Innovation, Non-Consumption and The Job to be Done — Clay Christensen
Again, a Clay Christensen talk. 37 minutes about (1) Innovation, (2) competing against non-consumption and (3) understanding the job to be done. Here it is:
Jason Fried: Why More Is Not Always Better
But I’m not interested in maximizing. I don’t care about squeezing my company’s fabric so tight that I get every last drop. I don’t want, or need, every last drop. This is probably one of the reasons I’d make a terrible public-company CEO.
Jason Fried, as always, with a great Inc article.
Vibhu Norby: Don’t Launch Your Product
Having been through multiple launches, seen companies launch at big conferences, and talked with many startups that have experienced the same effect, what I recommend – and what we’re doing at Origami – is not launching at all. Take the word launch out of your vocabulary – it’s a sign that you are gambling on your app and not building a long-term, sustainable company. Instead, put your sign-up page up or your app out because you need more feedback on your idea. Find an audience of passionate users, even if small, and reach out to their community through appropriate means. Try SEM and Facebook ads to find a target market. Experiment with business models and onboarding flows. Let the press come to you because they love what you’ve made.
A great article about the misconceptions of a product launch. Read the full story here.
Buzzfeed’s Jonah Peretti: How Ideas Travel on The Social Web
This is the last slide with the key take aways from Jonah Perettis presentation at the Changing Media Summit 2013 where the founder and CEO at Buzzfeed shares shares his views on how content is shared and why content goes viral on the web. You can watch the full keynote on The Guardian.
Gödel Incompleteness For Startups by Max Skibinsky
It’s most likely the best essay on startups I’ve read recently: Gödel Incompleteness For Startups by Max Skibinsky. By the way parts of the essay remind me of some statements from Clay Christensen, like this one:
Just like strict formal systems of pure math will always contain proof of their own incompleteness, so the very act of formalization of reality undertaken by big established corporations will always contain within itself the seeds of its future disruption: true yet currently unprovable statements of the successful startups of the future.
George Spencer-Brown Turned 90
Although I tried, I still don’t fully interstand George Spencer-Brown. A few days ago, he turned 90 and Dirk Baecker wrote an essay on his life and work (in German).
George Spencer Brown wird am 2. April 1923 in Lincolnshire, England, geboren. Im Alter von drei Jahren liest sein Vater mit ihm die Elemente von Euklid. Nie verzieh der Sohn seinem Vater, dass er ihn nach dieser Ausbildung auch noch auf die Schule schickte, als er sechs Jahre alt wurde. Denn Jahre hätte es ihn gekostet, wieder zu verlernen, was man ihm dort beibrachte. Im Alter von vier Jahren zerstört George jeden Abend ein Spinnennetz, das in einem Busch vor seinem Fenster hing. In aller Frühe steht er auf, um die Spinne dabei beobachten zu können, wie sie dieses Netz wieder neu spann. Jeden Morgen kommt er zu spät. Das Netz ist jedes Mal längst wieder gebaut. Er will wissen, wie es die Spinne schafft, einen horizontalen Faden zu spinnen. Und er wusste bereits, so erzählt er später, dass man eine Form zerstören muss, wenn man herausfinden will, wie sie zustande kommt.