It’s raining … and one of these giant Street Sweepers just passed my house. Gotta put in those hours… after all WE are paying for it.
Archives for March 2006
Sweeping in the Rain
Posted on March 16, 2006 ·
Officers Who Saw Crime Scene Get Damages
Posted on March 15, 2006 ·
“LONDON – A British court awarded six prison officers damages and legal costs reported to be in excess of 1 million pounds (US$1.75 million, euro1.45 million) Wednesday for “walking into a scene of gothic horror” where an inmate had strangled his cellmate and then disemboweled him” (full article here).
Wow. I hope this does not create a whole new wave of lawsuits in the US. Can you imagine the ripple effect through the economy of damages paid to police, emergency services, doctors ..etc who have to see crime scenes, accidents, casualties?
Update (3/16): Jury awards $6.5M to panic disorder patient in job bias suit
Tags: lawsuit, legal system, damages, police, law enforcement, emergencies, casulties
Socializr Isolatr Snubster Networkr Backlashr
Posted on March 15, 2006 ·
Isolatr, Snubster, Socializr – which is the odd one out?
TechCrunch has a humorous post about Isolatr and Snubster (hey, what’s with the “e”?
).
I’ve previously written about Socializr – Friendster 2.0? when all it had was a suspicious job post, a funny caricature on flickr, and the rumor that it’s started by Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams. I emailed my post to Jonathan, hoping to get clarification. After a few weeks of silence I leaned towards considering it a prank.
Well, it may just be real. Nothing confirmed, just a few signs of life:
“Socializr’s Raising About Half a Million Funding: A new stealth social network, Socializr, founded by Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams, is raising about $0.5 million seed funding, and has raise about $0.35 million out of that, a birdie told me at the conf. “
“Toni’s Companies: Socializr, Inc, San Francisco, CA US, Executive Assistant, Office Manager” Wow, the job post was not a fake! Way to go, Jonathan, she is hot and sings in a band!
“Examples include eVite’s latest attempts to include pictures and matching, Zvents, Socializr (the next great thing from Friendster founder, Jonathan Abrams. The funny graphic at this URL I think is Jonathan’s stealth-mode dose of healthy cynicism at what’s going on in this space.) Jonathan is not showing Socializr publicly yet, but it’s very cool”
So now I am starting to believe Socializr is real. And we know they will be big, they have the secret formula that Friendster probably missed, the hot blonde who sings! I’m proud that it was first announced here! 
Update (3/15) Related posts:
Tags: Social Networks, Social Networking, Social Software, Friendster, Socializr, TechCrunch
SVASE VC Breakfast Club with Lightspeed Venture Partners
Posted on March 14, 2006 ·
Another SVASE VC Breakfast Club session is coming up on Thursday, March 16th in San Jose. It’s an informal round-table where up to 10 entrepreneurs get to deliver a pitch, then answer questions and get critiqued by a VC Partner. We’ve had VC’s from Draper Fisher, Hummer Winblad, Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, Mohr Davidow, Emergence Capital …etc.
Thursday’s featured VC is Jake Seid, General Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners. The Zvents post has all the info and a map, but please remember to click through to register either from zvents or directly here.
These sessions are an incredible opportunity for Entrepreneurs, most of whom would probably have a hard time getting through the door to a VC Partners. Since I’ve been through quite a few of these sessions, both as Entrepreneur and Moderator, let me share a few thoughts:
- It’s a pressure-free environment, with no Powerpoint presentations, Business Plans…etc, just casual conversation, but it does not mean you should come unprepared!
- Bring an Executive Summary, some VC’s like it, others don’t.
- Follow a structure, don’t just talk freely about what you would like to do, or even worse, spend all your time describing the problem, without addressing what your solution is.
- Don’t forget “small things” like the Team, Product, Market..etc.
- It would not hurt to mention how much you are looking for, and how you would use the funds…
- Write down and practice your pitch, be ready to deliver a compelling story in 5 minutes. You will have more time, but believe me, whatever your practice time was, when you are on the spot, you will likely take twice as long to deliver your story.
- Last, but not least, please be on time! I am not kidding… some of you know why I have to even bring this up.
See you on Thursday! 
Tags: Venture Capital, VC Breakfast, Funding, VC Funding, Startups, Entrepreneurship, SVASE
Pay Or Get Ejected
Posted on March 14, 2006 ·
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. We are currently 30,000 feet over Los Angeles. Fuel prices have risen 2.7% during this trip down from Seattle. Please insert your credit card into the seatback in front of you in the next twenty seconds if you want to avoid being ejected before San Diego. Thanks.”
Relax, dear reader, it’s not real life (yet), just Paul Kedrosky extrapolating the trend shown by Northwest’s announcement that they will charge extra for certain prime seats in coach — exit-row seats or aisle seats near the front of the cabin.
As much as I hate the degradation of air travel (for someone having flown a lot in Europe and Asia, our domestic air travel is like taking a Greyhound bus), and being nickel-and-dimed, in this case I happen to agree with some of Paul’s commenters: if there are seats that passengers “fight for”, that means those seats represent premium value, why not use a market-mechanism to assign them, vs. random luck. I still love the post, one has to appreciate Paul’s humor.
Tags: airlines, air travel, airline pricing, NorthWest, humor
Zoli 3.0 Launched
Posted on March 13, 2006 ·
(GUpdated)
In a comment to Robert’s Scoble’s “resume vs. blog” post I promised to launch a “scientific”
test soon … here we go; except that it’s not a test. It’s real: I’m pleased to announce the limited, invitation-only launch of Zoli 3.0.
Unlike some perpetual Beta products,
(see update below) Zoli 3.0 is not a beta, this is the final, stable release.
The Application is strongly recommended for software companies that have a core technology / product and are about to scale up, conquer their market, specifically needing help in one or any combination of the following areas:
- General Management
- Sales
- Business Development
- Alliances
- Product Management
- Marketing
- Professional Services
Zoli 3.0 has been field-tested in both the Enterprise Software world (SAP, IBM, Deloitte, KPMG…etc), as well as with several startups. It is available for traditional on-premise implementation, or can be served up as SaaS ZaaS. Either way, there are no upfront costs, just pay-as-you-go.
Please check the detailed product specs (click on Full Profile) and some additional info (scroll down). If you’d like to put the power of Zoli 3.0 to work for you, remember, availability is limited, so please either comment at the end of this post, or email zoli3.5 at gmail. Why 3.5? Because for a very limited time we are running a promotion: for the price of 3.0 you will receive the upgraded 3.5.
For additional information please scroll through the Release Notes.
Release 3.0
Current release, see above
Release 2.0
The original robust enterprise product was completely reworked to support the new entrepreneurial environment. New communication, marketing, PR, collaboration modules were added, incorporating the use of blogs and wikis. It’s AJAX-driven, earlier sharp edges were replaced with rounded corners, and it comes in a variety of pastel, opaque colors.
Release 2.0 has been successfully deployed at several startups, full-time or on a part-time basis, and it also proved useful in a non-profit environment. In true Web 2.0 style it was made available for free, which presented a problem for its creator, when it turned out that the brick-and-mortar world (banks, gas stations, groceries) had not joined the 2.0 revolution yet. The need for a profitable business model resulted in the creation of Release 3.0.
Release 1.0
This is the original enterprise version that got deployed throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Canada and all over the US. Although it was predominantly used by large corporations, but typically in new, startup-like business units, where its application resulted in growth from 0 to the $8–$13M range, in several cases leading to acquisition.
Releases 0.1 – 0.9
Ahh, the early, experimental, careless years! The (Artificial) Intelligence module was enhanced through application at University, worldwide field-tests, and the product was put to some experimental use like the creation of a free professional Association in a then-communist country, and backstage – offstage personal translation for visiting performers (Peter Gabriel, Sting, Brice Springsteen, the Queen and Cliff Richard).
We’re all exited by the anticipated momentum this new launch will bring to your business and again ask for inquiries either in thee form of comments below, or via email to zoli3.5 at gmail.com.
Update (3/13/2006): In response to several email inquiries: even though I chose a humorous way to post it, I really am looking for an opportunity matching the above criteria.
Update (3/15/2006): OK, you no-evil company, I really don’t like you. As soon as tease you for being perpetual beta, you “come out“. (hat tip: OM Malik and Jeff Nolan). Oh, well, here’s another Forever Beta, from the same folks.
Update (3/5/2007): Apparently I’m not the only one with version numbers. Anne Zelenka has just incremented her version number to 2.1 🙂
Tags: resume, blog, jobsearch, blog as resume, career, listing, humor, startup, startups, enterprise software, web 2.0, sap, erp, SaaS, ZaaS, On-Demand, Sales, Business Development, Product Management, Marketing, Alliances, General Management
WordPress is Fun – Even When it’s Down
Posted on March 12, 2006 ·
The other day I complained that Google was no longer funny, the infamous “cross your fingers” error message was replaced by a “serious” one (probably approved by lawyers…)
Well, WordPress.com is still fun, even when it’s down. Here’s their error message:
“Confessions Of A Server
OH MY! Life is so unfair! What did I do wrong to be born a server in this day and age? I could have been a nice simple bicycle that people happily rode around on all day. But no, I’m stuck inside this metal case serving web pages instead. I never even see the light of day and all I can hear is the rush of the air-conditioning!
Well, no more! I’m relaxing here with a cup of tea and a biscuit until someone shows me some love and attention.
It never takes them long to fix me when I kick up a fuss so check back in a few minutes and I’ll be chugging along merrily again.!
Signed,
The WordPress.com web server
(WordPress.com – where even the machines have life!)”
I love it.. how can one be angry with the outage (as long as it’s not more than 5 minutes), when we get the server’s personal attention?
Tags: Google, WordPress, wordpress.com, outage, google outage, wordpress.com outage, error message, humor
Now It’s Easier than Ever to Build the “Brand Called You”
Posted on March 12, 2006 ·
Robert Scoble was apparently offered a job at a competitor… hm.. could it have anything to do with his recent post about compensation at MS? Roberts response: “I told him I didn’t want any job that required a resume.” Me neither. There is a better way.
Tom Peters (wow, who’s that on the left sidebar?) has been preaching this 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”
What better way to building one’s own brand than through blogging? Resumes are tailored for a particular job, and let’s face it, often “cosmetically enhanced”. 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. Noah Kagan says it perfectly:
“You can learn SO much about a persons feelings, thoughts, actions, work ethic to name just a few things by reading a persons blog. I think more so than anything Resumes include so much bogus or ultra-fluffed information that it is hard to determine the quality of a candidate or get a good feeling of how this person will fit in your company. But spending 10-15 minutes reading entries about what they do or how they organize their thoughts/daily activities you can really learn a lot.” He than goes on offering practical steps in 4 Easy Steps to Avoid Making a Resume.
I fully agree. In fact I am about to launch a test to prove this soon. Robert, since the larger the statistical sample (in this case readers) the more reliable the results .. . I hope I’ll get some link love when the test comes … in the name of science.
Update (3/13): Vinnie chimes in, it’s worth reading!
Update (4/17): The Boston Globe says Blogs are essential to a good career (hat tip: BL Ochman)
Tags: Blogging, blogs, brands, branding, brand you, brand called you, tom peters, tompeters, resume
Process Angioplasty: Rebates – Round 3? 4? n…
Posted on March 12, 2006 ·
Winnie Mirchandani started a series of posts on business processes that badly need “angioplasty“. Processing rebates is certainly a most convoluted process – unfortunately often by design. Here’s another classic case, served up by Circuit City. It’s also on digg.
Tags: rebate, rebates, customer service, customer disservice, retail, deception, business process angioplasty
Steal and be Proud of it?
Posted on March 12, 2006 ·
I can’t believe this: somebody created a program to STEAL the layout of other sites, and has the *** to openly call it “layout stealer”:
“Hi Everybody!
I would just like to let you know about an awesome tool that I have created called the LayoutStealer. This tool will revolutionize the way people style their MySpace, Xanga’s or websites. What the tool does is it extracts the HTML style coding, or “layout”, of a persons MySpace or website and returns the HTML code to you for use in your MySpace or Site. This tool is nice because everyone can share layouts with ease, also the tool is very simple, and it works for any website. So please try it out and spread the word about the LayoutStealer”
It even got digged .. hopefully won’t stay up long.
Tags: theft, stealing, thief, IP, intellectual property, design theft
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