A tribute to Anita Roddick


anita roddick, originally uploaded by a sack of seattle.

Anita Roddick died yesterday. It was a sad day. I've known Anita since 1994 when I was in business school. She was a pioneer in making business a force of change.  At that time, she and Ben Cohen were my business role models. 
In 2001, I ended up being Chairman and CEO of Body Shop Digital -- the bricks to click version of the Body Shop. Ultimately, this joint venture between Softbank and Body Shop never truly launched. We sold the company back to the corporate parent.  During that time, I had the pleasure of working with Anita and Gordon Roddick.
Anita was awesome. An inspiration to listen to and a true visionary. Fun to be around. She also was a bit kooky and crazy -- but I've always had a soft spot for kooky, crazy and passionate women. I will miss her. I think the world would be a better place if there more people like Anita :-).  Goodbye Anita.

A new business idea: funeral services for a doll!?

I spoke to a group of Japanese students last night about entrepreneurship. They're on an exchange program with the University of Washington.  One of the students wants to start a business that provides funeral services for dolls.  When I first heard the idea, I thought she was joking.  She wasn't! I inquired further. It turns out that of a class of 25 students, approximately 50% of the 20 year old students had a doll that they cared for regularly.   Furthermore, the students that did have a doll overwhelmingly thought that this students idea was a very good business idea. I don't know if it is or not but I thought this was fascinating.  Further evidence that understanding culture is critical when doing business.  Funerals for dolls....mmm. Makes you think doesn't it!

Microsoft buys Facebook!

Just my attempt at starting a rumor that should become reality.  Can't you see the headline now?

Here's why Microsoft should buy Facebook:
i) Facebook is the definitive social network platform play. Microsoft understands platforms.
ii) Microsoft has no capability anything close to Facebook.  It would get them current in the web world.
iii) Facebook has the largest engagement of the new developer community. This is the asset that made Microsoft so successful in the past and the asset needs to be renewed and reinvigorated.
iv) Plus, both founders went to Harvard....it'd make a good story.

MIT Enterprise Forum presentation

I'm presenting tomorrow night at the MIT enterprise forum on moving from idea to business.  Here's the cliff notes version to my presentation:

  • Ideas are cheap
  • Creating cash flowing business is a process. It’s expensive in terms of time, money and passion
  • Things I try to remember:
  1. KISS
  2. Cash Flow is King
  3. Customer Acquisition is Queen
  4. Listen to your gut
  5. Teams make businesses, not individuals

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.