entrepreneurship Archives - Page 208 of 235

Bootstrapping lyrics

Posted on December 10, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

We need to look and listen for inspiration all day in startup land. We might just see or hear something that gives us a new idea, new perspective or simply helps us stay motivated. I had one such experience while listening to some Talking Heads when their song ‘Life During Wartime’ came on. Which is fron way back in the 1970’s…

I think they’re great entrepreneur / webpreneur lyrics (let alone a funky song). So I attached them below. Hope you get something out of them.

LIFE DURING WARTIME

Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons
packed up and ready to go
Heard of some gravesites, out by the highway
a place where nobody knows
The sound of gunfire, off in the distance
I’m getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto
I’ve lived all over this town This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco
this ain’t no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey
I ain’t got time for that nowTransmit the message, to the receiver
hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, couple of visas
don’t even know my real name
High on a hillside, trucks are loading
everything’s ready to roll
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the nightime
I might not ever get home

This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco
this ain’t no fooling around
This ain’t no mudd club, or C. B. G. B.
I ain’t got time for that now

Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, PA?
You oughta know not to stand by the window
somebody might see you up there
I got some groceries, some peanut butter
to last a couple of days
But I ain’t got no speakers
ain’t got no headphones
ain’t got no records to play

Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
Gonna be different this time?
Can’t write a letter, can’t send a postcard
I can’t write nothing at all
This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco
this ain’t no fooling around
I’d love you hold you, I’d like to kiss you
I ain’t got no time for that now

Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock
we blended in with the crowd
We got computers, we’re tapping phone lines
I know that ain’t allowed
We dress like students, we dress like housewives
or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle so many times now
don’t know what I look like!
You make me shiver, I feel so tender
we make a pretty good team
Don’t get exhausted, I’ll do some driving
you ought to get you some sleep
Get you instructions, follow directions
then you should change your address
Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day
whatever you think is best
Burned all my notebooks, what good are notebooks?
They won’t help me survive
My chest is aching, burns like a furnace
the burning keeps me alive

Tech bubble v2.0

Posted on December 9, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

I recently blogged about the unrealistic valuation of Facebook, seems there’s many who agree with startupblog. Sure web 2.0 is heating up, but as usual they’ll be stayers and those who disappear. The only thing that changes…. This is a really clever and fun parady.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtdV3z9eCm8]

If we want to be here in the long run here’s some simple advice:

Offer a service people need, ensure it has a built in way to make you money, not an exit plan which sells eyeballs – these only work for a few ‘wordbeaters’ (like facebook & youtube).

Facebook Apps vs Advertising

Posted on December 8, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

There’s no shortage of both of these now, although we’d like to know why anyone would invest money in advertising on facebook, when one can more cheaply create an application?

There’s no shortage of useless apps out there…. No I don’t want to be a vampire, but I do want to:

keep a record of which cities I’ve been to (thanks – tripadvisor.com)
learn to speak Chinese (thanks – learn-chinese.com)
sell my art on facebook (thanks – portfolio)

If I’m interested and the app is good, it will find me. If there is an advertisement in a side bar, I’m generally going to ignore it. I’m not on facebook to look at advertisements, no matter how targeted.

At Rentoid.com today we launched “Where did my money go?” An app which

– helps calculate the value of idle assets

– gives cools icon gifts to share

– shows people how to unlock their idle asset value

– enables users compare the value of their stuff

All while being part of the reason people are on facebook. We did this with just a little bit of coding. Check it out here.

Good app’s which are fun, useful and have a reason to link back to your business are an absolute boon. We can always improve an app over time by paying attention to user feedback. We’ve been gifted to have a free open platform with 52 million members. Instead of advertising on facebook and being an ancillary, build an app and be part of the ball game!

Start with .com

Posted on December 5, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

When we start searching / thinking / developing new business name we ought start with .com

The reason is this simple: If the .com is available. Chances are everything else will be….

– trademark registration

– the local internet abbreviation (.co.uk) (.com.au)….

– business name

– limited corporation name

– IPO / stock exchange name

…and anything else worth having. They’ll all be the same.

This advice isn’t coming from the high ground either…. it comes from the battle scars of not doing so.

It may take a long time, but it’s worth the effort. It makes it easier for people to find you. And by definition, any start up should focus on making it easy for people who want to do business with us.

Market leaders & innovation

Posted on December 4, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

Guitar maker Gibson has just proven that market leaders ‘can be first to market’ with something so innovative it’s awesome – The self-tuning Les Paul Robot Guitar. Check it out below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UnvIgRAxN8]

So the next time you’re told it can’t be done in your start up or conglomerate, show them this. Oh, I nearly forgot to mention advertising isn’t required with an innovation like this, their community of passionate users will do that for them.

Kudos to Gibson.

Simple motivation

Posted on December 3, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

After a few wins in a start up – one buddy emailed this image to another buddy with the obvious inference that he was “On Fire”

It didn’t cost anything. It only took a tiny effort, but it helped both buddies stay pumped and work harder on their start ups.

The Pitch

Posted on December 3, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

A colleague has left the safe confines of his large conservative leading architecture firm to start up his own – K2LDC. So now his new job role isn’t CEO, rather ‘salesman’.

So how does an architecture differentiate themselves with their pitch? here’s a tip – it’s not through anything to do with power point slides or boring details. Especially as it concerns visual services such as architecture. It’s about creating theatre, sparking imagination and getting the client into your mind.

So K2DLC did this: After a brief discussion at the pitch they left the client with a deck of cards (samples below) with their pictures and thoughts on how to approach the design.

Result: The client considered what the firm was trying to achieve. They played with the cards. They put them on their fridge. They put them in their order of favorite. They had an in depth discussion. They took themselves on a visual journey. They loved it.

K2DLC won the pitch.