The Future of Education: Optimizing At The Highest Levels

by Scott

One thing I’ve become increasingly cognizant of is that the intake of information is only part of an effective learning process. The greatest learning occurs when we actively apply our knowledge. This notion has been popularized by the phrase “learning is doing.”

One of the challenges we face as a race is that only a small percentage of people are poised to actively apply their knowledge to solve the world’s greatest problems: problems such as curing cancer or creating sustainable solutions to address the diminishing oil supply. It seems kind of odd that their is not a greater concentration of talent focused here considering the scale at which innovation can make humanity better off. This is not a call out, just …
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My Life: Far From Deserved

by Scott

My interactions with the world around me over the past 5 days move me to write this post.
 
Sunday: My pastor Carl Lentz gave an inspiring sermon after returning from Ethiopia. He spent the last week working with Scott Harrison to provide villages with clean water. The pictures made my eyes sweat.
 
Tuesday: Someone asked me how lucky I thought I was. A 12 on the 10 point scale sounds about right.

Wednesday: I met a guy named Lavar who’d been living drug-free on the street for 6 years due to a mental illness. He showed me how he can’t fully close his hands because of the many cold nights he’s spent on rugged pavement.

A short while ago I wrote a post about …
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Guerilla Tactics: Selling A Skillshare Class Case Study

by Scott

I thought it’d be cool to expose some of the less obvious tactics I used to get people to sign up for my Skillshare class. A tweet here and there just doesn’t cut it for the young and hungry. Sometimes you need to put the warpaint on.                     

Email Signature and Inbox Special Ops

I use my email signature like a strategic weapon. I change it frequently and at times even cater it depending upon who I’m emailing. I’ve found it extremely effective for nudging people to look at something without looking like a tool. Within that vein, I went beast mode in large email groups that I’m involved in to try to drive …
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Career Choices: Why I Stopped Being A Wall Street Hater

by Scott

I vividly remember the final battlefield demos at TC disrupt. The strange thing is, it’s not the demos that stick out in my mind, but rather a small fraction of one charismatic founder’s time on stage. When the cohort of decorated judges asked him about his background, he jokinginly admitted he spent three years in the gallows of Wall Street. The disenchanting tone of his answer provoked a supportive response from the audience. Yeah down with Wall Street!
 
For the last year I’ve spent in the tech ecosystem, I feel like I see people cheering on Wall Street drop-outs as well as overtly hating on the industry wherever I go. I definitely drank this Kool-Aid when I first touched down in …
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Digital Real Estate and Creating Personality Within Products

by Scott

Value creation from real estate is not limited to property in the offline world. It exists across web platforms we interact with on a daily basis. The obvious opportunities exist anywhere we can create content. From short bursts to long-form writing, tangible value is created atop digital real-estate.
 
Each piece of online content serves as a potential touch point for value creation: a potential sale; a relationship; a partnership; the list goes on. People are very good at using content to bridge knodes of connectivity to create these things.
 
What I find interesting is the amount of online real estate people aren’t leveraging effectively. Money is being left on the table. Every piece of digital real estate is a chance to make …
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One Reason to Name Your Company After An Awesome Adjective

by Scott

Check out this google sandwich

It’s just so savory.

I wanted to share this awesome Savored Picks section because I’m always looking for new date spots or places to “grab drinks.” I can’t be the only one with this problem.

If you feel weird or embarrassed about using a discount on a date, you shouldn’t. It won’t come up because the discount is integrated into the check via the reservation. No coupons.

If for some odd reason it comes up, just tell you’re date she’s lucky to be with such a financially savvy guy…then putting the icing on the cake by offering to go grab a night cap afterwards using the money you saved : )

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The Subscription Commerce War Chest Challenge

by Scott

The heart-warming response and support from friends yesterday after opening the kimono on a sacred part of my life was pretty awesome. I’m really grateful to be surrounded by such a supportive ecosystem.

However, I couldn’t help but wonder about the conversion rate. That is, how many people would actually read that article and take the leap to start talking to the homeless. Far too many people read things, get excited, then take no action.  

One of the product lessons I’ve learned that mirrors offline behavior is how challenging it is to effect behavioral change. On the web, this is best done by providing a far enhanced user experience with minimal switching costs.

Within the real world scenario of …
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