Amazon Fresh is webvan redux

I'm impressed with Amazon. I think they're doing a lot of cool stuff and are a very cool business. I like Jeff Bezos a lot and think he's a very smart CEO. This Amazon Fresh concept is an interesting play that capitalizes on Amazons core strengths: A strong consumer brand with excellent high volume logistics for e-commerce. If successful, this business could be huge. In their day, HomeGrocer and Webvan were on on the verge of making this direct delivery of groceries a huge business. I actually think Amazon may figure out how to make this work. I'll have to log on and try it out as a consumer. You can also read about it here on Techcrunch.

Be something to someone

I met with Brandon DeCuir of Divvy, a new very early stage company in Seattle. They're implementing a local social networking application that allows people in a location to share. My advice to him was to try to be "SOMETHING TO SOMEONE". In other words, he was at the stage in the process where he was interested in the idea that people in a geographic area like a neighborhood or a city block would want to share lots of stuff like tools, toys, DVDs etc.  Sure, it's an interesting idea but I told him to choose an audience and an item that people wanted to share regularly (daily or at least weekly). Ultimately, as we talked I told him to either focus on letting condo owners in a condo complex to share tools (kind of an interesting idea) or to let gamers in a block exchange cartridges. I'm not sure if either of these ideas is really a great idea for a business (I don't think I'd pursue either of them) but I tried to give him constructive feedback while cautioning him on the challenges I've faced at Judy's Book.

The Truman Show is live

I read about life casting here today.   It reminded me of the film The Truman Show with Jim Carrey. I liked the movie and remember thinking that it was only a matter of time before reality tv hit real life.  Life casting is just that....and I predict this trend will continue to grow.  As people video broadcast more and more of their lives, the raw footage of reality video will grow BIG BIG and the real value will be in the editing, tagging, discovery, mashups, and monetization of this diverse content universe.

flying sucks

I just got back from SF today and the title of my post states the obvious. That said, while in the SF airport I came across a business called flyclear.  This is a business that was started by Stephen Brill of American Lawyer (and Court TV I believe). And I think it's a killer. They're selling 1, 2, and 3 year subscriptions to the service which allows you to cut the lines in security in exchange for a fee and a a bunch of profile information. The sales pitch is awesome for any business traveler. For $100 per year paid today you get to move to the front of the line in select airports.  And if you want, you can "lock in" the $100 price for 3 years because the price of the service is likely to increase as they roll out more airports and expand. Nothing like customer financed businesses!! Great float. I'm going to sign up today even though they're not yet in Seattle....my guess is the service won't make traveling any easier or better in a significant way but I'm willing to pay $100 today so that I feel like it may suck a little less the next time I fly.

Saying "I don't know" may instill confidence

I got this as some email feedback on one of my VPs.
But I was especially impressed with the VP  In response to at least two of my questions, the VP paused then admitted he either didn't really have an answer or that he hadn't thought about the issue simply because the company wasn't to the point of having to address the subject yet.  So rather than try to BS me with words, or telling me what he thinks I want to hear, he essentially shrugged and admitted to not having an answer.  In an industry like software development that's rife with alpha males, especially in leadership roles, VPs honesty and relaxed nature were refreshing - traits no doubt also recognized by customers, co-workers, investors, etc.
Nice job!

Email PR

I'm an adviser to Pixsy, a very interesting video search company. I've known the CEO, Chase Norlin, since my abuzz days. He was at Sony and Sony was a customer of abuzz.  Yesterday, I got another email blast from Chase -- he probably sends out an email blast every other month. I wrote him back that I thought he was the master of email PR. His actions got me thinking about using email as a PR vehicle (duh?). Not very insightful, kinda obvious, and really powerful. I wonder why more CEOs don't follow Chase's behavior....myself included.

Shelfari is gaining traction

I met with Josh Hug, CEO of Shelfari today. They seem to be gaining traction. More specifically, they've done a nice job really focusing in on customer acquisition using their viral upload your address book feature.  This was a feature that has become more accepted as an acceptable spam cannon for social networks. When I started Judy's Book, that was not the case. We had the same feature but never really got over the hurdle of making the user experience seamless. Internally, the developers hated the idea of spamming their friends or building a spam cannon. In retrospect, we absolutely should have built out this feature and built it out well. In my hindsight is 20-20 rear view mirror, this kind of viral acquisition is a no brainer. My tip for other entrepreneurs -- focus on customer acquisition and don't be bashful.

I am an angel investor and own shares in Shelfari

Precious parent moment

My daughter woke up and came downstairs last night. She was scared and started to cry. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she was scared of death. What if I (dad) died? What if mom died? She was reckoning with mortality for the first time. It was a truly precious moment. I was glad I could be there. I couldn't say much to take away the fact but I gave her a big hug and told her I loved her. I told her that I didn't think I was going to die that night and nor was she ....and death was part of life and that's why you have to live each day as if its your last.

Film Review: Peaceful Warrior

I saw the movie Peaceful Warrior this weekend. It's cheesy, pop spirituality and inspiration.... And I liked every minute of it ....or most minutes of it. The movie is the story of Dan Millman -- a star gymnast who gets in a motorcycle accident. It's a modern day version of karate kid -- but better. Rent it....watch it...let me know what you think. It's fun and thought provoking which is often my test for whether a movie is worth recommending. 

Google phone

I have officially switched off of microsoft office suite and am now a dedicated google user. More specifically, I use their products instead of Microsoft Outlook -- which I used to love. The transition hasn't been without its bumps. But overall, I'm happy with the switch. That said, I'd be happier if there was a phone or blackberry that actually integrated tightly with Google mail and calendar. Opportunity?  I think so.
This makes me think of the rumor that I heard that google was going to buy apple. I loved that rumor.

My day

I'm in chicago today attending the ShopLocal multi-channel shopping conference. I woke up at 4am and was in chicago by noon. Heqrd a presentation buy a forrester researcher and learned that ecommerce still only represents 5 percent of purchases. The other 95 percent happens in store.
I'm now sitting next to greg sterling listening to the shop local VP marketing talk about their product direction. There's one more presentation and then dinner at Smith and wolinsky.
Looking to possibly attending a cubs game. And that's my day in a nutshell.

A rough apple day...I'm switching back to microsoft

It's a sad day. I'm switching back to PCs and Microsoft products.  Yesterday, I took the leap and purchased a iPhone!  First impressions were awesome. The packaging was great. The product was sleek. And then came sign up. I fought through the sign up and got everything working. It took longer than I'd like largely because  I'm not familiar with apple's basic software packages. I'm sure they're a better user experience than Microsoft's but I just got fed up with my own lack of knowledge and expertise. By lunch today, I admitted defeat. I admitted that I have better and more important tasks on my hands than to fighting through the transition curve back to apple products.  My decision was influenced by the fact that I am running an entire PC network at home and that switching to a single Mac at work just wouldn't work for me. Purchasing the iPhone meant I was going to have to convert my home network too and I just wasn't willing to take up all the time that that was going to take. I guess I'm just a PC nerd. I hope Redmond will take me back as a customer.

Managing through compensation

I was visiting a friend this weekend. He was asking my advice on a matter related to his small company. The company has 10 employees and one of the employees -- for the purposes of this post, let's name the employee Dillon-- requested a meeting to discuss compensation. In a nutshell, Dillon wants more money and more ownership in the company. Significantly more. He's currently making 225K but wants to be making over 500K. He also wants a solid equity stake in the company. Dillon is 50+ years old. Dillon has been doing an adequate but not excellent job. My friend is afraid to lose Dillon because it would harm progress the company is making. Dillon senses this fear and is really putting an aggressive tone to the salary conversation. My friend is willing to consider giving Dillon a raise but wants his work commitment to increase.
Based upon what I heard, I think this work relationship is going to end within 6 months. Generally, I don't think you can buy work quality or commitment. In my experience, salary has very little to do with work ethic.