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Best Things this Year (2017)
Every year I write a recap of things I did and enjoyed. 2017 was packed. I re-read my 2016 recap and there’s a lot of despair, but I’m glad it didn’t slow me down. Maybe it was motivating. TV / Movies Twin Peaks: The Return Silicon Valley The Leftovers The Big Sick Coco Get Out…
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Spoil Your Meetings
You just got a calendar invite your boss. What’s going on? Are you getting fired? Your last performance review was fine! You walk to your boss’s office. HR is sitting there with her. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. HR walks out as you walk in. You sit down, and your boss says, “Hey I…
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10 Things I’m Doing After Reading The Principles of Product Development Flow
A few weeks ago I showed this slide during a talk I gave to clients of RJMetrics. The Goal is legendary in my family as a guide for unlocking throughput in manufacturing. Garvey Corp’s entire business model is helping companies exploit constraints and increase profits. It got me off to a great start in manufacturing,…
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Best Things This Year (2013)
Anecdotally, it seems like a lot of people shook up their lives in 2013. I certainly did. Here are the best things that happened to me in 2013. 1. RJMetrics – In March I started working at RJMetrics, an e-commerce data analytics firm in center city Philadelphia. Leaving Garvey Corp was a difficult decision, but…
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37signals Sent Me a Gift for Pwning their Leaderboards
This year I took an AK to the Answers leaderboard at 37signals, mostly answering Highrise questions. The Answers board is the best place to learn how to use Highrise because if you have a question there’s a good chance someone else has already asked it. I scoured it during our implementation in April, 2010 and…
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Philadelphia Hackathon
I’ll be doing a short talk about Dungeon Adventure tomorrow at the Philadelphia Ship It Society’s Hackathon. Tickets are available here. The Ship It Society is all about getting together and rapid prototyping a project to see if its feasible. Should be a fun time.
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My low cost e-commerce stack
Since I launched Dungeon Adventure, an RPG for kids, a few weeks ago a lot of people have asked me how exactly I’m selling it. It’s for sale as a digital download and print out board game, or “floor top RPG” as Phil Nelson called it. Here’s how it works: I have a hosting account…
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Active vs Passive Interruptions
In all work environments people have to communicate. Sometimes they are across the hall and sometimes they are across the world, but in every case someone initiates the contact and the other must decide what to do. The Initiator must first choose the method, whether it’s a phone call, text message, email, etc. What makes…
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Opt In, Relevancy, and Marketing on Trust
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about marketing for two reasons. 1. I’m trying to figure out the best way to grow our business. 2. I just joined the board of directors of our industry trade organization, whose primary focus is putting on a yearly trade show. Do traditional marketing campaigns (ads, trade shows, mailings,…