I've been using the JS-Kit widgets for comments and ratings for this blog, and I'm really happy with them. JS-Kit commenting provides very effective ways to fight and delete spam, and I love that people can create avatars for their comments. The star-rating that you see is also from the company. JS-Kit is installed on [...]
The Pope dons red Prada kicks, politicians break out red ties in election season and that darn Netflix package always seems to stand out in a crowd of manilla and ivory mail. Why red? Do humans have a penchant for the rainbow’s most fiery color? This study released in 2005 discovered that red-clad athletes out-performed [...]
YCombinator is a new kind of venture capital firm that focuses on $20,000 investments to help entrepreneurs go from "idea to company." It admits two "batches" of entrepreneurs per year for a three-month period. At the end of the term, there is an open house where the companies strut their stuff to investors. YCombinator has [...]
Over at the Sun Microsystems blog I've posted my list of the five most important lessons I've learned as an entrepreneur. #1 is "Focus on cash flow." Please check out the entire posting here. More information for startups is also available here and more information for small business is here.
Some of my buddies have expressed astonishment that I get approximately thirty-six hours of standby with my iPhone, so I'm sharing my settings. Note: this is my second 3G iPhone--I returned the first one because I was getting only five hours of standby time. This is my usage screen. One thing to notice: I don't [...]
Check out this site where Lenovo is aggregating the blogs, tweets, pictures, and video of Olympic athletes from around the world. Lenovo provided these athletes with Ideapad laptops and video cameras and let them go at it.
Over at the American Express blog I explain how to tell if your boss is crazy based on the work of Mindsite to DSM-IV-TR bring to the rest of us. If you suspect that you work for a narcissistic, paranoid, obssessive-compulsive, anti-social nut case, click here to learn more. Related resources: "Is Your Boss an [...]
If you're going to BlogWorld Expo, you can get an additional 20% off even the early-bird prices (they expire on August 22nd) by using this special code: "Alltopvip." This conference is in Las Vegas on September 19-21. Click here to register.
I found a great article called "10 Practical Uses for Psychological Research in Everyday Life." It explains how to detect lies, make your smile more attractive, persuade people, avoid getting scammed, and reduce your cholesterol level. On example: one person expressing an opinion three times has 90% of the effectiveness as three people expressing it [...]
Is your mantra, mission, and/or elevator pitch failing? Startups often have the problem that nobody can understand them. If this is you, George Lakoff may be your fix. Lakoff is a cognitive linguist who focuses on "the last smile" between message and recognition in brain. The Chronicle has a brief history of Lakoff's career (thanks [...]
My friend Richard Shaffer of Israeli Wine Direct interviewed my other friend Roger Dooley of the Neuromarketing Blog. The interview is called "This is Your Brain on Wine." Ostensibly the interview focuses on wine, but it's applicable to marketing in general. Here's an example of a Dooley answer from the interview: Effective Internet marketers let [...]
Ever wonder what scientists read when they are not mapping the universe or otherwise changing the world with their discoveries? Hint: They're not all geeky science texts. For example, physicist Freeman Dyson has printouts of 165 emails. Here is a link to the books and other whatnots of a handful of famous scientists like cosmologist [...]
This is a great analysis of how a rug merchant in Turkey applied the principles of Robert Cialdini. Do you think he read Influence or Yes!? You must read this story if you're into persuasiveness. Thanks to Mitch Weisburgh for pointing it out.
Just posted a book report for Yes! for my buddies at American Express. This is the best business book I've read this year. Please check out my posting here. One of the co-authors is Robert Cialdini; he is The Man when it comes to persuasion and influence. Every entrepreneur, sales, and marketing person should read [...]
Because patent attorneys charge many thousands of dollars to prepare and file a patent application, some people with the next bright idea opt for the "poor person's patent" (call it the three Ps), which is simply to write up a patent-like description and send it to themselves by registered mail or to pay a notary [...]
You know how I feel about young venture capitalists, right? If you don't, read this. Having written this, I still have an open mind, and this morning young Matt Winn told me about a tool he created called the VCDB (venture capital database). Indeed, you should check out this tool because it's quite useful. You [...]