entrepreneurship Archives - Page 61 of 235

TV on the slow track

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Steve Sammartino

It seems every other day I read another story about mainstream media just not getting the shift we are seeing in the landscape. The most recent example is the idea of international TV programs being fast tracked to Australia. That is, them not waiting to show it in a perceived ‘peak ratings’ period in our country, but just showing it as soon as it is available.

One such program that is touted as being on the ‘fast track’ to Australia is Homeland. A really terrific edgy show which was a ratings boon in Australia for series 1. Channel 10 in Australia screened the first series in January this year to more than 1.2 million viewers. This was 3 months after the USA premier. Yet the ‘so called’ fast tracked 2nd series averaged a disappointing 630,000 viewers. Some commentators including this one postulated that ‘fast tracking’ doesn’t work. Claiming that ‘downloads are minimal’ ( WTF?) and that it is better to promote heavily and program in a strong period.

It’s clear to me that he doesn’t get it. A few points to note:

Fast tracking should be ‘the next day’. Not 3 weeks after the US shows as channel 10 is doing – way too slow.
The second season rated poorly because people loved the first one and didn’t want to wait.
Fact – second seasons of successful shows have significantly higher download rates than first seasons. #obvious?

I could go on… But the simplest fact of all is this – mainstream media are still serving their model, not the model the customer want. This is why successful businesses of yesteryear rarely survive a technology disruption as a front runner.

Do it when nobody is looking

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Steve Sammartino

If we get up early when nobody is looking.

If we go to the gym when nobody is looking.

If we read the books when nobody is looking.

If we attend the night classes and seminars when nobody is looking.

If we tend the garden when nobody is looking.

If we save our income when nobody is looking.

If we build our prototype when nobody is looking.

If we knock on doors when nobody is looking

If we work hard when nobody is looking…

So long as ‘we’ are looking, is all that matters. If we do it for long enough, eventually the yield from silent and lonely work appears for others to see, and most often, they wonder ‘when’ we did it.

Definitive Advice

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Steve Sammartino

Advice is an interesting thing to give because by it is opinionated in nature. It is influenced more by the previous experience of the giver, more than it is by the taker. Because advice we give is usually one of many possible courses of action, there will always be doubt in the recommendation. The only way of really knowing what advice to take, only becomes evident after it has been taken.

Where doubt is an omnipresent reality, the best advice we can give is definitive advice. Advice which is acted upon quickly and fervently. When advice increases self belief in the receiver, it is often more valuable than the advice itself.

2 types of work

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Steve Sammartino

The large majority of work we do falls into one of two categories:

We make things.
We organise things.

As entrepreneurs we will do well to answer these two questions in response:

Which one of these types work do we prefer?
How can we help the parties doing the other part we don’t focus on?

Smart startup founders know that both matter, and both need each other.

The duality

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Steve Sammartino

With great change, comes great tension. This tension often leads to a split between the opposing forces from which re-alignment may never occur. A favourite past time of many of us is predicting a winner – the eventual pattern that we’ll all follow.

No category is less pervasive in this arena than technology. But in reality it is becoming less and less about winners and losers, and much more about choice, fragmentation and tribes. An old axiom by Stewart Brand we’ll all remember is the one about “information wanting to be free”…. but it turns out that this story has an oft left out post script: He immediately added after this that “information also wants to be expensive”, which was a far less quoted caveat.

In a world were control is dissipating, and startups are changing everything, we ought remember that both directions can be equally valid.

Comedians = Entrepreneurs

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Steve Sammartino

HBO released a great chat forum with terrific comedians called ‘Talking Funny’. It features the rock star line up of Jerry Seinfeld, Louis CK, Chris Rock and Ricky Gervais. It is incredibly entertaining and funny, but that’s not why I am posting about it. I’m posting about it because it has within it some are some timeless messages for entrepreneurs.

These comedians manage to disagree on pretty much everything they discuss. What it takes to be successful, who they are doing it for (themselves or the the audience) and whether or not swearing is a good or bad thing while delivering their product. It’s clear that they’ve all carved very different paths that lead to their ultimate success, but they all arrived regardless. While they can all agree they need to be able to ‘sell tickets’ to be successful, the methods they embrace differ greatly. It’s another superb reminder for startups that there is more than one way to do it. We can all do it at different life stages too. Jerry started young, while Ricky started late. I also appreciated how honest and human their assessments of life are in this session – all wearing their superstitions and worries on their sleeve.

It’s clear that no matter what we do, our job is to listen to and share as many ideas as possible, and find a shtick that works for us. Enjoy the lessons and the laughs.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVBFwY4na7E]
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