| "Usually
the way startups die is that they launch something, users ignore it,
investors are lukewarm, and they get demoralized and give up. Sometimes
there are other forces encouraging them to give up, like the pull of
school, or the push of founder conflicts. It's normal for users not to like what you first launch with, and for investors to be lukewarm. (Investors are basically permanently lukewarm.) So the groups who give up usually are looking at about the same information as other groups who keep going and succeed. Most of the time it comes down to whether they see the glass as half full or half empty." --.Paul Graham, writing at Hacker News, in the comments |
social media related: April 2008 Archives
Like any app, twitter has a learning curve, and after about six weeks of active use, I feel like I'm crossing the threshold of being comfortable. What have I learned about successful tweeting, aka, rules to twit by? Here goes:
- Personality rules; voice and tone trump URLS
- It's the (cyber virtual) watercooler--ask and ye shall be @ replied
- Little links are useful, but not if every post is twit-linking to your stuff (ugh)
- Twitter is beyond transparency, this is a medium where truly being expressive makes a huge difference
- Feel free to be opinionated, it's not your blog
- Twitter is the small footprint of the Net; if it was a car, it would be carbon neutral.
"Two months ago, I was doing what I had to do. Now I'm doing what I want
to do. And looking back, it was a change I'd always wanted to make, but
as long as I was drawing a steady paycheck, I didn't see it as a change
that I could afford to make-for me or for my family. Looking long term,
I'm not sure it was a decision I could afford not to make.
Getting laid off forced me to make the change that I'd always wanted
to make anyways. And it may work out or it may not. But the point is
that I've made that change now. I'm doing what I'm passionate about."
--Fellow ex-Yahoo! Ryan Kuder, who's started blogging, started a company and is seeing the brave new world, post Yahoo!.
Susan sez: It's hard to let go of complacency and choose risk, but well-thought out risk is one of the biggest adrenalin highs, and a place where both opportunity and productivity can flourish.
--Fellow ex-Yahoo! Ryan Kuder, who's started blogging, started a company and is seeing the brave new world, post Yahoo!.
Susan sez: It's hard to let go of complacency and choose risk, but well-thought out risk is one of the biggest adrenalin highs, and a place where both opportunity and productivity can flourish.
I had coffee a couple of days ago with a friend and former co-worker still at Yahoo!, no longer at Personals, but on to the next adventure. He was pretty psyched about his role, felt he was having a good impact, was at a project core to the company, etc. and as he talked I felt amazed at how, over the past two months, I'd moved so solidly from us to them. Or, in other words, to use a relationship metaphor, babe, I'd moved on.
Looking around at friends and co-workers who exited around the same time, it looks like most of us have moved on, even if some have not settled into new staff jobs (I know some great people still out there, DM me if you need product managers, SEO experts, and content types). Interestingly, more than 50% of the folks have gone to start-ups, often their own; another chunk went to other companies, and a not small number went to new roles at--surprise!--Yahoo.
As I said yesterday, I'm not really ready to share everything that's next right now, but life is starting to take shape and form. Thanks, Yahoo, for giving me a shove out the door that's been a catalyst for what should be a year of challenges, growth and continued change, as well as a whole boatload of stuff to figure out.
Looking around at friends and co-workers who exited around the same time, it looks like most of us have moved on, even if some have not settled into new staff jobs (I know some great people still out there, DM me if you need product managers, SEO experts, and content types). Interestingly, more than 50% of the folks have gone to start-ups, often their own; another chunk went to other companies, and a not small number went to new roles at--surprise!--Yahoo.
As I said yesterday, I'm not really ready to share everything that's next right now, but life is starting to take shape and form. Thanks, Yahoo, for giving me a shove out the door that's been a catalyst for what should be a year of challenges, growth and continued change, as well as a whole boatload of stuff to figure out.
There is so much going on in my life right now, most of which I can't talk about yet.
Sorry for the teasers, but it's the only way to explain both the lack of blogging and my non-show to date at Web 2.0; got the pass, but have been hunkeringh down down at home on some critical things.
Short version: Israel was a great (working) vacation, I feel refreshed and diving into the next set of adventures feels so energizing--and stressful--I always find changes really hard, even good ones.
Sorry for the teasers, but it's the only way to explain both the lack of blogging and my non-show to date at Web 2.0; got the pass, but have been hunkeringh down down at home on some critical things.
Short version: Israel was a great (working) vacation, I feel refreshed and diving into the next set of adventures feels so energizing--and stressful--I always find changes really hard, even good ones.
Even in a big world, human impulse is to make it smaller.
Valleywag may make derisive snorts about the "250," meaning the preening, self-congratulatory elitists they imagine as Silicon Valley's blogging core, but the truth is that the early adaptor crowd is really global, not local, and there's more like 3,500 of' em.
Having just spent a week in Israel with a gaggle of geeks, all using EVDO cards to stay connected on the travel bus, I observed a couple of things that I hadn't known before:
a) People from all over the world are talking to one another online, 24/7
b) Many of the people talking have formed strong ties and virtual communities.
c) Twitter is a key tool in supporting a & b, but blogs, friendfeed, IM, skype, email, and flickr all contribute as well.
During my week in Israel, I met folks, like the wonderful Orli Yakuel, who said she started techn blogging because of an influential blogger friend she'd met online, in the US; she and this person exchanged messages daily and had done so for a couple years.
At the same time, I saw Scoble, the most relentless and genial of bloggers, conduct conversations simultaneously with people all over the globe.
And I myself, of course, kept my my ties current and shared info daily with my friends and family in California, my business partner in Boston, and a whole gaggle of friends, family and colleagues in New York (and as I am now doing with a couple of people I met in Israel.)
The conclusion here, of course, is that it is human nature to make the world small.
Fueled by Twitter and skype, distances become smaller, discourses become more informal, and the global village gets larger, pulling us of us into the same virtual town.
Valleywag may make derisive snorts about the "250," meaning the preening, self-congratulatory elitists they imagine as Silicon Valley's blogging core, but the truth is that the early adaptor crowd is really global, not local, and there's more like 3,500 of' em.
Having just spent a week in Israel with a gaggle of geeks, all using EVDO cards to stay connected on the travel bus, I observed a couple of things that I hadn't known before:
a) People from all over the world are talking to one another online, 24/7
b) Many of the people talking have formed strong ties and virtual communities.
c) Twitter is a key tool in supporting a & b, but blogs, friendfeed, IM, skype, email, and flickr all contribute as well.
During my week in Israel, I met folks, like the wonderful Orli Yakuel, who said she started techn blogging because of an influential blogger friend she'd met online, in the US; she and this person exchanged messages daily and had done so for a couple years.
At the same time, I saw Scoble, the most relentless and genial of bloggers, conduct conversations simultaneously with people all over the globe.
And I myself, of course, kept my my ties current and shared info daily with my friends and family in California, my business partner in Boston, and a whole gaggle of friends, family and colleagues in New York (and as I am now doing with a couple of people I met in Israel.)
The conclusion here, of course, is that it is human nature to make the world small.
Fueled by Twitter and skype, distances become smaller, discourses become more informal, and the global village gets larger, pulling us of us into the same virtual town.
If Ayelet Noff were to be played by a Hollywood star in the movie version of the Israeli web scene, the actress would have to be either Scarlett Johansson or Uma Thurman. Ayelet's blend of authentic charm, warmth, web savviness and marketing smarts is so high-wattage only an Oscar winner could do her justice.A former New Yorker, Ayelet is one of those bi-cultural Israelis who grew up in the US and then moved back. Fluent in English and seemingly effortlessly bi-cultural, Ayelet offers a much need broad perspective to the high-tech start-ups that seek her counsel--she offers advice on product development, marketing, partnerships and brand positioning; my sense is she often provides a valuable and more savvy focus to Israeli teams wanting to reach a global market. In addition, Ayelet is a born connector; she truly knows everybody and relishes introducing people to one another; the dinners, meet-ups, coffees and conversations she helped created for the Travelling Geeks crowd on this last Israel trip were wonderful.
During The Marker's COM. Vention; Israel's equivalent of Web 2.0 Expo, I sat down with Ayelet and asked lots of questions. Here, some of the answers:
When did you start your blog, Blonde 2.0? What made you dive in with it?
"My background is in marketing. I worked for TBWA Chiat/Day in New York for a while, then came home to Israel and worked at ICQ and with some start-ups. 18 months ago I started Blonde 2.0--there was a need for a marketing business that could explain Web 2.0 tools and help them use and integrate them in the Israeli market; the name was just a way to brand myself.
Are there many women who do what you do?
No, not really. For one thing, in Israel, many people marry and have babies by the time they are 25 or 26, so not everyone wants to be as entrepreneurial as me. Also, not everyone has the perspective I have; I'm Israeli, but I've lived around the world and am able to see different cultural and international points of view, particularly the American market; that and my fluency in English set me somewhat apart.
How do you get business?
Well, I'm pretty visible, between my work and my blog/brand. Clients often come to me, either through word of mouth, or via my social networks. Often, they're at an early stage where they need a web site and lots of positioning, or they're farther along and they need to really focus on the marketing.
What are the rules you try to run your business by?
- Always remember people who have helped you; be helpful in return. Build a good support network
- Do a good job -there is no replacement for that!
- Work with really smart people; use the best
- Don't use your personal social network to promote stuff; you'll burn people out.
- Never speak badly of anyone.
- Work with companies whose products you'd use yourself and that you believe it.
- Write about clients in your blog, but discreetly--don't over promote
For me, meeting Ayelet was great because she's someone, perhaps like Deb Schultz in the Bay area, who can bridge Israeli tech culture and the US Web 2.0 scene. Smart and motivated, Ayelet is both a pivotal part of the Israeli scene and an interesting contributor.
Excerpt from blonde 2.0:
"...bloggers today have a dramatic effect on the outcome of startups. Bloggers are the opinion leaders of today. I would be more inclined to try a service or product if a specific blogger that I admire recommended it as opposed to a journalist. But we're not only talking quality. We're also talking quantity. 120,000 blogs are opened each day and startups can receive a great deal more coverage through blogs than through traditional media. In addition, there are niche bloggers that write about specific topics and turning to those bloggers will of course get you much more targeted exposure for your service/product."
Links:
Blonde 2.0 blog
On April 23, the MacArthur Foundation and Common Sense Media are
hosting a free public forum at Stanford University on "how digital
technologies and new media are changing the way that young people
learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life." Julia Stasch,
the Vice President of the foundation, will talk about MacArthur's
$50 million digital media and learning initiative; danah boyd and Mimi Ito are among the funding recipients who will present research.
Teen Socialization Practices in Networked Publics
danah boyd, University of California Berkeley
Drawing from interviews of teens across the U.S., boyd will explain
how social network sites such as MySpace and Facebook have become an
integral part of how youth relate to one another and develop their
social identities.
Understanding New Media in the Home
Heather Horst, University of California Berkeley
Looking across a range of case studies, Horst will examine how
families of varying backgrounds negotiate the changes and challenges of
incorporating new media into everyday family life.
Hip Hop Music and Meaning in the Digital Age
Dilan Mahendran, University of California Berkeley
Based on his study of youth hip hop production in the Bay Area,
Mahendran will describe how young people learn, mobilize, and develop
meaning through collaborative digital media production.
New Media from a Youth Perspective
Mimi Ito, University of Southern California and Principle Investigator of the Kids' Informal Learning with Digital Media project
Ito will conclude the research presentations with an overview of
project cases studies, ending with a discussion of what parents,
educators, and technology developers can learn from youth engagement
with new media.
Steve Hodson's got a smart post up that presents the point of view that the Mashables, the TechCrunches, the RWWs, the GigaOms have become so big and so pervasive that individual tech bloggers have to either join the or fight for attention to be heard.
As someone who's been blogging since 2003, mostly as a part-time thing, and not as a means to make $$ from writing (though it's definitely helped my consulting), the concept that newer bloggers feel that they have to fight to have a voice seems interesting. I'm not sure it's true, but I know that there are people who believe it's true, and their experience fighting to be heard is probably quite different than mine,
One thing I've started to see and wondered about are the people who seem to make informal agreements to promote one another, to informally create networks if you will. I don't know that I had ever heard of Corvida/She Geeks until Louis Gray started linking to her relentlessly, along with Steve Hodson and SarahinTampa and ParisLemon /MGSigler (A quick look at Technorati links suggests that these folks are linking to one another at least 50% more than anyone else is linking to them.)
Interestingly, it turns out that all of these folks are part of a new blogging network called Grand Effect that aims to share ads and boost traffic.And clearly, though they don't seem to have sold any ads yet, the network effect works. Coming off a week in Israel on the bus with Scoble, Craig Newmark and Sarah Lacy, it's interesting to see folks joining forces--while Scoble's certainly done his share of linking to the uncles, these other folks are more independent sorts; Sit would be fun to hear what Sarah, who's also a journalist, thinks about the fight to be heard .
So, the "real questions" are:
1. Do you have to form alliances to get traffic, beyond what the big sites throw out?
2. Whose rise in the states supports this idea--and whose doesn't?
3. Does it matter, aka, does this kind of recirculation push yet other voices down (and isn't that the law of continuous revolution, anyway?)
I'd really like to hear what you think..either in the comments or on your own site. (And let me just add these people I am talking about are voices I value, so this ain't throwing down no glove.)
As someone who's been blogging since 2003, mostly as a part-time thing, and not as a means to make $$ from writing (though it's definitely helped my consulting), the concept that newer bloggers feel that they have to fight to have a voice seems interesting. I'm not sure it's true, but I know that there are people who believe it's true, and their experience fighting to be heard is probably quite different than mine,
One thing I've started to see and wondered about are the people who seem to make informal agreements to promote one another, to informally create networks if you will. I don't know that I had ever heard of Corvida/She Geeks until Louis Gray started linking to her relentlessly, along with Steve Hodson and SarahinTampa and ParisLemon /MGSigler (A quick look at Technorati links suggests that these folks are linking to one another at least 50% more than anyone else is linking to them.)
Interestingly, it turns out that all of these folks are part of a new blogging network called Grand Effect that aims to share ads and boost traffic.And clearly, though they don't seem to have sold any ads yet, the network effect works. Coming off a week in Israel on the bus with Scoble, Craig Newmark and Sarah Lacy, it's interesting to see folks joining forces--while Scoble's certainly done his share of linking to the uncles, these other folks are more independent sorts; Sit would be fun to hear what Sarah, who's also a journalist, thinks about the fight to be heard .
So, the "real questions" are:
1. Do you have to form alliances to get traffic, beyond what the big sites throw out?
2. Whose rise in the states supports this idea--and whose doesn't?
3. Does it matter, aka, does this kind of recirculation push yet other voices down (and isn't that the law of continuous revolution, anyway?)
I'd really like to hear what you think..either in the comments or on your own site. (And let me just add these people I am talking about are voices I value, so this ain't throwing down no glove.)
I'm back home; it's a nice day in the Bay area, and my body thinks it's evening tho my brain says midday. This of course will lead to the inevitable crashing out that jet lag often delivers.
Meanwhile, fellow Merry Travelling Geeks Crankster JD Lasica has published the very cool survey of the even cooler tools that the Bay area blogging crew on the israeli-based travelling geeks bus (and it was a very intimate bus) would confess to using.
People, that means you are about to hear what useful toys and shiny web implements Robert Scoble, Sarah Lacy, Craig Newmark and the rest of us fire up every day. Here are some highlights from the list.
Most obscure (and retro) tools? SSH (secure shell) & Pine (email client). Who? Uh, Craig.
Meanwhile, fellow Merry Travelling Geeks Crankster JD Lasica has published the very cool survey of the even cooler tools that the Bay area blogging crew on the israeli-based travelling geeks bus (and it was a very intimate bus) would confess to using.
People, that means you are about to hear what useful toys and shiny web implements Robert Scoble, Sarah Lacy, Craig Newmark and the rest of us fire up every day. Here are some highlights from the list.
- All 8 use Firefox, Facebook and Twitter.
- 5 use Friedfeed daily, 6 use flickr daily, and half said they used Gmail daily.
- Blogging software has the greatest fragmentation: some folks use multiple platforms, principally Typepad(5), Moveable Type (3), Word press (1, with one planning to switch.)
Most obscure (and retro) tools? SSH (secure shell) & Pine (email client). Who? Uh, Craig.
"In the last week we deployed new code to Flickr 50 times, including
546 changes by 16 people. We issued over 2,000 new API keys, and third
party developers made an average of 704 API calls per second, across 109 public API methods. We added 1 new API method, and updated 7 others. There are approximately 10,000 lines of open source code in our public subversion repository.
And our new developer site, code.flickr.com, is where you keep up with all that."
--flickr staffer kellan elliott-mccrea, writing on the flickr blog about the ongoing, useful development work the team keeps doing (oh, and there's a new developer blog here).
Susan sez: Isn't this what good web services do..keep empowering and working with their users?
