Stupid ways to hinder market adoption

I admit it, I do read Guy Kawasaki's blog on a regular basis. Sometimes I find his posts to be slightly off topic (at least for me), but other times I find them to be incredibly insightful. His latest post, "The Top Ten Stupid Ways to Hinder Market Adoption", provides a pretty good summary on surefire ways to slow down / hinder / eliminate market adoption of your product (provided that it is a web based product, but I am sure you can extrapolate out some of these and apply them to your product if it is not). For the details, read the article, but here is the high level summary so you get the gist (reader's note: he actually lists 14 ways even though the article is titled 10...)

1. Enforced immediate registration
2. The long URL
3. Windows that don’t generate URLs
4. The unsearchable web site
5. Sites without Digg, del.icio.us, and Fark bookmarks
6. Limiting contact to email
7. Lack of feeds and email lists
8. Requirement to re-type email addresses
9. User names cannot contain the “@” character
10. Case sensitive user names and passwords
11. Friction-full commenting
12. Unreadable confirmation codes
13. Emails without signatures
14. Supporting only Windows Internet Explorer

Gottabet.com Review - Social Network for Small, Friendly Wagers

This is an interesting twist on the whole social networking space. It provides users with a place to place and manage small, friendly wagers. Not only can you browse interesting bets, but you can also make a bet, create a new bet, as well as a whole host of "given" social network activities.
This is how it works: Users set up bets, either for actual money or for the Gottabet currency (called “peanuts”) which have no cash value (but give bragging rights). Gottabet (UK based) is also a social network - all users have a profile page. Users are rated not only by how many peanuts they gather but also on their reputation.
If you are in to friendly wagers, then this site is worth checking out!

Guy Kawasaki's Article on Business Plans

As I stated in a previous blog entry on the blogs that I read, Guy Kawasaki always has interesting insights and thoughts on business. His most recent post, "Is a Business Plan Necessary", delves into the debate on whether or not a business plan is necessary in order to be successful. The post is his two cents in regards to the article in the Wall Street Journal discussing a recent study done by Babson College on the subject matter. The study analyzed 116 businesses started by alumni who graduated between 1985 and 2003. Comparing success measures such as annual revenue, employee numbers and net income, the study found no statistical difference in success between those businesses started with formal written plans and those without them. Very interesting indeed, however, Guy makes the point that if it is your intent to raise funding (which these days a lot of people need), you will need to craft a business plan. He does offer hope though, that instead of it being a dissertation and taking you a year to produce, it should be no longer than 10-20 pages and should not take you more than a couple of weeks. For more details on Guy's approach to business plans, click here.

Children's birtday parties

I came across this article today, and it struck a cord with me. It is titled " Fed-Up Parents Reject Elaborate Birthdays" and discusses the growing trend in this country to "one up" the children's birthday parties and how it is becoming a real problem. It goes on to recount some real horror stories of parties gone wrong, but the overall message of the article is that this is a growing problem and there is an organization that has been founded to counter this problem. The organization is called Birthdays Without Pressure, and it is worth checking out. They offer up a lot of advice on stress free parties and alternatives to the expensive parties that are taking place at a break neck pace in this country.
If you have children, this article is well worth reading and the web site is well worth a look as well.

List of Blogs I read

I consider myself an avid reader of all things news related, and I have recently gotten into reading a variety of blogs that are more industry related (Internet that is) as well as a handful of VC blogs as well. Below is a list of the blogs I keep tabs on an a thought or two on each:

1. Venture Beat - Pretty good overall industry report. Focuses on providing news and information about private companies and the venture capital that fuels them.
2. Mashable - Focuses exclusively on Social Networking companies. Great source for finding out what is going on in that space.
3. PaidContent.Org - covers all things digital media, focusing on where media and entertainment companies operate: online, wireless, desktop and off-desktop applications, products and services.
4. TechCrunch - Good review site for all the new Internet companies and products. If you have an Internet company you want to get the word out on, I suggest starting here. Go here and post a write up on the forum about your company. They get a ton of PVs, so it will definitely get you the exposure. TechCrunch's editor is Michael Arrington, if you are in the industry, you know who he is!
5. ValleyWag - Great resource for the "dirt" on all things valley related. It is "the" tech gossip rag!
6. A VC - This is Fred Wilson's personal blog. He is a VC and is a partner at Union Square Ventures. He discusses an array of topics, from product / company reviews to entrepreneurial advice, to his travels to Italy (he spent 2 weeks there with his fam over the holidays).
   
7. How to Change the World - This is Guy Kawasaki's personal blog. He describes his blog as a pratical blog for impractical people. Guy is a wonderful guy (no pun intended). He is well respected in the industry and has written several books. He started out with Apple and is is currently a managing director at Garage Technology Ventures.
8. Blog Maverick - OK, I know what you are going to say, do you really read this? I just started reading it, and it is worth it. Mark Cuban can be a bit boisterous at times, but he does have a lot of good points on a variety of subjects.
   

OK, so that just about sums it up. If you get a chance, take a look at these. There is some good reading to be found!

Most Recent Reading

I bought this book back before Christmas, and have not gotten too far into it. It is titled "Getting Stoned with Savages" (available here from Amazon) by J. Maarten Troost. I would classify it as a travel memoir, comical at times, dry and hard to read at others. I thought it was going to be similar to "Driving over Lemons" by Chris Stewart (another travel memoir writer), but it is not. I read Stewart's book back in the summertime, and it was a pretty good read. I will continue on with this one, but at the rate I am reading, it may be next Christmas before I finish it!

Good Listening

For Christmas, I got a new CD that is well worth sharing. It is by Wes Tucker & The Skillets, titled "Beauty in the Broken". I know what you are thinking, can it be good if it has the word skillet in the band's name? Do not be fooled by the quasi silly name of the band, they are for real and very legit.
I am not sure how I came across this band, but I am sure glad I did. According to the band's web site, they shift from folk rock, to funk, to gospel, to soulful ballads in the space of a set list, drawing comparisons to artists like Ben Harper, Jack Johnson and Bob Dylan. I am a huge Ben Harper and Jack Johnson fan, and would put them into that category with a definite dash of Bob Dylan like folksy flare. They are from the Washington DC area, so if you get a chance to check them out, you will not be disappointed!

It has been awhile.....

The New Year has been upon us now for almost 2 weeks and I have not made a blog entry. Shame on me! I have been busy, things are gaining full speed at work, the kids are keeping us on our toes at home, and other than that, I have no other excuses (are any needed really???).
Anyways, I just wanted to take a quick moment and make an entry and say that there is something exciting that I want to share, but I cannot do it just yet. Give me a little more time and I will spill the beans!