Software, innovation, management Brent Frei wrote: I’m attracted to the market opportunity within large, established markets. These markets already have huge spend, they have established dominant players with an inertia resistant to major change, most of the innovative talent and money is off in new market spaces, and innovation within these spaces tends to be evolutionary in nature and follow predictable paths. Identifying a large market that can serve as an appropriate target is often as simple as listening for the drumbeat of consistent comments like: — “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” — “I wish there was a…” — “Why doesn’t somebody invent a…” The revolutionary innovation that occurs in many of these markets is often serendipitous. That means someone isn’t looking to solve the end problem, but something they did is applicable to it. See, for example, Viagra or Post-Its. More often than not, however, the real revolutionary innovation is in line with the evolutionary. Therefore, pick a really big market and do something revolutionary within the natural evolution of the space. So the key question becomes: what is it that successful inventors do to be revolutionarily successful within an evolution? The current modern wonder of revolution within evolution is the Apple iPhone. Apple’s formula for innovation in mature markets is the gold standard. How do they do this? My assessment is that they follow two simple principles: —Design for how people work. —Consolidate and reduce core concepts to a ridiculous minimum; a core concept is anything the customer has to learn or understand in order to successfully use your product. Mobile phones, e-mail on Blackberries and Treos, MP3 music players—all of these existed separately and with ever-expanding feature sets. The race toward consolidation had been going on for some time; but it carried with it the complex, rich feature sets of each independent device. Apple, with its special magic, stuck with the less-is-more approach and let’s make the …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Less

startups, management, Entrepreneurship Robert Buderi wrote: Death. Taxes. Advice. You can always count on the first two, as the saying goes. But advice—usually unsolicited—can be added to the “inevitables” list whenever things go sour. As in today’s economy. In fact, you can bet people will come out of the hills to provide their two cents. Said advice will be all over the map, too—everything from “cut your losses and head for the hills” to “double up and buy big when valuations are low and sellers are desperate.” A lot of it will be from hucksters and not worth the paper (or HTML page) it was written on. But some of it will be good…damn good. We’ve been keeping our eyes open for that last category of advice. Much of it comes in the form of lists—10-Things-to-Do-to-Thrive-During-a-Recession kinds of lists. The editors here have scoured the web, including our own three sites, compared notes, and put together our own list of the best of these lists. Yes, I’ve taken a bit of poetic license in the headline because not all the chosen entries include 10 items—some are shorter, at least one is longer—and some of them aren’t really lists. But they’re all in the spirit of lists, in that they lay out a series of recommendations. Not all specifically deal with the recession, either: items like our own publisher (and angel investor) Steve Woit’s list of Top 10 Mistakes by Entrepreneurs provide insights that are good no matter what the economic climate. With those caveats aside, in no particular order, our choices are listed below. We only found nine that we liked (well, there was a 10th, but that publication decided to put its list in a members-only archive that costs $124 a year—a decision that probably belongs on a list of what not to do in a downturn). So please drop a note in the comments section if you know of a good one we missed. 1). E-mail From Jason Calacanis: How to Handle Layoffs (Erick Schonfeld, TechCrunch) Favorite item: Don’t sugar coat it: You need to be 100% honest and up front with people about why you’re doing it and what your decision was based on 2). 10 Tips for Building Revenue in the Ad Recession (Mike Hirshland, Polaris Venture Partners, writing in GigaOm—Hey Mike, What’s up with that?) Favorite item: Turn remnant inventory into premium …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Less

Software, management, startups Gregory T. Huang wrote: Collaborative work management—it’s not the sexiest topic, but it’s a big business. Seattle-area entrepreneur Brent Frei estimates that his newest startup, Smartsheet, is the “301st company in the space.” The basic idea is to make software that companies can use to manage team-based projects and keep track of things like workflow, file storage, discussion threads, alerts, and to-do lists. Most companies still use Excel spreadsheets, e-mail folders, and other similar programs to do task-tracking, which can be tedious and inflexible. Today, Bellevue, WA-based Smartsheet is launching a new tool for small businesses—brokers, consultants, recruiters, and the like—to manage their own teams and services online. But the deeper story of the company goes back a ways, and it holds lessons for other companies in this economic climate in which streamlining management could be the key to survival. “Nobody has created the Google for team-task management,” Frei says. “Someone will figure this out, and when they do…that will really pull a lot of the power away from big corporations and put it in the hands of the productive people in the world.” In 2005, Frei co-founded Smartsheet with exactly this aim. And he knew a little something about business software and team management. The former Dartmouth College defensive lineman was the founder of Onyx Software, a customer relationship management firm that was bought by M2M Holdings for $92 million in 2006. He did a two-year stint in policy and licensing at Bellevue-based Intellectual Ventures before turning his full attention to Smartsheet last year. The startup has raised more than $4 million from Madrona Venture Group and other investors. Frei sees the landscape of team management shifting—and that’s where the opportunity lies. “In the work environment, we’ve had outsourcing. The big typical things like research, call centers, or legal language,” he says. “But it’ll happen more and more when two things come to fruition. One, the ability to market your services, like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. And two, the management once it’s done.” Managing outsourced projects with far-flung teams, he explains, is the “holy grail…People haven’t been able to do it.” That would include Smartsheet. In 2006, the company launched its first product, but it didn’t catch on. “We collected a ton of data, did lots of user testing,” Frei says. “We learned a bunch of our core concepts were absolutely right, but our product was too hard to use. So we threw it all out the door and spent last year rebuilding the product entirely. Now it’s available with one-third as many features.” Smartsheet relaunched its software last month, and it targets everyone from marketing managers in Fortune 500 companies to product managers and recruiting managers, to CEOs of 10-person startups. Frei says his company paid particular attention to the structure of people’s work, the order in which teams perform their tasks, and who communicates with whom. Also crucial is that customers who use Smartsheet’s software can work with clients and partners who haven’t adopted it. “We turn what used to be a spreadsheet into a super-collaborative tool,” says Frei. Frei says Smartsheet has several patents pending around its technology. The company, which has 11 employees, is not profitable yet. Frei’s official title is executive chairman, “which means I work for free here every day,” he says. Looking ahead, word of mouth among small business consultants and gurus in particular areas like virtual assistants and trade-show management will go a long way towards making Smartsheet profitable, he says. Lastly, I asked Frei about the broader advantages of outsourcing in the current climate—and how that could help Smartsheet. “For businesses, it turns out to be better because they get a better product faster, with no overhead of management,” he says, adding that that’s where Smartsheet’s software comes in. “It’s a good opportunity for small businesses to start out. Companies that are downsizing are going to need specialty services, and will end up outsourcing. There’s high probability that capital investment will contract, so a lot of businesses will look to lessen their fixed costs over the next 12 months. That means primarily people. The potential silver lining is that a lot of those companies will still need specialty services, so super-productive people will have an opportunity to start a business and make more money as a specialty service.” Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Less

Predictions, Technology, people Gregory T. Huang wrote: Everyone loves a good prediction. Well, last night there were many of them. I attended the Washington Technology Industry Association’s “Predictions for 2009″ dinner event at the Westin Hotel in Seattle. Before I get to the panel discussion, just a couple of tidbits overheard around the room: —Ben Elowitz, co-founder and CEO of Wetpaint, told me about “Superwoman Teriyaki.” This is a little restaurant in Seattle’s Pioneer Square (its real name is Asia Ginger Teriyaki) that is legendary among local entrepreneurs because of the woman behind the counter who takes orders, makes the food, delivers the food, manages the tables, and everything else—all at a blindingly fast pace. “CEOs want to hire her,” Elowitz said. Imagine her doing search engine optimization, he added. —At dinner, I sat next to Big Fish Games founder and chairman Paul Thelen. (The fact that I was wearing a nametag from a PopCap Games event probably didn’t go over too well, but he humored me.) I asked for his thoughts on the casual games industry in 2009. He pointed out that some companies are cutting back because of the recession, but added, “We’re growing faster than ever.” Not too surprisingly, he’s an avid gameplayer on his iPhone. —Ken Myer, CEO of the WTIA (and an Xconomist), said he had a very successful trip to China last month, meeting with companies and potential partners together with a host of Seattle-area mobile tech companies. More on this soon. Now for the main event. The “predictions” panelists were Mark Anderson, CEO of Strategic News Service; Ben Elowitz, co-founder and CEO of Wetpaint; Matt McIlwain, managing director at Madrona Venture Group; and Kelly Smith, founding partner of Curious Office and founder of Pressplane. The panel was moderated by John Cook from TechFlash, who took audience questions via text messages on his iPhone. I’ll leave the more comprehensive roundup of the panel to John, and just give my top five take-aways here: —Microsoft is stronger than ever. Three of the four panelists listed the Redmond giant as the big company best positioned to thrive in the economic downturn. Why? “An ungodly amount of cash,” as Elowitz put it. Smith pointed out the wealth of opportunities Microsoft has because of the number of interesting companies that could be for sale on the cheap, such as Adobe. (McIlwain chose Amazon’s position instead, because it knows how to operate cost-effectively as the “Wal-Mart of online,” he said.) —Yahoo will be bought, though it probably shouldn’t be. But by whom? Anderson called the failed Microsoft acquisition “the dumbest deal that ever didn’t happen.” Smith and Elowitz thought it would be a good enough bargain for Steve Ballmer now. McIlwain said Disney would be “the most logical choice,” because it understands how to monetize content. —Flat is the new up. We’ve certainly heard this before, but the reality of the economy is that holding steady is about all you can ask for in 2009, whether it’s online advertising, VC investments, or startup revenues. Elowitz noted that Wetpaint hasn’t touched the $25 million it raised in May yet. McIlwain warned that we could be headed for a Depression if there are big tax increases, trade policy changes, and more national bailouts in the coming months. —The biggest issue in technology is far from unanimous. Anderson voted for broadband access and energy, while Elowitz cited the broader economic and financial climate, and McIlwain and Smith touted “education and talent” to foster innovation and the information economy. —The trends predicted for 2009 are not sexy. McIlwain joked that the biggest trend would be “tax shelters,” but then said it would be “helping extend what I have further.” Elowitz concurred, saying it would “not be a sexy year,” but rather would be all about focusing on return on investment. Smith cited cloud computing and virtualization as the tech trends to watch, while Anderson pointed to the confluence of biology, chips, and software. All in all, that sounds pretty conservative, gentlemen. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Less

Another invaluable article out of the mind of Daneil Cook.  Here we break down Risks of Game design and take an indepth look at mitigating them with Data Driver Game Design, as well as tackling its pitfalls.  A must listen to for any project lead, designer or producer. Title: ‘Managing Game Design Risk’ Written by: Daniel Cook( www.lostgarden.com ) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 12th, 2008 Bookmark Less

Another invaluable article out of the mind of Daneil Cook.  Here we break down Risks of Game design and take an indepth look at mitigating them with Data Driver Game Design, as well as tackling its pitfalls.  A must listen to for any project lead, designer or producer. Title: ‘Managing Game Design Risk’ Written by: Daniel Cook( www.lostgarden.com ) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 12th, 2008 Bookmark Less

We are happy to have the wisdom of Noel Llopis from powerof2games on how to optimize and structure your Content Pipeline. And even though the structure of the pipeline will vary from project to project Noel’s insight and experience in this matter is invaluable and if implemented properly could save 1000’s of Manhours over the course of a large project. Title: ‘Optimzing the Content Pipeline’ Written by: Noel Llopis( www.gamesfromwithin.com ) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 10th, 2008 Bookmark Less

We are happy to have the wisdom of Noel Llopis from powerof2games on how to optimize and structure your Content Pipeline. And even though the structure of the pipeline will vary from project to project Noel’s insight and experience in this matter is invaluable and if implemented properly could save 1000’s of Manhours over the course of a large project. Title: ‘Optimzing the Content Pipeline’ Written by: Noel Llopis( www.gamesfromwithin.com ) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 10th, 2008 Bookmark Less

The presentation went well; your customer or prospect is interested in your ability to meet their needs. However, when your product management team presents you with the proposed selling price (or cost), you are confident that they will not spend that much for the requirement. How can you bring the pricing in line with what you believe it will take to get the order? In this episode of the One Goal - Revenue Generation ® series, Peter Kusterer of NvestNtech helps you discover gaps between your customer’s requirement and the pricing within your proposal. Download this episode - “ Getting your pricing in line with the customer requirement .” Click on this link for the Podcast directory that includes the One Goal - Revenue Generation ® series, as well as additional Podcast episodes and related topics. Our podcasts are featured on iTunes, Odeo, and Podcast Alley. Less

Another great little article on the management insight of Jamie Fristrom.  In this article Jamie expresses his thoughts on using MS Project, more specifically why you shouldn’t. Title: ‘MS Project - How I Hate it’ Written by: Jamie Fristrom(www.gamedevblog.com) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 8th, 2008 Bookmark Less

Another great little article on the management insight of Jamie Fristrom.  In this article Jamie expresses his thoughts on using MS Project, more specifically why you shouldn’t. Title: ‘MS Project - How I Hate it’ Written by: Jamie Fristrom(www.gamedevblog.com) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 8th, 2008 Bookmark Less

If you are looking for a quick and easily digestable article to affirm some leadership do’s and don’t then take a quick listen to Jamie Fristroms latest Installment in the Manager in Strange Land Series titled ‘Leaders Play Bass Title: ‘Leaders Play Bass’ Written by: Jamie Fristrom(www.gamedevblog.com) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 8th, 2008 Bookmark Less

If you are looking for a quick and easily digestable article to affirm some leadership do’s and don’t then take a quick listen to Jamie Fristroms latest Installment in the Manager in Strange Land Series titled ‘Leaders Play Bass Title: ‘Leaders Play Bass’ Written by: Jamie Fristrom(www.gamedevblog.com) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 8th, 2008 Bookmark Less

Clinton Keith is the author on this great introductory article on Scrum and why you should be using it. We cover the details of how it is structured the pitfalls that can arise if it isn’t implemented properly and how to truly achieve a new level of efficiency and transparency with the Agile Development Methodology. Title: ‘Why Use Scrum?’ Written by: Clinton Keith(www.clintonkeith.com) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 7th, 2008 Bookmark Less

Clinton Keith is the author on this great introductory article on Scrum and why you should be using it. We cover the details of how it is structured the pitfalls that can arise if it isn’t implemented properly and how to truly achieve a new level of efficiency and transparency with the Agile Development Methodology. Title: ‘Why Use Scrum?’ Written by: Clinton Keith(www.clintonkeith.com) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 7th, 2008 Bookmark Less

CareerBuilder just released the results of their annual survey on absenteeism. They found that about one-third of all the people they surveyed had played hooky at least once in the last year. ___ ___ ___ When I was a DJ working mornings, I had to be to work at 4 a.m. It’s hard to call your boss that early to tell him you won’t be in, even if you are sick! ___ Here are the real reasons people played hooky, according to CareerBuilder: #1 – they didn’t feel like it #2 – to relax and recharge #3 – to go to the doctor #4 – to catch up on sleep #5 – to run personal errands Look at that list. Does that tell you how much pressure we feel in our day-to-day lives? Is the only way to remain psychologically healthy by playing hooky? We also found it interesting that 10% of the time people play hooky is actually work-related. They don’t want to attend a meeting. They need some quality time to work on a past due project. They want to avoid a confrontation with a co-worker. Companies today are trying to do more and more with less and less. That means you have fewer co-workers. Your day off may leave them in a bind. So try to plan for your time off. If you feel yourself feeling overwhelmed, talk with your boss. See if you could work a little extra for a few days to get a day off. Everyone will be much better off if you’re upfront. As a boss, do everything you can to honor your employee’s request. If you know you can’t give him or her the requested day off, offer an alternative. Employees today prize flexibility. It’s one of the best things you can do to retain employees who give their best. Excuses, excuses CareerBuilder also compiled a list of some of the most unusual excuses employers heard in the last year. Here are three of our favorites: “I hit a turkey while riding a bike.” We wondered if this was really a way to save money on Thanksgiving dinner! “I donated too much blood.” We found it hard to believe that any blood bank would take too much blood. Maybe this person ran into a vampire! “My wife burned all my clothes so I have nothing to wear to work.” So, here’s a question – how is this person going to get out of the house to buy the clothes he needs? We hope he’s not our neighbor! ___ I remember one of my managers telling me about an employee who wasn’t at work. It’s my favorite excuse ever. This guy worked hourly and had already used up all of his personal days. He said he was so stressed out by his lack of money that he just couldn’t come into work! Guess what – he got more stressed out! ___ What’s the worst excuse you ever heard? Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes.  Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file: http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00260-110708.mp3 Related posts Are You Solving the Problem or Treating the Symptom? (Image by wilhei66) Less

As promised we are pleased to bring you Audio Article #18.  Written by Jamie Fristrom we briefly dive into using Wiki as a collaboration tool for you team as well as an efficient way to keep your design docs in a centralized and convenient location. Title: ‘Collaborating with Wiki’ Written by: Jamie Fristrom(www.gamedevblog.com) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 4th, 2008 Bookmark Less

As promised we are pleased to bring you Audio Article #18.  Written by Jamie Fristrom we briefly dive into using Wiki as a collaboration tool for you team as well as an efficient way to keep your design docs in a centralized and convenient location. Title: ‘Collaborating with Wiki’ Written by: Jamie Fristrom(www.gamedevblog.com) Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on November 4th, 2008 Bookmark Less

Biotech, VC, management Robert Buderi wrote: The climate for biotechnology companies in Massachusetts today is 33 percent worse than it was this time last year—rating a ‘4′ on a scale of 10, in contrast to the ‘6′ last fall. This was the definitive, near-unanimous view—four out of five—from panelists at a Massachusetts Biotechnology Council finance committee event I moderated recently on the subject of “The Evolution of the Biotech Business Model.” The fifth member hardly saw things differently—giving 2008 a ‘5′ and 2007 a ‘7.’ The poor economic score was the bad news. The good news is that there is a lot of innovation in biotechnology today—and, judging from the panelists anyway, three of whom are investors, there is still plenty of opportunity for companies and entrepreneurs who are flexible and able to pursue new financing and operating models, as well as new types of collaboration. We’ve explored some of the financing models in our How to Build a Biotech Company conference last month, which Ryan wrote up here. But at the MBC panel, we dived more into such questions as, “Will Pharma companies continue to move into biotech’s turf? What do firms have to do differently in various stages of operations in the current climate? What about outsourcing—should companies be more virtual, or should they build in-house capabilities that could improve their valuations? Can another Genyzme or Biogen Idec be built in the current climate, or, with the IPO market dead, is selling to Big Pharma the only exit option?” A warning—not all these questions were answered to any degree of certainty, of course. And I won’t even try to capture all that was said, just some takeaways I found most interesting. But first, let me introduce the panelists: Mark Kessel, co-founder and managing director of New York-based private equity firm Symphony Capital; Eric Elenko, a principal with PureTech Ventures; Gautam Jaggi, managing editor of Ernst & Young’s Beyond Borders global biotechnology report; Kevin J. Bitterman, a principal with Polaris Venture Partners; and John Edwards (not that John Edwards, and he’s tired of the jokes), president of Adnexus Therapeutics. Edwards was the lone company executive on the panel–and he had a great story. After all, Waltham, MA-based Adnexus filed for an $86 million IPO in August 2007, then pulled it back and sold the company a month later to Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) for $415 million in cash, and potentially another $75 million in milestone payments. “In the current environment we certainly wouldn’t have raised $415 million for an IPO,” he told the audience. Here’s some of the other highlights I jotted down, which include some details from follow-ups I made to panelists: —Find non-traditional forms of financing. Polaris’s Bitterman noted that his company and other VCs are asking biotech CEOs to focus on novel methods of raising capital as one way to get through the downturn with their equity intact. This would include grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other organizations, corporate partnerships, and federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding, for instance. Noted Kessel, “A strong case can be made that it will enable a company to preserve greater value for its shareholders as compared to an immediately permanent dilutive equity deal or a deal with Big Pharma [at] too early a stage, which is very dilutive.” —Innovate in other aspects of business operations as well. Edwards was probably the most vocal on this front, pointing out that new models are needed across all stages of biotech operations—manufacturing, trial design, R&D, and so on. —Outsourcing, outsource, outsource (well, the panel didn’t put it quite so emphatically, but that was the impression I got). Outsourcing doesn’t necessarily mean moving jobs offshore, but most of the talk was about foreign contractors. That drew heat from one audience member, who asked why …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Less

Great leadership can lead to great creativity results. This episode discusses: Selection, hiring, and interviewing Organization culture, values, morale, and motivation Developing trust Advocacy vs. Inquiry Belbin Team Roles: Coordinator, Shaper, Plant, Team Worker, Implementer, Completer-Finisher, Monitor-Evaluator, Resource Investigator, Specialist Situational leadership Leadership styles: Visionary, Coaching, Affiliative, Democratic, Pacesetting, Commanding References used in this episode: Management: Skills and Application, by Leslie W. Rue and Lloyd L. Byars, for a history of management and a good “Management 101″ book. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t, by Jim Collins, and First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, for a discussion on the importance of selection and how to select people. Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, by Geoff Colvin for a discussion on talent and how to improve it. There is a good book excerpt in Fortune Magazine. Leadershiptraq podcast on leadership. Management Powertools by Harry Onsman for good descriptions of Vision, Mission, and Values statements for an organization and many other topics. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, by Patrick Lencioni, for a discussion of what great teamwork is comprised of. Manager Tools podcasts on Communication for discussions on the importance of communication with personal relationships andmotivation, plus much other good stuff. Specifically, check out the episode on Virtual Teams. What You Don’t Know About Making Decisions, by David A. Garvin and Michael A. Roberto, a Harvard Business Review article on Advocacy vs. Inquiry for decision making. Belbin Team Roles. Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules, by Steve McConnell, and Death March (2nd Edition) (Yourdon Press Series), by Edward Yourdon, for a discussion on team roles. Primal Leadership - Realizing The Power Of Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee, for their descriptions of the various leadership styles. The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market, by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema, for a discussion on how to focus company resources to be either a leader in operational excellence, product innovation, OR customer intimacy. U.S. Global Investors Funds Annual Report, June 30, 2008. Less