Branding

@OldSpice guy is off the hook brilliant! How long can he keep this up?

No Comments

In case you have seen this.  The new Old Spice guy you’ve been seeing on tv lately is all over Twitter and YouTube replying to (it looks like) ALL comments with short you tube videos.  I don’t know how long this can go on – but it is definitely one of the most interesting and  noteworthy re-branding campaigns I’ve seen in a while.

Here are a few of the replies.

Reply to Kevin Rose of Digg

Reply to Ashton Kutcher

Reply to Starbucks

Reply to Guy Kawasaki

Reply to Allyssa Millano

He’s even doing proposals

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

Business, StartUps, Technology

Best Press Release Ever!!: Woot Gets Acquired by Amazon

No Comments

Nice job Woot. On getting acquired and making the best press release. This is the way to not take yourself too seriously and let your customers know – you are going to be the same company, even after you get bought by the man.

Kind of funny though how time flies. When did amazon become the man? Zappos and Woot in the same house – that’s kind a awesome.

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

Technology

After a Weekend with the New iPhone 4

No Comments

I usually buy the new iPhone every time it comes out. So it’s not a big deal that I got this one the first week it was available. My logic is $200 for something that I use about 5 hours (or more!) a day is almost free. The same with my computer – which I’m on all the other hours I’m awake. Anything that makes me more efficient and better at work – I’m in on. So, I usually get a new phone every year and a new computer every 2 years. Thats also pretty easy when you use Macs – cause they’re always coming out with cool new stuff. Actually it’s hard to wait two years on the computer side – but anything sooner than two years is kind of silly.

For the phone, there have always been enough new features each year to make it worth it. And most of the time I don’t anticipate the ways that those new features are going to make an impact in my life until they happen. Then I almost feel like I couldn’t get along if my phone didn’t do that.

So, I’m always pretty satisfied with my new phone each year and glad I bought it. But after a weekend with the new iPhone 4, this is a different upgrade. I still have my old one – I’m basically turning it into an iPod touch for my kids – better driving trips this summer!  Going back and forth between the two phones is a stark difference. The old upgrades had new capabilities added in. This is just a whole new phone. It is just better on every front. Faster, Wickedly Clearer – Wickedly, longer battery – I’ve only charged it once since I got it on Friday, and I shot a movie of my kids, edited it, added titles and emailed it to the grandparents all from the park.  And I haven’t even used the whole face time thing.

Anyway – that’s my take – lovin’ the new iphone 4 over here.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Business, Finance, StartUps, Technology

MBA Mondays from Fred Wilson on his AVC.com Blog (it’s like a cheat sheet for entrepreneurs)

No Comments

One of the blogs I read the most is AVC.com.  AVC (I assume stands for A Venture Capitalist) is written by Fred Wilson (who is guess what – a venture capitalist).  And from the looks of it – a very good one.  He (actually his firm – Union Square Ventures) has funded all of the coolest things like Twitter, Boxee, Etsy, Foursquare, Meetup, Tumblr, Zemanta.

&nbsp

All that’s good and stuff – but the big reason I try and read his blog everyday is that he is real.  He loves his company, he loves technology and he loves his family.  And he shares real stuff about it all.  All the way from his frustration with not being able to find an email client that he really likes (can’t we all relate) and how he and his wife can finish each other’s sentences so much that sometimes they don’t even start them, to all of the inspiration he finds on a daily basis from his technology portfolio companies and their courageous founders and the love and commitment he makes daily to his wife (who refers to herself as the Gotham Gal – he probably gave her that name?) and his kids (who blog too – Emily and Jessica).

&nbsp

Not to often you get to see inside success and all that makes it and all that it comes with – ALL.

&nbsp

On to the topic.  Earlier this year the AVC blog started running something called MBA Mondays.  The series lasted for 21 weeks – I think he missed one or two – go figure.  But they covered all the topics that any startup business would ever need to know, from things, like the difference between cash flow and an income statement, forecasting, budgeting (in a small, growing and big company), Pricing, Metrics, and on and on…..

&nbsp

This series is like a cheat sheet for anybody about to or in the middle of getting a business off the ground.  They are things that I mostly knew about and all the definitions of – but had never really heard (or listened to) the meanings straight from an honest investor who is writing the check and getting involved.

&nbsp

Anyway – good stuff – both the blog and the MBA Mondays.  Check em both out.
Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

Winning

Winning – When You Don’t Have Your A-Game

No Comments
 

I’m not a lakers fan.  Never have been – never will be.  Also – not a Kobe Bryant fan.  But he is kind of growing on me and I can’t really explain that.  So why is a non-Lakers fan blogging about the Lakers?  Because it not about the Lakers – its about winning.

Actually more than winning.  It’s about winning when we don’t have our A-Game.  And Kobe Bryant didn’t have his A-Game last night and he still found a way to win.  It’s about finding other ways to win – anyway we have to – no matter how hard.  Because the closer we get to what we want – the harder it is going to get.  That is just life.

Kobe showed up for game 7 and he wanted it badly – probably too badly.

And what happened in that defining moment – he couldn’t find his A-Game.  I think because he wanted it so much.  That is kind of how things work.  But here’s the rub and what makes Kobe Bryant great (yep – great).  When he didn’t have his A-Game, he did other things he could do – things that didn’t require his A-Game.  He rebounded. He Hustled.  He just worked harder than everybody else.  See – rebounding doesn’t take talent – it takes will and commitment.  He had that.  He got others to step up, led them and then trusted them.  He did that and didn’t fall into that easy place of “why can’t I do this – why can’t I hit a shot – why can’t I get a call – a break”.  He didn’t do or say any of those things.  He found another way.  He did the small things that he knew could could do and trusted the rest.

For non-Lakers fans or even non-Basketball fans – there is something in that game for all of us that want to be great and want to win.

We may not always have our A-Game – nobody does.  You may think others do but they don’t.  Everybody has to rebound sometime and we need to know that.  Rebounding isn’t complicated – but that doesn’t mean its not hard.  It’s really hard.  Find out where our rebounding is.  Focus on the effort and commitment to the thing that is right in front of us.  Our shot will come back later.  It always does.

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

News

CBS “60 Minutes” interview with Deepwater Horizon survivor Part 1 & 2

No Comments

Great piece on the ins and outs of drilling and the disaster at the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico.


Watch CBS News Videos Online


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Business, StartUps, Technology, Thoughtful

Jack Dorsey on Drawing, Luck and Reiteration

No Comments

I don’t know if Twitter is going to beat Facebook – even though I like Twitter way better. But, the one thing Twitter has over Facebook is the coolest founder names. Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Biz Stone. Fugitaboutit.

Anyway this is a great talk by Jack Dorsey on drawing your ideas, sharing them, recognizing luck and Reiteration – all at the right time I would assume.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Business, Technology

The 10 Golden Principles for Successful Web Apps from Fred Wilson at Union Square Ventures

No Comments

Fred Wilson is one of the most informative and entertaining VCs on the web to follow. He lets you into not only his business thinking but the underlying personal drivers that makes him tick.

The 10 Golden Principles for Successful Web Apps

View more presentations from fredwilson.
Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Business, StartUps

Zappos at SXSW

2 Comments

Gotta love Zappos and especially the CEO Tony Hsieh.  All about Service and following through.  All companies want to be Zappos – but there are simply few that even come close.  Here’s a presentation about what makes them tick and some of the key metrics.

Zappos – SXSW – 3-14-09

View more presentations from zappos.
Found this on Slideshare.net.
Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]