The future of home delivery… Top-Gear style

Jeremy Clarkson and his boys (Richard Hammond and James May) have signed a £160m deal to create a 3 series set of motoring programmes for Amazon.  So Amazon have used some of his downtime to get him to appear in their ad for drone delivered packages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXo_d6tNWuY  

The most important factor for start-ups

The most important factor in the success of a startup is TIMING, more important than the other 4 factors; idea, team, business model or funding.  Too early means too much educational marketing, but too late means there is too much competition.  On balance innovative companies are early rather than late.  Which is why our recent book …

Viral marketing in 1860

So you are General William Giles Harding, living in Nashville, Tennessee and you need to drive up sales of your thoroughbred horses in 1860 and pay for the upkeep of your 5,400 acre estate, Belle Mead Plantation. You have customers in the north but how do you get the message out and close sales, when …

Struggling to forecast sales? Maybe it isn’t you.

The biggest issue when running an early stage company with a burn rate when selling to Early Adopters is the inability to predict the close date of the pilot projects. These make up the majority of the pipeline and are your lifeline. This uncertainty tears apart the executive team and drives the investors to distraction. …

AK47 – perfect example of “know your user”

Designed with "user in mind" The AK47 assault rifle was designed with an intimate knowledge of the potential "user". It was designed for an army made up of "average grunts who are scared, incompetent, untrained and have limited natural talent".  Increasingly the average age in conflicts is dropping with children armed with AK47s. What happens when …

Ideas need nurturing, even when they are ugly @ge #innovation

A lovely video from GE talking about the importance of giving ideas the understanding and love that they need to grow and produce amazing things.  This is a tribute to those of us who face the ridicule, laughter and disdain as we try and bring new ideas to market. It gets ugly. It gets messy. …

At last, technology gets useful: NASA emails spanner to space station

LIving in Silicon Valley you get inundated with announcements by sites like Crunchbase, AngelList of another technology company that is launching a product or service which seems pointless. Perhaps that is harsh, but let's say that the business benefits of these companies are slightly difficult to grasp. Not that it seems to stop investors! However, 3D …

The future is already here – let’s appreciate it: @robinince

Today's technology challenge: I bought something and I hope I can get home before it is obsolete. Comedian, Robin Ince reflects on why we should spend more time appreciating what we have rather than wanting more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_ooLfb22t8#t=298

Why and how VCs will kill your early stage B2B company

VCs kill their porfolio companies It is not out of choice or malicious intent, but through ignorance.  This is something we are trying to address by writing IMPACT and getting VCs to read it. VCs are a powerful voice on the boards of your start-up. Partly because of their shareholding, but also because they "have …

A radical new way to publish a book

Rethinking book publishing Download the book summary: IMPACT - the technology executive’s guide for selling B2B disruptive and innovative solutions Having recently read the Lean Startup by Eric Ries a thought struck me as we started to rewrite Why Killer Products. We originally published it in 2008 which was appalling timing as the whole world was …

Corporates: pay your bills on time

Payment terms of 30, 45 and 60 days are not unknown. But the time it takes big companies to pay their little suppliers can be as much as 120 days, and it is getting worse with the average now 58.5 days according to a report by D&B. This is not only tantamount to corporate bullying, …

Happiness has a Return on Investment

I have written a number of posts about the importance of happy staff.  One of the favorites was Happy Staff. I run a business not a bloody holiday camp.  We all spend too much time at work vs doing what we want and being who we want to be with. My pet saying is "Life …

A great speech by Tim Minchin. Critically points for the life. Beautifully written. Inspirational.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoEezZD71sc 1. Don't have a dream 2. Don't seek happiness 3. It's all luck 4. Exercise 5. Be hard on your opinions 6. Be a teacher 7. Define yourself by what you love 8. respect people with less power than you 9. Don't rush   By the way he is also an awesome pianist & comedian …

Corporate branding (quite literally) – get a free tattoo #loyalty

In a recent article in Business Insider called Lots Of Huge Brands Are Giving Away Free Tattoos To Get Their Names Out There it seems that people are prepared to have a tattoo which is a company logo - provided it is free. Is this a wise decision? If you need more supporting advice, I …

No one can throw a book away. Can the same be said of your marketing literature? #marketing

Marketing’s dirty little secret In the world of B2B marketing a hidden secret is the humble printed book. Although eBooks are taking off there is still a place for the business paperback. Books are a little like PR and sausages. The more you know what goes into them, the less you want to have anything …