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Archive for February, 2015

If the Shoe Fits: a Prize Worth Having

Friday, February 13th, 2015

5726760809_bf0bf0f558_mI have a great appreciation for those in the 1% that give back, especially those like Richard Branson, who became an entrepreneur specifically to finance his desire to give back or, as he says, “do good by doing well.”

But even the most philanthropic like their toys — especially the kind with four wheels.

Maseratti, Lamborghini, Tesla and others.

But they pale in comparison to the AeroMobil 3.0.

Which was developed in just 10 months.

AeroMobil was designed in a way to fit into existing road infrastructure – its size is comparable to a limousine or a large luxury sedan. It has low maintenance costs and can be parked in regular parking slots in cities. It uses standard gasoline instead of kerosene, and it can therefore be fuelled at a regular gas stations.

You’ll need flying lessons, but it sure beats those fancy, earthbound cars — they’re so common.

Image credit: HikingArtist and youcar

Entrepreneurs: Beyond the Vision

Thursday, February 12th, 2015

https://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/4427310974Where will a vision take you?

Nowhere.

Visions are what Sherlock Holmes had when he was smoking opium; they’re what dance in kids heads before Christmas; they’re what the religious see on slices of bread and potato chips.

Visions come in two flavors — hopeful and executable.

Both may have a plan, but the first is missing a key ingredient.

Call it grit (currently popular term), tenacity or moxie.

Whichever you use, it’s the difference between

  • rosy predictions, high hopes and self-deluding prophesies

and

  • a founder and team that is well-planned, efficient, business-smart and fearless in the face of obstacles.

Executable means more than writing great code — in spite of tech people’s generally dismissive attitude to skills such as marketing, sales and even fiscal controls.

In the best case, executable means having a team member with cradle to grave product experience and another familiar with the initial market and growth markets — or at least a team that listens to advisors who do.

In short, a truly executable is vision is a complete business, with all the moving parts having equal value.

Image credit: opensource.com

Why Read the TOS?

Wednesday, February 11th, 2015

Most of my friends and readers find my attitudes towards privacy appallingly old fashioned.

They happily pooh-pooh my concern that Google reads every email in order to hone the ads and they find it hilarious that I not only read the TOS, but often refuse to use the app no matter how convenient.

I’ve always wondered if they would be quite so dismissive if they actually bothered reading them.

Now, thanks to Business Insider, I have my answer—and the last laugh.

And you thought the Feds were bad.

Ducks in a Row: 6 Inviolate Rules For A Great Culture

Tuesday, February 10th, 2015

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pshan427/922632392

Three of the inviolate rules for a great culture are accepted and respected.

  • Tell the truth.
  • Show initiative.
  • Care

The other three not so much — especially the last one.

  • Make a mess.
  • Take responsibility.
  • Apologize.

But for a culture to be great culture they must apply universally, not selectively

Messes of all sizes happen; they are a fact of life.

People taking responsibility for the messes they make are not.

Apologies for the messes are less common still — especially as people move up the ladder.

But apologies are a necessity — as Intuit CEO Brad Smith points out.

Apologies person to person enable trust; keep teams strong and productivity humming.

Apologies from companies to customers also enable trust and earn a second chance.

Assuming, of course, that the apologies are authentic.

Image credit: pshutterbug

If the Shoe Fits: Be The Change…

Friday, February 6th, 2015

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

‘I have always felt that the fact that I’m a boss is just the way it happens to be, and the person who is my subordinate could be my boss in another universe. So I try to not have it be a social or class distinction and have it be just more a reporting and professional distinction.”Mitch Rothschild, CEO of Vitals

5726760809_bf0bf0f558_mFounder/CEO/boss. Too many see their title/position, and the money that often goes with it, as something that sets them above others — better, smarter, better looking.

And they treat others accordingly.

Startup ego is out of control and those who write about it are mostly preaching to the choir.

What will change it is you.

You can change it by modeling Rothschild’s words in your own company.

By recognizing that anybody in any position can have good ideas.

By respecting all your people equally and listening to them,

By telling those who believe they are better that they aren’t.

By telling yourself, if necessary.

And by channeling Nike and just doing it.

Entrepreneurs: Another Myth-Killing Role Model

Thursday, February 5th, 2015

Belkin

Myth: innovation is the province of the young.

Myth: old companies don’t innovate.

Myth: successful startups IPO.

Myth: billionaire founders live loud.

Oops. Chester Pipkin, founder, chief executive and chairman of Belkin International, blows up all these myths.

Pipkin started his company in the 1980s in his parents garage and the innovation has never stopped — from the earliest days of computing to today’s Internet of things and on to tomorrow.

The company capitalized on the early explosion in personal computing, selling devices that connected computers to printers. Through the years the company has kept pace if not stayed ahead of the changing tech landscape. In 2014, Fast Co. named Belkin one of the 10 most innovative companies specializing in the “Internet of things” thanks to its Wemo line of Internet-connected home accessories.

Belkin is still private, has 1300 employees, a billion in sales and Pipkin keeps a very low profile.

He’s low on ego and high on hands-on philanthropy, as opposed to just writing checks.

Definitely a role model for all times.

Image credit: Belkin

The Uber Worms Are Turning

Wednesday, February 4th, 2015

http://401kcalculator.org

As has been pointed out in every media outlet on the planet, Uber is arrogant, pugnacious, obnoxious and plays fast and loose on matters from privacy to government regulations to customer charges to “contractor” relations and compensation.

Uber, in the person of CEO Travis Kalanick, has so enraged various officials that the company has been kicked out of cities, domestic and foreign, and entire countries.

Even Matt Kochman, Uber’s founding general manager in New York, left in disgust.

“Discounting the rules and regulations as a whole, just because you want to launch a product and you have a certain vision for things, that’s just irresponsible.” 

Kalanick pushed, denied problems and claimed that everything that disagreed with Uber’s plans was anti-progressive or nit-picking.

But in January the tone changed.

In January, Mr. Kalanick delivered a speech in Munich filled with talk about compromising with regulators he once sparred with, wanting to “make 2015 the year where we establish partnerships with new European cities.”

A couple of weeks ago I wrote of clouds on the horizon in the form of a class-action lawsuit from 2009 that could affect not only Uber, but every business based on so-called contractors.

Turns out they weren’t clouds, but a full-fledged storm.

A legal storm.

The Boston law firm representing Uber and Lyft drivers, Lichten & Liss-Riordan, won a 2009 decision that Massachusetts exotic dancers were employees because the club could set their shifts, and fire them. Judges in New York and Nevada followed that reasoning last year.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the California courts.

If the drivers win, it will be even more interesting to see how all the startups based on the 1099 business model play when the field is level.

Image credit: 401kcalculator.org

Ducks in a Row: Rigidity — Sources And Cures

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015

https://www.flickr.com/photos/trombone65/16411683125

Is your boss rigid? Or maybe it’s your colleagues — or even you?

Rigid in action, thought or imagination?

Rigidity is a mental habit and, although often grounded in ego, often has as much to do with the corporate culture as with the individuals involved.

Openness is based on trust and if the people or the culture don’t foster trust then you should expect them to be ultra turf conscious, not interested in sharing, and prone to spending large amounts of energy fighting every new thing that comes along.

Twenty-somethings often regard rigidity as synonymous with age, but that’s a wildly inaccurate assumption and not born out by the facts.

While the age thing may play on the surface, it should be recognized that rigidity is present in all ages.

There are a lot of pretty rigid twenty- and thirty-somethings and no one in their right mind ever called a teenager flexible

If you have any doubts about this, try getting your twenty-something co-workers to approach a subject from any position other than the one they advocate.

Rigidity is not so much about doing it differently as it is about doing it ‘my/our way’ and that attitude has substantially worsened.

It seems that everybody has a group and while their group is OK, other groups, i.e., any that don’t agree with theirs, are rigid, inflexible and standing in the way of progress.

In many ways rigidity is a form myopia.

The cure is simple to state, but difficult to implement, because it requires truly honest self-appraisal, which is not something with which most people are comfortable.

The thing to remember is that there’s value to be found in most approaches and when that value is tweaked and/or merged with other methods the result is usually worth far more than the original.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For additional input and insights to being a boss, be sure to check out the March Leadership Development Carnival.

Flickr image credit: trombone65

…Like A Girl

Monday, February 2nd, 2015

Did you watch the Super Bowl today?

If you’re a guy you may not have paid much attention an ad from Always.

It looks at how #like a girl has always been an insult and an effort to change that perception.

“In my work as a documentarian, I have witnessed the confidence crisis among girls and the negative impact of stereotypes first-hand,” said Lauren Greenfield, filmmaker and director of the #LikeAGirl video. “When the words ‘like a girl’ are used to mean something bad, it is profoundly disempowering. I am proud to partner with Always to shed light on how this simple phrase can have a significant and long-lasting impact on girls and women. I am excited to be a part of the movement to redefine ‘like a girl’ into a positive affirmation.”

But the insult goes far beyond the days of puberty.

“Will it work for your mom?” and “so simple your mother could do it” are catch terms, especially in the software industry, to indicate the product is simple (AKA, dumbed down) enough that anyone can use it.

The interesting thing is that if you call these same guys out asking if they are referring to their mom/sister/girlfriend/wife they usually say no.

The disconnect starts early. In the Always video at 1:06 the dialog is as follows:

Voiceover: “So do you think you just insulted your sister?”

Boy: “No, I mean yeah… insulted girls, but not my sister.”

There is a giant mental disconnect for most males between ‘women’ and ‘my women’.

And it is that disconnect that needs to change.

Image credit: Always

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