IntoFactories.NET

I work for a large defense contractor (who happens to be laying off lots of people because of idiotic management and because my particular division is building the wrong kind of killing machines – the brains behind what shoots nuclear missiles out of submarines). In this company, there is a sister company that takes care of all computer hardware and software. So, when I have a problem with my computer, someone comes over and fixes it. Read the rest of this entry »

Instead of releasing a lot of features in a product, which just increases the odds that you’ll have customer-service problems, release a small feature set to get as many customers as possible. (Again, remember the primary goal: Get customers.) A small feature set also means you’ll get it out sooner with greater speed, another critical tool of startup success. Read the rest of this entry »

Innovation, then, is the feedstock of startups. One would be hard pressed to name a major bike manufacturer before a major innovation – the mountain bike – gained mass popularity in the 1980s. Revenues reaccelerated and an entirely new flock of companies turned into industry powerhouses overnight. Business innovation in the Internet age boils down to this: You must provide more value and charge less. It is your raison d’etre. Ask yourself: If you are not providing some better value proposition that costs less and offers more, why would any customer buy from an unproven company? Read the rest of this entry »

How much does it matter? Look at some of the Internet portals that are successful, yet have been so famously on the brink of disaster – Excite, CNET, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch. All are successful, publicly traded companies, but each came to a point where the feasibility of the company was in doubt. Read the rest of this entry »

1. People
They Matter Most

After all the market-cap comparison, strategy debates, patent filings, and the news media’s breathless coverage of seemingly every dot-com IPO, the success of Internet startups comes down to the ultimate Darwinian business differentiator: people. Yes, size matters – along with funding, a catchy name, great advertising, capital, technology, structure, partnerships. But people matter most. Read the rest of this entry »

A few minutes later I shoved my barstool further into the corner to make room for Bob, an obvious tourist with generously moussed gray-hair, decked out in a brand new Hawaiian shirt. After a short negotiation where I trotted out flirting skills I thought I had lost a hundred years ago, Bob agreed to buy me a drink as payment of “rent” on the space I had made for him. I proudly shared the drink with Amy and paid close attention in case she was going to offer more tips on being bad. Read the rest of this entry »

“A vacation spent alone months after the man I loved succumbed to a mid-life crisis and broke my heart. ” Then the author meets Bad Amy. Inspiration and rejuvenation can occur when we try on new behavior. Read the rest of this entry »

They did. In less than a year, Bellenson has deconstructed a working palette of human-detectable odors into a new digital (and now patent-pending) language called ReminiScents. Knowing that this new language could only be validated by converting those codes back into smells — the accuracy of which only human brains preside as their ultimate judge — Bellenson and Smith helped design and build a “speaker” for this language that could deliver on the promise. Called an “iSmell,” it is a portable “scent synthesizer,” sort of a cross between a printer and a speaker.

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DigiScents hopes that by broadcasting scents, games, and ads businesses across the digital spectrum will experience the sweet smell of success.

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The Safari ride isn’t the only incredible experience at Animal Kingdom. The entire park is a like being transported to the wilds of Africa or Asia. The Disney Cast Members, as staff are called, are representatives of their native countries. Meeting and talking with them is a most enjoyable and enlightening experience for any visitor.

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