February 2009
1 post
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December 2008
7 posts
Confusing activity with action →
Thing is, most of the stuff you do online doesn’t cost money. In the old days, money added friction. Money made you choosy. Money ensured that you valued your marketing efforts appropriately,…
Attending a music biz conference? Here’s the REAL... →
Being the cheap music-biz conference slut that I am, I’m often asked my advice for attending a conference. Here it is:
The Tao of promotion: it’s about them, not you
You know the way to be…
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Attending a music biz conference? Here’s the REAL... →
Being the cheap music-biz conference slut that I am, I’m often asked my advice for attending a conference. Here it is:
The Tao of promotion: it’s about them, not you
You know the way to be…
Photo →
Building an albatross →
I spent hours watching the albatross in the Galapagos hang out. The first thing you notice is that they have a terribly difficult time taking off. In the water, an albatross will have to spend…
Building an albatross →
I spent hours watching the albatross in the Galapagos hang out. The first thing you notice is that they have a terribly difficult time taking off. In the water, an albatross will have to spend…
November 2008
2 posts
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QUOTE: A complex system that works is invariably →
A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You…
October 2008
14 posts
Believe. Innovate. Be Unique. →
This was the first post I ever wrote for this blog back in 2005. Given all that is going on in the economy and in your business world I thought it was appropriate to publish it again. Now is the…
Learning from Harley-Davidson's comeback →
From 1973-1983, Harley-Davidson’s market share went from 78% to 23% as Japanese manufacturers flooded the market with high quality, low priced bikes. Unable to compete on price against the…
Waiting for the last drip →
Marketing is never about a hammer hitting plate glass. It is almost always about the accrued power of a thousand drips, drips that accrue, drop by drop until they overwhelm the status quo and break…
Too small to fail →
One secret of being a large financial institution is that you can take huge risks because you’re too big to fail. If you hit craps and lose it all, don’t worry, because you’ll get bailed out. One…
Acquire taste →
Having great taste is one of the most important characteristics of designers, programmers, and managers alike. Being able to discern what’s good from that which is bad. Which of the thousands of…
Too small to fail →
One secret of being a large financial institution is that you can take huge risks because you’re too big to fail. If you hit craps and lose it all, don’t worry, because you’ll get bailed out. One…
Uncomparable: anchor a new mama →
You know how baby ducks think the first big creature they see is their mother?
In the book Predictably Irrational, tests show that people do the same thing with prices.
When we first…
Uncomparable: anchor a new mama →
You know how baby ducks think the first big creature they see is their mother?
In the book Predictably Irrational, tests show that people do the same thing with prices.
When we first…
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Pithy quotes →
From an interview I just did with Hugh at gapingvoid
Everyone isn’t going to be a leader. But everyone isn’t going to be successful, either. Success is now the domain of people who…
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Why Smart People Do Dumb Things - Personal Lessons... →
Why Smart People Do Dumb Things - Personal Lessons From The Financial Meltdown
As we deal with the fallout from so many executives making such terrible decisions, the simplest advice seems the…
37signals goes to Maine →
Last week, the entire 37signals team went to York Harbor, Maine for three days. (We stayed at The York Harbor Inn.) So what happens at a 37signals company trip to Maine? We talk about what…
Pack half of what you think you need →
The #1 piece of advice you hear from frequent travellers: Pack light. Lay out everything you think you need. Then put away half: You see that pile of stuff sitting on your bed, waiting to be…
September 2008
8 posts
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Pilates and stress relieve →
Since a couple of months I am taking a Pilates session once a week. Kate Wodash, a client of mine, offered the first sessions for free, because she was so satisfied with my service to…
The Kordell Stewart Principle →
The goal isn’t to cause customers to think, “SHOULD we use this guy?” The goal is to cause customers to think, “HOW should we use this guy? LESSON LEARNED: How, not if. How DRAWS more…
Summaries of Jason Fried's two presentations at... →
Kris Jordan published detailed summaries of both of Jason’s presentations at the Web 2.0 Expo in NYC yesterday: 1) Keynote: Be a Software Curator Think of yourself as a curator. You want to…
Old Joke. Speaks Volumes... →
John arrives at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter tells John that he has the unique opportunity to take a look around at Heaven AND Hell and decide where he wants to spend eternity.
John takes a little…
The three kinds of FREE →
One of the themes of the book is untangling the confusion over different kinds of free,which can range from a simple marketing gimmick to a radically new economic model. I’ve taken a quick pass at…
37 Signals: Charge for your products, Dummy! →
[File under respected opposition] David Heinemeier Hansson, Jason Fried’s business partner at 37signals, begs to differ with the notion that Web companies shouldn’t charge for their…
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August 2008
10 posts
Domenico DeMarco and pizza as art →
The pizza at Di Fara Pizza on Avenue J in Midwood, Brooklyn is amazing (among the best in NYC). Owner Domenico DeMarco has run the place for over 40 years and makes each pie by hand. The place…
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Think Faster and Better on Your Feet with Tricks... →
CNN Living and Real Simple suggest stealing a few tricks from improv actors to help you think better and faster on your feet—and look better in real world situations.
Make everyone else in…
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The secret of the web (hint: it's a virtue) →
Patience. Google was a very good search engine for two years before you started using it. The iPod was a dud. I wrote Unleashing the Ideavirus 8 years ago. A few authors tried similar ideas but…
Don't be so quick to embrace your own ignorance →
I never liked the idea of the “for Dummies” or the “complete idiot’s guide to” book series’, but their sales success have certainly demonstrated that plenty of people identify with being a dummy or…
When Quantity Trumps Quality [Creativity] →
Conventional wisdom says quality, not quantity counts, but programmer Jeff Atwood disagrees. He says practice—great quantities of practice—bring quality.
Quantity always trumps quality. That’s why…
SONY PICTURES ACQUIRES EXCLUSIVE WORLDWIDE CROSS... →
THE AUDIENCE
When Rocketboom first got started at the end of 2004, and especially during the years of 2005 and 2006, every-time we put a video up online, people were…
How to Move On From Life-Changing Mistakes [Life... →
Former CEO of famously failed internet company Pets.com Julie Wainwright publishes a brutally honest inventory of the life-changing mistakes she’s made and how she’s moved on from them….
Sing it (please S I N G I T) →
Sing it! I spent some time a few days ago listening to a nascent band performing classic rock songs. The first group sang a note-for-note rendition of a song by the Stones. The notes were right,…
July 2008
16 posts
How GitHub used Getting Real to pick a fight,... →
Git is a fast, efficient, distributed version control system ideal for the collaborative development of software and GitHub is “the easiest (and prettiest) way to participate in that…
Skip Business School and Get Your "Personal MBA"... →
Self-educator Josh Kaufman says you can bypass business school an earn a “Personal MBA” by reading the best books in business—and he offers 77 of his picks. Kaufman writes:
Top MBA programs…
How GitHub used Getting Real to pick a fight,... →
Git is a fast, efficient, distributed version control system ideal for the collaborative development of software and GitHub is “the easiest (and prettiest) way to participate in that…
Marilyn Monroe, the Mona Lisa and Jackson Pollock →
Markets love icons. We seek them out. Placeholders, shorthand for a bigger idea or a shortcut to a good enough solution. Marilyn Monroe is an icon. You can use her image and say a lot,…
How to find (er, MAKE) time to write →
Here’s another question I get a lot. Usually from other writers. “How do you find the time to write?” Well, there’s a fundamental flaw in that sentence. It contains the word “find.” Which…
Robert McKee on the power of story →
As children we were naturally good at telling stories about events or topics that mattered and learning from others via their stories, but as we became older we were taught that serious…
Sir Ken Robinson: We need to transform education →
I’m a big Ken Robinson fan and have pointed to him many times such as in this post on his TED talk from 2006 (and see Sir Ken’s ideas on public speaking here). Even if you saw the…
Stickam Launches PayPerLive; Will You Pay to Watch... →
Starting today, Stickam is allowing beta testers to charge for events broadcast via the live video streaming service. Dubbed PayPerLive, the service allows the host to schedule events and sell…