Ben Kepes drew my attention to Viisibility, which appears to be a very interesting web based supply chain management / data clearing-house / hub type of a business.

At first reading I completely misread the name, thinking it was Visibility.  Wow, what a great choice, I thought - a simple, common word that perfectly describes what the business is all about.  But wait! try to Google it: it’s a bit difficult to find the relevant entries from the 47,100,000 hits Goggle found…   That brings up question number one:

Do common words that describe your business perfectly but are hard to Google make good brands?

Robert Scoble has a simple rule: only pick names that do not come up on the major search engines at all.

But as it turns out I was wrong, just missing that extra “i”: the name is actually Viisibility.  That brings up a whole new issue, which is my question number two:

Can intentionally misspelled common words that in  pronunciation describe the product, but are only available as domains and are only unique on search because of the “typo” actually become Brands?

Last time I asked the question, the majority vote was yes (albeit with few participants).  I used Vyew as an example, which I still think is a good name.   But Viisibility’s case is a bit more complex, as shown by these two homepages:

• Viisibility: managing supply chains.
• Visiblity: ERP for Complex Manufacturing.

Oops. Not only there’s another company with a similar name, they are also in the same space, “differentiated” only by a typo.  I’m afraid it’s not much of a differentiation, I can’t help but think Viisibility is a poor choice for a brand.

But forget the extreme case above, I’d like to return to the generic question, and run the poll again, especially as I’ve gained a few marketers as readers since last time.  If you read this in a feed reader, there’s a chance the poll does not work, so please click through the blog title to vote:

Update (4/22): The Importance of a Good Name @TechCrunch.

Tags: branding, brands, company name, domain, marketing, naming, product name, trademark, viisibility, visibility, vyew, zoho polls

Ok, I admit: it’s a bombastic title. Even worse, it’s stolen. I stole it from Entrepreneur - Startup CEO - Investor - Blogger Dharmesh Shah, who just explained why he hates Powerpoint, and we should, too. He points to Jeff Nolan’s post titled PowerPoint And The Spoken Word, which in turn links to Presentation Diva Laura “Pistachio” Fitton’s humorous piece, I don’t want them to be bored.

Client: “Should I have a PowerPoint?”

Pistachio: “Why?”

Client: “I don’t want them to be bored.”

Pistachio: “Then don’t.”

Pistachio: “Is there anything you need to tell them that you cannot do with your body or your voice?”

Client: “No.”

Pistachio: “There you go.”

Pistachio: “Uh, do you mind if I write this down for a blog post?”

The only reason the Presentation meme is not featured on TechMeme yet is that a good part of it is behind firewall, born at the SAP Marketing Community Virtual Meeting. So now I’m playing manual TechMeme, aggregating the conversation together here.

It all started by Laura giving practical advice on 10 Minutes to a Presentation that Rocks MUCH More. My favorite of her tips:

Lightning Round
Race through your presentation using no more than one sentence to explain each slide. Take no more than five seconds per slide. State the point in just one short remark. If you can’t, kill the slide. If you
can’t kill it, “maim” it until it has a point.

Then in Your Role-O-Deck (hm, I think I’ve just discovered another of her tricks, i.e. use killer titles) she speaks out against using “the deck”, a thick set of slides that are not used as visual aids by a live speaker, but as bastardized and poor replacement for MS Word, to write actual reports in SAP - in fact any large corporation.

My comment to her post is that the “ppt deck” is not only a corporate disease:

I’m involved with the startup community here, where the mentality is fresh thinking, “challenge all”, yet VC’s repeatedly ask startup Founders to send their “deck”. Deck is a nasty word, but describes what these bastardized “presentations” have become: thick and heavy.
My simple rule: if your deck is good enough to send in advance, i.e. it has enough content to convey the message, than you don’t have a presentation. Send the document, but develop another one you can use as visual aid to an actual live presentation.

Faheem Ahmed, VP of Portfolio Positioning and Messaging at SAP agrees in The myth of the “standalone” presentation:

Not all slides are presented. And there’s nothing wrong with using PPT to create useful diagrams or reports … it’s a tool just like any other. But then we shouldn’t call this set of slides a “presentation” any more. It’s a document.

He also talks against recycling presentations again and again, instead advises to define the strategic intent and develop specific ones.

So coming back to Dharmesh, does he really hate Powerpoint? No he doesn’t - not as a tool. He just hates “the deck”, and presentations that take over from the person who should be what we focus on. To illustrate his point, he shows us two examples, Mac vs. PC style:

Steve Jobs apparently wants the audience to listen to him tell the story, rather than read the slides:

Next comes a slide from Michael Dell. These are meant to be sent to someone who needs to get the full story looking at them, but when they are use as illustration to a live story, they become a distraction:

Dharmesh concludes:

If I had the talent and resources of Steve Jobs, I’d be able to create slides just fine. But I don’t (have the talent) and don’t have the resources) so I don’t like to create slides.

Hate PowerPoint because you love your audience.

I’m going to finish this with a quote from Jeff Nolan (hey, kids are always winners):

Powerpoint is like my 4 year old’s blanket, he can’t have his apple juice or go to sleep without it. Executives are afraid to not have Powerpoint, the big difference is that my 4 year old will eventually give up his blanket.

Tags: powerpoint, ppt, ppt deck, presentations

I haven’t updated my resume for at least 3-4 years now. (There must be some old versions floating around, as just a few days ago a recruiter solicited me for a SAP Implementation Project - she must be especially dumb, not noticing the decade-old timestamp on my SAP qualifications.) But back to resumes: I don’t need one, and neither do you.

Even in the “old days” of writing resumes any recruiter would confirm that the single best way of landing a job was through your personal network. Top Executives, genius engineers, star salesmen, well-published academics don’t ever need to look for a job: they get invited. It’s always better than knocking on the door. Or many doors.

But now Seth Godin sets the same rules even for applicants to his internship:

Having a resume begs for you to go into that big machine that looks for relevant keywords, and begs for you to get a job as a cog in a giant machine. Just more fodder for the corporate behemoth. That might be fine for average folks looking for an average job, but is that what you deserve?

If you don’t have a resume, what do you have?

How about three extraordinary letters of recommendation from people the employer knows or respects?
Or a sophisticated project they can see or touch?
Or a reputation that precedes you?
Or a blog that is so compelling and insightful that they have no choice but to follow up?

We’ve looked at the two extremes: the top 5% whose personal reputation and network carries them on, and those who can’t really have a meaningful resume, since - unlike Ben - they are barely starting their careers. But in between is the rest of us, average Johns ad Janes, who probably have some achievements, are remarkable in one way or another … if only the world knew about it! Well, that’s the point! Most of us don’t have an extensive enough personal network, or they may be geographically dispersed, or they may not be in the right position… so how to get the word out?

Blogging changes it all. If you’ve been blogging for years, you certainly did not do it with a particular job in mind; your blog is likely to be a true reflection of who you really are, what you are an expert in, your communication skills, your priorities … YOU as a whole person, not as a candidate for a specific job - the brand called You. That’s certainly better than a resume, which is likely tailored for a particular job, and let’s face it, often “cosmetically enhanced” - no wonder it ends in the waste-basket.

You don’t have a blog? Why? Don’t you know the best time to market yourself is when you don’t need it?

Tom Peters has been saying for years:

“Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You“

My friend and fellow Enterprise Irregular Roth Boothby argues:

“…hiring a blogger is a lower risk proposition because you have more information and a better idea of how they are going to perform.”

He should know - he got hired twice, based on his blog. By the way, I really envy Rod’s charting skills:

It’s never been easier to build that Brand Called You: if you’re still not doing it, what are you waiting for? Start your blog today!

(hat tip: BL Ochman)

Tags: Blogging, blogs, brand called you, brand you, branding, brands, career, career development, career management, innovation creators, personal brand, resume, rod boothby, seth godin, tom peters, tompeters

Sterling Vineyards is one of my favorite destinations in the Napa Valley, and it’s not about the wine.

It’s a pristine setting: interesting architecture nestled in the mountains, aerial tram ride to the top, beautiful views of the Napa Valley all make it a desirable tourist destination on its own. You can easily spend an entire lazy day there. Oh, yes, they make good wine, but it’s kind of secondary (well, to me).

This being another gorgeous sunny weekend, visitors might want to check Sterling’s website for opening hours and other details. Of course the site promotes wines, but it’s not an e-commerce site, you can not order anything directly.

So why on earth do they feel the need to put up obstacles discouraging visitors from entering their website? You can’t enter without filling out the form below. What kind of bogus “protection” is this?

Tags: alcohol, california, sterling, vinyards, web design, Wine, winery

 Email @ 9:20pm yesterday:

Your Citibank statement is now available at http://www.citicards.com. This notification is part of the All-Electronic Program you enrolled in to receive your statements online only instead of in the mail

Email @ 10:07pm yesteday:

Live the clutter-free life by replacing your regular printed statement with an electronic one.
It’s easy to enroll! Simply sign on to citibankonline.com

This from the Citi that “Never Sleeps”

Update: While at it… Dear Citi, could you please take the monthly junk-mail (typically inviting me to credit cards I already have from you)  that comes to my house in multiple thick envelopes  and shove it.. no, you won’t, but at least send it electronically, so I can quickly and painlessly route it to the junk folder.  If you do that, you can launch a new marketing campaign… you know, about being Green.

Tags: citi, citibank, clueless, marketing, Online Banking, online statements

Yet another PR email about a startup launch at Demo - that’s OK, some are actually interesting.  The email itself was a fairly standard one, what ticked me off was the signature block:

Jane Doe
Public Relations Consultant
myname@yahoo.com

www.customcardsbyme.com

Ebay UserID: idunno

Obviously I changed the specifics, to protect her privacy.  And on second thought, I am not the one hurt here - the startup is.

Please, please, when you spend megabucks to attend Demo, could you not find a real PR rep?  (If you can’t, I’m sure my friend Brian Solis will help you).  And for you, so-called PR Consultants: please, have some class!  You have to decide if you’re promoting your Client or your eBay deals.  You can’t do both.

Tags: Demo, demo2008, eBay, marketing, pr, Public Relations

Naked Conversations co-authors Robert Scoble and Shel Israel are finally co-working again, as video-bloggers @ FastCompany TV. Shel’s show will be GlobalNeighbourhoods TV (GNTV), while Robert’s is - what else? - Scoble TV.

Congrat’s and have fun! (naked or clothed).

P.S. On second thought, if they plan to do a lot of Naked business together, they might invite the CEO if Zivity.

Update (1/30):  Robert posted the same pic explaining that they were NOT naked.  Of course not!  I remember, as I was there, at the 5th TechCrunch party, which became the Naked Conversations launch party.  So it’s a promo shot at a promo party - and hey, there is strong symbolism in the title, the co-authors did not get undressed just for fun (or who knows?). They are the Naked Buddies - as in co-authors of Naked Conversations. 

Tags: Blogging, fastcompany, naked conversations, scoble, scobleizer, shel israel, video blogging

I’ve received an email from European SaaS All-in-One SMB provider 24SevenOffice (wow, that’s a mouthful, basically NetSuite+Office for really small businesses, see my earlier coverage):

2008 must be the year when we all act against the serious environmental threat that the world is facing. 24SevenOffice has developed “The Go Green Game”, a Flash-game that puts focus on the pollution caused by the millions of unnecessary server rooms and servers located in all companies.

In addition, 24SevenOffice will plant trees based on the number of players, in co-operation with Nobel Peace Prize winner Maathai’s Green Belt Movement. If you wish to make a direct contribution to the society, let yourself entertain at http://game.24SevenOffice.com/ or forward this e-mail to friends, colleagues and business partners who are committed to the environmental battle.

Thank you for showing responsibility for the environment! The game can be found here: http://game.24SevenOffice.com/

I had mixed thoughts at first reading: Obviously environmental consciousness is becoming fashionable. Companies rush to launch their green initiatives in order to look “responsible corporate citizens”. OK, that’s the cynical view, but after all, these are often useful initiatives, and I’ve already said you don’t have to be purely altruistic to do good.

Whatever this game may be, it’s just a “save the earth” message, it’s not a vehicle to push 24SevenOffice products…

But wait! Like Columbo, when you think he’s gone, but comes back and drops the gist of the conversation, there’s a footnote here:

NB! The products mentioned in this e-mail are not the environmental sinners in themselves.
The environmental problem is based on the fact that most businesses, unnecessarily, have their own
servers and server rooms. This is the issue that 24SevenOffice is addressing.

Ahh…so it is advertising after all. Oh, well, it still delivers a correct message .. let’s check out the game itself:

I need to practice my swing, I could barely smash a few servers, look how much they’ve already racked up! Even worse, I’m not good in reading instructions, totally missed option#2, which is…no, I can’t tell you, it’s too violent.

Joke apart, 24SevenOffice clearly has a point: maintaining millions of servers for (small) businesses is wasteful, switching to Cloud Computing allows central servers to be more efficiently utilized, we’re all saving energy.

As a side-note, I’ve just looked at a web-based service that allows us, as individual consumers “go green” - will report about it when they are ready.

Tags: 24sevenoffice, CleanTech, cloud computing, energy, environmentalism, go green, green marketing, marketing, On-Demand, SaaS

Atlassian, a fast-growing, successful enterprise software company is looking for a VP of Marketing. I don’t normally broadcast job searches here, but am breaking that rule now for I believe this is a truly exceptional opportunity with a truly exceptional company. (Disclaimer: I have no business affiliation with Atlassian, but admit to being positively biased, as the company exemplifies a lot that I stand for.)

They are best known for two products: Jira, the issue tracking & software project management application was their first hit, putting the company on the fast growth track and establishing a loyal fan-base in the IT community.  Their existing reputation in the IT community certainly helped the second product, Confluence, the enterprise wiki gain traction: it is now equally popular in the IT and business community.  Wikis in general  have become more commonly known in the past two years; once a tiny market niche, today a growing field where new entrants pop up left and right, claiming to be best in this and that….  But numbers talk, and the verdict is clear: Confluence is the undisputed enterprise wiki market leader. 
Atlassian is not sitting on their laurels: in the past year they diversified, acquiring several companies and launching new products on their own.  Frankly, I lost track, but I believe  their portfolio currently includes 8 products, all part of an “IT toolkit”, with the exception of Confluence, which is seeing fast adoption amongst business users, too.  

The customer list is impressive: IBM, HP, SAP, Citigroup, Boeing, BMW, Shell, McDonalds, Pfizer … just about all the Fortune 1000, as well as non-profits, Universities, Government Agencies, totaling over 9000 customers worldwide. (The chart is a bit misleading: Atlassian’s fiscal year starts in June, and the FY08 bar shows the current figure only, excluding projections.)

How did they achieve this?  They must have an excellent sales force.  Wrong! Atlassian has no sales force at all.  They don’t sell: customers simply buy their products on their own.   I often talk about  the pull-model that’s replacing the traditional, expensive enterprise sales process (6-9 months, high touch, flights, meetings, wine-and-dining, entertaining, in the end often nuked by politics) - but that’s typically in the context of Software as a Service, and in the SMB (small business) market.  Atlassian’s products are mostly on-premise (although they now have a hosted version of Confluence) and their primary market is the large Enterprise.  Yet they pulled off what amounts to a small miracle:  essentially took the download.com, tucows style model we all know as consumers, and ported it to the enterprise space. 

Of course having customers try-and-buy through the Internet is not as simple as firing your Sales team ( or not hiring one).  It’s not a matter of a decision: it’ s a consistently applied philosophy, that you have to implement in every aspect of your business.  The key components are:

• lightweight software
  • well-defined function set, meets specific user need, small user groups can get started
  • ease of use (both easy to learn and easy to use)
  • well documented, well supported
• transparency
  • features (what you’re getting, no surprises)
  • issues (Atlassian’s bug tracker is open to the public)
  • pricing (simple, upfront pricing, no fill-out-contact-form-wait-for-sales-to-call-back BS)
• low price (”expensable, not approvable” - to quote a former competitor)

The “pull-model” means customers will need to find you- which is why Marketing is a critical function.  With Sales gone, Marketing becomes sales (actually, Atlassian’s CEO proudly says everyone is in Sales, especially Support).  So if you are a marketing superstar,  or know one, want to be part of a successful team, work for celebrities , you owe it to yourself to apply.

Atlassian is not only about business - it’s about people.  I know, old cliche.. but here it works.  The unique culture this team maintained throughout their super-growth even now that they have 130 people is a large part of their success.

So what is this culture like?  Tough. When he doesn’t make his numbers, Atlassian President Jeffrey Walker is forced to make up for it as ticket-scalper on the street. OK, joke apart, this photo was shot last August, when the entire San Francisco office went to see a Giants game together. (Incidentally, just a day before Jeffrey became cancer dude). This wasn’t a rare occasion, either: both the San Francisco and the Sydney teams have a lot of fun together:  Cutlassian, Mission: Atlassian, theme-filled staff events, abound throughout the year.   Their new office  building in Sydney is right next to a pub (hint: when will you guys realize you’d be better off buying the entire pub?)  I wonder when the San Francisco office will move into a winery…  Perhaps you get the picture by now: Working for Atlassian isn’t just a job  - it’s a lifestyle.  But don’t for a minute think it’s a bunch of rowdy kids having fun only:  they bring in $30 million a year.  And if you don’t perform, this is what awaits you.

So that’s the magic formula: combine business success with a fun, team-focused culture and you’ve got the makings of the ultimate job.  (Are you still reading, or have you alerted your Marketing superstar friend yet?)

Now, if this is the ultimate job, there’s one question unanswered: How come it hasn’t been filled yet?  I wanted to hear the answer straight from the horse’s mouse so to speak, so I asked Atlassian President Jeffrey Walker, who responded below:

We were inundated with resumes, and found a few excellent capable candidates. Unfortunately, one of the growing pains of companies like ours is we were not quite ready for the right candidate. Incorporating someone of the caliber we need takes preparation. Our search began prematurely. Lesson learned. After the founders and I took another few ‘long walks’, we came out aligned and ready. This time I fully expect to complete the search. Just need the right remarkable individual.

Well, I did not walk with Jeffrey and the Founders, but I certainly hope they will not change a lot:.  I have a lot to say on the subject of hiring, but it’s not specific to Atlassian, so I’ll break it out to a separate post.  In the meantime, if you are that “remarkable individual”, what are you waiting for?

Tags: , atlassian, confluence, enterprise sales, entrepreneurship, jira, lightweight software, marketing, pull-model, startup hiring, Startups

I really did not want to write about Gizmodogate again.  But instead of letting it die, today Gizmodo found it important to defend themselves as saviors of journalistic independence:

Our prank pays homage to the notion of independence and independent reporting. And no matter how much access the companies give us, we won’t ever stop being irreverent. That’s what this prank was about and what the press should understand.

How heroic!  And hypocritical, as I pointed out before.  After all, it was Mighty Hero Gizmodo themselves who not only trashed the TV-B-Gone 3 years ago:

Mitch Altman is an asshole. And not just any asshole, but one of those snotty holier-than-thou types who has nothing better to do with the money he made as a founder of 3ware than to develop a device with the sole purpose of imposing his viewpoint on others…
…Essentially a universal remote that cycles through every possible code, the TV-B-Gone has a single purpose: to power off televisions whenever the user feels like being a dick.

(Emphasis mine). So who is the dick now?

Related posts: Scobleizer, mathewingram.com/work, kottke.org, IP Telephony, VoIP, Broadband, Venture Chronicles and The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, Webware.com

Tags: ces, gawker media, gizmodo, pranks, TV-B-Gone