Animal Migration

“Animal migration is a phenomenon far grander and more patterned than animal movement.  It represents collective travel with long-deferred rewards. It suggests pre-meditation and epic willfulness, codified as inherited instinct.  They are prolonged movements that carry animals outside familiar habitats; they tend to be linear, not zigzaggy; they involve special behaviors of preparation (such as overfeeding) and arrival; they demand special allocations of energy.  And one more: Migrating animals maintain a fervent attentiveness to the greater mission, which keeps them undistracted by temptations and undeterred by challenges that would turn other animals aside.” – National Geographic – November 2010

Sounds like a startup.

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Published:
December 26, 2010 – 7:50 pm
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Design Goals

Target for charting excellence

Via FlowingData.

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Published:
November 30, 2010 – 4:46 pm
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How To Ask For Friends and Family Investment

The approach is tricky… money and friends and family combined gets sensitive.  Maybe your brother asked to borrow money last month and was told no…  Maybe you think your friend is loaded but he/she doesn’t feel that way.

So, initially, just keep everyone in the loop.  Talk about how excited you are and how huge you think the business could be.  Just build excitement.  Hopefully someone catches your excitement.  Share details about how big the market is and what the tasks are that you need to do and how you plan to do them.  Have a really well presented business plan and let them take a look – just to look and see what they think – if they care.  They are probably already impressed with you for all your other accomplishments, but showing them a super pro looking 25-pager with all the market research etc can really confirm that you know what you’re doing.  Hopefully you can paint a picture where it seems that with just $____ (and hopefully $____ is a number they can afford) you will be able to achieve certain milestones and either be making money or be super attractive to some particular investors.

Show momentum. Mention that you just got cold called from such-n-such vc and he seemed really interested and this other vc wants to meet you for lunch tomorrow and this strategic partner emailed you all these interesting questions this morning and this really experienced person is becoming an advisor and you just signed up your first customer.

Objectively ask yourself if it makes sense for them to invest. Asking has the potential to make things awkward if they feel guilty for saying no, so be judicious.  If your friends and family can’t afford to lose $30k, and you’re working on some potentially massive, but objectively risky venture, you probably don’t want to be spending their money.

When the time comes and you absolutely need funding to take any more steps forward and you’ve demonstrated both commitment and competency, your friends and family will probably volunteer.  They will be thrilled to help you achieve your goals and optimistic that you’ll make them rich.  Only when you sense that they are on the verge of volunteering should you ask.

And when you ask, or after they volunteer, don’t leave it up to them to have a formal agreement.  They probably don’t make investments like this all the time and probably know less than you.  It’s up to you to prepare the term sheet.  Structure it as convertible debt.  Start with a 10% interest rate and a 10% discount to conversion or increase one and decrease the other.  Convertible debt is good because you don’t need to discuss valuation which can be touchy. Come up with your own term sheet and have a lawyer draft a formal agreement once you have everybody comfortable with the rough terms.

Published:
November 30, 2010 – 12:32 am
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NYC vs. Silicon Valley

When I was in Boston, this was always a popular question at the VC panels.

Innocent student trying to impress – “To start a successful startup, do I need to go to Silicon Valley, or should I stay in Boston?”

Defensive Boston VC – “You should definitely stay in Boston.  Many great companies are started here.  For example: (list of network infrastructure companies started in the 90’s)”

Semi-cocky Silicon Valley VC – “This is the only place to start a startup.  I would never invest in a company that was more than a 5 minute walk from my office. Facebook left Boston to come here (don’t you want to be like Facebook?).”

In NY, it’s the same discussion all over again.

  1. It starts when a few startups in New York get funded.  Someone in the press sees it as a trend and proclaims that New York is the best place to start a company.
  2. VC’s, bloggers and other entrepreneurs in New York weigh in on the subject. (Silicon Valley doesn’t even notice. Not in a bad way – just a completely oblivious kind of way.)
  3. A few months later, someone in NY startup is very frustrated that they can’t get funding/cofounder/employee for their startup.  Blames the banks for paying software developers so well, or a lack of successful entrepreneurs as role models, or claim that the cost of living is too high.
  4. New headline: New York is the worst place to start a company.
  5. VC’s, bloggers and other entrepreneurs in New York weigh in on the subject. (Silicon Valley doesn’t even notice. Not in a bad way – just a completely oblivious kind of way.)
  6. A few months later, more startups in New York are successful… repeat.

This debate is pointless and confusing.  I understand it’s possible that one location or the other has advantages, but your company’s fate is probably more influenced by the specifics of the people on your team (or other very specific factors) than your zip code.

There are more VC’s in Silicon Valley (but there are more deals for them to consider).  There are more engineers that work for stock options (but there are more startups way hotter than yours trying to hire them).

I know plenty of entrepreneurs that have failed in Silicon Valley.  I know plenty of dreamers in the bay area that have never even gotten their businesses off the ground. I know people like that in NY too.

Don’t get caught up in this debate. Work hard at understanding your market/customer problem/product. Live where you want to live.  I choose New York.

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Published:
November 3, 2010 – 11:07 am
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How I Met Your Mother vs. How to Make it in America

The show “How I met your mother” always bothered me.

This show tries to define our generation. College educated young adults.  Non-descript white-collar careers.  A good group of friends having fun and figuring out life through mildly entertaining situations.  Meeting for happy hour (seemingly every day) to catch up.

There’s a sentiment among young adults today that they are entitled to this lifestyle.

Except it’s not true.  Nobody deserves to meet their friends for happy hour every day.  A lot of young adults can’t afford it yet it’s justified as a necessary expense (and debt piles up).  Not to mention that a lot of jobs won’t accommodate it.

Secondly, if it were true, this idea lacks any ambition or inspiration.  The biggest problem the characters face is finding someone to date or figuring out what to do on the weekend.  Nobody cares to change the world.  Nobody wants the responsibility of starting a new company, or inventing something or even excelling at their career.  It’s a passive, lazy, mediocre attitude towards life.

Contrast this to the HBO series “How to Make it in America“.  This show is about two friends living in New York trying to start a new denim brand.

There is nothing given to them.  There is no stability in their lives.  They don’t always know how they’re going to pay rent.  But they are ambitious.  They aren’t content to work 9-5 jobs and hangout at happy hour every day.  They want to start something new.  There is no separation between personal and business life (or personal and business profiles). It’s inspiring to see these guys work to create new opportunities for themselves.

For the cultural and economic benefit of our generation, I wish there were more shows like How to Make It – and less like How I Met Your Mother.  I wish more people in my generation were inspired to create something new rather than just working for a pay check.

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Published:
October 26, 2010 – 11:05 am
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Entrepreneurship Is Not (Only) Fundraising

I am a bit concerned that today’s startup culture equates being a good entrepreneur with the ability to raise funding.  Entrepreneurs that have raised large amounts of capital seem particularly idolized.

But raising money isn’t winning the game – it’s just – getting you in the stadium.

Business plan and pitch competitions feed into this.  Don’t worry about a well thought out product – focus on a slick 3 minute speech instead!  Does that pitch even make sense?  Who cares if the investors like it!

So many entrepreneurs are focused solely on raising capital.  They don’t seem particularly concerned about understanding the market or objectively determining if their business makes sense.  They’re more focused on positioning their story so that investors buy into it.

This mentality is unhealthy.  It cheats the next generation of entrepreneurs.  We’re glorifying and optimizing the wrong skill set.  I’d like to see less time spent talking about how to raise capital and more time talking about how to build a business.

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October 21, 2010 – 10:38 am
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Tim Armstrong and AOL’s Content Strategy

I predict bad things for AOL. I realize Tim Armstrong is a really successful guy and I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he has a way of talking for a long time without saying anything.

Example: Q: “What does creativity mean to you?”  A: “Well, I think, um, I think what creativity means to me and… take a step back… creativity is about empowering people that want to be creative… have a chance to be creative… highlight their creativeness… platforms… scale… next generation… spaces… scaled… connect with end users… distribution… explosion of creativity in the next 3-5 years…”

How does he get away with saying this much buzz-word BS?  How does he keep a straight face.  Why not answer the question?

I also don’t buy the concept of “content farm”.   If you treat content as a commodity, I think you’re in a race to the bottom.

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Published:
October 17, 2010 – 10:38 am
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Making a Name for Yourself

Fine, it might not be a very common name, but still…

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June 15, 2010 – 9:12 pm
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Human Computer Interfaces of the Future

This may sound a bit sci-fi, but consider this idea: 100 years from now, mobile computers will be implanted inside us.

The screens will not be LCD or E-ink.  There will be no screen.  The visual outputs will be directly coupled to our optical nerves.  We’ll be able to “see” things on our minds internal screen.  Perhaps this mind-screen will be visible when we close our eyes, or projected over our vision in some way.  It sounds crazy but, consider that scientists are already developing bionic eyes that give the sensation of sight.  Similar integration will let us “hear” things.

Imagine watching a movie on the subway, simply by closing your eyes.

To control the device, we won’t need a mouse or a touch screen or even voice control.  We’ll control these interfaces with our brains directly. This will be an extension of the research that allows amputees to control bionic hands.

These computers will be connected wirelessly to the internet and give us infinite access to data and communication.  Just by thinking…

Using these computers will not be easy at first.  It will require practice.  How will you compose a message in your head?  How will you submit a query?  How will you make a selection?  It will be like reading in the 1800’s (or using a computer in the 90’s or a smart phone in 2002). With practice, what was awkward at first will become natural.

Remember how when kids first learn to read they have to read out loud, but with practice they can read silently?  Our interaction with these computers will be like that. With practice, we’ll refine our ability to visualize and think with this inner voice.  We’ll learn how to compose messages on this inner screen and generally interact with a computers interface in our heads.  Physically typing a message on a computer will someday seem as childish as reading out loud.

Many vendors will produce these computers.  Apple will make a good one.  So will Microsoft.  Probably a new company that doesn’t exist yet today will actually lead the space.  There will be standards.  There will be apps.  The framework that’s evolved around desktop and mobile computers will be applied to this new platform.

There will be lots of protest around this implantable computer technology.  The idea that they will control us, or compromise our privacy, or have health side effects will be debated.  Thriller movies will predict that these computers are a conspiracy to turn us all into zombies and take over the world.

Regardless, the convenience, excitement and competitive advantages will be too good to resist.  How will your kids compete in school if they can’t instantaneously access their lessons via direct link to Google or Wikipedia?  How will you perform at work if you aren’t able to instantly access the data your client asks for?

At younger and younger ages, we’ll implant our children with these mind-controllable computers.  Our grand children will grow up with these devices.  Like our grand parents used to scoff at (and be amazed by) our love and savviness for video games and cell phones, we will scoff at this generations love and savviness for these implanted computers.

We’ll be the ones telling stories about “the good old days” when we actually had to memorize equations or carry around devices to call each other or read the news or get directions. Our children will laugh and tell us how they simply couldn’t imagine a world without their implanted computers.

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Published:
May 16, 2010 – 4:18 pm
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Design as Customer Service

Came across this quote and couldn’t agree more.  This concept is core to the strategy of Proper Cloth.

For software going forward, help will be built into the user interface. It will be a part of the infrastructure, embedded in normal interface elements instead of being an add-on.  (via 52 Weeks of UX)

When a customer is using your website, in order of preference:

  1. The customer understands everything and knows exactly what to do.  The colors, imagery and micro-text are so clear and intuitive that everything happens at the sub-conscious level.  Questions never even arise in the customers mind.  It’s as natural as walking down the street.
  2. Small questions arise in the customers mind but strategically placed help links or hover text quickly answer these questions and keep the customer moving forward.
  3. Questions arise in the customers mind that are not answered seamlessly.  The customer has to stop what they are doing and go to a special help, how-to or FAQ page to answer their question.
  4. Questions arise in the customers mind that are not answered seamlessly and, even after digging around on the website, the customer still cannot figure out what to do.  They eventually come to the contact-us page and either email or call customer support.  (Or they just leave your website entirely).

Ideally, every interaction would fall into category #1.  However, depending on the complexity of what you’re doing, interactions in the #2 and #3 categories are probably inevitable.

Category #4  changes things though.  It’s expensive for the business and exceedingly frustrating for the customer.  It lacks elegance.  It is a hack.  Internet businesses are exciting primarily because of their intrinsic scalability. Customer service centers are not scalable like software.

Some great businesses have been built claiming their core strategy is “customer service”.  A lot of times this means they have invested heavily in a call center full of friendly, well trained customer service folks.  I wonder if once you’ve invested heavily in a customer service center, do you spend as much energy trying to perfect your design?

It’s two very different ways of solving the same problem.  One is infinitely scalable, but trickier to get right.  The other is easier to get right, but more expensive to scale.  Which solution would you choose?  Is it possible for a new company with good design to disrupt an established company with a large customer service team?

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Published:
May 14, 2010 – 5:54 pm
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