- @4MKMobile riverdale ward 30 and I've pinged @paula_fletcher @mayormiller about #204beech #propertyrights & concerns as a voting homeowner in reply to 4MKMobile #
- @caseymck when did you join @freshbooks? I feel like I killed the brain cells that should know that in reply to caseymck #
- Just heard from an angel group that is "looking for deals to come to them" #lackofhustleventures #
- Today (June 4, 2010) is deadline to apply for ExtremeU http://bit.ly/aLQtVN read my opinion on way you should apply http://bit.ly/cBIRHT #
- @bwertz so funny I have that suit in my shopping cart have to find someone to do the measurements /cc: @jevon in reply to bwertz #
- RT @msuster: CEO of @grockit, @Farbood Nivi gives great advice on raising angel money & VC http://bit.ly/9LHR6G #
- @Poshy congratulations in reply to Poshy #
- @chrisarsenault @growconf it's magical, it's the iPad of conferences http://growconf.com/ details http://bit.ly/bXSoHV cc: @jacquimurphy in reply to chrisarsenault #
- New job post: Database Developer (Business Intelligence Software Company) / Client of Grossman Dorland Recruitment… http://bit.ly/cykWBA #
- New job post: Ruby on Rails Developer / HomeStars / Toronto, ON, Canada: HomeStars/Toronto, ON, Canada (Can Teleco… http://bit.ly/9tCbT7 #
- Shear genius updated list express angst of rock RT @alancross: A Rebuttal to Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs http://ow.ly/17Cqah #
- OH: "You kids with the Twitter and the Facebook, get off my Internet lawn" #grumpyoldman #
- @ryancoleman then get your kids with the Twitter and the Facebook off my Internet lawn in reply to ryancoleman #
- Just ran into @alexaclark at the Lowblaw's #
- New job post: Senior .Net Developer / Dayforce / Toronto, ON, Canada: Dayforce/Toronto, ON, CanadaAbout Dayforce
D… http://bit.ly/9OZFIx # - New job post: Senior QA Analyst / Dayforce / Toronto, ON, Canada: Dayforce/Toronto, ON, CanadaSenior QA Analyst
Ab… http://bit.ly/9HaKB3 # - Interesting a "Brooklyn Cocktail" variant on the Manhattan http://bit.ly/apXfLl sounds great #bourbon #
- Hah http://bit.ly/cpxHc6 @accordionguy voted me “most likely to take a dump on Microsoft’s front door” funny stuff #
- @fuzzz @flashpunk there's such a thing as too many shoes? sacrilegious! Blasphemy! thinking about a pair of @fluevog http://bit.ly/aWuUlt in reply to fuzzz #
- @justaim4success yes, strangely I'm actually in Mississauga both days #traffic in reply to justaim4success #
- It feels like time for the next Founders & Funders in Toronto, need to iterate on the formula http://bit.ly/bHzLCJ #toronto #startups #
- RT @hnshah: Metaphor: VC as a Produce Supplier http://kiss.ly/crBRO3 /by @bfeld #
- RT @markzohar: Bing on iOS shows just how the industry has moved. MSFT is the new Switzerland. Google alienating partners. #wwdc #
- we'll miss you very much RT @angielim Goodbye Canada, Hola Costa Rica! http://bit.ly/9Hpj96 #surfing #
- Adidas+Star Wars+World Cup http://youtu.be/3Zd_khk6zXo #awesome #
- RT @wp7dev: New Policies for Next Gen Windows Phone Marketplace http://bit.ly/akD82W #teched #
- New job post: Software QA Lead / Solidifi Inc. / Markham, ON, Canada: Solidifi Inc./Markham, ON, CanadaReporting t… http://bit.ly/bdAtNs #
- RT @chrisalbinson: #FATGYM who (in order) will define the future mobile/social web: Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft. #
- RT @CVCACanada: New seed funds ride government coattails http://bit.ly/9IKdJb cc: @chrisarsenault @startupcfo @jscournoyer #
- The problem with bluetooth keyboard and mouse – battery life – running to the store for batteries #fail #
- Ack no google analytics stats since my wordpress hack http://bit.ly/a1WAyo that's a long time without data #
- @cym_ check out @extremevp or Basecamp http://bit.ly/9HlWDF what is it that you're looking for? in reply to cym_ #
- "maximum viable product is product enthusiasm over product satisfaction, product over-performance over product performance" @bradfordcross #
- Maximum Viable Product by @bradfordcross http://bit.ly/c1u3Hk #
- "Now when it drops you gonna feel it, That you've been doing it wrong" ♫ http://blip.fm/~rqa39 #
- Looking back at #leanstartup by @bradfordcross #mustread #
- Product-oriented seed fund HackFwd http://bit.ly/b8bloz "70% founders; 3% advisors; 27% HackFwd" for up to €191,000 http://hackfwd.com/ #
- RT @startupcfo: Post: Want money? Ask for advice http://bit.ly/cRoUck #
- @bigs @bijan I heard @myoptometrist say it might be something to do with approaching 40 reading glasses soon to be required in reply to bigs #
- @beltzner where'd you get the froyo rom? does it run on an N1? in reply to beltzner #
- @cym_ the Accelerator Centre does not exist in Toronto there's @MaRSDD @csito you can ask @extremevp @camaraderie #
- New job post: PHP Programmer / Confidential / Toronto, ON, Canada: Confidential/Toronto, ON, Canada (Yonge and Blo… http://bit.ly/aNNrbC #
- New job post: iPhone Developer / Indusblue / Toronto, ON, Canada: Indusblue/Toronto, ON, CanadaWe are looking for … http://bit.ly/c2l41L #
- RT @bradfordcross @garrytan How Facebook uses Scribe Hadoop & Hive for Analytics Ad hoc analysis Spam detection http://post.ly/iv6M #
- RT @jldavid Messenger Social – Building the Ultimate Social Dashboard for Staying in Touch while Eliminating the Noise: http://is.gd/cIGwu #
- Good luck in Montreal RT @OfficialMGP: #F1 First action in Montreal in 2 days… Getting excited! cc:@startupcfo @kristinematulis #
- While not untrue, but this is why you should never leave your laptop unlocked – LOL RT @MossyBlog: I like boobs. That is all. #
- I'm at MSN (222 Bay St, at Wellington St, Toronto). http://4sq.com/9DVZZB #
- "I need a date to the prom" nothing has changed. Anyone around for lunch? King & Bay ♫ http://blip.fm/~rs2gh #
- New job post: User Experience Analyst (1 Year Contract) / Research In Motion / Waterloo, ON, Canada: Research In M… http://bit.ly/c5H5YW #
- RT @KristaNapier Job Post: Shiny Ads, Toronto startup, is hiring for a Sales & Bus Dev position http://bit.ly/dviZwe #adnetwork #
- RT @danmartell @ebloch: Can we agree to reserve the sacred term 'Customer' for that subset of users who actually *pay* you? #
- New job post: Digital Content Producer (Toronto) / Astral Radio / Toronto, ON, Canada: Astral Radio/Toronto, ON, C… http://bit.ly/9ELozf #
- Just bought a suit http://bit.ly/aklVVC from @indochino based on advice of @jevon and @bwertz very cool #canada #startup #
- @sbwoodside I have a made-to-measure from @gotstyle thought which was like $875 the @indochino was $399 worth a try I figured in reply to sbwoodside #
- @indochinoreview Blueprint collection Windowpane http://bit.ly/ahvPA3 hoping the fit is good #
- RT @Caseyft I've authentic 2010 Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey signed by all the players Any die hard leaf fans interested in buying? Cc:@mrelph #
- Wow Canadian company acquired by @twitter RT @trishussey Congrats to @avibryant and DabbleDB! http://tris.me/b0SWnH #
- Facebook Insights available using #OData in #excel2010 http://bit.ly/9JHs0r very cool #
- Painfully bad cab driver, possibly the worst I've ever had, worse than shanghai, just terrible, shocking http://post.ly/j5sX #
- @brycej only if you are using the media center and doing video conversion/transcoding cc: @mrelph @rbuike @ricksterCDN #
- RT @skairam: Anyone interested in beta-testing @PARCinc Windows Outlook plug-in http://meshstro.com/ ? Cool tool! Send me a note. #
- So happy for @avibryant @andrewcatton hard work pays off RT @davidascher: Congrats to avi, andrew et al! http://bit.ly/9RbwIq #
- @shine2u glad you find http://jobs.davidcrow.ca you should also check out http://meshjobs.com/ #toronto #jobs #pr in reply to shine2u #
- Awesome RT @stevecla: F1 back at Canada…with wings! Impressive new Red Bull ad http://bit.ly/doLNby cc: @TiffenyC #
- Just had a great chat about startups with @eskimo_bait on my way to poker. #riverdale #
- Beer run #poker must remember 9am meeting in Meadowvale #
- @seanpower @rayluk sadly @aubinpaul has all my money and there's still a case of Heiney to drink #poker in reply to seanpower #
- 9am is just not happening #poker I blame @ryanmckegney #
GovCamp on June 17, 2010
Following up after a great event in Ottawa on June 1, 2010, my partners in crime at Microsoft and at ChangeCamp (Omar Rashid, Julia Stowell and Mark Kuznicki) are working to extend the conversation around participatory government, citizenship, open data and other stuff under the umbrella of gov2.0.
The event is a conversation. It’s talking about technocracy, Government transformation, public service renewal, open data, the social web and participatory approaches to public engagement. The event is invitation only. Why invitation only? Space is expensive and having a fixed event size makes it easier to manage. But we are actively looking for entrepreneurs and developers and others that are:
- Municipal, Provincial or Federal public servant or a public sector agency employee with an interest in these topics
- Thought leader looking to share and connect with this community
- Member of the community of developers, advocates and practitioners in public engagement, government communications, technology, open data, open government or “Gov 2.0”
This is a great opportunity to connect with officials from local and provincial government and experts in the space. The invite says “special guests” but I’m hoping it’s conversation leaders include:
- David Eaves, Public Policy Entrepreneur, Open Government Activist and Collaboration Expert
- Dave Wallace, Chief Information Officer, City of Toronto
- Steven Green, Director of Marketing & Communications, Cabinet Office, Government of Ontario
- Peter MacLeod, Principal, MASSLBP
- Alison Loat, Executive Director, Samara
I’m looking forward to hearing David Eaves response to the role of institutional oversight in auditing and the limits of public participation.
Propose a Demo
If you’ve built an application designed to improve the lives of citizens using open data you should submit a demo for this event. This is your chance to get your application seen by people in this space. Are you building on the toronto.ca/open/catalogue? Did you build on something else? It doesn’t have to be Toronto. It could be another region or locality. It might be using licensed data sets. This is an opportunity to unlock a market.
Monetizing Gov 2.0 by Tim O’Reilly
Watch live video from Inc. Magazine on Justin.tv
Related Readings
Speed and Growth
I had coffee yesterday with Mark Organ. Mark is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Eloqua. We were talking about the 2 advantages that startups bring which are:
- Speed
- Growth
Speed and growth are what the startup is all about. You have the opportunity to be faster, more nimble and achieve greater growth rates than larger companies. The discussion around speed focused on the ability of startups to adapt to their environment more quickly than their larger more established competitors. Mark talked about the OODA loop and the ability for startups to make the loop tighter and make better decisions and more effective actions.
“The key is to obscure your intentions and make them unpredictable to your opponent while you simultaneously clarify his intentions. That is, operate at a faster tempo to generate rapidly changing conditions that inhibit your opponent from adapting or reacting to those changes and that suppress or destroy his awareness. Thus, a hodgepodge of confusion and disorder occur to cause him to over- or under-react to conditions or activities that appear to be uncertain, ambiguous, or incomprehensible.” Harry Hillaker
Being able to compress the OODA loop is one of the advantages of a startup is to “operate at a faster tempo or rythym than our adversaries”. This is all very similar to the concepts introduced in the lean startup (see Eric Ries’ The Startups Rules of Speed).
” Applying lean thinking to entrepreneurship requires a new definition of progress, one that is focused on measuring learning rather than measuring objects. The day-to-day process that startups build should also attempt to maximize speed of learning.” Eric Ries
Building in tools and methods into the process that let founders and team members observe, orient, decide and act faster is key. The more I think about the need to build metrics into applications and marketing solutions. I want to be able to understand the performance of my design decisions relative to previous experience/performance, new information, competitive analysis and traditions. This is the Orient part of the OODA loop but it requires the codification of new performance data and the existing business metrics and the cluster immune system. Check out Bradford Cross’ experiences using lean, he cuts through a lot of the hype, mysticism and talks about it in practice.
This is very different than the using the OODA loop to keep ahead of your enemy’s decision making cycle. Your enemy early on is time and a lack of customer data. But I’m becoming a big believer in customer development. It’s becoming clearer for me that if you are able to automate your observations and data collection that you’ll have better data about the performance of your application to make informed decisions. The same is true of the inbound marketing campaigns and tools. Time to look at what can be captured and how to automate the “orient, decide and act” phase for application development.
Top 5 Reasons to go to Grow Conference
- It’s Silicon Valley in Vancouver
How can you ask for a better lineup of people? You get the opportunity to interact and connect with Lane Becker, Rob Chaplinsky, Dave McClure, Dan Martell, Jeff Clavier, Debbie Landa, Chris Albinson and others. This is a world-class list of angels, investors, entrepreneurs and technologists. - It’s Canadian startup royalty
Royalty is the wrong word. But it’s a chance to get inspired by some of the best Internet startups in Canada. The event is sponsored by the C100 and Debbie Landa, Chris Albinson, Rob Chaplinsky, Lane Becker and Dan Martell are all Canadian. But it’s the connection to all of the others attending and speaking that is most valuable: Rick Segal, Boris Wertz, Mark MacLeod, Danny Robinson, Amar Varma, Chris Arsenault, Steve Woods, Leonard Brody, Jonathan Ehrlich and all of the others that will be involved. - Tickets are cheap
The super early bird tickets were snapped up. Regular tickets are only US$285. It’s not a lot of money for an event. When you consider that food alone is approximately $15 breakfast + $10 morning break + $25 lunch + $10 afternoon break + $30 cocktails = $90, so your ticket is only costing you $195. You might not like my pricing but I can tell you that WiFi at the MTCC is $30/connections. There are hard costs to running an event. - The food
Vancouver has some of the best food in the world. Tojo’s, Vij’s, Blue Water Cafe, ReFuel, Gotham Steakhouse, Joe Fortes, Lumiere. The list just goes on and on. If you’re creative you can do this on a budget, step one follow someone who is on an expense account or has already had atleast one successful startup. - The Vancouver peeps
There are some great entrepreneurs, technologists, designers and thinkers living in and around Vancouver. Ben Skelton, Dave Olson, Kris Krug, Meg Cole, Danielle Sipple, Avi Bryant, Andre Charland, Boris Mann, Dave Shea, David Eaves, Kate Trgovac, Alexandra Samuel, Gordon Ross, Jason Mogus, Dick Hardt, Rebecca Bollwitt, Tod Maffin and others.
And the unwritten sixth reason to attend, though many will tell you this is a reason to avoid, I’ll be there.
Week in Review – 2010-06-04
- @spelton you missed it @jevon @chrisarsenault @jonasbrandon and I logged 8km along the Rideau it was great in reply to spelton #
- Aoife and Cam Wooley http://post.ly/hh8t #
- @rubsun we actually made @JonasBrandon run the hole route @chrisarsenault @jevon and I watched with coffee and donuts and bacon in reply to rubsun #
- @thekarin which version are you suffering? Can we help? in reply to thekarin #
- New job post: Digital Account Manager / Astral / Toronto, ON, Canada: Astral/Toronto, ON, CanadaPosition:
DIGITAL … http://bit.ly/9Qb7su # - @thekarin 🙁 my apologies for the shitty experience happy to share comments directly with Cdn on IE team in reply to thekarin #
- Back from #cvca thnx @jevon @jonasbrandon @sundeepx @spelton @chrisarsenault (@ Dr. Kristin Heeney) http://4sq.com/ar8Kre #
- Thinking of selling first born RT @spotlightcity @ArleneStein I have a reservation for elBulli for July 30th, 2010. anybody want to take it? #
- RT @jacquimurphy @PostRank PostRank Activity Stream in Analytics! It's like friendfeed for your content http://bit.ly/aQ0FTt #
- That @zombiecrow guy can use the Internets and my credit card. #
- Can you believe it's been 4 years? http://bit.ly/afO4RN #hAttack #davidcrow #
- @mayormiller hope you're paying attention to the #204beech situation & councillor @sandra_bussin's questionable actions #
- @fuzzz @modernmod glad to still be here, worried somedays that @zombiecrow will arrive #
- Not a lot of Steve Ballmer love – @fastcompany Microsoft Needs Bill Gates Back http://bit.ly/9lozKa #microsoft #regimechange #
- Less Ballmer love from @gassee former CEO of Be "Ballmer just opened the Second Envelope" http://bit.ly/dkCRMK #microsoft #regimechange #
- ack, need to go back to YOW RT @bjeans: Heading to Ottawa for GovCamp Canada — http://govcamp.eventbrite.com #GovCamp #
- Budgeting for entrepreneurs @fredwilson Early Stage http://bit.ly/cA591w Growth http://bit.ly/bQ12FR Large http://bit.ly/aO2iwV #mustread #
- marketing 101 for VCs RT @startupcfo: The VC Branding Problem http://bit.ly/bDQ4kb #
- Wow @daeaves @remarkk talking #govcamp #opendata #ottawa http://bit.ly/99w6Ym – you should attend #microsoft #
- RT @chrisarsenault: Great article on @theC100: Canucks in the Valley http://bit.ly/duhEXN #canada #startups #c100 #
- RT @jeremybell: Further insight & perspective into the #204Beech saga http://bit.ly/azvDXt #toronto #propertyrights #
- RT @startupcfo @chrisarsenault: Take-home @theC100: Forget about Canadian Brain Drain. Build on Canadian Brain Flow. It's our edge. #CVCA #
- RT @josephfung: CSI has released documents & tools about how their shared space model works: http://bit.ly/bO4dHz #coworking cc: @missrogue #
- RT @aprildunford: blog post: Top 5 customer retention marketing tactics http://bit.ly/9XwUIn #
- I'm at Microsoft Canada (222 Bay St., Toronto Division). http://4sq.com/csrjJV #
- OH "Tell me the difference between here [Toronto] and Silicon Valley – reduced cycle times" Howard Gwin @Bridgescale #mentormonday #
- Love for the bald guy – 5 ways Ballmer can save MSFT Bacon http://bit.ly/9ouEyN #microsoft #regimechange #
- Congrats @spelton on deploying more capital RT @CVCACanada Blueprint Software Raises C$14.3 Million http://bt.io/FIdJ #toronto #
- New job post: Marketing Wizard / EQENTIA / Toronto, ON, Canada: EQENTIA/Toronto, ON, CanadaEqentia is a young star… http://bit.ly/dfVwH8 #
- @joshokane I'm sure @Sandra_Bussin would be happy to provide you a link to the public/auditable #204beech petition @gteehan @jimgraham in reply to joshokane #
- RT @TechCrunch Investors, Entrepreneurs Discuss NYC's Rapidly Growing Seed Funding Community – http://tcrn.ch/9T9HMf by @jasonkincaid #
- RT @bhorowitz: How Andreessen Horowitz Evaluates CEOs: http://wp.me/pSsBB-7F #mustread #
- RT @aprildunford: Blog post: Selling vs. Buying: A Marketing Wake-up Call http://bit.ly/cfXJZr #prodmgmt #marketing #
- Is it wrong to want a burger and bottle of wine at 10:38am? #patiotuesday #
- thinking a Syrah or Malbec with a beef burger @ExpositionGuru @maggiefox @thekarin @jlax @InteropQueen @Caseyft @ramiadada #patiotuesday #
- RT @ExtremeVP: 3 left days to submit your application to ExtremeU: http://bit.ly/aLQtVN office space, funding & mentoring! #startups #
- RT @Carnage4Life: Reading http://bit.ly/dcf5gB by @edbott, argues $MSFT stock not so bad in 10 yrs if u don't compare it to $GOOG or $APPL #
- New job post: Intermediate Programmer (2 positions) / ACTRA National / Toronto, ON, Canada: ACTRA National/Toronto… http://bit.ly/bFObUG #
- sadly no burger and wine for me today, stuck on the phone until 2pm then transit to a meeting @ramiadada @thekarin @palmerized maybe dinner! #
- RT @scottweisbrod: Following the unfolding drama re: #204Beech Here's a way you can help @gteehan & family: http://bit.ly/cSWEnv #
- @scottweisbrod email sent to @paula_fletcher @mayormiller @sandra_bussin hope others do the same http://bit.ly/cSWEnv #
- not the best ones for you, too narrow RT @odannyboy: New glasses no. 1 http://twitpic.com/1t1x2a #
- Please sign this petition http://bit.ly/9PQLus and support @gteehan and property rights in #toronto #204beech #
- I just signed the A Better 204 Beech Ave. petition (signature #111 at http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/204beech #
- I just signed the A Better 204 Beech Ave. petition (signature #137 at http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/204beech #
- @jeremybell does any of the money donated to the PetitionSpot go to you or Geoff, otherwise I just donated $20 to a scam #
- @jeremybell no worries, #204beech petition signers DO NOT DONATE using PetitionSpot.com donation for, $190 of $250 does not help @gteehan in reply to jeremybell #
- We just reached 250 signatures on the A Better 204 Beech Ave. petition! Sign it at http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/204beech #
- New job post: Intermediate Developer / Zerofootprint Software Inc. / Toronto, ON, Canada: Zerofootprint Software I… http://bit.ly/ag2aVM #
- @petitionspot you suck, twitter spam, coughed $10 out of me to support a petition #petitionspot #spammer #
- @MikeMcDerment rocking the Web App Marketing Metrics 101 http://bit.ly/9odBE6 #CPA #ARPU #LTV #churn #mustread #
- RT @ResultsJunkie: Huge props to @remarkk @fusedlogic @daeaves & @thumbtackhead from $MFST for #govcamp #ottawa cc: @bjeans @InteropQueen #
- RT @startupnorth: New post: Marketing metrics http://bit.ly/9QTwc3 inspired by @MikeMcDerment @AprilDunford @DanMartell all #mustread peeps #
- New job post: Lead Web Application Developer / Startup / Toronto, ON, Canada: Startup/Toronto, ON, CanadaJob Summa… http://bit.ly/ckyQLe #
- Maybach. Fancy. #
- New job post: RESEARCH ANALYST / Astral Radio / Toronto, ON, Canada: Astral Radio/Toronto, ON, CanadaReports to:
D… http://bit.ly/aRcz1G # - RT @gteehan @jeremybell: Part 2 of @jimgraham's commentary on #204Beech : http://bit.ly/b3WvL9 #mustread cc: @sandra_bussin @paula_fletcher #
- RT @startupcfo: #plan GROW 2010 Conference (Vancouver Convention Centre) Aug 19-21, 2010 http://planca.st/2OP #
- @startupcfo trying to get there in reply to startupcfo #
- New job post: AR Digital Content Producer / Astral Radio / Toronto, ON, Canada: Astral Radio/Toronto, ON, CanadaAs… http://bit.ly/bVVwU4 #
- RT @startupnorth: New post: Engines for Massively Scaleable Startups http://bit.ly/dyBPqV cc: @seanellis @danmartell @aprildunford #
- RT @kristinematulis: Blog Post: Less is More (but too little is not enough) http://ow.ly/1qzowy #VC #angel #startup #pitch #advice #
- RT @DeanPrelazzi: Startups! Great opportunity to show off your products to the tech community!!! Launch Party Vancouver http://ow.ly/1TdC5 #
- RT @Brydon: son I realize you're only 7 but I'll be honest with you, you're on your own until I can finish raising my #startup ..#parenting #
- I'm at MSN (222 Bay St, at Wellington St, Toronto). http://4sq.com/9DVZZB #
- New job post: Information Architect / Kobo Inc / Toronto, ON, Canada: Kobo Inc/Toronto, ON, CanadaWork downtown at… http://bit.ly/9zI80j #
- At 2010 ISV Leadership Summit with @shap @jwakeam with about 250+ companies (@ Microsoft Canada w/ 2 others) http://4sq.com/5isWvZ #
- @barrypaquet south wall pink gingham shirt #MSISVSummit10 in reply to barrypaquet #
- Interesting observation about #MSISVSummit10 crowd, there are way less iPads than other crowds I've been in #cvca #meshu #mesh10 #
- Silicon Valley is the Silicon Valley of Canada RT @skanwar Everyone thinks their the Silicon Valley of Canada. #
- RT @startupnorth: New post: Grow – A Conference for Startups & Entrepreneurs in #Vancouver Aug 19-21, 2010 http://bit.ly/bXSoHV #mustattend #
- @seanwise at #MSISVSummit talking about entrepreneurship and corporate growth http://post.ly/iLvQ #
- @maurar I'm coming to @growconf I blame @dannyrobinson for our not meeting 😉 in reply to maurar #
- Big group of ISVs at #MSISVSummit listening to @seanwise http://post.ly/iLxd talking about rate of adaption #
- RT @hnshah “@gigaom: The New Reality of the Twitter Ecosystem http://dlvr.it/1Q3Kj” #
- Shift of crowd sourcing: bits -> atoms -> neurons (pirate bay > betsy > crowdflower) by @seanwise #msisvsummit #
- "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work." Thomas Alva Edison quoted by @seanwise #failure #
- RT @tkeller: Steve Blank does it again – why it's difficult for large companies to innovate into new markets – http://bit.ly/btTmCO #
- New job post: BlackBerry / Android Developer / Vortex Mobile / Toronto, ON, Canada: Vortex Mobile/Toronto, ON, Can… http://bit.ly/c8rAEG #
- New job post: QA Lead / Vortex Mobile / Toronto, ON, Canada: Vortex Mobile/Toronto, ON, CanadaVortex Mobile, one o… http://bit.ly/cWpz1B #
- New job post: iPhone / iPad Developer / Vortex Mobile / Toronto, ON, Canada: Vortex Mobile/Toronto, ON, CanadaVort… http://bit.ly/bNt1tp #
- New job post: Information Architect / UX Designer / Vortex Mobile / Toronto, ON, Canada: Vortex Mobile/Toronto, ON… http://bit.ly/a1e5tx #
- @KevinFrankish have you seen the bad behavior of councillor @sandra_bussin related to #204beech http://bit.ly/dxHR4R cc: @gteehan #toronto in reply to KevinFrankish #
- @jennifervalentyne have you seen the bad behavior of councillor @sandra_bussin with #204beech http://bit.ly/dxHR4R cc: @gteehan #thebeaches #
- @JValentyne have you seen the bad behavior of councillor @sandra_bussin with #204beech http://bit.ly/dxHR4R cc: @gteehan #thebeaches #
- @DinaPugliese have you seen the bad behavior of councillor @sandra_bussin with #204beech http://bit.ly/dxHR4R cc: @gteehan #thebeaches #
- @AprilKalloo have you seen the bad behavior of councillor @sandra_bussin with #204beech http://bit.ly/dxHR4R cc: @gteehan #thebeaches #
- @BTtoronto have you seen the bad behavior of councillor @sandra_bussin with #204beech http://bit.ly/dxHR4R cc: @gteehan #thebeaches #
- @lrobertsglobal have you seen the bad behavior of councillor @sandra_bussin related to #204beech http://bit.ly/dxHR4R cc: @gteehan #toronto #
- @globalnewsto have you seen the bad behavior of councillor @sandra_bussin related to #204beech http://bit.ly/dxHR4R cc: @gteehan #toronto #
- #204beech @KevinFrankish @lrobertsglobal @globalnewsto @BTtoronto @CP24 @cp24news councillor @sandra_bussin misbehaving http://bit.ly/dB8MBp #
- alright that's enough pestering #toronto #broadcast newscasters about #204beech see http://bit.ly/ad5zAv for a list to cc: on tweets #
Engines for Massively Scalable Growth
Reposted from my StartupNorth post.
I was excited to attend MeshU (maybe a little too excited). I love it when events over deliver. MeshU was a fantastic conference. I saw two of the best in-the-trenches startup sessions with Sean Ellis and Dan Martell. They both presented ideas that are changing how I think about product design and go-to-market activities. April Dunford then added an updated framework for product marketing which was a great evolution of traditional product marketing. Sean Ellis added his model for Key Elements of Massively Scaleable Startups that presented a new idea of the marketing basics that need to be present for high potential startups.
The breaking down of 4 elements coupled with traditional strategy and tactics make for a very effective marketing evaluation of most startups.
Gratification Engine
The Gratification Engine was a new piece of the marketing activities. What differentiates must have products and services? How do you reward your customers? How does your application turn “cold prospects into highly gratified customers”? This is a change in my thinking about the role of making your users feel like rockstars.
“you can’t force customers to want, need or like what you have created. Building an effective gratification engine is an iterative process driven by a lot of prospective customer feedback. Once you get the basics right, your process of gratifying users can be optimized with tools like Performable for landing pages and KISSmetrics for full funnel tracking/improvement (I’m an advisor to both).” – Sean Ellis
It builds upon seminal work of Kathy Sierra about engaging users. The Gratification Engine pushes this out beyond the existing experience but treats the conversion and effectiveness of new users.
Where this hit home for me was starting to think about the game mechanics used for upsell and cross sell offers for new customers. Dan Martell, Dave McClure, Marc Gingras and I had breakfast at StartupCampMontreal and discussed how to build effective offers for existing customers to invite their friends to an application. There was a great discussion about using game mechanics around the offer. You have existing users that if they invite new users, i.e., their friends, where if the friends sign up that both the friend and the user get new unique functionality. It changed my thinking about many times I’ve received an offer to sign up from a friend for a service, and how the effectiveness of this would change with some basic game mechanics:
“Jevon has invited you to join X. Jevon is 1 sign up away from enabling the super awesome next level feature. Sign up now and enable the feature for both you and Jevon”
This all has to be done in an open, honest and unintrusive manner. But it’s about how do you enhance the lives and experiences of customers and potential customers. There are great opportunities to use game design and mechanics to help improve the experience and conversion rates in web and mobile applications.