Aug 5, 2012
The arrogance of any artist is that they can do it alone. This was may be true when I toiled away in the atelier making obscure media art installations but the more I collaborated the more I enjoyed the work and the more I learned. Now as an entrepreneur this collaboration married with solid mentorship has added rocket fuel to creative drive and desire.
After the first couple of months down in Mountain View hanging out with the 500 family of mentors I felt like our start-up had just got shot out of a canon. This rapid pace of acceleration is all thanks to the brilliant minds that are part of this 500 family. So in the spirit of sharing the family love I thought I’d share some of the knowledge nuggets that lit a fuse under our company as we continue to accelerate forward.
On user-research:
Look for patterns. If 5 people tell you the same thing, then you probably don’t need to look too much further.
Your friends and family are liars and they don’t want to hurt your feelings. Worst yet they think you’re so smart that you clearly saw your obvious errors.
Pay special attention to feedback that relate to the core of your product. You can largely ignore the other feedback.
Don’t premature optimize.
On user-experience:
Get them to the magic as quick as possible.
What’s the one thing that makes you special? Focus on that.
Nail it. Then scale it.
Reduce friction, increase frequency.
On fundraising:
You can’t convince someone to invest, you can only educate investors on what makes you awesome.
Make the product so (expletive) amazing and everyone will want to invest.
Find one thing that makes you amazing, not 10 things that make you okay.
Don’t be weird.
The best investor is the investor that will give you money when you need it the most.
On running a start-up:
Dream big, then dream bigger, then 10x that and you’ll be fine.
Remember why you started this company in the first place.
Survive. Survive and you’ll figure it out eventually.
I’m so proud of our team for the exponential improvement on product, the amazing partnership we’ve put together and the sweet Angel Round we raised. It’s so flattering to have these very same mentors invest large sums of money in the dream, the vision, the team and our kick-ass products.
Oct 5, 2011
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Track Listing
Shake It Out – Florence and the Machine
Psychic City (Classixx Remix) – Yacht
Somebody That I Used To Know – Gotye
Bike Home – Humans
Liko Lene Lisa – M+A
Good at Heart (RAC Maury Mix) – Lacrymosa
Montonton 2 – Humans
How Deep Is Your Love? – The Rapture
Nightcall – Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx
Niggas in Paris – Jay-Z and Kanye West
Gotta Have It – Jay-Z and Kanye West
Stay Hungry Stay Foolish. Right-click to download.
Sep 11, 2011
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Track Listing
Jazz Thing – Gang Starr
Act Too The Love of My Life – The Roots
Be – Common
Find A Way – A Tribe Called Quest
Life is Good feat. Mos Def – DJ Deckstream
Party Tonight feat. Jean Grae – Black Sheep
Things They Say feat Lauryn Hill – Method Man
Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) – Digable Planets
Drop – The Pharcyde
Solitaire – Rascalz
Success – Jay-Z
Don’t Let It Go To Your Head – Brand Nubian
Never Let Me Down feat. Saul Williams, Jay-z – Kanye West
Do What You Feel – Redman
I Want It All. Right-click to download.
Jun 8, 2011
Well the last six months have blown by. But in my industry six months is a long time and in an effort to keep up with advances in media, culture and technology I’ve decided to make a move again.
I’ve decided to launch myself head first into my first entrepreneurial venture – Storypanda.
The company is based on the insight that kids and parents are now sharing technology devices and are equally skilled on these devices. We want to use this insight to bring kids and parents together through technology and interactive storytelling possibilities. When we grew up technology drove a wedge between us and our parents. We were downstairs playing video games and watching DVDs and mom and dad were upstairs reading books. Now as an adult I’m playing Wii and using my iPad and my little nephews and parents are right there with me. It’s my belief that technology can bring families together again and the best way to do this is through great stories.
On a personal level I remember my parents reading me bedtimes stories, as well as, making up bedtime stories. We read together but we also created stories together. In part, our first product for Storypanda aims to emulate that experience but for the tablet publishing and social networking generation of kids and parents.
When does it come out? Yes we get this question every time we talk about this idea. Parents are so pumped to start creating. Go to Storypanda.com and enter your email. From there I’ll send you a beta release copy before anyone else so you can test it out. All I ask for is a little feedback so we can continue to improve.
There’s still so many exciting features to share but I’ll be updating this blog as well as our Storypanda social channels with all of our progress:
Storypanda Facebook
Storypanda on Twitter
The Storypanda blog
Exciting times! Thanks to all our early supporters.