Just the Facts. Yes, All of Them.

March 31st, 2012 § Comments Off on Just the Facts. Yes, All of Them. § permalink

Public speaking

Public speaking (Photo credit: brainpop_uk)

I really like this attitude:

€œIf all data was clear, a lot fewer people would subtract value from the world,€ he says. €œA lot more people would add value.

… eventually, everything will be made transparent, and we will demonstrate that people are inherently good. And politics will go back to be what it was supposed to be – the art of the argument and debate, rather than manipulation.

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Screenshots Of Despair

March 30th, 2012 § 1 comment § permalink

What a great example of cyber-anthropology!

“Screenshots Of Despair” Reveals The New Human Condition

More and more of us are spending more and more of our time staring at screens; And it’s amazing how emotional we’ve started to get about pixels. I’m pretty sure the last thing I see before I die will be one of those blasted spinning rainbow cursor balls. And I’m not alone (good call on the Morrissey, guys).

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via: techcrunch.com

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Using WordPress as your publishing hub

March 29th, 2012 § Comments Off on Using WordPress as your publishing hub § permalink

Personalizando WordPress 1.5

Personalizando WordPress 1.5 (Photo credit: juanpol)

Your blog is your online home. Even if you spend most of your day somewhere away, this is where your toot-brush is, where you are yourself.

I’ve been a proponent of this view since I started blogging, and it’s also the reason why I’m sticking with WordPress – I like moving furniture around.

Using WordPress as your publishing hub

This morning at WordCamp San Diego I gave a talk titled “Using WordPress as your publishing hub. It went well and lots of people had great questions. If anyone has followup questions I’m happy to answer them in the comments. The slides are included below.

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via: andrewspittle.net

In a nutshell, regardless of what you are doing around the web, you will promote your posts on twitter, and not the other way around. That’s the core power of the blog!

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Bessemer Launches New Website With Hilarious Press Release

March 28th, 2012 § Comments Off on Bessemer Launches New Website With Hilarious Press Release § permalink

What a great use of PR!

Bessemer Launches New Website With Hilarious Press Release

Bessemer Venture Partners has launched a new website, which ordinarily might not be all that newsworthy except that the firm launched the site with an amusing Onion-esque press release which Kent Bennett was kind enough to send over to me last night. More VC firms should consider using a duck mascot as marketing.

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via: bostinno.com

Related articles

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Disconnect: another service to protect our privacy?

March 27th, 2012 § Comments Off on Disconnect: another service to protect our privacy? § permalink

A heart-shaped cookie

A heart-shaped cookie (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Privacy is a funny thing.

Online, we want search engines to show us best possible results, Facebook to amuse us with most intriguing stories from our friends, and yet we are afraid that they are ‘stealing’ our data with cookies.

I guess this disconnect of expectations happens because we are intimately convinced, that the world revolves around us, and that the ‘most relevant result’ has nothing to do with me as an individual, so why would they possibly need MY data, don’t they have enough from everyone else already?

Disconnect: Ex-Googlers raise funding to stop Google, Facebook & Co from tracking your data

TechCrunch :: In the age of endless sharing, super cookies, social search results, and that ever-present social graph, it’s comforting to know that there are some who are still prioritizing privacy. (And a few of them are former Googlers no less!

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via: www.nextlevelofnews.com

Supposedly in Netherlands, people don’t use shades on windows, because “windows are for looking out, not in”, and in NY, it’s sometimes considered rude to use shades that prevent neighbors use their binoculars.

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Is Social Media Strategy Required or Redundant?

March 26th, 2012 § Comments Off on Is Social Media Strategy Required or Redundant? § permalink

Funny argument going on here:

Is Social Media Strategy Required or Redundant?

I don’t have a problem with Guy Kawasaki. I enjoy his books. His track record in business is substantial. We have friends in common. But on the subject of social media strategy, we disagree in every possible way. Last month, Guy was interviewed (that happens a lot) in Inc.

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via: www.convinceandconvert.com

I think ‘strategy’ here actually means “I am serious about my content marketing“, and nothing else. And yes, more people should accept that they have to be serious about their content, as it is the only thing that represents them out there these days.

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if startups are rock bands, who’s the producer?

March 26th, 2012 § Comments Off on if startups are rock bands, who’s the producer? § permalink

The Strokes live at Stubb's March 14th night b...

The Strokes live at Stubb's March 14th night before SXSW. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

let’s start with a quote from a friend Shane Snow:

I think being an entrepreneur is all about executing creative ideas — being the guy (or girl) who actually starts a band rather than sitting around with friends and talking about how cool it would be, or being the one who actually sits down and builds a prototype rather than just talking about it for years until someone else builds it.

from: read write web

there’s also a nice infrographic comparison of the rock band and the startup team, listing several similarities, like hard work, lot’s of persistence and luck, and ability to listen to the audience.

all of this is very true, and i find it more inspiring than a remark that another friend did once – “guys used to go to the army, now they go to startups.”

, an American music producer, composer and ent...

, an American music producer, composer and entrepreneur. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

however, there is a role in entertainment business that is being under-estimated by everyone who never had to work in it – the producer.

In film and music industry, the producer is the one running the show, making decisions, including the decision on who will be ‘the boss’. producers know their ‘markets’, the mediums (film, music) and their ‘teams’ better than anyone. they are the one crucial component to the success, because they keep a neutral position and try to emphasize the best the team has to offer.

this is what an experienced CEO does, and something that an inexperienced first-time entrepreneur cannot do. at least not good or efficiently.

so where are the producers then? their role is being played by accelerators, business books, mentors/advisors/elders, but is it enough?

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rough winds

March 23rd, 2012 § Comments Off on rough winds § permalink

Deutsch: Stolperstein, Gertrud Pincus, Windsch...

Deutsch: Stolperstein, Gertrud Pincus, Windscheidstraße 8, Berlin-Charlottenburg, Deutschland English: "Stolperstein" (stumbling block), Gertrud Pincus, Windscheidstraße 8, Berlin-Charlottenburg, Germany Koordinate: 52°30′31″N 13°17′54″E / °S °W / ; latd>90 (dms format) in latd latm lats longm longs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

strange news in my feeds today, two fellow startups are struggling – Profitably and Seesmic.

profitably situation is breathtaking, as venturebeat just broke this story about misunderstandings between founders, employees and investors. well worth reading, and key takeaway should be – in a startup, you have nothing to build on but trust. if you loose trust, you’re gone.

luckily none of them are loosing hope and closing doors yet, as loic puts it in the interview about seesmic layoffs:

“I don’t give up, that’s how I am. I always have faith in my team, and I keep going. Success is going from failure to failure until you reach success. There are many examples; one of them is Mark Pincus, who couldn’t raise money for Zynga… I think he’s probably laughing right now when he thinks about that.”

… he is exactly right, persistence is the key to success, if nothing else because most people are less dedicated than the true entrepreneurs, who simply don’t take no for an answer, but rather make the world change.

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Bicoastal Approach to Engineering

March 20th, 2012 § 2 comments § permalink

thumb|right|230px|Comparison photo; June 2004 ...

Image via Wikipedia

this is incredibly important – how to keep two parts of remote organization connected:

Foursquare Tries a Bicoastal Approach to Engineering

Some companies are almost entirely virtual, like blog host Automattic. Others grow through acquisitions, like what Groupon is doing in the Bay Area – piecing together a tech team thousands of miles from its Chicago headquarters. Another strategy is to build strategic outposts, like Facebook’s new engineering office in New York.

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via: allthingsd.com

we are doing many things in a similar way over at Zemanta.

Since our Ljubljana office is much larger than NY one, we only have a big screen in Ljubljana, but as soon as we set that up, everybody started using it for cross-ocean meeting. I’m actually thinking we will need a second one soon. we’ve learned that sound quality is much more important than anything though.

ever since our NY office was just one person, I insisted on making weekly check-in meetings with everyone. it has grown to be a well-self-moderated debrief from both sides. it turned out that on every meeting several people are dialing in, because they are traveling, sick, or just work remotely. point being: don’t make it an excuse for not having a meeting, embrace the remoteness.

and travel – we realized that US and EU cultures are so much different, that it’s essential for everyone to get to know the other. so we do 1 or 2 all-company weeks per year, where everyone from US comes to work from Ljubljana (and more than just work of course). at the same time, there is almost always someone of the developers working from NY office, just for the kicks of it.

and despite all these efforts, quite often a mediation is required, because people assume the other person is thinking about something else.

you might recall the Sunscreen verse: “Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle” – well, it’s true for the people you work with, not just friends.

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PR News Poll: Wikipedia Mostly Unexplored By PR Pros

March 19th, 2012 § 1 comment § permalink

My Grace Park Photo On Wikipedia

My Grace Park Photo On Wikipedia (Photo credit: kk+)

I am surprised, more and more often, by really well written Wikipedia pages for very obscure people and services.

I so far assumed they are written by themselves, or rather a PR professional on their behalf.I just couldn’t believe there is enough people who care about XX to properly maintain that article, and even have it much more elaborate than for instance the one about YY.

Also, my favorite trick to use for content-based pet projects in Slovenia is, to contribute part of the content to an under resourced Wikipedia, and cite the new project as the source. Everybody wins.

So I guess I’m surprised that Wikipedia is not under attack by mercenaries who should know everything about content business. It might be that Wikipedians are such merciless defenders of the shrine, that nobody evil dares to touch it.  😉

PR News Poll: Wikipedia Mostly Unexplored By PR Pros

PR News Poll: Wikipedia Mostly Unexplored By PR Pros By Bill Miltenberg, PR News There’s been an ongoing debate between leading PR pros and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales about PR’s participation in the creation and editing of Wikipedia posts. Wales says that objectivity and transparency is lacking among PR pros, especially within agencies.

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via: www.prnewsonline.com

I think it’s a fascinating topic, and one we will hear more about this year, as the content marketing goes mainstream. What if Wikipedians were paid to edit Wikipedia full time?

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