progress

The pace of possible

June 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment

What’s possible?

In-flight movies

Apple just released the 3Gs, an iPhone where you can take a video, edit that video and post it to YouTube, all in less than 2 minutes (I timed myself). My friend Jon immediately viewed it from 30,000 feet on his Virgin America flight.

Unbelievable.

Every newspaper, book and blog in your briefcase or purse

The Amazon Kindle magically fits 10,000 newspapers, magazines, books and blogs right in your purse or briefcase (you can even get DailySense on the Kindle).

The pace of possible isn’t just limited to technology…

A comfortable thong

Gale Epstein and Lida Orzeck invented Hanky Panky, a comfortable thong (sorry, no picture or personal testimonial on this one but check the reviews).

If this is all possible today, what will be possible in a year?

Two years?

Five years?

Will you be ready?

Magic moments

June 4, 2009 | 1 Comment

Snapping the perfect photograph.

Getting on Oprah.

The right article in the right magazine in the right industry at the right time.

The unexpected presentation that wows everyone at the conference and has them buzzing for weeks.

The right licensing deal with the right partner.

The perfect product launch (getting on Oprah might be easier).

The right investment at the right time from just the right investor.

The YouTube video that makes you a household name. Overnight.

You don’t get many magic moments in the life of your business, although some people put themselves in position for way more than others. That old saying, “the harder I work, the luckier I get” is more true than not. Magic moments don’t follow Steve Jobs around. He creates them.

Sometimes, magic moments aren’t so obvious. Will you recognize your magic moment when it happens? Will you be prepared?

Most importantly, what are you doing today to increase the likelihood of it happening?

Generation Lap

May 13, 2009 | 1 Comment

Parents, if you can’t understand how your kid can jump from Facebook to instant messaging to texting, all while doing their homework, watch this.

Parents with young children, watch this.

Kids (anyone under 35), if your parents don’t seem to get you, the digital you, watch this with them. Help explain it to them.

Educators, watch this. Think about how you can use this knowledge in the classroom.

Everyone else, watch this anyway. We can all learn a lot from Don Tapscott.

Last chance at Tribes!

May 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Seth’s TED Talk is now live. You can visit the TED site or watch it below.

The hardcover of Tribes is available on Amazon.

A long Squidoo lens, including lots of information and more videos and slides, is here.

You can download a FREE mp3 of Seth himself reading the entire thing right here.

OK. It’s not really your last chance. Everything above will likely be available…well, forever. But knowing Seth, he’s cooking up even more quality. Another topic that will require a good portion of your brain.

So finish up Tribes. Read the book. Watch the video. Listen to the .mp3. Pass it along to a friend.

Learn Tribes. Lead one. But make room.

More genius is coming.

The timing is never right

April 4, 2009 | 1 Comment

I was talking to a good friend and he said he was “very close” to starting his blog, getting more involved in Twitter and really developing his personal brand online. “As soon as I get some downtime”, he said.

Unfortunately, the downtime never comes.

When was the last time you crossed off the last item on your to-do list?

Have you been putting something off? Starting that addition to the house? Quitting your job to freelance? Writing the great American novel? Starting a blog? Taking dance lessons? Learning Chinese?

As Tim Ferris says,

“the stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time. The universe doesn’t conspire against you, but it doesn’t go out of its way to line up all the pins either. Conditions are never perfect. “Someday” is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Pro and con lists are just as bad. If it’s important to you and you want to do it ‘eventually’, just do it and correct course along the way.”

Get started failing

April 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Testing used to be expensive. If your product was a failure, you ended up with a warehouse of unused, unwanted widgets and a sizable capital loss.

In 1987, if you had a brainchild to sell a set of ten hilarious new T-shirts, you had to produce a large enough run to pay for the screens. If you were wrong, your friends and family were flush with unsold shirts and your wallet was empty. Now, companies like CafePress allow you to start selling with no inventory and zero money down (and no risk of a sub-prime T-shirt crisis).

If nobody likes your T-shirt, change it and try again.

In 1988, if you wanted to start a magazine, you needed at least $10,000 and connections in the magazine publishing industry. Today, with sites like OpenZine, you can have your first issue live in less than an hour. For free.

If you don’t get any readers, change it and try again.

Get started. Get done. Measure results. Fail fast. Fail often.

The cost of changing the screen is almost zero.

Everything is amazing. Nobody is happy.

March 26, 2009 | 1 Comment

As comedian Louis CK elucidates brilliantly and humorously on Conan O’Brien, everything is amazing and nobody is happy.

Mobile phones can stream video content, provide GPS directions or identify a song on the radio but we complain if it hangs for even ten seconds.

Planes can get us from New York to Los Angeles (or Dublin) in 6 hours but we complain if we have to sit on the runway for 30 minutes.

We complain every time the price of a stamp increases, yet you can reliably mail a letter from Seattle to Miami in a few days for 42 cents.

Anyone who has an opinion and a computer can have their message heard by thousands of people, literally for free. And that computer? It used to cost $1000. Now the laptop version only costs $250.

Yes, there are challenges. Yes, the economy is in the tank. But it is an amazing time in our history and it’s time we stop complaining, start focusing on the positive and leverage the advances in technology to cause positive change.

Feel free to print this post and mail it to all of your closest friends for only 42 cents.

Not an opportunity. An obligation.

March 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Last month, I went with my friend to visit a man who is in the hospital with multiple sclerosis. We talked with him for a while, we helped him setup speed-dial for his family in his hospital phone and we helped him setup a new GMail account because he had forgotten the password to his Hotmail account.

He was so happy and grateful to have visitors, even for an hour. Mentally, he was still very sharp but the MS had debilitated his body and his speech. I sat there wondering what things he wanted to accomplish that he never got the chance to.

As we walked out of the hospital, I couldn’t help but feel guilty. Guilty that I could walk out of the hospital. The guilt quickly turned to a sense of obligation to do something great because there are so many people that don’t have the chance.

What we all have isn’t just a chance. We all have a responsibility to do something great. We all need to change the world in our own ways. We’re all blessed with enough intelligence and drive. Plenty of people are willing to teach us the skills and techniques. We have no excuse not to succeed.

What we all have is not an opportunity. It’s an obligation.

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