MINDdrift - inside the mind of an entrepreneur - David Hauser

Jokes about the unfortunate name of Dunkin' Donuts' new iPhone app--Dunkin' Runs--aside, I have to agree with Chris Brogan that this little tool sounds pretty useful. Not everyone needs a personal assistant a la Siri, but it's pretty common to need a little caffeine boost at three in the afternoon.

An app that solves a problem you probably already have seems much more useful than one that encourages mindless play, and who doesn't have problems remembering everybody's requests when making a trip to Dunkin', mid-day? Rather than sneak out to get your fix and risk pariah status in the office, the Dunkin' Runs app lets you invite others, place orders online, and then pick them up at a store. According to Mashable, it's all a part of Dunkin' Donuts' recent "social media tear" which includes an interactive website. Call it what you will, Dunkin' Donuts has shown us how to do build an iPhone app (and engage customers through social media) the right way.

Is there a wrong reason to create an iPhone app? Well, yes--it's when you create an app just for the sake of doing it, without offering any real advantage to users. The launch of 3GS has reignited the iPhone frenzy, and now there is even more pressure on companies to produce a trendy app so they can say they have one. But I see that as a big mistake. If you ever make a business or branding decision simply because everyone else is doing it, you're not thinking strategically--you're simply caving to industry peer pressure. Talk all you want about "missed opportunities," but apps that don't address a real need, or cater to an audience your company doesn't have, end up as brand trash littering the path towards a real identity.

A few bloggers have expressed a similar sentiment to mine. Digital Ministry, The Lab Report, and other blogs have pointed out that developing an app for your company can be dangerous territory if you don't have a plan. The Lab Report bloggers--huge Mac and iPhone proponents--also bring up a good point about the bizarre cycle of iPhone app development: that companies either move too slowly to develop an app or too fast. "Depending on the brand and its culture, either of those scenarios can be a bad thing," points out Chris of The Lab Report.

And more common sense from Forrester Research: don't build an iPhone app for your customers (or prospective customers) when market research indicates it's not the phone they use. As Mobile Marketer stated, "Creating an iPhone application for an audience that is mostly using BlackBerry phones isn't going to work."

Usefulness and value are what people want right now and what will make your brand stronger in the long run. If you're considering an app for your brand, make sure you do your homework, listen to your customers, and remember the two aforementioned words as you move through development.

When people talk about great work culture, the two company names I hear most often are "Zappos" and "Rackspace"--someone might even throw out that big old giant "Google," especially if discussing amazing perks like free child care and laundry facilities for all employees. One name you don't hear? "Facebook." It's one of the most referenced companies of the last five years, a cultural phenomenon, and yet, no one really knows much about the inside of "the mighty book of faces." Until now.

On June 15th, 2009, TechCrunch.com's MG Siegler enticed geeks everywhere with the title, "Behold! The New Facebook Headquarters." What follows is a collection of photos--and one twenty minute video--shot during the Facebook "open house," to which Siegler and others were invited. It's an interesting journey.

By checking out the post and the video, you get a good sense of how the company wants to be perceived by the media, and potential employees, but there's no work culture that's really palpable during this tour, which I suppose is reasonable.

Facebook appears to be creating a Zappos-style work environment in their new digs, which used to be owned by HP. Vaguely reminiscent of an Ikea store, the new Facebook campus has lots of interesting talking points, delivered by a tour guide who looks like he woke up and decided to go for the "emo" look that day:

• The building, which used to belong to HP, was originally wall-to-wall cubicles
• No cubicles now--all open workspaces and new-concept desks "designed for collaboration"
• Facebook likes to "capture intelligence" of coworkers by encouraging conversation between individuals so that others overhear their conversations (how social)
• The conference rooms downstairs are named after condiments and video games
• According to emo tour guide, an important part of Facebook culture are "Gribbsteaks," which he says is Facebook's interpretation of the "dot com era's" razor scooters

A funny moment occurs at 3:19 in the video where the guide compares trying out new things like desk orientation to how Facebook makes changes to their "product." He says, "we do this in the product a lot--we'll roll things out on a small scale, figure out what we actually think about it, and learn by actually getting real data, and then get bigger..." Ahh, yes. Like that whole "we own your content" debacle? Maybe they should apply this revolutionary process to the goal of becoming profitable?

On a more serious note, it does seem like the Facebook crew has put a lot of thought into creating a collaborative and modern work environment. Not really surprising, but we'll have to see if this effort also produces a unique and vibrant work culture like Zappos.

I'm pretty tired of hearing about the financial woes of huge companies like GM when there are many entrepreneurs and small businesses that never received bailouts struggling to stay afloat during these difficult economic times. While it certainly doesn't solve the problems so many people are facing, having a good laugh always helps a bit. This GM spoof video I found on Twitter (via @tcwsonja and @adfreak) is good for a laugh and highlights the ridiculous situation big, bloated companies are finding themselves in. It was produced by Current TV's InfoMania.

Nobody likes boring presentations. Even worse, boring presentations don't provide any value to viewers. If you're giving a talk or a presentation, don't bore your audience! Just follow some advice from Garr Reynolds and his Presentation Zen method.

Realize that your presentation is an opportunity to tell a story and impart some knowledge. Don't make people do the work of trying to figure out the purpose of your presentation. Tell them what it is.

Don't give it all away. This is perhaps the most important piece of advice: don't put your entire presentation, word for word, on the PowerPoint slide. Pick out the main points and then do the hard work yourself and speak semi-extemporaneously (you'll need to memorize a little). You can't ask the audience to get down in the trenches with you--they want a succinct presentation with key points illustrated on the screen in front of them, so give them that.

Bring some design to your presentations. No, you don't have to be a graphics guru, but try to stay away from using the cartoonish images that came with your laptop. That's a sin. Try iStockphoto, which usually has some good options that can add visual interest to your presentation. And while this does make more time, it's better than polluting your screen with massive quantities of text. People want to be enlightened, not overwhelmed.

Make transitions seamless. You don't want to look like you're doing a lot of work to make your presentation or you'll make the audience tired, too. One of the easiest ways to make flawless transitions in your presentations is by purchasing an Apple Remote if you've got an Apple laptop, or a mini slide changer if you've got a PC. Seems like a no-brainer, but I see a lot of presentations where people forget to do this and fumble around as they move through the presentation.

For more advice, watch the Presentation Zen video, part of the Google Talk series, below.

Resource, tips and tricks

• Control PowerPoint or Keynote with Apple Remote - My favorite is Remote Buddy
• Tiny wireless remote for PCs
• Know your audience before you get there, ask questions
• flickr and Google Image Search for free images
• Learn from Nancy Duarte, she teaches TED presenters

As soon as I heard about Emergency by Neil Strauss, I wanted it. In fact, it was the first book I pre-ordered on Amazon in a long time. It's 414 pages, but a quick read because it's pretty entertaining. There are some solid, positive messages in the book, too, such as Strauss' description of how he changed over the years he spent researching. According to Strauss, when he set out on the journey to survive just about anything, he was mainly concerned with making a quick exit from a disaster situation, but by the end of it, he'd become the first responder in a time of crisis--actually becoming an EMT.

Emergency is chock full of amazing resources. The kind of things you'd learn if you'd spent a lifetime as a cowboy or Bear Grylls from the Discovery Channel's "Man vs. Wild." And since I've always been fascinated by those shows where people are dropped into the jungle and have to find their way out, this sounded like the book for me, and it was. But please keep this at the forefront of your mind: these tactics and firearm training are for survival situations, not mindless violence. It's the kind of stuff you want to know when you have no other choice but to make your own "good luck."

If you don't feel like reading the book, I've compiled a list of the resources Strauss outlines. If you have read the book, this list pulls out the major outside resources referenced. This excerpt got my attention and maybe will do the same for you.

"Today I can draw a holstered pistol in 1.5 seconds, aim at a target seven yards away, and shoot it twice in the heart. I can start a fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together. I can identify seven hundred types of footprints when tracking animals and humans. I can survive in the wild with nothing but a knife and the clothes on my back. I can find water in the desert, extract drinkable fluids from the ocean, deliver a baby, fly a plane, pick locks, hot-wire cars, build homes, set traps, evade bounty hunters, suture a bullet wound, kill a man with my bare hands, and escape across the border with documents identifying me as a citizen of a small island republic."

Education

• Gunsite, AZ - Firearms training facility
• CERT - Community Emergency Response Team training
• Tom Brown's Tracker School - Tracking, nature and wilderness survival training
• onPoint Tactical - Urban survival, escape and evasion
• Krav Maga training - Israeli self-defense
• Volunteer Search and Rescue

Resources & Books

• The Sovereign Society
• The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy
• The Passport Book
• The Laundrymen by Jeffrey Robinson
• Nitro-Pak

There is a ton of information in the book and Strauss is an engaging writer. Maybe I will take one of these classes to satisfy my "learn two new things every summer" requirement. if I missed something or you have a better resource, let me know.

Interesting article from Luke Johnson at the Financial Times called, "Rough Diamonds Dazzle as Entrepreneurs." Luke's article is based on his own empirical analysis of the behavior of entrepreneurs. Based on his observations, he says entrepreneurs learn differently than other people, something I've observed myself time and again, both personally and professionally. He goes on to say that despite entrepreneurs' natural inclination to rebel against our very rigid system of education, many go on to lead successful, entrepreneurial lives.

What is it about entrepreneurs? Researchers aren't certain, but they've come up with several hypotheses. One of the scholars doing great work in the study of entrepreneurship is Saras D. Sarasvathy, Ph.D., at the University of Viriginia. In 2001, Sarasvathy wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review where she stated that entrepreneurs approach the world differently than your typical businessperson, who is likely to be classified as a "causal thinker"--or someone who has a goal and works within specific parameters and with available resources to achieve it. On the other hand, Sarasvathy says that entrepreneurs engage in "effectual reasoning" when looking at the world, shifting their focus from an absolute "end goal" in some cases, or drawing on different resources along the way. By engaging a wide array of resources and interacting with people outside their immediate social sphere, the process by which they achieve their goals also encourages innovation. In short, they're always thinking outside of the box.

Another very interesting fact about many entrepreneurs is that they--quite literally-- think differently. How so? Many very famous entrepreneurs have admitted to having learning disabilities that challenged them to assess the world from a different perspective: Ted Turner, Sir Richard Branson, Walt Disney, and Thomas Edison, just to name a few. Cass Business School, City University London, even published a study that said one in three U.S. entrepreneurs identified themselves as dyslexic. Though not an explanation for entrepreneurship, a very interesting commentary about the type of skills you need to succeed as an entrepreneur.

As someone who had trouble learning from age six on and was diagnosed with a learning disability later, I endured hours and hours of additional work to understand how my brain worked. While it was a hardship at the time, my learning disability taught me I could overcome basically anything. It was also an asset in the sense that I approached every problem differently than my peers, often coming up with new ways of solving problems.

So what's the bottom line? Don't discourage innovative thinking, even if it comes packaged in a hardship such as a learning disability. In reality, these unique attributes make us the people we are, and the world a better place.

Richard Branson video talking about dyslexia:

Today Show about entrepreneurs and dyslexia:

Another great @Google, this time from Fred Wilson a well known VC and blogger. Fred has interesting things to say, while I may not agree all the time he is very open and honest in his communication. Stay tuned for the questions at the end.

I love data visualization and fun ways of communicating complex information. I found this video on Knowledge Fulcrum blog, but after a little more investigation, discovered that the inspiration for it was a music video for the band Royksopp's track, "Remind Me." The version shown on Knowledge Fulcrum was created by a talented motion designer named Tomas Nilsson who, at the time he created the video, had only been using After Effects for a year. He cites the Royksopp video as inspiration for his Little Red Riding Hood animation (featured on Knowledge Fulcrum). You can view both videos below. Regardless of which version you prefer, both videos tell a story with pictures and a ton of data. Reading this would take forever if you even paid attention past the first few sentences. The music is a nice addition.

As a BlackBerry user for many years, I've grown so used to having a "real" keypad that I've never been tempted to actually make the switch to the iPhone, even though it looked cool. At first, I felt left out--everyone else was getting flashy new iPhones and here I was choosing to remain on the very useful, but un-slick, BlackBerry. But all the bells and whistles of the iPhone started to ring out of tune when friends complained of dropped calls. Still, there were some cool apps among the dozens of useless ones, I thought. That made it cool, right? Maybe not so much anymore. The combination of the strained AT&T network, and a growing legion of frustrated users has caused me to think twice about "going iPhone." Apparently others share my sentiments. Check out this spoof of an iPhone ad that illustrates some of the issues users have been experiencing (warning--there's some colorful language in the first few seconds, so the easily offended may want to turn down the volume):

Thanks to James Siminoff for posting.

If you've ever had to come up with an idea for a project, or held a brainstorming session only to discover that the storm had been reduced to a light shower, then you understand how important it is to stop and feed your brain. No, I don't mean walking over to your office's kitchen and getting a snack. I mean taking a break and doing something completely opposite of work. Doing this gives you a chance to decompress and can open up unknown reserves of creativity in your mind. The end result? Better ideas, and more productivity.

With the launch of Grasshopper, everyone has been working very, very hard, and putting in long hours. As spring finally emerges, we decided that in order for people to actually decompress they needed a work-sanctioned opportunity to do so. And so "Summer Fridays" were born. From now on each year, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Grasshopper will have Summer Fridays, during which time people can do something together as a group that doesn't involve sitting at a desk and working through a to-do list or going to a meeting. Whether it's going to a baseball game or actually playing one, employees--our people--can decide what they want to do as a group. If a group outing doesn't work for them, they can also use the time for personal obligations. It's their call. After we announced Summer Fridays at Grasshopper, people talked about having basketball games, golf trips, and visits to museums. We look forward to getting families involved as well during the summer so that this isn't just another "work event." Bringing families into the events is crucial.

A lot of companies and organizations might balk at the idea of giving people a paid half day every Friday for a few months, but I think it's pretty smart. It's a way of acknowledging that your people are your most valuable resource, and you want to treat them as such. And that means giving Grasshopper folks a chance to cross-pollinate their brains with the activities and people that make them who they are.

For years it was a rumor that Google ran their massive datacenters within many movable standard shipping containers. On April 1st, April Fool's Day, the company confirmed this and released pictures and video of the centers (no, it wasn't just another Google hoax on April Fool's Day). Google also talked about the custom server design they've been running to accomplish the massive scale they've achieved over the years. What's interesting is how they framed all of this around a goal of energy efficiency and cost savings.

In honor of Earth Day (a belated honor since Earth Day was April 22nd), I'd like to share this video. Any geek, especially ones that run datacenters, will appreciate this video. Pretty cool to move more than 1,600 servers in a self contained shipping container with a huge crane.

Saw this awesome picture on the AdFreak and 37signals blogs a few days ago and loved it. Someone at Audi wanted to challenge BMW in this ad, and BMW responded quickly with a billboard across the street saying "Checkmate." This is what I like to call "conversation sensitive" advertising and two companies having some fun.

How should Audi respond?

There's been discussion about the potential for electric cars for many years, even a documentary about why it hadn't worked called, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" When oil prices were high there were many companies looking into this again and some high end manufactures, like Tesla Motors, are producing them now. One of the obvious issues has been the ability to charge, which begs the question, how far can an electric car actually be driven?

Better Place has a bold plan that is explored in this TED 2009 talk by Shai Agassi. This isn't the typical TED talk with cool visuals or amazing technology but more about a real world solution for a problem that has--and will--continue to drain the economy and call into question relations throughout the world.

Nintendo Wii sold out quickly when it was first released and its popularity only continued to grow. The interesting thing about the Wii is that it isn't just for video game fiends and the other usual suspects. Whether it's playing the guitar and drums in Rock Band, or working out with Wii Fit, there's something for everyone. And that's good--because Wii is everywhere. There's even a bar/restaurant here in Boston called Achilles Project, where you can play on a Wii while you have a beer (although, one might argue, that could be disastrous for your game).

At GotVMail, we knew couldn't come up with any good reason not to set-up a Wii Room at our headquarters, so we went ahead and mounted a nice LCD screen on an Ergotron cart and put it with the Wii in a dedicated room for people to enjoy.

So, how do you convince your boss (or yourself) to purchase and install Wii in your office? Use one of the arguments I've listed below.

• All work and no play makes for some really agitated employees. Everyone at GotVMail works incredibly hard, but sometimes people need a break. Easy way to blow off some steam? Play a fellow team member in a 10 minute game of tennis! (Of course.) Playing Wii is a good way to free your mind, let go of your frustrations, and think like a kid for a bit (and that's good for everyone's productivity).
• Wii gets employees talking. No matter the size of your company, there will be people who don't interact with each other on a regular basis. Wii brings a lot of people together, and during a few games, gets them talking, too. Wii lets up to four employees play at a time. This is crucial for community building in your workplace.
• We all could use some fun. These days, fun is hard to find. People are struggling. Why not make the workplace a little more upbeat? No, playing Wii won't solve the economic crisis, but it might help some of our bigger problems seem more manageable.

It's great to see people taking a break and having some fun playing the Wii in any of our offices in Boston or Austin. Our most popular games have been Wii Sports and Madden 09 in the quick 5 on 5 mode.

So send this blog post to your boss and get employees playing Wii to relax, socialize, have fun, and be more productive.

Saw this fun Sprint Now television commercial the other day and then saw it again on the AdFreak blog. The voice over used in the commercial is what originally caught my attention, but I also liked the data representation graphics. It was even more intriguing to hear this whole concept might have come from the success of the Sprint Now widget.We're obsessed with data for sure, and it's cool to see this "real time" data as a representation of what we're doing with mobile phones today. But what's really fascinating is that the ad starts with phone calls, and the rest is other activities--some of which aren't even performed on mobile devices.