Five Digital Resolutions for 2012

By Mark Evans in Social Media, Startups 1 Comment Tags: , ,

I’m not a huge proponent of New Year’s resolutions but figured they offer a good opportunity to create a public list of digital goals for 2012.

1. Adopt a smarter and more productive approach to social media, which will hopefully also mean spending less time on it. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy social media and get plenty of value from it, but it’s also a huge time-suck.

As my digital marketing consulting business gets busier, I don’t have as much time for social media but want to maintain a healthy presence. To be more productive, I’, using tools such as Buffer to post tweets, and now lean more on HootSuite rather than TweetDeck because it offers easier access to multiple accounts.

2. Avoid the temptation to embrace new social media services just because they’re popular. While I’ve registered for and checked out Pinterest and Path, I haven’t used them much. If I’m going to adopt a new social media, I would have to drop one from my portfolio. The leading candidate would be Facebook, which I’ve always been ambivalent about given I don’t share much personal information.

3. Spend less time in the inbox. As much as I read about different techniques to control email rather than letting it control me, I’m still someone who checks for new email far too often. I might have to do with getting about 100 emails a day but checking email too often kills my focus and becomes mentally taxing. My new email goal for 2012 is being more disciplined, perhaps once an hour.

4. Spend less time online. When you have your own business, particularly one focused on technology and startups, being online is an occupational hazard. Still, I’m online too much. A tell-tale sign is the feeling of being digitally fatigued. It feels like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet, and getting to a point where you can’t eat another bite, even it’s something normally irresistible such as pumpkin pie.

5. Create a portfolio of go-to online services and content sources. It means spending more time with services that provide value, and less time flitting around the Web checking out anything that sounds new and interesting. The same goes for content sources. Rather than reading anything that crosses my path, I want to be more focused. One of the reasons why I like Zite is it offers the best of both worlds: a way to consume content that meets my interests, while still providing opportunities to find new sources.

So, what are your digital resolutions for 2012?

Encouraging Signs for Canada’s Startup Ecosystem

By Mark Evans in Startups No Comments Tags: , , ,

As a huge proponent and supporter of Canada’s technology and startup communities, I’m always looking for encouraging developments.

This week, there has been two positive announcements: MaRS unveiling MaRS Common, a new workspace for startups, and Extreme Venture Partner pulling the covers off a refreshed Extreme University that will see five teams participate in a 12-week program that will involve workspace, advisors and mentors.

As much as the Canadian startup landscape  is probably more exciting and healthier than it has arguably ever been, it is important to keep in mind that it’s still a fragile and nascent community. This makes it important to have an ecosystem that provides the necessary support to encourage entrepreneurs to embrace startups and, at the same time, provide them with what they need to have a good shot at success.

Many of the key pieces are starting to fall into place. There are more seed investors playing active roles – a group that includes Real Ventures, Golden Venture Partners, Extreme Venture Partners, Mantella Ventures and GrowthWorks. As important, there is a growing community of entrepreneurs who have been there, done that. And you’ve got an increasingly sophisticated group of service and product suppliers that can meet the needs of startups in different ways. The launch of MaRS Common and the updated ExtremeU are more evidence of an evolving and maturing community that will be able to supporting a thriving startup ecosystem.

That said, there are still challenges facing Canadian startups. While getting seed capital is getting easier (relatively speaking!), it is still difficult to find Canadian investors willing to inject major series A capital – we’re talking deals worth more than $5-million. Many startups with strong prospects still have to head south of the border to get the money they need to take their businesses to the next level.

And it will be interesting to see how the global economic conditions impact the Canadian economy and Canadian startups. If people become more concerned about their investments, does it mean they will back away from riskier propositions such as startups?

That said, it is difficult not to be encouraged by the growth of the startup ecosystem. There are lots of good things happening on a variety of fronts.

 

Four Positives to RIM’s Possible Demise

By Mark Evans in Wireless 1 Comment Tags: , ,

As an enthusiastic supporter of Canada’s high-tech community, I’m hoping RIM can somehow find a way to revive its flagging fortunes.

But the terrible debut of the PlayBook, the modest reception to the BlackBerry 9900, and the recent and frustrating global network outage has not only put RIM on its heels but causing some industry watchers such as GigaOM to envision an even darker future.

As much as it would be hard to believe RIM and the BlackBerry could crumble before our eyes, it wasn’t that long ago that Nortel was king of the telecom world before it went stumbling and fumbling into bankruptcy protection and an embarrassing asset sale.

So what if RIM disappeared? Would there be anything good to come out of it? Here are some reasons that accentuate the positive.

1. It would free up a lot of people within RIM, who have gained valuable experience and, in many cases, a lot of financial security over the past 10 years. These people could work for other companies that need talented people, as well as finance startups that would benefit from having smart and strategic money.

2. It would allow the Kitchener-Waterloo technology hub to not be dependent on a giant company. Now, I know my friends in K-W will contend there is already a large and thriving community but my take is it could be even more diversified. It’s like when a giant tree falls in the forest. All of a sudden, the sunlight is allowed to pour in, which lets existing companies thrive and new companies to sprout up.

3. Given RIM went from start-up to world-class company, it would hopefully be a huge reminder that supporting Canada’s start-up community is essential to the health of Canada’s high-tech community and our overall economic prosperity. There tends to be a lot of talk about creating jobs and nurturing the New Economy but Canada needs more walk in terms of financial support.

4. Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis would be free to pursue other entrepreneurial and philanthropic pursuits. Over the past 15 years, they have done an amazing job building a world-class company. Along the way, they have also done some impressive non-RIM projects such as creating and funding the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (Lazaridis) and the  Centre for International Governance Innovation (Balsillie).

If they were liberated from RIM, they could focus their time and efforts on things such as supporting start-ups, providing mentorship, and influencing policy and economic changes. Heck, Balsillie might even be finally get himself a NHL franchise.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge RIM supporter but you have to be realistic and pragmatic. Having covered the rise and fall of Nortel, nothing in the technology world surprises me. It’s a fickle, volatile and ever-changing landscape in which anything could happen, and often does. While RIM’s demise may seem extreme, it is possible so it’s a good exercise to consider the silver lining.

Links:
- The iPhone 4S sells out at U.S. carriers (Bloomberg)
- Can Teenagers Save RIM (Mark Evans Tech)
- BlackBerry Brand Bruised But Not Beaten (CBC)

Beta, What Beta?

By Mark Evans in Startups 1 Comment Tags: , ,

I’m not sure about you but I sign up for a lot of betas that seem interesting. After all, they’re free so why not take one for a spin?

For some start-ups, however, there’s a gap between the time they let people sign up for a beta and when it becomes available.

So here’s a tip for start-ups when they send e-mails to people letting them know the beta is ready: include a reminder of what your service does. A good example is CardFlick. I can’t remember signing up for the beta, let alone know what CardFlick does so a short reminder would have been a great idea.

Screen shot 2011 09 11 at 2 57 06 PM

The $400M Question: What’s Next for Twitter?

By Mark Evans in Social Media 1 Comment Tags: , ,

Here’s a riddle: what do you do with 100 million active users and $400-million of freshly-raised venture capital?

Answer: Pretty much anything you want, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective.

That’s the situation facing Twitter, which has a “truck load” of money to do whatever it wants. With no need to do an IPO or be acquired, the world is Twitter’s oyster. It can make acquisitions, drive hard into different businesses such as advertising, analytics and data aggregation/distribution, or as GigaOm’s Mathew Ingram suggests, it could become a publisher. Flipboard, anyone?

Heck, Twitter could pull a Hewlett-Packard and completely reinvent itself by making a major acquisition. This is admittedly a far-fetched idea but given how crazy the high-world has been turning these days, you never know! I mean Michael Arrington is no longer working for TechCrunch, and Carol Bartz claims Yahoo “f@$ked me over”.


Data = Advertising Revenue?

So how does Twitter and CEO Dick Costolo move forward? The nice thing about having $400-million is it provides lots of financial latitude. The problem with having so much money is there’s a lot pressure to do something dramatic. Maybe even do something like create a business model!

The lowest hanging fruit for Twitter is clearly advertising given Twitter could crunch the vast amount of data it generates to deliver extremely targeted advertising. While Twitter has been slow off the mark to embrace advertising, my take is users will quickly accept it as part of the landscape even if Twitter decides to aggressively drive forward. There’s no reason why Twitter’s Promoted Tweets shouldn’t be as effective and lucrative as Google AdWords.

The thing is it is difficult to see how Twitter could spend $400-million to blow out its advertising business. So how does it spend all this money?

Acquisitions, Anyone?

Well, there are a bunch of acquisitions (e.g. TwitPic, UberMedia) could make but they could eat up $50-million to $75-million, unless Twitter decides to purchase an analytics company. Twitter could buy an advertising network to support the growth of Promoted Tweets. It could spend some more money on its infrastructure, which still isn’t rock-solid and will need to be expanded as more users are added. And there’s money to be spent internally on developing new features and applications.

Even so, it is hard to imagine how Twitter could spend $400-million but I’m sure there is some kind of plan, right? Then again, maybe there isn’t a plan other than taking $400-million when someone really wants to give it to you.

Right now, Twitter can pretty much do anything. The key will be moving forward decisively and aggressively to execute on the opportunity. While Twitter has received a huge boost of confidence from its investors, Twitter’s financial success is no slam-dunk given the challenges it has had creating a robust business model. So it important to remember having $400-million doesn’t fix your problems. It only puts the pressure on.

They say money can’t buy you happiness but Twitter is about to discover if it can buy success.

Thoughts About Work on Labour Day

By Mark Evans in Startups No Comments Tags: , ,

I spend a lot of time thinking about work – not just running my consulting business but how work gets done and the ways to make things more efficient and productive.

Inspired by Jay Baer’s post on six takeaways from 23 years of consulting, here are some thoughts from nearly three years of consulting:

1. The pedal is always to the metal: When you eat what you kill, the pursuit of business never stops. While working on projects, the hunt for next project is happening in parallel.

2. There is a constant battle between doing and selling. When I’m doing work, I’m anxious about not selling. And when I’m selling, I’m anxious about not doing work. It’s the reality of being a sole proprietor in which you’re the cook, waiter and chief bottle washer but a constant balancing act.

3. Listen to your gut: You can analyze an opportunity from a variety of different angles but at the end day, my gut usually leads me in the right direction.

4. Don’t take work that isn’t in your wheelhouse. As a consultant, there is a temptation to take on any and everything, even if it’s on the fringe of your skill-set. I learned the hard way that accepting work that isn’t your thing is a recipe for disappointment and failure. It’s the reason that I’m clear with potential clients about what I do (content, communications, social media) and what I don’t (SEO and PR)

5. There is power in referring business to other people who are better suited to do a job that comes your way. We work within an ecosystem/community so the more bonds you can build through referrals, providing advice and introductions and networking, the better. In the long-run, it will generate plenty of dividends.

6. In working with clients, it’s “we” instead of “you”. It’s a healthier relationship you talk about the project “we” are working on, the decisions “we” have to make, etc. because it means you’ve embedded yourself as opposed to simply being a gun for hire. If you really want clients to succeed, you need to be completely on their side.

7. Focus matters: With only so many hours of day – some of which have to be spent on sleeping, eating, family, exercise, etc. – focus is a huge issue and challenge. This is particularly relevant for anyone who is digitally engaged or who make a living in a Web-related way because being connected is part of the game. That said, it is important to focus on the task at hand, which means turning off or ignoring other things such as social media.

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