Detail-oriented. That’s what almost everyone says they are, in a job interview. The devil is in the details. Everyone is concerned about overlooking important details. Now, Michael Levine is arguing that details don’t get the attention they deserve.
Meeting Richard Branson
Eventually someone prodded me to go up and ask Richard Branson a question. So I sidled my way up to the front with the press, and managed to squeeze in one question. Now, I know you are dying to know: given her one shot to ask Richard Branson a question, what profound entrepreneurship insight did she ask about? Well, the journalists ahead of me had asked some great questions, and as I did not want to repeat them I asked something a little unusual about current culture, since he seems to be such a clued-in guy. I simply asked him if he’d ever read blogs. With a kind of half-chuckle he laughed and said, “No, I don’t believe I have.”
Only Three Things Matter
Naveed Ahmed to Evan Williams:
I think to be a successful entrepreneur only 3 things matter:
1] A clear vision of where your company is going.
2] Genuine desire and passion to create amazingly great products/services.
3] Strong conviction that your product/service is going to make a positive difference in your customer’s life.
Sociology of Online Shoppers Worldwide
Got an early exclusive look at a fascinating survey by ACNielsen about online shopping worldwide.
The study of 21,000 web users in 38 countries, to be made public later today, found that online shopping habits vary radically by country.
First, Best, or Different
When it comes to building a product or brand you want to be:
* The first.
* The best.
* Different.The isn’t much room for anything else.
Changes in the Works
Since the early summer, this blog has been obsessively focused on entrepreneurship. As I’ve conducted my own research into starting a business, I’ve shared links to the articles that I’ve found most interesting, in the hopes that you, too, might find some of them useful.
It’s been a blast.
But it’s not what I ever really intended this blog to be. It was supposed to be about sharing ideas, participating in conversations, getting more involved in the world, and meeting interesting people. It’s been too long since I’ve written on a topic where I have some expertise. That’s something I’d like to get back to.
Still, I really enjoy doing the whole entrepreneurial news thing, and I’m not ready to give up on it just yet.
So… I’m thinking of making some changes. Here’s what I’m thinking.
The entrepreneurial material will move to a new blog: Startup Fever, a blog dedicated to entrepreneurial news.
The Meme Deflector will revert back to what I meant it to be before I started posting links to articles about marketing, competition, and startups: a place to share my ideas and experiences (some of which will likely have an entrepreneurial flavour). I hope some of you will stick around for it.
If not, you will still find all the entrepreneurial news and articles that you’ve come to expect at its new home, Startup Fever. If you use an RSS aggregator, like Bloglines or NewsGator, you can already subscribe to the new feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/startupfever), though you aren’t likely to find anything to read there for a while yet. The site is far from ready to go live.
I hope to post some more reminders before (and after) the move. In the meantime, it’s business as usual. Continue enjoying the usual entrepreneurial stuff here on the Meme Deflector.
Followup/Distraction
Paul Ford (via Merlin Mann):
Distraction is necessary. Minds need to wander to get anything done. But the Internet is sort of the mental equivalent of the snack aisle at a convenience store, filled with satisfying fatty chips and tasty cream-filled cakes. God knows I’ve spent enough time with both the Internet and cream-filled cakes to see the similarities. And I now know that what I want, mentally, is a well-cooked meal. A book gives me that, a well-written, carefully-edited book.
Is Your Business Idea Feasible?
Making a critical evaluation of your business concept at an early stage will allow you to discover, address and correct any fatal flaws before investing time in preparing your business plan.
The Proximity Effect
Imagine a book publisher being upset because her company’s books were being shelved right next to competitive books on the same topic…
Not Gaming, But Exer-Gaming
I’ve been saying this was coming for years, so it’s good to see that the confluence of exercise and gaming is finally starting to happen (even if the WSJ writer isn’t fond of the idea)…