Spring Forward Like Pacman

April 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

 

201303RRBridgeTownLakeFromPedBridgeNeverGiveUp

Never give up.

What a busy winter season. Holiday crush, end of year rush always has me looking forward to Q2 on the calendar. It’s Spring time and love of fresh tech startups is in the air with all the conferences, including South by Southwest and the inaugural Big Kansas City.

The picture you see is courtesy of one of my favorite blogs, Austin, Texas Daily Photo. The caption says it all. Go for the Pacman food, and don’t look back.

Time to recap and get this blog revving again…


Unpluggd
I spent a considerable amount of writing bandwidth on my contributions to Entrepreneurs Unpluggd. They share entrepreneurs’ stories and advice to help you build your startup. Check out some of my work there:

South by Southwest
Checked in at “halftime” on Sunday, just in time for a solid three-day plan of tech parties, customer meetings, and the usual serendipity. Brief rundown:

  • #ShowMeSXSW
  • Paid a total of $7 for parking, not bad if you’re with car in ATX during SXSW.
  • SoCo, Joe’s, Annie’s, food truckology, and so forth.
  • Hung out with The Real Lean Startup
  • Badgeless with purpose in the Hilton lobbies
  • Ate a Casino El Camino burger and saw some Music + Film (thanks Kate!)
  • Met Bing Gordon on 6th Street (thanks to Jeff)
  • Hosted a kick-ass party with SquareOffs

I made a few “Un-Predictions” for 2013. Things that won’t change…
Brandifying, Google Plush, Byte Sizing, 2xfoursquare, Impressions, KISS

Tao of Bhanu Returns
Not only did he bust this blog’s record for Facebook likes, but he wrote another impassioned post on startups. Startup Investments and E-Commerce asks some tough questions on funding and urges tech entrepreneurs to take a pledge.

And finally…

trey-piece-hawks

All the way from Columbus.


Sometimes the best offense IS a good offense.
Congrats to the Louisville Cardinals for outlasting the amazingly talented scoring machine of the Michigan Wolverines. This game, this Final Four (Shockers) and tourney was everything the Spring Classic should always be — Competition + Class — and one to remember.

 

 

Filed Under: Life, Post-Up, SquareOffs, Startup, Success, Tech, Tim, Unpluggd

Startup Investments and E-Commerce

March 2, 2013 By 2 Comments

 

Investments come in many different colors.

I have been following lots of startups and angel investment news these days and I never understand why so many e-commerce sites get funded … and with millions of dollars. If e-commerce sites are backed by big investment companies, they seem to get traction.  But, what about other small size investment companies which are investing in e-commerce, especially in clothing?

I have asked a few friends lately who frequently shop online about some of the sites which got a few hundred thousand dollars.  When I ask about those sites, they say they’ve never heard of them. I ask them to look them over and if they would ever use them.  Their answer is almost always a “No.”  A typical response is, “Why should I change when current popular sites are offering wide variety of products?”  In fact, they are not finding anything new, but still these companies seem to easily receive investment compared to a lot of other companies with great products which are struggling a lot.  I don’t know what exactly these investors are seeing in the companies they are choosing, but I can’t imagine what they are thinking starting these companies.  I sense that entrepreneurs are losing honesty. Their only intention is to start something, press their luck with investors, try to move forward, and ultimately sell their company.

Are you offering anything new? Where is your strength of conviction?

I have a service-based company and we’ve worked on at least five e-commerce startups related to clothing.  I still get a lot of emails asking to build more, but I stopped taking on new ones if they don’t offer anything new. I even give them links and ask them if they offer anything new and none of them seem to come up with a valid reason.

I am not trying to speak down on anyone, but how some of the early investors are funding such startups when there are so many amazing products out there looking for funding is unfathomable.  I have been working on a great product for quite some time and the company has been working on getting funding.  In the meantime, I’ve seen many worthless companies receive funding.  It is disheartening to see funding for this great company continue to be delayed.

I feel sometimes people with money are trying to invest simply by following big investment companies, who continue to invest in e-commerce. These days, I feel a lot of people are starting companies just for the name, the fame, and just to try their luck.  In this essence of business, the startups are losing.

There seems to be a very small set of companies that are getting started for a cause or to make the world a better place.  A lot of people are just trying to start companies without passion or conviction.  This is why many, many well-funded companies are shutting down and will continue to fail.

Take a pledge

How often do you see this kind of pledge from a younger generation of entrepreneurs? https://posthaven.com

I am talking mostly about early investors and please look for change.  There is lot more out there than e-commerce and photos.  Don’t follow others.  Don’t invest just because others are investing in similar startups.

Also, entrepreneurs, don’t begin a startup just to sell.  Keep longer, more meaningful goals.  If selling is the only thing it can do after some particular point in time, then do it.  Take a pledge and then begin your journey.

 

About the Author | Bhanu Prasad Madala

Bhanu is CEO at Ruby on Rails Software Kitchen. He resides in Hyderabad Area, India. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Filed Under: Bhanu, Funding, Product, Startup, Tech

Write Better, Live Healthier #2

February 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

 

Packing serious power.

In the Write Better, Live Healthier  series I’m giving you practical advice on ways to improve the quality of your life. Creativity, happiness, success — there’s never a bad time to think more about it and go get it. It’s also a forum to explore and debate topics that we all care about but rarely have time to stop and consider amidst our busy lives. Think of it as a quick push notification for your life, full of little nuggets of byte-sized wisdom nudging you to tap into something new and good.

 

#2… Stop training for marathons, start training your mind.

Austin is my new favorite hot spot — not just for reasons some may think. Sure, it can be a mighty fine non-stop culinary and cocktail rodeo. But it’s also a place with people who live healthier lifestyles. That’s hard to do in the Everything-Is-BIG Texas.

It’s also home to two very cool and inspired people who I’ve come to know as great friends the last year — Andy & Nichole. You can read about their amazing story here. I recently was down in ATX to handle some business, surprise Nichole for her birthday, and retrieve my favorite burnt orange “trainers” (running shoes in the standard British-American English translation). Andy and I were having a discussion about what it takes to make a difference physically in your life. Nichole knows this like the back of her hand, so if you want to know more about her new project “The Real Lean Startup”  you can go here.

Back to me and Andy’s chat…

I was lamenting how I’ve known so many people that train for marathons, run in them, but never really seem to make much of a difference with their physical fitness. They still physically look the same as they always have. Conventional wisdom would tell you otherwise. But Andy reminded me what Nichole said once that stuck with us both, and that was “80% is your nutrition.” What I really worry about is all this focus on excessive cardio starting to eat into our muscles — the lean fat burning machine of our bodies.

About seven years ago, my doctor told me I was a little “fat” for my age and height whilst still being an athlete. I always tell this story to people, and might be a bit ridiculous. But I tell it to remind myself to stay on track. I played basketball in a fairly competitive pickup league every Tuesday night. I’d run up and down the floor for two hours, burn a ton of calories. I’d go to the gym a few days a week and run once a week on top of that. Here’s what happened. Amidst all the physical activity and exercise I was repeating some of these bad habits:

  • staying up too late and getting less sleep
  • neglecting my down time, i.e. no relaxation activities, but finding more work to do
  • eating like a buzzard while traveling on the road
  • stressing out too much about dumb shit

Whenever I visit Austin, I make a point to spend time with Andy & Nichole. We share a nice ritual of going to the store and picking up fresh ingredients for dinner. Then we go back to Bevanham Castle and cook an awesome fajita dinner. It’s good to slow it down a bit. Eat later. Do some food prep, open a bottle on wine, rap about life and business, and put on some crazy Swedish house music on the iPad. This is what my friends might call a “cheat” day. It’s never really a big deal because you’re doing the all the right things the rest of the week. And this is my practical message to anybody, but specifically to entrepreneurs  moving at a constant ludicrous speed:

It’s not about the bad stuff, as much as it is about not doing enough of the good stuff.

  • Eat right more often than not – Dave Thomas and Colonel Sanders are not your nutritionists. Neither are Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy John and Cinnabon. So don’t let them take over your crammed and slammed week of pitches, meetings, and hackathons.
  • Get out from under the laptop and get active — Surely. But don’t amass days and weeks of bad habits and think you’re rewarding yourself with a fun run or a marathon. That’s just backwards thinking. Instead…
  • Start training your mind to think ahead — Moderate exercise is a healthy habit to take up. No argument there. But stop for moment and think about what will take your mind and body farther and higher well into your best years. It’s the nutrition stupid.

Try this routine out. One weeknight a week. Work later (yes, I said work later). Go home around 8 or 9. Slow down, take the rest of the night off and cook yourself a healthy meal. Fajitas are great (Andy puts too much guac and sour cream on his), or try one of my all-time favorites. It’s fresh Wild Alaskan Salmon with sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts (use olive oil instead of butter, substitute prosciutto for bacon if you must!).

Little victories like these throughout the week will begin to train your mind with healthier habits. Watch your body become your new best follower.

Filed Under: Ideas, Life, Live Healthier, Marketing, Product, Sales, Success, Tech, Tim, Write Better

To Badge or Not to Badge at #SXSW

February 1, 2013 By 3 Comments

 

“Badges?”

 

I wrote a piece for my friends over at Entrepreneurs Unpluggd last fall on this topic. With just over a month before our annual Spring Break for Geeks  road trip, we’d like to get your opinion on the matter. Join us for a pint on @SquareOffs in Austin on Sunday night, March 10th. We’ll be at Fado Irish Pub on 4th St.

March will be here before you know it and that means “South by” time in Austin. And if you’re like me and haven’t bought your badge yet for SXSW Interactive, you may want to keep it that way. I recently saw a Tweet that got me thinking about the idea of going badgeless. There’s a bit of a badgeless movement going on lately, even a Facebook page devoted to it. It’s clearly a stated alternative, not a knock against the organizers of the conference. Read on…

 

So, if you’re headed to SXSW in Austin, are you considering going badgeless? Pick a side and tell us why!

 

 

Filed Under: Product, Software, SquareOffs, Startup, Tech, Tim, Unpluggd

Write Better, Live Healthier #1

January 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

 

Lettuce, begin.

In the Write Better, Live Healthier  series I’m giving you practical advice on ways to improve the quality of your life. Creativity, happiness, success — there’s never a bad time to think more about it and go get it. It’s also a forum to explore and debate topics that we all care about but rarely have time to stop and consider amidst our busy lives. Think of it as a quick push notification for your life, full of little nuggets of byte-sized wisdom nudging you to tap into something new and good.

#1…You need to make an effort to Write Better stuff.

I see a lot of poor writing out there. I see it in business — RFPs, emails, docs, Powerpoints, product specs and other things. I see it online — web copy, UI, blogs, profiles, social media posts and comments.  I also see out there in general, in the wild — ads, billboards, industrial designs, instructions, signage, even menus at bars and restaurants.

Nobody’s perfect, and I’ll certainly carry the torch for imperfection. Maybe at some point I’ll put up a few examples. But to quote a famous line from a Supreme Court judge and James Bond, “I know it when I see it.”

There are three reasons it’s important to Write Better:

  • Write Better to organize your thoughts. We all have ideas that pop into our head all the time. Use whatever system you want for getting these into some recognizable and referenceable format. I like blogging them, but I also like recording them on paper. For the latter, it has the added benefit of always being “wireless.”
  • Write Better to reuse your content. Time is precious. Why waste it on trying to recreate something every time you want to reference it, link to it, or expand upon it. I like this idea of becoming a buffalo content maker. Don’t waste anything. If you write it better the first time then it will be much easier to call-up and reuse again for maximum impact.
  • Write Better to inspire yourself and others. Make it memorable, and fun. How cool would it be to have a running catalog of stuff you wrote that gives you or someone else a lift in their day? Very. There’s an amazing thing that happens when you write in an inspired voice, a bonus. You often end up with content that can easily work into a verbal communication on the subject. This is because it was written in a conversational style that is a natural for connecting with the listener.

I leave you with this poster called 10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer to get you pumped up. It’s from Copyblogger Media, makers of the StudioPress Genesis Framework. They make awesome WordPress themes. I am a big fan.

In future installments, I’ll cover specific tools and techniques for Writing Better for different situations in life — professional and personal. And of course I’ll be diving into the Healthier  side of this series. Topics for that one are top secret at the moment. I might need kid gloves.

#2… Stop training for marathons, start training your mind.

 

 

Filed Under: Ideas, Life, Live Healthier, Marketing, Product, Sales, Success, Tech, Tim, Write Better

Un-Predictions 2013

January 5, 2013 By 2 Comments

 

Bark park

Off the leash.

 

With so many predictions flying around out there, I’m taking a page from the unconventional and making this post about the things that I believe will not be changing — the “un-predictions”  for 2013.

I heard once in a great talk from Jason Fried of 37signals quoting Bezos wisdom, ‘focus on things that don’t change in your business.’ For example, a product needs to be slower and harder to use…said no customer ever! You get the idea. It’s in these tiny oft-overlooked realisms that we find our focus and keep delivering value.

My New Year’s gift to you:

pinstagram.ly…ify.io

Companies will continue to pop onto the scene with these uber crazy tech sounding names. If they’ve actually got something then these cheeky monikers will help them stand out for a little while. After their coolifyness wears off they’ll need to be tenacious about reinforcing their brand and value as more pop-up around them. Or, worse, this might happen. It’s true that slowly and certaintly the universe of possible legit sounding dot com domain names are dwindling down. But companies that opt for the other side of creativity — the bold and abstract, utilitarian, or sometimes ironic — still have a place in the market without going all creatify on it.

G+ Identity Crisis?

The tech press will continue to beat the living Internet out of Google for their supposed FAIL on an unrelenting effort to create an alternative to the Facebook social network. What will also continue over at the “Gplex” is their undying focus on building great context into networking and productivity tools for account holders of their service. The digital world is largely an impressions economy, not a winner-take-all moat. Information and people will always find ways to move about their pipes freely. We want context. It’s not about the plus one. It’s about the plus done!

Small Keeps Winning

Somebody asked me recently to sum up the “mobile revolution” and what it means for content. I politely mea culpa’d that I’m probably not the best person to answer that question despite being an early adopter at most things tech. Here’s one simple idea. Content makers will need to continue taking a hard look at how many impressions they can get from content that’s smaller versus bigger, longer form, etc. The context of how and where people are consuming information is constantly changing…and that will not change.

foursquare Quietly Eats the Physical World

“Excuse me while I check-in before we order” is NOT what foursquare is all about, or what makes it still very much relevant. To paraquote its founder, Dennis Crowley, foursquare is ‘making the world around us easier to use.’ It’s a discovery tool  for people that get out of the house and want to experience the world around them. foursquare’s new UI is slick for sure, but two enhancements pushed out this year are a sign of more goodness to come. Users can now synch an AMEX card with their account and get the deal auto-magically when using the credit card at those venues — check-ins not necessary. This takes foursquare more mainstream and further closes the data loop so many deal sites have been struggling with to date. There’s also a slew of new services presenting foursquare businesses with a customer dashboard where they can make quick decisions on data and push out relevance to their best customers. This is customer enchantment at its finest, and signals a sustained focus on value-add for their most active users and the businesses they frequent.

Impressions Not Emails

I’m on a bit of an email crusade these days. I’m both fighting it and on the hunt to improve it. It’s an odd pursuit trying to justify the value of something that’s still very practical but yet has become increasingly irrelevant in my connected life. Which leads me to a brief thought on marketing. How much value are you really creating in your audience’s inbox? Did they convert because of your email, or because it was just one of many impressions that collectively moved them to take action?  I ask this question of every marketer from the tenacious blog owner to the big brander. I’m almost not sold anymore on the email “subscriber” model of online marketing. #11 of on this prediction list especially got my attention. These are important and honest questions we will continue to tackle together in the coming year.

Simple Explanations Rule!

Need a New Year’s resolution? How about practicing explaining complex things in simple ways to non-techy people. It’s fun and challenging. It will ultimately help you become a better communicator. Most of all, it’s a great gift to offer those among us that haven’t yet figured all this new stuff out yet. Here’s a free sampler. Mom: “What’s the point of PayPal anyway?” Me: “It’s so I don’t have to do this every time I want to pay for something”…as a I pull my wallet out of my pocket. The people that fervently push SIMPLE on a complex world will continue to lead the pack of ideas in 2013 and beyond.

 

 

Filed Under: Ideas, Marketing, Product, Startup, Tech, Tim

Creative Collision in the Startup Ecosystem

November 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

Pink'n'blue by futhark, on Flickr

Let’s collide, thrive.

 

[Editor note: This post is related to the article "Going #Badgeless at SXSW" that I wrote for Entrepreneurs Unpluggd. They share entrepreneurs' stories and advice to help you build your startup. Check them out!]

What a last few weeks. I live in the Silicon Prairie. Home to many new upstart software companies within the Omaha-Des Moines-Kansas City triangle. It’s also home to the Kauffman Foundation. If you’re not familar with @KauffmanFDN, to use a college football analogy, they are a veritable “Entrepreneur U” for the World. It was a pleasure to be part of #GEWKC and all the events that took place. It got me thinking about creative collision and how important it is to building a thriving and sustaining community of innovation.

People who run in these startup circles will talk about Brad Feld’s new book “Startup Communities” and what he’s done with Tech Stars and the Boulder community. An exemplary case study. There was also a recent guest post by Phillip Rosedale in the Silicon Prairie News that essentially asked the question,  ’How can a tech ecosystem like Silicon Valley/San Francisco take hold in cities like Omaha, Des Moines, and Kansas City?’ The big takeaway for me is DENSITY. Not the sheer population size. That’s just false hope. But a higher concentration of the ecosystem components in a defined area. The area should not only be defined, but branded. Let creative collision ensue.

Here’s an all-time classic scene to get us started on the idea of density.

Density is EVERYTHING. And it could very well be your destiny, if you play your cards right. Here’s the deal. Nobody’s gonna fund a light rail project through a dead downtown. Nobody’s gonna eat in an empty restaurant. Nobody’s gonna join a movement if nobody knows about it. The capital will be there. Yes it will. So, continue to fill your community with entrepreneurs, connectors, and service providers. Make bold moves.

Entrepreneurs

A curious, passionate bunch. Many have eschewed their corporate pedigree and aren’t looking back. Others are starting early, even skipping the traditional college-then-go-find-a-job plan. They seek comfort in ambiguity and risk taking. They are connectable. Meaning, they have a strong social API (Attitude Performance Index). All of these attributes are hard to find in one person in any community. So unique, and so vital. The DNA of this whole thing.

Action item for those still on the sidelines: Help cultivate and celebrate the entrepreneur ethos in children and young adults.

Connectors

One of my former bosses used to always say “success breeds success.” I’ll take it a step further and say that successful people breed successful people. These breeders are the connectors, and they are everywhere. Some may never take the leap into the great unknown of entrepreneurland. But they’re ready and able to help you where they can.

Action item for those already embedded in a startup community: Get the word out to more  potential connectors about the opportunities that abound for them. Bring a non-startup person (whatever that means) to a startup event or scene.

Service Providers

Not everyone is a product person. Service providers above all else are about RELATIONSHIPS. In many cases, relationships your startup doesn’t have. They also have expertise you don’t have (yes, it’s true), and a healthy distance from your product that allows them to truly think outside of the box for you. They ARE outside of the box. And they should be valued higher in the ecosystem.

Action item for startups: Stop trying to do everything yourself and embrace the service providers in the ecosystem.

Let’s collide, thrive.

You’re a bank? Consider making a loan to “startups” that are actually making money right now. You’re a large employer in the region? Consider looking in your own backyard, and give that innovative upstart a REAL chance to earn your business as one of their first customers. (Best line of any panel this week, by the way.)

Oh, and thanks Google. Welcome to the Fiberhood!

 

Filed Under: Ideas, Product, Software, Startup, Tech, Tim, Unpluggd

Managing Money, People and Yourself as Founder

October 12, 2012 By 9 Comments

 

Recently, I was having a conversation with one of my friends about his startup and I noticed he was doing some things that might give him a big set back. He was very serious with his startup. He quit his job and was doing some freelancing work for his daily needs and funding for his startup. He initially started coding himself by learning Ruby on Rails. After doing this for some days he could not develop any further and asked me for a reference to introduce him to a good Rails developer.

I shared with him a few points which are helpful for every entrepreneur:

1. Quit your job when you have enough to develop the project when you are not a developer.

When you are serious about your startup think about money. Don’t take from your monthly salary and spend it on your startup. What happens if you lose your job or income source suddenly? You might lose in two ways. One is your startup gets put on hold until you get another income source. You will also get into trouble for sustaining in life too. Never quit your job until and unless you have money to develop the alpha version and try to keep surplus money as you don’t know when you will be in need of money.

2. Get maximum productivity out of a developer.

I introduced him to a developer who I feel is the best in the market right now. I gave him tips about how to do this. Here are few suggestions which might be useful for other entrepreneurs too:

  • Give the developer detailed explanation about the project. Tell them about your vision and make them feel that they are one of the most important people for this project.
  • Emphasize job security. Tell the developer how many days they will be useful for this project and give a commitment of time — whether it’s a month or two or three – so that they will not be worried much about looking for other jobs or looking for other part-time jobs while working on the project.
  • Communicate early and often about the work to be done. Hiring a good developer is an important thing, and ensuring the developer takes responsibility for their work is another BIG thing. As entrepreneurs we need to communicate properly and explain everything upfront.
  • Be as open as possible about finances. If at all there is lack of funds don’t wait until the end of the day. Always better to prepare the developer upfront for this so they will be able to look for other jobs as an alternative. Also, by conducting business this way there’s a better chance the developer might come back to you when new funds become available. The good ones usually do if they’re worth it!

(After a few days I asked the founder how the development was going and he said he was not happy about it. I was shocked as the developer who is working with him worked with me for four years and is in fact a tech champ. So, I talked with the developer and was told the code he wrote was not being used, things were re-started from scratch, etc. As it turns out, the founder was worried about the code and other technology issues and didn’t trust the developer’s work.)

4. As founder, prioritize what’s most important to the overall success of the business.

The developer came highly recommended and is proven. This should not be a worry. There are many other things the founder should be focused on during this critical time to execute on the vision. List everything out and choose to focus on the things that you are best at and leave the remaining to others on the team. It makes things difficult for others to give their best when the founder is always focused on everything and not especially on several key things. This is also a lesson in hiring and managing a team.

5. Have enough funds to get through the alpha phase.

Concentrate on getting funds from your friends and family initially. Launching a product is not just launching your website, but doing marketing and PR and other tasks so calculate buffer when you calculate money for your startup. If you plan this way, you won’t expect anyone to work on your startup full time because you will have a realistic outlook on the finances of the business. People will respect this and will want to continue working on the business as more funds become available.

What all these helpful points speak to as a founder is making a decision and sticking to it. Every founder should take responsibility for everything that happens to their startup as they are the one who is ultimately going to make the tough decisions. Once you hire your CTO and give him a nod to use particular technologies then you don’t have to learn those technologies in order to check whether they are doing it the right way or not. Your responsibility is hiring people who you think can best move things forward and then empower them to do so!

 

About the Author | Bhanu Prasad Madala

Bhanu is CEO at Ruby on Rails Software Kitchen. He resides in Hyderabad Area, India. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Filed Under: Bhanu, Startup, Success, Tech

Inbox Love: Healthy or Hopeless?

October 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

Perfect storm?

 

I’ve been obsessed with the INBOX for the last year or so.  Not actually checking it or reading the emails it (that shark was jumped a long time, I’ll explain later), but understanding our relationship with it. This has led to researching everything from its earliest beginnings to —  fast forward 40 plus years later — it’s impact on our daily lives.

The picture above really sums it up. It’s like we’re all caught in the rain without an umbrella. Information overload, Inbox fatigue, whatever you want to call it. Yet, because it’s become such a fixture in our connected lives, we might as well just accept it for what it is and have a laugh. The perfect storm for marketers. We’ll create some plugins to try and keep ourselves a little dry sometimes. I’d call this the HOPELESSLY in love camp.

All of this time spent outside of the Inbox trying to understand what’s in it has resulted in a few key learnings. I’m sharing these insights here because I think they could  A) help untether ourselves a little from the psychological pull of the Inbox, or B) spark some bright, dangerous and ambitious minds to either re-invent it or replace it with something else altogether different. It’s a hard problem and there are signs that it’s already underway. I’d call this the HEALTHILY in love camp.

1. A lot of spam now comes from board rooms, not boiler rooms

By now, you should realize some of the biggest spammers out there today are the actual brands and causes you trust. Take a look at your Inbox and you’ll see this. I have no time personally to keep up, let alone opt-out of the emails pushed to me on a regular basis. The bigger dilemma is whether opting-out/unsubscribing or unrolling is even a good option. If I do, I may not get that killer deal or that important notice about my account when I really need it most. Why can’t I still be on the list but only get the content I want?

(Note: Filters are too hard to figure out for most people, and most lists do a horrible job managing subscriptions. Some lists even try to undermine the preferences set by people who do take the time to use them.)

2. A “Save” button seems more practical now versus the traditional “Delete” button

Would you care if, for example, your Inbox deleted anything you haven’t read that’s not  from somebody in your contact list every 30/60/90 days? I have thousands of unread messages in my Inbox. My visual workflow is now simply:

A. Is the message unread?  i.e. in bold.
B. Who’s it from?
C. Subject line, my de facto BS meter.
D. Skim ALWAYS to personal messages first.

Anything that gets missed in the algorithm above lives on in unread bold forever. Time is precious.

The first thing I do is scan down about halfway above the fold to see if anything catches my attention. Priority Inbox: Really? Who has time and how accurate is that anyway? Labels: Fun for the first day or two. Next, I begin opening the personal messages first (i.e. the ones that don’t have a “noreply@” in their message header), then close it, send a quick response or save my draft response for later. Finally, I go on a binge of open and click back, open and click back, and so on. Eventually, I get through my daily digest of emails this way. I do it over and over again like a hamster. Some I don’t even open, or delete.

Note to marketers: Your confidence interval with my Inbox affinity to your brand or cause is simply my ability to see a bold subject line and either keep moving or clicking on it. It really depends how busy I am at that moment, if I’m on my phone, or at my desk. Think Twitter, except you might already be six feet under…

I stopped this insanity several months ago. For me, this was the moment my Inbox had Jumped the Shark. Now, most of my unopened/unread messages live on in Gmail’s eternal gift of ginormous Inbox storage.

3. Less Time + More Information = Less Control.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what matters most in an Inbox to me. How could I regain some control of my Inbox, considering:

  • Connection: How integral is the sender of the message in my life (social/interest/commerce graph)?
  • Urgency: Did I just meet them at a networking function and get LinkedIn? Did I just book a ticket to that city, and I am now in that city?
  • Content: How relevant is this content to me, based on the rest of my Inbox? How about my previous history with this sender’s content? Did I open/click on that type of content?

When it comes to our technology, we are total control freaks. Think Apple.

4. Email is old tech, and our imagination needs to catch up with the new tech

Case in point: Folders. A desktop metaphor layered on top of a time-sensitive, to-do list manager. For many, that’s really what an Inbox has become. Managers are great at last in, first out. Folders are where messages die a slow death. Search works just fine. As does…

5. The Inbox should really just be ONE BIG NEWS FEED for our connected lives.

That’s a pretty good start right there.

Let’s get to work on this idea. The irony is both camps could be helpful in this movement. It’s time to unfrazzle our connected lives.

 

 

Filed Under: Ideas, Product, Tech, Tim

Having Success as a Person Rather Than Being a Successful Business

September 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment


[Editor Note: This post was originally published on Social Focus by CG. Thanks Cheryl!]


My Beginnings

First thing, I started my business when there was no one to support me and when I didn’t have a job. But I was used to doing things differently because I am not the best in the market (business world).

When social media was just starting in 2006, I began using social media to get more and more business.

When I started my business, I didn’t have anyone to support me or to tell  me which way I have to go.

I started reading and implementing what I read. I was successful because I never enjoyed “the money” which I would get, but I enjoyed the “process” of making the money. A lesson I learned here is to never enjoy or look for the “money” you make in doing your business, but enjoy the “process” of making the money. This will help you to grow bigger and bigger.

I started using Linkedin and other social media in order to get business. In this process, I have had positive experiences and negative experiences.

If you have a product concept or idea but others don’t believe it is the best, ask yourself why it hasn’t been done before and do additional research to find out why and get the needed answers.

Your Purpose

The problem with every business man is that everyone wants to either be Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook or Bill Gates of Microsoft, but they never want to know THEIR strengths, in order to become successful.  Every business man should think about being different than others if they can’t be a world changer. Lots of start-ups miss all of these things in trying to doing their business. Especially, when people create a start up business, they should not think about money if they are not going forward with funding. By not thinking about the “money” they will have the best product/service and money will automatically flow in.

Who Should You Depend On?

Dependency is the worst factor in business, and this can ruin anyone. Remember, no one is our friend and no one is our enemy. Another way to say this – don’t think too much about the people who will give you great opportunities, but also, never think too much about the people who don’t give any opportunities either. Nobody is going to give you opportunities just because they are your friend…reduce your expectations in order to be a successful person.

Customers

Don’t lie to your customers in order to get business. You will lose their trust and patronage eventually in the long run. Don’t over estimate yourself to your customers. If your customer expects more, you can tell them that you will try and do the best you can, but don’t ever promise anything. It is better to under promise and over deliver!

When you feel that you are losing control, just make sure that your customers know first, in order to help them make arrangements. In this way, there will be an understanding or trust developed between you and will benefit you later.

Where Should Your Focus Be?

If you are in the service industry, you should not do everything that comes along. Just select things that will take you and your company to the NEXT level, rather doing things that just takes up time and doesn’t help grow your company or provide you any benefits.

Every business man should not work “for money” but he needs to work to give the best output.

Whether it be services or products, every business man should follow this, but don’t keep all of your eggs in one basket. There is every possibility that all of your eggs might break if something were to happen.

There will times when doing business get boring or dull. Don’t stress over this, rather use your excess energy to learn where things are going wrong, or to go and learn new things.

Not every business man should be a “jack-of-all-trades” but every business should always improve his skills in which he is good at. He should also work to improve his skills so as to reach his greatest potential in what he is good at.

Every business man should have control of the things that he does in order to be able to solve any of the issues that may arise.

Evaluate and Re-Focus

If you have a product concept or idea but others don’t believe it is the best, ask yourself why it hasn’t been done before and do additional research to find out why and get the needed answers. Don’t just continue with the product as it is.

Never quit on yourself or slow down when things start going well for you, because it hardly takes but a moment to see your work collapse.

If things start to fall apart, start right away to rectify the situation from there, don’t wait. Your best opportunity to find the right path is to see what went wrong immediately after the problem arose.

 

About the Author | Bhanu Prasad Madala

Bhanu is CEO at Ruby on Rails Software Kitchen. He resides in Hyderabad Area, India. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Filed Under: Bhanu, Biz Dev, Product, Software, Success, Tech
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