I met Hiten Shah at the Lean Startup Machine in New York City. He was a mentor there so throughout the weekend my team had a chance to interact with him. Overall, he made a strong impression on me as a really bright, cool guy. So when I came across his newsletter “Hitenisms” I was intrigued and decided to subscribe. This morning I received my first one in my inbox:
I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strengthfrom distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business oflittle minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whoseconscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principlesunto death.” – Thomas Paine
Life has a funny way of acting normal …
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After I made a purchase yesterday the cashier asked me for my email address. For the sake of my inbox sanity I respectfully declined. In alignment with my moleskin diet, I thought about this interaction for a good 15 minutes. It got me thinking, what is the conversion rate on this question and the roi on each email address?
Lets compare this with if she asked me for my twitter handle. Knowing that I’d have to opt-in to receive updates from the brand, I’d be cool with giving that away. Don’t kid yourself, we all want more followers.
Brands can derive a ton of value from their customers’ twitter handles. For starters, by following someone they’re potentially giving them a subtle nudge …
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One thing that I love about the New York Tech Community is everyone is so willing to offer help. Its almost as if “let me know if I can help you out” is a standardized signature on emails. The problem with this is few people ever follow through unless there is an explicit ask. This is why people that take the initiative to follow through by really providing help standout.
For starters, if you have any type of relationship with someone or understanding of their situation, you can typically make an intelligent guess how you can help them out. If they’re building a product, actually use it and provide candid feedback. If they’re fundraising, introduce them to investors who …
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I’ve recently gone back on the moleskine diet.
For the past couple of weeks I’ve been carrying a moleskine journal in my pocket wherever I go. Throughout my day I record ideas, things I want to remember, and many more random thoughts/observations in here. I’ve also limited obsessively looking at my phone while I’m in transit. Email and twitter have been relegated to when I’m squarely seated in front of my computer. To my surprise, this combination has resulted in more creativity, productivity, and overall happiness.
I’ve come to realize that cell phones can be a mental black hole. When I dive into my email, twitter, or favorite app, I get the immediate gratification that comes with digital …
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Here’s a link to my recent post on Venturebent where I expose some ancillary tools for the 10 steps to making change easier mentioned in this awesome video.
This post originally appeared on VentureBent
A friend of mine recently invited me to join a google group called Really Think. Not only have I found it to be incredibly valuable, but it has got me thinking a lot about how certain applications provoke actions online that might have otherwise not occurred.
On the first of every month, members of the Really Think group send out questions/topics/issues to think about. The questions can be about anything you find thought-provoking. They’re often non-tech related which honestly amidst a sea of push notifications can be very refreshing. Examples of questions I’ve come across since joining the group are:
What is the best way to tackle the obesity epidemic in the United States?
Who is Your Idol?
After the …
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In honor of Labor Day, I wanted to write a post about what I’ve found to be one of the most critical factors for finding satisfaction at work in my own life.
One of the things I’m most passionate about is personal development. Rarely do I receive more satisfaction than when I feel like I’m growing as a man, a son, a friend, and a professional. Within any context, learning is at the core of personal development. I’ve found that consistently learning has had the greatest correlation with my satisfaction in the workplace. Conversely, it’s when I feel bored or that my learning is restricted that I’m truly unhappy at work. With a finite period of precious time on this Earth, nothing …
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This post originally appeared on Venturebent
Twitter has had a native URL shortener for some time, but it wasn’t until recently that they have begun automatically shortening URLs and link-wrapping those over 20 characters with a t.co URL. Alot of people are excited about these changes, including brands and media due to the condensed traffic source via the t.co link-wrapping. One service that has to be less thrilled about these changes is Bitly.
Bitly has been the dominate force amongst URL shorteners which has afforded them access to the real-time data kingdom. Sitting at the helm of real-time information sharing enables Bitly to derive incredible insights at both an aggregate and individual level. The applications to leveraging all the real-time data sharing …
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