I spotted this Startup Curve Graphic in Fred Wilson’s latest blog post. The Wiggles of False Hope made me chuckle.
Update: The original drawing of this graph is by Paul Graham. (Thank you Nicolo)
(Thank you Rusty)
The Startup Curve
You can’t hit a nail over the internet.
“You can’t be a butcher and you can’t be a barber over the internet.”
- Joe Nocella
Joe is the owner of 718 Cyclery, an unusual bike shop in Brooklyn. In this beautiful video he talks about why he invites his customers to hang out with him, or even assist, when assembling their custom bikes.
Change your language.
Instead of saying “I don’t have time” try saying “it’s not a priority,” and see how that feels. Often, that’s a perfectly adequate explanation. I have time to iron my sheets, I just don’t want to. But other things are harder. Try it: “I’m not going to edit your résumé, sweetie, because it’s not a priority.” “I don’t go to the doctor because my health is not a priority.” If these phrases don’t sit well, that’s the point. Changing our language reminds us that time is a choice. If we don’t like how we’re spending an hour, we can choose differently.
Fascinating Wall Street Journal Article on being busy.
(via Joanna Goddard)
Happiness is not a Destination
An idea is not a design,
but it is an invitation to a journey.
A design is not a prototype,
but it is a plan for moving forward.
A prototype is not a program,
but it is a test for your assumptions.
A program is not a product,
but it is a milestone towards progress.
A product is not a business,
but it is the first fruit of an idea.
A business is not profits,
but it is a team behind your back.
Profits is not an exit,
but it is validation of your work.
And an exit is not happiness,
but happiness is not a destination.
Happiness is a journey.
A thoughtful response to Mike Seller’s posting on quora, by Tony Chu, MFA Interaction Design student at SVA.
(via bobulate)
less meaningless work
“Doing less meaningless work, so that you can focus on things of greater personal importance, is NOT laziness. This is hard for most to accept, because our culture tends to reward personal sacrifice instead of personal productivity.”
- Timothy Ferriss
Taken from The 4-Hour Workweek
Idle Mouse
The folks over at Idle Mouse are reminding us to slow dow and let our mouse rest, do things with our hands.
Got it. Note taken.
Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman
I simply love how Woody Allen openly supported Ingmar Bergman. We need to always remember this in our own industries. We grow and learn by supporting our peers.
Read the interesting post, where I discovered the above video, over on Open Culture.
(How awesome does Swedish sound?)
Everything is a Remix (Part 4)
Kirby Ferguson’s final installment of his Everything is a Remix series is out! And so is the video of his CreativeMornings talk, which you can view here.
If you’ve enjoyed Kirby’s series, please join me in supporting his next project, This is Not a Conspiracy Theory, on KickStarter.
Real or Just a Ride?
The above video is embedded in a fantastic post on work-life balance over on Deliberatism.
(via @Aarron)
5 Regrets
Top five regrets of the dying:
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Taken from this Guardian Article, via Jay Parkinson.
sherpaa
Jay Parkinson and his team just launched Sherpaa, an around the clock email and phone access to friendly, NYC-based doctors (or Guides as they call them). Whenever you have a health question or concern, they’re here for you. And they play nicely with the insurance you’ve got.
For now, they’re focusing on working exclusively with tumblr employees but will soon be signing up other NYC-based companies. If you’re interested in joining Sherpaa, let them know. I am!
Jay gave an interesting CreativeMornings talk in 2010, in which he explains how he wants to change health care with help of technology and design. Worth watching.
On Surprise e-Intros
I have currently 6 guilt-inducing e-introductions sitting in my inbox, flagged of course. While I am extremely grateful for being introduced to interesting folks, I do not appreciate surprise-introductions. I don’t want to be that person that doesn’t reply, or simply doesn’t have time to meet up for coffee or to have lunch. I know, that all of these introductions are meant well, I would just simply appreciate to be asked first, if an introduction is ok.
I fully agree with Fred Wilson’s post from 2009 on email intro etiquette:
“When introducing two people who don’t know each other, ask each of them to opt-in to the introduction before making it.” – Fred Wilson
The Double Opt-In Introduction
(thanks Cameron)
StartupBus
Aboard the New York City Startup Bus.
Imagine this: You and a team of strangers, on a bus, traveling at 60 miles per hour, have 72 hours to conceive, build and launch a startup. That’s StartupBus in a nutshell.
StartupBus began life as a joke, a roadtrip starting in San Francisco with friends, but with the twist of launching a startup on arrival in Austin in time for the SxSW technology conference. Somehow though, people thought Elias Bizannes (the founder) was actually serious. A few unexpected blog articles and many emails later, he was stuck with having to now make good on his pub night promise.
StartupBus has since evolved into a competition and grew six-fold with buses departing from San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and Miami. In 2011, an impressive 156 ‘buspreneurs’ participated who produced 38 different products.
Talk about turning an experiment into an international community! I can’t help but chuckle at the term Buspreneur. To become one, apply to the StartupBus.
StartupBus – what a refreshing and charming concept! Hat tip!
The Two Things
“For every subject, there are really only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not important.”
Economist Glen Whitman on The Two Things. Make sure to check out this collection of various Two Things. I must now think about what they are for blogging…
(via bobulate)
A fold
Thanks to the above graphic and this post over on brain pickings I will never look at a simple fold the same way again. Same goes for an ant.
Valerie Casey: The New Normal
‘
Wonderful AIGA talk by Valery Casey, founder of the Designers Accord, the global coalition of designers, educators, and business leaders working together to create positive sustainable impact.
Valery is an impressive force in the design industry: She was named a “Guru” of the year by Fortune magazine, a “Hero of the Environment” by Time magazine, a “Master of Design” by Fast Company and one of the “World’s Most Influential Designers” by BusinessWeek. The World Economic Forum has honored Casey as a “Young Global Leader.”
Question for my readers…
During an interview last week I was asked a question that had me stumped: “What are some tools for people who want to project a strong personal brand but can’t afford to hire a graphic designer?” Is there a tool out there? Did anyone ever write a basic DIY post on this that could be used somewhat universally? Any suggestions anyone? I find it an interesting problem!
I agree…
I’d love for us as an industry to be more tolerant, to encourage others and get rid of that underlying tone, that has crept in recently, of one-upmanship. I don’t expect everyone to get on, or even share the same opinion, but before making a snarky comment, ask yourself what real value it’s adding to the community? Personally, snarky comments on twitter remind me of one of a saying…
“Rudeness is the weak person’s imitation of strength”.
- Sarah Parmenter, from her blog post “Do Unto Others..”
Intellectual Sprawl
Urban sprawl is bad. Intellectual sprawl is good. Giving up the previous leads to the latter. Putting people close together forces them to rub off on one another.
- Frank Chimero
From a post by Frank Chimero titled A Series of Ill-Informed Hunches and Observations
Wise Words by Steve Jobs
I will make sure my kids will watch this over and over as they grow up. Watch more wise clips by Steve Jobs over at brain pickings.
Regifting API
My studiomate Maria, force behind Brain Pickings just launched the Regifting API which aims to destigmatize regifting. Together with Josh Boston she designed a regifting icon, pattern, and stencil stamp. These are available as free, shareable downloads under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license, which basically means you’re welcome to use, remix, and share with attribution for non-commercial purposes. Two swissmiss thumbs up!
Link to resources.
