January 2010
7 posts
2 tags
Spinning Plates and Crayons or PowerPoints and...
A friend who’s the global head of sales for a large software company told me that today, he’s bringing out the spinning plates and crayons instead of the traditional PowerPoint presentations and the White Papers that accompany them. Due to their business and typical audience, they typically focus on their technical value propositions.
Here’s the way I looked at the differences - in the...
2 tags
Stinkin' Thinkin' Startups: Don't name your stuff...
The terms alpha and beta to describe a startup’s launch product are simply wrong. Last week, I wrote about so many startups failing to launch and many of the sites are in “beta” mode. Alpha, beta, bronze, silver, gold, it’s all stinkin’ thinkin’. Startups must be focused on the customer and providing value to them. Orient your release names towards customer acquisition and let your early...
2 tags
Startups have Lower Odds than College Athletes...
I don’t think people realize how extremely hard it is to get a company launched. Some folks say that if you make into college ball, you have a 1:40 chance of turning pro. The odds are longer for startups.
My friend, Tom Summit of Genotrope does quarterly updates called “When will they launch?” that lists a few startups we’re all waiting to see. Only one out of twelve have actually launched. ...
Don't Give Up
4 tags
Lizard Fighting - Seth Godin's Linchpin
Seth Godin challenges conventional wisdom (again!) with his new book Linchpin. In it, he says that we have a choice of being cogs in the big corporate wheel or sharing our best gifts with others. Some companies call people like this a pain in the ass and others embrace them. He calls them linchpins. Mr. Godin believes they’re indispensable and have undeniable qualities and habits that we all...
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Tungle - Shatters Agile and Gets It Right
I like it. Why? Rifle-focused, spot on satisfaction of basic customer needs. Shared calendar, public appointment enrollment, a custom URL for a calendar, personal profile, connectivity to social networks and syncing Outlook, Google Calendar, etc. Simple interface, easy to use. What’s not to like?
From a startup point of view, I think they’ve gone just a little bit beyond lean development and...