Jim Fowler is the CEO of Jigsaw. This company ignited a controversy because it enables users to exchange information about each other’s contacts. The fear is that a hapless, privacy-seeking middle manager gets inundated with sales pitches for Nigerian banking schemes, organic vegetables, outsourcing services, spam filters, and get-rich-quick seminars because she handed out her [...]
Seth Godin is author of six books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, entrepreneurship, and work. He is also a renowned speaker and a helluva nice guy. I cornered him and got him to answer ten (really eleven) questions about his latest book, Small is the [...]
Veotag, Inc. enables people to place navigation tags in video and audio files. For example, if a speaker uses the top-ten format, you can tag where each section begins. Listeners/viewers can then click on tags to navigate the digital content. Think of this as adding a table of contents to audio or video. Search engines [...]
I read the best explanation of what makes an idea spread in Seth Godin’s new book: Small is the New Big. For an idea to be spread, it needs to be sent and received. No one sends an idea unless: They understand it. They want it to spread. They believe that spreading it will enhance [...]
My buddy Stephen Nipper wrote this very useful piece about trademarks for Think Vitamin. “Trademark Tips for Your Web App” Choosing a good name for your web app is one of the most important things to get right. But without an understanding of the way that trademark regulations work, you could fall at the first [...]
There were many critics of my posting called “As Good As Steve.” They sought to refute my contention that Majora is as good as Steve. The criticism misses the most important implication of her speech; or, perhaps more accurately, I did not adequately highlight the implication. But first, let’s set the record straight for the [...]
I just read an interesting report called Doing Business in 2006: Creating Jobs. The World Bank published the report, and you can download it here. Here’s a description of the report: Doing Business in 2006: Creating Jobs is the third in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those [...]
Had a great time at BlogHer today. Here are the pictures that I took. You’ll see about thirty pictures in this looplet. To see all 113 pictures, click on the looplet. To share this loop with other people, send them this URL: http://invite.filmloop.com/x?5-FjvzUuJRGnBfajNam41rL8GgqFlIiP If you see yourself in the loop (or can identify people), please [...]
Hope to see you at BlogHer. I’ll be there on Saturday, mostly at the FilmLoop table. By the way, FilmLoop is going to give away autographed copies of Sweet Swan of Avon in the gazebo presentation theatre at 1:10 pm. You will be amazed at how Robin autographed the books. I should be easy to [...]
When I posted my entry about the speakers at TED, I did not highlight any of them. Now I’d like to specifically suggest that you watch the video of Majora Carter because there’s a lot we can all learn from this magnificent performance. You can watch it online here or download it here. Again, kudos [...]
A few weeks ago I covered the topic of laying people off. In a sense, this is an easier process because it usually happens in bad times, and it doesn’t single a person out. A firing, by contrast, can occur in good times as well as bad times, and it’s highly personal. I’ve fired people [...]
About a week ago the design of my blog changed, and I wanted to thank the people who did this for me: Javier Cabrera designed the new pages. He is a designer in Argentina. You can learn about his company here. Neil Patel and Cameron Olthuis of Pronet Advertising implemented Javier’s design. You can learn [...]
This is a collection of presentations at the annual TED conference. To TED’s credit, it is making this available to the “rest of us.” (Many thanks to Thomas Wenzl for bringing this to my attention.) Each year, TED hosts some of the world’s most fascinating people: Trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses. The [...]
I’m moderating the Churchill Club’s Startup 2006 panel. We will discuss and debate the challenges and critical success factors to landing funding, proving long-term viability to customers, building a team, and leading a startup to the promised land. The panel members are: Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder and CEO, LinkedIn Joe Kraus, Co-Founder and CEO, JotSpot Roman [...]
From Matthew Stibbe, I found out about this article in Salon about bloggers. The source document is a callback survey by Pew Internet that’s located here (how’s that for spreading link love?). The Blogger Callback Survey, sponsored by the Pew Internet and American Life Project (PIAL), obtained telephone interviews with 233 self-identified bloggers from previous [...]
The Speaking Channel provides an analysis of well-known speakers alongside video recordings of those speakers in action. The list of speakers includes: Rudy Giuliani Bill Clinton Arnold Schwarzenegger John Edwards This video analysis is helpful to learn about the craft of public speaking, so check it out if you’re interested in the subject. Also, I’m [...]
1. Make everything available. 2. Help me find it. Chris Anderson, The Long Tail I love authors like Malcolm Gladwell and Chris Anderson. They’re writer’s writers: digging through mounds of research, conducting interviews with famous people, crafting their text, and then publishing tomes with cool titles like The Tipping Point and The Long Tail. And [...]
Last week I made a speech in Des Moines, Iowa for my friends at Channel Bio Corporation. This company sells four brands of corn and soybean seeds: Crow’s, Midwest Seed Genetics, Wilson Seeds, and NC+. Rather interesting stuff...lots of technology to what the company does. In preparation for the speech, the company sent me a [...]
The July/August issue of Stanford Magazine contains a marvelous collection of articles about “Kids Today.” If you have a kid(s), you must read it. If you know people with a kid(s), you should send it to them. Certainly every mommy blogger should link to it! Here is a partial list of the articles: “Growing Concerns” [...]
Make the doors upon a woman’s wit, and it will out at the casement; shut that, and ’twill out at the key-hold; stop that, ’twill fly with the smoke out the chimney. —As You Like It To tell you the truth, I never cared whether William Shakespeare wrote the literature that is attributed to him. [...]