The Seth Godin Apprentices | Hacker News Reader

The Seth Godin Apprentices

forbes.com

22 pointsAlex391720 comments

Out of 9 students, selected from hundreds, 2 of them want to help MLM? What a class.

"His students don't miss the math classes. They want to learn how to build a business from scratch and market the hell out of it. Two people want to sell training material to multilevel marketers."

The fact that he chose them, is quite telling.

From the article,

"Emily Kate Boyd, a songwriter from Atlanta, shares her idea for a new venture: a nonprofit that will expose wealthy donors to fledgling artists who need their support. "How do you use 'groupthink' and wisdom of the crowds to do this?" Godin asks her in his signature marketer's jargon."

Ok let me try!

How would you use Blue Ocean Strategy and long tail value stream personalization to do this?

yay I can do this too!

How would you use Blue Ocean Strategy and long tail value stream personalization to do this?

That's easy: crowdsourcing!

"That's easy: crowdsourcing!"

Whoa! competition! :-)

But how can we make use of quantum gravity when we want to come up with buzzword loaded and totally irrelevant questions?

well maybe I could write a script to do this.

Make it generate a string from a template - "How do you use $buzzword1 and $buzzword2 to do this?" - and a dictionary of buzzwords.

Then instead of apprenticing with Godin, they can just run the script!

Maybe expand it into an Eliza like program for "strategic business consultation".

Hey there's a startup idea! I think I'll apply to YC next time ;-)

  * well maybe I could write a script to do this.
  > Can't you be more positive? 
  * Make it generate a string from a template -
    "How do you use $buzzword1 and $buzzword2 to do this?" -
    and a dictionary of buzzwords.
  > We were discussing you, not me. 
  * Then instead of apprenticing with Godin,
    they can just run the script!
  > Can you elaborate on that? 
  * Maybe expand it into an Eliza like program for
    "strategic business consultation".
  > Why the uncertain tone? 
  * Hey there's a startup idea! I think I'll apply to YC next time ;-)
  > But you are not sure you you'll apply to YC next time; -)?

@ eru, Brilliant!, upvoted!

Having had the opportunity to "intern" with Seth as an early architect of Squidoo, I would recommend spending time with him to anyone. Seth is exceptionally intelligent, and a very giving person. I count the summer of 2005 as one of the most pivotal moments in my career, where a lot of the "standard" marketing curricula I was taught during college was outright challenged.

I was also able to see how a startup could be very quickly and efficiently architected and launched. Squidoo went live less than 6 months after that initial summer. And while it isn't a Google-like success story, they are profitable and still growing.

"And while it isn't a Google-like success story, they are profitable and still growing."

Actually, Squidoo seems to have just hit the tipping point.

My new business gets a brief mention on page two:

"Krupp, a recent graduate of Cornell, came up with 'Swagapalooza,' a conference where marketers pay to get their products into the hands of influential bloggers. ('You're going to have to take a cab because [the bag of freebies] won't fit in the subway turnstile. It's going to be awesome!')"

Alex, you may have mentioned this to me at last week's meetup, but are you permitted to blog or write about your business prior to launch?

PS: Congrats on the mention!

Well I'm trying not to talk about it too much until I get a few key sponsors, because if I can't do that then the whole thing will have to be canceled. But if you want to talk about it, or if you know of product companies who would benefit from being able to give a five minute pitch the world's most-followed bloggers, then send me an email and I'd be happy to discuss it.

That's cool to see someone from HN got in. Congrats and good luck!

Am I the only person who finds Godin un-inspiring/non-thought-provoking?

"Am I the only person who finds Godin un-inspiring/non-thought-provoking?"

No! I find that most of his books are blown up versions of very obvious ideas. Maybe he is a genius and visionary and I just don't see it. Shrug.

I thought Purple Cow and All Marketers are Liars were ok, but his online professional marketing persona is all aphorism and no substance.

He's an incredibly effective pulp manufacturer. Before his MBA-junk streak, he produced novelizations of NES games!

That is highly unlikely. However, if you find nothing he writes inspiring/thought-provoking, then I think you are prejudiced against him based on reading a few things you didn't find worthy. People rarely become famous by being complete hacks: this guy has sensible and valuable things to say. Now I don't read his stuff anymore because there isn't enough of value in it for me, but YMMV.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com