The last bizibly article :)

I never wanted to be a writer.  The web is full of journalists/bloggers/reporters.  Whether they are breaking news or adding depth and opinion to existing stories, the truth is that these are the people that create the backbone of the internet… content.

There is a content explosion happening on the web right now.  With beautiful services available from Tumblr and other blog platforms, anyone who wants to write stories, break news, create how-to’s, and share opinion can do so at length for free.  In a perfect storm of content creation and social link sharing (Facebook/Twitter), the rate of creation and sharing is increasing faster than anyone can keep up with. 

Bizibly was born from the idea of content curation.  We’re obsessed with personalized news and how people communicate/share things that they find interesting.  It’s time to get back to our roots and invest every bit of time and energy into products that actually solve the “too much content” problem, not add to it.

So, what do we do now?  Who knows.  What I do know is that there is a clear vision and lots of change coming in the curation/personalization space.  Mobile apps?  Tablet apps?

For now we will exist and grow with Twitter while we work in the background on the “next big thing.”

We will be scouring the web and sharing via Twitter the very best stories about: Tech, Entrepreneur, Startups, Business, and Web 2.0 stuff… basically, the things that we find interesting.  Of course we will throw in our random thoughts on things in the world; now we’re simply limited to 140 characters.

All Twitter posts will forward to our Facebook page so either way works to keep up with us.

More than anything, THANK YOU to all of our supporters.  bizibly currently gets nearly three thousand page views every single day and has fans from 86 countries around the world!! (Thank you Google Analytics)

We are not done, just going into hibernation (kind of like a bear, but it’s summer… so I guess that doesn’t make sense).  Be sure to follow us on Twitter or “like” our Facebook page and stay up to date with all of our thoughts and happenings.

Thank you again and we’ll be back soon!

Stop Worrying About Your Competition!

Chris Dixon had an interesting post recently on Dropbox and the importance of investing in people. There is another potential lesson there about the role of competition in startup success.

Chris mentions that when he thought about the founder’s idea for Dropbox his concern was how busy the space already was.

I’d have to say in all honesty if I were offered I probably would have passed.  2005-6 saw about 100 consumer backup/storage/file sharing companies raise funding. I remember after Drew left my office I looked at some article on RWW or Mashable or someplace that listed page after page of consumer backup/storage/file sharing companies. It just seemed like an insane idea to start another one and it seemed like Drew’s only thesis was that his product would work better.

Fast forward and Dropbox is on it’s way to $100M in revenue and is just killing it.  So, if there really were so many competitors then why did Dropbox succeed and what does that mean for founders considering entering crowded markets? 

When I think about startup success and failure, it is all about people. You can list issues with product, goto market, etc, but when you drill down to the root cause it’s people. Retail success is about location, location, location. Startup success is about people, people, people.

Truly exceptional people can enter crowded markets and win. When Google entered search it was already an established space with Yahoo!, Lycos, Geocities and others. As we all know now, Google rules search and of all the companies that used to rule search pretty much only Yahoo! is left.

Now, Google is one thing. But what about brand new startups? How important should competition be in your thinking? I think that you should be aware of your competition but it should not be a primary focus. You should not attempt to react to moves by your competition. You should not sweat a major release. You just need to keep your head down, implement your roadmap, delight your customers and move closer to your vision each and every day.

What if you have no competition? If this is *really* true, then you are either not defining your market properly or you need to be doing something else. Anything worth doing will have multiple people going after it either in direct competition to you or taking a different approach.

So, that’s my take anyway. You should spend no more than 5% of your time thinking about your competition. Spend the other 95% making your own vision happen.

Uh oh, Microsoft (Not Google or Facebook) about to buy Skype for $7 Billion!

Uh oh — the Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is close to a $7 billion-plus deal to buy Skype, with the transaction to be announced as early as tomorrow morning. That’ll certainly cause some whispers at Google I/O, and not least because both Google and Facebook were recently rumored to be in the running for everyone’s favorite VoIP company.  

Popular as Skype is, it’s still a big bet for Ballmer — that huge price tag makes it one of the biggest acquisitions in Microsoft history, and Skype hasn’t exactly been a profit machine in the eight years it’s been around. On the plus side, we can see amazing potential for Skype to link up with Xbox Live and Kinect Video Chat, and we would certainly hope that promised Windows Phone 7 Skype client actually arrives as promised this summer.

We’ll keep an eye on things and let you know if there’s confirmation — stay tuned.

Steve Jobs Blows Up! A Look Inside Apple

For a company not usually accustomed to failure, Apple’s 2008 MobileMe launch came pretty darn close. Today, in a 22-page segment entitled “Inside Apple”, Fortune details the behind-closed-doors conversation Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, reportedly had with the team behind the web service.

Expletives in tow, Jobs reportedly described his anger over the service not performing as advertised, stating the team had, undoubtedly and without reservation, “tarnished Apple’s reputation”.

According to a participant in the meeting, Jobs walked in, clad in his trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans, clasped his hands together and asked a simple question: “Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?” Having received a satisfactory answer, he continued, “So why the f*** doesn’t it do that?”

For the next half-hour Jobs berated the group. “You’ve tarnished Apple’s reputation,” he told them. “You should hate each other for having let each other down.”

Unlike most other companies, Apple works on a direct accountability policy. If something goes wrong and you were involved in its wrong doing, you will be solely accountable. In fact, according to the report, Apple holds a specific term for this unfortunate individual.

Directly Responsible Individual or ‘DRI’.

The janitor gets to explain why something went wrong. Senior people do not. “When you’re the janitor,” Jobs has repeatedly told incoming VPs, “reasons matter.” He continues: “Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering.” That “Rubicon,” he has said, “is crossed when you become a VP.”

If you already like Apple as a company and you’re inclined to find out more about how one of the most successful technology companies in the world effectively runs every aspect of its business, this is definitely a recommended read.

Harvard says Eloquence better than Accuracy in Interviews

If you’re stumped by a question in an interview, fake it. That’s the advice coming out of a new study from Harvard.

You’ll have a better chance of making a good impression if you respond eloquently and slightly irrelevantly than if you answer truthfully but with a dozen “uhs” and “ums” thrown in, according to the study.

Two Harvard researchers found that a person’s likeability increases the more articulate they are. In the study, they showed subjects videos from a political debate. In the first video, a candidate answers the posed question directly and well. In the second, he answers a similar question, and in the third, he answers it directly but inarticulately.

Subjects didn’t notice when the candidate answered a similar question — his likeability only went down a tenth of a point. But when he answered directly and inarticulately, subjects liked him less. The audience also didn’t remember if the candidate fudged a similar question.

The take-home message for job candidates is that interviewers may not remember if you avoid a question, as long as you do it eloquently. As many high-school debate champions know well, people treasure style over substance, and will be inclined to trust you more if you come off looking like you know what you’re talking about, even if you don’t.

As long as you keep your cool, the client won’t notice and you can always make them feel as if you’ve addressed their concerns (while promising to follow-up with written materials of course).

HR people are looking for that sense of collectedness, and being able to gracefully answer any question that’s put to you, even if you are not completely sure of the answer, will help convince them of your poise.

To help you improve your sense of calm when speaking, count to 3 before answering any question, and practice your interviews while looking in the mirror. Even better, tape yourself and review how fast you talk and how you respond to unexpected questions. You never know when you’ll get thrown a random policy or behavioral question you weren’t expecting.

Groupon: It’s all about Execution!

Lots of people are discussing Felix Salmon’s excellent analysis of the economics of Groupon, which is really more about the fact that Groupon has dominated the space because it executes well. That is, it’s not about the idea, it’s about the execution. The fact that it has remained dominant despite so many copycats shows that just copying isn’t enough. This doesn’t mean that Groupon will always be the best at executing (in fact, I doubt it will be). But it’s not so simple as just coming in and copying. 

This is an issue that comes up all the time when we talk about business and intellectual property. People who haven’t built up businesses like this assume that all you need is the idea — and if an idea can be copied, then the company can’t succeed. But that ignores just how important the execution element is. Salmon talks about how hard Groupon works to make sure its advertisers are happy with the results, to a level beyond most of its competitors. However, I think there’s another element of Groupon’s execution that hasn’t received nearly enough attention: how enjoyable it makes the whole thing for consumers.

Groupon employs a bunch of writers who work hard to make sure all of the deals are compelling, enjoyable and fun. It always amazes me how much people underestimate the value of the quality of the writing in Groupon’s offers. However, where it really struck me was a few months back, when I was researching some newer competitors to Groupon — in particular, newspapers that were offering deals directly to compete with Groupon. In theory, newspapers should be able to absolutely destroy Groupon. If you’re just standing on the mountain looking down, and seeing who has the advantages here, it’s clearly the newspapers. Newspapers already rely on local advertising and deals, and have established long-term relationships in the market. On top of that, newspapers employ a ton of (mostly) high quality writers as well, so they should be able to create similarly compelling content.

And yet, when I was looking at various newspaper Groupon clones, what struck me was how boring and dull their offers were. Even if the deals themselves were comparable (and they often weren’t), they just weren’t that interesting or compelling to read. And that’s because the newspapers — like the Wall St. analyst above — are engaging in cargo cult copying, where they think that all that matters is copying the superficial idea — while missing the secret sauce that goes into the less obvious execution.

In the end, I will admit that I have my doubts about the overall sustainability of Groupon itself, but it’s not because “the idea” is easily copyable. I’m just not convinced that Groupon can continue to execute as well, and some aspects of what it’s offering have some elements of a fad written all over them. But claiming that the company is overvalued because the “idea” is too easy makes little sense.

How to get a job at a startup if you’re a “business person”

Recently, I’ve received an increasing number of emails from “business people” looking for advice on how to get a job at a startup. Most have the same story, “I could go work at a big company, but want to join a startup. One problem: I don’t know where to start the process.” Everyone knows how to get their foot in the door at an investment bank – just apply online. Less clear is the path to joining a startup, especially for those lacking technical skills.

What I usually tell people is that it’s not as scary as it sounds, and it is not as difficult provided you are passionate about your goal. A few pieces of advice on how to get a job at a startup if you aren’t a developer:

1. Know the tech landscape better than anybody else – Pick a few verticals and drill down. Know the names and histories of companies in that space and be up to date on what they do and why they do it. A good place to start ishere. Separate yourself by also learning tech history – macro trends are more clear in retrospect. There are a bunch of good tech history books in this list. For me, twitter is the best source of news and information. Follow people who are respected in the startup world, and read what they are reading. I’ve found that Twitter is a bit like Wikipedia in the way it  pulls you in. If you follow an interesting person you are bound to find 50 more solely by seeing who they interact with.

2. Form an opinion and start a blog – Knowing the facts is a requisite to forming an opinion. Just memorizing the details and not being able to articulate an opinion is pretty worthless. So, make sure you know not only that a prominent startup recently released a new feature, but be able to comment on whether, given the market, this release was a good strategic move. Product-wise, what did you like about the new feature? What did you hate? How will the new feature affect the direction of the company? Write these thoughts down on twitter and on your blog (even if nobody is listening now, it will give you something to point to when you do reach out to a company).

3. Be familiar with the startup culture – Each sport, industry, or college has a unique culture, with its own lingo, success stories, and taboos. Startup culture is no different. Be familiar with all of these elements. A nice place to start is Paul Graham’s Hackers and Painters. Aside from being a thought-provoking book, it offers deep insights into the startup / hacker culture.  I’d also recommend hanging out on tech-heavy communities like Hacker News orReddit. Observe how people interact. Pay close attention to which articles and comments get voted up or down. It will go a long way in figuring out what the startup culture sees as valuable. Decide if these values mesh with what you see as important.

4. Offer a concrete skill – If you were to interview at a startup would you describe yourself as someone who is “willing to do anything?”   That probably isn’t the best way to pitch yourself.  Though flexibility is a great quality, it is assumed of all good candidates. Ditto for an “eagerness to learn.” To set yourself apart, do some research into the position and talk about the specifics of why you’d be good for that role. If it is an analytics role, read some books on online analytics. If it’s more of a product role, build something! If it’s a business development role, come in with a list of the top 10 companies you think would be promising partners for company. I learned to be proficient in photoshop so that I could create quick mockups that would inspire potential partners. Whatever that skill is, go learn it (hint: you’ll likely have to teach it to yourself). My point is to put some thought into how you can prove passion and commitment.

5. Take an internship – Startups will often bring on someone as a consultant or intern before hiring them. It’s kind of like a test drive. I’d say the hardest part is getting your foot in the door. Once you do that, it’s up to you to prove your value. Check your ego at the door and don’t worry about how all your friends are full-time employees and you are a lowly intern.

6. Send cold emails – Contrary to popular belief, they work. (Of course, try to make these emails meaningful, not just templates). The best piece of advice I can give is to get the conversation started early.

I’d start by emailing a few entry-level employees at some of the companies you find most interesting. Find their email addresses online and send them a quick note along with your resume – you’d be surprised how few people looking for jobs in startups even take the time to do this. If you can’t find their email then send them a note on twitter or comment on their blog.

The reason most startups will be respond to your inquiry is that although they aren’t always hiring, startups are always looking to meet exceptional people. In a fast-growing company, hiring needs pop up quickly and the faster they can fill the job, the less time they spend away from product-building. Getting to know potential employees before the need arises is key to finding the best people and filling roles fast.

I’ve heard of this referred to as a “bench” of potential hires (hat tip to Brian Chesky of Airbnb who is the first person I heard this term from). It describes people the company knows and would love to hire given the need. When the need arises, the company calls on its “bench.” Your goal should be to get on the “bench” of several startups, so that when an opportunity opens, they will think of you. This is particularly true for college seniors.

7. Understand that most people get non-technical jobs at startups through their network, not job postings – I once heard a great piece of advice: “Any startup job you find on a job board will be one you don’t want.” Many startups won’t post business development roles because they generate overwhelming inbound interest, often from unqualified candidates. Rather, they’ll let people in their professional network know they are looking for someone, and rely on referrals to drive high quality candidates. Again, get to know people by reaching out via email, twitter, or by commenting on their blog. If someone you contact tells you they aren’t hiring, ask if they’d mind referring you to a startup they know that is.

Final thought: I don’t aim to convince people to choose a startup over Wall Street – only to let those interested know that the option is there and it is not as daunting as it may appear. Hopefully the above pointers will help demystify the process for those eager to get into the startup world.

 

Apple launches customer feedback site “Pulse”

Apple has launched a new site called Apple Customer Pulse which allows select users of Apple’s products to submit feedback on a variety of issues.

Currently the site is only accessible to those users who have received an email invite from Apple. Several readers have contacted us saying they have received invites, but there is no firm way to know what the total numbers of invitees are or how Apple goes about choosing them. 

The site launched quietly a few weeks ago and represents an expanded effort on Apple’s part to generate relevant and focused customer feedback. MacRumors did some digging and found out the site is administered by Socratic Technologies, a San Francisco-based market research firm that has worked with other tech companies, including Adobe. A WhoIs search lists the domain management MarkMonitor Brand Protection, a company Apple frequently uses to secure domain names. Additionally, the administrative registrant contact is Apple’s Ken Eddings.

You’re Probably Killing Your Own Productivity!

We all have our weekday morning routines. You roll into the office a little before 9 am (or a little after, if traffic was really bad), settle in at your desk, maybe grab a cup of coffee around 9:30 or 10, check Twitter and Facebook, and then dive in to your inbox. 

And while it’s obvious that your time playing Farmville or reading Kanye’s latest tweet is going to hamper your productivity, you might be surprised to learn what other common work habits can sabotage your productivity.

1. Checking Your Email Constantly
If you’re like most people, you check your email frequently. Like, 5 times an hour frequently…or “every time my phone dings” frequently. Maybe a better word than “frequently” would be “obsessively.”

But despite the urgings of your boss to “stay on top of everything”, it turns out that checking your email too frequently actually reduces your productivity.

Now, of course the experts can’t seem to agree on when you should check your email. There are a few people who say that checking your email as soon as you get into the office is a no-no, among them Sid Savara and Oprah’s pal Julie Morgenstern, author of “Never Check Email in the Morning.”

Savara argues that checking your email first thing when you sit down to work ruins whatever game plan you came into the day with. Instead, he advises, “Work on something important for 30-45 minutes, and only then check it. If you can stand it, wait even longer.  Some days I don’t check email at all until after lunch… As long as you’re ignorant of everything else that’s going on outside, you can concentrate on what you want to work on. You don’t know what fires need to be put out, you don’t know about that special sale that’s going on today and you don’t know about that funny video your buddy sent you.”

Elizabeth Grace Saunders takes a slightly more moderate approach, telling her clients that all her emails will be answered within 24 hours so they don’t get on her back. She generally clears out her inbox during the first 1-2 hours of her day, and formulates her game plan for the rest of the day after that. After that, she doesn’t generally look at her email again for the rest of the day, allowing her to focus completely on business development and client projects.

2. Scheduling Weekly/Project Status Meetings
Meetings are a time suck, but some would argue that they are a necessary evil. Still, losing hours every week to conversations that could just as easily have been handled over IM or email can be really frustrating.

Instead, use a shared project management system with a progress bar or timeline or calendar. You might like Central Desktop, Basecamp, or a system you’ve cobbled together using Google Docs. With a detailed list of project milestones and deadlines mapped out in a shared workspace, any team member at any time can log in and get the status of a project, without having to ask you for it. And you get those hours previously lost to weekly status meetings back!

3. Working Late
Let me ask you something. How productive are you after 5 pm, really? Chances are that even when you do work late, you spend a good chunk of that time reading blog posts and figuring out what restaurant you want to order delivery from.

And even if you do work your butt off after hours, you’re just going to get burned out, making you more likely to get sick and lose even more productive hours. Staying late is okay when it is really needed, but if you do it habitually in hopes of getting ahead, you’re likely doing yourself (and your company) a disservice.

4. Mismanaging Your To-Do List
This is my own personal failing. I am a compulsive “to-do” list writer, and while I always have an easy time prioritizing my list, I don’t always tackle things in the right order.

Say I have a list of 5 action items, all of which need to get done today. They are all the same priority, but they vary in terms of how much time it will take to complete them.

So I might tackle the “easiest” things first, the two or three tasks I know will take just 5-10 minutes to do. And then I’ll be able to move on to “the big project”, and I’ll have already made a dent in my to-do list.

Trouble is, by the time I’ve done everything on my list except the one big task I’ve been putting off, I’m tired and cranky and low on energy. In other words, I’m not even close to the right frame of mind for addressing the hardest part of my list.

The solution? Just bite the bullet, and do the big task on your to-do list first, no matter how tempting it is to scratch off the smaller tasks on your list first.

5. Drinking Too Much Coffee
Caffeine does not give you lasting energy; caffeine that’s loaded with sugar even less so. Especially if you live the desk jockey lifestyle, that sugar in your coffee is likely to make you hyper, spike your insulin levels, crash, and then get stored as fat. In other words, it’s not really the best thing for boosting productivity. Skip the morning Joe (and the mid-morning Joe, and the afternoon Joe) and eat a balanced breakfast instead to keep your energy up.

6. Eating Lunch at Your Desk
You might be perceived as more productive by your boss when you don’t take a full lunch break, but will you actually be more productive?

Well, probably not. For one thing, what if you spill your soup on an important report, or your keyboard? If you are clumsy, eating near important work documents is a sure fire way to have your productivity plummet. And unless you have a spare shirt in your car, you might have to go to an important meeting with beef stew down your front.

Plus, eating at your desk increases your odds of overeating, since you aren’t eating mindfully. You get chubbier, your heart gets weaker, and then your productivity really takes a nosedive.

Do you sabotage your own productivity? Tell us in the comments below!

 

How to Study “Entrepreneur” in College

Probably more so than any time in the past, more people are looking to break the mould in career planning with the ultimate aim of becomingentrepreneurs. The feeling that the best person to help you make a good and interesting living is yourself may not be new but it has seldom been so prevalent. 

In the current troubled economic climate, making the decision to become an entrepreneur may not just be aspirational; it may also be based on a solid realization that this is still one of the best ways to achieve success.

However, like many ambitions it is easier said than done. After all, just how does one become an entrepreneur? The importance of education cannot be over emphasized and therefore anyone wanting to go down this road needs to choose wisely in his or her college allocation.

The first thing to note is that although many colleges will offer courses in entrepreneur studies (or something similarly named), this can often be something of a false dawn when it comes to career planning. By all means investigate what these courses have to offer, but bear in mind that it may at first hamper your career prospects, as many employers will be unsure what the course actually represents. To this end, the following are courses that may well be the best classes for future entrepreneurs.

Marketing

Make no mistake about it; if you leave college without a firm grasp of marketing, a career as an entrepreneur will be over before it has begun. The best product or service will fail if the right people don’t know it exists, so look for a business-based course that includes a strong marketing element. Also, make sure it has fully embraced social network marketing to ensure that you have the best start in your career.

A creative element

This may be called a number of things (such as Creative Business or Business Creativity), but it boils down to the fact that businesses without creativity will fail (even if it manages to get off the ground in the first place). The reason for this is simple: if you’re not being creative, your competitors will already have an edge. If your ultimate business goal is what can be perceived as “non-creative (such as finance, accounting or law-based), don’t fall into the trap of thinking this doesn’t apply to you. It’s not about designing funky logos, but rather about a creative business model that makes the most of a niche and helps give your business its edge.

Accountancy

Talking about “non-creative,” don’t turn your nose up at this. It may not be the most exciting subject to some, but it is pivotal in a successful business. Just ask a company such as Apple is they treat the accountancy side with disdain because they’re in a creative field. Also, don’t think you can farm this side out to a dedicated firm of accountants – you can, but don’t you want to have a good idea whether they’re doing a good job? Accountancy or finance classes will help you get the basics right so your business remains on solid foundations.

Strategy/Reputation Management

These two subjects often – and should – over lap, so look for a course that not only allows you to study business strategies (those that have failed as well as those that have succeeded), but one that gives you a solid understanding of the importance of reputation management. Always important, this has now become essential in the age of social media where reputations can be built and demolished online.

Entrepreneurship

Of course, this is the most important subject and it should form a core of your study. It can be taken as a single class, or as a degree. Whichever option you choose, take the time to fully study the prospectus of the establishment and make sure it covers all the above. Don’t be shy of contacting the establishment and asking any questions you may have to ensure you get the best possible start to your career.

Online Education

It may be that college is not an option – at least full time – but this should not put you off. There are a number of online courses that can give you a strong foundation in entrepreneurship and even if you are attending college these can act as a useful adjunct. The government runs one such course, the Small Business Primer, which is a great place to start.

Free Classes

There are even some great free classes such as those run by UC Berkeley and the UK’s Open University that can be really helpful.

If you want to go to an actual college and have studied all the prospectuses and are still wondering which might give you the best chance to succeed as an entrepreneur, then Boston, Grand Canyon and Western Carolinauniversities all offer first rate course. Search the web and look for current and past students’ feedback as this can often be one of the best ways to gauge a course.

Students interested in entrepreneurship: what classes have you found most useful? Let us know in the comment section!