Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss talk about Startups, Angel Investing, YC and Traffic/Conversions | Hacker News Reader

Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss talk about Startups, Angel Investing, YC and Traffic/Conversions

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64 pointsmikeyur25 comments

Great first show, love that they kicked off discussion around naming and branding. It's usually one of the first issues to come to surface amongst founders, and one of the most misunderstood areas of importance in my belief.

I also think it's worth noting that the bar for consumer sites / services is set pretty high now. So while server and infrastructure costs are decreasing, one should probably put some of those costs savings into developing a great brand (very important in B2C). After all, infrastructure costs decrease with competition — marketing and branding increase. It's pretty surprising what a well-executed brand can do for you, I consider it low hanging fruit with the right person managing it; however, when mismanaged it can turn into a your own barrier.

The way he used Google AdWords to test book titles is exactly what I described here (http://www.jgc.org/blog/2008/11/testing-book-titles-using-go...) when I was working on the title for The Geek Atlas.

Interesting. When people clicked on the ad, what did it say on the landing page?

Funny how as an investor, Kevin is clearly unaware of iminlikewithyou's name change to omgopop. :P

Not to mention Blockles (not 'Letris'), the product they're currently being sued over. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22815

omgpop

Right, I knew that. :P Typo on my part.

the real question is how you pronounce it. I think saying "ohh my god, pop!" is the way to go. "Ohh em gee pop", just doesn't work for me.

By the way, if there is one game I think you might actually play it's http://letterblox.com

I'm inclined to pronounce it "ahh-mg pop".

Summary:

Use Google Adwords to A/B test your company/product name. Throw up 6-12 names on adwords, have them lead to blank pages, find out what names convert the best.

Both Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose are doing angel investing.

I lost interest after that.

I'd suggest a really good lawyer who would look at the deal with an adversarial perspective before taking money from either of them. Just my two cents.

Speaking from experience Owen. :) You would know what you're talking about.

While sometimes I overdo the bitching and moaning (especially after a few beers) I think I'm offering solid advice in this case. Though I guess I'm being a little unfair to Tim Ferris - I've only met him in bars, he may have some integrity. He just seems like a tool.

I actually rather enjoy your comments about the Digg fiasco. I've never gotten the impression that Kevin was a great business man. And, I'd avoid taking business advice from him most days of the week, although his celebrity might be handy. I'd definitely take advice from you re: business arrangements with Kevin any day of the week, however.

Tim... I agree. Very tool like. I actually liked Tim's book. He's a rampant self promoter, and turns a lot of people off. But, he did have some interesting ideas, which I liked a lot, however. Having him as a angel or board member... I don't know. I'd have to think about that one a lot.

I've never had a negative impression of him. He is confident and forces you to think in a different direction. I also know the "4 hour" week is an exaggeration. Pay close attention and he does a lot of work related stuff (including writing a book) that consumes time. Nonetheless, he is providing a road map for things most of us have thought were unobtainable.

Have you written more about the Digg fiasco? I'd love to hear about it.

Transcript? I prefer reading/scanning to watching.

You can do as I did and listen to it and not watch. There's no actual need to watch these two poseurs on the sofa.

I prefer reading/scanning to listening, too. If I'm listening and doing something else, the moment the something else gets a bit complicated, I tune out what I'm listening to, and find I've missed half of it. If I sit down and really listen, I can't do much else... I'm just not much of a multitasker that way, I find paying serious attention to audio to be incompatible with working.

Learn to type really fast? ;)

How does Tim Ferriss keep popping up everywhere?

Because he's a Hall of Fame Self-Promoter?

He's got to do something with the 164 hours a week he's not working.

Amazing video... I transcripted out all the great info and advice Tim and Kevin had to share, check it out http://tinyurl.com/cpaw8o

Tim Ferriss seems way more savvy than Kevin Rose

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