June 2009
10 posts
6 tags
Building platform companies
RIM recently paid $8.3M to buy the once highly buzz-worthy Dash Navigation. Dash was a GPS-masquerading-as-in-car-software-platform company. And, you know, there is no better way to instantly sound bigger than to say, “we’re a platform for…”
I personally loved the Dash as a product, but just was never quite sure about the whole platform focus. There are two problems with...
2 tags
A Startup is like a Pirate Ship →
As Cap’n of this particular ship, I’d like to add that it’s great sailing the windy seas with Mr. Sivak. Also, this is an apt companion to using Dave’s Startup Metrics for Pirates to navigate your ship.
“Instead of watching TV or playing Grand Theft Auto, work on your idea. Instead...”
– 37signals advocating doing your startup on the side, to which I respectfully disagree vehemently. If you love your idea enough, make a damn commitment. Ideas are hard to grow, and if you’ve got an out you are likely to take it. Commitment breeds success, or as paul graham put it, “The...
The Real Lessons From Twitter →
How to succeed in the coming social gaming... →
Shanti does a good overview of the Facebook/Myspace ecosystem and where it’s headed
4 tags
Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be...
9: A small gift makes people want to reciprocate. People who received a small no-strings-attached gift from a stranger were twice as likely to buy raffle tickets from him than those who were just pitched on raffle tickets.
12: Attaching no strings increases response to the message. Using the same hotel as the one mentioned in Chapter 2, researchers tried out two different versions of the sign. The first one: if you reuse the towels, a donation will be made to a nonprofit environmental organization. The second version: the donation has already been made, since the hotel trusted you’d reuse the towels anyways. Recipients of the second message reused their towels 45% more than the recipients of the first one.
29: Similarities raise the response rate. A person named Cindy Johnson received a survey request by mail from someone named Cynthia Johannson. Someone named John Smith received a survey from Gregory Jordan. The name similarity in the first case (note that it’s just phonetic similarity, none of the names are the same) brought up the response rate to 56% vs. regular 30%.
Navigating your startup in dark places
Everyone loves the Google startup story. You know the one… when they started, pretty much everyone thought that the search business was all wrapped up. First by Yahoo, then by Excite, then by Altavista. But it wasn’t, it was only the tip of the iceberg. People use this example to show that innovation happens in the dark corners, not the light of day. To innovate means going where the...
WoW: The First True Single-Player MMO →
Nice overview of a common topic around the office about WoW, the impact of directed quests on multiplayer play
Squint testing your product
Can you define your entire product in a screenshot? Yesterday I got into a good discussion about the “squint test” on various products.
If I take one connotical screen shot of a product, and squint, what’s the impression of the product? Because, guess what, that’s what your users think your product is. I think this is the general thing with Tumblr, no matter how much early...