RSS

andrewspittle + business   278

Learning from competition
"Reacting well to competition requires critical analysis of your own product and its shortcomings, and a complete, open-minded understanding of why people might choose your competitors."
MarcoArment  business  Instapaper 
10 weeks ago by andrewspittle
The Management Team
"That’s the way it has to work in a knowledge organization. You don’t build a startup with one big gigantic brain on the top, and a bunch of lesser brains obeying orders down below. You try to get everyone to have a gigantic brain in their area, and you provide a minimum amount of administrative support to keep them humming along."
business  management  work  JoelSpolsky 
11 weeks ago by andrewspittle
The Rands Test
Fantastic test to gauge how healthy your company and team are.
Rands  management  teams  business  from instapaper
november 2011 by andrewspittle
Why you should embrace opposing views at your startup
"So the next time you’re tempted to write off the latest hot company: Instagram, Pintrest, Tumblr, Spotify, AirBnB, or whatever – in stead of being envious or dismissive be “dissecting.” Find out what you think in their product is working and what you don’t think matters. Understand why they’re getting user adoption and what you could learn from that."
startups  ideas  business  from instapaper
november 2011 by andrewspittle
Crash Dev: The future of work: What happens when talent trumps capital?
What will happen to large, incumbent brands as they struggle with finding software engineers to solve their most critical problems.
software  work  business  startups  from instapaper
november 2011 by andrewspittle
Making money with media
" I’ve heard people say that it’s embarassing that it wasn’t a newspaper that invented Craigslist. I disagree. If we had, Craig Newmark still would have kicked our ass and still would have stolen our classifieds. Again: if you bundle things, prepare to get unbundled."
journalism  business  from instapaper
november 2011 by andrewspittle
Preparing To Fire an Executive
Fantastic thoughts on firing an executive.
BenHorowitz  startups  business  from instapaper
october 2011 by andrewspittle
The Book Bench: Should We Fight to Save Indie Bookstores?
"Do I want to save my favorite indie bookstores? Indeed I do. Should we save them (must we save them)? I throw that question to the ether."
books  business  NewYork  NewYorker  from instapaper
september 2011 by andrewspittle
What they're "protecting" us from
"I side with the makers, the creators, and the inventors, and it’s about time that the pack of clamoring would-be politicians be put on the defensive for attacking the values of those of us on this side."
AnilDash  SteveJobs  Apple  business  from instapaper
september 2011 by andrewspittle
Who Rules America: An Investment Manager’s View on the Top 1%
An intriguing peak inside the most wealthy percentage of the population.
finance  business  from instapaper
september 2011 by andrewspittle
Back to (the wrong) school
"Our current system of teaching kids to sit in straight rows and obey instructions isn't a coincidence--it was an investment in our economic future. The plan: trade short-term child labor wages for longer-term productivity by giving kids a head start in doing what they're told.

Large-scale education was never about teaching kids or creating scholars. It was invented to churn out adults who worked well within the system."
SethGodin  business  education  learning  school 
september 2011 by andrewspittle
Apple’s Four-Year Product Rollout
"The future of simplicity and usability in technology means connectedness. It means hardware devices that don’t operate as silos independent of our documents and media and communication channels. But that future is now upon us. Apple’s version has always been the most delightful, but now it is one of the more affordable offerings as well."
business  strategy  ShawnBlanc  Apple 
september 2011 by andrewspittle
The Saving of Ground Zero
Interesting piece on the development of the old World Trade Center site.
building  business  NewYork  from instapaper
september 2011 by andrewspittle
How the NYT paywall is working
"The NYT treated its readers as mature and civilized adults, and outperformed internal expectations as a result. Meanwhile, the WSJ and FT are still treating their readers with mistrust, as though they’ll be robbed somehow if they ever let their guard down a little."
journalism  paywall  NYTimes  business  from instapaper
september 2011 by andrewspittle
Startup Weekend pep talk: It ain’t the code
"Customers don’t patronize companies on the basis of the difficulty of the code or the unit test coverage percentage or whether you used Bodoni instead of Times New Roman on the home page. In fact I’ve made millions of dollars on companies with hideously ugly websites and buggy code. Those things are actually not the most important things. Real life is a startup contest too."
startups  code  business  from instapaper
august 2011 by andrewspittle
Why We Need the New News Environment to be Chaotic
"That’s the newspaper business, or at least it was until recently. The average US paper runs more soft than hard news, uses more third-party content than anything created by their own staff, and reaches more people who care about local teams than local zoning. Telling the publishers of those papers to create a digital product so extraordinary that readers will pay full freight is a tacit admission that they do not know how to make such a product today."
journalism  ClayShirky  business  advertising 
july 2011 by andrewspittle
DNA
"DNA is an organizational cue to everyone that all forms of leadership matter."
business  Rands  from instapaper
july 2011 by andrewspittle
Ways to Acquire Users for Free
Cool tips on dif fer ent strate gies for attract ing users to your prod uct. The right data makes these deci sions easier.
startups  business  SpencerFry  marketing  from instapaper
july 2011 by andrewspittle
Coordination
"Synchronizing buyers to improve efficiency and connection is a high-value endeavor, and it's right around the corner. It will permit mesh products, better conferences, higher productivity and less waste, while giving significant new power to consumers and those that organize them."
SethGodin  business  strategy 
june 2011 by andrewspittle
The article and the future of print
Smart words from Jeff Jarvis about what The Guardian could do to survive.
JeffJarvis  TheGuardian  journalism  business 
june 2011 by andrewspittle
Inspired by If all you want is a CMS, you're doing it wrong
"News sites must do more than tell stories, they must turn readers into customers if they hope to survive."
journalism  business  SeanBlanda  from instapaper
june 2011 by andrewspittle
Who pays for the news media?
"Almost everything else we buy is of far higher quality than it was twenty years ago. The worst car you could buy then was a Yugo… clearly we’ve raised the bar at the bottom. Is the same thing true of your news?"
journalism  SethGodin  business  from instapaper
june 2011 by andrewspittle
The game theory of discovery and the birth of the free-gap
Great points on the growing gap between paid and free.
SethGodin  business 
june 2011 by andrewspittle
Lost in Translation
Rands writes about how to handle people you have a fundamental communication disconnect with.
business  work  Rands  from instapaper
june 2011 by andrewspittle
Business Class: Freemium for News?
Great pier exploring paywalls and different approaches to making news a business.
design  NYTimes  business  journalism  from instapaper
may 2011 by andrewspittle
The Upside of Useless Stuff
"Now consider our current consumer environment: Multiply the desire for Respirer by thousands of products of varying levels of utility: iPads, leather couches, crystal martini glasses, cars, garden gnomes. It’s like having thousands of little motivational speakers hovering around us."
lifestyle  business  capitalism  DanAriely  from instapaper
may 2011 by andrewspittle
Why Microsoft bought Skype (Fanciful)
Dave Winer's idea of why Microsoft bought Skype. Smart analysis.
DaveWiner  Microsoft  Skype  business 
may 2011 by andrewspittle
Bootstrap Marketing
Spencer Fry writes about the various ways you can market your startup.
SpencerFry  startups  business  customerservice  from instapaper
may 2011 by andrewspittle
Summer Intern Field Guide
Rands writes about how the summer internship game works.
work  Rands  business  from instapaper
may 2011 by andrewspittle
Funding a Startup Without VC
Anil Dash writes about the various options for funding your startup outside of venture capital money.
AnilDash  startups  business  venturecapital  from instapaper
may 2011 by andrewspittle
Forget passion, focus on process
"It’s about redefining passion. Instead of working with a thing you love, think about how to work in a way you love."
37signals  business  customerservice  work  from instapaper
may 2011 by andrewspittle
This Is Why Your Tumblr’s Down
What Tumblr's doing to scale their service and grow the business side of things.
Tumblr  software  startups  business  DavidKarp  from instapaper
may 2011 by andrewspittle
Microsoft Buys Skype
Ben Horowitz reflects on his investment in Skype now that it has been bought by Microsoft.
business  BenHorowitz  Microsoft  Skype  venturecapital 
may 2011 by andrewspittle
The Myth of Profits
"I tend to believe the following about all private companies:

- Information reported by interested parties is unreliable.
- Companies that are still raising money are not profitable."
BenBrooks  Facebook  venturecapital  business 
may 2011 by andrewspittle
Selling vs. inviting
"The salesperson's job: Help people overcome their fear so they can commit to something they'll end up glad they invested in."
SethGodin  business 
may 2011 by andrewspittle
Left School, Joined a Startup
Alex, from ISO50, is leaving his MFA program and joining a Google Ventures funded startup.
startups  business  Google 
may 2011 by andrewspittle
Real time vs. slow time – and a defense of sane work hours
A short essay chock full of win from 37signals.
business  collaboration  work  37Signals 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
Titles and Promotions
"Another challenge is a phenomenon that I call The Law of Crappy People. The Law of Crappy People states:

For any title level in a large organization, the talent on that level will eventually converge to the crappiest person with the title."
business  management  BenHorowitz  startups 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
Fail Bigger Cheaper: A Three Word Manifesto
American businesses need to fail bigger, faster, and cheaper. It's what drives the engine of iteration.
UmairHaque  business 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
A Rule of Thumb: Pricing Should Be Simple
John Gruber nails why the New York Times' pricing system makes very little sense. When things are simple people will pay because not paying is always a simple action.
business  NYTimes  JohnGruber  DaringFireball  Apple 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
Making Money
Jason Fried writes about how to get really good at making money.
business  inspiration  money  IncMagazine  JasonFried 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
Sizing Up the New York Times’ Paid-Access Plan
Jason Fry writes about the New York Times' pay plan and how it's only a first iteration.
NYTimes  JasonFry  journalism  business 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
Startups: Not for the faint of heart
"If I hadn’t worked on my consulting projects last year, Parse.ly would have died. PERIOD. PG is often right, but he’s wrong on this one. I agree that startups require your undivided attention. But surviving isn’t a compromise — it’s a necessity. Do it however you possibly can."
business  startups  finance 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
A Successful Failure
Ben Brooks makes the case that Android may be successful in the near term but that doing so will sow the seeds of it's eventual failure.
BenBrooks  Android  Google  business 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
Who's responsible for service design?
"Too often, we blame bad service on the people who actually deliver the service. Sometimes (often) it’s not their fault."
SethGodin  customerservice  business 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
What’s The Most Difficult CEO Skill? Managing Your Own Psychology
Sometimes managing your own psychology is the hardest part of running a company.
business  management  startups  BenHorowitz 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
Insist on the coin flip
"When there isn’t enough data, when there can’t be enough data, insist on the flip.

By refusing to lie to yourself, by not telling yourself a fable to make the decision easier, you'll understand quite clearly when you're winging it."
SethGodin  business 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
Fragility of Free
"The fragility of free is a catchy term that describes what happens when the free money runs out. Or — perhaps more accurately — when the investors/founders/venture capitalists run out of cash, or patience, or both."
business  software  BenBrooks  Twitter 
april 2011 by andrewspittle
An Obvious Next Step
Evan Williams is moving on from Twitter to start a new project.
business  Twitter  EvanWilliams 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Coudal
37signals talks with Jim Coudal about the founding, growing pains, and success of Coudal Partners. A wonderfully honest interview by Jim Coudal.
business  design  work  37Signals  Coudal  JimCoudal 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
Startup vs. Company
"Your startup will eventually need to make the jump into company land and then, damn, things do get tough. If you're not ready to face that reality from the beginning, it may be too daunting when the time comes."
business  SpencerFry  startups 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
For Profit or For Students?
"In the graph below, the Department of Education has concluded that despite only having 12% of total enrollments, for-profit schools disproportionally account for 48% of total student debt defaults."
education  business  economy 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
The Audacity of Getting Paid
Great post about paying for software.
software  business  startups  venturecapital 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Who’s to Blame?
Joel Johnson writes about the Foxconn factory in China.
business  Apple  JoelJohnson  Wired  writing 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
Three Superpowers
The different super powers you might encounter (or be) in management.
business  management  Rands 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
Comments on NYT paywall announcement
"The mistake is not viewing this from the other end of the communication pipe. Listen to to the pitch from the other guy's point of view."
DaveWiner  journalism  business  ScriptingNews 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
Bad Form, Twitter
Chris Bowler writes about Twitter's poor decision in regard to changing their Terms of Service.
Twitter  ChrisBowler  business 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
Did Twitter just tell client-app developers to stop?
Brent Simmons writes about Twitter's changes to their Terms of Service.
business  Twitter  BrentSimmons 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
How an Illinois rest stop inspired a web page
Another cool idea from 37signals. This time it's a re-thought FAQ page.
37Signals  business 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
The end of the IT department
"At the same time, IT job security is often dependent on making things hard, slow, and complex. If the Exchange Server didn’t require two people to babysit it at all times, that would mean two friends out of work."
business  37Signals  software 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
When you want to quit because it’s just not worth it
Fear, enterprise software, and the need to never give up in a startup.
startups  business  strategy 
march 2011 by andrewspittle
Cast locally, stream globally
"Here’s a great idea for local TV news departments: start streaming, 24/7/365, on the Net."
DocSearls  journalism  business 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
Free Kindle This November
"By June 2010, the rate was so unwavering that he could easily forecast the date at which the Kindle would be free: November 2011."
Amazon  ebooks  business 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
On the Front Lines, In the Trenches
How selling glassware for $9.99 actually makes you a better designer as well. The easier it is for everyone to jump in and interact with users the better your product will be.
37Signals  business  design  customerservice  support 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
How To Pick the Right Clients
Mule Design with some tips on picking the right clients and common pitfalls that can be avoided.
business  design  MuleDesign 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
Beginning
Shawn Blanc is turning his site into a full-time gig. A $3 monthly membership fee is part of how he'll make the financial side of things work.
ShawnBlanc  writing  publishing  business  blogging 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
Verizon iPhone selling mostly to existing iPhone owners?
"My hypothesis is that most people willing and able to do that for the iPhone were also willing and able to jump carriers to get an iPhone on AT&T sometime since its release nearly four years ago."
MarcoArment  Instapaper  iPhone  Apple  business 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
On the oversaturation of news sources
In other words, you aren't going to create the innovative journalism company of the next 10 years by finding additional sources. You'll do it through reinventing the consumption experience, finding new ways to engage users, and curating the really valuable content.
LaurenRabaino  journalism  innovation  business 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
One Percent More
Ben Brooks follows up on his earlier post about Apple's subscription plans.
BenBrooks  Apple  software  business 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
Thirty Percent
Ben Brooks details his thoughts about Apple's new subscription plan for the App Store.
Apple  business  software  BenBrooks 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
Hiring for a Boostrapped Company
When you're running a bootstrapped company you should hire for the moment and look in your network for great people.
SpencerFry  startups  business  hiring  work 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
3D printing: The printed world
3D printers are already used as components and prototypes for some products. A future town may only need a printer instead of a factory.
TheEconomist  business  3Dprinting  maker 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
Trump Will Speak at CPAC
Donal Trump seems to be seriously considering a run for president in 2012.
business  politics  DonaldTrump  NYTimes 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
The Next Six Months
Gruber writes about the next six months of the tablet world.
JohnGruber  DaringFireball  iPad  Palm  Apple  business  design 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
Wait, everyone! TBD’s not dead, but changes coming with TV takeover
6 months after it's founding TBD may not be dead but it's certainly not thriving.
TBD  journalism  NiemanLab  business 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
Ode to the App Review team
Marco Arment's thoughts about the benefits of the app review process.
software  MarcoArment  iPhone  Apple  business 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
Automattic Makes Premium Themes Available to 17 Million Wordpress.com Blogs
Interesting footnote from Ben Brooks. "I do realize that my personal blog is on Tumblr still. I also still like Tumblr, but I think it is not the platform you should consider if writing is your thing."
BenBrooks  Automattic  WordPress  design  business  code  Tumblr 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
You Are What You Eat
"If I want to get hired to do something, I should already be doing it. People can’t always see potential energy. Instead of allowing a current job description to stand in the way, turn off the Scrubs re-runs and start a side-project. Draw a picture, code a site, or write something and share it with the internet."
business  design  inspiration  work  TrentWalton 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
Why Startups Fail: An Analysis of Post-Mortems
"Many of you read those post-mortems and asked, what are the most common reasons why these startups failed? After a thorough analysis of those 32 start-up post-mortems, we compiled this list of the top 20 causes of startup failure."
business  startups  strategy 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
In Meetings, Pen & Paper, Not Glass and Fingers
Randy Murray writes about why he uses a pen and paper for his meeting notes.
RandyMurray  writing  business  iPad 
february 2011 by andrewspittle
« earlier      

related tags

3Dprinting ⊕  37signals ⊕  43folders ⊕  Adobe ⊕  AdobeAIR ⊕  advertising ⊕  africa ⊕  AlexPayne ⊕  amazon ⊕  Android ⊕  AnilDash ⊕  Aol ⊕  apple ⊕  apps ⊕  associatedpress ⊕  Automattic ⊕  banking ⊕  bcniphilly ⊕  BenBrooks ⊕  BenHorowitz ⊕  blogging ⊕  books ⊕  BrentSimmons ⊕  BritishAirways ⊕  building ⊕  business ⊖  BusinessWeek ⊕  buzzmachine ⊕  CameronMoll ⊕  capitalism ⊕  Carbonmade ⊕  CaterinaFake ⊕  china ⊕  ChrisBowler ⊕  chrisdixon ⊕  clayshirky ⊕  code ⊕  collaboration ⊕  college ⊕  Congo ⊕  consumption ⊕  content ⊕  copyright ⊕  Coudal ⊕  crime ⊕  customerservice ⊕  DanAriely ⊕  DanielBachhuber ⊕  DanielPink ⊕  DaringFireball ⊕  davewiner ⊕  DavidKarp ⊕  DerekSivers ⊕  design ⊕  Diaspora ⊕  DocSearls ⊕  DonaldTrump ⊕  Dopplr ⊕  DougBowman ⊕  Dubai ⊕  ebooks ⊕  economy ⊕  education ⊕  email ⊕  energy ⊕  environment ⊕  EuropeanUnion ⊕  EvanWilliams ⊕  facebook ⊕  FCC ⊕  finance ⊕  FinancialTimes ⊕  Flickr ⊕  football ⊕  Foursquare ⊕  FrankChimero ⊕  fredwilson ⊕  gaming ⊕  gender ⊕  google ⊕  Haiti ⊕  HappyCog ⊕  health ⊕  hiring ⊕  HooverInstitute ⊕  HowardStern ⊕  ideas ⊕  IncMagazine ⊕  industry ⊕  innovation ⊕  inspiration ⊕  Instapaper ⊕  internships ⊕  interview ⊕  ipad ⊕  iPhone ⊕  JasonFried ⊕  JasonFry ⊕  JeffBezos ⊕  jeffjarvis ⊕  JimCoudal ⊕  JoelJohnson ⊕  JoelSpolsky ⊕  JohnGruber ⊕  journalism ⊕  julianassange ⊕  khoivinh ⊕  knowledgesystems ⊕  kylebaxter ⊕  labor ⊕  LaborDepartment ⊕  LaurenRabaino ⊕  learning ⊕  legislation ⊕  lifestyle ⊕  maker ⊕  management ⊕  marcoarment ⊕  marketing ⊕  MattMullenweg ⊕  MaxVoltar ⊕  merlinmann ⊕  Microsoft ⊕  money ⊕  MuleDesign ⊕  NewYork ⊕  newyorker ⊕  NiagaraFalls ⊕  NiemanLab ⊕  Ning ⊕  Nokia ⊕  nytimes ⊕  oil ⊕  opensource ⊕  oreilly ⊕  Palm ⊕  paulgraham ⊕  PaulKrugman ⊕  paywall ⊕  PeterThiel ⊕  photography ⊕  politics ⊕  postalservice ⊕  Posterous ⊕  productivity ⊕  publishing ⊕  radio ⊕  rands ⊕  RandyMurray ⊕  Readability ⊕  reading ⊕  reputation ⊕  RushLimbaugh ⊕  school ⊕  schools ⊕  scottberkun ⊕  ScottKarp ⊕  scriptingnews ⊕  SeanBlanda ⊕  SEC ⊕  security ⊕  sethgodin ⊕  ShawnBlanc ⊕  Skype ⊕  society ⊕  software ⊕  spencerfry ⊕  sports ⊕  startups ⊕  SteveJobs ⊕  stockmarket ⊕  strategy ⊕  support ⊕  TBD ⊕  teams ⊕  TecCrunch ⊕  TechCrunch ⊕  TED ⊕  theatlantic ⊕  TheEconomist ⊕  theguardian ⊕  thinking ⊕  thomasfriedman ⊕  TimFerriss ⊕  trains ⊕  travel ⊕  TrentWalton ⊕  trust ⊕  Tumblr ⊕  Twitter ⊕  UI ⊕  umairhaque ⊕  UX ⊕  venturecapital ⊕  video ⊕  webapps ⊕  wikileaks ⊕  Wired ⊕  wordpress ⊕  work ⊕  world ⊕  writing ⊕  WSJ ⊕  Yahoo ⊕ 

Copy this bookmark:



description:


tags: