Jun

19

On a few week hiatus…

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I’ll be traveling for the next few weeks, so don’t expect any brilliance until July.

Jun

10

Open Source Car

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Open Source Car hopes to design and develop a car over the web. This falls right in line with the original concept I was focusing on around crowdsourcing design and development of physical products, but it is about 469 steps down the line in terms of complexity. It will likely be a great learning experience, but first, it seems, companies should focus on figuring out how to involve crowds in co-development of simpler products. (Such as say… the design of products… like laser etching on a Mac, for example.) A car is just about the most complex type of product one can develop for a consumer — when you factor in sourcing, regulations, safety concerns, etc.

Jun

8

Some new changes to the blog

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You might notice a few new touches on my modest little page here:

I’ve added:

    A banner to the extremely worthwhile and totally awesome Kiva.org to the sidebar. If you have always wondered what microfinance was all about, check this out. Similar to Prosper, you can loan money to individuals in developing countries and even keep in touch with them to learn how their business is developing over the course of the 6 to 12 month loan. The most amazing thing is that as they pay off the loan, you get your money back which you can then either re-loan or withdraw. It’s an incredible model, applying business returns and principles to development work.
    A ReadThese page above of recommended reading, some good beach reading if you ask me.
    An InnovativeCompanies page above of sweet companies you should check out.

Jun

5

Guiding principles for a new venture

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When I first quit my job to see what I could do via an entrepreneurial project, I wrote down a set of general guiding principles to follow in running the project. As we have moved towards a knowledge/service based economy (and now connected/globalized/Internet economy) from an industrialized mind-set, work and businesses have been fundamentally altered. Employees and customers are no longer soulless commodities out of which companies must wring as much labor or money but more partners in the process. It is a fundamental shift, and firms that not only recognize this but implement policies, brands, and strategies along these lines will flourish. Virgin, Amazon, Apple, JetBlue, the list goes on. When dealing with solid, personalized brands that respect and solicit the opinions and experiences of customers and employees, business takes on a much more pleasant, useful, and satisfying tone. Thus, I would aim for:

1. Radical Transparency; internally and externally.
2. Simplicity
3. Flexibility. Owning as little as possible: software, infrastructure, inventory. Use SaaS. Outsource/Freelance. Light weight operations.
4. Continuous Iterative improvement.
5. Making life easier.
6. Authenticity.
7. Radical customer centricity. Worrying less about the competition or term strategy and more about what the customer is asking for. Soliciting ideas, designs, and help from everywhere: internally and externally.

Jun

4

Etch Connection Development continues…

Filed Under Etch Connection | Leave a Comment

As I have mentioned, I am outsourcing the development of my Etch Connection site to a Pakistani IT group who appear to be doing good work so far. The process has been surprisingly easy. I specified my requirements for the site, they came back with a list of milestones and costs for each stage, and we have interacted purely via email/attachments. Anyway, it’s been interesting.

Head on over to Etch Connection and enter your email address if you are interested in finding out when the site launches. Then you can be the baddest cat on the block with a laser etched cell, iPod, or MacBook.


    Great Rates, No Banks. Borrow. Lend. Prosper.