Eureka Tower and Melbourne Arts Centre
Friday, October 29, 2010
present for Will
having a bit of fun and games at Tribal DDB Melbourne, this is a little gift I left for Will on our Fruit day!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
moving meditations - emotional attention and attachment
Some of the most powerful thoughts that capture our attention is the spectrum of emotions that we absorb or interpret for any given situation. It is most poignant from those close to us, those we care about even if we wish to deny it. Can one change the story so that the experience of painful emotions is muted?
Maybe so, but should we just also let ourselves give into the pain, that it needs to be experienced fully so that it can have a good chance of dissipating?
For me, family has been the source and giver of the most intense emotions - something that I thought I had left behind, but realise will always be there no matter how old I grow. The joy of a new edition, of seeing a pure smile from my youngest nephew was amazing to experience again.
That is what we get from our children - the chance to experience some of the things we lose along the way or forget that we still have inside of us
Maybe so, but should we just also let ourselves give into the pain, that it needs to be experienced fully so that it can have a good chance of dissipating?
For me, family has been the source and giver of the most intense emotions - something that I thought I had left behind, but realise will always be there no matter how old I grow. The joy of a new edition, of seeing a pure smile from my youngest nephew was amazing to experience again.
That is what we get from our children - the chance to experience some of the things we lose along the way or forget that we still have inside of us
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Life's lessons
"Help only those who want to be helped"
"Friendship is about what you are willing to sacrifice for the benefit of your friends - time, effort, attention"
"Crisis offers the most opportunities for growth, helps you focus on the important things that matter most to you"
Never believe that your assumptions are reality
simple, focus, community, attention, useful, goals are words worth knowing
Monday, April 05, 2010
Startup basics - Sean Ellis
1. Market Fit
"If you’re targeting small business owners or sole proprietors,
I believe it’s better to keep your product free until you find the product/market fit. I would however
recommend creating a formal beta program where the company locks in a 50% discount in exchange for certain commitments (like a 15 minute interview and monthly surveys). They should understand that they can use it for free during the beta period, but if they want to continue using it after the beta finishes, they’ll need to buy."
The “40% very disappointed” metric
"..at least 30 responses, which is where I start to see results stabilize. Of course more responses is better."
MEASURE MARKET FIT use:
http://www.survey.io
Notes based on the principles espoused by Sean Ellis
Pre - evalution of idea
Does this product/service as spec’d solve a problem or a need customers have?” Is our solution compelling enough that they want to buy it or use it today? Steve Blank
Day 1 - VALILDATE Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
problem exists?
is it worth solving?
minimum set of features to solve it
- then meet prospects
Where’s the Love? “the flock always finds the best grass.” Vinod Khosla
Start looking for a signal about who loves your product and why as soon as you release your MVP
Most products have at least a few people that truly consider it a must have. These people hold the keys to the kingdom.
Learn everything you can about them including their specific use cases and demographic characteristics. Try to get more of these types of people.
Expose the Core Gratifying Experience
find core user perceived value and exposing it in messaging optimized for response.
remove complexity from the initial user experience and messaging in order to highlight this core user perceived value.
Metrics
Start Charging
Extreme Customer Support
first marketing expense should be to expand the customer support team.
Anyone that cares enough about your solution to contact customer support is a great source of insight about your target market.
Brand Experience Over Brand Awareness
most entrepreneurs understand that brand awareness campaigns are a waste of money for startups
Instead, it’s much cheaper and more effective for startups to focus on creating a fantastic brand experience.
Driving Growth
CEOs must take an active role in driving customer growth whether or not they have an interest in marketing.
It’s important to stay aggressive and take all slack out of the market.
Business building
Fast growing businesses are difficult to manage. This is the point where you should bring in some experienced operations people if they aren’t already on the team.
1. Determine Market fit
1.1 Create a free or beta program of your product - get at least 30 users for feedback
use http://www.survey.io to assess at least 40% of users saying they would be “very disappointed” without your product.
x BAD response? engage existing and target users to learn how to make your product a “must have.”
2. Promise: Highlight the benefits described by your “must have” users (those that say they would be very disappointed without your product).
3. Economics: Implement the business model that allows you to profitably acquire the most users.
4. Optimize: Streamline a repeatable, scalable customer acquisition process by testing multiple approaches and tracking to improve the right metrics.
"If you’re targeting small business owners or sole proprietors,
I believe it’s better to keep your product free until you find the product/market fit. I would however
recommend creating a formal beta program where the company locks in a 50% discount in exchange for certain commitments (like a 15 minute interview and monthly surveys). They should understand that they can use it for free during the beta period, but if they want to continue using it after the beta finishes, they’ll need to buy."
The “40% very disappointed” metric
"..at least 30 responses, which is where I start to see results stabilize. Of course more responses is better."
MEASURE MARKET FIT use:
http://www.survey.io
Notes based on the principles espoused by Sean Ellis
Pre - evalution of idea
Does this product/service as spec’d solve a problem or a need customers have?” Is our solution compelling enough that they want to buy it or use it today? Steve Blank
Day 1 - VALILDATE Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
problem exists?
is it worth solving?
minimum set of features to solve it
- then meet prospects
Where’s the Love? “the flock always finds the best grass.” Vinod Khosla
Start looking for a signal about who loves your product and why as soon as you release your MVP
Most products have at least a few people that truly consider it a must have. These people hold the keys to the kingdom.
Learn everything you can about them including their specific use cases and demographic characteristics. Try to get more of these types of people.
Expose the Core Gratifying Experience
find core user perceived value and exposing it in messaging optimized for response.
remove complexity from the initial user experience and messaging in order to highlight this core user perceived value.
Metrics
Start Charging
Extreme Customer Support
first marketing expense should be to expand the customer support team.
Anyone that cares enough about your solution to contact customer support is a great source of insight about your target market.
Brand Experience Over Brand Awareness
most entrepreneurs understand that brand awareness campaigns are a waste of money for startups
Instead, it’s much cheaper and more effective for startups to focus on creating a fantastic brand experience.
Driving Growth
CEOs must take an active role in driving customer growth whether or not they have an interest in marketing.
It’s important to stay aggressive and take all slack out of the market.
Business building
Fast growing businesses are difficult to manage. This is the point where you should bring in some experienced operations people if they aren’t already on the team.
1. Determine Market fit
1.1 Create a free or beta program of your product - get at least 30 users for feedback
use http://www.survey.io to assess at least 40% of users saying they would be “very disappointed” without your product.
x BAD response? engage existing and target users to learn how to make your product a “must have.”
2. Promise: Highlight the benefits described by your “must have” users (those that say they would be very disappointed without your product).
3. Economics: Implement the business model that allows you to profitably acquire the most users.
4. Optimize: Streamline a repeatable, scalable customer acquisition process by testing multiple approaches and tracking to improve the right metrics.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
11am meditations
To truly have 100% focus you need to take care of or eliminate if possible, the distractions.
What is your underlying fear that you are not aware of that prevents you from taking action?
- experience with coasters.com.au > great product > great service > good seo yet no substantial sales? what is missing? marketing, sales tatics, business/marketing relationships with the right people
- no sales yet of new servicing offering - need to review pricing, try ozbargain
Criterias for successful collaborations?
What do they have at stake?
If they can't get it done, what have they got to lose? their livelihood? children, family, house, food
What environment are they working under?
Have they undergone hardship and understand the true nature of having nothing?
What are you learning from them, is there a pushback on your efforts?
1. print the digital art
2. send out portograph for vendors
What is your underlying fear that you are not aware of that prevents you from taking action?
- experience with coasters.com.au > great product > great service > good seo yet no substantial sales? what is missing? marketing, sales tatics, business/marketing relationships with the right people
- no sales yet of new servicing offering - need to review pricing, try ozbargain
Criterias for successful collaborations?
What do they have at stake?
If they can't get it done, what have they got to lose? their livelihood? children, family, house, food
What environment are they working under?
Have they undergone hardship and understand the true nature of having nothing?
What are you learning from them, is there a pushback on your efforts?
1. print the digital art
2. send out portograph for vendors
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
what do you care about?
notes to thyself...
So I got upset about something this morning, and as a result felt agitated, had a rush of emotions and continued onwards with my 11am meditations.
Increasely distracted by the influx of information data - I have been slightly addicted to the need for constant data feed. Which results in a lot of knowledge floating around in my mind. Which in turns contributes to decision paralysis, inaction and procrastination.
Having too much to think about is a bad thing, as business requires quick instincts from a constantly faster changing environment.
I care about what other people think about me, my efforts sometimes a bit too much. I care about making things work, creating beautiful things that I would happily look back with a smile.
I care about the suffering that goes on around the world, my social network, my family.
Change the story, change the emotions.
So I got upset about something this morning, and as a result felt agitated, had a rush of emotions and continued onwards with my 11am meditations.
Increasely distracted by the influx of information data - I have been slightly addicted to the need for constant data feed. Which results in a lot of knowledge floating around in my mind. Which in turns contributes to decision paralysis, inaction and procrastination.
Having too much to think about is a bad thing, as business requires quick instincts from a constantly faster changing environment.
I care about what other people think about me, my efforts sometimes a bit too much. I care about making things work, creating beautiful things that I would happily look back with a smile.
I care about the suffering that goes on around the world, my social network, my family.
Change the story, change the emotions.
- Awareness
- Acceptance or Action
- Change
Monday, January 11, 2010
Dance, Dance, Dance
To learn how to dance. You have to learn the steps before you can have fun with it.
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