Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Best Thing I Read Today


I really, really like this guy. Matt Damon. The three Bourne movies are my favorite action movies.

What Disqus Can Learn From Boxee

Image representing DISQUS as depicted in Crunc...Image via CrunchBaseBoxee is the big dog. It's not Apple TV, it's not Google TV. Wordpress beats Blogger. When you think check in, you are more likely to think FourSquare than Facebook. There is something about the nimble startup that is focused on one mission.

Facebook just threw a big one in the direction of Disqus, a service I love.

South By South Best

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Chomp




(Via TechCrunch)

Me: Author

Cover of "Kindle Wireless Reading Device,...Cover via Amazon
Business Insider: This 26-Year-Old Is Making Millions Cutting Out Traditional Publishers With Amazon Kindle: 26-year old Amanda Hocking is the best-selling "indie" writer on the Kindle store, meaning she doesn't have a publishing deal ...... She gets to keep 70% of her book sales -- and she sells around 100,000 copies per month. ..... Hocking sells her books for $3, and some $.99. ..... she can make more on volume, especially impulse buys. Meanwhile e-books cost nothing to print, you don't have to worry about print volumes, shelf space, inventory
I write, I write a lot, I write daily, but I am not a writer. I get offended when I get called a writer. I am not. A writer. No.

People who disrespect my political work into the Nepal democracy movement of 2006 call me a journalist. Fuck no. I am not a journalist. That was digital activism. That was political work.

Never Say Never


TechCrunch: What Every Entrepreneur Could Learn from Justin Bieber: Justin Bieber is unbelievably entrepreneurial and most of you will never know it because he serves a target demo that doesn’t include you. ..... t in 10 years he’ll be a mainstream talent rather than a pre-teen girl wonder ..... the new Justin Bieber movie, “Never Say Never.” I was initially skeptical, but it was a pure delight for me from start to finish ..... Justin Bieber is a self-made entrepreneurial success. ...... a kid from a non-privileged background and single mother who makes it big through natural talent plus tons of hard work and a belief that he can do it despite everybody telling him he can’t ...... how hard Justin worked to achieve his dream ..... He was told he’d never have a big following. He was told he’d never be able to play on radio let alone Madison Square Garden. He sold out MSG in 22 minutes. ..... Justin Bieber was discovered by Scooter Braun who saw him on YouTube. ..... was relentless in convincing Justin’s mom to come to Atlanta ..... didn’t take no for an answer and even fronted all of Justin’s costs to get him to come to Atlanta. Think of Scooter as Justin’s angel investor. ....... None of the major labels wanted to pick him up and none of the local radio stations wanted to play his music. ...... So they set out a grassroots effort to go directly to the market. Bieber went across the entire country in a bus and on an airplane to meet with every DJ in the country whether they would play him or not. ...... you can’t have a great marketing program around a mediocre product. You need to start with an amazing product ...... , Justin’s is 8-15 year-old girls and he built his music & persona around this demo. ...... getting out and talking directly with customers ...... evangalizing yourself, meeting key influencers, meeting customers, taking feedback, refining your product and winning people over. ......Bieber Tweeted constantly when he would be at a radio station. Girls started appearing to get his autograph. At first it was 10-20 girls, then 40, then 80 then he started getting malls shut down due to safety concerns of local police. He mastered the art of going direct to his audience via Twitter. ...... find free marketing opportunities ..... Bieber also uploaded all of his stuff onto YouTube. .. There’s nothing like having YouTube fans to prove to labels that you can sell music. ...... you need to engage directly with your audience. ..... just grab your nearest niece or nephew and tell your friends that you only went because you wanted to be a good uncle or aunt.

Carpet Bombing Angels

Jedi Apprentice: The FollowersImage via WikipediaI reached out to a whole bunch of my followers on Quora earlier today seeking 5K type angels. I have about 800 followers. I don't know how I got them but they are there.

If I missed any of you, let me know, I'd like to pitch you too. :-)
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NOLOH: Not One Line Of HTML


NOLOH was conceived in the Spring of 2005 out of the frustration on the part of a talented young developer, Asher Snyder, who didn't know enough not to ask hard questions. After beating his head against a web programming challenge that would have been trivial in a desktop application Asher wondered, "How come writing Internet applications that have sophisticated user interfaces like desktop applications is so difficult?"


Hackers And Founders MeetUp: Amazing

Facebook Comments To Go: Facebook Nailed It

Facebook logoImage via WikipediaFacebook Messages got touted by the media as the Gmail killer. Well, I have been using it, it is great, but it is no Gmail killer.

TechCrunch: Facebook Rolls Out Overhauled Comments System (Try Them Now On TechCrunch)

I have not used the Facebook Comments thing yet that you are supposed to be able to have added to your blog, but I am liking the description of it. I think Facebook nailed it.

The FoodSpotting Android App Is Here

Image representing Foodspotting as depicted in...Image via CrunchBaseTed Grubb: the man behind the myth.
Spotted Blog: The FoodSpotting Android App Is Here!
Mashable: FoodSpotting Comes To Android
Fred Wilson: Mobile Notifications
TechCrunch: Android Users Get An Official Taste Of Foodspotting Just In Time For SXSW

The iPhone app took FoodSpotting to 600,000 downloads and counting. The recent Instagram integration - Instagram is on its way to overtaking FourSquare and Gowalla combined - is worth at least a million downloads. And this Android app is worth 1.5 million downloads and on.

I say power to the people. Power to the masses.

Now launch a campaign for food trucks that says FoodSpotting Certified!

Scoble, Get Out Of Town