Jan 11 2012
1 Comment
Entrepreneurship, Life Lessons Learned, Marketing, Social Commerce

How to take over the world

Inquisitive individual: What are you doing?

Young aspiring entrepreneur: Taking over the world *smile*

Over the last year I’ve heard this conversation take place on more than one occasion. In actual fact, if I was to be completely honest, I’d say I’ve responded in that manner on many occasions.

It seems that this one liner is quickly becoming a standard response for any young entrepreneur desperately trying to prove that that are in fact ‘dreaming big’.

This said, the more I read and the more I watch, the more I realize that taking over the world is s bi-product of creating value. Taking over the world cannot be achieved directly.

If a person is truly able to take over the world they need to concentrate on providing tremendous value. Choice by definition is democratic. People choose things they like. They choose things that provide them value. If enough people choose you, you may in fact take over the world. But in the mean time, don’t focus on it.

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Dec 20 2011
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Entrepreneurship, Life Lessons Learned

Why Silicon Valley succeeds

Upon my return to Australia, many people have asked me, what makes silicon valley so special?

It is quite a difficult question to answer; One. because I don’t think there is one magic reason, and two. because from the outside it looks just like any western town. Buildings, lawns, coffee shops, VC’s in suits, entrepreneurs in sweatshirts, smiles all round.

However, after engrossing myself in the industry a couple of things stuck out:

1. Attitude towards failure. In Australia, failure is shunned. Entrepreneurs, sports stars and entertainers alike will do anything not to be associated with it. In Silicon Valley, although it isn’t desired, it is respected so long as you failed in an honest, intelligent, ambitious way. As a result, people are less likely to give up on dreams in SV. As Steve Jobs (paraphrased) once said, the biggest problem with the tech industry is not that too many people are getting involved, it’s that too many people give up too soon.

2. People just keep coming back. Sure Silicon Valley has a history of wins unlike any other. But what is more impressive is how many ‘big winners’ find it hard to leave. Many become angle investors, alot join advisory boards, some may even start another company. This ethos helps propagate and incubate the next generation of ‘disrupters’. I can’t help but think, if Google or Facebook were started in another country by other individuals. They would have cashed out and    bought the bahamas.

3. The flow. Thanks to the above points, the flow in the whole bay area is moving quickly towards tech innovation. Go to a coffee shop in SoMa San Francisco and you’ll see 20 people working on their laptop. It doesn’t matter what time or what day, people will be hustling the internet.

But enough from me. Below is a great video from Kleiner Perkins Partner, Randy Komisar.

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Dec 20 2011
2 Comments
Entrepreneurship, Life Lessons Learned

How confusing is this life thing…

We live in one of the most blessed periods of history. People can feasibly grow up to be anything they want. Gone are the days when you girls could become a nurse or a teacher. Gone are the days when a carpenters son had the sole option of continuing the family business. The options in front of us are endless.

I for one want to be an internet entrepreneur, a sports star, a leading digital figure in Sydney, a surf lifesaver, a good friend, great boyfriend, author, public speaker, rugby coach, comedian, etc, etc, etc.

Life is great…… until you can’t decide which one you should tackle first. I’ve noticed this trend amongst close friends. Those who are blessed with options are often cursed with indecision.

Although I’m obviously far from the poster child of focus. I have started developing some little reminders that I use to keep myself on the straight and narrow.

1. Action precedes clarity. Start actually doing things and the decision will quite often make itself. Making pro and con lists ad nauseam will literally drive you demented. Follow Nikes lead and ‘Just do it’; if you want to be an author start writing and publishing on the web, a public speaker apply to be on panels at meet ups of interest. Planning is great, but I find at really early stages it inevitably leads to procrastination. Accept that you’ll make mistakes (I can’t say don’t be afraid, because you will be) and simply find ways to get amongst it.

2. You can only have as many priorities as you have arms. Juggling life is hard, don’t throw too many oranges in the air, you’ll end up concentrating on all the oranges that are hitting the floor. Try to tackle one thing at a time, don’t spend more than a day deciding which one to tackle first. Just go with your gut and start moving.

I’ve found that reminding myself to pick ‘one thing’ and ‘fast forward’ is a great way of testing the water. When you find something that you don’t mind working hard on, you’ve struck gold. Keep going and shoot for the stars.

If you have other ideas on how to deal with ‘option paralysis’, don’t weigh up the options of expressing it, let it out right here…..I can’t wait to hear your ideas.

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Nov 16 2011
1 Comment
Marketing

Successful ads are just ‘entertaining’

Give customers some entertainment for their attention and you will be rewarded.

Nov 12 2011
2 Comments
Entrepreneurship

startups are about people and passion

and both need to be aligned.

Nov 06 2011
2 Comments
Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Social Media

Social commerce is a game of psychology not a game of technology

Social commerce is a game of psychology not a game of technology.
Let me explain…..Marketers and technocrats, if you don’t know why someone will actually share your product – who gives a shit if your plugin lets consumers share products on Facebook, google+, twitter, foursquare and KR’s new Oink app. It doesn’t matter.
Concentrate on and think about ‘why someone would want to share this product‘. Why would they promote you? What is in it for them?
Concentrate on understanding people. The technology will fall into line.
Nov 02 2011
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Entrepreneurship, Social Commerce, Social Media

Where is Retail Marketing going?

1. You visit a site
2. The ad unit automatically identifies who you are, who you’re friends are, what you have bought recently, how much you are likely to spend and how many additional sales you will influence
3. It displays a calculated bespoke advertisement and/or offer
4. You click, you buy.

The end

Oct 24 2011
1 Comment
Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Social Media

How to get people to share what they buy? Make the Reward > cost of openness + effort required

Why wont they share me? It seems to be the question on every lost marketers lips. Every company wants customers to share the products they make, but few know the basics of why someone would share. Through trial and error I have developed this simply equation that hopefully will help marketers understand why people will or will not share their products on social networks.

For a share to take place: Reward > cost of openness + effort required

In English, the reward obtained by sharing must be greater than the cost of others knowing what you’ve bought plus the effort and time required to share. Key elements discussed below:

Reward: Why should I share? I have identified three main categories why people would be bothered sharing something on Faecbook or the like:

  1. Social Status: I want the world to know I’m a fashionista, a tech guru, a culinary extraordinaire. Does the item fit into my broader persona?
  2. Financial benefit: I saved $10 for telling my friends. Awesome!
  3. It’s a Game: Games = fun. Fun = not board. Companies like forsquare, used gamification very well in their early days. The biggest issue with games is that people outwear single element games a lot quicker than they outwear social status and money. Also if your friends stop playing you are more likely to stop yourself.

Cost of openness: Am I ok with friends and family knowing I bought this? Their are some things I will never share; medications, toiletries, pregnancy tests (example items ;) obviously never used any of them). These products are super personal.  They bring a huge social cost. Even if a company offered a 90% discount, the embarrassment of making them public won’t outweigh the reward.

Effort: How long will this take to share? Do I have to think? If you expect me to go to a separate web page, log into Facebook, Twitter and Google+ , write a personal message for each then wait while you connect and share – the reward better be worth it!  Outtake here, make sharing as frictionless as possible. Effort required is the easy element you can control. If you can make a share one click then you just need to make sure that the reward is greater than the cost of openness.

In summation, people don’t share because you want them to; they share because they want to. Make it easy and worth their while. Finally, don’t expect people to share products that have a high cost of openness.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing more items my friends have bought.

Oct 02 2011
2 Comments
Entrepreneurship, Life Lessons Learned

How to succeed in Silicon Valley? Get a 10 in class participation.

I always loved the 10 marks given at school for class participation. All you needed to do was rock up, pay attention and make an effort to ask a thoughtful question. It did not require a lot of prior knowledge, you didn’t need to be the smartest, you just needed a desire to get involved.

How do you get involved? Just start by commenting on blog posts, social network updates or cool/ interesting content you stumble upon. Try to make your input thoughtful. People like people who seem like they care.

kids eager to answer a question

Oct 02 2011
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Entrepreneurship, Life Lessons Learned, Moving to America

Clearing the mind makes me feel good

Nothing adds more weight to my life than unfinished tasks floating around in the back of my head. Like angry birds they continue to fly in and knock the fragile structure that is my conscience. I’m no expert on productivity, but do I find these simple rules help me feel like I am getting things done.

  1. Create one central depository:

Having a trusted depository where you can unload all tasks that I need to get done adds years to my life.

I’ve found OmniFocus to work well as a central depository. It syncs with all my Steve Jobs memorabilia and is very easy to use. I have heard that Rememberthemilk.com is also really good. For the less technologically adventurous you could use a pen and a notebook. Just make sure it is the one depository. Trying to manage 3 or 4 depositories just adds back the years recording the tasks took off.

  1. Jot things down quickly:

As soon as a task jumps into my head I try to record it in this depository. I find this stops the little tasks like, ‘send thankyou email’…..’send thankyou email’……..’send thankyou email’ from constantly becoming a distraction and absorbing energy.

  1. Visit list:

Review the list whenever you feel like getting things done. Make sure you only review the list when you will get things done. Reviewing at other times just adds stress and distracts you from whatever you were doing.

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