transit: an admirer of finely crafted anything

Just an idea.

2007-10-25T00:40:00.000+08:00

Well I haven't been posting anything new since December - I've been busy with the day job, settling down and now, I've picked up a DSLR.

Well, there's a first time for everyone. I'm having fun learning the camera - I used to handle to the D50 at the old office so, it's not my first time fiddling although I'm considering this as a business opp.

Awesomely inspiring retail story: Starbucks

2007-04-16T13:33:00.000+08:00

Read it while having your cup of coffee.

Gist of what the brand is today:

1998 Howard Schultz had ample reason to be proud of what Starbucks had accomplished during his past 11 years as the company's CEO. The company had enjoyed phenomenal growth and become one of the great retailing stories of recent history by making exceptional coffee drinks and selling dark-roasted coffee beans and coffee-making equipment that would allow customers to brew an exceptional cup of coffee at home.

The Starbucks brand was regarded as one of the best known and most potent brand names in America and the company had firmly established itself as the dominant retailer, roaster, and brand of specialty coffee in North America. It already had over 1,500 stores in North America and the Pacific Rim and was opening new ones at a rate of more than one per day.

Sales in fiscal year 1997 were a record $967 million and profits reached an all-time high of $57.4 million. The company's closest competitor had fewer than 300 retail locations. And since going public in 1992, Starbucks has seen its stock price increase nearly ninefold.

Nice Mac shortcut #2: Load at login

2007-03-30T21:15:00.000+08:00

Simply right-click on an app on the dock or - just see the screenshot.

Let's see - on Windows you right-click on an app, go to properties - you see 3 tabs - and about 6 buttons including 2 so-called advanced features. But you won't find anything remotely near the vicinity of a right-click on an app and tell it to load at login.

Nice Mac shortcut #1: Screencap

2007-03-30T20:55:00.000+08:00

Anyway, this is what I did during a lunch hour earlier this week. All images are Apple's and tips were compiled by Scott Kelby. Enjoy.

On Windows, you press the Print Screen button on your keyboard. Then open a photo manager such as AcDSee or MSPaint and you paste the image. As far as I know, if you need to highlight or target a portion of the screen, you have to edit it yourself.

On a Mac, use the shortcut, select the portion that you want and it's pasted on your desktop. I wonder if a smart folder automatically import the screencaps on a Mac.

Someone named Paul hates the Mac

2007-03-30T20:27:00.000+08:00

This site is very intriguing and has become more intriguing for me, at least after reading reports on faulty batteries, whining sounds, flaky paint on casing etc etc. Yes, the Macbook or Macs in general aren't physically perfect.

And, coming from a long history of using Windows (3.11, 95, 98 - upgraded to 98SE, Win2K and now XP Pro), I'd say that the transition is not entirely difficult. But it's not easy either as there's that learning curve (but isn't this compulsory to learn anything new?) - there's the smaller amount of software variety to choose from - then again, who needs a kajillion amount of software that does the same thing, such as burning a DVD? Nonetheless, a Mac is fun to use and easy (there goes that word again) on the eyes. When Apple uses this point as a selling point, it's true - I'm using a 20" Intel iMac 2.0Ghz for the last 4 months and it's only crashed once. Once in 4 months. Compared to my experience on Windows, that's pretty good stat to have.

Anyway, here's that guy who hates Macs. But he did this video on a Mac. Smell the irony.

Check out his site here and his 15 seconds of video fame here. No pictures for him.

Edit: Paul and Hunter isn't the same person. Post is about two different guys.

Free Download Tuesdays, Everyday?

2007-03-20T15:00:00.000+08:00

In an interesting turn of event, somebody said that downloading anything illegal is not illegal. Point MS or Apple browser here.

Hook 'em while they're young: How to grow a super-athlete

2007-03-17T02:36:00.000+08:00

Got kids? Then your compulsory reading material is here.

Must read list of proverbs for the entrepreneur in you

2007-03-17T01:19:00.000+08:00

Essential reading for me. This is great stuff. From the O'Reilly Radar.

The original link.

Entrepreneurial Proverb.

I gave a talk at ETech on Monday called "Entrepreneuring for Geeks." I've given this general talk a few times now -- how can the more technically minded among us move into making companies of our own? I really enjoy the talks because I really enjoy entrepreneurs; at least, I enjoy the ones who are really excited about making something fantastic through their efforts. "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?" Right.

I started out this year's talk with a set of "proverbs" I've collected or thought up over the years. I liked the format of a Go book I recently read, called (not surprisingly!) "Proverbs," and decided to adopt it for the talk. These are basically little nuggets of wisdom for bite-sized nutrition. Enjoy.

Starting

It's good to be king -- being an entrepreneur is the best job I've had. Every day your job is new and different; you constantly have to push yourself in new directions. You no longer have to say, "Well, I'm just an engineer, but..." -- you have a great excuse to take an interest in everything. Working in an environment you shaped to your own beliefs about how a company should be run is incredible (and humbling!). And of course there are sometimes financial rewards, although it's still a great job regardless.
Losing sucks -- shutting down a company is unbelievably difficult. It affects your home life, your health, your job prospects, your financial stability. Professional investors are grown-ups, but it's still extremely disheartening to lose the money people invested based on belief in you. If your backers include friends or family, it's extremely difficult to have to tell them the company is closing and their money is gone. Most entrepreneurs fail several times before succeeding, too, so losing is both terrible and nearly inevitable. Fight as hard as you can against it.
Building to flip is building to flop -- this is taken from Jason Fried, and he's right. People who start out with only one goal, to sell to a big portal, will find their options are too limited. Plan as many paths to success as possible for your company, and always have a Plan B when acquisition (or whatever path you choose first) doesn't work.
Prudence becomes procrastination -- it's great to research your market and talk to potential buyers about your ideas. It's terrible to let an excess of this become a impediment to getting started. Too much prudence edges away from research and into procrastination.
Momentum builds on itself -- just start. Do whatever you can. Draw a user interface. Write a spec. Make something, anything, that people can see and touch and try. A prototype is worth ten thousand words. Once you start moving, you will find that people start to carry you along.
Jump when you are more excited than afraid -- lack of fear is irrational, and too much fear is debilitating. Make the jump into your business when you have considered the fear, and come out more excited than afraid.

The Idea

Pay attention to the idea that won't leave you alone -- this is taken from Paul Hawken's Growing a Business. Sometimes an idea catches hold of you and you find you can't put it down. Pay attention to that! Just start working on it. Can't get yourself to do anything on it? Move on. Find yourself waking up out of bed to write down new ideas about it? That's a good one to choose.
If you keep your secrets from the market, the market will keep its secrets from you -- entrepreneurs too often worry about keeping their brilliant secrets locked away; we should all worry much more about springing a surprise on a disinterested market (anyone remember the Segway?). To quote Howard Aiken: "Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats."
Immediate yes is immediate no -- does everyone immediately tell you your idea is great? Run away from it. If the idea is that obvious, the market will be filled with competitors, and you'll find yourself scrambling. One good test: when the New York Times Magazine puts out its annual "Year in Ideas" issue, is your idea in it? Then don't do it. You're already too late.
Build what you know -- this is the most basic advice of idea generation: scratch an itch you have yourself. To make a great company, stop and ensure that your need is broadly felt, and that your solution is broadly applicable -- not everyone spends their life in front of a computer, remember.
Give people what they need, not what they say they need -- interviews are tricky. People will swear up and down that they would buy a product you describe if only it were available, and then fail to do so as soon as it is. Likewise, in conversation an idea can sound terrible, but in actualization the idea can become a compelling product. You have to sherlock out the truth of the interest people express, and "yes/no" questions are usually less useful than "how much" or "how bad" questions.
Your ideas will get better the more you know about business -- engineers hate to hear this, but you can generalize up quite far from here: the more you know about everything, the better all of your ideas will get! If you want to start a business and your strength is in development, learning about pricing, sales, marketing, finance, and yes, even HR, all of it will make your product ideas stronger and better.

People

Three is fine; two, divine -- having too many co-founders makes decisions hard to reach; if you're on your own, you have to bear all of the stress and worry about the success of the company. In my judgment, three people can do well together, but having two founders is best.
Work only with people you like and believe in -- I once heard Eric Schmidt say something along the lines of, "The older I get, the more I think all that matters is working with people you like." If you're smart and talented, you're probably going to like a lot of smart and talented people. Working with people you like is so much more fun, and often more productive, than fighting against someone who may be smart and talented but just isn't a great fit for you.
Work with people who like and believe in you, just naturally -- maybe you are very persuasive, and can talk people into working with you against their better instincts. Especially for co-founders and early employees, don't try that hard. Find the people that naturally want to work with you, and nudge them into the roles where you need them. You'll have more fun and get more done.
Great things are made by people who share a passion, not by those who have been talked into one -- a corollary of the last; you can spark a passion in someone, but you can't do it without some fuel to catch. Better to wait, and find the person who is already inclined to believe in your cause. You may talk someone into co-founding a company with you, but will they stick with it through ups and downs if they had to be persuaded that hard?

Product

Cool ideas are useless without great needs -- this is the classic engineers' entrepreneurial mistake (or at least I'd like to think so, since I've made it). Techies love tech, and a new technology can produce a lot of companies that don't really meet a need. Better to start with the need, and then see how what you know can produce a better answer to that need. (Marketers tend to have the opposite problem: real, pressing needs with completely unworkable solutions.)
Build the simplest thing possible -- engineers have the hardest time with this, with not overdesigning for the need they're addressing. Make the simplest possible product that makes a significant dent in that need, and you'll do far better than you would addressing two or three needs at once. Simplicity leads to clarity in everything you do.
Solve problems, not potential problems -- you can waste a lot of money implementing solutions for problems you don't have yet, and may never have. Work on the biggest, most pressing problems today, and put aside everything else.
Test everything with real people -- it's unbelievable how helpful this is. Go find civilians, real people who use computers because they have to and not because they love to. Find them in Starbucks, or at the library, or in a college computer lab. Give them $20 for 20 minutes, and you'll be paid back a hundred times over.

Money

Start with nothing, and have nothing for as long as possible -- small budgets give big focus (probably another line I'm stealing from Jason Fried: it sounds like something he'd say...) Don't go out and raise a ton of money right away. Instead, give yourself just enough to get going, and use the limits that imposes to motivate yourself.
The best investor pitches are plainspoken and entertaining (not in that order) -- think about what this implies. A plainspoken pitch is the surface of a very solid business. If you have to fudge and lie to get investors interested, why is that? If you're running a great business, it is not hard at all to lure investors into it; the worse your business, the bigger (and more odious) your fundraising task is. Entertaining implies a fun person to work with, and VCs like working with people they like as much as the rest of us do. If you don't bring the funny, bring the person who brings the funny.
Never let on that you're keeping a secret -- telling an investor "I don't want to talk about that" is terrible. It's the natural converse of being plainspoken. It's good to be aware, though, that some potential investors will listen to you and then share your information with your direct comptitors, and not always because they're invested in those comptetitors. Knowing that, you have to keep some secrets -- but be as diplomatic about that as possible. Respond to the idea behind the question, without giving away more than you feel comfortable discussing. Learn to steer the conversation in the way you want it to go. And then give up more information as you become more comfortable with the potential investor.
No means maybe and yes means maybe -- you should never take a "no" from someone you want to work with. Accept the no, ask for feedback, and then just keep sending them updates on how much butt you're kicking in the market. During one company, three of the five term sheets I collected came from VC firms that told me "no" originally. Conversely, though, the only money in the bank is actual money actually in the bank. Everything else is just a possibility, and you have to treat it as such. Don't stop fundraising until you have a firm commitment for the funding you need, and don't accept halfway promises like, "We'll fund you if another firm comes in." Keep on driving until the wire transfer is complete.
For investors, the product is nothing -- the classic engineer's VC pitch has ten slides about the product and two about the academic achievements of the founders. That's a terrible pitch. One slide should be about the product, while the rest cover the market, competitors, financials, funding history, and the relevant experience of the team. The product matters far less to most investors than the reactions of customers, the properties of the market, and the credibility of the team. Obsess about the product on your own time; present your business in all of its parts.
The best way to get investment is not to need it* -- if you have a running business with real customers and you're paying all your bills, you are much more likely to get a funding round than if you need the round in order to survive or succeed. The pitch that goes, "We could accelerate our growth with more money" is much more compelling than, "I need your money or our doors will close."

I'm sure other people have their own rules of thumb; what are yours?

*Update: Added this one after a prompt from James in the comments.

Update 2: There are tons of great comments below, but I particularly like the one from Jason Monberg. Don't miss it. I think his suggestions are right on.

Good news kids. They found a big cat in Borneo. Hurray!

2007-03-17T00:55:00.000+08:00

It's true. They found a new (well, that depends on where you are at time of discovery) member of the big cat family. Right there in Borneo. I told you before, but you didn't wanna believe me. Read about it here.

Macbook Jinx

2007-03-17T00:49:00.000+08:00

Some very unlucky guy had 6 DOA Macbooks.

Here's the summary of his story:

MacBook #1 (Black) - Ram Slot
MacBook #2 (White) - Ram Loose
MacBook #3 (White) - Left Speaker
MacBook #4 (White) - Gamma Values
MacBook #5 (Black) - HDD Died
MacBook #6 (Black) - Gamma Values

Here's the full story (it's a long one, but didn't you know that already?).

Still want to be a switcher? They've a few key questions that they want to ask you before you make with the big switch.

Okay. So, after you bought a few Macbook Pros and few iMacs, you wanna start a tech company and dabble in web design etc etc. Here's what you need to know to avoid (hopefully) a few mistakes done by most startups which is a reminder for me mostly.

Pro blogging. Now that's a concept.

2007-03-17T00:34:00.001+08:00

This man claims that he's helping bloggers make money. I am not sure. I know that Kenny Sia gets the moolah from those PR gigs he does with some company. Are there any bloggers out there that make serious numbers at the end of the month? I don't know any. At least not locally. Lemme know if you 'em.

"What's this about Web2.0 I keep seeing in the papers?"

2007-03-17T00:12:00.000+08:00

Well, here it is, grandpa as detailed at Wiki and at O'reilly (before somebody start accusing me of being on a tech high horse, that 'grandpa' is actually me). Enjoy reading. Need a reason to read? Here's a good one: It keeps the brain matter working. So you run less risk of getting Alzheimer in your old age.

Edit: Here's a directory of web2.0 sites.

Before you go, watch this youtube (no matter how 2.0 it is, using youtube as another name for video, it is quite dissimilar to google as the verb for search, isn't it?). I digress. Watch the vid instead.

Finally, a nod to a famous typeface

2007-03-17T00:04:00.000+08:00

This would interest you if you're a graphic designer. Or someone who has a healthy interest in graphic design. I say, have an interest in your surrounding. And, leave the Desperate Housewives DVD in back room. Okay, leave 'em right there. There you go.

This is a call...

2007-03-16T23:46:00.000+08:00

Amen.

Evidently, we have talented people here too.

2007-02-28T21:20:00.000+08:00

You want an iPhone right now? Here you go.

This is not an iPhone, not the actual thing. It's one of those smartphones with a stylus. Who wants a stylus? (The download is 1.2Gb, you've been warned.)

You want a Mac but you don't want to spend 4 big ones for laptop? He has that too.

But he's not the first. There were others before him. This guy is on to something. I wonder what Apple would do if they found out what he's done. If they do, let's hope he comes out unscathed.

Here's a few pix of OSX running on a humble Presario.

Awesome.

Ahhh... the joys of online video.

2007-02-28T16:34:00.000+08:00

Coke-Mentos Domino Effect experiment #214. Watch it.

iPhones teaser ad shown during the Oscars

2007-02-27T09:07:00.000+08:00

I have links like you can't believe.

Download the earliest iPhone teaser ad in HD.

Right before the Oscars

2007-02-26T15:53:00.000+08:00

Ooohh.. look what I found. I wonder what's on the site. Hmm... let's make with the click.

iPod Hack: Make friends and influence people with your iPod!

2007-02-26T15:31:00.000+08:00

Follow instructions that appear on screen. Failure to follow instructions results in friends looking unimpressed. Have a nice day.

The Hole - video powered by Metacafe

Out of my tree. Move along now, there's nothing to see.

2007-02-26T11:40:00.000+08:00

The latest spots by CPB for VW - via youtube.

That's it. Three of 'em. Found at adgoodness.

Better safe than sorry.

2007-02-24T00:45:00.000+08:00

I thought that a link would be enough. But then again, what if the site goes down? Where can I go to read the whole Russell Davies memo again? It's all here.

Better safe than sorry. I copied everything over to this post. With original accompanying pix. Read it. All credits should go to Russell Davies (see, I don't steal other people's intellectual properties).

1. Hire advertising people, you get advertising

As Dan will admit (claim?), when they started they found it very hard to hire conventional advertising talent. No-one would move to Portland. So they got people who'd failed elsewhere or kids straight out of school. These people didn't know how to make advertising. Or not in the way it was supposed to be made. They worked out for themselves how to communicate, seduce, persuade, engage, how to make a stunning piece of film or a compelling couple of pages but if often didn't look much like advertising. Even now, thousands of years later, when some of the habits have ossified and they really, clearly, do know how to make advertising there's an inclination to push it further, to not make advertising. I think this a lesson for everyone who wants to be the w+k of the future; hire just advertising people, you'll get just advertising.

2. The key to creative genius; work harder

I know it's boring but this became so incredibly clear to me. The most exciting, inspirational, talented thinkers and doers just work harder than everyone else. Often they also work more effectively, so it doesn't necessarily look like hard work, but basically they put in more hours, pay more attention and care more than the regular folk.

3. You can't divorce the medium from the message

W+K never gave up on its own media people. Media thinkers and media doers were always integral. And often the smartest people in the place. This led to innovative and informed thinking about not just what we'd say and how we'd say it, but also where we'd say it. So w+k didn't get stuck in that trap of shoveling creativity into a pre-bought schdule. We didn't fill 30 second boxes with stuff. You've got to have media people in the building, it makes life better.

4. Do good work, the money will follow

When I moved from Portland to London I was one of only two people in the London office who'd also worked in Portland. And I think the rest of London management couldn't quite believe Dan when he'd say this to them. They wanted to believe it, but they'd grown up in big London agencies where the bottom line is all. There's not a lot to say about this, it's just true.

5. Hold everyone to the same standard

I moved to Portland to work on Microsoft. It was clear in about 5 minutes that we were the pariah half of the agency. Everyone was either Nike or Microsoft. It was like high school. Jocks and geeks. They did fantastic work every 5 minutes, won all kinds of awards, got to meet celebrity athletes. We struggled to get any decent work through, won nothing, attended three day product briefings on Exchange Server.

And we all knew it would have been so easy to just roll over, give Microsoft exactly what they wanted (which was obvious and do-able) and rake in gobbets of cash. We could have funded a dozen pro-bono accounts which would have made us feel better and won us some awards and life would have been almost sweet. Except we weren't allowed. Peer and management pressure made it clear that everyone was held to the same standard, however hard our client and our task we were expected to do extraordinary and thrilling work. This seemed divisive and wrong at the time but looking back I realise it was genius. Because if you have multiple standards you have multiple agencies. If you treat some clients as creative opportunities and some as cash cows that's just what you'll get. And sooner or later the cash cows will leave the field. Everyone's seem what it's like to be the Account Director on the regional retail account that'll never do good work. It sucks. And it sucks even more when you have to sit and present your work to all the guys who work on the cool accounts. Kudos to Dan, he always expected us to make the work better. And, sometimes, before we got fired, we did some pretty decent work.

6. You can tell from the work if people enjoyed making it

This seems more true to me every time I walk in another agency. The places that are miserable make lack-lustre work (is it chicken or is it egg?). The places with energy make energetic, fulsome, toothsome work, bursting with ideas. If the process is depressing, the work will be flat, if the process has life, the work will connect.

7. Brands that influence culture sell more

This feeling was always in the air. People were trying to build popular culture not piggy-back on it, trying to create new culture, not just repeat old ones. About the worst thing you could say about an idea was that it had 'borrowed interest'. And it was palpably clear that this instinct led to more effective, more profitable brands. So I remember writing 'brands that influence culture sell more' in a creds deck and getting the highly prized Wieden nod of approval. That was a good moment. (Or at least I think I remember writing that, it seems to have turned up in other places too, so maybe I heard it somewhere first, perhaps through some sort of strange wormhole into the future.)

The MJ Mix Tape - pt 1

2007-02-23T17:39:00.000+08:00

If you hire advertising people, you get advertising.

2007-02-23T17:17:00.000+08:00

Wondering what in the world does that mean? It's well explained here.

"We started as a ship of fools" - Dan Wieden

2007-02-23T17:02:00.000+08:00

When we started, no one in their right mind wanted to come to this weird little city on the banks of the Willamette (Portland, Oregon), cut off from the cultural mainstream, hell, cut off from culture, period. A city with virtually no nightlife. No history. I mean, the first house here was a log cabin built in 1844. That wasn’t that long ago, guys. The only ad people you could get to even consider moving here were people who had been fired from every legitimate and illegitimate agency in the country. Or kids fresh out of school, who didn’t know any better.

We started as a ship of fools. And that, I firmly believe, is why we have succeeded. We were struggling to figure out what an advertising agency actually was. And our one and only client, Nike, was trying to get a grip on what a client was supposed to do with one. We were both incredibly stupid. That was the key. See, when you don’t know, you try desperately to find out.

But the minute you think you know, the minute you go – oh, yeah, we’ve been here before, no sense reinventing the wheel – you stop learning, stop questioning, and start believing in your own wisdom, you’re dead. You’re not stupid anymore, you are fucking dead.

Continue here.

I'm not afraid to be unpopular - here's why.

2007-02-21T00:19:00.000+08:00

My friends and some former colleagues know that - some appreciate it, some didn't. Most likely, it's because the words that I choose to use. Those who appreciate know that it's coming from the desire to see something better, improved. Those who didn't probably see it as ignorance; as "don't question things, it's not your place" or the popular "put yourself in that pair of shoes and try to do it on your own".

That's the thing. If I do it on my own, I'd probably achieve the same results because I'd be in the same place. Things are different when solutions come from those aren't knee deep in it. It's clear to those who are watching, the observers.

If and when I write, it's because I'm on the outside. There are others out there who see things better. Accept it and move on. Listen for the solution.

Okay. Now that the message is clear, let's talk about what's wrong about this country. But before somebody screams, "political blogger, arrest him!" - don't. Listen first to what bloggers have to say - at least some of us - before you authorities act.

I have nothing against fast food. I have it once or twice a month when I'm too tired to busy to go grab a proper meal in the afternoon. No big deal. But here's what eating me up. A recent report at thestar.com tells the story of a certain Minister calling for the banning of fast food ads. Why now? Can you say "election"?

Do some other campaign. How about lobbying about helping the people in Johor who were affected by the massive flood recently or criticizing Astro for not showing enough PSA (Public Service Ads/Announcements) highlighting their cause? Talk about that. It's good for your image and it (let's hope) helps the victims. Win-win situation.

Don't thank me for the idea. It's free of charge. If you want to talk about social responsibility, go help those people. Banning fast food ads isn't going to stop people from enjoying their happy meals or help businesses grow.

Sure you get support from consumer associations and health groups. They want their 15 minutes of fame. Everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame. This is what happens when you talk before you think clearly of the consequences: You're advocating the idea that fast food advertising shouldn't be promoted.

What's going to happen to the people in advertising agencies? McDonald's would pull their account and a bunch of creatives get a pink slip each. What's going to happen to their families while they're out of a job? Bills pile up. Husband and wife gets into unnecessary arguments. Some file for divorce. Then they battle custody rights in court.

Question is: How does that help the country? What if those creatives get their chance to do a great campaign for their client? And in the process, win some international awards? This country gets on the world map for having a few creative hot spot. Creatives happy, agency happy, client happy - businesses grow. When businesses grow, country happy. When the country is happy, Ministers pocket more money from businesses. Ooh don't be shy, it's an open secret that some of you are easily bribed. Here's half a million. Build a white house (sic) in Klang.

What you do with your money or how you get your half a million, is your business. But when you say things that are not considered as intelligent or useful in public, remember, there are repercussions. And these repercussions affect the general public.

p/s

Want me to write your speeches and statements? For RM3000 per day - after taxes, I'll write post-winning speeches and/ statements. Positive results guaranteed. But, I don't work weekends or after 6 p.m and I don't entertain last minute requests or changes. What you see is what you get.

Here's another issue.

Malaysian ISP - clean up your act.

What I want to say has been said by A. Asohan. Read all about it here.