I find it very interesting to watch well-known successful people confidently state opinions that we now know to be wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNeXlJW70KQ Start at 2:01 and watch through 3:13. In this video, Steve Jobs lays out his vision for NeXT with
Developing Technology
As a child, I had a strong affinity for 1960’s muscle cars. My favorite was the late 1960’s Corvette Stingray. I was completely taken by the hood curves and the oversized engine block of this unique car. It really wasn’t
Why It’s So Difficult to Sell Technology to Ad Agencies
I’ve been studying ad agencies for the better part of 10 years. First as an insider, working in media planning and analytics at a full service agency, and now as an outsider working for an advertising technology company. Over the
If I Were Dennis Crowley…
Over the past few weeks I’ve found that my usage of the Foursquare app has been waning. It’s not on purpose, but as Foursquare makes the big push to split their app into two separate ones — Swarm (for check-ins)
Rework – Lessons in Product Management
This week I read Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. Overall – amazing book. (And it was a breeze to get through after nearly 700 pages of Ray Kurzweil – see my post two weeks back on The
The Singularity is Near
When I was growing up in the early 1990s, I heard somewhere that there would be flying cars by the year 2000. This made me very excited. I couldn’t wait for my turn to ride in a flying car. I
The Evolution of Good vs. Evil
Last weekend Miranda and I watched Captain Phillips, the movie about the 2009 hijacking of an American cargo ship by Somali pirates. It was excellent and very intense. For those of you who haven’t seen it, a large portion of
SnapChat and Lessons from Skidmore College
This past week, I made my semi-annual trip to Skidmore College to teach classes in advertising and marketing. As always, I thoroughly prepared a fresh presentation to deliver to the students (since I visit different classes every semester and often
Capturing Productivity in Found Time
Every day, each of us gets exactly 1,440 minutes to accomplish our goals. Many of those minutes are taken up by sleep, time at the office, or time with family – but sprinkled throughout the day, interspersed between our daily
Experimentation vs. Theory
Last week, on the recommendation of a co-worker, I started reading The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation by Jon Gertner. At just under half way through, I’m really finding the book to be fascinating.