I miss Snail Mail.

Checking the mail meant something different when the postman was your connection to the outside. no matter how impatient you are for the news, you could only check it in a relatively short window - maybe an hour or two each day as you anticipated the daily rounds of your letter carrier. 

 

These days, you can pretend to be doing something when all you are really doing is waiting for the mail. 

http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6479d184-b9a0-11e3-b947-94de80a03a39

 

The View from Outside

I'm working with Marshall van Allstyne's students on a start-up business model. I've learned a lot just trying to transfer knowledge. It is the opposite of explaining to your Grandmother what you do for a living.

• The students use modern analogues that I didn't think would fit.
• Which helps me understand our product category. 
• They don't value distribution.
•  Which makes me rethink the sales cycle and cost of sales.
• They assume reaching people is easy.
• Which makes me rethink our marketing

It's all good.

"It will work. I'm a Marketing Genius."

That quote is attributed to Paris Hilton. Yes really.... 

Sometimes, the only cure for writer's block (or typist's demotivation) is just to give up on quality and just pour bad stuff onto the page.

You are going to edit it anyway. 

Early Customers are Easy

Your first sales prove almost nothing about your long term success. 

• Someone you know loves your product vision. 
• Because, you are highly connected to similar people.
• They have a budget line item for you. 
• Because, you use the pricing model of your established competitor.
• You don't need good marketing, channel, support or even sales tools. 
• Because, your best people are focused on making these sales.  

Your long-term success is predicated on learning from those early customers

• Why this is their point-of-pain.
• So you can imagine a _much_ better product or even a new category of solution.
• How they value you.
• So you can build a pricing model that puts your competitors at a disadvantage.
• What they say about you
• So you can help others Discover, Appreciate and Purchase your product.

Inspired by Rich Mironov's Keynote at Product Camp LA.  

Finder, Minders & Grinders: Everyone has Expertise

The phrase "Finders, Minders and Grinders" has a long backstory with the common lesson being that you need to become a Finder in order to rise to the top. Those who bring in the most new business tend to make the most money, but their success is built on top of the Minders & Grinders who actually deliver. Even the best Finder can only sustain a business if the product they are selling is good.

Every organization needs Finders selling, Minders analyzing, and Grinders delivering results.

I'm inherently a Finder. I'm highly networked, willing to talk to anyone, and deeply invested in finding the right Product-Market Fit.

I can be a damn good Minder, but I can't sustain it forever. I get curious about the next thing, rather than being happy about pulling all the money out. Minders analyze what is going on and constantly optimize and tune. Good Minders love A/B testing and empirical results. Mature products in established markets need great Minders. Sustained social media success is built on the backs of Minders.

Grinder is not my strongest suit, but I love working closely with them! It isn't that they aren't brilliant, it tends to be they are focused on what is in front of them. Grinders are Engineers who enthused about their new feature. A good Finder or Minder needs to help them get that story out there to the right audience. Everyone should love the feature, but really only certain users in certain contexts. Finders help Grinders see a bigger picture.

VMware ruined my Summer

August used to be the last lazy days of Summer. Like children getting ready for school, we'd ramp up planning, campaigns and events for the crucial Fall season. VMware changed all that.

To avoid competition for time between September and The Holidays, VMware placed their annual conference the week before Labor Day. They threw a good party in in San Francisco, so we didn't mind at first. We'd work hard for VMworld, then take the long weekend of Labor Day in the vineyards of Napa or down the coast to Carmel. It became Summer's last hurrah.

That didn't last long. Since virtualization became the number one driver of IT refreshes, VMworld became the epicenter of the Enterprise IT sales and announcements. Companies planned their announcements - or even their funding rounds - around VMworld. For marketing and product teams we'd focus for 6 months on it and scramble to get the demos right in August.

The inevitable happened. Just as VMworld moved earlier in the year to find some white space for their conference, the industry has done the same. To get press before VMworld, many turned to Flash Memory Summit. Previously a niche vendor-to-vendor event, many used the event to rally the press and bloggers to their cause. This year was their biggest - and I predict more next year.

Then, EMC turned the tables. Realizing that Labor Day only counted in the US, they staged their major product launch the following week in Milan. I can think of worse places to end up in early September.

If they make it an annual event, maybe I can go. I can plan the long weekend in the north of Italy. It won't be the last hurrah of Summer, but the recharge after all the hard work of July and August.

Yes, VMware has ruined Summer.

Yes, you should go to a Meet Up!

Never been to a Meet Up because no business gets done there? 
Here are three reasons you should go & two why you should not. 

Preface:
Meet Ups are the physical manifestation of the Internet's skill at "ridiculously easy group formation"[1]   The barrier to creating one is low and the membership is self selected. The organizer is deeply invested, has expertise and enthusiasm. On the other hand, attendees have at least a passing interest in the subject, and the unscheduled time to attend.
This is not the formula for high quality business networking, but you should go anyway.

Three Reasons to Attend a Meet Up

1. Learn something new. Since most of the people attending are probably dilettantes, be one too. Find a speaker, a technology or an idea about which you are curious and get exposed to it. It is cheaper than a TED talk and much more fun than an online webinar.
2. Uncover a new perspective. Meet Ups draw a diverse crowd. There will be students and many who are not in your field. Embrace the opportunity to explaining what you do, why you do it and how it matters to someone new. You will learn from it.
3. Rediscover what you know. If you are an expert in the subject, a Meet Up is revisiting your Freshman classes. You may not learn anything new, but you will have a chance to revisit the fundamentals from which you can refresh your approach to the problem. 

Two Reasons Not to Go

1. Job Interviewing. If the only reason you are going is to find a job, don't. (For career fairs - try Greenhorn Connect) Yes, there will be someone at a Meet Up with opportunities, but they aren't there to interview you. Meet Ups are a great opportunity to discover new companies. Absolutely follow up, get the interview, get the job, but don't attend 'looking for a job'  Everyone is tired of that conversation.
2. Making a Sale. It is rare to find someone with dedicated budget and decision making authority at a Meet Up. If they had budget, they would have the vendors come to them on company time. You will meet the influencers and hear the inside stories of why certain technologies or services are or are not being chosen. Meet Ups can provide good intelligence, but this isn't selling.  

No two Meet Ups are organized the same way, so choose a couple to try. Whatever subjects you choose, you need to participate. Be ready to ask the first question and start random conversations. Who knows where it might take you. 

Footnotes
[1] Seb Paquet's original blog from 2002
[2] My links to Clay Shirky