Archive for the 'Innovation' Category

Social Media & Gaping Void’s Pyramid

CMM May 19th, 2009

This morning, I saw this cartoon by Gaping Void artist Hugh MacLeod. I want to be honest, I’m a fan boy of Gaping Void. I have two of Hugh’s cartoons printed off in my office serving as cube grenades– Permanent State of Reinvention and The Hugh Train. Both serve as great talking points, tacked to my wall right beneath my “venture capital value chain” and NASA sticker. Hugh’s stuff really connects because: a. it speaks to something bigger than just the grind of labor, 2. it communicates the same frustrations and irritations that I feel about (insert topic).

When I saw this new cartoon, I was immediately swept back to a twitter comment yesterday. Casey Peters of Knoxify.com tweeted about whether digital/online/social media should be called social media or new media. His question being, is it really “new” media if there are so many opinions, experts, agendas, and conferences about it. My response was that the majority of those opinions, experts, agenda, and conferences were all self-serving and/or rubbish.

This cartoon really captures where I think we’ve come with much of social media– 97% are attention starved, self-indulgent wannabe’s, while 3% are really trying to properly utilize the power of the platform. I know this sounds harsh, but the amount of complete drivel that comes across my various communications is staggering. Add to that pool the ever-so-frequent poorly planned with no hope of generating revenue “social networking” business opportunity that lands in my inbox, and I feel like I’m struggling to keep my head above water!

So, I could expound upon the various elements of social media and why most of them are rubbish, but that would be a waste of time. At the end of the day, your platform/network/meme/etc must be life changing to justify its use existence. Society has quick and dirty flings with technology that makes the needle twitch. Sure its fun, but you don’t commit to something with negligible value-add. If you do, its a long, dark, and expensive road to nothing (dot.com bust). Society embraces/loves/worships technology that makes the needle spin like a clock!

On a positive note (finally!), there is a choice. I think it has a lot to do with ethics and responsibility. Wannabe’s sell out. They take the early easy wins to get cash, because in the end that’s all they care about… Real rock stars, the kind that leave you feeling light headed and giddy at the end of a show, are in it because they LOVE it! The money is awesome and keeps them focused when times get difficult, but they have passion and drive that transcends that. They want their music (aka product) to make a difference.

The world needs more rock stars.

PS: Hugh MacLeod is a rock star in my book.

Video, Entrepreneur Panel on Start-Up Success

CMM December 6th, 2007

Full 1 hour video can be seen here.

From the Churchill Club‘s 2006 entrepreneur panel on start-up success. Participants included Alex Welch from Photobucket.com, Daniel Mattes from Jajah.com, Joe Kraus from Jotspot, Reid Hoffman from LinkedIn, Lauren Elliott from PNN, and moderated by Guy Kawasaki of Garage Technology Ventures and Truemors.Discussion topics include:

  • Business models
  • Pros and cons of entrepreneurship
  • Entrepreneurship as an economic driver
  • Critical mass as a start-up
  • Being a serial start-up
  • Silicon Valley

Updates: Fox Interactive Media(News Corp) acquired Photobucket, Google acquired Jotspot, and LinkedIn has positive cashflows.

Christopher Columbus School of Management

CMM November 7th, 2007

The principles of the CCSoM:

  1. When he set off, he didn’t know where he was going;
  2. When he got there, he didn’t know where he was;
  3. When he returned, he didn’t know where he had been.

This was from a slide in tonight’s Managing New Ventures course. I’m not much for academic humor after 12 hours of class work, but this is a nice little quip and very applicable to entrepreneurship and business development. Without a business plan and model, your great idea is little more than one of Columbus’ shifts drifting at sea. Success is not the product of luck or happen-stance. Plan, execute, assess, and repeat.

Peter Ungaro, CEO Cray Computers on Innovation and Execution

CMM October 23rd, 2007

At today’s TechX 2007, Peter Ungaro served as the lunch keynote. For a technology speaker, he did a pretty solid job of connecting to business principles and innovative ideas. Probably my favorite quote was, “Your customers have more data on your competitor than you do.” In addition, he emphasized placing the company focus on execution and innovation. Here are some key points I jotted down:

Cray’s Learning Points:

  1. Two goals (what does Cray want to accomplish) + two focuses (company culture– execution and innovation) + “sweet 16″ (16 critical performance metrics) = Cray’s success
  2. Stay focused and committed. Remember, “Ready, aim, fire… aim, fire… aim, fire… aim, fire…”
  3. Design and execute strategy around the current business plan and the long-term plan.
  4. Leadership is the key and must come from everyone, not just the CEO or executive team.
  5. Form major alliances with suppliers and customers.

Dare to be Different (and build your brand in the process):

  1. If it makes sense, go the opposite direction. (example– Apple with OS X)
  2. Personalize even non-personal components of business (example– Cray personalizes the cover of every supercomputer, i.e. Army has a camouflage cover)
  3. Go the distance and surprise (example– Cray places a case of beer in the bottom of every supercomputer refrigerator cabinet when they ship to a customer).

Also, John Morris of Sunlight Direct won Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year. His acceptance speech was great– “I’d like to thank God and my wife. Both of them put up with a lot and both deserve more attention than they get.”