Published on April 30, 2008
in Ideas.
The bar for ecommerce is rising. My wife ordered new kids bedding from Kuku Nest. The bedding quickly arrived with a hand written thank you note from the owner. Wow. A hand written personal note.
When I think of having an online store I think of how efficient it can be. The order comes in, the credit card is charged, the shipping label is automatically printed, the item is pulled and boxed, and the shipping company is notified.
When are things like writing a personal thank you note worth the extra effort? It’s not scalable, it takes time, but it is impressive. So remarkable that I bet it’s excellent marketing.
Published on April 30, 2008
in Ideas.
One of the things that has rapidly changed since blogging began to grow in popularity are all of the brands that are following the discussions that mention them. I made a post about content delivery networks and the struggle I had getting quotes. After that post, no problem getting a quote. The funny thing is that they were better prepared to react to a blog post than they were to just answer the phone.
Published on April 22, 2008
in Ideas.
I’m playing in a basketball league at USF. We had a 9:40 game last week. Pretty late for me, plus had a long day and was waiting for resolution on a support call I had placed. I was thinking of skipping the game. But, we only have 6 players, so if someone doesn’t show up, we are in trouble. At the end of the day, I largely showed up because I committed to play, and felt a responsibility to the team.
If you’re going it alone, and find it tough to stay motivated, get yourself a team. It will help.
Published on April 9, 2008
in Ideas.
Unbelievable. I keep reading how fierce competition is between CDN providers, but I can’t even get a hold of a sales person to give me a quote from Level 3 or Limelight.
First, you really have to search to find a contact number for sales on the Level 3 site. Even on the CDN page on their site there isn’t a phone number. Then, once I called it, I sat on the phone for 10 minutes and said forget it. No lead form, no nothing.
Then I call Limelight Networks. Kudos. The sales phone number is right there. I call it up and get a message box that says “The mailbox is full.” Man, that’s bad.
So Akamai. They have a nice lead form I filled out last night, but no call back today. So I look for their number to call them. It’s something like 1.877.3AKAMAI. I have a blackberry and hate it when companies use words in their phone number because blackberries don’t have (abc) on the keys. So, I do a chat. They ask be a bunch of questions about how much usage we’ll have, but can’t get me a quote. Says he’ll pass it on to an internal representative that will call back in 24 to 48 hours.
Right as I’m pissed, I get a cold email from Internap. Pretty spamy, but great timing. I reply and the guy calls back in 5 minutes.
But, I’m still bothered that it was so hard to get a hold of Level 3, Limelight Networks, and to get a quote from Akamai (Think they’d have pricing ready). Level 3, add a prominent Sales link with a phone number. Limelight empty your voice mail or even better, answer the phone.
Published on April 4, 2008
in Ideas.
I’m always impressed when I see people exemplifying great leadership. Lately, I’ve been very impressed with John Calipari.
In a recent interview I saw him grilled on his team missing free throws. His answer was that he wasn’t concerned and his team will make the ones they need to win games. I think this sends his team a message that he is so confident in their ability and doesn’t provide an opportunity for doubt in their minds. What sticks in peoples minds is we’ll make the ones that count. A very positive message. Great leadership
Next, two days before the final four from espn the back up point guard from Memphis is suspended.
Surrounded by a swarm of media Thursday minutes before the Tigers’ closed practice at Trinity University, Calipari said backup point guard Andre Allen’s suspension for a violation of team rules won’t “change what will happen this weekend.”
Calipari said: “It may elevate us, because if something is taken away, the team comes together.”
I love how he uses it to pull his team closer together. It’s like the reporter is offering him a chance to make an excuse, but he turns it into another reason they will win.
“I’ve moved on, I feel bad, I love Andre and I’ll love him a month from now,” Calipari said.
“They may try to [poke] the armor of my team but it will have no effect on me,” Calipari said. “If you really want us to win, then do that kind of stuff. It’s not going to have that kind of effect on me. I’m done reading or listening until Tuesday.”
Next, he shows empathy and love for his troubled player that isn’t going to play in the final four. The way he handles it earns him respect from his players.
Calipari tried to make the moment light, too, saying that “all we’re going to do is have fun and if it leads us to something Monday night we’ll have a ball. I want these kids to feel nothing but, ‘Let’s go play and show what we’re about.’ The reality is that I want to have fun and I want to enjoy this. If you’re in a non-BCS [league like Conference USA] then you don’t get to the Final Four often. So, I’m going to enjoy this as much as they [the players] are.”
The last thing he reminds everyone is to have fun. Great job John!
My money is on Memphis.
Published on April 3, 2008
in Ideas.
It looks like the TechCrunch 50 conference and Demo are overlapping their dates. I suspect TC 50 will be huge and Demo will feel some pain. Kind of like what Craigslist is doing to newspapers.
I’d love to see the trend continue of providing a free platform for promising young companies without hitting their wallet. I suspect TC 50 will get better quality companies with their model and will grow fantastically for the next few years with many high quality venture and big company sponsors as word spreads about the conference.
Published on April 3, 2008
in Ideas.
Craigslist has been getting some attention today based on revenue forecasts. I doubt they will ever go public.
Lots of companies have tried to take on Craigslist in the local space. Including big companies like eBay and Microsoft. I don’t think any are doing very well. I think the challenge is that Craigslist plays the game so differently that no one understands how to compete with them. Here are a few of Craigslists tactics.
1. Charge way below market rates for just a few categories. Job posting are $75 in SF, but $25 in most other cities. Listing apartments in NYC is $10. This makes the news papers sick. Hitting the papers are in their wallets.
2. On International expansion, I’ve read that Jim, CEO of Craigslist says they are rolling out internationally, just to have a presence if one of the leaders stumbles and users want an alternative. No grand plans to take them on, but more of a we’ll let you shoot yourself strategy. This is very different than GE saying you have to be #1 or #2 in a market.
3. Cool isn’t a current design, and more features. It’s speed, consistency and listening to what users want. If users didn’t ask for advertisements (like google adsense or banner ads) why would you ad them?
I have a feeling the person that makes traction against Craigslist will be someone like Craig. A one man shop for several years that starts off slowly, but keeps improving. Then over 8 - 15 years develops a cult following. Something in the vein of Plentyoffish or Urban Dictionary or….Craigslist.
Published on April 2, 2008
in Ideas.
Just this week I setup Gtalk on my blackberry that’s connected to Twitter and syncs my status to Facebook with TwitterSync.
I also sync my Google Calendar to my blackberry and use plaxo for syncing contacts between Yahoo, my mac, Exchange and Hotmail. Have to keep the legacy accounts up to date. I also sync my bank accounts, 529B accounts, Fidelity, Etrade, Fidelity Net Benefits, and Vanguard account to Mint.
Two things I really like is consolidated reporting like Mint offers, and having up to date information across platforms.
