RWShare

Amazon Acquires Shelfari

2008-08-27T19:15:37Z

Amazon acquired Shelfari, yay.

A follow-up to my bitching about Shelfari and how there was no recommendation engine (to books and like-minded readers).

Hopefully we'll see some of these changes made.

Regardless, Shelfari and Amazon are a match made in heaven.

I love/hate Shelfari

2008-07-18T06:09:33Z

First off, let me tell you that I love my Shelfari. It allows me to keep track of my books, remember what I read and even show off a bit.

BUT, why isn't Shelfari recommending me books?! Why aren't they connecting me with people who read the same books as I do? [Russ can comment on the mechanics behind this, he's been reading up on AI, Neural Nets, Collective Intelligence, etc].

If you've had an extended conversation with me, I've probably asked you if you have read any good books lately. Or what your favorite books are. I love hearing what other people read. I love reading what others read because it helps me understand them and connect with them.

Shelfari has a huge opportunity here. Why are they wasting it?

Is SEO dead?

2008-07-09T02:56:50Z

The short answer: No, but it's getting easier.

Easier to optimize your site for SEO effects and less important than it was 5 years ago.

Strong links are still the lifeblood of any high PageRank site, making links the currency of the Internet.

Jeff Jarvis predicts the end of SEO.

Canada Day!

2008-07-02T05:11:08Z

Billy and I would like to wish a happy birthday to Canada. At the very least it has provided a boundless source of entertainment for us southerners.

(Billy) edit: I do not wish Canada a happy b-day. Russell, the Canadian-blooded friend of mine, attempted to slander my name.
(Russ) edit: We want more money! Some of that Internet money!

Books!

2008-06-30T05:27:08Z

I liked to look of Shelfari on Brad Feld's blog and decided displaying my own recent pursuits would bring joy to all the girls and boys. I'm sure Bill will add his own literary conquests soon.

I have arrived.

2008-06-30T05:15:15Z

I have arrived in Silicon Valley. Actually I've been here about two weeks, but no one but Bill reads this blog and I've been a little distracted. The short of it is that i'm interning at Apple for the summer and to that end I have left sunny Santa Barbara for the Real World. It is a lonely existence up here which may inspire me to share my thoughts and dreams. The majority of posts here on rwshare have emanated from Bill's corner. I will be changing that in the coming weeks. The topics remain unclear, however I will do my best to shield you from the reality of my meek day to day existence.

How does your organization share online media?

2008-06-23T03:47:35Z

When you run across an interesting article/blog post/site on the Web, how do you share it within your organization?

How do you collaborate on this shared information?

How do you manage this shared information?

How do you manage this collaboration?

Email

Email is by far the most popular way to share information within an organization. Some people will find an article and send the link as well as comments to select colleagues. Some organizations have aliases set up that help syndicate this information appropriately (e.g. marketing@companyName.com)

But email is messy.

How do you manage a discussion among two or more people on shared information? Back and forth emails are terribly inefficient.

Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking is largely non-Enterprise. Del.icio.us is great for storing my bookmarks and sharing comments with a friend, but it's user-centric--it depends too much on the individual to be effective for groups.

Diigo, Mento and Fleck are social bookmarking tools--feature loaded and fun--but they too are user centric.

Still, these aren't secure and definately not built for enterprise use. Cogenz may be a solution for some--social bookmarking specifically for enterprise. It's fast, secure and cheap! ConnectBeam also applies successful "Web 2.0" themes for an enterprise solution for online media sharing.

JotSpot (and other make-your-own wiki providers)

Internal wikis are great for knowledge management. They're familiar to most, fairly easy to use and simple to implement. Trusted providers are also secure. They can be built into a repository of knowledge, share documents and provide valuable information for internal use. Services like these are group-centric--the collective effort of the organization builds this asset.

But they're slow! They're nearly static. They take a lot of time and effort (relative to Social Bookmarking) just to contribute something. Realistically, few would use a wiki to quickly share a link and a few comments.

Microsoft SharePoint (and other sharing/collaboration platforms)

SharePoint does it all and more. Users can build a huge knowledge base, collaborate on documents and share media. SharePoint, like an internal wiki, is also group-centric. More and more, platform collaboration services are adopting the successful elements of Web 2.0 (i.e. tagging, social networks, profiles, etc) and applying them to the enterprise--socalled "Enterprise 2.0".

SharePoint is great for medium to large organizations that can justify the expense, but small to medium-size organizations can't justify paying $80 per user + server expenses for SharePoint. Moreso, small organizations would rarely take advantage of such feature-rich and powerful environments. They need something simple, lightweight and ready now.

Conclusion

So what's needed for small to medium-size organizations for online media sharing? Something small, lightweight and easy to use. Something that allows for, faciliates and promotes sharing. Something that is group-centric and manages collaboration.

I call this something Noozroom...and it's almost ready.

"I need to" vs "I will"

2008-06-19T14:50:39Z

This post is similar to the "want" vs. "would like" post a few months ago. In other words, you get to hear my rant on self-help philosophy.

I find myself saying this all the time, and perhaps you do to: "I need to [get something done]".

"I need to write this blog post"
"I need to call that girl"
"I need to be productive"

But saying "I need to" often translates into "when I get around to it"--there's no intention or motivation to do these things.

If you find yourself saying "I need to" and it rarely results in getting things done, there's a quick fix.

If this is something you really must do, and not something you're planning on "putting off" anyway, try this: "I will..."

"I will write this blog post"
"I will call that girl"
"I will be productive"

And to be even more effective, add a time, deadline, or call to action:

"I will write this blog post today"
"I will call that girl at 8pm"
"I will be product now"

If what you need to do is really meaningful to you--meaningful that it gets done--then just changing a few words may change your effectiveness.

Do's and Don'ts of Elevator Pitches

2008-06-11T05:14:46Z

Thanks to TechCrunch Elevator Pitches, Internet entrepreneurs now have an outlet for their pitches...and an inlet for my criticism.

Do...

...get to the point

a bad example of this

...create mental imagery (pitch)
...relate your startup/idea/concept to something people already know.

"Kongregate is YouTube for games" (pitch)

Don't...

...be boring, mumble/speak softly, have a unibrow (pitch)
...be a douche bag
...use buzzwords, especially not in large quantities (pitch)

Book Review: The Effective Executive

2008-06-08T15:52:38Z

Book Review: The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker.

This is the first Drucker book I have read. I've heard so many rave reviews about his books that I just had to try one. I've listened to a few audio programs from Drucker and gained a lot from those, but the book was disappointing.

Like many business books, I felt like this could have been summed up in a blog post or two. Drucker gives long-winded explanations that consist of saying the same thing over and over again. Simply bolding a sentence or two of the main points would have gotten the message across. Further, Drucker backs up his explanation with weak examples that break the flow of his long-winded explanations.

Towards the end of the book I skipped most of the examples (conveniently provided in bullet point paragraphs) and attempted to extract only the main points.

Here are the two "nuggets" that he provided that I found enlightening:

Effective executives do NOT multi-task. Effective executives focus on one thing at a time for maximum results.
Effective decisions are not based on the facts, they are based on opinions. The facts are often too hard to find and not substantial enough to make a meaningful decision. Opinions of those around the effective executive are more important because their outcomes can be determined by testing the hypothesis through a trial.

Blog Neglect

2008-06-08T15:48:32Z

I've been neglecting this blog lately. I'm sorry.

I suppose I followed the typical "I want to start blogging!" pattern--writing quite a bit at the beginning then quickly tapering off to nothing. Womp Womp.

I do have things to say, so I am formally making the commitment to blog at least once a week.

As for Russ...?

Michael Arrington on Charlie Rose

2008-05-07T05:38:31Z

Charlie Rose has a fabulous interview with Michael Arrington surveying many of the most important topics of the Web today. They discuss major Internet trends like blogging and social networking, American's media consumption on the web eclipsing that of old media--TV and newspapers--as well as current events like Microsofts bid for Yahoo.

I highly recommend watching it. Michael amazingly synthesizes and conveys all the important, and sometimes overwhelming, information clearly and beautifully.

Book Review: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law

2008-04-29T16:06:24Z

The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law by Bagley and Dauchy

I'll add my praise for this book to the already large mix.

I never thought a book on business law could be so fascinating! I have learned the true beauty of law--the artistry, power, and strategy involved in a successful business.

The book covers topics on:

Invention Assignment Agreements and Works Made for Hire (when employed and employing)
NDAs
Working cost-effectively with attorneys (and choosing them!)
Forms of Business Entity
Ownership structure
Raising Money
Board formation and dealing
Contracts, leases, etc
Intellectual Property
And so many more!

Sound "legal engineering" can make or break a company. In my young and relatively inexperienced opinion, entrepreneurs should take the extra time and effort to cover their asses by (1) reading this book and (2) acting on its advice. While there is a lot an entrepreneur can do on their own, as far as setting up a legal framework, "consulting an experienced attorney" is always preferable (if you can afford it).

Craig Newmark's careless mindset when starting craigslist has caused him a lot of unnecessary hardship: first, giving away a large portion of his company to an early employee who sold it to eBay and now this.

"Failure to prepare is preparation for failure" - John Wooden

Endless Web 2.0 and Social Apps Make You Unproductive

2008-04-24T15:45:47Z

Countless hours of my precious time have been wasted on the following:

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
AIM/ICQ/Gtalk
Email

And I am sure that others have wasted even more time. While each of these is fun, allowing people to be more social while using the Web, they kill personal productivity.

Distractions! It's so easy to turn away from a piece of work that requires effort and concentration to check your email when a new piece arrives, or to check your Twitter, or browse AIM profiles, or immerse yourself in your Facebook NewsFeed. But all of these distractions kill your personal productivity.

It has been a fight for me too. I made rule that I can only check email 3 times a day (for some this is excessive, for others this would sacrifice their livelihood). I only check Facebook in the evening, once, at a certain time. I've logged off AIM and only go on for a specific purpose for a limited amount of time (no more letting those pesky windows popup and distract me).

It's much better to allocate a specific hour to spend on Twitter than to spend an hour checking it back and forth throughout the day. It takes your mind off your work when you're constantly going back and forth.

Steve Wozniak speaking at UC Berkeley

2008-04-23T03:59:36Z

The infamous Woz came and spoke at Cal tonight, and what an interesting person he is.

I can't say I like his speaking-style very much, though. He started by walking in, straddling the podium, and leading with a story (always a safe intro), but then the intro never seemed to stop. He just continued into a series of seemingly disconnected stories. After 20 minutes or so I was too absorbed to care.

It's so great to see such passion and devotion to engineering. I truly admire people who fall in love with something and stay fascinated by it for their lifetime.

I won't go into a recap or analysis of the talk, I am sure Jeff will do a much better job.