Category: Marketing Insight

Keeping up to date

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Can be a huge time waster. The irony for us in startup land is that it’s our job to stay informed.

Startup blog advice: If you need to stay on top of a broad topic find a good aggregator.

Someone who’ll cover stuff when it becomes important enough for you to know. Seth Godin does this for me as far as web 2.0 and new marketing is concerned. Startup blog does this for you as far as keeping your mind thinking as an entrepreneur should.

Got some good short cut summary sites? On new technology, web sites, new businesses? Add them to comments.

The map

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Sometimes we’re not as lost as we think we are. We just need to put the brakes on. Stop and revisit our map.

 world-globe.png 

We need to find our location, and determine if we’re on target, or if we’ve made a few wrong turns. If we’re not where we’d like to be, we might need to change direction.

 

The important this are that we don’t obsess over the map every day, or just keep forging ahead when we’re lost.

Pictures

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I try and use pictures on every blog entry.  

I use pictures every time I do a business presentation.

You might see something my words didn’t tell you.  

My words might tell you something my picture didn’t show you.

wheres-wally.png 

(Where’s wally?)

The silver bullet

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Big business and Governments the world over constantly search for the big idea, the way forward, the next world beating innovation.  This viewpoint evolves from a mass culture of domination and power to the few. The military industrial complex where large investment, and owning infrastructure can create long term profitability, and ultimately control over constituents. 

If there’s anything to be learned from the internet and media revolution, it’s that the silver bullet has disappeared. It’s not the answer. Fragmentation is inevitable.

 

The answer lies in the aggregation of ‘collective yet differentiated’ resources. Aggregation is how we can overcome and take advantage future fragmentation. This is how the business opportunities of tomorrow will evolve.

 oil-barrel.jpg

The energy / oil / enviro / climate crisis faces the same future…. and I’m betting that the answer isn’t a single substitue for the barrel of oil.    

Rain makers

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Hippo jobs is a fast growing web startup which focuses on the youth job market. I recently had a coffee with the super successful entrepreneur and General Manager of Hippo.com.au – James Masini.

 hippo.gif 

The discussion found its way towards scaling up and staff requirements and structure.  

Insert startup insight here:  

The majority of his work force are currently in business development roles – read ‘sale people’. He’s currently recruiting a few more staff who’ll also be in Business Development – sale people. 

Not coders, not techies, not marketers, not bean counters, not admin…. rain making, revenue generating, sales people. Simple.