startups Archives - Page 57 of 117

Amazing Aviation Facts

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Steve Sammartino

I recently did an Ignite talk on Amazing Aviation. People were blown away with some of the facts I presented. Many of them are very surprising. Here’s some of the doozies in a top 10 list!

Only 5% of the worlds population have ever been on an airplane.
Flight is not the safest form of travel. The bus is on all measures. The motorcycle is the most dangerous on all measures.
The airline industry has currently made a net loss of $31 billion dollars since 1940.
The average profit per seat on a 1 hour flight is $2.20.
In 1940 to fly London – New York it cost 1 years wages. Today it costs the wage of working only Monday & Tuesday.
The average age of commercial aircraft is 19 years. (How safe is a 19 year old car?)
Tom Stuker is the worlds most frequent flyer. He has traveled over 10 million miles.
There are over 14,000 commercial flights in the air at any one time.
There are over 3 million people in the air on planes at any one time.
The worlds first flying car arrives in 2012. Called the Terrafugia it costs $194,000

Statistics are fun, Love Stevie.

My dad's chevy

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Steve Sammartino

Every now and again a brand crosses the chasm. A brand goes from being a thing, to being an emotional ingredient. These moments are usually personal, they are hard to capture and share. But occasionally it is captured, and it takes us to an entire new understanding of what is possible when we create things with the end user in mind. In this instance, the car was first created with driver in mind. And then, the acquisition was created with a dad in mind.

Another example of great narrative that would not be possible in the limited media of yesteryear. What a beautiful brand story to share – Kudos to all involved.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz-nO6WvOYw]

Micro innovation – Little Printer

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Steve Sammartino

Here is another great example that technological change only brings more opportunities for creative minds. There is no reason why the video below could not have been an innovation launched by anyone in the struggling publishing industry. In fact, it should have been. The reason such innovation rarely comes from the incumbent, is because they are too often in love with their infrastructure and not in love with their customers.

Big props goes to bergcloud – your future is bright.

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/32796535]

Broken heart v Broken back

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Steve Sammartino

A colleague has embarked upon a new property start up over the past 3 years. During this time he has been incredibly successful. Starting and completing many small projects, to deliver what he believed to be a massive profit. In fact, at least double what he could have earned in his previous paid employment (which was at the executive level).

The projects were complete, chickens hatched and it was time to count them. Turns out the numbers didn’t stack up quite that well. Yes it was profitable, at least as profitable as his previous job was. But in truth the sweat and toil was much greater. The net result for him was a broken heart. So much effort, for no real financial upside.

It was time for a sense check. Was it all worth it?

Yes.

His heart may have been broken, but his back is not. The profits did exist, and the learnings were even greater. The mistakes are known and the upside from here is very significant. All too often we let a broken heart beat us, when in truth the only real thing that should stop us is a broken back. We choose the hard road because it is worth it. The toil and truth is part of the profit. And real profits are far beyond anything financial.

Address is approximate – Imagination is vital

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Steve Sammartino

I came across this piece which is a totally brilliant mash up on of film making and Google maps. There is no real technical genius in this. A few simple time lapse techniques is all it is. The real value is the imagination need to think of this new use of an omnipresent technology. As I have said before the art of business in the new world is taking the seemingly disparate and creating new meaning.

This almost made me cry. Enjoy.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/32397612 w=400&h=225]

Address Is Approximate from The Theory on Vimeo.

Good ideas v bad ideas

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Steve Sammartino

We automatically jump to our personal conclusions on ideas that are shared with us. It’s either good or bad. We can’t help it. But our opinion is somewhat simplified. What we are really doing when we jump to these conclusions is assessing the probability of success. How probable the ideas is to succeed. Good ideas are more probable in our mind.

The interesting thing about probability of success is that ideas that have lower probability are usually the ones with the biggest reward. The trophy ideas. But rather than pigeon holing ideas as good or bad – we consider them in terms of probability. It is only when we do this, that our appetite for risk can be part of the decision making process.

10 'just because' projects

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Steve Sammartino

I’ve been thinking about a few different projects I’d like to do. Which at this stage have no real revenue or business associated with them, other than I find them interesting. I thought I’d list them here to see if anyone has similar crazy ‘just because’ projects. Maybe these fun crazy things are what we should be doing and building, instead of working out what other people want. Maybe the thing that really matters is what we want. Either way here they are;

Take a year to fly to every commercial Airport in the world – without a break. yes, including living in planes and airports for a full 12 months. Document it and what happens for some reason. Find interesting stuff and people. See what happens. Film it. Socialize it on live digital media. Find something no one has ever thought of or seen. Just because.
Live for a year only on food that is grown at home. Vegetables and animals. Cook using only wood and home made ovens. Every bit of food that goes in my mouth I will have grown, baked, killed cooked and created. Document it all. Just because.
Walk around the entire coastline of Australia. Beach by beach, headland by headland. 25,760 km’s of it. Learn something. Document it…. Just because.
Make a short film. Without any false ambitions of becoming the next Tarantino. Just to create. Be part of it. Just because.
Renovate a house. Yes, a totally dilapidated 100 year old timber home. To see what my eye and hands can really make when they collaborate. Build a house my family can live in, be safe in, grow together in. Take time out and do this. A non Grand Design for me and my people. Just because.
Start a cult. Just to see if we can make a positive one. A cult of good. To see if I could lead people in such a way that they live for the cause, but to flip it. To make the cause about fixing broken shit in the world….Like the banking system and the 1%. Just because.
Be a used car salesman. mainly because I think it would be really, really hard. To see how I could sell in a difficult environment. To test my skills, and see what I could learn to take into my future. To be the most untrusted person in the commercial world. To be that guy. The be that guy and see how I handle myself and what I become. Just because.
Coach A little league team. Pass on some skills, about the game, and maybe about life. Teach some youngsters stuff that matters – have am impact on their attitude without them even knowing. See how it feels to help out the people who will inherit our world. Just because.
Live in a tropical paradise. Mainly to remove the myth or confirm it. A place where little money is needed, the weather is always warm and technology and financial growth are irrelevant. Find out out if the picture of paradise is real or perceived. Stay forever if it is real. Just because.
Join a street gang. A real underworld style gang. Think East L.A. Get dirty and down and be part of something bigger than me that is from the opposite side of town. Learn their rules and play by them. Deal, steal and destroy. See if the emotional roller coaster is the same, or different. See if I like it more or less. Understand the plight and political machinations of a crime organization from the inside. Draw the analogies and comparisons to the legal world – find out the truth. Just because.

Sometimes we need to embark on startup projects, that aren’t really startups…. Just because.