2) The Big Lie About Free. “Spot the error? It’s that the only way to measure value is with money.” To which I wonder, what if the best way to measure value is to make it free?
3) Sweet Home Chicago. Return on four month’s investment? A lifetime of clarity. Nicely done Eric.
4) Where’s the Money and Start-up Business Models. These echo a point in my Ignite presentation from Toronto DemoCamp late last year. The point was oddly received by Toronto’s tech community, yet it shouldn’t be a debated point.
Economics and Design. Design (in every respect) is one of the major areas associated with web 2.0.
Many stories of the past few years are explained like this: web 1.0 idea + great design (usability + …) = success. Increasingly we’re seeing design fuel industry changing innovation across a wide range of markets. It’s only going to increase by an order of magnitude in the coming years. Here’s a good post on the 11 things you should learn about Economics and Design.
Don’t think so? Evan Williams discusses the importance of right brain creativity for creating breakthrough ideas with The Economist. Main points: constraints + experiment.
Finally, in a world of scarce attention the big myth is that content is king. Not so. Context rules the roost.
These are all big thoughts that I’ve been exploring and plan to discover with you this year.
Over on the BlueBlog Alex has, as Duncansaid, “another great post.” This time Alex has tackled Software Engineering Tips for Startups, providing eight insightful points that outline the new rules of software engineering for startups.
AdaptiveBlue practices what Alex preaches; as I mentioned in the I Write Code movement, we have rock star software engineers. Alex, Karen, and Jeff never cease to amaze me with what they’re able to build. In the post Alex states that “coding becomes sculpting” in the sense of an agile development culture that “starts with a shapeless form and continuously refines the
code.” The reality is that our small team sculpts and creates code in the artistic sense, each stroke skillfully crafted to advance the piece.
As I was reading Alex’s post it dawned on me that there’s a business counterpoint for every item raised. Sure code’s critical but it will forever require breakthrough business ideas, new utilities for society and the next big thought to retain its importance. While well written code may be poetry, in the absence of consumer value or utility it’s poetry that’s nothing more than efficient if / else statements.
Don’t ever discount the simplest solution. From Dave, “I remember having drinks with them 2 years ago and thinking his solution to billing sounded complex.”
Read about their solution and how they topped the 2007 Profit Hot 50 ranking of Canada’s Emerging Growth Companies. Don’t overlook simple, elegant, low tech solutions simply because they’re simple.
Slightly more than a month ago I did something crazy and left a challenging but incredibly rewarding job at a seed-stage investment firm to join an internet start-up.
In a different country.
That’s pre-revenue.
All signs pointed to “crazy”, but when you’re chasing your dream you don’t always allow rational thought to enter into the decision process.
Here’s four observations after four weeks at an internet start-up:
1) Every day a large grin has slowly spread across my face as I realize that… this. is. real. Being involved with something during the week that used to consume my free brain cycles is simply great. If this doesn’t explain you’re situation consider a life move. Do your free thoughts drift to daydreams of beaches and mixed drinks? Go be the best cabana boy in the world. Honestly.
2) Despite having NYC, NJ, Canadian, and Parisian offices the way we’re working is very modern and special. As Alex wrote, it’s “strange and wonderful at the same time.” Having a 20 second commute (thinking of installing a fire pole to cut it in half), discussing strategy while in pajamas, and blasting music throughout the work day are only the simplest benefits of this new way to organize a team (as Lance says, it makes a lot of sense to hire the best people regardless of where they’re located).
3) Things move quickly in this world. Quicker than you can imagine until you’re immersed in it. Seriously. With so many smart teams working tirelessly for enormous stakes (read: changing the world) it makes sense. In less than a month we’ve revised the website, launched a new product, prepped another for beta, wrote popular articles, and have started to move chess pieces for the future. It’s worth pointing out that there’s only six of us on the team.