The Problem with All You Can Eat Information

Everyday we sit down in front of our keyboards ready to feast on the virtual information buffet on the internet. Our mind salivates as we open up a browser and prepare ourselves for all you can eat information. But like everyone else who slaps down their hard-earned money, you want to get the most out of your meal. How can you do that when it comes to the internet?

There is definitely a good and bad strategy when it comes to consuming the unlimited information that the internet has to offer. Yes, for those who are serious about getting the most out of all you can eat, you will need a strategy. There are two main problems with the internet buffet: too many choices, and you have a limited amount of time before you are full.

First problem – Too many choices. It doesn’t matter what your topic, there are more sites than you have time to read. Your eyes glaze over as you imagine what you consume first. There are many choices but not all of them are good. There is some information that is the best you have ever had, and some you want to spit out the minute you taste it. With so many choices, you have to learn the tricks of the trade if you are going to feast on the best.

Trick #1 – How full is the pan? If a dish is great, then the pan is almost empty. You can see this with information by looking at the share numbers. When it says it has been tweeted 112 times that is a good thing it means the pan is half empty. Sometimes there are great new posts that haven’t been shared yet, but in general each share is like a vote. The people willing to share it means they tried it and wanted more. Learn to read the numbers and see the signs of good information.

Second problem – You get full. As mom used to say, “Save room for desert.” If you fill up on mediocre information you won’t have time for tastier information. You can only have so much on your plate so learn to be an information snob and discern the difference in quality. The plates at a buffet are never big enough and you simply can’t have enough time to read everything. Get picky, here is how.

Trick #2 – Look for the biggest guy in the room, what is he eating? Follow people who have been around for a while and who are well-known in the field you are interested in and see what they are reading. Trust and recommendations are a huge currency on the internet and there is a reason. These people have tasted many dishes and they know more than you. Look at what they have on their plate and try some.

You don’t have the time to try a bite of everything. Even if you try you will get full. Learn to start with the most popular dishes and then find the best consumers of information and eat what they are eating. If you do this you will be an all you can eat pro and get your money’s worth for the time you invest online. Hey, they may have to ask you to leave…

Smarter Strategies for an Information Age

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Can I Be a CEO? RE:Becoming A CEO

Although some individuals are born leaders, most are made. Becoming a chief executive typically takes years of hard work. Extensive experience in the company’s field is desirable and some companies tend to prefer those with degrees from upper-tier schools. Finally, those that have worked their way up from a low level within the organization may have an advantage, as they arguably know the company better than any outsider ever could.

via Becoming A CEO.

The elusive CEO… People wonder how to become one. Well many start-ups bring forth CEOs because someone had to take the role. Many learn from experience that just because you are an idea guy, or a programmer, doesn’t mean you know how to manage, lead, and strategize for a company.

Having a great product is one thing, but keeping your company alive and growing in a competitive environment requires more. If you want to be a CEO you need a broad set of skills: Finance, Management, Marketing, Creativity, and Strategy.

All Start-ups should have this same broad set of skills because even if you are not fit to be CEO, you need to know what your CEO is doing and where it will take your company. Business is not kind on ignorance..

Brand Strategy RE:Bloomberg The Mentor: Kaenon Polarized

“Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) — Kaenon Polarized’s unique premium shades are worn by pro athletes and celebrities, but mass-market audiences have remained elusive. Can retail guru Jay Margolis help brothers Darren and Steve Rosenberg grow “the best sunglasses you’ve never heard of” into a major player in the market? Tuesdays at 9PM ET/PT. Fridays at 9:30PM ET/PT. (Source: Bloomberg)”

via Bloomberg The Mentor: Kaenon Polarized – Video – Bloomberg.

I love this show and the video is on the link above. On this show I think the owners Darren and Steve really missed the opportunity here. They were so caught up in the fact that their glasses were better than the competition that they felt they didn’t need any gimmicks to try and sell them.

They thought product quality was enough to sell their glasses. Big mistake. I don’t care how good your product is, it doesn’t sell itself. Your competition can outsell a superior product with superior branding and marketing. If you have a superior product that is actually less important than if you have a better strategy to brand it and get your product into more buyer’s hands. Quality doesn’t speak for itself if it isn’t in the hands of the end user.

These guys came to a Mentor to get help and because they had their own ideas on how they should brand their product they didn’t really listen to the Mentor. They made a slightly different case for their glasses and patted each other on the back while making no brand message at all. This is an example of when an engineer makes a product and then fails to hire a marketing expert to sell it. These guys may make a great product but they should fire themselves from the branding side of their business and I bet it would grow…

Lesson: Know your strengths, and hire your weaknesses.. If I was their mentor I would have told them straight up that they needed to hire a marketing and brand strategist and stick to making good sunglasses. They are the reason their brand is not growing fast enough.

The Future of Video RE: Is Video The New Software? | TechCrunch

Moreover, content has become the new software, what with zero marginal production and distribution costs. When you consider especially that cheap hardware and open source software has rendered technology anything but defensive, you wonder if the VC herd will perk up and follow Mark’s lead.

via Is Video The New Software? | TechCrunch.

I think there is a glaring factor missing in this train of thought. Video is like software in comparison of the value being in the hardware, then hardware becoming less important and the software that could go on any hardware was the key.

The problem with thinking video is the new software is that unlike software which models the hit shows, video in general is not as rare as software. People are willing to watch a ton of videos of all quality and from any source. Software had a function and depending on the quality there was a huge difference in the result. Seeing a cat play piano poorly is as good as watching a professional show to some. Because of this, content in the video world is not as marketable as software. That being said, I can think of many innovations that can create new opportunities in the world of video but it has to be able to operate in a new way with the current environment.

Video is going to get better and it is just another form of information waiting to be capitalized on…

Advantage is Not Useful Unless You Take It

Hello Everyone,

Lets start with the title of this post again… Advantage is not useful if you don’t take it… People pass over profound things too fast. Sometimes in our drive to think fast and move fast we don’t absorb enough value out of quality things. Let’s look at advantage.

Everyone thinks that if they just get a little advantage over their competition they will win…Wrong. Say you build an awesome new lead capture system and then fail to follow up on the leads. Look at Netflix, they created an advantage over Blockbuster and then didn’t seal the deal. Blockbuster returned the favor by presenting a weak attempt at poking the eye of Netflix when their common business sense went AWOL. Blockbuster should have launched a $9,99 one or two video in the mail service. Even if it was a break even or slight loss, they could have put a nail in their biggest competitor’s coffin. Missed Opportunity.

Advantage is not useful if you don’t capitalize on it. Netflix should have offed Blockbuster by teaming up with Redbox or creating their own Netflix boxes so people could exchange movies more often and then they could hurt both Blockbuster and Redbox. Redbox has the website, now they should work on streaming, or mail delivery. Each of these business structures is vulnerable to a reduction or removal of competitive advantage yet they are so in love with their own concept that they miss the opportunity to use their advantage. I wonder if companies would hire outside strategists to consult CEOs, sounds like a job I would do…

The point is that sometimes you build a business around advantages that you never leverage and take advantage of. An advantage is not an advantage if you don’t take advantage of your advantage.