A blog about nothing…
For all of my friends and family out there who don’t understand why I fled my beloved Chicago for a higher cost of living and outrageous costs of ownership, I give you exhibit A: Big Sur, CA (3 hours south of San Francisco). Here’s a photo I took last weekend during a last-minute camping excursion.
While exploring the blogosphere this evening, I came across a useful post on Sramana Mitra’s blog titled “Clarify Your Story: Internet Businesses.” It’s a good list of about 30 high-level questions you should be asking yourself when starting a new internet business.
What struck me most about this list is that it’s completely transferrable to product management… these are the same questions product managers ask (or should ask) themselves when building new products or lines of business. (I like to think that product managers at established companies are essentially micro-entrepreneurs backed by company cash flow… While the dynamics and risk/reward profiles can be vastly different, PMs, like many entrepreneurs, are responsible for generating positive business results through product innovation.)
In fact, thinking through some products of underwhelming success (some that I’ve worked on), I can clearly tie the lack of success to an overlooked question on this list. For example, “How do you build traffic?” That’s a gem… Even the most brilliant products are difficult to sustain without a flowing source of traffic, yet traffic generation is often an afterthought. “What is your differentiated value proposition?” We may be in another bubble because this one is not scrutinized enough.
Anyhow, I’m sure there are a dozen similar, potentially better, checklists out there. But this one seems like a great starting point for the entrepreneur in us all.
Every year I try to undertake a few self-improvement initiatives – sort of like resolutions but more habits that I hope to adopt for the long-haul. Recently, I’ve been making more of a conscious effort to waste less. This applies to many things… generating garbage, buying clothes I never wear, keeping the faucet running while brushing, and most commonly buying food only to let it rot.
The last one is especially fun because it consequently forces me to push my culinary limits. For example, my roommates and I have a frequent habit of individually stocking up on bananas and ending up with too many for the group. My “no waste” policy compelled me to bake some banana bread last month that seemed to go over well with the roommates and car-pool. After our second banana boom I decided to try my hand at bananas fosters (flambe and all). I used this recipe from Brennan’s (minus the banana liqueur – didn’t have any) and we devoured the full batch.
Last weekend we threw a housewarming party for which we purchased an excessive amount of food and drink. Incidentally, over the course of 6 hours, most of the food was eaten. And the left-over beverages have a fairly long shelf life. We did, however, end up with a large bag of unused limes… So this weekend, I knocked out about three limes in these awesome lime cookies. I’m hoping to use up the rest this week when I try out this ceviche recipe.
What I’ve found is that this Iron Chef concept of a single “secret ingredient” makes cooking more fun. Not only does it lighten the burden of deciding what to cook, but it imposes the enjoyable challenge of working within fixed constraints. Most importantly, it helps me discover new recipes that I would normally overlook… Lime cookies are surprisingly delicious!
The prolonged Pro-Chief / Anti-Chief battle at my alma mater seems to be winding down… the Fighting Illini’s mascot will be performing his last dance. To be honest, I had my opinions about the controversy when I was in college, but never took an active stance. It’s sort of like the Confederate flag debate… some see it as a symbol of racism and oppression, others see it as a symbol of heritage and pride. Looking past my personal beliefs, I can empathize with both sides.
I love Yelp. They’ve done a great job to date of executing on a very logical idea and the product continues to be relevant and useful on a regular basis. I read reviews, write reviews, find great information and often comic relief on Yelp. But when I get an email encouraging me to ’show my Yelps!’ (it’s Mardi Gras… get the reference?), my inner Yelper dies a little. Here is a snapshot of the email I found in my inbox this morning:
Normally I would think “eh, sex sells” and move on, but I thought this was an interesting topic for a post… not the use of sex to promote a business or an event, but the use of that precious user data to appropriately segment and target your customers. Given the requirements for opening an account, Yelp must at least know my age, gender, and location… (30, female, San Francisco). Were I 30 and male, or 22, female, living in Miami, this campaign could be rationalized. But at 30 and female, “thoughts of girls (and guys) going wild” (a.k.a. public orgies and vomit) aren’t enticing. Neither is the thought of being surrounded by skinny, hot, half-naked girls.
So I wonder… does Yelp even target by demographic, or is this the mass mail that was sent out to all of their users? And if it’s the latter, why not use imagery that’s more Mardi Gras themed (notice that only one girl in the photo is sporting beads… and they might not even be for Mardi Gras)? Beignets and Hurricanes, perhaps. Colorful masks, floats, jesters, Krewes, etc.
User opinions are helpful if a) they are likely to parallel your own or b) they span a diversity of opinions, allowing you to make a well-informed decision. Receiving marketing emails like the one above leads me to believe that frat boys are Yelp’s primary demographic; therefore, Yelp reviews don’t satisfy either of these conditions for me.
Don’t get me wrong… I’m not quitting Yelp – I still love it! I just feel that they should think more with their brains and less with their…
It’s the last day of a beautiful three-day weekend and I’m sitting in my fancy new living room reflecting on the harmless self-indulgence of the past few days… comedy romp, bachelorette party, happy hours, “donuts,” movies… general-purpose yuppie fun. I often feel guilty for spending my free time (read: those few hours a week that are not occupied by work and subsistence) in a self-absorbed coma, but the following email I found in my inbox this morning reminded me that even when picking lint off of my socks, I’m “making a difference.”
Dear Seema Shah ,
The business you have loaned to, Taller de Bloques Maritza , has made a repayment of $75.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $450.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Kendall Mau. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete.
To view your Kiva loan portfolio go to:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account
With altruism made so easy, there’s really no excuse these days for being a leech on the world.
Yuppies & brats of the world… If your lavish lifestyle leaves you feeling depraved or conflicted, the next time you drop a Benjamin for a few drinks at some chichi lounge, negate your uselessness by loaning the same amount to someone here so that they may earn in one month what you consumed in one hour.
Lazy people, busy people, and broke-ass people of the world… if you feel like you can’t “give” because you haven’t the time or the money to donate, find a new excuse. If you have internet access, a bank account, and liquid assets of at least $25, you can loan money to the world’s working poor to improve their livelihood.
Capitalists of the world… If you’re looking for a new investment opportunity, recognize that positive returns are not always financial. Invest in an entrepreneur for whom failure is really not an option.
It’s close to midnight and I’m at the peak of my sleep deprived haze… Too bleary to post anything of substance, I’m simply listing some highlights from the week, “Week in Review” style.
Zzzzzzzzzz..
Okay, so the title is a bit silly (I couldn’t resist the rhyme), but I’m thrilled to learn that my friend and colleague Mr. Adam Nash is starting a “Personal Finance” series on his blog: http://psychohistory.wordpress.com/personal-finance/.
One of my goals for the year, as mentioned in an earlier post, is to gain more investment savvy. While I’ve been doing my part by devoting more time to researching funds and reading up on investment strategies, I’m still somewhat timid. For reference, I’m the kid who had to double up on floaties before jumping into the shallow end of the pool for the first time… I was certain I would sink. But taking pointers from someone who continues to be an incredible professional mentor will come quite naturally. Thanks, Adam!
