ActVen

Searches for "android" started trending down in January 2012. http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=android%2C%20nexus...

I actually thought about mentioning that article. I think it is important to point out that someone who outlines a theory as broad as disruptive innovation is not always the best person to apply it in every situation. I think he made a mistake when he chose the competitive frame for the iPhone to be all cell phones. I think the right competitive frame is smart phones. That makes all the difference in the assessment.

"Your margin is my opportunity" -Jeff Bezos

Amazon...with Google coming in second.

Google has an amazing advantage at matching user intent with relevant results, some of that intent is commercial. Amazon has tied some of its revenue to the general technological progress by powering the infrastructure of technology companies(AWS). Of course, this is just a bonus to their nearly unstoppable success in selling physical and digital products. The only thing that can stop Amazon is a series of huge missteps on its part.

Sindhya raises some very valid points that help illustrate that a large portion of the investment community simply can't tell the difference between startups that are truly innovative and those simply clothed in the accouterments of innovation. Tacking on the terms algorithm, social, mobile, patentable, etc. seems to fool quite a few people.

Keep this in mind: Their understanding of psychology, technology and communication is much more important than how many followers they have on social networks. Someone's social network activity is often misinterpreted as being important in helping grow a company. That is really not the case in most circumstances. Try to find someone who is up to speed on the latest tools, but maintains a healthy level of skepticism to them. They need the ability to help your potential customers become aware of and understand your product. There is a flip side to this as well. A good marketer will be much more than just a mouthpiece for your company. They should be able to communicate the needs of the market back to you as well.

I'm in full agreement with his comment about timing and many of the ideas of the dotcom bubble. I wouldn't go as far as saying that all of them were good. But, many of them were excellent and were just very poorly timed. Even when you just think about the infrastructure cost of building something during the bubble vs now, it is astounding how much more affordable it is.

I'm not sure how you made my comment about growth as a species equate to "American Standards". Also, its very "closed-minded" of you to believe that the actions of a country exactly mirrors the values of each of its citizens. Oh well, I wish you the best.

(The disagreement and dialogue in this conversation has been brought to you by Free Expression.)

Your argument that I am being "closed-minded" because I believe in the value of free speech is amusing. Valuing broad free speech rights is a characteristic of an open mind.

I never said that I didn't "accept the possibility that they're right". I just don't believe that an organization should be in charge of deciding what is "hateful" and what isn't. I happen to believe that free expression is critical to our moral and scientific growth as a species.

Violence should never be allowed to become a useful weapon against free speech.

When a company has built tools for self-expression that are widely used, they have a responsibility to commit to broad principles under difficult circumstances. Free speech principles aren't as widely protected across the globe as they are in the US, but that doesn't mean they are not very important to the advancement of society.

As a Quora user this seems to be a big setback for the company. Charlie has always been more engaged in actually using the product and interfacing with the community. Adam has picked it up a bit lately, but their stats below show who was more engaged with the product.

Charlie: Users They Follow - 3474, Topics - 578, Questions - 1240, Answers - 1524, Edits - 36951

Adam: Users They Follow - 587, Topics - 338, Questions - 890, Answers - 848, Edits - 24374

This could certainly just be a result of their focus at the company, but it is interesting.

Is there any type of preview or table of contents available? It would be nice to get a better feel for the contents and style of the book.

I would just advise to make sure something internal isn't holding up payment at the customer. If this is a larger company, any number of things could be causing it. If it is a small company or an individual, then disorganization could be a cause...or a lack of funds. My companies have faced this issue in the past with companies from the Fortune 50 to small companies. Very few times did something actually go unpaid for longer than 90 days. Just be friendly and persistent.

I think you missed two key words in my comment:"sometimes" and "reacting". I didn't say it worked for every situation (see word #1). Your counter example isn't relevant to what I was stating either since it wasn't a response to an empty threat (see word #2).

This is a great example of standing up for yourself while emphasizing the mutual interest of both parties. As this letter helps demonstrate, sometimes reacting with humor and kindness is the best way to deal posturing.

Thanks for the clarification.

"But what if we added a third choice? What if we formally, publicly and noisily withdrew from the account? The worst case was that we could tell our engineering team that we should have won but the game was rigged."

No, the worst case would be actually going through with "publicly and noisily" withdrawing. If you want to scare away future large company prospects I can think of few better ways than letting everyone know you will raise hell if your product isn't chosen in a competitive procurement. I respect Steve...but this portion of the advice seems a little shortsighted. Go ahead and withdraw and explain it to your team and the customer. But, there is not a good enough reason to publicly shame the customer.

Here are a few useful resources:

Standard Forms of Value from The Personal MBA: http://book.personalmba.com/12-standard-forms-of-value/

Outline of 25 forms of profitability from The Art of Profitability by Adrian Slywotzky(as outlined by Derek Sivers):http://sivers.org/book/ArtOfProfitability

If you can find a test customer to work with you during your development, that will put you in a much better place. B2B customers are sometimes open to this type of arrangement if it is a non-critical function of their business. If you strike the right balance between learning from them and tailoring the product to them, you should get value out of the partnership. When your talking to them you should always be able to effectively communicate how your product helps them save money and/or time.

It has been very effective for a number of projects in which I have been involved. I have seen many circumstances where a company "had tried AdWords and it didn't work", but were very successful when it was implemented in the right way. One of the key points of a good implementation is limiting the ads with the right negative keywords, locations, and even the time of day. You need to be creative in linking your product with your customer's expressed need that might not necessarily be on the top of your list as well. Think about what your customer might search for prior to even knowing that a product like yours exists. For example, a customer might look for a spreadsheet template for managing some process and not even know that your software helps manage that process more effectively than a static spreadsheet. When you hear the stories about AdWords not being effective, you can bet most of those were implemented incorrectly...or the product wasn't meeting an expressed and acknowledged need of the customer.

This is very reflective of the acquisition process my company went through when it was acquired(Priced at $13 million). However, one area that can't be emphasized enough is the distraction, time, and mental capital that this process entails. If you are not careful, it can hurt your business and its trajectory. Luckily, we had good people running the business for the founders while we concentrated on the acquisition process. One area not addressed very closely in this article is the difficulty of not sharing the possible acquisition with employees as you go through the process of gathering all of the due diligence data and having all of the meetings. Of course, keeping the acquisition process a secret from your employees isn't always required...but in our case it was. That added to the stress of the due diligence process for us.

These are a tactical tips, but I have found them useful in acquiring a broad range of knowledge.

1. Stop watching broadcast/cable TV. Only watch a few really good shows via iTunes so you don't waste time on commercials.

2. Listen to non-fiction audiobooks when getting ready in the morning or driving/commuting. You can gain a broad range of knowledge with what is typically down time. The knowledge is valuable on its own, but really becomes useful when you start creating your own material.

3. Cut your news reading down to a few broad weekly/monthly publications like The Atlantic and The Economist.

4. Watch Charlie Rose. You would be amazed at the breadth of guests he has on.

5. When you meet others, ask them about what they do and really talk to them about it. Small talk is a waste of time. Ask detailed questions about different fields and you will find you learn quite a bit in the process.

6. Always ask "Why?" when you encounter new concepts.

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This is fantastic advice. I have had lunches like this numerous times. They have been overall a very successful strategy. Sure, you will have a very small percentage that don't really provide insight...but that is well worth the cost. It is often important to preface the invitation with an assurance that you aren't going to try and sell them anything.

I'm someone with a track record of driving traffic and my company was acquired about a year ago. Totally different industry...but here are a few thoughts that might help you.

Interactivity - Right now the site is fairly passive. I think you would produce more engagement with the site if you allowed users to interact with the site. Maybe something like the ability to guess the next song in a quiz type fashion. Then, they get a score they can share across social networks. Or, some kind of voting mechanism that tracks your viewers opinion of the song/video.

Personalization - You will have a much greater chance of someone sharing your content across social networks if they can personalize the content and make it say something about themselves. You could think about giving the ability to the users to drag and drop the videos so that it changes the order in which they are played. Then, they might be able to share it in their social circle and say this is the order they think the songs should fall.

I realize these are feature suggestions that might take a significant amount of time, but building in features that drive the marketing is a great way to grow. Overall you did a great job on the site and good luck!

At the end of the video it says animation by Grumo Media. http://grumomedia.com/

Think about what your potential customers will be searching for when they are trying to address the need that your product fulfills. Then, provide real value to your potential customers on your website in the form of articles and other helpful advice. It sounds too simple, but most of the "seo tactics" that so called seo experts talk about just don't work in the long-term. They are just an attempt to game the system.

Momentum. If an issue is identified and numerous people seem to care about it and pass it along, few channels can match a social network's ability to get it attention.

I have worked with a number of social media consultants and have a couple things to mention that are worth keeping in mind. 1:Pay attention to how the "expert" talks about social media. They should be talking about how it is just a channel...not an end in itself. Granted, it is a powerful channel with some unique characteristics. They should be asking you questions about what type of value or messaging your customers might want to hear about in that channel. 2. Think about whether or not you can do this on your own. You would be surprised to know how much impact the owners of a business can have when they handle some of the social media strategy themselves. If you just focus on one or two channels it doesn't take any time at all. Once an owner or team member learns about how the channels work, they are the best ones to see the unique opportunities for their business.