Think for a moment about the best TV ad you’ve ever seen. (In a nod to the season, here’s mine.) Now ask yourself: how did that happen? It probably didn’t come as a result of a creative genius at an agency or the inspired vision of a hard-driving CMO. Instead, it probably was a result of someone […]
Growing up in Michigan, we had a saying about the climate: “Don’t like the weather? Just wait five minutes.” Constant change, for better and worse, also applies to the business world and technology in particular. In no other industry can one go from laggard to leader (and back to laggard again) with such head-spinning speed. In my […]
I’m not a huge Star Trek fan, but I know that if we were to take the show’s original cast and drop them into the business world, Mr. Spock would work in accounting. They may not bleed green, but talented accountants possess an elegant and ruthlessly efficient mind. Like Spock, they know how to put […]
Originally posted on Matt Collins' Blog:
One of my favorite shows is Food Network’s Restaurant Impossible. For those who haven’t seen it, the program follows celebrity chef Robert Irvine as he tries to rescue failing family restaurants. He does this in spite of two limitations: a spending limit of just $10,000 with which to redesign…
Buying stuff online is many things – convenient, less crowded, sometimes less expensive – but one thing it is not, at least for me, is fun. Rather, it tends to be a hunting expedition. Sites have something I want. I search. I might buy. The experience of wandering the aisles, on the other hand, can be […]
As someone who earns a living in part based on a digital marketplace that links creators and consumers of content, including apps, videos, music, books, and more, I and millions of other in tech have a hard time being neutral on net neutrality. That makes President Obama’s video and statement on the subject worthy of our attention. […]
The 2014 U.S. midterm elections illuminated for me a very clear and compelling vision of the world marketers seek to master. That vision looks like this: Big Data is more important and useful than ever, but someday soon, Big Data will become a commodity, available cheaply to anyone. Real, lasting marketing value will lie in the power […]
My parents’ dog, Cosmo, bored while watching television. When I first saw last week’s Nielsen report that shows we download apps most of all when we’re bored and lonely, I felt despair. How unfortunate to think that the cumulative effect of entrepreneurial creativity, hard work, and risk is a battle for a consumer with nothing better to do. […]
Last week, both Yahoo and Amazon reported quarterly earnings. Just like a golfer studying how a competitor tees off, their results can help other companies facing similar challenges make better decisions about their mobile businesses. What these two companies had to say indicates very different mobile game plans. Yahoo has a clear-eyed and optimistic view of the […]
At a pivotal moment in Margin Call, a film about a fictional investment bank during the very real financial crisis of 2008, CEO John Tuld is accused by a subordinate of panicking as Tuld prepares to unwind a perilously risky position that could sink his firm. Tuld coolly responds, “If you’re first out the door, […]
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