today’s leading brands.

The Secrets to Duel’s Success

As I mentioned, Duel is now seven months into our Accelerator Program. When I asked Archer about his secrets to success, he stressed the need for everyone at a company to share a mission—not necessarily because they’ve memorized a mission statement, but rather, because they all have the same intense focus. Perhaps, Archer says, this is in the form of something to “rage against”—something that’s being done wrong in the industry, which your company will now help fix.

I’m excited to continue working with companies like Duel in our Accelerator Program.

What I’m most excited about is the chance to work with your company. Are you at the startup stage but wanting to grow as quickly and strategically as possible? Contact us today to find out more about the Startup Cloud Accelerator Program.