This past week-end I had the honor of being invited to what I believed was going to be a decent yet regular gathering of professionals. I’ve learned not to set my expectations high in situations beyond my immediate control thus I was expecting a relaxing week-end with a few fellow like-minded people.
I’m glad that I did so because my expectations were exceeded sky-high. What a lovely group of people, most of them all under thirty and already key professionals in some heavy corporations! Not to mention fun & open minded. Twenty-six amazing ladies and gentlemen that managed to change my entire perception regarding the industry they are working in and the environment they are coming from; changed it in a [...]
Building for the future
Killing Innovation
I was about to write a nice post on communities and audience, after all I gathered some interesting opinions on Twitter last night. Worry not, that’s in the drafts.
But as I took a break I read Mike Arrington’s post regarding MySpace. Immediately I remembered Dick Brass’ article in the New York Times and I thought to myself: What the heck is MySpace and Microsoft doing? And Google for that matter. Are these fast becoming me too companies, simple runner-ups? Are Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Twitter the only companies driving innovation these days?
MySpace just pulled the plug on what was probably their last lifeline. Microsoft is eaten from the inside by personal rivalries. Google is constantly playing catch-up with little or [...]
I’ll try to make it
How often do you hear people around you saying that? In this anti-downshifting environment it’s quite normal to express the desire to be there but also point out the possibility of your absence. It’s what we do. And it’s a great excuse as well.
Just the other day a dear collaborator of mine called me early in the morning to ask me to come down to a business networking event. I’ve heard of the event a few days in advance but I wasn’t quite sure I can make it. well, to be honest I didn’t even think it will benefit me that much, considering it was slightly out of my area of immediate interest.
Boy was I wrong. I agreed to come [...]
A beautiful mind
You’ve seen the movie, now watch a recorded session at TED, from 2005. It’s absolutely amazing and the grand finale will blow you away.
Now please go on and read the comments at the original location of the video. I’m quite sure you’ll learn something new today.
Auctioning myself off
I told you a couple of days ago about Daniel and the charity fundraiser we’re having for him at WWW Party, an event dedicated exclusively for him. All proceeds will go towards his leukemia operation.
I’ll be auctioned off at this event myself. The highest bidder will have the chance to tap into my mind during a private dinner hosted by Irish Music & Pub at a later date (you can ask me anything you want, I’ll even do one hour of free consulting if you wish), so if you’re in and around Cluj-Napoca tomorrow evening make sure you don’t miss the event. We have well over a hundred confirmed guests at this event, but most likely we’ll have more than [...]
Startup Showcase: WIP
I’ve met Alex and Claudiu of WIP on a Friday evening in late October 2008. It was the first formal meeting that the local online community had organized and I was eager to meet new people, listen to them talking about new projects.
We live-streamed the event through Qik and I remember being quite excited. As I’m always eager to learn about interesting local projects I’ve asked for their business cards and I was to follow up with them quite soon.
I’ve followed them closely for the past year and when I first decided to do a few startup showcases they were the first to pop into mind. So I sat down with Alex and had a little chat with him regarding [...]
Monday’s announcement
Seth Godin once quoted the guys from 37Signals stating that the key to shipping on time and on budget is that when you run out of time or money, you ship.
Fortunately none of this happened in regards to the projects I was about to announce today. It’s just the timing that’s not quite right. Instead of rushing into it I’ve decided to let each project play out its own timing. Not to worry, it will happen very soon for each of them.
But I won’t let you leave with empty hands and I’ll give you a small piece of news: We’ve got new talent over at (INC)3 and we’re also taking our business offline & abroad.
Thank you for your patience & [...]
Please don’t kill Daniel
Can something be more heartbreaking and cruel than not allowing a father meet his unborn child?
That’s exactly what’s going to happen if Daniel is not aided to undergo immediate transplant. You see, he’s been diagnosed with leukemia 4 months ago. And next month he’s going to be a father for the first time, an event that should be the most important of his life. But in his case the most important thing can happen is for him to be allowed to live, to hold his newborn child in his arms and see him grow up.
The transplant operations’ costs are in excess of 120,000 euros and so far more than a quarter of the amount has been raised. The Romanian online [...]
Stick to the basics
It’s not uncommon to find me passionately getting into startup-related discussions, even with people I know little about. Since I’ve mentioned I’ll be doing a few startup showcases though I’ve been pitched three times. (and I’ll shortly be on my way for a fourth one in a couple of minutes)
What I noticed that most people forget is that a startup or a project needs to be kept simple and really stick to the basics and really answer the following questions (if you know them and you have a correct answer, you’re clearly on the right track) :
Does it solve a problem? (if it’s not you really should be stopping here and move on to the next idea)
Does it do something better [...]
Daily meditation
If you’re like me you’re probably working 15 hours a day on a variety of projects and routine tasks. If you’re under 25 you probably think that this can go on forever and since you’re not feeling tired at all you might be fooled into thinking that such a crazy schedule won’t tale its toll.
After a few years you’ll start feeling tired with no apparent reason, your concentration will break more often and your attention span will be shorter and shorter. This is particularly dangerous since it will eventually turn into severe depressions, lack of motivation and a continuous strand of procrastination.
The good news though is that there are a few things that you can do to get back on [...]