Stories, software and strategies to help nonprofits do the social web
Clay Shirky gives voice to what big media seems to be thinking: “Web users will have to pay for what they watch and use, or else we will have to stop making content in the costly and complex way we have grown accustomed to making it. And we don’t know how to do that.” via shirky.com This doesn't work so well, though, if supply explodes and demand does not. When complex systems collapse, the moment shifts to those who can work lightly and cheaply. A great read, as usual.
April, 1 2010 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
You can find a lot of advice in many places. Rarely is the quality of the advice associated with having money involved of largely superior quality. And if you end up building something of considerable value, then the connections and introductions will come all by themselves. via 37signals.com
April, 1 2010 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
When you decide to stop hemming and hawing and start shipping, everything changes. While my little indie effort to explain a complicated tech product to humans won’t make the NY Times bestseller list, we created this book this way very much in the spirit of small, independent just-do-it entrepreneurship. via 37signals.com Gina Trapani on self-publishing the Google Wave guide.
March, 31 2010 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
Jeremy Toeman has a fantastic analysis of the Twitter experience for new users. Lots of lessons here for Twitter -- and for anyone putting together a new user experience. Twitter needs to thoroughly overhaul the new user experience. Forget “suggested users” and focus on “suggested uses.” via livedigitally.com
January, 28 2010 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
Apple's 4-week approval for iPhone apps interferes with bug fixes. And that interferes with making the best software -- and inspiring the best people. An organization that wins by exercising power starts to lose the ability to win by doing better work. And it’s not fun for a smart person to work in a place where the best ideas aren’t the ones that win. via paulgraham.com
November, 20 2009 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
So for the Mac, which was developed for far less money than the Lisa, Apple turned to third-party developers. And here’s the line they used, which I believe was the work of Alain Rossmann: “It’s obvious that graphical computing is the future, whether the Mac is a success or not. This is your chance to learn how to develop for such an environment. Choosing not to develop for the Mac, then, is choosing for your company to eventually die.” via cringely.com
October, 22 2009 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
Sean Ellis uses surveys to judge how well a team's product fits the market: I ask existing users of a product how they would feel if they could no longer use the product. In my experience, achieving product/market fit requires at least 40% of users saying they would be “very disappointed” without your product. Admittedly this threshold is a bit arbitrary, but I defined it after comparing results across nearly 50 startups. Those that struggle for traction are always under 40%, while most that gain strong traction...
October, 19 2009 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
Fifty years ago, if you were had a $1 billion market capitalization, you had 5,000 employees. Now you need 50. It makes sense that those 4,500 forced to look in should be able to bitch and moan and offer suggestions. It’s why talk radio mixed with sports has always been such a hit…with everyone BUT the athletes. As blogging and now microblogging have grown, the armchair quarterback has evolved and mutated to something I call ‘The Armchair Entrepreneur’. Most calls I handle about Stocktwits start with….so how...
October, 13 2009 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
Daniel Tunkelang reports a sad and true story of a startup threatened by patent lawsuit. A much larger competitor called to say "shut down and come work for us, or we’ll crush you with a patent infringement suit." Yikes! Whether or not you believe that there should be software patents–and there is room for reasonable people to debate this question–I hope you agree that the situation my friend is facing amounts to legalized extortion. I understand that no system is perfect, and that our legal system requires compromises...
October, 11 2009 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
Startup thinking for the social sector. Code to help nonprofits do the social web. Plus photography.
(And reading aloud.)
More about Eric Johnson.
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