May 2012
10 posts
3 tags
Birchbox Man - My Journey Into the Land of...
A while back I wrote about Birchbox and how much I loved what they were doing. My wife treats the day that her Birchbox arrives like a holiday. A few months ago when the company launched Birchbox Man, my wife signed me up for it. It was nine parts curiosity and one part self indulgence.
A few days ago the first shipment arrived. I happened to be out of town, and finally got around to opening...
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Lessons From Seth Godin - Part 6 - Pick Yourself
We have been taught to stand around and wait to be picked. We stand and wait to be picked for the kickball team. We apply to college and hope we are picked. We look for that perfect job and hope we are picked.
Instead of waiting around to be picked, pick yourself. Go and do the thing that you want to do rather than thinking you need some special stamp of approval from someone else.
I had...
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Lessons From Seth Godin - Part 5 - Why Aren't You?
The big idea I took away from my day in NY was simply to keep asking this question over and over and over.
If there are reasons why you are not doing the thing you think you should be, you need to be willing to get to the root of it. Make a list of the reasons you think you can’t do it and work to eliminate them one by one. Then comes the hard part.
Zig Ziglar has the obligating...
Lessons From Seth Godin - Part 4 - Follow No One
“How long have you been following Seth?”
The question seemed innocuous enough, and yet it really rubbed me the wrong way. I was asked this while sitting outside after the event. I don’t consider myself a “follower” of Seth Godin. He is someone that I pay attention to, listen to, and certainly respect. Follow? No. I can’t, and it would do me no good...
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Lessons From Seth Godin - Part 3 - It's About...
“We spend most of our time focused on the product. The focus should be on the harder work of connection.”
As a builder of products, this is one that I have a hard time with. It’s hard for me to imagine that the connection is more important than the product itself. If you connect a bunch of people, but the product stinks, that’s a problem.
We all know the best...
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Lessons From Seth Godin - Part 2 - The Enemy is...
“The enemy is obscurity, not piracy.”
This was a quote I wrote down about half way through the day. In an era where we can read any book ever written or listen to any song ever recorded, whether or not I can copy the material is of almost no concern. The much larger issue is will I care enough to listen to you or read your writing in the first place.
The question is: Will anyone...
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Lessons From Seth Godin - Part 1 - Entrepreneurs...
“Many freelancers think that they are entrepreneurs, but they are freelancers. If the first person you hire to do the real work is yourself, you are a freelancer not an entrepreneur.”
I have to confess that this one stung a bit. It’s something I am guilty of all the time. If I can do the work, I usually do. It’s easier to hire me than to find someone like me to do the...
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A Day with Seth Godin
I had the opportunity to spend last Wednesday with Seth Godin. Seth is a guy that I think has a great story, and is someone whom I hold in high esteem.
The format for the day was simple. Seth gave a bit of a speech at the beginning on how he sees the world, and then opened up a five hour Q&A session about anything that the audience wanted to discuss.
The topics were widely varying, from...
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The $100 Startup - A Book Review
A few days ago I got a welcome surprise in my mailbox: A copy of the new Chris Guillebeau book The $100 Startup : Reinvent The Way You Make A Living, Do What You Love and Create A New Future.
If you are not familiar with Chris, he runs one of my favorite web properties, The Art of Non-Conformity. The reason I say it was a surprise is that I had not ordered it, though I have ordered...
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The Right to Install My Own Software
I recently got a friendly reminder from an application I use extensively on my computer called Growl. If you own a Mac, you probably use Growl as well. It is a great notification engine that lots of other applications use to send messages to the user from background services.
The reminder was about the fact that I needed to update the application, something I have not done since I updated to...
April 2012
9 posts
2 tags
The Thrashing of Patents
It’s considered high-minded right now to come out railing against patents. Everyone is doing it, from Mark Cuban to Fred Wilson to Twitter.
It seems to me that the picture is not quite as black and white as one might think. Cuban talks (albeit a bit tongue in cheek) about a janitor being sued for a how they mop the floor. However, are we to believe that if Cuban had come up with some...
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So What If vs. What If
There is a big difference in the question of “what if” vs. “so what if.”
They are two completely different ways of looking at every decision or circumstance one is faced with.
More “so what if.”
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Three Hundred
This is my 300th post on this blog.
I have been at best inconsistent and at worst negligent. I used to pay attention to all of those “10 steps to a Million Readers” kinds of articles. I have tried doing the thing where you end every post with a question because that’s how you engage readers (supposedly). However it never felt like me.
What’s been true over the last...
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The Threat to the Open Internet
I am reading a fascinating book right now called The Master Switch : The Rise and Fall of Information Empires by Tim Wu. The premise of the book is that information empires (the telephone, film, and TV) all undergo a very similar lifecycle as they mature.
They start out as open platforms with the introduction of the new disruptive medium. Gradually, corporate giants move into the space...
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In the Arena
I heard this quote last night while watching a TED talk. Theodore Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena.” This should be posted somewhere where you have to walk by it every day.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the...
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A Captcha Alternative
On last week’s 350 Third podcast, Anders and I talked a lot about the evils of Captcha (shameless plug). It’s a technology idea whose time has come and gone. I hate it, as does most of the civilized world. It’s remarkable that we put up with inferior, outdated ideas as long as we do.
Anyway, we talked about using better technology to solve this problem, and also talked...
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The Discipline of Solving a Real Problem
The question that trumps all other questions when starting out with a new idea:
“What is the question you are answering?”
If you can’t articulate a concise response in less than 15 seconds, I would submit that it’s time to pause and consider seriously whether to continue.
It’s a discipline that flies in the face of the romance of a new idea, and it’s a...
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Shedding
There are times when it’s appropriate to take on new things. Opportunities present themselves that seem like they will lead somewhere, and so time and energy is committed and spent.
Opportunity cost is one of the least-valued costs, and yet is probably the most important factor in any decision. Doing one thing means, in most cases, that something else will be left undone. Or it can mean...
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Books to Read - April 2012
After a couple of months away due to laziness, the monthly Books to Read list is back. There are some good ones in this month’s list. I hope you enjoy them.
Stop Stealing Dreams by Seth Godin
Sorry, no picture for this one. If you have read this blog regularly, you know that I am a Seth Godin fan. He thinks about the world in ways that are truly unique and inspire me to be better....
March 2012
1 post
1 tag
Call Us, We Won't Call You
I write a lot on this blog about stupid things that businesses do, not so much to be critical of them but to remind all of us that every single interaction counts.
We got a dog a few weeks back and are looking to install an electric fence. There are really only a couple of players in this space: Invisible Fence and DogWatch (at least in our area).
We visited Invisible Fence’s website and...
February 2012
1 post
2 tags
For Free
A few weeks back I was having breakfast with Bruce Benedict, the proprietor and creator of Cardiphonia. Cardiphonia is a music label in the 21st century sense of the word, focused on helping upcoming artists in a niche space (sacred music). Bruce is one of those guys that you can’t help but love watching. He loves what he does, and is amazingly good at it.
We have been getting together...
January 2012
6 posts
1 tag
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MLK
I read this quote on Seth Godin’s blog today from Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s tremendous, and worth repeating, especially with the circus we are about to endure in an election year.
“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.”
May you live...
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Would You Like Some Bland With That?
I spent the week between Christmas and New Years in Tulsa, OK visiting family. On one of the days my wife and I decided to go get some coffee (or tea in my case). There were, of course, sixteen Starbucks within a five mile radius of where we were, but I wanted something different.
We stumbled upon a cool little, locally owned, coffee shop called Agora with the help of Google Maps. What I...
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The Number Two
A man with two clocks never knows the time.
A man cannot serve two masters.
These independent thoughts have in common the distraction of having two of something. In the case of business, this might be having two competing objectives, or to be more to the point not having one clear objective.
I think there is also something to the idea that trying to be something you are not (personally or...
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Books to Read - January 2012
I usually pull most of the books I recommend each month from my current reading list. Last month, however, was a particularly bad month for reading for me. I seemed to get in a rut of books I didn’t like and had a hard time getting out of it. That is, until the last week and a half or so. I only have three books on this month’s list, but all of them are very much worth a read.
...
December 2011
6 posts
1 tag
Starting With @ - A Common Twitter...
If you use Twitter, there is a well-kept secret about starting your tweets with @. If the first character in your tweet is a Twitter address (e.g. @joeblow), only the people that follow both you and @joeblow will be able to see the tweet.
Here is how it works:
Tweet: I am good friends with @joeblow Who Sees It: Anyone that follows me
Tweet: @joeblow and I are good friends Who Sees It: Only...
1 tag
Nothing is Fatal
Except, well, death.
When I am in periods like I am right now, where everything is going sideways, it’s a good reminder that there are very few things that are unrecoverable.
As a companion to this idea, Seth Godin’s post yesterday about failure and mistakes was another reminder that every decision made, while not fatal most of the time, does have consequences. Taking the time to...
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On Liberty
I rarely delve into politics on this blog. The reason for this is that I aim primarily for this blog to be informative and interesting, and politics is usually neither.
There are times, however, when the laws being considered and passed by the United States government need to be talked about. Such is the case with two pieces of legislation that have received widespread notoriety in the past...
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You Never Know Who's in the Room
A few years back I went to see a Switchfoot concert at a college nearby. At the time I knew who they were, but would not have considered myself a fan. At the urging of my brother, I went to see them.
The concert venue was lousy, and there was almost no one there. Probably less than 500 people showed up. The warm up bands were awful. I was skeptical.
Next thing I knew Switchfoot was up on...
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Books to Read - December 2011
As we wind down 2011, the following is my must-read list for December. These books are a combination of recently read and a classic that have a theme of great adversity and the triumph of the human soul. Seems fitting for the end of this year. I hope you enjoy all of them!
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
From the author of...
November 2011
10 posts
2 tags
Observations from a Rural Outpost
I am spending this week with family in upstate NY. My parents have lived in the same house for close to 45 years, and I love getting up here a couple of times a year to enjoy a change of scenery.
A few things have jumped out at me since we have been up here.
Americans watch a ton of television. I guess I don’t notice it as much where we live for whatever reason, but as we have been out...
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The Technology Adoption Debt
I am guilty many times of rushing to judgement about how widespread technology adoption is among the general population in the US. I often presume that because I know about and use great technology every day that most everyone else is doing the same.
It’s simply not true. There is a significant portion of the population that doesn’t know anything about Dropbox or GMail or dozens of...
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Backupify - A Service To Back Up Your Gmail and...
I have been a customer of Gmail since 2004. Since that time, nearly all of my email has been stored with Google. It’s something I fret about from time to time when I think about the cost of losing my mail to either an error at Google, a hack of my account, or human error.
This week I came across a great service called Backupify. It does a nightly backup of your mail, calendar, and Google...
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It's What We Have
I was listening to an interview with REM the other night on NPR. Michael Stipe and Mike Miles were in studio, talking about closing out three decades of amazing music. I must disclose I don’t care for REM at all, but can acknowledge that their contribution to music is worthy of high praise.
Toward the end of the interview, each was asked what was next for them individually. As the voices...
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The Privilege of Protest
I witnessed two events in the past week that could not have presented a more different view the world.
The first was a fundraiser last Saturday night for an organization based here in Raleigh called Jobs for Life. Jobs for Life equips people for the workforce who have had little or no experience in getting or holding a job. The curriculum teaches how to interview, how to fill out applications,...
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Building a Company
I realized this past week that I have been guilty of not trying to build a company, but rather building something that might sell someday. It’s not that selling your company is a bad thing. I wouldn’t mind if it happened.
However, the focus is not the same. I was finishing up Steve Jobs biography last week and there is a great section in the very last chapter. It is essentially...
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Worth Watching - November 2011
Recently there have been several videos that have captured (or recaptured) my interest. As I have done with books for a while,
Objectified is a really interesting documentary on industrial design. From BMW to Braun to Apple, the best in design is explored in this 1.5 hour film. Available for streaming on Netflix or Amazon, or for purchase on iTunes.
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs - All Things...
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Thank You, Veterans
On this Veterans Day, thank you to all of the people who risk their lives every day in service to the USA. There is simply no way to repay the families of those who have lost their lives. Every citizen owes you a tremendous debt.
Some statistics to consider:
There have been over 6,200 men and women killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 10 years since the wars started. The...
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Things Done In Secret - The Mess at Penn State
The happenings at Penn State are another reminder to us all that things done in secret will be shouted from the housetop (or in this case from every housetop).
Joe Paterno’s handling of the events around his assistant coach are at best disgusting and at worst criminally negligent. His graduate assistant bears the same responsibility and should be dealt the same set of cards. Both knew...
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Books to Read - November 2011
Here is the list for the month of November. I hope you enjoy each of these books as much as I have!
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Not surprisingly, the biography of Steve Jobs tops my list for this month. It’s a fantastic read and will not disappoint. I will have a separate post later this month that has more details. I can’t take the proper amount of space to write about it...
October 2011
10 posts
2 tags
Microsoft's Browser Wars, 2011 Version
I came across this comparison chart today that reminded me of the early days of the browser wars between Microsoft and everyone else. If you don’t follow such things, Microsoft has a long and sordid history of being unwilling to comply with standards that the rest of the world readily adopts.
Internet Explorer (IE) is universally accepted as the most difficult browser to work with when...
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Fixing Radio
I remember being on a plane ride back in 2002 or 2003 where a good friend of mine and I got into a lively discussion about how to save the music business with a couple of music executives. This was back when Napster was king and everyone was pirating music. It was our conclusion that people would pay for music if they could buy the way they wanted to, not the way the industry wanted them to. We...
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WatchPearl Jam performing “Last Exit”
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Why You Should Record Meeting Audio
If you are like most people, you have inevitably come out of a meeting with less than perfect notes and had to try to recall important items from the discussion. Missing important details inevitably leads to wasted time and effort, either by taking the wrong action or by having to circle back with the other attendees to recapture the information.
I started a practice a couple of years ago of...
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How to Start Simple
You woke up this morning with a great idea, one that will change both your life and the lives of everyone you know. It’s the next big thing, for sure. The next question you inevitably have is, “What do I do first?”
If you are a technologist like I am, the tendency is to start building something right away. The cooler, the better. People love cool. I have taken this path at...
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WatchAmazing TED talk on prosperity’s root causes
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Dancing While the Ice Melts
There was a local election last night here in Raleigh, NC. The big race was not the mayoral race, but rather the seats on the local school board. As I have talked about in the past, the Wake County school board has been under fire for the last few years as they have moved to change how school districts are organized.
Those that celebrated last night’s results were the champions of...