by Chip Griffin on November 27, 2011
As I was perusing the November 2011 issue of Popular Mechanics (via the Zinio app on my iPad, of course), I came across a brief item about the British Antarctic Survey and the discovery of some active undersea volcanoes in the South Atlantic Ocean. “New species have been found nearby,” reports the magazine.
I have always been a big fan of space exploration, but over the past decade or so I have become much more intrigued by underwater exploration. It’s not as sexy as the search for alien life or the quest for an answer to the origins of the universe, but it can be just as exciting — and probably have more practical applications in terms of things like health, energy, and the environment. Plus we don’t have to travel for weeks, months or years just to get in a position to make observations.
There are practical implications to this way of thinking that impact us in our businesses and our lives. It is easy for all of us to get enamored with the idea of solving the biggest problems that get the most attention from the media and the public.
Read the full article →
by Chip Griffin on November 18, 2011
I have found myself this week spending a lot of time thinking about what is in store in the future. I have been pondering this question from a number of different angles, including business, product, marketing, technology, and more. I’ve even been considering where I’m headed personally when it comes to things like running (do I try a full marathon next year?).
This has led me to a few observations:
The Future is Unknowable. So Don’t Try Too Hard. We can all make reasonable judgments about what is in store down the road for ourselves and our companies. But ultimately we don’t really know what is going to happen, so it isn’t worth getting too wound up about the possibilities, good or bad.
Stuff Happens. The Future Changes. Just when you think you have the full menu of options for the future in front of you, some new event or piece of information will likely crop up that switches up the dynamic. For example, many of my significant career path transformations have come out of left field and been executed incredibly swiftly. Read the full article →
by Chip Griffin on November 14, 2011
Yesterday I completed my first half marathon. And that was goal #1: to finish. Check. My secondary goal was to finish in less than 2:30. I beat that mark by a bit more than 5 minutes, coming in at 2:24:44. So a successful experience.
Of course, I have lots of room for improvement still. I finished 872 out of 1031 overall and 116 out of 120 in the Men’s 30-39 division at the Seacoast Half Marathon in Portsmouth, NH. I suspected that would be the case since after about mile 3 the only men I saw seemed to be either those running with a female friend/spouse or a couple of older gentlemen. But, hey, it was my first half marathon, so I’m not displeased. And at least I finished before the 3 hour mark when they would have closed the course! Read the full article →
by Chip Griffin on November 12, 2011
I had the opportunity to spend some time in Boulder, CO yesterday after the Defrag 2011 conference came to an end. I have also had the pleasure to get to know some of the tech startups from that area over the past few years, and I must say I am impressed.
As I walked through the Pearl Street pedestrian mall I saw the diverse and somewhat contradictory elements of Boulder’s culture. There was a group of folks who clearly were stuck in the 1960′s. There were current college students. And there were entrepreneurs and tech company employees who had either already made it big or are working hard to do so.
What all these groups had in common was energy. Not the frantic energy of overworked, stressed-out people that one often sees in big cities like Boston or New York. Instead an energy that drove each person toward whatever goal was important to them. Read the full article →
by Chip Griffin on November 11, 2011
Ideas are a dime a dozen. I know because I have paper and electronic file folders filled with ideas that I have come up with over the years for potential new products, services, and companies.
Good ideas aren’t much more valuable. While some of the ideas on my lists seem clearly doomed, most seem to show a glimmer of light.
What Are Great Ideas?
All Great Ideas Were Once Good Ideas. Great ideas are not born that way. They are good ideas that have grown up. Read the full article →
by Chip Griffin on November 10, 2011
As entrepreneurs, we often get wrapped up in the little details. Clearly, details matter. They drive execution and most companies rise or fall based on how they execute on an idea. A mediocre idea well-executed will typically outperform a great idea with poor execution.
But whenever I come to Defrag, I am reminded of the importance of thinking big. Yes, the little things matter, but so do big things.
Think Big Thoughts
Great companies make both incremental and significant changes for their customers. Every day you probably spend time on those incremental changes. But don’t forget to take time to explore bigger ideas. What type of company are you really? Take Google. Most people would describe them as a search company, but a lot of smart folks would tell you it is really an advertising company. Expose yourself to new ideas and other big thinkers (like those at Defrag) to stimulate your brain in new directions. Read the full article →
by Chip Griffin on November 9, 2011
I attended a great pre-conference dinner last night in Boulder, Colorado hosted by T.A. McCann, founder of Gist, where we talked about how tech entrepreneurs can have a greater impact on legislation and regulation, especially in Washington, DC. Naturally, with my background, that was a topic I had a lot to say about. And would have had a lot more to say if my voice were not failing me due to a nagging cold.
In any case, VC Brad Feld and Dean of the Colorado University Law School Phil Weiser are quite passionate in their desire to see better policy come out of our elected officials. They both zeroed in on a few specific issues, including software patents and the Protect IP legislation moving through Congress. Though not present, Fred Wilson‘s presence was felt as another blogging VC who has taken an increasingly active stance on policy issues.
There was a lot of constructive conversation around the issue, though we left it far from resolved. But one of the great benefits of Eric Norlin’s work on the Defrag conference is that it brings together smart people who come ready to discuss thorny issues like these.
Why are Tech Entrepreneurs Frustrated with Government Policy?
- Tech entrepreneurs don’t have an organized voice in Washington. Sure, there are groups that sympathize with us on particular issues, but we don’t have our own association to represent us in the halls of Congress and the Administration. Read the full article →
by Chip Griffin on September 22, 2011
In recent years, we have heard much talk of services like Facebook, Twitter, Salesforce and others being “platforms.” The implication is that they are much like operating systems like Windows, Linux, or OS/X where developers can build applications on top of them.
And that’s true, at least in a technical sense. The problem is that now companies are building not just applications based on these web platforms, but also their entire businesses.
From today’s Wall Street Journal:
In the past, entrepreneurs might have built a competing social network or made use of Facebook as a tool to drive traffic to their own sites.
But now, companies like BranchOut Inc., a professional network, and Yardsellr Inc., a social e-commerce application, have emerged that rely entirely on the social network’s users for their business. More such ventures are expected to pop up this year.
There is a big, and often unrecognized, difference between building a company around software that sits on top of an operating system and an application that relies on a web platform. Computer operating systems get installed on hardware and even if the developer makes a major change to that operating system, old software can still run on old versions of the operating system. Nobody comes and forces you to uninstall old versions from your computer.
Read the full article →
by Chip Griffin on September 20, 2011
The other day I found myself telling someone that a company I know of has “a product that demos well, but it doesn’t work well once you buy it.” We all know the type, right? At the extreme end are some of the gimmicky items you find sold on TV infomercials. Some of them actually do work well, but a whole lot of them look a lot cooler in 120 seconds or 30 minutes than they work in your own home.
But any of us who are in the online software arena know that it isn’t a phenomenon limited to late night TV sales. And it isn’t just about physical products. Software as a service can suffer the same fate.
Read the full article →
by Chip Griffin on September 7, 2011
On Oct. 9, 1986, the Fox Network launched, with 88 affiliates across the country. At the time, most experts ridiculed the notion that a fourth network could challenge the dominance of the Big Three. No doubt executives at NBC, CBS, and ABC found themselves snickering, too.
When Fox took to the airwaves with its first show, featuring Joan Rivers, it did so in a year that saw CNN celebrate its fifth anniversary. Big Three news anchors Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather still weren’t particularly concerned by the role of cable news.
We realize today that these events represent some of the early seeds of change in the modern media…
Continue reading the rest of my recent column in New Hampshire Business Review.
