MF'in Daniels

"There’s no formula that identifies a good business plan versus a bad business plan. So I think..."

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 18:15:52 -0400

““There’s no formula that identifies a good business plan versus a bad business plan. So I think it’s not really fair question to ask, “Did you execute on the business plan?” Because every business pan is just a wild guess, right? You could easily add a couple zeros everywhere and sell the same thing to people. They’re marketing tools.””

I ain't gonna work on YouTube's farm no more - LAUNCH -

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 21:47:26 -0400

I ain't gonna work on YouTube's farm no more - LAUNCH -:

I. People subscribe to people — not brands — on YouTube. So much so that the name of the game on YouTube is to do spinouts. Have Robin Williams on ‘Happy Days’ as Mork, then spin out ‘Mork From Ork’ if he’s likeable

II. Anything funny or juvenile (e.g., Google ‘milk prank’)

III. Do anything a 10-to-15-year-old would show a friend

IV. Music, action sports or dance

V. Unbelieveable/that’s incredible type stuff; VI. traffic recirculation (aka collaborations between channels);

VII. Audience engagement in comments.

C'mon

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 23:56:08 -0400

Making digital experiences from scratch is hard, especially for big companies. Isn’t it obvious why start-ups can so easily disrupt end-ups?

We create distance between ideas and execution. Internal debate, powerpoint presentations, and business cases dilute ideas and waste months of time. We not only outsource production but also idea generation to an expensive agency.
Less-than-perfect is unacceptable. Managers believe that a half-baked release could ruin the brand. A failed product will signal doom to the investors.
We debate the smallest aesthetics. We require designers to make 8 iterations from which to choose. We present interim design to VPs and CMOs and expect feedback.
We obsess over finding and agreeing on the perfect idea.
Vague vision statements and platitudes (e.g., “create a more [relevant/real-time/personalized] experience”) guide strategy.
Our digital agencies loathe our lack of taste and are frustrated beyond comprehension by our poor feedback and ridiculous timelines.

Yet big companies realize all of these things. Talk to CMOs and they will lament their dissatisfaction with expensive (but essential) systems, a pervasive feeling of slowness, jealousy of startups, IT ineptitude, and lack of innovation.

It’s so hard to change culture. That same CMO, all-knowing of his or her plight, will continue to make short-sighted feature requests, plan for technology in 3-year windows, and over-rule those who have taste.

Big companies are in a strange predicament, forced into a role of software developer and publisher, but still wielding the same manager-heavy marketing organization and agency relationships of the past.

The old-school model of incubating an idea over years instead of months is fading. IT departments cannot prototype – functional specs and business requirements don’t have a role at the early stages of a great idea. Technology and behavior changes fast enough that an 18-month waterfall production schedule doesn’t cut it. The digital agency will never out-innovate a small-team of founders, developers, and designers at a startup, where the concentration of intrinsically-motivated, 2am coding, talent-dense employees has every advantage.

The old approach has not led to market-defining innovation. Innovation in digital isn’t a marketing campaign or microsite.

There is a new model for big companies who reject the old ways of doing things. It’s for companies who are fed up with poor digital execution from agencies and look at their digital-first counterparts with wonder.

It’s a new approach for invention in a mature, profitable organization, one that acknowledges the misguided direction of current practices and recognizes the potential for getting it right.

2nd idea > 1st idea

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 23:04:01 -0400

“Over the years I’ve learned that the first idea you have is irrelevant. It’s just a catalyst for you to get started. Then, you figure out what’s wrong with it and you go through phases of denial, panic, regret. And then you finally have a better idea and the second idea is always the more important one.

“We built all sorts of things and everything we did turned out to be relevant, because you’re in the right area and giving yourself time to investigate. Eventually you run into an interesting idea and you execute on that.”

From Founders at Work.

BuzzFeed Starts Program to Train Agencies | Media - Advertising Age

Wed, 29 May 2013 22:24:34 -0400

BuzzFeed Starts Program to Train Agencies | Media - Advertising Age

"A startup is like a mosquito. A bear can absorb a hit and a crab is armored against one, but a..."

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:33:25 -0400

“A startup is like a mosquito. A bear can absorb a hit and a crab is armored against one, but a mosquito is designed for one thing: to score. No energy is wasted on defense. The defense of mosquitos, as a species, is that there are a lot of them, but this is little consolation to the individual mosquito.”

- PG is so good

How to Make Wealth (via davehyndman)

Paul Graham’s essays are some of the best startup stock content that’s freely available on the Internet.

Likes & Launch: Save your inbox with this Google calendar hack

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:31:44 -0400

Likes & Launch: Save your inbox with this Google calendar hack:

likesandlaunch:

Ever notice how much time you can spend emailing back and forth when trying to setup a meeting? Swapping available times and confirming meeting logistics take you away from doing things that actually add value.

With Google Appointment slots you can share one link and be done. If you have a paid

Strong Opinions @marksbirch: Domain Expertise and Startups

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:30:10 -0400

Strong Opinions @marksbirch: Domain Expertise and Startups:

marksbirch:

We need to remember that we are in the innovation business, and many of the best disruptive innovations and most successful companies came out of passion and determination rather than rote knowledge and credentials. However, when it comes to business oriented solutions such as enterprise tech or SMB SaaS tools, I would say that domain experience becomes a more important success factor. It just makes sense that if you make something for dentists or for architects, you should know something about dentistry or architecture.

Project Snow Fall

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:32:22 -0400

Project Snow Fall:

parislemon:

Om Malik arguing that the New York Times should fight the scrappy news upstarts not by playing their game, but by rising above:

Now, if they can actually overcome their angst — and it hurts me to say this — they can change the conversation in the media business away from the increasingly shallow content and instead bring the focus back to quality and in-depth journalism, which is their stock in trade. If the New York Times management were feeling bold, it would put $25 million to work on creating 100 other Snow Falls and basically change the reader’s expectations of what long-form digital content and journalism are in the new century.

Snow Fall is fairly amazing.

Our Commitment to Culture and Clients | Blog @ Percolate

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:16:57 -0400

Our Commitment to Culture and Clients | Blog @ Percolate:

He covered my spreadsheet with his hand…… Then he explained to me the only criterion that mattered for picking a job was — Fast Growth. When companies grow quickly, there are more things to do than there are people to do them. When companies slow down or stop growing, there is less to do and too many people to do them. Politics and stagnation set in and everyone falters.

Mailbox’s Gentry Underwood: What Hackers Should Know About Design Thinking ⚙ Co.Labs ⚙ code community

Sun, 12 May 2013 22:57:39 -0400

Mailbox’s Gentry Underwood: What Hackers Should Know About Design Thinking ⚙ Co.Labs ⚙ code community:

When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions. Most people just don’t put in the time or energy to get there. We believe that customers are smart, and want objects which are well thought through.

Noah on Social

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:12:14 -0400

Noah on Social:

In the end they all add up to a need to systematize their approach for a new world where content abounds and the old 22-week production cycles no longer make sense. While most of these shifts are focused on message the medium delivers to consumers, there is also one big message that the platforms deliver to brands: To compete in a social world they need to think and build marketing products that support sustained communications instead of one-off campaigns.

"I remember Jim saying once — and partly I think it relates to some of his training in the military —..."

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:26:51 -0400

“I remember Jim saying once — and partly I think it relates to some of his training in the military — that really the art is trying to set the priorities and assemble a team so you wake up in the morning and actually have nothing to do. It’s impossible to achieve, but it’s a good goal to have the right priorities and the right team in place so they can execute against those priorities. It’s almost the opposite of how I was approaching it.”

- Steve Case on Risk-Taking, or Lack Thereof, in Business - NYTimes.com

How to choose the right UX metrics for your product

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:22:18 -0400

How to choose the right UX metrics for your product

Design Staff — The product design sprint: a five-day recipe for startups

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:59:29 -0400

Design Staff — The product design sprint: a five-day recipe for startups:

Video is hot.

rickwebb's tumblrmajig: RIP, Photoshop Pirating

Tue, 07 May 2013 00:11:16 -0400

rickwebb's tumblrmajig: RIP, Photoshop Pirating:

rickwebb:

I have a confession: when I was a child, I pirated software. I began pirating Photoshop from version 2.0, 1991 or so, on. I would use those bit-by-bit binary disk duplicating apps, with two 3.5” floppy drives attached to a Mac. I never read a manual. I taught myself Photoshop by patiently going…

I don’t why this makes me like Delta and Starwood. 81...

Sun, 05 May 2013 20:28:50 -0400

I don’t why this makes me like Delta and Starwood. 81 miles. That’s like 81 cents. But still. Such a baller idea.

A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design

Thu, 02 May 2013 13:13:27 -0400

A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design:

Just revisiting this article, which is one of the best articulations of a “vision” out there.

In 1968 — three years before the invention of the microprocessor — Alan Kay stumbled across Don Bitzer’s early flat-panel display. Its resolution was 16 pixels by 16 pixels — an impressive improvement over their earlier 4 pixel by 4 pixel display.

Alan saw those 256 glowing orange squares, and he went home, and he picked up a pen, and he drew a picture of a goddamn iPad.

The Perfect Tee

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:43:33 -0400

The Perfect Tee:

A better product page. For sure.

Cover Story: Savages | Features | Pitchfork

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:10:23 -0400

Cover Story: Savages | Features | Pitchfork:

Oh man. The design for this is so hot.