Quoting: I Couldn't Have Said It Any Better...

"In theory camping should be a very inexpensive activity since you are literally sleeping on the..."

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:53:48 -0400

“In theory camping should be a very inexpensive activity since you are literally sleeping on the ground. But as with everything in white culture, the more simple it appears the more expensive it actually is.”

- Stuff White People Like #128… Camping

P.S. - I missed you Tumblr

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 20:22:49 -0400

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

- from Ghandi… I saw it in an interesting documentry about a no-name teacher running for Congress called Can Mr. Smith Get To Washington Anymore?

"At the end of the day, being underpaid for valuable work sucks, which is what the specter of spec..."

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:36:00 -0400

“At the end of the day, being underpaid for valuable work sucks, which is what the specter of spec work brings. Want to combat it? Dont suck. Provide value. Set realistic expectations.”

- From Micah Baldwin’s post Kill All Designers… this is a eye-catching headline that doesn’t do justice to the thesis of the article. Micah’s a smart guy I met at Startup Weekend DC a little over a year ago.

I pulled this quote out because I think the main lesson applies to all businesses, not just designers. Innovation is driving down the cost of products we create, and we can’t simply lower our prices to compete.

So, we must make sure the consumer knows why he/she the extra value we provide… at a price premium. That means repositioning a unique differentiator that wasn’t particularly important in a way that the customer finds irresistable.

This may be difficult to do… but, if it were easy, we’d all be doing it.

"That’s what you get when you start dating at age 18 while volunteering in a Croatian refugee..."

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:54:28 -0400

“That’s what you get when you start dating at age 18 while volunteering in a Croatian refugee camp.”

- great quote from Overheard in New York

"Six Word to Live By on the Internet: Global, Social, Open, Mobile, Playful, Intelligent"

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:07:00 -0500

“Six Word to Live By on the Internet: Global, Social, Open, Mobile, Playful, Intelligent”

- from Fred Wilson’s recent presentation called Startup Culture, the Internet, and Television… of the six, I think that “Intelligent” impacts internet content the most and differentiates it from other forms of marketable mass media… intelligent content can find an audience and thrive online (Arrested Development, Adam Carolla’s new podcast, etc.) because smart, motivated people like to band together, share, and discuss content with one another… other forms of mass media (think most successful reality tv and the Morning Zoo) are built for you to sit back and stop thinking

"If I wanted to watch people I don’t give a shit about fall in love I’d eat at the Olive Garden."

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:55:08 -0500

“If I wanted to watch people I don’t give a shit about fall in love I’d eat at the Olive Garden.”

- hilarious quote about Slumdog Millionaire from Film Drunk

"The question shouldn’t be, “do you deserve it.” I think it should be, “what are you going to do with..."

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:59:15 -0500

“The question shouldn’t be, “do you deserve it.” I think it should be, “what are you going to do with it now that you’ve got it?””

- More quotable insight form Seth Godin… I’ve told this to people for years and truly believe it. I’ve had many gifts in my life, and it would be a shame if I didn’t use them to their full potential.

"Sales presentations aren’t about selling your company’s product or services;..."

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:53:00 -0500

“Sales presentations aren’t about selling your company’s product or services; they’re about selling the results the customer wants.”

- From a BNET newsletter I got this morning… I’ve been doing a lot of work recently to help marketers create compelling sales messages, and this is really great, pithy advice.

"I don’t know how much say (Jason Statham) has in the films he makes. But I get the impression..."

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:50:28 -0500

“I don’t know how much say (Jason Statham) has in the films he makes. But I get the impression that he reads the scripts. And if the script doesn’t make him want to drive a bulldozer through a cake store, I’ll bet he punches the script through a wall.”

- From Patton Oswalt on his new-found love for the great thespian of our generation… Jason Statham… for more great Statham material, go to FilmDrunk.

"The stock market tumbled on the Obama inauguration yesterday, and it’s spiking higher today on the..."

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:26:00 -0500

“The stock market tumbled on the Obama inauguration yesterday, and it’s spiking higher today on the beginning of the new season of “Lost”. In short, markets hate minority Democratic presidents, but love TV series with lots of greenery.”

- from Paul Kedrosky’s Infectious Greed

"The news is not a zero sum game, just because we have something like twitter doesn’t invalidate all..."

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:46:00 -0500

“The news is not a zero sum game, just because we have something like twitter doesn’t invalidate all of the other sources… Where journalism kicks in is the reporting of facts beyond the immediate what happened, such as what type of plane and how many passengers involved, trauma reports, emergency personnel perspective, and regulatory agency comment.”

- From Jeff Nolan’s blog Venture Chronicles… just because we have realtime facts does not mean we won’t have the New York Times. However, I think news outlets should refocus on contributing opinion and analysis, not just restating facts.

"A fruit basket enables you to mail somebody fruit without appearing insane."

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:00:19 -0500

“A fruit basket enables you to mail somebody fruit without appearing insane.”

- From comedian Demetri Martin, in his understated and hilarious special If I

"The great direct mail copywriter Joe Sugarman taught me … Every ad had a headline, and so did..."

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:04:00 -0500

“The great direct mail copywriter Joe Sugarman taught me … Every ad had a headline, and so did every paragraph. If the paragraph didn’t warrant a headline, it didn’t go in the ad… you need to be sure your headline is compelling, accurate and a viable foundation to the message you’re ultimately trying to send.”

- from Seth Godin… he’s so quotable!

"As for social disruption, Hanauer gave a quick summary of what he meant: —If everyone thinks it’s..."

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:17:00 -0500

“

As for social disruption, Hanauer gave a quick summary of what he meant:

—If everyone thinks it’s a great idea, it probably sucks.
—If people understand it, you’re too late.
—If people don’t like it and don’t understand it, it probably still sucks.

”

- another stellar quote from How to Spot a Breakthrough…

"The key elements of a breakthrough idea, Hanauer said, are value creation and social disruption...."

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:09:39 -0500

“The key elements of a breakthrough idea, Hanauer said, are value creation and social disruption. “Value is difficult but possible to quantify—it’s the ratio of benefits to cost, divided by those of the alternatives,” he said. Benefits are things like a product’s durability, speed, and appeal; costs are things like price, distribution, and training. “Is this thing in some way 10 times better than the existing alternative?” he said. “No breakthrough idea has ever delivered less.””

- quote from a talk given by Nick Hanauer, one of the original investors in Amazon… I found this great insight on the Xconomy blog in a post called How to Spot a Breakthrough, which was fed to me by the VC Network… I think this is a great starting point for evaluating a big idea, even if the metrics are pretty “fluffy”

"These older technologies (like bicycles, wrist watches, fountain pens and fire places) have survived..."

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:01:56 -0500

“These older technologies (like bicycles, wrist watches, fountain pens and fire places) have survived by recasting themselves as luxuries and by marketing their sensory, aesthetic and nostalgic appeal. Their producers emphasize their experiential rather than functional qualities.”

- Great New York Times article on how industries survive disruptive change… however, this example works only with B2C companies. Can a B2B company survive a disruptive change?

"For us, that was a wildly waving yellow flag: Life at Google had apparently been so easy for so long..."

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:08:54 -0500

“For us, that was a wildly waving yellow flag: Life at Google had apparently been so easy for so long that the folks at the top had stopped thinking about how to kill their competitors and started thinking about how to solve the world’s energy problems. Anytime that happens, the good times are likely coming to an end.”

- from Silicon Alley Insider about the possible departure of Google CEO Eric Schmidt for a job in the new Obama Administration… I like this tidbit, because it seems like a sound qualitative filter for when to sell shares in a given investment

"The only reason to answer the phone when a customer calls is to make the customer happy. If..."

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:06:38 -0500

“The only reason to answer the phone when a customer calls is to make the customer happy. If you’re not doing this or you are unable to do this, do not answer the phone… Saving 50 cents a call with a complicated phone tree is a false savings. Think of all the money you’ll save if you just stop answering altogether. Think of all the money you’ll make if you just make people happy.”

- from Seth Godin

"Patriotism is the last refuge for the scoundrel, but leveraging your children (to make your point)..."

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:27:00 -0500

“Patriotism is the last refuge for the scoundrel, but leveraging your children (to make your point) ain’t far behind.”

- From co-host “Bald” Bryan Bishop on my favorite morning radio show, the Adam Carolla Show… this show is both smart and hilarious, and I’m glad I could add a quote from the show to my blog (even though Adam hates and doesn’t understand blogging)… to listen to the Adam Carolla Show, go to the Show Archive (where I pull my podcast) or Listen Live from 6am -10am PST.

"I’ve theorized that people who work in financial services and related fields have become so..."

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:41:58 -0500

“I’ve theorized that people who work in financial services and related fields have become so outraged and alienated by the incompetence, crass social conservatism, and repeated insults to the nation’s intelligence of the Bush-era Republican Party that they’re voting with their hearts and heads instead of their wallets.”

- From the Slate article Why the Rich Vote for Obama Against Their Own Economic Interest about Bushenfreude… amen