Mass customization

Here’s a few categories or Industries which have been revolutionized by Mass Customization:

 

T-shirts (Threadless & Neighborhoodies)

TV (Youtube & Joost)

Handbags (Elemental Threads)

Journalism (Blogs & podcasting)

Newspapers (RSS)

Job Seeking (Aggregation & feeds)

Book publishing (Lulu)

Tourism (the web in general)

Luxury goods (fractional ownership)

Music (itunes)

Networking (facebook & social apps)

 

In fact there’s just too many to mention.

 

But the real question is this: If it hasn’t hit your industry yet, why not and what are you doing about it?

One piece of advice

If you could offer entrepreneurs one piece of advice what would it be?

 

Start up blog’s is this:   Don’t die wondering.

 

I’m sure all 20,000 monthly startup blog readers want to hear yours. Add them to the comments or email them to me and I’ll post them on an upcoming blog entry with your name / blog beside it.

Top 10 songs for entrepreneurs

According to startup blog….Based on lyrics, some which will require some interpretation.

 

  1. Tyler Durdin – the dust brothers
  2. Life during wartime – Talking heads
  3. Whatever it is – Ben Lee
  4. Everyones free (to wear sunscreen) – Quinton Tarver
  5. Turn the page – the Streets
  6. No such thing  – John Mayer
  7. The revolution will not be televised – Gil Scott Heron
  8. Get up stand up – Bob Marley
  9. All you zombies – the Hooters
  10. The distance – Cake

Bonus song: We want your soul – Adam Freeland

 

Bonus info – Some you might not know – great I’ve done my job. All are available for purchase on itunes, or free on many on-line download sites if you are that way inclined.

 

What to do next – get your hands on them, create a playlist, burn a CD, put on your MP3 player and listen to your future and get excited.

 

Suggest your songs in the comments.

Ahead of their time

Here’s a meme from the Cluetrain Manifesto guys.  It was written some 9 years ago and still rings true. The predictions herein are still evolving today, and yet some corporations still haven’t got it.

Start ups out there; invest 5 minutes with the ideas below, embrace them and you’ll be well ahead of the game.

[slideshare id=7027&doc=cluetrain-28722&w=425]

This blog is bias

This blog is full of contradictions. Mainly because we must embrace the many contradictions our market place constantly presents us. So when you read them remember its all about context.

 

But in the spirit of symmetry here’s a few contradictions you’ll never find:

 

Bias for doing over planning 

Bias for speed over perfection 

Bias for niche over mass market 

Bias for authenticity over spin 

Bias for passion over ability

 

It pays to have a bias for what you stand for.

Entrepreneurs are like footballers

Footballers (or any sports person) have good form and bad form. Some are heroes and always play well…. others have fleeting moments and some are inconsistent but sometimes brilliant.

 

As entrepreneurs we ought aim to be like ‘the’ footballer… not just a footballer in the league… But the MVP.

 

It’s hard to understand why some footballers have got the raw talent, the opportunity in the big league, but never seem to reach their potential.

 

Chances are – we too are that person – but in business.

 

We’ve been told by our friends and colleagues that we’ve got the talent to make it happen. They believe in us, but we’re not there – yet. That said, we should refer to ‘that football player’ we all have in our mind already. The guy who could be an absolute hero if he just pulled it all together… The training, the preparation, the diet, the mental application, the team effort, the professionalism. (free feel to name / discuss him in the comments) It’s the same with our start up. The idea, and our potential is only part of the equation. In fact, it’s really just like getting drafted. We’ve got along way to go.

 

 

If we’re going to play, we may as well behave like the MVP. Do it all. Aim for perfection and strive to extract every ounce of the gifts we’ve been given. As we know the MVP is never the guy with the most raw talent. It’s usually the guy who maximizes their potential.

 

Let’s do all the stuff we know we should in order to be the best. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Don’t be like Georgie

English football savant George Best was once asked what happened to all the money he earned as the worlds greatest player. In classic Georgie style he responded:

 

“I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars, the rest I just squandered.”

 

         

 

 

If we’re in an early phase start up or we’ve just made bank, the principles don’t change. If you can control your spending, you can control your business and your life. It’s easy to justify expenditure at either end of the business spectrum. A start up can convince themselves they’re investing for growth. Likewise, a booming business with big profits can fly first class and hire private yachts to impress clients themselves.

 

Quite often over spending is due to a real lack of creativity and an inflated ego.

 

Startup blog advice is this: Cash flow is vital and by being creative we can ultimately conserve cash flow, yet generate similar results.