Although I like to primarily harbor content I created on this blog, its important to expose this to as many people as possible. This country needs more leaders like this. Please watch.
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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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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Two days ago, I was re-reading “Whose Got Your Back” and was struck Peter Gruber’s definition of elegance:
Elegance is the art of exerting the minimum amount of effort for the maximum effect, the maximum amount of power and achievement in our life.
When I signed up for Hipster today I tweeted about how beautiful it was. However, what really impressed me was the elegance of their email notifications.
The biggest problem with email notifications is that users become desensitized amidst inbox overload. By making the first line of text after the message title very short, their notification stood out. With a minimalist approach, they leveraged contrast to achieve their goal. They grabbed my attention.
This small example speaks to the broader theme …
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Last night I read a post about the difference between pain and discomfort on Jason Shen’s blog. The paragraph and highlighted sentence below particularly resonated with me as I turned off the light following my google reader ritual:
Only for the first night did I think I would have trouble getting up at 5am for a full inspection in subzero temperatures. Only on the first day did I think there was no way I’d run a 2.4 before and after each meal of the day. If you are the kind of person who rolls over each morning and hits ‘snooze’ so you can throw away another 10 minutes of opportunity, this man had a practice grenade he would casually throw into your dorm to …
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I was just writing an email and hastily cc’d the wrong person. Gmail uses machine learning to understand my common behavior and alerts when they think I might have made a mistake. Its awesome
1. Auto-populate my contacts (which are automated via frequency)
2. Recognizes my mistake
3. Enabled me to easily correct my mistake with one click
Saved me from emailing the wrong person. Impressive.
A loyal online community is one of the hardest assets to cultivate, but often one of the most valuable. Unlike one-off click-throughs, members of a community engage in an on-going relationship. Depending on the context, their value comes through in the form of support, input, awareness, data, SEO, repeat purchases…the list goes on.
Consistently publishing high-quality content is one way to cultivate an online community. Fred Wilson’s blog AVC is a perfect example of this. By churning out value on a daily basis he has cultivated a loyal community. Make no mistake, building this community is the product of lots of hard work; regularly publishing thought-provoking posts and accomplishing the things he has as an investor and community leader is no …
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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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