David Crow

Connector of dots. Maker of lines. Rider of slopes.

Culture

Prototyping science fiction

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“The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented.” –
Dennis Gabor

Tiago Forte wrote a great piece about “What I Learned About the Future by Reading 100 Science Fiction Books“.  The article is one of the more inspirational posts about how to imagine, define and build a future for humanity. So much of what we as designers do is try to imagine a future. The devices, the interactions, the business models, the behaviours and the implications of choices played out on different timescales.

I also read a lot of science fiction (you can see what’s on my Kindle) but I had never thought about it as providing a near or long-term impact on to my speculations on the human condition. Here are a list of books including the Briand David Johnson book identified in the Tiago Forte piece that I need to add to my library and reading queue.


Photo credit: Ron Brinkmann CC-BY-NC-SA-20

The Calendaring Land Grab

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There is a lot of chatter about calendar being the next native iOS application (much like Mailbox and Taskbox for Mail) that is set to be out replaced by a startup.

Atlas Scheduling Re-Invented - Today Feed - Events & TasksJust looking at my phone you’ll find:

I’m hopeful for Atlas because it has the potential to replace and improve on Tungle.me, ScheduleOnce, Doodle, Skedge and others (see Adam Popescu’s article on Mashable). I’m hopeful that it is as useful a calendar as Sunrise, but the advanced scheduling features are something I still crave post Zaplet (it’s funny, I remember building those screenshots back in late 1999).  The group scheduling application is feature, not a fully functional calendar.

I seem to struggle with  the business model for calendaring applications. I understand why companies like Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft need to have applications that are engaging and functional for users on their respective platforms. But it feels like a user acquisition land grab. But one that is focused on engagement and not monetization. I guess a queue of >500,000 users can net you an acquisition around $100MM users.

Chief Shit Disturber

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My friend Howard Gwin (LinkedIn) has said the perfect role for me would be one of “Chief Shit Disturber”.

“an individual who creates unnecessary conflict and unhappiness where it is especially not required” – Urban Dictionary

I’m not sure that this is quite what Howard intended. But that I live in the creative tension between product, marketing, development, customers and growth. It’s a chaotic place where the demands change instantaneously and often change due to forces unrelated to the company or the team. (Or at least that is what I hope Howard means, and not that he thinks I stir up trouble unnecessarily.)

I have often thought that the perfect role for me would be one like James Higa, who Steve Jobs picked as “his right hand man”.

“One was an ability to be frank, honest, and able to go toe-to-toe with him on any question. The other was wide peripheral vision. He’s always wanted that in the people around him. The ability to connect dots is really important. A Renaissance perspective on the world. Because it was always about the intersection of technology and liberal arts. BusinessInsider

Not to say, I won’t do the founder thing again. Founding Influitive was exciting/fun/stressful. Leaving wasn’t easy, but it was the right thing to do for me, for my cofounder and for the company. It gave Mark the room he needed to operate more effectively. I have enjoyed going toe-to-toe with Mark on everything from product design, to customer acquisition, to fundraising, to hiring, to company culture. I think Mark appreciated the candor and insight, as he has a Chief of Staff role that sounds strangely familiar to me.

But it has me on a new career path. I am back in a world as a consultant. I’m not sure that this consulting thing is going to be a permanent thing (see Teehan+Lax: A Happy Accident), but I will try it, at least part-time. I am spending part of time at OMERS Ventures, where I get to see how the sausage is made. But I’m trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my time.

I have worked with startups for a very long time. Some have been successful. Some haven’t. But I know I add value. The challenge with early-stage companies (pre-Series A) is that they can’t afford to pay me (for more reasons why this is important). I am looking for models that work and don’t work for a consulting practice. Yes, yes beware the consultant. And consulting math versus software math. And you can read my thoughts on being/using a funding broker, ain’t happening.

It would be easy to pay for bits or bit development. But we’re talking advice. Kind of like a lawyer. I can’t figure out how to make this work. Any thoughts?

 

Halifax Pop Explosion

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I had a great time at NxNE. It wasn’t representative of the time I’ve spent at SxSW. But this is probably a good thing. I was on a panel hosted by Dave Senior of Playground Inc. with Michael Litt (@michaellitt) of Vidyard and Raja Bhatia (@raja) of Confluence Labs. Great fun talking about startups, traction, funding, teams, marketing, etc. It’s funny, it was a great panel, I spent a lot of time heckling Mike. But I guess the reviews were positive. Because my friend Meghan Warby (@withoutayard) invited to Halifax to attend Halifax Pop Explosion.

I have a few confessions:

  1. I have never been to Halifax.
  2. I am going because I get to see my friends Jevon (@jevon) and Ben (@byosko)
  3. I am putting together new material

I’m in Halifax from Tuesday, Oct 16 until Friday, Oct 19. It’s a short stay, but I am choosing to be home for dinner on Friday with the kidlets. I’m looking for food recommendations, a place to have a pint, and some sights. Any suggestions on where to eat?

I’m also putting together a new presentation. The program description for my talk, titled How to Start a Startup, is:

Everyday more and more web startups are getting founded by entrepreneurs tenured and new. However, most abandon basic business pillars when building a venture in the digital economy. Not every start-up requires the same advice, but there a similar threads that apply to almost every company attempting to build a new digital product. We will be discussing the 5 things every startup must have to succeed.

I need to build a new talk and slide deck. I was thinking I could do something fun, like try to only build a presentation using quotes from The Social Network. Which in looking through the IMDB quotes could be surprisingly difficult.  I need to make this presentation a little more fun. Otherwise it’s going to feel like a “how to” guide for the basics of a startup. Which isn’t a bad plan, but I’m not sure I would sit through an hour long talk. Maybe I can use Paul Graham’s Want to Start a Startup:

  • The Idea
  • People
  • What Customers Want
  • Raising Money
  • Not Spending It

And just intersperse stories I have from Influitive, Maintenance Assistant and the startups I’ve worked with. I think coupled with Thomas Tunguz’s Your startups top 3 priorities

  • Distribution
  • Monetization
  • Engagement
I guess I can talk about my experiences along The Startup Curve. And since I’ve never seen the Acquisition fo Liquidity or Upside  of Buyer, my experience will be limited.
Paul Graham's Startup Curve

Strangely I haven’t given a presentation in what feels like a long time. It’s a good time to build a new deck that is engaging and fun. Maybe I need to start with a simple hypothesis and build out the supporting materials.

Featured Image: AttributionNoncommercialShare Alike Some rights reserved by Steve Dinn

The Cocky Rooster

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The Cocky Rooster

I had never had a michelada. I didn’t even know they existed until early this morning. I haven’t had a Bloody Caesar in about six years, they are delicious but since I’m now watching my salt intake, I can’t justify 36% in a cup of clamato.

Mott’s Clamato Nutritional Facts

Amount per 8 fl oz. (1 cup)
CONTENTS AMOUNT % DAILY VALUE*
Calories 50
Total Fat 0g 0%
Sodium 870mg 36%
Carbohydrates 11g 4%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Sugars 9g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A 6%
Vitamin C 4%
Calcium 2%
Iron 2%
* Percent daily values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

My friend Zak agreed to be an unlucky participant in my pre-noon beer concoction and curiosity. And it wouldn’t be any michelada, it would be a variant from An Choi Bahn Mi in NYC. Thanks to one tweet from Liv, I decided that today would be my initiation.

I couldn’t find any “33” Export at the LCBO. So I figured that a bottle of my favourite Mill Street Organic Lager.

Cocky Rooster
An Choi, N.Y.C.
Makes one cocktail

1 lime wedge
Kosher salt
1 oz. lime juice
Several generous squeezes of Sriracha
3 dashes Maggi sauce
2 jalapeño slices
1 bottle “33” Export beer

Directions
Rub the rim of a pint glass with the lime wedge, then coat the rim in kosher salt. Fill the glass with ice and add lime juice, Sriracha, Maggi, and jalapeño. Add beer and garnish with wedge.

Read More http://www.gq.com/food-travel/recipes/201208/cold-spice-michelada#ixzz26Hb7OEjg

These are spice, but they are delicious. I’d do it again anytime.