Think. Act. Grow.

It just works...

2012-01-21T12:16:00.002-06:00

Some time ago, Apple added the "Home Sharing" feature to iTunes. Essentially, it easily allows drag media from one computer in the house to another (over the wireless network) without having to burn a CD, push it to a USB drive, etc. It's simple, convenient and speaks well to the need that with most homes having multiple computers, there should be an easy way to distribute media to all these machines.

Not to fanboy about Apple here, but as I was moving music around the other day, it struck me - this app simply "works". It does what it's supposed to do. On a consistent basis.

As simple as that sounds, it's not as common as you think. Think of the many apps that get hung up, or you have to reload, or forget who you are and you need to re-enter your credentials. Or the products that fail well before they should. Or restaurants where your experience is dependent upon who's waiting on you.

Brand and product loyalty is tied to a consistent experience - it's how the great brands cement such continued longevity with their customer base. Once that brand experience (tied intimately to user experience) can be counted on, always, to deliver that uniqueness, no matter what it is, every time, then you've got the foundation for a great relationship (and future growth).

So, my question to you - does your stuff "just work"?

Three more things on your 2012 To-Do list

2012-01-01T13:25:00.001-06:00

So it's New Year's day and many of us are in the throes of crafting new resolutions, commitments, goals and whatever other things we seek to make the new year more meaningful than the one just retired. I'm all for looking at the days ahead with new perspective, it's the nature of the commitments that tends to be the most disappointing part of these efforts.

So I offer three things for entrepreneurs (and those in business for that matter) to consider adding or making part of their 2012 personal commitments - these aren't "quick fix" in nature, but they have wonderful long-term benefits, if you'll only stick to them.

Note: I write these for my own benefit as much as anything - nothing worse than an armchair blogger advocating things that they themselves should be doing!

So, in no particular order, three things that should be on your 2012 personal and work commitments:

Be passionate in your work: This means not only finding or doing work that leverages and honors your core strengths and passions, but continues to fuel your desire to grown and learn more. Stagnation is death, commit to the notion that no matter how good you are at what you do, you can always learn more. It may be from others, both younger as well as older and it may be from traditional and not traditional sources. Be open and take it all in.

Committing to this passion has three benefits:

You stay energized, vibrant and more engaged in what you do
You're more productive and focused (distractions are fewer)
Your company is better for it (because of the preceding two items)

Be meaningful in what you do and deliver: Focused more on the business side of things - does what you/your business does have an impact? This is not at the purely altruistic level (which I also include) but a very candid, secular level - does your business offering really make a difference? Does it differentiate enough so that the customer can see why they should choose your offering? Does it bring a surprising benefit the customer isn't expecting? Does it cause your competitors to regret that they didn't think of this first?

This is as much a call for businesses to move away from "me too", commoditized offerings and more towards things that truly add value, are compelling and make a difference. Not to say it's easy but when you're engaged in creating this type of unique value (vs. just competing for share), it's a lot more interesting, engaging and quite honestly, more fun work. Some of the best startups and companies I've worked with have this at their center and they're some of the most energizing places to be around.

Be grateful and thank those around you: It's never out of style to thank people in all areas of your life - those in business who helped you get into a new account, the dry cleaner who rushed your shirts through so you could make your flight, the person who does what they say they're going to do, consistently. It costs very little, yet has an enormous payoff.   Keep a stack of thank you cards on your desk as a constant reminder (to thank others) and use it as a barometer as to how well you're doing in succeeding in this goal.

Best of all, there's no loss to you - you have a virtually infinite number of "thank you's" to give, so don't be cheap with them.

Combined, these three things will make an enormous difference in the level of personal fulfillment in your career and personal life and also make for better, more interesting and thriving businesses.

Do good things, think good thoughts and keep in touch in the new year!

Reasons to be Thankful

2011-11-25T09:14:00.001-06:00

It's the day after Thanksgiving, I'm recovering from a phenomenal dinner (and resulting food coma) but it's never too late to use this opportunity to give thanks for the wonderful things in my life.

I'm thankful for the amazing family I have - my wife, who puts up with me and whose patience is exceeded on probably a daily basis, my children who continue to show me just how blessed I am and how proud I am of the people they're becoming. For my broader family, I'm thankful - while we don't see each other as much as we'd all like, we do have the gift of knowing that we're there for each other, regardless.

I'm thankful for what I've been given and the opportunity to use it for good and creative things and to make a difference in people's lives. I'm grateful for my health - every day that we're up and moving is a good day, and to stay that way is a great gift.

For the network of people in my life - work, church, neighborhood and friends, thanks for what you bring and helping me to honor that.

I'm grateful for a country that, regardless of how messed up the system is, we're able to have what we have and create a better future for us and our community.

Lastly, I'm just.... thankful. Remember, it's a good life, take inventory (daily) of the good things you have, you won't be sorry. <3

Simple Continues to Sell

2011-11-17T12:51:00.001-06:00

Much has already been studied, written and deployed regarding the power and criticality of simplicity, but I will continue to be one it's most ardent proponents. So it comes as no surprise that when Steve Ells, founder of Chipotle, launched his latest restaurant concept, ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, guess how long the menu is?

Short. You can scan it in 10 seconds and know everything they're offering.

Given that Chipotle has a similarly brief menu and they've grown to $1.8B in revenue with 1200 locations, this is a strong validation to the power of a concept that embraces simplicity at its core.

Food is food and yes, they have to deliver on a consistent and enjoyable experience, but they've not wavered from one of the critical design elements of their offering - simplicity.

What's in your business today that could benefit from a rigorous simplification? Don't just limit your thinking to the product - the drive for integrating simplicity into business design extends to business processes, packaging, instructions, labeling, return instructions, website design and navigation, user interfaces, partnering contracts...there's nothing in business that doesn't have some potential to benefit from simplification.

With the "noise" of so many channels, offerings, options and alternatives in our lives today, the theme of simplicity will continue to be making an appearance at the top of the leaderboard of those products and services that dominate in the market.

Onward towards,,, simpler times!!

The Biggest Missing Part of a Start-up Pitch

2011-10-18T16:19:00.001-05:00

I love big, market-changing entrepreneurial ideas.

I love the passion of the entrepreneurs behind them.

I love simplicity. In all things.

But this is where things get shaky. In listening to hundreds of entrepreneurs' startup pitches over the years, the one thing I listen for more than anything else, is also the simplest. It's what problem are they solving? I've listened to presentations from - new search algorithms, to semiconductor lasers to neighborhood garbage pickup services and the most memorable and most likely to succeed, were the ones that started out with this statement:

"We're _________ and the problem we solve is fill in the blanks ."

It's that simple. Once I hear this, I now know exactly where they're starting from, what space they're intending to participate in, the nature and scope of the problem and begin assembling in my head (while still attentively listening) a composite of what this could be all about. Competitors come to mind, past attempts at solving the problem emerge, a list of behaviors needing to be changed is drawn along with things like sizing of the market, profit potential, etc. filter into the mental model of this entrepreneur's idea.

But as I said, sadly, I don't hear this anywhere near as much as it should be stated. Doesn't matter what you're pitching - start here and your conversations are going to be a lot more productive and probably contribute more to your success rate than you realize.

So, please, take a few minutes and articulate this next time you pitch anyone on your idea - they'll really appreciate it!

AND - (here's the added bonus of this) if you don't have a simple, clear answer to the "what problem do we solve?" question - well, now you have some work to do. If your idea/business/solution doesn't solve a problem (and problems take on many different forms) then think seriously about whether you want to continue going forward.

You may have to rethink the value proposition of your idea, the target customer, the go to market approach to make this shift, but if you do figure it out AND you are truly solving a problem, you just improved your chances.

It won't be easy, but it will be better.

Thank you for listening.

Startup CEOs - What "Good" Looks Like

2011-09-26T12:06:00.000-05:00

Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with two of my favorite startup CEOs - Lief Larson of WorkFace and Rob Weber of W3i (OK, so W3i's been around a while, but they're still an awesome company to observe!). Our meetings reminded me of what makes for great leadership at startup companies.

Here's what makes these two guys people to watch and learn from:

Passion - both of them exude it. They love their business, they love the challenges they're faced with and there's no question that this is what they were meant to be doing
Tenacity - they've both faced difficulties in getting the business launched, running and growing and will continue to do so, but they take it in stride. There's no hint of frustration (although in private, I'm sure there've been moments), only the notion of another hurdle to clear
Knowledge - the recall of the key metrics of their business is impressive. It's not just numbers, it's the numbers that really matter. You can tell that they've created a formal or perhaps informal management dashboard and work relentlessly towards continually improving these numbers. They also know their industry extremely well, on an "expert" level
Forward looking - a big part of our conversations were about the future - what was ahead of them and how they were planning to go after it. Yes, they have core businesses to run, but they strike the proper balance of knowing how best to keep building the core (need a solid team for one) and going after what's next - new spaces, next iterations of the product, etc
Optimism - perhaps the first two items are companion attributes to having a positive outlook, but these CEOs know exactly where they're going and how they're going to get there
Adaptability/Agility - they both have an idea of what needs to be done, quickly figure out how to get it to the customer, rigorously test their assumptions/hypotheses, and if it doesn't work, they quickly kill it, learn from it and move on - all attributes of lean startups or just plain smart companies
Humility - last but not least, regardless of what they've accomplished (and they both have a great deal to be proud of) these two CEOs embody one of the most valuable and powerful personal and business assets - the wisdom to know that you're never above anyone else, to be open to listening to others' ideas, to know what you don't know and that you let others speak to your accomplishments, no matter what.

It was one of those great reminders and opportunity to learn from people who fulfill their job as leader, very well.

The power of positive practice

2011-09-03T09:05:00.001-05:00

For the past three years, I've had the honor of being a judge for the high-tech section of the Minnesota Cup. The Cup is an annual competition that seeks to identify the latest in breakthrough ideas and the entrepreneurs behind them. The semifinalists and finalists receive a nice combination of cash and support services from local providers (legal, pr, etc.).

In this year's competition, as usual, the caliber of the finalists was impressive - great ideas and even greater passion and energy behind the entrepreneurs. But even more impressive this year, was the presentation by the winner, Naiku.

In working with startups over the past seven years, I see a LOT of presentations. Some good, some OK and some really bad. But the presentation that the President of Naiku, Adisack Nhouyvanisvong, delivered stood out as clearly one of the best that I've seen...probably in the top 10 if not top 5.

Here's why - he practiced it.

His delivery and command of the message was so tight, he "owned" that room of judges. He faced the audience, made eye contact with everyone and never looked back at the screen to see what was on it, nor do what most presenters do - read the words being displayed. He had eight minutes to tell the story so it meant that the right stuff had to be communicated, clearly and concisely. He used a "clicker" to advance the slides, so he knew exactly what to say and when to transition to the next visual. When he was done (and it was on time), it was clear that this was an entrepreneur who knew how to truly tell their story.

The only way a presenter can get to this level of performance is to practice. Unfortunately, practice is one of the least fun and commonly avoided disciplines of any business leader - be it a startup or Fortune 500 company. With all the other pressures facing your business, why waste time practicing something you know by heart? I'll just get in there, tell 'em my story and wing it!

If you don't believe you need to focus on practicing your story, keep in mind that practice applies to disciplines far beyond business presentations - athletes, especially the very successful ones, practice like mad men, regardless of their success or standings. Just watch the warmups on the driving range at a PGA event to see what these guys are working on - it's all practice - making that same shot over and over and over again.

So, my wish for every entrepreneur - take the time and respect the power of positive practicing. I can guarantee that you'll learn something new each time you practice your presentation. Do it with people who can give you candid, constructive feedback. If you can't find people to present to, practice in front of a camcorder and watch the playback - you'll be amazed at what you see and will quickly identify things that you can improve on. For your presentation day, practice in front of a mirror to make sure your body language is not distracting the message you're delivering.

Lastly, as someone on the receiving end, I will not only appreciate the effort that went into your practice, but there's a stronger likelihood that the conversation that follows will be a lot more productive.

Good luck and remember - practice, practice, practice!!!

Reasons to be Cheerful

2011-07-15T12:21:00.015-05:00

I had breakfast with a friend this morning and he pointed out a pretty alarming and astute observation - the majority of my blogposts as of late have been about DEATH! Yeesh! He was really right! Maybe too many zombie movies (which I confess a minor affinity for), maybe my pragmatism is getting the best of me, but regardless, as a "glass half-full" guy, it was a big wakeup call! So thanks, Jeff, for pointing this out.

So, my new focus (for the next several releases) is on what's good, what's right and what's possible. There's enough negative stuff out there, it's far better to motivate and change the world with good vs. ugly.

So, for those with obscure music libraries from the '80's, I harken back to an Ian Dury & the Blockheads song - "Reasons to be Cheerful" and want to list a few of those - specifically for entrepreneurs!

Reason 1: It's never been cheaper to start a company. Costs to get a startup off the ground and generating a workable idea that can be shared with investors are pretty doggone low. It still requires a good entrepreneur to be prudent with every penny, but a startup dollar goes a long way today.

Reason 2: The ability to look like "bigger" has never been easier. The challenge for startups has always been - how to look bigger than you really are. Communications, social media and desktop publishing (does anyone really call it that anymore?) have enabled a pair of entrepreneurs with a great idea to, when done properly, position themselves as a to-be-taken-serious business. The tools still require skill and careful use, but the cost and ease of looking bigger than you are, has never been cheaper.

Reason 3: The economy needs you. Economic growth of traditional enterprises and industry sectors has been put on the slow boat to miserable. Growth is either - a.) anemic or b.) done by acquisitions. Startups represent the REAL source for where economic growth is going to come from - and while there are other things that'll feed into this (such as risk capital, etc.) if we want to see a resurgence of new economic growth, we're going to need a lot more new ventures!

How awesome is that - build a company, save the country (ok, so there's a little dramatic license)....

Reason 4: Fulfillment. Regardless of what you do, where you're from, your level of education, you will always be at your best when you're doing something you're passionate about. Period. If you're lucky enough to be pursuing your passion AND you're working for someone else - congrats, you're fortunate. The rest of us - fulfillment will be found when you finally connect what you're passionate about with what you do for a living.

It won't necessarily be easy, but if you are honest with yourself about what you want, work hard, surround yourself with great people and have a solid support network (family, friends, etc.), you will find this. Just ask most entrepreneurs who've been at it for at least 2 years - if given the choice, would they go back to working for someone else?

There are other sources of fulfillment, but I'm speaking strictly about your vocation - which takes up a fair amount of your life, so it's worth taking seriously.

and,,,

Reason 5: You're alive. Rejoice in that. Take advantage of every moment you have and make it worthwhile. Do things you'd never consider. Take risks. Have fun. Laugh. Don't get too serious. Change someone's life. Change a lot of people's lives. Just don't resign the rest of your life to mediocrity that under fulfills the real potential you've been given.

So, enjoy life.

Be happy.

Do good things.

Think good thoughts.

The Coroner's Report on the Leading Causes of Early Startup Death

2011-05-24T22:41:00.026-05:00

I never throw stuff out. It’s especially problematic when it comes to business cards. Perhaps it’s one part sentimentality, one part hoarder, but I am the proud owner of two 4” 3-ring binders full of business cards that I’ve collected over the past ten years (the cards prior to that period are in a shoebox somewhere, waiting to be tossed some day).

In these binders most of the cards are from my work with VC firms and early stage companies. The other day, I had an opportunity to file a bunch of newer cards away, and while doing so, I began to page through the hundreds of cards nestled away in their protective plastic sleeves. Something struck me as I leafed through the “A’s”, then “B’s” and so on – in here were the business cards of startups that had been funded by some of the best Venture Capital firms of Silicon Valley.

These were Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia, Mayfield, Accel, USVP and NEA-funded startups. Money from some of the most storied, successful, well regarded and wicked credentialed investors in the world of early stage investing.

But a huuuuge majority of these companies…NO LONGER EXISTED.

Wha’ happened???

Didn’t these VC’s see thousands of deals? Have access to the best industry sources? Been through enough investment cycles and mistakes to know a good deal from a bad deal? If these guys can’t get it right, is there any hope for early stage startups?

But while I could go on about the VC’s role in this, I’ll speak to the real question – what causes a startup with good talent, a high growth idea and platinum plated investors to go out of business? Aren’t these three components part of the formula for success for so many successful startups?

As I looked at the various companies, I saw patterns emerge. I saw at least ten various causes of death in my card file:

Cause of death #1: The startup was slow to get a product/service quickly developed and out to market and ended up burning through all their cash, wearing out investor patience and future prospects for follow-on funding.

Cause of death #2: In the time the product was hatched to when it hit commercial release, the market took a nasty sharp turn and the startup had no idea what happened. By the time they realized it, no amount of money would fix the misalignment to the market.

Cause of death #3: Just a plain bad idea. Someone on the investing side must have been very convincing (I won’t blame the startup since they’re always a bit myopic anyways) to their partners in convincing them that something like a George Foreman grill attachment for a Segway was a good idea. Chances of success at launch? Zero.

Cause of death #4: There was a big hit on the market and everyone wanted to be the next in line to cash in on the new dance craze! Unfortunately, in retrospect, that one big success story was an anomaly and it was the beneficiary of some incredibly good timing. One big market success does not a trend make. Anyone wanna buy a Snuggie for Llamas?

Cause of death #5: Great idea, pushed too far, too fast. I’ve always said – in life, as well as startups – “speed kills” (or can kill if not handled properly). Several startups had great ideas; the investors could see a huge market opportunity (in addition to a liquidity event) and pushed the living daylights out of the startup to GROW FASTER!

Despite all the pressure and additional cash, they broke the company and failed to get their market success or liquidity event.

Cause of death #6: The startup was great in beta, but when it came time to scale, it lacked a number of critical things (capacity, resources, $, expandable model) to make this happen and basically “struggled to death”.

Cause of death #7: The startup entered into what it thought was “white space” – and everyone was along for the ride. They may have been technically correct, but after they all their 80-hour weeks and millions of VC cash spent to validate a nascent market opportunity, the big incumbents with multi-million dollar market budgets and vastly greater resources, just swooped in and took this market away from the pioneers. No real points awarded for “first mover” here.

Cause of death #8: Hubris. Arrogance. What can I say? The entrepreneur that fails to listen to – customers, the market, competitive threats, investors, etc., you name it, ends up leading the march into the graveyard.

Cause of death #9: Lack of agility. The startup gets to market, gets some early success, but continued success is heavily dependent upon how well they continue to adapt to the needs and demands of the market. It’s especially acute when it comes to a market that’s still trying to figure out what it wants. Not an easy space to play in, hence the high mortality rate, but this is what great companies learn to master.

Cause of death #10: No “second act” product. The old VC saying, “Is it a company or a feature?” rings true here. Many startups get a winning product out there, score some share points, but to continue to grow and sustain momentum, they fail to bring out new products and services and they become the next Vanilla Ice of startups.

These are just ten of the failure modes I saw from the cards I scanned. There’s more.

Your job as an entrepreneur is to make sure you don’t end up looking like one of these business cards – lots of promise, but dead at an early age.

7 deadly sins that kill companies - Part 7 - love (or the lack of it)

2010-12-26T14:29:00.023-06:00

Wow, am I a slacker. I set out to finish this 7 part series months ago and here I am, with 5 days left in the year and I'm finally finishing it. Nothing like a year-end deadline to get you off your butt.

So the final killer sin that kills companies is not your usual run-of-the-mill sin. As a matter of fact, it's the absence of it that tends to kill companies and cultures.

It's Love. Or, as I just stated, the lack of it.

Despite the cliches and countless songs written about it, love really does make the world go round. It is the most enduring of human virtues/traits, surpassing all other human emotions and motivations. It motivates us to seek companionship, to do things in the service of others, to accomplish things we might not otherwise pursue, and so on. If you can't buy this argument, try imagining a world without it. Think of how people would get along, how they'd interact, why they'd do things, what their motivations would be. Kind of a dark, Sin-City version emerges, huh?

But what this has to do with companies is a bit more complicated. Companies are started and sustained to fulfill a specific mission or a societal or economic purpose. And as has been explained many times, people will spend an average of at least 1/3rd of their lives in work. Yet despite this, workplaces are historically not known as being places where love rules. We train, we school, we work hard, we sacrifice, we attain, we get paid, we retire, we die. Not much love going on in between all that.

Why it doesn't show up more in the workplace is not hard to understand. Love has certainly made great strides from its darker days of the Victorian era, but it's still considered a taboo subject for how it gets expressed in the workplace. To those with lurid and distorted imaginations, I'm not talking about physical intimacy or unwelcome gestures - I'm talking about the unconditional love of your fellow human being, that includes a sincere regard for their welfare. Tough to do, since we're wired for anything but this.

But how does (the absence of) this kill companies? Aren't you getting a little too altruistic Nyman? Maybe the Holiday spirit has given you a love-hangover?

It's simple. Think of what workplace environments would be like if people cared more for each other than the singular outcome of the P&L? Think about the conflicts that would be eradicated, if people were more attuned to those needs of their fellow workers? Political back-stabbing? If we are less about winning at all costs and more about caring, healthy, productive, respectful relationships, the need for political alliances and boundaries disappears.

From a leadership perspective, it's a favorite axiom of mine that "people don't leave companies - they leave managers." Bad leadership is one of the leading causes for why high performing companies fall well short of the inherent potential of the human capital they possess. Replace bad leadership and impersonal, uncaring motives with love and concern for those they're responsible for leading and you get an environment that not only nurtures and develops people, but engenders a loyalty that leaders of most companies can only dream of.

Remember, I'm not asking people to abdicate their market knowledge, operating skills or overall business acumen. What is simply being added is the thing that work environments are historically hostile towards - love.

There are enough bad examples of how cold, self-centered and impersonal the workplace has become. Layoffs are treated as an unavoidable reality of a harsh and demanding marketplace. Development of careers and individual skills and capabilities are afterthoughts since no one can be sure just how long they'll be working there, so why invest in someone who may not be here in 5 months? These, along with all of the garden variety ills of company cultures are what's keeping love from being more of a powerful and effective instrument of enduring companies.

More critically, this presence of love has an enormous effect on the product or service being delivered. If organizations center their existence on truly serving a felt-need and having a high regard for those whom they're delivering their offering to, their chances for sustaining a market success are vastly improved. How many times has your opinion changed of a company when you learned just how passionate they are in serving your needs - how crazy they are that you're satisfied with what you get? (not many companies fit that bill btw...) Makes all the difference in the world. You're happy, you come back for more business. They're thrilled to have a happy customer, their employees enjoy being able to successfully meet the customer's needs and stick around because it's a great way to spend your day/career. Pretty much a win-win for all.

This topic merits far more time than I have space for, but I wanted to end this series on a positive note - instead of focusing on all that's wrong in companies today (and there is a lot to talk about there), I want to leave people with something not only to aspire to, but to seek to bring into their workplaces. Something that costs nothing more than the personal courage to reach out, care and look out for the needs of those whom you work with.

This series has been about the aspects of enduring companies - those companies that are around in 10, 50 and 340 years from now. Greed, leverage, competitive conquests, up-markets, down-markets, etc. all come and go. Most of the companies in "Good to Great", aren't "great" anymore. The top companies of the Fortune 500 are replaced every decade or so, if not sooner.

But only love has endured since the dawn of mankind.

Do you think maybe there's something your company might learn from this? Remember, next to sleeping, work is where you spend the largest percentage of your waking hours. Spend it wisely.

The death of etiquette

2010-12-21T08:21:00.012-06:00

There's no doubt things are speeding up in all aspects of our lives. The performance of our growing number of digital devices combined with the increasingly available broadband that surrounds us, topped off by the growing bucket of stuff to accomplish on our to-do lists is putting enormous pressure on us - our relationships, our patience, our declining embrace of "slow" things (anyone written a letter lately), and most sadly, the death of etiquette.

Nowhere is this more evident than in emails.

I'm a total fan of and embrace technology in more ways than even many of my geezer peers do - so it's not that I don't "get it". But I'm also very "old skool" when it comes to a couple of timeworn, core basics of human interaction, not the least of which is etiquette and the accompanying notion of courtesy.

Regardless of the circumstances, people are increasingly forgetting what their mother taught them (assuming their Mom cared about their manners) about these two essential life skills.

More and more emails I get have completely lost the notion of a salutation. I'm not talking about "Dear Mr. Nyman" or "Hello Marti" or even, "Whatup, Monkeybreath?". I'm saying that they've been completely eradicated. Gone. Kaput. Just going right past any form of intro and diving headlong into the body of the email.

Then there's the close - also notoriously missing. There's no - "Best regards," or "Hope you choke on it", or even "Hasta la vista, baby".. Nothing. Not even their own name. Did I just get a message from a machine or human being? Hard to tell.

I blame part of it on bad manners and our growing incivility, the other part on the explosion of texting. We all use these types of communication, but several among us forget that the rules change when going between mediums. To many, an email is a text, only on a bigger keyboard.

As a matter of fact, when I recently received one of these curt emails, that very same day I saw this article in the New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/technology/21email.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a25

It quotes: “We’re going down a road where we’re losing our skills to communicate with the written word." Tru dat...

Instead of continuing an overextended rant, let me just offer a few guiding principles to those who care:

1. Right tool for the right job - don't use texting habits for email and vice versa
2. If it's worth taking the time to write, take the time to do it right - for emails, be considerate enough to put in a simple salutation and close.
3. If you're angry about something, don't put it in writing - ideally, talk F2F, oops, I meant, face to face. If you have to write it down, write it, sit on it for a few days and then see if you really need to send it.
4. If you're communicating with someone on business - not only should you include the necessary intro and closing structures but watch your spelling and grammar. Nothing SCREAMS noob, like an incorrectly spelt word.
5. Pick up the phone more often and talk to the person you're seeking to reach - you'll be keeping alive a critical life skill and probably getting more done in less time.

So please, take the time, write well and don't forget your manners!!

7 deadly sins that kill companies - Part 6 - Short Termism

2010-09-19T12:42:00.018-05:00

Whew, boy it's been a long time since I got a blogpost online, especially finishing this series! I guess that's what happens when life does its nasty thing of getting in the way! Enough of the excuses, let's get back to it!

The sixth deadly sin in our series is like many of its companions - silent killers that insidiously creep into organizations, robbing them of precious opportunities to do great things, and the realization that this has happened is almost always too late to make a dramatic change in direction.

Short termism manifests itself in largely established, medium to big enterprises. While I've seen it a few times in startups, their life is usually so full of just trying to stay alive that their focus, while on the short to medium term, is about survival and getting to live to see the day where they can dream of long term plans. A day where cash flow is healthy, steady and their days don't feel like a 12 hour mosh pit at a Megadeath show.

Typical symptoms of this include:

A portfolio of strategic initiatives that are at best, focused on only the next 12 to 18 months (notice I said, "strategic" not operational)
Planning processes that routinely center on the next 12 months only. If there are plans for anything longer, they are given lip-service and not taken very seriously, especially in terms of resources
A relentless rhythm of "pulling in sales" to meet the quarter, or any other type of metric that is aimed at getting results that serve to meet the original goal of that period
No stomach for making investments (capital or strategic) in things that have a long (3+ years) return on investment
Launching poorly planned acquisitions or mergers just to satisfy the analysts and general market that your company is being strategic about its future and expecting to get tremendous value from the "synergies" that will result
Failing to acknowledge the reality that a true market adoption may take years, new market entrants bail out after the first unsuccessful year in the market

I could go on, but I think you get the point. And before you call my a naive, Pollyanna from the land of unicorns and rainbows, remember that I've been inside the "machine", including Fortune 25, Fortune 100 and Fortune 1000 companies.

I've seen it in good times, I've seen it in bad times. In healthy companies and in ailing ones. In well run, well capitalized businesses and lesser ones.

It's real, it's out there and it's not going away anytime soon.

So why does this happen?

There's a bunch of reasons:

Public market pressures - as soon as you tell the street that your company is going to deliver $4.30 in eps this year, that's your marching orders. Yes, I know this is one of the mechanics of free markets, but the impact and effect this has goes well beyond padding the returns of institutional investors. It sets the tone, priorities and decisions that will be made for that next fiscal period.
Risk aversion - to bet on something in the future, that may or may not work out, takes risk. Much of the Fortune 500 is staying on that list by avoiding or dramatically mitigating risks, thus it's in their DNA to not seek it.
Incentive structures - the old axiom plays here - "You get what you incent." If your incentive structure is only about the next 12 months, you'll get behaviour and business results that'll align with that time horizon. Change them to a 3 year time period, you'll see different results and activities.
Fear of loss - in a competitive market, there is a very legitimate fear that if your company steps to the side and takes on a different, longer term path, you'll be bludgeoned by your competition as you leave a huge vulnerable opening for them to step into.
Fear of the unknown - kind of a subset to the risk item, but the very nature of long term thinking/planning/execution is that much of it rides on faith. Faith does not have an internal account number that you can charge your mistakes off to, you have to have it and be willing to embrace it knowing there are no guarantees.

One of the most recent, heinous examples of this was the practice used by large banks to sell assets off near the end of the month, so as to give the impression of a healthier balance sheet at reporting time, only to buy these assets back the following week. Kind of embodies most of the above list, doesn't it?

What to do about this?

No easy answers here, but as with many of these challenging dynamics, it starts with leadership. What's the tone and message being sent by your leadership team? Do they actually embrace the notion of short term sacrifices in order to gain in the long term? Does your firm's plans actually show visible examples of things that are long term in nature? If so, how does this show up in the day to day operation and execution of the work?

Leaders need to do just that. There's a reason they're not called operators - leaders are the people tasked with the difficult job of identifying a direction, a future state and providing the guidance, encouragement, inspiration needed to make that happen. And most leaders, while well-intentioned, fall well short of this mandate.

I also happen to believe that people want to be part of something exciting and dynamic yet one that challenges them and calls them to bring out their very best in the pursuit of a higher, more powerful goal. Not incrementalism, but revolutionary ventures that make a real difference. Making them part of something big and hairy will likely bring out an effort that'll make the possibility of success a much higher one.

Things to consider:

Rethink your compensation scheme. Don't go cold turkey but start putting in components that tie half of the incentives to the creation of something that won't happen or pay off for a few years.
Challenge the current plan. Are you being truly long term in the implications of your current plan? Are you thinking about the next 2 to 4 things that your customers will be asking for, beyond what you're serving them with today? Have you even asked them? Start by putting in a few "trial balloons" into your product plan, market plan, etc. that leave room to consider things that are going to take longer to happen, but are likely to provide a gain when successful.
Say "no" to the external sources that are creating the behavior. Consider the trade off of saying no to things that may cost you some pain in the short term but will pay off longer term.

If all that fails, go find a firm that is doing great things today but has a long term vision and plan that's alive. You'll be happy you did.

Good luck!

The subtle key to GREAT customer service

2010-05-13T12:59:00.002-05:00

I'm in the bank this morning, here's how the conversation goes:

Perky Teller: "How are you today?"

Me: "Really good, how about you?"

Perky Teller: "Oh, I'm good..." (starting to get busy punching info into the computer)

Perky Teller: "So, what have you got going today?"

Me: "Saving lives."

Dead silence. Keyboard entry work halts. Blank stare.

Me: "What about you, what've you got going on today?"

Perky Teller: "Just, um, working here" Keyboard clicking continues and the conversation ends, fast.

This is at a well known, large national bank who is bound and determined to "assault" the customer with kindness, offering everything from over the top "HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY?" to "Did you know you can save .5% on your banking needs today, can I call you at home to arrange a new account?".

It's well intentioned and I applaud the bank's desire to become more customer centric. But something really nasty happens when large companies try to institutionalize what is essentially something best delivered from the heart - meaningful, authentic, empathic, caring customer service.

The teller's response was very (pardon the expression) telling - "Saving lives" didn't neatly fit into the 33 page guidebook on how to engage the customer so the conversation halted, in an uncomfortable and awkward moment.

The right answer? It could have been a number of things, ranging from, "Really, what are you Superman?" to "Hmmm, that's the first time I've ever heard that, what's it all about?" to "Seriously?". What was seriously missing was.... her. She just needed to deal from the heart and that would have put the real human "face" to this otherwise, cold and indifferent bank.

Morale of the story - if you're in customer facing work, take an interest in everyone's story - you don't need to pry, you don't need to have a 20 minute conversation. You just need to care. The rest will take care of itself.

7 deadly sins that kill companies - Part 5 - Complexity

2010-05-07T18:27:00.035-05:00

For the 5th deadly company killer we now turn to that old devil that haunts companies of all sizes, industries and age. The slow death. The uninvited guest. The scourge of all organizations, bane of product development teams and the pool from which unmeasurable customer dissatisfaction flows.

I'm talking about complexity.

Like a corporate cancer, it doesn't discriminate. It feasts upon the 100 year old industrial giant with the same zeal that it applies to a 2 year old startup. It arises from both good intention as well as pure negligence. And like a runaway fusion reactor, once it gains inertia, it becomes very, very difficult to stop, never mind trying to undo.

Where do we see complexity show up? Let me count the ways. Complexity (and I'm using only the negative variant in this post, as opposed to complexity that's inherent in the product, like semiconductors and Microsoft Office products) shows up in:

Design - complicated interfaces, awkward operations, parts count, etc.
Functionality - affecting both hardware and software (which is rife with overbloated, complex code).
Services - ever tried to get a person on the phone at Qwest who can answer your question?
Operations - including things like requisition processes, HR processes, project reviews, etc.
Product support - 3" instruction manuals, Mumbai service desks, FAQ's that don't have your Q?
Production - inefficient production flows, complicated assembly practices, etc.

This is a partial list mind you, but with any growing or sizable enterprise, complexity IS going to be part of the landscape - it's inevitable, so accept it. However, it doesn't mean that you have to let it run or even ruin your business, and I'll touch on that later in this piece.

So where does this uninvited guest come from? Given that you were so careful trying to keep things simple, how did you end up in this position of finding unimaginable complexity where there once was none? Here's just a sampling of how complexity creeps in:

Market - sometimes it's your customers, other times the competition - either way, in trying to compete, you find complexity showing up in all too many areas.
People - some people are just wired this way, others do it unintentionally, while others just do it to make life miserable. And I've worked with all three.
Processes - some just take on a life of their own, as if there's some unspoken law that says once written, no process can be simplified, only added to.
Incumbency/success - you spend enough time on top of your market, you get sloppy. When you get sloppy, complexity starts to make it's way into every nook and cranny.
Layers - of all kinds - decision making, organizational, product development processes, approval cycles, you name it. There's probably a Harvard researcher who has identified a formula that directly correlates the number of layers in something with the probability of the presence of mindless complexity.
Insecurity - yep, it's personal. For those unsure of their role and value to an organization, the best defense is an offense and in this case, the most offensive thing you can do is make things so complicated that no one dares question your competency. Trust me, there are people out there who have refined this to an art form - and they still continue to get promoted..

While you may be saying, "Duh, I know complexity is a stoooopid thing - you don't need to tell me that!", but here's why I'm grinding away my Friday night, further away from my first martini, yammering on about this.

Complexity costs.

It costs you in more ways you can imagine: Money. Time. Customers. Market share. Productivity. Loyalty. Opportunity. Employees. Anxiety.

...and I'm probably just scratching the surface.

So how do you deal with this? Remember, leading a growing business will always have its fair share of challenges and inevitably complexity will rear its ugly head and add to your expanding list of headaches to deal with.

But it doesn't have to be terminal. You're seeking simplicity, not simplistic. And one of the best definitions of simplicity is - it's complexity resolved. With that in mind, here are some things to consider as you seek to rid your company of this ugly interloper:

Organizational attitude - yes, it is a state of mind. Great organizations that master extremely complex products/industries/processes have a very healthy respect for simplicity and have made it an integral part of their culture. When I was at GE, Jack Welch, recognizing that complexity was probably costing the company millions, if not billions of dollars of cost as well as market opportunity, boiled the marching orders for all GE businesses to a simple mantra - Speed, Simplicity and Self-confidence. Notice the middle phrase - Welch made it a passionate call for all leaders to strive for simple, not simplistic. Insist, no better yet, mandate, that all employees, especially your leadership team, that complexity is the enemy and a big part of your role in the success of the company is dependent upon your ability to kill it.
Communications - complexity is like baby sitting a pack of 5 year olds - if you don't embrace clear, direct and concise communications, they're going to run all over you, make a mess of the place and leave you holding a bag of stinky diapers. Make it a priority that all communications - written, oral, video, etc. are done in a simple and clear way, eliminating the possibility of misinterpretation which, if left unattended, can and will lead to complicating what it is those employees are charged to do. Candor and a willingness to challenge that which no one else will (yet they'll all agree it's a problem) in getting complexity removed, is a virtue and positions you for corporate sainthood, if you have the guts.
De-layering - startups don't usually have this problem since it's hard to envision 6 organizational layers in a 4 person company. But the mid to large size companies do
have to deal with this. When I talk about de-layering, I'm referring to both the organization as well as the number of layers between the customer and the person responsible for making sure they're a happy customer. Not that outright cutting of layers is a panacea, but when done thoughtfully and carefully, with the above two practices folded in, you have a greater chance of building a bulwark against the bane of bloated businesses. The real target-rich environment is to look at the number of people and organizational groups that are between the customer and the people who are in the best position to meet their needs/answer their questions/serve them. Cut these down and I can guarantee you'll get a better return on your efforts.
Tools - there are a number of very effective tools that help teams identify true value-added processes/steps and cut through the unnecessary, in order to get to the root cause of problems they're dealing with. If you're in a growing or even just large company that tends to have a complexity problem, seek help - there are folks and processes out there that can help to figure out how to cut the fat and keep the meat.
Plain English, please - this one applies to companies of all sizes. Whenever we start using business-speak, or big fancy B-school terms, or arcane industry terms that don't really have meaning, we open the door for complexity to barge its way in. Keep it simple. Use short words. And shorter sentences. While this may be more of a second order effect, I've seen companies and teams that embrace this philosophy do a fantastic job of keeping complexity to a manageable level. Not sure how it works, all I know is that everyone gets it and it shows in how they get things done.

As with all these topics, there could be an entire book written about this subject. But I wanted to get the ball rolling and raise your awareness on this particularly nasty killer of companies. It doesn't have to be a terminal condition. Again, as long as you recognize the warning signs and take appropriate action, complexity won't kill.

7 deadly sins that kill companies - Part 4 - Dogma

2010-04-03T17:56:00.034-05:00

So far we've covered the first three deadly sins that kill companies - communication, ego and lack of agility. Today I introduce our fourth installment in the series by introducing an elusive and completely misunderstood killer called "dogma".

The definition of dogma that I'll use for this context is this - dogma is any belief that is stubbornly held onto despite facts and data to the contrary.

But how does this really kill companies?

In more ways than you can imagine, actually. Dogma becomes a culture and company killer when it is perpetuated to the degree that no one questions it, regardless of what's happening around them. Consider some of these examples:

"We're a premium service provider.. and always will be"
"We'll succeed through our first mover advantage"
"All we need is eyeballs, the ad revenues will easily cover our burn rate"
"Our offering can only be sold through retail, any other channel will undervalue our uniqueness"
"The 30 second spot is the most effective and only way to grow the business"
"The local specialty retailer will always offer something the big boxes can't"

Starting to sound familiar? These examples are relevant illustrations for dogmas that kill companies because they reach a certain point of acceptance within the organization that, despite all that's happening around them, the willingness or motivation for anyone to challenge, never mind, try to change these dogmas becomes negligible. It's either politically unfashionable to raise the question, or the individual is just simply outnumbered and/or outpowered to be able to do anything about it.

Dogma kills because it is dangerous in two domains - one, it's deaf and blind - the organization tends to be unable to see or hear the facts that should be listened to that'll reveal the problems with the current direction/dogma and two, it's visceral - these are notions that are in many cases, deeply held at an emotional level and thus, are most isolated from the very things that can and should change the situation. People are told to "trust their gut", and while I'm a big fan of "gut" in many cases, to use this as a rationalization is simply lazy and as an old boss used to say, "drunk and disorderly".

Hopefully you can see how this can not only be a powerfully misleading and company-killing element, but very hard to shake as well.

But who's to blame? Well, in large companies, there's a really easy target - it's the deadly combination of legacy, inertia and success, blended in with a healthy dollop of senior leadership hubris and/or arrogance (pick your favorite word, I like 'em both) and you've got a situation rife with dogmas of all shapes and breeds.

Big Boss Man/Upper Management - with these dudes, it's simple - in many cases they're in a position where they're compensated to sustain the status quo. If you're looking at millions of dollars worth of stock options or restricted shares, are you likely to put all this at risk by suggesting that the current thinking is wrong and needs to be set onto a risky, and more importantly, unproven path? Doubt it. Yeah, there's a few courageous execs out there, but who was the last F500 leader who was willing to bet it all, despite the strong "guidance" of the Street and CalPers?

Another thing to remember, these are individuals who are routinely hired (and compensated) based on their past performance. The things that made them successful in the past... well, may not really deliver the results today, but damned if they aren't going to try. This is why the churn rate on Fortune 500 execs in Venture backed startups is so high..they fine tuned their skills at managing the slow change of large, inertial companies. Dogma tossing was not routinely in the cards. Great startups routinely have to come face to face with their own dogmas, or else it's back to Starbucks to fine tune your barista skills.

But it's unfair to just single out the fat cats. There are others in the organization who're are just as much to blame. In this regard, I'll include another group who're just as culpable in the promulgation of bad dogma.

Front line leadership, middle management - while they're usually in the thick of the action and have the most valuable insights on what's really going on, they can also tend to perpetuate bad dogma - "... this is the way it's always worked in the past", or "... I'm only doing what I was told to do, using the tools that I was given, otherwise I'd be happy to tell 'em what/how we need to change!" In many cases, they do see the need to change and abandon the old, stubbornly held way of thinking, but it's either too comfortable or too much trouble to change the current path. To make matters worse, in many organizations, if senior management doesn't hear any conflicting news from this layer of management, they're inclined to believe that no news is good news and they're to continue on their current path.

I could go on about the various manifestations of how (bad) dogma corrupts and kills companies, but I'd rather focus on a few diagnostics and recommendations.

How to determine if bad dogma might be affecting your company (big or small):

Is there a significant (and consistently demonstrated) disconnect between your core company business and strategy and what's happening in your industry? If yes, get out the Milk-bones.
Have you experienced a bunch of big "strategic" losses? e.g. big accounts you should have secured, breakthrough orders that didn't come through, market acceptance activity that has underwhelmed the original projections? Smell the fur - it's on the rise.
Amidst challenging market conditions, has the CEO ever asked, "are we fully sure we're on the right strategy?" If the answer is "no", listen for the delicate sound of barking.
Is a former direct competitor now dominating in a new/adjacent space? If so, will it be Alpo or Purina?
Is there a regular, constructive level of dissent voiced in important strategic business meetings? Are people offering up challenging points of view regularly? If they are, are they actively listened to? If the answer to all these questions is "no", make sure you've got the flea collars out, it's gunna be bad.

Remember, (bad) dogma lurks beneath the surface and like a slow growing pathogen, will take its time to kill the host organism (or organization in this case) - another case of mixed metaphors, if ever there was. Be listening for the telltale signs and behaviors that will tell you that dogma is having undue influence on your organization and its future.

Antidotes? Here's a starting list - Candor. Communications. Clarity. Reality-facing leadership practices. Agility/adaptability. Insight gathering. Humility.

Good luck and remember to not let your karma run over your dogma!

Woof, woof.

7 deadly sins that kill companies - Part 3 - Lack of Adaptability

2010-03-21T22:04:00.032-05:00

(editor's note: I got a little bit behind on my commitment to get these posts out on a more regular basis - sorry!! I'll work on this) We continue our series on the 7 deadly sins that kill companies (existing and startups alike) and today's installment brings us to the oft-misunderstood notion of adaptability. In this context, I describe adaptability as the attribute of companies, big and small, to be able to quickly and effectively adapt to the circumstances surrounding their business.

This attribute is almost universal in its applicability - knowing that change is inevitable and ongoing, it would logically follow that great companies are the ones who know how to deal with this on a regular, productive and ongoing basis. Forgive me for using an inverse of a virtue to define a sin, but it's the LACK of adaptability that kills companies. Here's some examples how:

Big media company X - "this MP3 fad is only for hackers and freeware addicts who never want to pay for their music. We've got this sunk investment in LP manufacturing/CD manufacturing and there's no way we're going to abandon this investment, we haven't even written it off yet!"
Mid-sized banking company Y - "people will come to our branches when they're open, if people want to risk their finances by banking online, let 'em - just don't blame us when they lose their money!"
Large, but soon to be small computing company D - "..we INVENTED the mini computer, why the hell would someone want their own?"
Promising PC retailer/manufacturer G - "..we dominate the customer experience in buying a computer, there's no way that people are going to be able to do this in 1000 retail locations."

You get the picture? These companies (all out of business) exhibit the classic symptoms of ignoring, belittling, avoiding, etc., what's happening to their world and paid the ultimate price. In the class I teach on Corporate Venturing, we spend a considerable amount of time exploring why so many established, well regarded companies fail to grow, or worse yet, go out of business. It's a target-rich environment, trust me and there's no lack of materials.

The list of causes is long and convincing - industry incumbency, current market share position, investments that haven't been fully amortized, hubris, organizational inertia, greed, girth (big and fat and slow), lack of new skills, excessive bureaucracy, encumbered decision making and approval cycles, incompetence, etc.. It's a huge and popular topic among the business book dudes, who're all trying to show you how to avoid this nasty fate. Sadly, the failure rate continues to grow as do new book titles on how to avoid this...

Candidly, startups get this a lot better since it is the difference between keeping the lights on another day and moving back in with your parents. Great startups, and this is one of the fascinating things about them, seem to do this with an amazing degree of agility and decisiveness - again, nothing like the sound of overdraft notices showing up in the mail to sharpen one's focus.

In working with more than 400 startups over the years, there were many common attributes shared among the more successful ones. But almost universally, each experienced dramatic changes in their business which forced them to adapt, but this adaptation became an integral part of their survival and success mode.

Here's just a couple of cool examples:

Vudu started out as a video-on-demand box (cool UX, btw) aiming at creating a new video over IP service for the home. Box was cool, controller was cooler, but it became clear that people weren't nuts about putting yet another box into their already spaghetti-wiring mess of a home theater. They pretty much learned this early on, and as such adapted their model to also become an embedded service - same backbone and content delivery, but just different presentation. They were recently acquired by Wal-Mart, and while this story is still unfolding, their adaptability, in this case, not being overly married to the box version of their service, served them well. Stay tuned.

PayPal was originally supposed to be a form of payment between individuals who beamed their information to each other on their Palm Pilots. As Max Levchin and his team learned, their initial assumptions on who would want encrypted financial transactions wasn't what they initially assumed, they continued to learn, adapt and seek new applications for secure transactions, eventually developing what we know today as PayPal - which Max once described as a "a security company pretending to be a financial services company." eBay purchases PayPal for $1.5B, and it's payday time. Crypto apps evolving to P2P payment platform = adaptability.

Iconoculture is a consumer research and advisory company here in the Twin Cities. When Mary Meehan and Vickie Abrahmson started out, they provided their clients with a high touch, personalized service that delivered clear insights and trends that impacted their client's business. Only problem - there was just one Mary and only one Vickie. To scale their business, yet still provide high quality insights, was going to be a challenge. Fast forward - they adapted their model to become more of a subscription based service, still delivering a valuable service, but able to expand to a much larger client and market base. They probably could have continued on with the highly personalized version but it would have likely made meaningful expansion rather tough.

These are just a few examples of the adaptability factor that startups tend to be very good at (or else they die). Ironically, the challenge in finding more stories like these is that entrepreneurs tend to make so many of these adaptive changes, that they either lose count or just keep moving onto the next iteration/adaptation without pause.

Essential ingredients for adaptability (not the complete list):

Speed - assess, weigh options, make decision, move
Decisiveness - don't be on the fence
Insight - look, listen, learn, adapt
Non-stick - to the old ways, being willing to let go of old ideas that no longer apply
Experimentation - you don't need to bet the farm on the first shift, make some low level tests and see if what you're assuming might be right, then pull the trigger
Customer centered - these are the ones to respond to, are you listening?
Openness - be willing to sacrifice the old to move to the new, are you entertaining all options?
Listening - to the customer, the market, your partners - are you listening with both ears?

Looked at another way, adaptability should be seen as a healthy and necessary ingredient to running your business. If your solution/product/company is taking off like a rocket - great, you're onto something. But for anything less, are you (thoughtfully) entertaining the possibility that you're not adapting to what's happenin'?

GOOD LUCK!

7 deadly sins that kill companies - Part 2 - Ego

2010-03-06T20:18:00.028-06:00

So we last left off with the first deadly sin that kills companies - Communications. Now we're moving onto the next of these deadly dynamics - ego.

To start off, here's a wicked paradox - in many cases the very thing behind a successful startup venture is the presence of a driven, passionate, dedicated, focused individual. In other words, someone who's very confident with who they are and what they're there to do. Put another way, an egomaniac.

But in all fairness, not all entrepreneurs are egomaniacs.

It does take a lot of gumption and self confidence to start something based on nothing more than a great idea and grind it out through thick and thin to make it a reality. But from all of the great startup founder/CEO's I've met, it is not a prerequisite for you to be a flaming butthead in order to be successful. On the contrary, those who've "been there" and "done that" in the past, tend to be humbled by that experience and subsequently reflect this in their future endeavors.

While that's the upside of the ego, there's plenty of downside - here's where ego kills companies:

Infallibility: if someone has been successful in some other venue, regardless of applicability, there is a human tendency to believe that this will continue to be the case. And there's a whole chain of individuals who are complicit in this - boards of directors, hiring managers, even customers who attach the past to the present and believe that this is how it will work. In this case, the ego, still puffed up by the past, refuses to acknowledge the new reality and subsequently leads the effort into the crapper. Michael Ovitz leaves CAA, hired as CEO of Disney, is fired 16 months later. Ugly shareholder lawsuit ensues.

Position: the crack cocaine of the corporate world, the corner office (and whatever trappings accompany it), the EVP title, even better, the highly desirable "C-suite", all bring with them a built in set of unexpressed expectations that "you've got the goods, now prove us right." While it's entirely appropriate to work hard and generate results, the one thing this expectation brings with it is the dangerous allure that with this title, you're now expected to have the answers, and lead fearlessly into the unknown. Enter the ego. What's frequently missing is the more appropriate reality that the higher you go, the less you'll know about the day-to-day stuff. And it's this day-to-day stuff that ultimately matters.

Success: we all seek it, but once attained, it can create a dangerous precedent if not handled appropriately. A "first cousin" to infallibility, a good track record can create a growing blind spot, especially when the individual is placed into a new environment with an entirely new set of rules. Bob Nardelli left a reasonably successful track record at GE (after being passed over for the CEO slot) and proceeded to drive the Home Depot into the ground, but still pocketing a $210M severance package. Rewarding wrong behavior, anybody?

Charter: no one likes to admit that the job is bigger than them. In fact, we're commonly wired to embrace the heroic model of leadership since that's what will be needed to "take that hill" and "win the day". The balance that's often missing is knowing when to pause and reexamine the goal and when to forge on ahead. Sales managers beat their plan by 27% this year only to find their goal for the next year increased 150%. They miss the plan by a huge gap, believing that it would reflect poorly on them and their past performance if they questioned what was clearly an unworkable plan. Ego, not rationale, gets in the way.

Insecurity: it's lonely at the top. Is that why so many executives lament the fact that they've got no one to really talk to? Ego is the three-piece suit that insecurity puts on when it walks into the workplace.

Messianic complex: sorry, but it's out there. People who fundamentally believe they've been pre-ordained to save the day/lead the masses/build the empire, yada, yada.. You know 'em when you see them. Only problem, is you work for one of them and life is miserable.

It's fitting to be mindful of the things that can keep ego from becoming the death of your efforts:

Humility: remember, you don't know what you don't know - it's an integral part of the human condition. The more you acknowledge the things that you don't know, understand, control, etc., the more you'll be open to the (nice) changes that reveal themselves to you once you open yourself to this.

Collaboration: surround yourself with the right combination of people, perspective and expertise to collaborate on stuff - it'll provide a built-in ego-limiter once you all realize that you're all going to be successful if you contribute and learn in equal measure.

Get out: one surefire way to break away from your own self delusional cycle is to serve someone who has less. Volunteer. Read to the blind. Take cancer patients to their weekly chemo appointments. Guaranteed you'll look at your role, work, and life with a very different lens.

Openness: not butthead-blunt but rather with clarity, empathy and an eye towards positive contribution. Foster this on your team/in your organization to prevent the runaway egos, on all sides, from overtaking the work. Companion to this - consider implementing a "net positive-only" rule: the only allowable contribution in team work is one that ADDS to the effort. No destructive Danny or negative Nelly's allowed.

Voice of truth: who and what do you have in your life that'll give you the unvarnished reality of you? Do they have a proper perspective? More so, will you listen to them when they have something to say?

Because ego is a personal, not institutional, thing, unfortunately this does come down to the human side of things. And changing or even confronting human behavior is messy. But institutions are made up of people, and the role that ego plays is just too big to ignore. It messes up big corporations and startups alike. It undermines a VC portfolio's performance and investment fund returns. With the enormous collapses we've seen in the banking industry over the past 18 months, ego was not just on the menu but it was the main course in many cases....

7 deadly sins that kill companies - Part I - Communication

2010-03-03T18:25:00.011-06:00

There have always been plenty of new and interesting ways to kill companies - sometimes external forces do it, while other times companies prove very adept at doing it themselves. I was reflecting on this a while ago and being ever watchful of common themes, I came up with my 7 deadly sins that kill companies.

I'm going to post (at least) one per week.

Deadly sin #1: Communications

When they say in the military that communication is the first casualty of war, they probably didn't think it'd carry over to business. But it has and it shows up in so many areas! In no specific order here's some more noteworthy areas where communications becomes a source of the eventual rot and ruin of a once promising startup:

SIMPLICITY: Not articulating the real value of your offering in plain, simple English? Result - no one knows what the hell you're all about. Any wonder why your phone calls don't get returned?

P2P: Dialog with each other on the startup team - is it candid? Open? Respectful? Are you "talking past each other" in an attempt to get your own point across?

Passive Aggressive behavior: Worst. Kind. Ever. Say it, honestly, respectfully, don't hide it behind hollow platitudes or disingenuous attempts to make the other person feel good about their idea which you completely detest.

Written communications: Has your 3.4 years spent texting rubbed off on your emails to prospective customers, manifesting itself as short, perfunctory, impersonal messages? Are there grammatical errors in your Executive Summary? Do your Powerpoint slides have more words than New Jersey phone book? There's a time and place for brevity just as there is no place for excessively lengthy diatribes. Right Tool for the Right Job here, folks.

Your brand - do you have one voice or are you Sybil on this one?

Turnaround time (for communications and responses): Remember, the world tends to favor people who do what they say, when they say they're going to do it. You just got a voicemail from a client, partner, prospect, ad partner - how long do you take to call them back?

The little things: How many hand written notes have you sent over the past year? These could be to your customer who came through at the last minute with an order that kept the lights on one more week, or the barista at Starbucks that puts up with your crap when you've been up all night fixing code and start complaining when your half-caf/skinny chai latte with Madagascar cinnamon is 20 seconds late (I'd probably throw a mug at you)?

Some things to keep in mind, suggestions to consider:

Guidance: Get Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" - the Bible for good writing for authors of all ages and media. At least skim it and refer back to it often as you write stuff.

Find common ground. Just because you don't agree with their idea, doesn't get you off the hook for finding a better solution.

Listen more. You were given two ears and one mouth for a reason. Use them proportionally.

Speak truth. Be gentle. You'll win more support, colleagues and generate better ideas when the world starts to see you as someone truly interested in the other side of things.

Reach out: Seek the opinions and perspectives from someone outside your company on the clarity, consistency and cohesiveness of your communications. They'll see stuff you won't and since you had the humility to ask them for help, they're more likely to offer good advice and you're more likely to listen to them.

Agree: Get everyone on the team onto the same page regarding the importance of communication is to your success. Find triggers or watchwords that help you catch when you're falling into bad habits (like speaking in TLA's - Three Letter Acronyms).

I'm trying to keep these posts from becoming long form sermonettes (there's enough of that out there), so I'll stop here. Feel free to send your ideas and thoughts to add to this.

Next Post: Deadly Sin#2 - Ego.

Strategy before....?

2010-02-07T22:17:00.018-06:00

Is it Strategy before Structure? Or the other way around?

I had a remarkable moment of strategic clarity the other day. For the past 8+ months, the IGS team has been heads down on building the business - finalizing the solutions, figuring out the channel strategy, creating influential relationships, tightening up the message,,, the usual stuff that consumes the full attention span of a startup team.

And as a strong advocate of the criticality and importance of sound strategy, I have to confess that we had yet to really articulate a solid, clear and compelling strategy. Yes, there is a very clear and sincere sense of mission and the team knows where we really seek to make our impact. But the actual strategic plan that sits over the entirety of the business and leads to a solid and lucid operating plan was something that we hadn't really crafted. I actually had a bit of guilt in not having the strategy more articulated up to this point.

Did we have structure first with no strategy? Did we even have a strategy?

The clarity came when our founder/CEO distilled the primary strategy of each of the business units into a very simple "challenge". The "challenge" was what stood between the business and fulfilling its associated mission. It wasn't a lofty, feel-good type of directive ("become the premier thought leader in the industry, delivering world class solutions by leveraging core competencies" - type of drivel) but rather a succinct statement of what lies ahead of us. The simplicity then easily allowed us to sharpen our plans on how we will build out the operating plan and journey forward.

So what's the big deal about this? It's a lesson in adaptability.

One of the biggest challenges associated with a startup is the fact that you don't and won't have all the answers when you start out. You have to launch with a fairly solid notion of what you're doing and how you'll get there but there are no guarantees that you'll be right. The only way you do figure this out, is to learn and adapt your way to success.

It's the adapting part that trips up a lot of startups. When do you "stick to your guns" and when do you "change courses"? There are no short answers but I'll offer a couple of guidelines:

Data: if there's going to be change, make it fact based, not emotion-based. Data/information is one of the best ways to deal with this.
Insights: what have you observed? Does it align with what your original assumptions were? Are the needs that you're fulfilling the ones you set out to serve?
Gut: does the new change "feel" right? Is there something about it that doesn't line up? I know "gut" is really hard to quantify but it's a powerful mechanism that should be properly listened to in building your business.

In the case of IGS, we had acquired a lot more tangible data and perspective by getting out and doing the work, learning what did/didn't work, not getting hung up on old dogma and being willing to move past our original beliefs about what the strategy was.

And I suspect we'll be revising it more as we move along and gather more insights, but we've moved to the next phase of the learning curve and are in a better place as a result.

As thought starters, some of the "challenges" that may help you clarify your core strategy:

- Is it a marketing challenge? Do you need to primarily focus on educating, informing and illuminating the target market in order for them to do business with you?
- Is it a customer adoption challenge? Is the biggest barrier getting the customer to change their current habits, preferences, lifestyle, etc.?
- Is it a competitive challenge? Are there dominant players that you need to unseat in order to build your market presence?
- Is it a technology challenge? Does your idea have huuuge merit, if you can only figure out how to make the thing work and then produce them in volume?
- Is it an execution challenge? Is your success most heavily influenced on your ability to get the right people doing the right things, in the right way, at the right time, in order to succeed?

Once you've identified the core "challenge", move onto defining what the team has to do in order to meet this challenge. If it's a marketing challenge, the strategy might be well articulated as "becoming the household name for ____(insert offering here)____ among ___(target market) ___". If it's a competitive challenge, it might be defined as, "displace ___(competitive offering)__ as the preferred ____(solution)____ among ___(target customer)". Be careful not to confuse these with tactics. A good strategy needs to be high level enough so as not to pigeonhole you into a fixed way of operating, but still specific enough to provide clarity to all involved (employees, customers, etc.). From this, the operating plan (the stuff you gotta do) will be a lot easier to create and roll out.

The bottom line benefits to this will be clarity (no fuzzy, corporate speak obscuring what the real strategy is) and a tighter, more efficient path of building your business.

Don't let business cliches' get in your way of doing the right thing. Here's a business maxim I favor:

Work hard. Learn fast.

The Values you build upon

2010-01-26T20:46:00.035-06:00

OK, so you've got an insanely great idea.

And you're passionate.

And it's going to change the world.

It's such a great idea that investors give you money.

You scored one of the top PHP coders in the area, you've got a cool, hip office space in the warehouse district replete with foos table, Keurig coffee maker, bean bag chairs, the occasional dog and mountain bikes in the hallway. You're there - next stop: startup hall-o-fame! Cover of the local biz press, a showing at DEMO, more VC money, more office space, acquisition offers and the dilemma of choosing between burnt sierra or metallic gray on your special order BMW M5.

Wake up.

Before you do any of that, before you charge down the road with all the tactical parts of living your startup dream, there's one critical thing that needs to be done before you go anywhere.

What values will you build this company on?

Not the lame-ass, pablum that gets trotted around the corporate circles, laminated onto cards and endlessly contradicted by employees who stopped caring a long time ago (no offense to my old HR friends).

I'm talking about what you really stand for. What you will refuse to do, even it it means more money, fame, power or prestige. What you'll value in the people who'll work with you. What you won't compromise on, no matter the stakes. What you're not ashamed to share with the public, even if it alienates loyalists, investors and Wall Street.

Have you thought about these?

No, really. Did you spend time thinking through these? Did you talk with people you look up to and ask them? What industry leaders do you look up to as great examples, shining lights? Did you take any queues from them? What company or institution (it could be Habitat for Humanity or Hewlett Packard or even the Hare Krishnas) do you wish to emulate?

Remember, take these seriously since you're going to be living with them for a loooong time.

Now comes the not-so-easy part. How do you make these a part of your business? Beyond just posting them on the lobby wall and the "about us" tab on the web page, how are you going to make sure you meant it when you said that values mattered.

Does it show up in your hiring model?

Are they (your values) visible to an uninformed visitor?

Do people actually exhibit them in their daily interactions with each other?

Do they show up in how you engage with customers? Your policies towards them?

If I read your literature, blog and press releases will it be clear what's at the core of this company?

If you left the company for a 2 month Nepali trek and came back, would the company be the same when you returned?

Remember, this is not for the sake of simple, well intended altruism. Have you been watching the news for the past year? Billion dollar, hundred-year old institutions failed overnight when the reality of their broken cultures met violently with the merciless bitch that free markets tend to be when their laws are temporarily suspended. These are the things that sustain great companies, through highs and lows, good times and bad. It's the stuff that, when you become known as a "great" company because of the values you stand for, you'll attract the best talent. Why the best talent? Because people who are good at what they do and well regarded for it, want to work in environments that value integrity, hard work, respect, etc. -- the very things that support/complement/reinforce the things they stand for.

But more than all this - do you want to make a difference? Are you building something that you intend to last or something that'll get you a big payday? I'm not against big paydays, but I am against institutions that only serve the needs of a small group of people versus making a broader impact.

Remember - products and services come and go. Preferences change. Markets cycle up and they cycle down. Customers go out of business. New competitors show up.

The only thing that endures through all of this are great organizations that can withstand the changes. And the thing that great organizations are made of are - great people and great values.

So again, I ask - what values are you building on?

Is Growth Dead?

2010-01-05T21:04:00.040-06:00

Maybe I'm in a mood for controversy.

Or maybe just feeling a little surly after the Holidays...

But I've been having this discussion with a lot of people and companies lately and the logic and the data is just too tempting, that I can't help but want to open up this can o worms.

Is growth dead?

I mean, "growth" as we've known it - has it forever changed?

After digesting the recent stats about how the '00's were (at least financially) the worst decade in 70 years I'm starting to entertain a possible need to reexamine what and how we think about growth.

Consider these sobering nuggets-o-joy:

Since the end of 1999, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index has lost an average of 3.3% a year on an inflation-adjusted basis, compared with a 1.8% average annual gain during the 1930s when deflation afflicted the economy.

There has been zero net job creation since December 1999. No previous decade going back to the 1940s had job growth of less than 20 percent. Economic output rose at its slowest rate of any decade since the 1930s as well.

From 2000 through November 2009, investors would have been far better off owning bonds, which posted gains ranging from 5.6% to more than 8% depending on the sector, according to Ibbotson. Gold was the best-performing asset, up 15% a year this decade after losing 3% each year during the 1990s.

To add to the mess, this was a decade of no jobs - hard to expect growth when there ain't no new slots being created:

So let's put the financial messiness aside and pretend that we don't have tight capital spending and consumer's checkbooks that've been welded shut. From a market standpoint, where's the next growth wave going to come from? The past growth waves tended to be driven by one or two major forces which brought with them a confluence of investment, spending and a subsequent growth in the fundamentals of the economy and the companies creating the growth.

Things like the industrial automation/mass production techniques, post WWII recovery and suburban expansion, cheap and available transistors, National Infrastructure projects, scalable semiconductor production, the emerging thing called the Internet, fiber optic communications technology, etc..

So what's next? Anybody? Anybody? Buehler?

In the last three growth "waves" I've been involved in, two of them (national fiber optic buildout and over-leveraged/cheap housing/consumer spending driven orgy) were based on bad assumptions, unnatural drivers of demand and these weak underpinnings ultimately led to nasty blow ups. So what new wave or phenomena is lying in wait, just poised to bring growth back?

The culprit is maturity.

Not the prune juice drinking, Viagra popping, "in-bed-by-9" kind of thing. I'm talking about the maturity of underlying growth mechanisms. Have all industries reached an irreversible position of maturity?

Most everyone has seen the traditional growth curve - are we on the flat end of the curve on every sector? Try to think about what's waiting to be the engine that creates new sectors of growth, jobs, exports, etc, etc.? Remember, the '00's started with a nasty hangover coming out of the telecom and .com bubble bursting. And nothing much happened after that.

I'm beginning to think that for the next serious, legit growth curve to happen, it's going to have to come from something BIG. Something that has the potential to be a multibillion dollar market in a few years, that creates real, paying jobs, rewards skilled labor, ideally stimulates follow on waves of growth (product variations, applications, etc.), creates real value with those who use it, creates overseas or export markets, etc..

Or maybe there isn't a new growth engine on the horizon.

Maybe we have to recalibrate for a "new normal" that has growth inching along at 2 - 3% annually with no end in sight.

But maybe that's not a bad thing entirely. Let me go into a parallel universe for a moment.

What if, instead of channeling all their energies into trying to wring out another $.23 in earnings per share, companies shifted their energies into improving conditions in the impoverished areas of their communities? And they told the Street that they could expect growth to maybe keep up with inflation or GDP, whichever is less? What if they took the capital they'd be using to acquire a competitor that'd only create a temporary bump in share price, to invest in undeveloped countries to improve the quality of the education system there? Would this investment produce a longer term, real growth engine?

It's called raising the standard of living, globally. People find sustainable sources of income, quality of life improves, demand for products and services is increased, local production facilities are created, exports and imports expand. It's not a short term fix. It won't generate 20% y/y eps growth and bloated multiples. It won't make investment banks rich, nor ensure their execs are able to add the third Gulfstream to the hanger at Aspen. It will engender brand loyalty. It will reveal new growth opportunities and innovations that would not have otherwise appeared. It will strike a blow against rampant greed.

If we've got to face into a new definition of growth, we don't have to think of it through the lens of the old model - let's rethink of it in a way that doesn't create just another economic Groundhog Day. We've already had enough of those.

You may say I'm a dreamer,,,, but I'm not the only one.
J. Lennon

Looking back, looking ahead

2009-12-31T18:46:00.030-06:00

Without excessive bloviating, here's my recap on the year just passed and some thoughts and hopes for the New Year.

2009:
Some good things I was thankful for:
- Mac Books
- A changing of the guard
- New music: A Day to Remember, A Skylit Drive, Robin Thicke, Andy McKee, Antoine Dufour, Oceano, The Decemberists and Casting Crowns
- Movies that rocked: Man on Wire, Star Trek, Transformers 2, Terminator Salvation, (I admit it, I'm a tech-head)
- Lolcats, Failblog and Engrish
- Pandora and Last.fm
- My daughter becoming an Iowa Hawkeye
- Altavail's consulting clients
- Love, Friends, and Family
- Putting 5000 miles on my Harley Road King (Minneapolis summers are short, btw)
- Daily workouts (alright, most every day)
- The growing entrepreneur community in Minneapolis and those seeking to sustaining it

Not so good things:
- The return of greed at the worst possible time (Goldman, Morgan, et al)
- The crawl of investment activity in the VC sector
- Ponzi schemes (over 175 under SEC investigation)
- The sustained irrational behavior in certain wings of the political spectrum (and people who can't seem to understand how to work together)
- Budget cuts at the U
- Unemployment rates
- Reality TV show overload
- Risk tolerances at companies descending to all time lows

Looking ahead in 2010, I see great things:

- An explosion in the growth of ethically centered leadership (and governance)
- Steady, real growth in VC investing
- A growing IPO backlog
- An iPhone firmware release that prevents calls from being dropped
- Continued, viable competition to the iPhone world from the Droid camp
- More "free agent" labor platforms like OnForce
- Design becoming a standard part of the development process of new products and services (including web based offerings)
- Constitutional amendments banning ignorance
- Faster broadband services, especially to replace my doggy DSL
- Tim "Lumpy" Herron places in the top 3 at the Masters
- More successful alternative energy startups
- 4 powder days at Vail

I wish all of you a healthy, prosperous and blessed New Year!!

Pump up your pitch (or 10 things you can do to improve your venture pitch)

2009-12-25T12:06:00.048-06:00

While there's a ton of advice out there for how to improve your VC pitch (or in general, your pitch to any pertinent audience - boss, customer, investor, partner, etc.), I don't think there can ever be enough advice and/or guidance that'll help improve the odds of successfully launching your business!

Many of these 10 come out of dialogs that I have with entrepreneurs, who are either seeking funding, advice, connections or all the above. To step onto my innovation "pulpit" for a second - if entrepreneurs utilize better presentation practices, I believe the overall market and environment for innovation will thrive and grow beyond its current state. Good ideas + market opportunity + solid presentation = win.

To that end, and with an eye towards my evergreen theme of keeping it simple, here's 10 things that every entrepreneur can do to improve their pitch:

1. Be absolutely clear on what "it" is: In all too many situations, the audience doesn't actually find out what exactly the entrepreneur is developing/building/launching until 16 minutes into the pitch. At that point - it's too late. Declare it right up front, in plain English - "...we're developing an online service that delivers customized dognail clippers to Tibetan Terrier owners" (OK, so my imagination isn't on all cylinders today). Once this is declared, you've now parked your audience in the right seats, in the right theater and they're now ready for the show to begin. Have you ever been in a presentation where you believe you're on stage at the Orpheum and only find out that your audience is sitting in the IMAX? Unlike a great floor gymnastics routine, you need to nail this at the START.

2. Great presentations = great storytelling: Ever since we were little tykes, we LOVE to be told stories. It's a part of the fundamental human condition. It's an effective, powerful and successful way to deliver information. Nuff said. Your pitch should contain all the elements of a great story - character (your business), plot line (how you're building the business), hook (what are the unique value props), outcome/ending (how you'll change the market, what you're doing with the investment $), moral (what's in it for the investor/boss/partner/constituent)...and all wrapped up in a compelling, interesting and visually memorable format. It's not easy, but take the time to create your pitch in this approach. Your audience will appreciate it, you're more likely to get what you want and you might actually have some fun in the process.

3. Do your homework: On ALL fronts - your target market, the burning, unmet needs of your target customer, the competition and your audience. If you are pitching to investors, invest the time and understand both their own business but the overall industry - are VC's investing in this space? Does this specific investor do deals in your area? Have they done prior deals and if so, how did they work out? Have you spoken with other CEO's who've worked with the investor you're meeting with? etc, etc, etc. The amount of homework you've done will be imminently apparent to your audience - there'll be no disguising it, so don't try to cut corners here.

4. WIIFM? Do you really know your audience? Maybe it's a slightly jaded perspective, but with the exception of maybe the late, great, Mr. Rogers, everyone you meet with is going to be thinking about the answer to the "what's in it for me?" question. Not to look at it in a bad way, but if you're asking for someone's valuable time, make sure you are in some way, addressing the benefit you bring to them. If it's an investor, your story should be about how you'll provide an exceptional return on their investment and help to reinforce/build their reputation as an astute and insightful investor in this particular space. If it's a mentor, it's how you not only respect and learn from their guidance, but how your network/clients/business, etc, may help them in their work/lives. If it's a client - it's how your solution helps them fulfill their core strategic goals and objectives (see #3 to understand what those are). Bottom line - make sure you know what your audience needs and that you're bringing some form of value to each one of them.

5. Remember the success formula: Entrepreneurs have a challenging walk to walk, needing to have the passion, confidence and conviction to take on the impossible and imbue confidence in investors along with possessing the leadership acumen of Patton to get people to give up decent paying jobs taking on an impossible task. But despite these challenges, always remember - nobody likes a know-it-all. Humility is a virtue and it's OK to know what you don't know - and there are things that you don't know by the way. So, make sure that you're aware of this and don't be afraid to admit it when in discussion. Your audience will be reminded that you're human and more importantly, you're more likely to seek help when the answers aren't clear. So to repeat - Passion + Integrity + Insight + Commitment + Hard Work + Perseverance + Humility = WIN.

6. Brevity: Keep it short. There's too much "show up and throw up" going on out there where the entrepreneur shows up and dumps out every known fact, feature, option, market study, etc. that's related to their offering. Look at it from this perspective - your audience doesn't know if they care about what you're doing until they learn enough to warrant further interest. So organize your story to deliver "just the basic facts" (Pink Floyd reference) and "read the room" while you're doing it - does their body language signal interest? Are they asking questions? Is it clear they understand what you're doing? If you did #3 right, and kept this in mind, you'll get a very clear direction as to what the next step will be (if there is to be a next step - sometimes the right outcome is that there isn't one).

7. The big, "so what": Incrementalism sucks. If its worth throwing your full weight behind it, spending days and nights away from more lucrative and fun endeavors, eating raman noodles for months on end, then it's worth launching something big. If you're doing something "big" - it something that changes markets. Or lifestyles. Or behaviors. Or standards, etc.. In most pitches, the audience is patiently waiting to hear the answer to the question, "so what?". Make sure that the thing that makes it "big" is clear in your delivery, don't hide it behind overblown Powerpoint slides.

8. Know your blind spots: Blind spots don't have to be fatal, but ignoring them or pretending they don't exist can be. Blind spots include - competition (including doing nothing), market adoption rates, technology hurdles, costs to scale the business, talent required to staff the bench, etc.. Be willing to speak to the things you don't know and the conversation will go along much better if you don't.

9. Entertain 'em: I'm not talking about whipping out the spats and cane and throwing down a tap number. But in line with #2, your story should be accompanied by something more than just words - if it's a casual conversation bring along a mockup or prototype of the website. If it's an experience, walk them through it, even in a simulated version. If it's a presentation, the deck should be more than just words - it should have a strong, compelling and informative visual component to it (see item# 10). Wherever possible, engage the other dimensions of the human condition (touch, colors, shapes, textures, experiences, etc.) - not just a run on set of words. Even an executive summary with a well chosen set of facts and information, tastefully pulled together is a great accompaniment. Your goal here is simple - if they can remember your meeting a month later - score! If they can remember it a year later - you totally OWN!

10. Rethink your Powerpoint: Please. Less is more. People are visual learners. Please read Seth Godin's work on better Powerpoints. Watch a bunch of Steve Jobs presentations on YouTube. Watch videos of presenters at Demo. Your ultimate litmus test -- if you can show this to your parents, grandparents or neighbors (assuming they aren't venture investors) and they easily get what you're doing, you're part of a small but enlightened minority that have seized the value of getting this right. Again, please rethink your PPT approach - not only will your audience appreciate it, but you're making an important step in securing your place as "memorable" in the world.

Sorry for the length of this post, but I'm hoping this gives you the stuff to help you stand out, be memorable, make a difference and finally, be successful!!

Is your market suffering from de-sensitization?

2009-12-18T20:55:00.009-06:00

We live in a world full of abundance. In many cases, abundance is a great thing - love, food, friends, and complete box sets of The Three Stooges with all the Curly episodes are wonderful examples of abundances we enjoy.
Abundances are also creating tremendous new opportunities in the start up world. This is especially relevant in the IT and software side of the world. With the advent of low cost, high capacity platforms such as Amazon's Web Services or Salesforce's Force.com venue, increasingly more flexible and powerful software development tools and "free agent" developers, it costs just a fraction of what it used to cost to launch a viable software business.

But that's the upside of abundance. There's a downside too.

This abundance has also created an explosion of choice in just about every aspect of consumer life. Food, media, clothing, electronics, toilet paper, travel sites, you name it - there's not just 1 or 2 options typically available, but in many cases, 5 to 10!! I remember taking a group of Chinese exchange students to a local grocery store at Halloween - they spent 45 minutes in the candy aisle, agog at the diversity and variety of candy in front of them. Suffice to say, they've never seen this back in the mainland.

But with this abundance comes a nasty unintended consequence - desensitization. No, I'm not talking about a ticklish condition that affects 1 in 4 males over 40, but an indirect dynamic that affects the futures of both existing as well as future/emerging product offerings.

It goes something like this - when something new hits the market, it's met with the enthusiasm and excitement that accompanies a cool new thing. It commands a price premium, people assign a social status to having this "new thing", Oprah features it, Paris Hilton/Tom Cruise/George Clooney is spotted using one, it becomes the "must have" thing for the Holidays, the manufacturer goes into overdrive to meet the demand, and then the inevitable hits - competition sets in. Not just a trickle of knockoffs, but a friggin flood! The product becomes available in so many different (or similar) shapes and sizes, colors, versions, etc. that the uniqueness fades faster than a New England Patriots Super Bowl Bid. Worse yet, price plummets and the product is suddenly available EVERYWHERE!!

More importantly, it's now conditioned the public to accept what was once unique, as just another "thing" that merits no special place in their heart. It's just another thing piling up in the junk drawer of life. It's not that they don't care any more, it's just a, "...I'm just not that into you anymore, but text me sometime.." sort of thing...

See if the following short list brings up some memories of this dynamics:

Portable DVD players
Cabbage Patch Dolls
Ugg boots
Razer Scooters
Crocs
Plasma TV's
Hummers of any size
Personal GPS devices

But what's this all got to do with my cool thingie-dingie?

Well, this may affect you in a small or big way, depending on what you're selling, what's preceded you in the market and what your real value proposition is. Here's a quick guide:

Brand new to an existing market?

How different is your "thing" to what they're already using?
Are they already experienced with the type of product/service that you're selling? If so, what really turns them on about it? Are they still likely to get excited about it?
How many direct competitors are there? Indirect? Is your offering likely to even stand out? If so, how are you planning on doing this?
Are the consumers of this offering just as excited about using this product today as they were when they first used it

Chasing a new, fast growing market?

Are you targeting a market that's still in the "honeymoon" phase? What's really driving their interest/passion?
Does your offering stimulate or desensitize the audience?
If you're part of creating the new demand, how are you planning on avoiding irrelevance? Or put another way, how do you plan on dealing with your product being offered as a "door buster" next Holiday season?

Resurrecting a dormant market?

How stuck are your customers in their current preferences? Are they completely de-sensitized to what you'd be offering?
Is there something that you can learn from why the market went dormant that can help you with getting your offering noticed and loved??
Are there other, unrelated things happening in lifestyles that, when combined, could create a whole new experience? (think - DVD's started at home, then got portable, then became part of the auto backseat experience of every minivan)

There aren't simple answers, but then again, creating something unique, exceptional and worth getting excited about has never been. But if you're at least thinking about the environment you're heading into, and what non-product related things are influencing the customer's life, you're at least a couple seasons away from being next season's Chia Pet.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

The next, new frontier of startup companies

2009-12-05T16:51:00.006-06:00

In all my dealings with entrepreneurs, I spend a lot of the time and dialog focusing on "what problem are you solving?" types of questions. As basic as this sounds, all too often there simply has not been a lot of thought applied to truly finding a real problem that's worth building a company to go solve.

Not that there aren't a lot of problems out there. There are. I wake up every day with a friendly reminder (my inbox, the media, yada yada) of how many problems are out there.

But building great companies, no -- check that, building memorable, sustainable, creative, unique and compelling companies that people are going to want to work for and investors will want to invest in, requires that you 1.) are really good at solving big problems and 2.) you can do this again and again and again. If your cool, crazy new company idea is only going to solve a problem that you think exists, you're not building a company, you're reserving a future spot on the scrapheap of failed startups. Better yet, a one way train to Palookaville...

So, in addition to doing your homework on all the other aspects of your concept (competition, barriers for someone else to do it, previous attempts, alternatives, etc.) be vigilant in truly spending the time understanding the real nature of the problem you're trying to solve:

How many people are struggling with this specific problem?
Is this the biggest version of the problem or is there an even bigger, albeit similar problem?
How acute is the "pain"? Are they (your target customer) willing to change their behavior, preferences, lifestyle, budget, etc. to use your product or service?
Is it just your "pain" or just someone you know (like, Aunt Elma)?

The list goes on, but I hope you get the point.

So while I'm on the topic of BIG problems to solve, here's a couple that I see that are just begging for someone to really solve them in a really powerful and compelling way:

An email tool that applies a dynamic, personally defined logic to your inbox - automatically dispositioning 90% of your messages without you having to bother reading them at all (I know, some of you use the trash folder to do this, but I'm serious here). I knew of an executive that had 894 unopened messages in his inbox. For real. He told me that he is forced simply to ignore them and if a problem is big enough/ready to blow up, he'll know about it. This is a huge opportunity and just using filters and rules on your mail client isn't going to cut it. Maybe we ban email and start writing letters.....in cursive..... with fountain pens???? (j/k)
True, whole home video distribution - 1 DVR to rule them all, viewable on all screens - both in home and on the go.
1 single address book/contact list that doesn't duplicate entries, automatically goes out and fills in relevant personal info etc.. I know there's a lot of progress in this area, but this has got to be "Uncle Ernie"- simple, across everything from your cellphone, wireless home phone, PC's, Skype account and anything else that dials or emails.
Packaging that forever eliminates plastic clamshells!
An apolitical means of educating the nation's voters, in simple, plain English, about the details, intricacies, tradeoffs, options, etc. associated with the highly charged political topics in society today. There's been good progress made, but the enemy in getting this to really happen is apathy. Right behind that is complexity. Find a way to make this fun, informative, etc. and we'll make huge progress to restoring civility, not to mention democracy back to this great nation.

I left out world hunger, bans on ignorant people, drivers who go the speed limit in the left lane, etc., figuring I'll leave that for another post...

I'd love to hear about your ideas for other "BIG" ideas - please share!!

Engage your senses...ooooh, ahhhhhh.

2009-11-24T16:34:00.012-06:00

I had an "aha" moment the other day, and while most of them are much ado about nothing (or just imagination gone amok) this one really stuck with me.
When we speak of building great brands, products, services or consumer experiences, there's a critical component that has to do with how unique and memorable that experience is - if it's just like any other, run-o-the-mill thingie dingie (that's a technical term), then it's not only likely to be forgettable, it's likely to be a market failure. Or at best, a mediocre, low margin, wannabe offering.
But the quest for this "uniqueness" isn't trivial. It's simple, but it's not easy. It's powerful, but really hard to totally get right, especially if you're in the process of trying to build a company around it.

What I'm referring to is this -- how does your offering engage as many (human) senses as possible and in turn, evoke emotional responses as part of this?

Go ahead and take a minute. Pour a cup of Chamomile, and breathe deeply. Take a look up to the sky at a slightly left handed angle and think about this.

Did you come up with more than 1 sense and 1 emotion?
If not, it's worth taking a look at what your offering is all about.

Lemme give you some context.

As an engineering student, I had to take some general electives (what? you mean there's more to life than thermodynamics and heat transfer? ughhhhh!) one of which was Psych 101. When it came to writing my semester-end term paper, I needed inspiration. Living in a fraternity, next to a roommate who sold illicit substances occasionally (names omitted to protect the innocent), I found said inspiration. And it wasn't at the end of a bong.

My thesis was this - the human condition has an undefined craving for seeking new and different forms of stimulation. Maybe since our earliest survival mechanisms depended on the ability to learn from our environment, lest we become banta fodder (oops, wrong metaphor!), it reasoned that we are generally predisposed to continually wanting to find new and exciting forms of stimulation. In the stone age, complacency really did kill!

I termed this the "continued quest for Altered States". Maybe I did do a bit of shameless stealing from the Ken Russel movie of the same title, but it made sense. Think of these examples:

- Little babies stick stuff in their mouth..all the time.... why?

- Parents rent bouncy houses for their kid's birthday parties ...why? Isn't jumping up and down on the bed rewarding enough?

- We go out to different restaurants. Why? You mean you're getting tired of the carnitas burrito at Chipotle?

- Some people (at last count, over 50%) dump their spouses and go get new ones. No smart alec-y comment on this one...

- Amusement parks. Best example of this - roller coasters are now touting their ability to generate 2g's or hurl you (and your lunch) at 70mph.

- Drugs. Who really went through all the effort and pain to figure out if you take a coca leaf, put it through a crazy chemical process, dry it out, and snort it (later, smoke it), you'll reach a new place? Seriously.

Why all these? Because they're new, atypical sensory experiences that invoke a very profound emotional reaction. And people pay $billions every year to receive these new experiences, sometimes to their delight, others to their great detriment.

Which brings me back to brands, products, services and consumer experiences.

If you accept this theses (my teacher actually did and liked it) that one of the bedrock aspects of the human condition is that it seeks, no, craves new sensory experiences, how are you addressing this in your offering? When you look at what you present to the market, does it truly invoke a new sensory experience? Or is it just like what everyone else is offering?

Remember, there are 5 major senses - sight, taste, smell, sound, and touch. From what smarter people in the psych space tell me there are even more minor senses (upwards of 900 of them!) so there's a lot to affect here!

Things to think about:

- If you sell a physical product, are the materials you use really unique, different to the touch, is the texture unlike any other peole have experienced? Are you using surface treatments that are distinct and even captivating? Is there a certain "heft" to the product? Lightweight can mean "cheap" or in the right situations, "cool". Are you using density and weight to your advantage? Touch the brushed aluminum of a Mac Book and then walk over to the Dell and Toshiba laptops and tell me if you think there's any difference.

- if you have a service venue, what's the dominant color scheme? Is it unique for your industry? Is it memorable? If people walked out and you asked them 2 minutes later, what was the color of the walls, would they remember it?

- Likewise, are you aware of what your place "smells" like? Remember, the olfactory is a powerful little stinker (nice pun, huh?) and it's connection to emotional centers in the brain are very robust. So when someone walks into your venue, does what they smell make them excited to be there? Want to leave? Remind them of a 2 yr. old barfing in the backseat of the car during the trip to Mt.Rushmore? Even the bathrooms - that most private of all places - have a profound effect on what people think of a location, especially if the odor was not very "nice".

- if you're a web based offering, what's your landing page telling your visitor? Does it look like just another boring e-commerce website? Is the color scheme the same as everyone else? Are there patterns and textures that are seen no where else? Are you taking full advantage of empty space or trying to fill every square inch of page with your brilliance? Is there a sound component? Remember, the ears are still part of the head and it's not just about pleasing the eyes...so is it appropriate to incorporate the proper sounds (not just music) to your web experience? And lastly, navigation -- does it leave them wanting to stay a little longer? Is it fun? Is it whimsical? Serious? Boring? Have you packed in some surprises there? A VC firm has a tab on their landing page that said, "Just Curious" as one of the options. Clicking it leads to a page on their team. Ugh. I'd have rather had them open up a page with the latest lolcat funny or failblog snippet, or a fingerpainting from one of the partner's 5 year old daughter....that way I'd know I was dealing with a VC firm that's not afraid to be different and separate themselves from the rest of the Sand Hill Road gang.

You get the picture.

Sorry for this long piece, but just remember - people want to get high (figuratively only!!!!) and enjoy new and exciting, stimulating experiences.

Indulge them.

Seagate has let a non-engineer in!!

2009-09-25T18:31:00.015-05:00

As you've heard before, I'm a (recovering) engineer and have a huge amount of respect for the incredible things that they do to bring us the cool, the sublime, the awesome, the sometimes "I'm gunna throw this damn thing out the window" technology.

But when it comes to writing user manuals or "how to use" documentation, most engineers aptly demonstrate that they were definitely hungover during Freshman English (if they attended at all).

So imagine my surprise when I recently opened up a Seagate backup drive (from their outlet store - sweet deals btw) and found a really unexpected experience with the user manual/startup document.

It started with a humorous, almost irreverent tone, the cover aptly named "This won't take long". Beyond the cute, it does speak very well to the emotion that typically accompanies the opening of a new computer related device. "Cross my fingers, gut a sheep and read the entrails for good luck" is the more typical customer reaction to computer startup documentation (except for Macs perhaps - see my earlier post on the OOBE for a MacBook). Instead, they correctly recognized that once somebody buys something, the want to use it.....NOW! (it's actually the logical follow on to the "get me the hell out of here" aspect of wrapping up a retail visit, referenced in my previous post on Trader Joe's).

To further assure the customer that they weren't kidding, they then walk the user through the next 3 steps with an elapsed time indicator, just to make sure your attention span was already wandering to the remote control, your just arrived text and what Ashton Kutcher is tweeting now...

Talk about speaking directly to the problem -- and I'm talking about the attention span deprived, hyper - distracted, multi-tasking over stimulated computer user!!!

They just tell you - get this stuff out, plug it in like "so", and whoopee!!

NOTICE WHAT'S MISSING?

EXCESSIVE TEXT.

JUST BIG LETTERS, PICTURES, AND COLORS NEXT TO A CLOCK.

Definitely passes the caveman test in a huge way.

Then they wrap it up with a very simple and considerate, "Please enjoy". Almost like a cup of coffee.

Given the dearth of well written, creative, and most importantly, effective user documentation out there, I felt it was worth just putting an "attaboy" to the dudes at Seagate for their willingness to step outside the industry norm and deliver an OOBE that's equal parts entertaining, irreverent and helpful. You give us all hope that things can ultimately get this simple.

Last note: to those technically inclined, I know that setting up and connecting a USB drive these days is easier than picking your nose (ewwww) but there are still many out there who don't have 6 computers, 3 network attached devices, 2 media servers and an IP video distribution network in their homes. The "mass is in the middle" and these types of efforts do a great job of addressing this.

The last frontier of retail innovation?

2009-09-06T11:55:00.007-05:00

I was enjoying breakfast with a good friend of mine, who happens to be one of the retail industry's leading minds on creating innovative in-store experiences and we got to discussing the fate of innovation in retail. "When was the last retailer that truly reinvented itself, when they were faced with a "innovate or die" challenge?" The silence was deafening. We exempted the Apple Store, who, while being one of the shining examples of great retailing, hasn't really been around long enough to be faced with the do or die question. We then struggled to come up with any other real examples of those who've successfully made the transition from staid, boring, uninspired commodity schlepper to engaging, fun and kick ass retailer.

It's the fate that befalls not just retailers but all large companies by the way, so there's good company here.

But a while ago, I had snapped some pics from a recent visit to Trader Joe's, for a future blog piece. I visited there again, 2 days ago and felt that, while they're still a young pup in the retailing dog pack, they're doing some things that other dying retailers would be well advised to consider.

Not sure if you've been to one before, and much has been written about their fresh (no pun intended) approach to creating a cool, compelling and unique retail experience in an industry known for razor thin margins and convenience focused service delivery.

A trip to Trader Joe's, still has a discovery feel to it, while still being about the essentials of hunting and gathering. The interesting thing you notice about all of the merchandising, is that there is no wasted space - everything on every shelf, is an expression of their unique, humorous, and sometimes irreverent attitude towards retailing. It's clear they had a choice when designing the shopping experience - either conform to what everyone else had done in the industry, or seek to carve out a different approach. Included among the attributes that define this experience is education. Beyond offering a unique, house-branded version of many popular food and beverage categories, they are also bringing stuff to the market that's not quite mainstream.

They recognize this and bridge the consumer knowledge gap with short, concise, but valuable snippets of information. If a consumer is going to try something new, the retailer has about 10 seconds to help them make the transition from, "what the hell?" to "I'll try that".

They also take full advantage of the opportunity to build a robust inventory of house-branded products, not by putting the product into a "me too" package so there's familiarity, but by deliberately choosing a more memorable package with color schemes and a message that convey the uniqueness and value proposition in a very different way. Again, the lesson learned - just because it's easy to deliver lower cost products via a private labeled product, don't assume you have to offer a cut rate experience because you're not sporting a recognized Fortune 500 brand.

In addition to the food stuff, check out the beer and wine selections to see what I mean by creative packaging. They're also to be recognized for putting "2 buck Chuck" wines onto the shelf - they're a simple reminder that decent table wine doesn't have to come in a foil box or with a screwcap (although those are become more respectable in the vino space these days as well).

While there this week, I heard bells ringing (no, it wasn't the carryover from 3 years on the high school gridiron getting pounded), and as we checked out, it became clear what it was - as the lines at the checkout grew longer, a simple ringing of the bell signaled the crew to man more registers. No obnoxious PA announcements. No harried manager scrambling to pacify increasingly disgruntled customers. Just, "get out here, and man the tills".

I believe that one of the ironic and paradoxical aspects of fantastic retail experiences is the checkout/exit aspect. And by this I mean - you can create the most phenomenal retailing venue, customer experience and staff it with great, attentive sales people. But when customers are done, they're done. They want to get the hell out of there and on their way. Here's how it reads - "No offense, but I've enjoyed the stay, I love what I got, now it's onto the next stop".

What are you doing to make sure your customers are just as excited to leave as they are to visit?

It's no surprise that this is starting to show up in places like the Apple Store with their mobile/handheld checkout terminals that speed you on your way, and with an emailed receipt to boot. Home Depot and Grocers are now proliferating the checkout lines with self-checkout stations but I suspect it's more about reducing labor costs than enhancing customer experience.

But the bottom line is creating innovative retail (or any service based) experiences is about END TO END - it welcomes you upon arrival (sights, sounds, smells, colors ---- they all matter), embraces you while you're there and sends you off with a hug and a kiss as you leave.

Hard to do, that's why my friend and I had such a tough time coming up with a lengthy list. But it's not impossible, it's a matter of where the priorities are as well as what leadership's vision' is all about - do they think with a commodity/peer mindset or as an innovator?

Perhaps the last telling aspect of Trader Joe's is captured by what my wife said about it - "I love Trader Joe's, everyone's happy." Interesting, a retail concept that changes moods. Might actually be something there.

Happy shopping!!

Design for User Experience - the IKEA example

2009-07-12T18:33:00.019-05:00

(apologies for the blurry image - operator error)
Innovation, when done well, takes place in so many different places and different ways that you have to stand up and cheer (OK, so maybe not cheer, but at least throw out a "yay").

And it's particularly cool when it's done in a simple way.

Take IKEA for example. If you've shopped there, you know that they've created a powerful, innovative retail experience that focuses on creating lifestyle possibilities via the elaborate, expansive showroom but keep costs down by eliminating product assembly labor as well as warehouse labor. In other words, you get your own stuff out of the warehouse, much of which is pretty heavy and bulky and take it home to put it together (their assembly manuals/process are another story that I'll write about later).

While picking up some office furniture there this Spring, I had a chance to see a cool, simple, user-experience innovation that illustrates my point. When you've got 400+ pounds of boxes to move from shelf to checkout, it's an open invitation to a lower back injury or at the very least, a public embarrassment when you lose control and t-bone an end cap. The shopping carts at IKEA have a simple feature - all four wheels on the cart swivel 360 degrees. . No matter the load, it makes it extremely easy to maneuver the cart in any direction, with no strain or struggle. The 10 boxes we had were easily and painlessly moved through the storage racks and checkout lanes.

What the IKEA folks figured out, and I'm making some of this up, was that in order to make the shopping experience a pleasant and enjoyable one (versus a dislocation of the L1, 3 and 4 vertebrae) if there was a way to make it easy to get your stuff and through checkout, you might actually want to come back and buy more product. Probably adding to this insight may have been the fact that women probably make up a significant if not majority of their customers and the number of them who can bench 350 is probably a pretty small segment.

The swivel wheels are a simple, insight driven innovation that, at its most basic, makes the retail experience complete: find stuff you like, that complements or fits your personal lifestyle needs, and make it easy to drag off the shelf and get through checkout and out the door. The carts are actually kind of fun to use, (if you were one of those kids who loved to ride the shopping cart through the grocery store, you'll know what I mean).

But what makes it an innovation worthy of mention is that the average person won't even notice the wheels. But what they will notice and probably appreciate is how easy it was for them to get what they wanted and not kill themselves in the process. In some circles, not killing the customer is a valid metric of innovation delivered. I'll just park it in the category of a good service experience innovation.

The prototype shop goes upstream

2009-07-12T17:17:00.014-05:00

As a (recovering) Mechanical Engineer, I've long since been obsessed with the art and execution of great prototype shops/people/processes. My first assignment while in GE's Co-op program was to work in the Model shop where master craftsmen (or better yet, artisans) would make everything from product prototypes to custom jigs and fixtures. But beyond just being good at machining, these guys were truly creative artists, most with design sensibility and a patient sense of usability and function well beyond the capability of high brow so-called design shoppes. Think "design artists with grease under the fingernails".

I recently had a chance to hang out with Tim Bachman (he's the dude in the stylish plaid bermuda shorts + funky King Tut beard, above), founder of the advanced design and prototyping firm, P-Soup (http://www.p-soup.com/) based in St.Paul. As I pulled my Harley up to their building, a funky converted industrial building downtown, the team was hanging out on their loading dock, barbecuing brats and enjoying a beautiful June afternoon. Good to see that they've done away with the security guard and receptionist desk...

Inside, their office was a cool hybrid of design station-meets-machine shop-meets-eclectic-collection of cool gear, replete with Bridgeport milling machines, lathes, tool boxes and a CNC machining center (not quite sure how they got it in there..). It was clear what they're focusing on and what they do for their clients - marrying design with function, and wrap it all up with an eye towards unique and distinctive innovation. And deliver all this with compelling prototypes that help deliver a keen understanding of what this device could be all about.

Increasingly, in the world of innovation, there are two key things that are all too frequently left off the dancefloor: one is brand, the other is DESIGN. In many cases, it's determined by the Product Management team, who decide that if they only add more knobs, more kHz of receive sensitivity, more menu choices, etc... that they'll have a market winner on their hands. Design? We'll outsource that to the folks in Shenzhen. In many cases, it's not entirely their fault, they simply don't have the tools, expertise or know-how to fold great design into the functional requirements stage, not to mention a design-for-usability perspective.

In other words, design is not an art project. It's actually what makes a product an enduring success or just another piece of crap. And if you actually start developing products with the end user in mind, earlier in the process, you'll have a much better chance of producing an iPod than a Zune. Enter P-Soup.

They've built their business around developing prototypes for the medical device industry and are working to not only expand their business but move upstream to have a more involved seat at the product development/design table. Not easy to do, but the right path to take, not only to increase their value and relevance but to carve out a real differentiator in the competitive fast prototyping services market. They've got the right stuff and I'd like to see them get more market traction both beyond med devices as well as adding more daring designs to their portfolio. But judging by the culture and environment they're building at P-Soup as well as the dudes involved, I'm confident they'll get there.

Is there an Animal Kingdom of Branding?

2009-07-02T22:07:00.007-05:00

Branding, especially when it's done really well, is one of my favorite parts of business.

But all too often I find that brand is either left out of the picture/ignored altogether or it's given waaaay too much attention and it gets ahead of the fundamental product/service the company has developed. Done right, it should be a key part of early stage planning - whether it be for startups, new product offerings or even turnarounds. It should be well defined, clear, simple, compelling, consistent, unique, connected to the emotions and needs of your target customer and it should be cool.

So when I read some of the highbrow work that seeks to "elevate" brand into a fusion of a post-modernist German avant garde jazz trio and back issues of Architectural Digest, it makes me wonder -- are there companies where a heavy, artful, psycho-deep treatment of brand is appropriate? While there are other companies that don't warrant anything more than a name and a black and white logo?

In other words, does the branding world resemble the animal kingdom? Are there companies where the brand treatment should be the equivalent of a slug? While others deserve a more elegant, complex, more thoughtful body of work, akin to that of a Liger (ask Napoleon Dynamite). If so, how do you make the determination?

If there is a relationship between company and complexity (or lack of) of brand treatment, then maybe the world will start seeing brand being given it's (final) fair share of appropriate treatment.

What do you think?

My molars have gone digital

2009-05-25T10:12:00.006-05:00

As anyone can attest, going to the dentist for your annual check is as fond an experience as,,, well, getting a root canal. During my recent visit, when it came time to do the x-rays, once the technician was done, she was simply sitting in her chair looking at a monitor in the back of the examining room. When I turned around, I saw a PC application that displayed the images of the just-taken x-rays. Score another one for the digitization of medical care.

But what really struck me was the fact that as the health care industry is (slowly) moving towards Electronic Health Records (or Personal Health Records), these are the very types of things that we can expect to see as our health and wellness records go digital. As soon as these images were shot, there's nothing that keeps the dental office from asking if we'd like to have a copy emailed to our home, for storing in our personal health records vault.

What gets really interesting, is imagining the evolution of care providers who can operate from a remote/digital basis. The ones whom you can send your images to, who can provide an assessment, or even a quotation for some additional work that can be done. Not that is offers a viable substitute for a face to face consult, but the ability to leverage the abundance of service providers with the availability of your personal information in a digital form, opens up a plethora of new opportunities to receive personal medical services.

But who's going to nag me about remembering to floss 3X a week? Oh, yeah, I forgot about the RSS feed my favorite dental hygienist just set up....

Vacuuming is fun again?

2009-05-18T21:20:00.012-05:00

At the heart of great innovation is the ability to take the mundane, the trivial, the mainstream, the stuff that would be the LAST place you'd expect to see innovation and inject an entirely new and refreshing change. The Dyson vacuum cleaners are a great example. Vacuuming (or Hoovering, depending on your nationality), has been around for well over 100 years (the first patent was in 1860) and each sucessive iteration has produced new enhancements that have made it lighter, prettier, portable and in general, suck more (pardon the expression).

Dyson's developed a textbook case for taking the design and functionality to a new level. It starts with the novel "ball" mechanism that allows the vacuum to easily and efficiently get into places that standard models can't reach. Just a few rolls of this little sucker and you immediately get it. It actually feels fun to use. And if there's one thing that I've yet to hear is that someone would actually look forward to vacuuming.

Which is another clear indicator of a great innovation - if the user experience leads you to consume/use the device or offering more, even if it's sucking up dust bunnies off the divan, then you've hit a homer.

Other things Dyson has done well to address -- the see through design (radical departure from the bag/housing), solid materials (heft = quality), and a visual identity that creates not only a unique visual but overwhelmingly distances itself from the drab and imagination-less players.

Their website is consistent with the caliber of the design and innovation taking place - smooth, elegant, easy to navigate, educational, all complementing everything that this brand stands for.

As a textbook case, Dyson has created a product that creates an emotional and functional innovation coup that sets a compelling bar and stunning example of how innovation is done right.

Little Big Planet puts the "user" in user generated gaming

2009-05-08T22:27:00.021-05:00

If you've got a young teen in your house, chances are good, or getting better that you've heard of Little Big Planet (LBP). But to the uninitiated, it's a wildly popular game that's been released on the PS3 game console. It's a graphically impressive game where your character has to navigate an increasingly complicated series of obstacles, which upon successful completion, awards you with ratings and the opportunity to advance/"level up". It plays on both the stand alone mode as well as an online one, allowing you to play with others in the LPB universe. It's easy to figure out and worse yet, it's like eating sour cream and onion potato chips - once you start, you just can't stop.

In the current media world, there's been a fast growing component associated with user-generated content. It's happenining in music (independent labels and even home produced music), movies/animation (Machinima anyone?), and has been poking along in gaming (Ultima Online, Unreal Tournament). But LBP brings this to an entirely new level.

One of the coolest features the developers have incorporated into the game is the ability for users to create their own maps/courses using easy to edit/create tools. No need to be a hard core coder, just a simple drag and drop creation tool. Once you've created your custom course, you can upload it for others to play. The graphics and elements of the game maps are just as stunning and challenging as the core game. The better games tend to get more gameplay which in turn raises the bar for the ongoing state of user generated game levels.

It's like dropping a dump truck full of milkbones in a dog pound - no one will ever want to leave..

LBP is a leading indicator of where user generated content is really going. One of the biggest complaints of any user generated media is frankly, most of it's crap. The reason it's crap is that it's hard enough to develop the content, it's even harder to package it into a commercially comparable output (MP3, CD, video, etc.). The LBP engine has made it possible for the average person to create a compelling and enjoyable game experience. It fuels engagement for both the user and the creator - seeing how easy it was to develop may lead you to develop more game levels, as a user, it keeps the levels interesting and exciting, giving you a reason to keep coming back. Best of all, it's free, and who the hell in doesn't love that (especially in sustaining a gaming audience).

The simplest factor that will make user generated content of any kind get traction in the market is this -- make it easy for people to quickly and easily create something that makes them look like a pro. Even if they don't get paid for it, the user/creators will draw to those tools that will make them a closet game designer/musician/video producer overnight. All good things.

3D, Social, Real-time, Engaging, User Experience Platform!!!!

2009-04-21T23:37:00.011-05:00

Last week I had to run next door to my neighbor's house to pick something up for my wife (yeah, I know, errand boy..). When I got there I saw something that really caught my attention. Seated around the table (pictured above) was my neighbor, Christine (she's the one on the right), her mother Marie-Ann and Christine's daughter, Elizabeth. And they were sitting around, playing a game of,,,,,, SCRABBLE!!! What was really interesting was the fact that here we had 3 generations participating in a long standing form of entertainment/social thing.

So I asked myself:

- When was the last time I saw three generations of family members sitting around doing/enjoying the same thing that wasn't a TV show?
- What types of in-home entertainment can actually keep and sustain interest in a 8 year old, a 40-something (Christine won't let me reveal her age, but if you email me, I'll tell you) and an 80-something?
- How do we find similar types of sustainable experiences that will have the type of attraction and engagement that can keep people connected and wanting to slow down long enough to enjoy?

It's reminded me that while the social media and entertainment world is scrambling and screaming at us for a narrow sliver of our attention span, the most valuable thing they're seeking is....our time. The needle has swung to the extreme end of the spectrum where the best the content provider can hope for is a few seconds of the audience's time in order to get their message across. 160 character communications are a manifestation of this time starved, hyper distracted world we're now living in. Human beings are very adaptive, it's why we're sitting in Barcaloungers noshing on pork rinds and not hunkered down in a cave gnawing on Yak bones. They adapt, yes, but there's always a tension between these new behaviors and those deeply ingrained in our brains, and when we can find a way to serve those older behaviors, we immediately incline towards them.

But after seeing the next door neighbor's Scrabble session, it reminded me that there are some things that are enduring -- time with family, intellectual challenge, competition, socializing (in real time, in-person) and drinking wine.

As companies seek to develop the next thing that will be a social phenomenon, it's worth retrenching back to some of the fundamentals -- how does this "thing" reinforce these long standing pillars of human social behavior? Facebook succeeds in part because it is providing a social linkage on the themes and topics that we care about and care to share. It's an extension of the neighborhood kids showing off their marble collection (I know, pretty old metaphor) to bringing out the scrapbook to show off the photos from last year's vacation to Cabo. But it can't beat the face to face exchange of sitting around the kitchen table.

How does your new "social" offering:

Connect people in a real and authentic way (that they tend to value)?
Help them slow down and enjoy those who're participating in it as well?
Bring into play the long standing components of family, friends, love, belonging, etc.?
Ultimately create an EMOTIONAL bond between your audience and your offering?

It's the last item that is both elusive and one of the most powerful. Figure out how to engage people at the emotional level and you've got a customer for life.

Time to whip out my old copy of Monopoly and see if I can now get my kids to shut off American Idol.....

The Zen Riddle of Innovation Processes

2009-04-12T21:14:00.000-05:00

One of the key elements of developing great innovative solutions (products or services) is the ability to gather insights of those who you're serving as well as those who're doing the serving/selling. In other words - do a lot of observing (and not from behind the 1 way glass of focus groups) and/or do a lot of asking those who are closest to the customer. Properly handled, screened and selected, these insights are the fuel for creating sustained, innovative growth. Best of all, they're typically FREE.

And in these times, who doesn't love FREE.

Applying these types of insights to create new innovations is kind of like a Zen riddle - easy to solve if you don't think too hard or try to complicate things. They're in great abundance, they're at your fingertips, they typically cost little to nothing and they're not commonly accessed by your competitors. So why is it that so few companies get this and of those who do, they still struggle to deliver consistent, game winning innovations?

It's that last point that got me thinking while I was donating blood platelets at the local Memorial Blood Center last week. If you've donated blood in the last several years, you know that the processes just get longer and more involved - for good reason, blood borne pathogens are a threat to take seriously and great care should be exercised in any process associated with gathering people's precious bodily fluids (obscure movie reference #1). When I first started donating, I suspect there were maybe 12 questions on the interview, now there are over 25, administered by a semi-automated computer based interview tool. And no, I've not spent time that added up to more than 3 months in the Republic of Congo, Chad, Niger or New Jersey (just so the MBC folks know I'm listening....).

While going through my recent donation interview, I counted the number of times they asked me my name -- 5 times. And another 1 or 2 more times for good measure when I got to the donation chair.

7 times within 15 minutes. Felt more like a conversation with Campus Cops after getting busted at a fraternity kegger.

So I asked the attendant why the 5 times - to which she replied, "They keep pushing new processes and protocols to us, we just do what we're trained to do". 'jus followin' orders.

Red Flag of Innovation #5 - anytime you hear regular use of the word, "they" - you know you have a listening problem. As well as a cultural challenge in getting insights converted into solutions. But that's another blog for another day..

Anyways, I then asked what had to be the rhetorical question of the month (maybe even year) -- "Do they ever ask you for your input and ideas?". Answer; "Nope." (with accompanying eye roll and deep sigh).

Remember, Memorial Blood Centers depends primarily on volunteers to provide them with the critical blood and blood products to help serve their worthy mission. Volunteers, like any other type of customer, are busy, have other things to do and when they take valuable time out of their schedule, their time spent with you should reflect this reality. The overall experience should reinforce their participation/attendance, leading to repeat visits (which everyone wants, regardless of whether you're taking blood or bank deposits). To not actively seek the inputs, ideas and insights from the front line employees, Memorial Blood Centers is missing out on an enormous opportunity to enhance their processes, engender greater repeat visits, and make the overall experience one that more people will willingly want to engage.

They could (and should) be regularly observing the processes for "broken" elements, but more importantly, they should be engaging these front line employees in seeking new, creative, effective ways of improving the experience and efficiency of their operation. Set up an employee-led team who'll be responsible for tackling process improvement, set up another for identifying ways to make the donation process something the customer looks forward to (get their car washed while donating?), and even set up another to seek areas where technology can be an assistance in both enhancing the process while protecting the integrity of the collected blood products (a barcode/customer ID that shortens the process?)

Tough economy + all volunteer customers + forcing the customers to lay in a chair for 2 hours with a needle stuck in their arm = challenging business. It's also an opportunity that's ripe for innovation that will lead to solid customer growth and repeat visits. But only if those closest to the customer are listened to and made part of the process. Remember, most of the insights you'll get are FREE.

And who doesn't love FREE?

The "anti-OOBE" experience

2009-04-11T18:16:00.000-05:00

While I can understand the need for low cost, durable packaging, saving money or ensuring the product doesn't get trashed in transit is no excuse for not making sure that your customer's OOBE (out of the box experience) isn't a good one. After my lovefest with the OOBE on my new Apple MacBook, maybe my sensitivity to these types of things is just a little higher, or maybe I'm just sick of risking personal mutilation whenever I have to open up these plastic packages from hell.

My most recent experience is with a Toshiba USB drive that I'm using for the MacBook backup. Perhaps I was hoping that with all the competition in the computing peripherals space, that some of the manufacturers would start to get the picture that when your product is just the same as everyone else's, that you'd try to do something different to give people a reason to buy yours. Things such as -- innovative product design, support info (online, documentation, etc.), application and use ideas, leveraging community and last but not least,,,, packaging, are all viable areas to set yourself apart.

At least make it easy to use your product. Don't make it an open invitation to visit the local emergency room because you've impaled your palm with a kitchen knife.

But this was not to be the case. The Toshiba packaging damn near screamed at me - "I dare you to try to open this!!" No, pull tab to start opening the package, just a thermal sealed plastic tomb from hell. After talking myself out of bringing it back to the store (where everything else is probably packaged the same way), I went after it with my Craftsman utility knife, and thankful for 4 years of mechanical engineering behind me, I successfully extricated my USB drive and put it to work. The successful surgical extraction (notice - no blood splatters).

If they don't provide something in the way of a better idea, blogs about these types of really bad OOBE's are just rants, so here's what could be done differently, if manufacturers are truly interested in creating more value for their brand (which, given the margins on USB storage, you'd think would be of interest).

1.) Put a "quick release" tab on the packaging, that with a simple pull, would open the package with no weapon needed. This is plastics molding, not quantum physics..very do-able.

2.) Try a unique, compelling, colorful, quirky, novel package made of fiber-based product - it'd stand out, have a quasi-eco friendly theme, and contribute to reinforcing your brand architecture (look and feel, color scheme, etc.).

3.) In the case of things like USB drives -- make the package something that you'd want to re-use. A carrying case, that would match your other accessories - remember that consumers today commonly identify themselves by what they carry/use. A novel case that would contribute to defining you as a "mobile professional with tons of interesting info", might earn you some additional coffee shop cred next time you're out and about. It might even have room to store your other accessories....giving people another reason to buy your product over the other guys...

These are just starter ideas, and I'm sure there are at least a dozen better ones out there, if the manufacturers sought to spend time watching their customers attempt kitchen surgery while trying to open the packaging. Or they could hire me to do this. As a bonus, it's a great way to help keep health care costs down in the US, and who isn't for that!!

Stay safe out there.

In celebration of the OOBE (Out Of the Box Experience)

2009-04-04T21:42:00.000-05:00

It was time to finally break the shackles of 12 years of devout, yet frequently challenged loyalty to the Microsoft/PC empire and buy my first MacBook. Not that I haven't used them before, it's just when you have 5 machines in the house, all networked, debugged (at least for the time being) and fully protected from bots, worms and keyloggers (thank you Spybot, ZoneAlarm, et al), it's too easy just to take the pain and suck it up. Not to mention the fact that I could buy 2 pretty tricked out Dell laptops for the price of one MacBook...But I knew the day was coming soon and I was actually looking forward to it.

Or should I say, looking just as forward to the part where you open the box and walk through the experience that Apple has become so wickedly famous for (I still have the box to my first iPod - a gen 2 model... and it was a great experience back then).

There's a lot written about the power and importance of the OOBE -- it's something that all too often costs little to nothing to add, yet can have the most profound impact on how the customer feels about their purchase and subsequently determines the longevity of their loyalty to the company they bought it from.

Most companies, regardless of whether they're selling a laptop, lawn fertilizer or a leaf raking service, fail to deliver on this important part of business.

Apple's a pro at this, no, correction -- they're the best at this, hands down.

A great OOBE does several things:

It reinforces your purchase decision ("yes, I do feel good about paying 2x a competing product")
It complements your experience with the product/service and it kicks your relationship with the Company off to a very good start
It sows the (early) seeds for long term loyalty and keeps you as a customer during those times when you're not so happy with the product/service.
It's actually a fun way to learn about what you just bought

Here's what the OOBE with my new MacBook looked like (abbreviated version):

When you open up the MacBook box, the machine is neatly snuggled in -- it almost looks like a piece of jewelry is being delivered. It says, "we put as much thought into this box as we did the machine inside". The only out of place part was the "Designed by Apple in California" tag. Duh. My Specialized mountain bike had a similar thing and it only served to remind me that while being designed in California it was still being made by cheap labor in China....Apple's cachet is too strong to have to make this obvious a gesture.

Other nice touches - the handle. It makes you want to carry this box, even if just out of the store..compared to every other laptop in the store - all of whom lack any such feature.

Pulling this badboy out of the box reveals a clean, well thought out storage area underneath. No cardboard boxed power cords, extra packages or annoying plastic entombed accessories. Instead of drab beige cardboard, we get treated to a simple but memorable contrast of black and white. Clean, simple, functional, different and pleasing to the eye. Product packaging as a proxy for the overall product experience. It's what brand experiences are all about - not just the "thing" itself, but everything that accompanies it reinforces everything that the brand stands for.

Again, function married with a well thought out design aesthetic. (alright, I'm sounding like a fanboy, but the praise for their OOBE is well deserved).

Simple. When was the last time you saw packaging designed to accommodate the power supply and presented this way. Not only are power supplies usually an afterthought, but their packaging is even worse (wire ties, anyone?).

Only the stuff you need. Stuff for the Mac. Stuff for everything else. Not shrink wrapped unintelligible instructions in 5 other languages.

In the interest of brevity, the rest of the startup process was just as intuitive, simple, informative and enjoyable as was the opening-of-the-box experience.

As companies continue to seek ways to differentiate their offerings, retain customers and enhance loyalty, how often are they looking at the other things? Packaging. In-store experience. Service manuals. The "welcome to our product, let's get this relationship off to a great start" things. Apple has elevated this to an art form. It's not just a box, it's the embodiment of the brand.