2013 Sep 1

Technology is About Making a Difference

I have been involved in the technology industry for 20 years on a formal level, and informally for many more; I actually got my start programming an old Apple II. Yet, as much as I like technology, its fascinating cool factor and its malleability - ever try to program a chair or a book, or join a toothbrush and ice skate to make something entirely new? - ultimately, technology is about changing the real world.

2013 Aug 30

The Wisdom of the Kevin

It always amazes me when an industry that makes a lot of money, out of fear of loss of market share, profit, or, in most cases, simply the unknown, absolutely refuses to change its business model to one that satisfies its customers more. The purpose of a business, any business, is not to enrich management, although that is nice; it isn't to create jobs, which are an important byproduct; it isn't to maximize shareholder return, that too is an effect.

2013 Aug 29

Pampering Your Best Customers... Hurts

Every business has some customers that are just that much more valuable than the rest. They provide a combination of higher revenues, often at a higher margin, with greater consistency than other customers. Every business wants to isolate the very best of these customers and treat them better: special support, direct access, gifts, dinners, whatever it takes, depending on your industry. The airline industry figured this one out quite a whole ago with its frequent flyer programs.

2013 Aug 28

Silly Big Business, Faith Is For Startups

Two very large companies went through a spate of trouble recently, directly related to executive moves that were, well, "faith-based" (and this coming from a religious guy). In November 2011, Apple Retail wiz Ron Johnson took over JCPenney, where same-store sales had fallen by a few percentage points. The following 3 quarters, same-store sales slid by 18% or more, all the way up to 27% in the quarter ending 27 Oct 2012.

2013 Aug 27

Make It Easy... But Trust Comes First

Sometimes, you just want to collaboratively share online editing of a document. Five people in far-away places - or maybe just a block away - want to edit something together. Google Docs is great, but requires a Google account and is somewhat heavy. Hackpad is a good lightweight solution, and very easily embedded inside another Web page or blog. Needless to say, to edit on a hackpad, each person needs an account.

2013 Aug 26

Why the Best Consultants Are Terrible Salespeople

This posting isn't autobiographical; really, it isn't. Thanks to William Mougayar's excellent "Startup Management" weekly curation of articles, I came across this interesting article on customer support vs. sales. They have a simple suggestion. Before you agree to a sale, call the company line and try to get customer support. Will it be as easy to reach someone as it is in sales? If it is, this is a company that values you after they have your money, not just before.

2013 Aug 25

Managing Perceptions - The Magic of Placebos

In business, as in most areas of life, it is the perception that often matters more than the actual result. If you can manage the perception, you can win the customer, even if your result is less than perfect. Let's look at two examples: The price of, well, anything: I went to business school. I have consulted to companies and performed, literally, thousands of spreadsheets, including one that entirely modeled the cash flow of a complex premium finance business, to the point that the banker couldn't derive it!

2013 Aug 23

Fail Early, Fail Often, Succeed

One of the mantras of the lean startup movement - and, as I have written before, of the agile software development movement - is "fail early, fail often." The logic works something like this: you never know for sure, in advance, when and how you will fail, but you know you will make some mistakes, perhaps serious ones, and have some failures, perhaps major ones. Instead of building around getting it all right the first time across all parts, find ways to test, try and succeed or fail in very small ways very often.

2013 Aug 22

Should Google Buy Github?

At first blush, it sounds crazy. After all, they are in completely different business models. GitHub manages open-source software, via a specific version control system, and makes it money with private versions of those repositories in the cloud. GitHub, in other words, makes its money from small to large enterprises via direct online sales. Google, on the other hand, sells advertising in a multi-party market. It gives its products away for free (mostly), gets a very large number of users, and then sells access to those users to advertisers via AdWords.

2013 Aug 21

The Little Sign That Could

Here is a sign that signs work. Log onto any Google Group of which you are a member and have the right to post. Then hit "New Topic". Right below the group name but above the "Subject", you will see a simple paragraph, beginning with Note: and highlighted in yellow. Note: You are posting to an external group using an account that is managed by _________. Please think carefully before posting or replying, the content of these discussions may be publicly visible.