hello

;)

beppu / 2008-03-08 22:02:05

finding influencers

  • don’t just find the influencers directly
  • an email to scoble won’t really help.
    • you’re competing in the busiest channel
  • in person is the emptiest channel
  • don’t be a traffic bigot
  • go to thought leaders not just traffic leaders
  • big fan of brian obenkirk
  • lots of the top traffic readers dig his blog
  • indirect endorsement

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:51:14

not just about reaching the most people

  • it’s quality not quantity
  • spending a lot of time with a handful of people and bonding is the key
  • those few ppl went out and spread the word
  • if you only have marginal interactions who cares
  • enthusiasm is contagious

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:50:04

first pet peeve

  • your pc’s not quite ready yet
  • just read these manuals for a bit (?)
  • try to get paperwork out of the way before first day
  • source control, phone number, project list is sitting there when you show up
  • immediate meet with mgr and set expectations
  • set a tone with your pace
  • here’s the project plan and projected timeline

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:56:27

accelerating product development

  • start with a clean feature set
  • don’t just be psychic on the userbase with features
  • don’t just convince yourself it’s good
  • you launch with a simple feature set and watch what features people like
  • with x-fire we do an update every two weeks based on user feedback
  • usability testing:
    • everyone talks about it but nobody really does it
    • just go to some random person and sit down with them
    • tell them to talk out loud
  • bring the engineering team in to listen to feedback.
    • you’ll be stunned.

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:52:40

sweet

welcome ori

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:06:47

dude so that is magic to see that

glad we’re in “experimental” eh beppu ? :)

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:07:04

I'm taking notes on this one, too.

It’s on my local server, though.

WiFi was cutting in and out, so what else could I do?

When I get it moved over to metanotes.com, it’ll be interesting to compare and contrast the note taking styles.

beppu / 2008-03-08 22:13:30

focus ?

  • how to balance with a family life?
  • cassidy gets home at 6 every day and goes for a run at lunch
  • every day there’s going to be a crisis so i just make myself go
  • he has 2 kids, 9 and 11
  • very strong negative correlation btw the # of nights a family has dinner together and the amount of adolescent problems
  • dinner together is so important

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:22:06

two determinants of happiness

  • meals with family and friends
  • low expectations (laffs)

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:23:36

twitter's product development focus

  • features !
  • how do you do your brainstorming ?
  • ev: it’s pretty chaotic
  • 17ppl always think of features
  • sometimes engineers just sneak them in (laffs)
  • we’re trying to develop more of a process but i don’t want the process to get in the way
  • twitter doesn’t do UI testing but we talk about it (laffs)
  • what do we want as users?
    • you can over-analyze and think “it’s going to bother them”
    • you’re a user, what do YOU want?
    • you can take chances with that but still put on the beginner’s mind and think ‘what’s the right thing”
  • google’s got that ingrained in the company
  • what would solve this problem for me?
  • also getting as much feedback as possible
  • your users are verbose to begin with and they can loudly demand features from you
  • that absolutely figures into it
  • get ppl in a room and we do things very visually
  • ev writes to figure it out
  • he tries to write about it, then we make pictures and then just build stuff.
  • no secrets here.

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:58:20

don't rush

  • cassidy is “mr ready fire aim”
  • internal team morale issues
  • a small team with high morale is very hard to defeat
  • if the morale is really high they can go for five months without salary
  • my fave biz book is The Six-Day War
    • it’s amazing what the israelis did in 1967
  • companies are usually defeated by internal friction
    • staff hates each other and positions themselves internally instead of fighting the enemy
  • the key = don’t rush over internal friction issues
  • if there’s something happening just talk to them
  • the spiral of anger happens sometimes
  • sometimes ppl say piss-me-off stuff
    • 80% of the time they didn’t want to start the cycle
  • let’s take ten minutes and get happy again

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:08:16

Srini rocks

Now I can be in two rooms at the same time – Ori

ori / 2008-03-08 22:06:20

characteristics of early stage that propelled adoption

  • it’s not about mistakes
  • “i love our viewers” = lewis
    • forum (mine or others)
    • twitter is a huge part (we talk and they at-reply us)
  • get out there and talk to the people
  • if you’re going to build an audience, you need to BE your audience
  • you’re doubling over weeks!
    • how is it spreading?
  • we created a loyal audience
  • they’ll tell other people
  • they found the show and watched all the back episodes
    • then they take it to their office
    • word of mouth
    • getting them involved with other ppl in yr audience

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:48:01

ev

  • twitter wasn’t my idea
  • he likes products he likes using himself
  • built-in marketing angle
    • but that’s not where he’s thinking in terms of exploitation

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:42:38

evil new sales mgr

  • start with A and start making phone calls
  • “it’s time to find another job” said ferriss to himself

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:57:48

passion

  • propels business forward
  • focused in such a way that there was no doubt that it was going to happen
  • you can’t really fake that
  • it has to be real
  • that focus you just can’t even explain
  • something that pushes you forward

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:46:59

build the right team !!!

  • other than neglecting usability testing?
  • what are the biggest time-sucks
  • get the best developers!!!!
  • find these people and passionately recruit them
  • invite new hires over to dinner and send them flowers when they get hired.
  • some ppl can make mistakes in getting those key people motivated
  • we’re in a hurry but will take good enough? NO. will come back to haunt you.
  • “yeah they’re pretty good” is off my list.

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:54:10

ah yes

google gears :)

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:14:26

eventually

no pressure brother

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:14:43

adding features?

  • you should look at subtracting things as a way to improve them

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:15:00

or subtracting them?

;-)

beppu / 2008-03-08 22:15:18

read books by the best in the field

  • even if it has nothing to do with your life
  • some amazing golf book got propped

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:21:32

four hour workweek - ferriss

  • the pain point of info overload was so acute that they were drawn to a low information diet idea.
  • l.i.d. is following the market that was responding to it
  • i got drunk and talked about it and it stuck.
  • personal outsourcing
    • outsourcing my online dating
    • teams of people in india are getting him dates
  • stumbling effort to do video here & there
  • at best tolerable

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:43:16

slack by tom demarco

  • a book about how to manage sw dev
  • not 100% busy
  • you’re a lot less flexible
  • empty spaces where you can respond
  • managing people is easier when you have extra people

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:20:05

FIND A MENTOR !!!

  • any tips on finding one?
  • ferriss: “i knew nothing about social media when i was planning how to launch my book”
  • publishers are scared stiff by computer stuff
  • he had to find someone to teach him about this world
    • to avoid wasting time on tech fads that pass fast
  • keys:
    • be very humble and very upfront about that
      • “i think you’re really interesting because you ask a lot of questions”
      • i ask questions about simple stuff: “what the hell is ruby on rails”
      • then they’d have a tough time defining it which would launch a very cool expert debate.
      • women are better at this
    • if you contact the mentor don’t fake friendship!!!
  • the first two lines should be cred builders – that’s the first thing
  • who are you and what do you want from me? are the questions they have.
  • “here’s my question, i’ve tried this this and this, i can’t find the right answer.”
  • expect no more than a two-line response.

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:24:28

developing relationships ahead of time

  • ferriss got in touch with this guy who was writing a similar book
  • this author contacted him ten months beforehand so he could review it
  • you can pull the trigger easier on a hire if you’ve built the friendship earlier

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:18:41

Tim Ferris

beppu / 2008-03-08 22:42:47

set expectations high !

  • if there’s one person that seems out of reach go for it you never know
  • how to basically get a hold about just about anybody
  • five minutes of goading have gotten responses from CEO of google.
  • if you send a fedexed package to warren buffett he’ll read it !!!

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:28:22

biggest mistakes when they start

  • promoting too early is a huge mistake
  • the first ten shows you’re going to look back on
  • it’s going to be bad no matter what
  • we started our show without any experience
  • when we started it, we decided to do the show and THEN bought the camera
  • the first three months were very difficult
  • we were already growing an audience with audio/video sync issues still unresolved
  • people still watched b/c it was still early in podcasting
  • “get your show underway”

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:04:52

personally totally disagree with this

it’s never too early to promote.

just be honest.

you need the user feedback.

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:06:10

Mike Cassidy

beppu / 2008-03-08 22:43:34

Cali Lewis

beppu / 2008-03-08 22:44:10

invest in hanging out

  • buy lunches
  • ev has never grown a massive company

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:30:10

characteristics of successful CEOs

  • they liked to bring their chairs with them when they move from firm to firm
  • great job of forming relationships without any particular agenda
  • three years later you may tap that relationship
  • it’s super important to create huge networks
    • 6000 ppl in outlook
  • ultimate frisbee comrade got hired and it worked so well
  • talent = the key is do it ahead of time by keeping your list
  • who would I hire if i could start right now?

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:16:33

what happens after you launch?

  • everything’s crashing down on you
  • you’re very busy now
  • mike: i keep my to-do’s on an excel spreadsheet
  • resort it every night
  • longterm & shortterm separated
  • but don’t focus exclusively on either
  • if something’s on the longterm list too long it should get bumped up to shortterm
  • get all the shortterm stuff done that day
  • ev: ask “does this really matter?”
    • to my business and my future
  • the most popular post on my blog is “the art of letting bad things happen”
    • the reality is that every day is going to be a crisis
    • there’s never a good time to do something important
  • you have to ask yourself
    • can i let these supposedly urgent things fall?
    • many are just delegated to you from others
    • just to block out everything so as to fix up the one or two things that really matter
    • most things that fail are no big deal because the damage is reversible.
  • if you miss a colleague’s urgent sat. night email
  • “but, no, well it was really urgent !”
  • “make me feel important” is a subliminal in urgent messages

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:35:47

yeah

  • oh that cracks me up, “analytics masturbation”

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:15:51

Evan Williams

beppu / 2008-03-08 22:43:58

when everyone needs your product

  • “we facilitate owners of property to rent out their property to renters” – questioner
  • look at ZIPCAR
  • they got hyperlocal and focused on segmenting and dominating specific neighborhoods
  • this is what i did in the tech blog world
  • really focusing on a segment and dominate it
  • if you have this marginal interaction with different markets or people that’s not a consolidated winning approach

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:34:08

arbitrary meetings

don’t just “feel” productive, actually BE productive.

  • schedule something non-work-related that is compelling
  • design a lifestyle
  • schedule bracketing activities that begin the day or end the day (or workweek)
    • prepay for cooking classes or a personal trainer
    • feel guilty for not going every day

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:32:53

don't just promote in your space

  • do anything to explain diff’t concepts
  • those concepts were attributed to me.
    • “author of the four hour workweek”
  • if people don’t believe in the concepts, it doesn’t matter how much you plug: it won’t sell.

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:12:17

reaching influencers

  • tons of books on it
  • having a few points of contact pays off at SXSW
  • don’t skimp on time you spend to get tons of b-cards instead
  • that approach fails – you want depth
  • meet, then email (don’t call and bother on phone), each email takes 1/2hr to craft (read their stuff)
  • make sure you have relevant ideas to tell them about
  • i probably got responses from 80-90% of them
  • find one feature to promote
    • or “five interesting pages” for that influencer
  • make it crystal clear what the connection is

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:10:23

screw the VC route?

  • partner with podshow
  • someone who knows what they’re doing in the ad space
  • that way we could concentrate on creating the best show possible
  • if we don’t have a great show, nothing else matters
    • audience wouldn’t stick
  • do we want to go after all of that themselves?

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:13:28

people get hung up on current userbase

  • makes them hesitant to make changes
  • respect the wishes of current users
  • but it can make you get stuck
  • 80% of the right idea but early choices may be loved by early adopters
    • keeps you from the mainstream
  • blogger was an FTP tool

SXSW / 2008-03-08 22:01:11

community = forums

  • “you’re the expert”
    • that is your world
    • you are the expert in that field
  • go out and involve yourself in the community
    • forums
    • don’t just say “i’m an expert, come to me!”
    • go out and answer questions
    • put your sig in it: don’t forget that.
  • answering questions is a great way to get involved
  • be that person people go to

SXSW / 2008-03-08 21:45:37

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