Tim Bauer’s Running Thoughts

This discussion between Scoble and the head of Live Search at MSFT (Brad Goldberg) was rather uneventful so I am not going to do a typical full writeup. For those are still intrigued, here is the URL:

Link to Webcast

And a nice wordle.net tag cloud of the notes

Hope if helps

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http://www.fastcompany.tv/video/microsoft-search-will-it-use-mahalo-techniques-compete-with-google
Brad goldberg (GM of MSFT Search Business - Aka Windows Live Search)
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 5:37 AM
……………..○ Big announcement on cash back last week
……………..○ Query stats
…………………………….§ 40% queries unanswered
…………………………….§ 50% refined
……………..○ Targeted pages for key words
……………..○ Content … that is what they do well
……………..○ MSFT has ability - software, software @ scale, long term investment (ie servers)
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 5:40 AM
……………..○ Status
…………………………….§ 1st Goal … get relevant
…………………………….§ Quality of search - Believe it same across yahoo, google, msft
…………………………….§ Key goal how to get relevance high % on 1st page
…………………………….§ Up till now focused on basics of relevance
…………………………….§ Now cash base
……………………………………………□ 4 tasks in search
…………………………………………………………..® Entertain, buy, reference, navigation
……………………………………………□ Commercial focus … task basis
……………………………………………□ Niche focus
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 5:43 AM
……………..○ Other fundamentals - Speed, design, etc
…………………………….§ In the US, On par w/ relevance … in US … not outside of US
…………………………….§ UX - Biggest change in next 5 years (no change in last 5 years in industry)
……………………………………………□ Blended search
……………………………………………□ Universal search
……………………………………………□ Their advantage … not driven by AD $ … so they can take more risks
…………………………………………………………..® Bauer Comment - Google does limited A/B testing … not sure if that is accurate
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 5:46 AM
……………..○ Mobile, Local
…………………………….§ Two goals
……………………………………………□ PC Search
……………………………………………□ Mobile Search
…………………………….§ Bauer Comment - I am not sure if in the 5 year view this is a wise play
…………………………….§ Gas finder / prices
…………………………….§ Tell me - voice based search
…………………………….§ Two main mobile use cases
……………………………………………□ Mapping
……………………………………………□ Business information
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 5:47 AM
……………..○ How change the game? w/ Google.
…………………………….§ A few things
……………………………………………□ Great relevance
……………………………………………□ Commerce (i.e. cash back … reward for search behavior)
…………………………………………………………..® Bauer Comment - better use of their 3B $ they offered Yahoo … buy the eyeballs … a lot of market share is comfort … have to break that
……………………………………………□ Advertisers
…………………………………………………………..® Cost per action (defined by merchant) focus is ADS
…………………………………………………………..® Afraid of monopoloy … no choice (just google) … europe examples
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 5:51 AM
……………..○ Brand
…………………………….§ Took his dad 2 years (scoble) to switch from alta vista to MSFT
…………………………….§ Split search query types
……………………………………………□ Users are not aware (via toolbar embedded in PC or site) of engine
…………………………………………………………..® So they need a better search engine
…………………………………………………………..® HP deal last week as an example
…………………………………………………………..® Last few years not out there
……………………………………………□ Users are aware of search engine
…………………………………………………………..® Users only aware of google
…………………………………………………………..® Really they use 4 major engines
…………………………………………………………..® How create awareness
………………………………………………………………………….◊ Commercial search, cash back … provide reasons to try it on an ongoing business
………………………………………………………………………….◊ Then drive awareness (homepage, OEM, marketing)
………………………………………………………………………….◊ How much engagement (return usage)
…………………………….§ Bauer Comment - They need to run a lotto … ticket per search … gaming it would be a problem
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 5:54 AM
……………..○ People search
…………………………….§ How to integrate to search experience as social networks emerge and people want to find people
…………………………….§ Most of experience on people search is hard (per him)
……………………………………………□ Bauer Comment - Disagree … if you know 1-3 things about the person … you have a pretty good lock in on google
…………………………….§ Facebook … walled garden … does MSFT’s 10% stake give them special access?
……………………………………………□ Bauer Comment there is a ok result on facebook profiles
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 5:57 AM
……………..○ Media search … hard to get results that are media
…………………………….§ Two pieces to that
……………………………………………□ Video search
…………………………………………………………..® Built a browser summary of a video … quickly navigate from a set of videos
…………………………………………………………..® How create traffic … search on videos link
………………………………………………………………………….◊ Bauer Comment - Really they need one search … that dynamically adjusts
………………………………………………………………………….◊ Scoble agrees w/ that point
…………………………………………………………..® At some point there will be break through on UX to get image search going
………………………………………………………………………….◊ Bauer Comment - agree that image search on google works for me
…………………………………………………………..® Not that exciting if you don’t change the UX based on content
……………………………………………□ Weather
…………………………………………………………..® Informational query (answer on 1st page)
…………………………………………………………..® Bauer Comment - Semantic search sounds probably here
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 6:01 AM
……………..○ Back to usability
……………………………………………□ All searches stop @ 1000 results (no matter how many hits they have
……………………………………………□ Over time … users will look on a task basis
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 6:01 AM
……………..○ Mahalo
…………………………….§ Whats experience been w/ that? (asking Scoble)
……………………………………………□ He answers Google, Yahoo, MSFT .. Not satisfying wants a portal
……………………………………………□ Better experience
……………………………………………□ Head oriented query
…………………………….§ Doesn’t scale even w/ crowdsourcing
…………………………….§ 2 Styles
……………………………………………□ Portals - Human programmed experience
……………………………………………□ Search - Algorithmic result
……………………………………………□ Bauer Comment - Good point … he knows the focus of his tool … MSN is the portal
……………………………………………□ Bauer Comment - Google’s style of search types might be the wisest … blog, image, news, etc … basically categorizing pages by style of author … you get a better sense of where to present that (or allow user to choose)
…………………………….§ Ideal model has mix of algorithmic + programmatic
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 6:05 AM
……………..○ Friendfeed push
…………………………….§ New data type … activity streams
…………………………….§ Friendfeed indexes real time
…………………………….§ Google, MSFT … indexes hourly … so cutting edge focus
…………………………….§ What was your experience w/ that (his ? To scoble)
……………………………………………□ Good. For real time.
…………………………….§ How much will users segment searches by search portal focus
……………………………………………□ Friend feed - current breaking news
……………………………………………□ Mahalo - Trips
……………………………………………□ MSFT -
……………………………………………□ Google
……………………………………………□ Paid views for search … increasing focus on navigation … not discovery … sites become primary way to find other sites
……………..○ 6/16/2008, 6:08 AM
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Didn’t even break a sweat on these two … too short … here was the skinny:

Interesting … but nothing groundbreaking … having a bit more time …. I wandered over to Google.

Another snoozer.

The biggest lesson from these two … I shouldn’t of strayed from my rule that it has to be a presentation or a high end interview. Adhoc interviews (both of these) are more ‘hit-n-miss’ in revelations or insights. People take more time preparing for conferences. Quality of content is better.

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http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/01/bezos-talks-web-services/
Also mentioned on Nick Carr
……………..○ 6/2/2008, 6:26 AM
……………..○ Complexity inside … network and apps
…………………………….§ Bulid interface between groups
……………..○ Services solution
……………..○ 4 years ago
……………..○ 2 years to build services
…………………………….§ Simple queue
…………………………….§ Storage
…………………………….§ Ec2
……………..○ People are using those services
……………..○ 6/2/2008, 6:27 AM
……………..○ Why book retailer innovating here
…………………………….§ Retail is a low margin business
…………………………….§ Efficiency is key to their low margin business
…………………………….§ So their culture might of drove it
……………..○ 6/2/2008, 6:28 AM
……………..○ Why do cloud computing … per wall street
…………………………….§ These services drive their businesss
…………………………….§ They are jut doing it in a manner to share
……………..○ 6/2/2008, 6:29 AM
……………..○ What is next
…………………………….§ Persistent storage in ec2
……………………………………………□ Limited beta
…………………………….§ Cloud computing webservices for startups .. Grateful
……………..
…………………………….
……………..
http://techbays.com/2008/05/29/google-io-android-qa/
6/2/2008, 6:30 AM
……………..○ 2nd half this year is release plan
……………..○ www.AndroidCommunity.com
……………..○ Buy device or retro fit?
…………………………….§ Software opensource …so anyone can use it
……………..○ High use of touch
…………………………….§ Platform is very generic to UI
…………………………….§ Showed a touch screen
…………………………….§ Could of done w/ trackball
……………..○ Touchscreen demo … detail
…………………………….§ Vendor did it … NDA
…………………………….§ Details … qualcomm processor
…………………………….§ Synaptics touchscreen
…………………………….§ Memory …128mb of ram … 256 on flash
……………..○ 6/2/2008, 6:34 AM
……………..○ What was shown first?
…………………………….§ Notifications
…………………………….§ Desktop launcher (spatial representation of workflow)
…………………………….§ Compass / GEO location
…………………………….§ Unlock via user gestures
…………………………….§ PacMan
……………..○ 6/2/2008, 6:34 AM
……………..○ Google will provide?
…………………………….§ Infrastructure to OEMs
…………………………….§ Developers will range from free to buy
……………..○ 6/2/2008, 6:36 AM
……………..○ Who was represented in team
…………………………….§ A lot of interest … globally
…………………………….§ Collaborative in many countries
……………..○ 6/2/2008, 6:36 AM
……………..○ Why in house till now? When open … what open/closed?
…………………………….§ Usually in the middle
…………………………….§ Now a corporate sponsor is different (usually organic)
…………………………….§ Important to have a open stack in industry in mobile
…………………………….§ When handset can run stack well … they will release
…………………………….§ What liscense?
……………………………………………□ Contribute intellectual
……………………………………………□ Apache liscense … use software … any pieces … contribute modifications back is optional
……………………………………………□ Linux stack is example
…………………………….§ Everything shown to date is open source
……………………………………………□ Exception … google services being used … not long term block … roadmap issue
……………..○ 6/2/2008, 6:39 AM
……………..○ Platform … Envision carriers to allow people to hack their phones? Pose problems for them (mgmt, reliability?) carriers or parents.
…………………………….§ His answer … why not?
…………………………….§ Current platform is 20 years old
……………………………………………□ Use lowercase l instead of 1’s
…………………………….§ Security gets better (in options) in platform
…………………………….§ Bauer comment — Still I think the point is valid. This will be highly hacked. Blocks on bundles getting broken (like AT&T and Usage of IP ) will be hard … just by # of developers

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As I watched Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, speak on this webcast visions of Barney (the dinosaur version of Mr. Rogers) singing I Love You, You Love Me, We’re A Happy Family kept running through my head. So much stroking was going on between IBM and Google I couldn’t tell who was courting who.

Amused and curious on what this relationship was all about, I hit slapped on the headsets and started to listen.

I could go on but this webcast was full of fluffy thoughts that didn’t always jive so well together or were overly oiled. I was hoping for more of a detail analysis of their current product stack in the cloud space. Oh well, perhaps next time.

Would be curious on your thoughts … as always.

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• http://www.johnmwillis.com/other/eric-schmidt-ibm-and-clouds/
• Via RedMonk
• 5/1/2008
• IBM Business Partners Leadership Conf
• 5/21/2008, 6:00 AM
• Eric Schmidt
………………..○ Love in w/ the arch / tech team @ IBM
………………..○ Thoughts on distributed computing
………………..○ IBM is ahead of Google on Cloud issues
………………………………….§ Bauer thought - interesting statement … ponder that if they are ahead … why isn’t that shown in other ways
………………..○ 5/21/2008, 6:02 AM
………………..○ Models of Innovation (4 in the world)
………………………………….§ Europe, China, India, US
………………………………….§ All share success based on Internet
………………..○ RICE supply, Fish supply by mobile connections … short … due to pressing middlemen
………………………………….§ IBM figured out the platform of cloud
……………………………………………………□ Bauer Comment - isn’t IBM a middleman on their primary revenue (Services?)
………………..○ 5/21/2008, 6:05 AM
………………..○ Internet growth
………………..○ Moore’s law … creightors (sp?) law on disk capacity doubling every 12 months
………………………………….§ Bauer Comment - notice how he doesn’t acknowledge AMZN
………………..○ Open approach to internet … drives scaling (centralized)
………………………………….§ Bauer Comment - amusing … IBM is NOT open in many ways
………………..○ 3 tops books in Japan delivered 1st on mobile devices … then printed later
………………..○ 5/21/2008, 6:08 AM
………………..○ Shift from desktop to network centric (centralized)
………………………………….§ Bauer — Why should anyone be surprised by IBM backing centralized (that is their model - Big Iron). What is strange(but reality) is that Google is a centralized backer. Is the battle between peer-to-peer and centralized? Is MSFT the new robin hood w/ Mesh (allowing control to stay local)
………………..○ 5/21/2008, 6:09 AM
………………..○ Convergence isn’t about one device - its one server in client … access point by user can differ
………………………………….§ Bauer Comment - if computing becomes so critical and centralized in cloud … why wouldn’t you regulate and have the government take it on to insure cost control
………………..○ Big Switch Book reference (no reference directly)
………………..○ 5/21/2008, 6:12 AM
………………..○ Cost of Innovation is lower … Consumers drive this … Corporations not quick enough … caught
………………………………….§ IBM good job in app space doing this
………………..○ 70M blogs … average blog has one reader …
………………..○ 7M photos uploaded per day to Picaso
………………..○ 10 hours of video to YouTube every minute
………………..○ Drives integrated story telling
………………..○ 5/21/2008, 6:14 AM
………………..○ Cloud computing does matter to enterprise
………………………………….§ Virtualize
………………………………….§ VMWare good leader
………………………………….§ Email
………………..○ Google collaborative meetings … real time edits to shared doc
………………..○ You can ask customers thing you couldn’t before
………………………………….§ Trial a product
………………………………….§ Not a 3 yr / 1yr plan
………………………………….§ Changes on Fly
………………..○ 5/21/2008, 6:17 AM
………………..○ Talk of Google apps … Integration of Stuff into it
………………………………….§ Docs
………………………………….§ Calendars (cross link, search and cross update)
……………………………………………………□ Bauer Comment - he keeps saying ‘my point is’ but I think he is moving around w/o a central theme … more like a adhoc talk than a planned message
………………..○ 5/21/2008, 6:18 AM
………………..○ Talk of Google Android
………………………………….§ GPS, Phone, Camera, IM … those 4 apps intertwined
………………………………….§ Friend finder … helps you get to them quickly
………………………………….§ Example of cloud computing in summary
………………..○ IBM doing infra (linux / java)
………………………………….§ Got the headstart
………………………………….§ WPS … embed … into applications
……………………………………………………□ Business context of collaboration between google gadgets and IBM customers
………………..○ “The point here is”
………………………………….§ Challenge for developer
………………………………….§ Wifi enablement of devices
……………………………………………………□ Bauer Comment - consumer focus largest play
………………………………….§ Dev must anticipate large data sets … video etc
………………………………….§ Distributed data storage
………………..○ 5/21/2008, 6:23 AM
………………..○ Flip back to intro point … “Sam calling him”
………………………………….§ What Google and IBM needs to do
………………………………….§ No one understand cloud computing … google, IBM, university
………………………………….§ Build a version of this architecture … give to Universities
……………………………………………………□ Bauer Comment … seeding the next generation …
………………………………….§ Announced Open Source Cloud Computing for public in Oct 07
……………………………………………………□ Did @ Univ Wash, MIT, Berkley, Maryland, Bejing, Global, etc
……………………………………………………□ IBM gear, Tivoli, Google Apps
………………………………….§ 19 year old physics … modelled big bang on it
………………………………….§ European developed largest collection of prime #’s every
………………………………….§ Out of control … hand off to national science foundation on who gets CPU time
……………………………………………………□ Bauer Comment - making a big deal out of a capped infrastructure being donated to public … really many do this … probably at higher investment rates
………………..○ 5/21/2008, 6:26 AM
………………..○ “key Idea here”
………………..○ Computers are not alone, You can build these cloud platforms and get great value
………………..○ End of keynote … switch to panel Q&A
………………..○ 5/21/2008, 6:28 AM
………………………………….§ Panel Q&A - Eric / Sam
………………………………….§ How do Google / IBM collaborate given differences
……………………………………………………□ Sam - Business vs Research … debate on cloud (face to face, counter eric’s point of collaborative doc change)
……………………………………………………………………..® Bauer Comment - interesting .. I have always thought meetings are useless unless some asset is created or evolved (just talk … nets to little)
……………………………………………………□ Sam (still) - Who is the best partner .. .standards .. Aligned with strategy … culture of teams .. Committed to open source … google idea to go to academic community (eric said it was theirs)
……………………………………………………………………..® Bauer Comment - interesting … as I think going to the university can be a sticky wicket (bad PR) if perceived wrong
……………………………………………………□ 5/21/2008, 6:32 AM
……………………………………………………□ Eric - All innovation comes from bottom up … compatible culture
……………………………………………………………………..® Culture was similar
……………………………………………………………………..® Other companies were top down … too legal
……………………………………………………………………..® Sam - IBM has a lot of lawyers
………………………………….§ 5/21/2008, 6:35 AM
………………………………….§ Tangent - Love in On Why IBM is champion on focusing on University Arch Spend
……………………………………………………□ Eric - Always has built specialized gear / solutions for University
……………………………………………………………………..® No idea why good business to do so
……………………………………………………………………………………….◊ Bauer Comment - come on. No idea? Eric? No idea? Why don’t you ask Jobs why he focused on schools … easy … hook em early … you get em later
……………………………………………………□ Sam - Somewhat admitted true goal
………………………………….§ How you tactically make the two teams work
……………………………………………………□ Sam - Eric challenged two teams on mapping and shopping solutions. 8 weeks. Created prototypes.
……………………………………………………□ Eric - Show the future. Talking to people. People tend to agree but not back. Tries to use stuff even if he hates it. Immerse in it. Use the product. Sit next to it.
……………………………………………………………………..® Bauer Comment - Howard Hughes flash back.
………………………………….§ How does intersecting worlds of Enterprise and Consumer work
……………………………………………………□ Sam - Most things start in consumer space … lower risk of deployment. Tech view … is there a logical way to scale and get virtualization … while protecting the transaction … place to learn and then apply elsewhere
……………………………………………………………………..® Bauer Comment - Good point … shared gear … higher risk of breach in cloud
……………………………………………………□ Eric - Not much difference between consumer and enterprise … 1 key … enterprise will pay for some features … enterprise will pay for security and up time … traditional data centers offsite … IBM specialized … Google mini-me free for unsupported use
………………………………….§ 5/21/2008, 6:42 AM
………………………………….§ Local relevance … versus centralized
……………………………………………………□ Sam - Create cloud of business product … ERP .. HR .. Procurement … Not by region at IBM .. So they run in cloud … so it allows the business to focus on
……………………………………………………………………..® Bauer Comment - He isn’t answering how they stay locally relevant (sales relationships … delivery people on floor). I think this an even bigger problem for Google
……………………………………………………………………..® Eric - Doing Accntg and Payables (IBM is) for them
……………………………………………………□ Sam - Still - Have to deal w/ countries differently … China Out, MiddleEast Out, etc … basis of that … IBM tries to connect “IN” … start w/ societial model then embed in economic expansion … Leneuvo (sp?) deal in china … example
……………………………………………………□ Eric - Simple rule … people around the world want same stuff … family, material items, safety, healthy … only difference is language and culture (smaller factor)
……………………………………………………………………..® Bauer Comment - They also want to remove the middleman … which Google and IBM are in many situations
………………………………….§ 5/21/2008, 6:48 AM
………………………………….§ Social Network differences
……………………………………………………□ Eric - Impact business. Still too closed. Need to be more open.
……………………………………………………………………..® Bauer Comment - A ding on Facebook there
……………………………………………………□ Eric - Still - Real phenomena … this isn’t kids online in college … a large demographic is shaping relationships in this model
………………………………….§ Close

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Who doesn’t like this song from Barenaked Ladies:

If I Had A Million Dollars.

Well for Ron Conway its “I Have More Than A Million”. And this webcast by him caught my eye initially as I was curious on his take on startup funding process (he has participated in some of the larger startup financing plays in the valley). But, as life goes, the talk was to other people with millions and how to give away all that ’spare change’ (philanthropy). He also commented that his process of philanthropy was the same as his investment selection models.

Curious, and already running, I started scribbling.

So, a tangent in my usual flow but I was amused by the detail behind McDonald’s and their investment in the Ronald McDonald houses. Hard core (but smart and fair). Wouldn’t make for good PR though.

Would be curious on your thoughts … as always.

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• http://blip.tv/file/796929
• Full Circle Fund (www.fullcirclefund.org)
• Recap of event - http://www.fullcirclefund.org/event.php?id=383
• 5/2/2008, 6:02 AM
……………..○ Intro - Corporate Partner . Legal.
……………..○ Pro Bono Work
• 6m — Still Intro
• Ron Conway
• 5/2/2008, 6:06 AM
……………..○ How they can be evangelists and see the light to help others … be philanthropic
……………..○ More that realize the better
• Evaluate charities like you evaluate startups
• His background
……………..○ SF born, bred
• Review his background
……………..○ Entrepreneur … he wasn’t afraid to ask for things
……………..○ These are same skills in philanthropy
……………..○ Joined national semiconductor in 70’s
……………..○ Found Altos computer systems (public in 82)
…………………………….§ Big IPO in 82
……………..○ Found Personal training systems … sold to CBT systems in 90’s
……………..○ In 90’s Periodic angel investments 2-3 a year
……………..○ Team up w/ Ben Rosen (chairman of compaq)
…………………………….§ Ben Rosen is 100% philanthropy
• 5/2/2008, 6:11 AM
• 1 new company a month … then started a fund … syndicating the deals easier w/ a venture fund … don’t have to syndicate every one …
……………..○ Angel II fund $150M 1999 … Paypal, Google, etc … its was a hit business
……………..○ Each investment cycle need a hit
……………..○ This investment cycle its facebook and zappos are his hits
• 5/2/2008, 6:13 AM
• Backup when did he start looking at philanthropy
……………..○ Raffle ticket sales
……………..○ Bauer Comment - disseminate wealth after you have it … or build companies to do it as they go?
……………..○ Ronald McDonald house asked him for a computer when at Alto Computer … instead he called Jobs to get Macs sent in there instead
…………………………….§ McD’s put in $50k per house then the owner operator has to get $ flow from local community
……………..○ Bauer Comment - philanthropy to cure the symptom or the disease … give a fish … or teach them to fish
• Find a dynamic in philanthropy
• 5/2/2008, 6:18 AM
• CEO @ Altos was not philanthropic
……………..○ Time of roadshow before IPO
……………..○ Everyone was lit (drunk)
……………..○ Jackson was worth $250M at the time … wealthiest guy in US (CEO) … tightwad … not give a nickel away
……………..○ Made a bet … he followed through … built Altos foundation … has given $20M away in SF
…………………………….§ Abused women and children
…………………………….§ Bauer Comment - that is a far more complex riddle. Why are they in the environment, how do you get them out, how do you enable them to stay out. The latter is where businesses built to ‘make fisher people’ (people that fish) is key.
……………..○ Keep turning on lightbulbs in valley where there is so much wealth (google, vmWare, etc)
……………..○ Netscape founder … got sick (Mike Homer) … catalyst for a group of people to invest in larger issues (like disease)
• 5/2/2008, 6:22 AM
• Raise 1.2B … ask him to be on committee … wrong role for him … right role is asking for $
……………..○ Use the gift if you are unafraid to ask
• 5/2/2008, 6:25 AM
• Analogies of talking to entrepreneur and philanthropic cause
……………..○ In early days he got to interview people who wanted $ … prior to knowing they are great
……………..○ 1st thing he does … look for chemistry w/ the founders
……………..○ 2nd … great idea
……………..○ 3rd … monetizable
……………..○ Charity same thing
…………………………….§ chemistry … fun/enjoyable … if not … don’t do
…………………………….§ Great idea … is it working and effective
…………………………….§ Monetizable … not direct tie … but is the service provided have solid intangible benefits to YOU
• 5/2/2008, 6:27 AM
• Charities he is involved with
……………..○ McDonald House
……………..○ College Track (tutor)
……………..○ UCSF
……………..○ Tiger Woods foundation
…………………………….§ 2nd year of playing … he decided he would accumulate $ and give it away
…………………………….§ Tiger woods learning centers
• 5/2/2008, 6:28 AM
• Technology helping philanthropy
……………..○ Social entreprenuerisp
……………..○ BringLight - quasi social network for giving (he is a part of)
• 5/2/2008, 6:29 AM
• Q&A
……………..○ Choke points in process of philanthropy … what needs optimization
…………………………….§ The process of raising $
…………………………….§ Efficient at 1:1 unless prospect is extremely well qualified
…………………………….§ A lot of websites today raise $ for millions
…………………………….§ Web helps make 1:Many possible (but early)
…………………………….§ When raising $ … its all about qualifying the prospect … don’t waste your time on non-qualified prospects … do research that they do contribute
…………………………….§ How to match your charity to the bias of individual contributor
……………..○ Daniel … SF Connect - Discover magazine … 80% of activity is individual … 20% is corporations … Canada doesn’t have a culture of philanthropy … 2/3 of a Trillion a year … human hormone tied to philanthropy … why people don’t give … admin costs of non-profits … $ doesn’t make it to the people … reframe that narrative … class A stock at the start … not later
…………………………….§ There is an org that approach all startups … EntrepreunersFoundation … capture the heart and soul of company … Friday afternoon beer bus
…………………………….§ Each department appoints representatives
…………………………….§ What about the non-givers? How turn on? Track them for an event in their life that is a catalyst for giving.
…………………………….§ He has done that .. Help them w/ a problem … for them … then expand the discussion
……………..○ 5/2/2008, 6:36 AM
……………..○ Over focus on expenses of charity … how get them over that?
…………………………….§ Reality is they are a bad prospect.
…………………………….§ If you are a bad prospect …they you confront them w/ that trust is the key … do they trust or not
……………..○ Compare margins charity to margin of their business
…………………………….§ Most cases it is double (so charity making margin)
…………………………….§ Alfred - Lead by example …
……………………………………………□ Bauer Comment - applies to your kids as well … like school work … do you work with them (on your stuff) at night
……………..○ What is his legacy
…………………………….§ Not Ronald McDonald house
…………………………….§ Or Hospitals
…………………………….§ He was generous … forget what / where he gave … but more importantly he was an agent of change w/ high net worth people … turn on the light bulb for them
……………………………………………□ Bauer Comment - another good question for startups … what is your legacy … how do you create value for businesses but more importantly your clients … that they will honor / remember you for

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Ok, this one goes out to all the marketing and UX posse out there. Here is today’s riddle …

“Can any company really can weave into their DNA a ‘true’ understanding the customer? Really? I am talking an understanding so deep that they can honestly say they can represent, accurately, their needs and goals. If so, how?”

Now this webcast is by David Armano who quickly built a online community around him when working at Digitas. While the content is a bit old (18 months) the concepts being presented are rather timeless. How should individuals or companies use a blog to learn about themselves and more importantly those they serve. What is the biggest gain (hint it’s tied to the question above) from blogging?

I was curious and I have to admit I was amused by David’s cowboy hat (see his link below). So I fired it up to see what this advertising guru / rhinestone cowboy could offer.

So, nothing to earth shatter but I would recommend tracking David because (1) he wears cowboy hats and (2) he creates excellent visualization on trends without losing the nuance of the point. A worthy add to any of your activity streams.

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• To Digitas
• http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/blogs_eye_view_video/index.html
• Marketing is about conversations, community … pull vs push
• 4/27/2008, 7:56 AM
• Done in 11/09/06
• How started
…………..○ Been w/ digitas in a year
…………..○ Started in late feb 06
……………………….§ So was this an early adopter phenom
…………..○ Mark Beecham called him (so he was their proto blogger)
…………..○ Logic + Emotion is his blog title
…………..○ Broad
• 4/27/2008, 7:59 AM
• Focus
…………..○ He comes up w/ simple visuals to describe thoughts
…………..○ That is his fuel for growth
…………..○ Visual learner focus
• 4/27/2008, 8:00 AM
• Image of him being separate from the audience … chasm
• How did he cross the chasm (same riddle as their customers)
• 4/27/2008, 8:01 AM
• Another picture of community clusters … how to get engaged w/ various community clusters
…………..○ Bauer comment - that is the interesting thing w/ Friendfeed comments … ability to raise your hand (bad or good) and have a voice in a community by following a leader or their friends
• 4/27/2008, 8:03 AM
• Visual on how blog allows him to validate ideas
…………..○ Does have some nice process flow images and/or concept diagrams
• Value based on traffic uptake on his ideas
• 4/27/2008, 8:04 AM
• Another visual … more radiate between ecosystems … organic versus rigid structure … pebble into a pond … multiple ripples
…………..○ @ 9:00 into the presentation
• Seth Godin (Go-din)
…………..○ Purple cow concept
…………..○ Written a lot of books (platform)
• His case (no book platform)
…………..○ 4 ingredients
……………………….§ Quality
……………………….§ Clarity
……………………………………□ Voice is fairly consistent (style of writing)
……………………….§ Vision
……………………….§ Community
……………………………………□ People take time to comment .. He visits and embraces them
……………………………………□ You can’t fake that
• 4/27/2008, 8:07 AM
• Another visual @ 11:30
…………..○ McMarketing drive through … how do you do more than sell a supersize #6
• Learn by doing (blog)
• 4/27/2008, 8:08 AM
• Airplane slide
…………..○ Film in 90’s “The Doctor” … he becomes sick … learns what he lacks (bedside manner) by changing the role. That drives the presentation. Marketers need to become patients
…………..○ Develop
……………………….§ Empathy
……………………….§ Experience
……………………….§ Curiosity

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Twitter. It doesn’t make much sense unless (a) you are following thought leaders who share their creative process or (b) you are following your friends and their normal stupid process.

Being interested in both, I took a gander at an interview FastCompany (Shel Isreal) did with the Twitter team a few weeks back. As usual my raw notes are below, but here are the thoughts that jumped out at me as I ran (i.e. jogged) along.

It’s interesting to watch the movement of how technologies like Twitter are trying to enable interaction between people. Even more so when you consider the daily conversations that happen in corporate environments. I am going to do a writeup on Jive software (one of the major Enterprise social networking stacks) in a bit … you will see strong similarities between it and the ‘free web’ tools like Twitter.

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http://www.fastcompany.tv/video/a-talk-with-twitter-guys

……………..○ 4/29/2008, 6:12 AM

……………..○ Biz Stone

…………………………….§ Story of how he went from seeing a txt to vision

……………..○ Twitter Users

……………..○ Jason Goldman

…………………………….§ 3 is average updates a day

…………………………….§ Program Mgr

……………..○ Stats

…………………………….§ API traffic is 20* web

…………………………….§ Web traffic 20% is non US

…………………………….§ Japan market is largest after US

……………………………………………□ They use a twitter app to talk to their virtual pet

……………..○ Use of twitter to build a follower set

…………………………….§ Scoble is only 5% of their use case

…………………………….§ 50% of twitter users .. Follow 10, have 10

…………………………….§ Real friends

…………………………….§ Interesting to hear about those you know.

…………………………….§ Mapped twitter activity versus superbowl and super Tuesday

…………………………….§ Match sxsw activity … Mark Zuckerburg keynote

……………..○ Odeo

…………………………….§ Started to thing beyond Odeo

…………………………….§ Realized they were not helping Odeo (podcasting) … plus they were not passionate about

…………………………….§ Told investors to look for a buyer … couldn’t come through

…………………………….§ Created Obvious company … they acquired Odeo (which had twitter)

…………………………….§ Twitter took off

…………………………….§ Side projects were killed

……………..○ Team

…………………………….§ 17 people, 5 are engineers

…………………………….§ Get ahead of curve … so they can build ahead not at capacity

……………..○ Pushback from business, not a fit

…………………………….§ Evan … not designed for that

…………………………….§ Bauer comment - Jive think it fits

…………………………….§ Biz … visited Nike … they wanted to know about tools

…………………………….§ Its just SMS or some client … no big deal like MySpace … fade in / out of focus of the employee … so its not as much of a risk of continual distraction

……………………………………………□ Bauer comment - true after the initial period ..

……………..○ 4/29/2008, 6:22 AM

……………..○ Example of remote teams

…………………………….§ Using this to keep the remote team together

…………………………….§ Check in for work

…………………………….§ Asking for help

…………………………….§ So great tool for distributed team

…………………………….§ Positioning is key for enterprise … how it is seen … not social … more of lightweight memmo dispatch … IM client w/ a memory

……………..○ 4/29/2008, 6:24 AM

……………..○ Jet Blue

…………………………….§ Was on twitter watching people talk about SXSW

…………………………….§ Added flights from AUS to SF … when all flights were booked … drove availability

……………..○ 4/29/2008, 6:25 AM

……………..○ How make $

…………………………….§ Realibility is core concern (TP99)

…………………………….§ Some success (per him) recently

…………………………….§ Super reliable

…………………………….§ Global utiliity (of IM w/ a memory) … so they want to centralize and provide at cost

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Ready for some Silicon Vally drama?

It started normal enough. I figured, as much as I read TechCrunch and its Friendfeed activity stream, it made sense to listen to a spiel from their founder Mike Arrington at Startup School. Figured the guy had to have some notable perspective. Then I noticed Arrington duking it out with some guy over twitter on ‘defamation’ over, I believe, this blog (notes from that 2 minute spiel at the bottom of my notes). Watching that video (2 minutes of snippets from a 26 minute talk) … didn’t put him in the best light. I was now doubly curious on what he actually said in the real presentation … and what nuggets did he pass along. So I fired up the presentation and got to running.

As usual my raw notes are below, but here are the thoughts that jumped out at me as I ran (i.e. jogged) along.

Solid (1) insight (2) honesty and (3) humility. Not what I expected based on the commentary from a few sources (i.e. Valleywag) … but hey … that is what some blogs deal in I guess (hype).

Keep up the good work Mike.

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9:21 AM
4/26/2008, 9:22 AM
http://omnisio.com/startupschool08/mike-arrington
……………○ 4/26/2008, 9:24 AM
……………○ Funny - Mac froze
……………○ SXSW .. Reference .. Journalist got pressure from dev audience on how to do a startup
……………○ 4/26/2008, 9:26 AM
……………○ Still problems w/ rig
……………○ Reads the onion everyday …
…………………………§ Story of writer going from there to cards
…………………………§ Has a good story worth his telling
…………………………§ Whats your companies story
……………○ 4/26/2008, 9:27 AM
……………○ Slides are finally up
……………○ They write stories they don’t want written
…………………………§ Google acquiring youtube in 3 days … was their break story
…………………………§ Share news about competitors … if you can do it ethically
…………………………§ Helps you directly (via traffic)
……………○ 4/26/2008, 9:29 AM
……………○ Purple cows / Innovators Delima
…………………………§ Cows - We see em all the time … stop and stare at purple
…………………………§ One time trick … then you need a blue cow
……………○ Popula site
…………………………§ Event site in germany
…………………………§ Random videos …
…………………………§ Popula.de worked in germany (not seen before) would of failed in US
……………○ Purple cow
…………………………§ 1 800 free 411 … took 6% of share
…………………………§ Briticanna
……………○ Mobile social networking
…………………………§ Disrupts facebook
…………………………§ Facebook weakness is protecting data
……………○ Training class w/ dog
…………………………§ He doesn’t want you to be background noise
…………………………§ Single impact … intro … that is interesting
……………○ Be part of the conversation however
…………………………§ Twitter
…………………………§ Each dev should have personal and company blog
……………○ Blogger linkbacks influence how they see you
…………………………§ Influences how they decide to write about people
……………○ 4/26/2008, 9:34 AM
……………○ Digg reference how it was a good chunk of traffic
…………………………§ Also reddit mentioned
……………○ His twitter is spking in 08
…………………………§ Provides significant traffic via engagement traffic
…………………………§ 90% activity sharing what is going on (Research)
……………○ Criticisms
…………………………§ Don’t be nervous
…………………………§ Supportive of startups
…………………………§ Embrace criticism .. Not trolls
…………………………§ Example … In 06 he trashed a company … ning … 97 comments … he was wrong … inflammatory headline used … started conversation w/ company … now a good relationship w/ that company … so they practiced embracing critic (him)
……………○ Challenge
…………………………§ Nice place to be … less trolls … mostly experimentation
…………………………§ Not afraid of ideas in public
…………………………§ The valley is about that
…………………………§ Yosi Vardi (quote of T. Roosevelt)
………………………………………□ Not the critic that counts … credit to man in the arena
…………………………§ Are you part of the community … in the turning point
…………………………§ So how do you interact w/ the model
……………○ Q&A
…………………………§ A lot of power … power corrupts … how do you not get corrupted
………………………………………□ Genuinely loves startup and entrepreneurs … they are his rock stars
………………………………………□ So if he maintains that focus he will do well
………………………………………□ Question is does it show it in his writing … it doesn’t in his view … so he is trying to stay true
…………………………§ Phone-my-Phone … Efficient crank calling tool
………………………………………□ Branded as “efficient crank calling tool” … how turn around mislabelling
………………………………………□ He thinks you are a special case … since the story is not a purple cow w/o that angle
………………………………………□ Other companies … make it regardless … might be negative from them … other press might see the diaglogue
………………………………………□ Best thing is to embrace and discuss
…………………………§ 2005 hang in his backyard, beyond that vision, what is techcrunch going
………………………………………□ What happens when niche isn’t niche
………………………………………□ Slashdot, digg … not readable comments
………………………………………□ He might want to spawn a new focus blog
………………………………………□ 90% of startups used to be covered … that focus
………………………………………□ Focus on CNET is the business model for now … unless he spins off
…………………………§ PR Firm … when hire … who is good … better to talk to founder or PR Face Person
………………………………………□ Get inbound requests you can’t handle … due to volume
………………………………………□ Use Twitter, Blog
………………………………………□ Goto events
………………………………………□ Look for right story, right time
…………………………§ Comment on nomadism … employees work from wherever … no central office
………………………………………□ He has no idea how building other stuff (not articles) is better done w/ dispersed teams
*************************
*************************
*************************
*** NOTES FROM THE REMIX ***
*************************
………………………………………4/27/2008, 11:15 AM
………………………………………Remix By ValleyWag (2:30)
……………………………………………………® 4/27/2008, 11:16 AM
……………………………………………………® Show clutter debacle
……………………………………………………® Cussing
……………………………………………………® Leaking a story
……………………………………………………® News about competitors … give to them …
……………………………………………………® Don’t pull our leash … yank every now and then
……………………………………………………® Mention and link to writers
……………………………………………………® Don’t be a troll if you need them
……………………………………………………® If you link back you it influences us
…………………………………………………………………◊ Repeat 3 times
……………………………………………………® Criticism .. Embrace criticism
……………………………………………………® Avoid trolls
…………………………………………………………………◊ Repeat 3 times
……………………………………………………® Inflammatory headlines
…………………………………………………………………◊ Repeat lines
……………………………………………………® Blow smoke up each others ass
……………………………………………………® Snarky comments … cool kids
……………………………………………………® Look at this point … creating stuff
……………………………………………………® 99% will fail
……………………………………………………® Fail greatly
……………………………………………………® You are a loser

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Unless your company name has the word “Encyclopedia” in it you probably are thinking PUNT on this post. Hold on. There is a smidge of truth here for all of us. This documentary … while a bit long in the tooth … is an example of how todays consumers are taking more control of the ‘truth’ and not just listening to a minority of company sponsored experts. Instead they are putting more stock in their friends … and … people they don’t know. They trust the crowd more than they trust the corporate experts. Strange but true.

As usual my raw notes are below, but here are the thoughts that jumped out at me as I ran (i.e. jogged) along.

So, what was rather a boring Documentary evolved into something that had many hidden messages. It was interesting to see how Wikipedia is just another place where the question “What defines who is an expert?” and “Who can I trust?” hasn’t been answered. In my view, if we can enable our customer to find trusted advisors, regardless of affiliation to us, we will earn that trust ourselves.

** START OF RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

http://thenextweb.org/2008/04/08/video-the-truth-according-to-wikipedia/
…………………………Author - IJsbrand van Veelen
………………………………………○ 4/14/2008, 6:13 AM
………………………………………○ Card catalog / library