acoustik

(hint: it’s a big deal)

According to McKinsey, the average company with 1,000+ employees today has 200 terabytes of stored data, more than the entire Walmart data warehouse in 1999. 

How McKinsey recommends large companies take advantage of Big Data:

1. Make data more transparent/visible
2. Collect more data
3. Segment your customers more accurately
4. Create better metrics to make better decisions
5. Create new data-driven products

(Of course, how startups should take advantage of big data is a different story, maybe for a later post…)

Full report

daslee:

“I hate it when people call themselves ‘entrepreneurs’ when what they’re really trying to do is launch a startup and then sell or go public, so they can cash in and move on. They’re unwilling to do the work it takes to build a real company, which is the hardest work in business.”

In case you haven’t seen it, check out this presentation by Dropbox CEO Drew Houston from earlier this year. There’s a lot in there, but in particular it’s filled with these gold nuggets of valuable product advice, advice that totally fits with everything I’ve learned after 3 years of Sensobi/GroupMe. This is the things-I-wish-I-knew-back-then kind of stuff.

Here are some of them, for posterity:

1. Everything should “just work”. Don’t make users think
2. Usability, speed, reliability requires relentless, continuous improvement
3. Don’t launch anything half-assed. Launch when done. “Does less” is okay; flaky/ugly/confusing is not
4. Build the right thing & build things right. But if you have to choose one, build the right thing
5. Figuring out what your customers want is your job, not theirs (aka the classic Ford/Jobs quote)

Some of these might sound obvious, but when you’re in the middle of an intense product release, trying to decide what to prioritize and when to release, you need a strong product compass. I know I’ll be referring to this list.

p.s. I’ve been following Drew ever since I rushed him for our fraternity at MIT (he pledged). He is one of the smartest, most down-to-earth, accomplished yet humble people I have ever met. A great person overall. Super happy for him.

I’m starting to notice that mobile/social apps are headed in a new and very exciting direction.

(As an aside, can’t we find a catchier term to describe “mobile/social”? Like “mosho”? Or since everything is mobile these days is it just “social”? Internets lend me your catchphrases.)

First, we had communication (and not much else): voice, sms, email. These were the dark (ie pre-iPhone) ages.

Then we had self-expression: Twitter, Facebook (mobile), and more recently, Instagram (Happy 1st Birthday!).

More recently we’ve moved to new methods of communication: GroupMe (Disclaimer: I work there), Facebook Messenger, and others. Essentially these services enable the same forms of communication as before (voice, text), but over new channels (group SMS, in-app chat, etc). 

But now the mobile/social world is moving one step further: new forms of communication. Communication that’s not based on voice or text.

For example, take a look at a new photo-sharing iPhone app called Piictu. 

Piictu lets you communicate with the rest of the world through pictures. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should. 

Here’s how it works: 

You find a thread on Piictu (e.g., Restaurant Menus), and then reply with a picture of your own (i.e., a piic). Or if you prefer, you can start a thread of your own, and let others respond.

And then something magical happens. Random people from all over the world respond with piics of their own, communicating with you in a way that’s very personal yet somewhat anonymous. Thanks to Piictu, for this brief moment in time you all have something in common.

There are some beautiful and fascinating threads on Piictu. For example, Happy fall to all!!, Razorbomb!, even song writing.

If you think about this, communicating via pictures makes sense. A picture is worth a 1000 words, etc.

Also conversing with pictures isn’t new. 4chan launched several years ago as an image board and is now one of the most popular sites in the world (#892 on Alexa at this moment). But smartphones, i.e., having a camera-in-your-back-pocket-that-is-connected-to-the-Internet, makes having photo conversations easier and more accessible. 

Here’s what I wonder: what’s the next form of communication after pictures? Videos probably, maybe even something with location, e.g., some of the art “drawn” by the vibrant RunKeeper community. Or something else altogether.

But what I really like about this trend is that it highlights the essence of mobile/social:

First, that human beings are social creatures, we love interacting with each other, and will keep finding new ways to communicate with every new tool that emerges.

Second, that mobile phones are fundamentally communication devices. The address book, voice, sms, email, even GroupMe are just the beginning. There are many more ways to communicate that we have yet to imagine but that will soon emerge.

I’m excited to see what’s next.

UPDATE: Got the following response to this post from my buddy Ish Harshwat that was so good I had to repost. (P.S. Tumblr Y U NO ALLOW COMMENTS?)

I use groupme everyday so I definitely relate to your post. I tend to agree the killer apps for mobile are always going to be communication related. Even the most powerful apps that don’t have communication yet should add it (i.e. travel apps).

Piictu is a great example I would even go once step further and talk about why instagram is a unique form of communication versus just facebook. People ask a lot “is instagram going to be able to compete w/ facebook”. Perhaps if they stick to photos-first approach they will carve out their unique communication channel whereas facebook is more generic. 

One point you touched on but I think you can be more direct with : Picture-only dialog is a very unique form of communication that is only possible when everyone in the world has a camera on the phone that is easy to use. It creates the symmetry in communication required (i.e. telephones/texting would not work if only one person had a phone capable of that). 

That above point was buried in your post but I would love to see it more clearly stated.

Might want to talk about check-ins as a form of communication (may or not take off but they have demonstrated another way to communicate). 

Videos to me is a tough one. I think video is really good for synchronous communication but is hard to do asynchronous. The new blue app from color is trying to do synchronous so it will be interesting to see what happens there. 

The reason I think asynch video is tough is it is really hard to create a good video that communicates well (without good editing). There are some startups that are almost doing to video what instagram did to photos with filters. That is they auto-edit a longer video to create something worth consuming. That could be an interesting approach since it allows amateur videographers make decent stuff.

Steve,

From the Apple II to the iPad, you introduced us to ways of experiencing technology that our limited minds could not have imagined. 

I remember using the Apple IIe as a boy, today I type this on my iPad with my iPhone nearby. Thanks in large part to you and your creations, what started as a hobby is now a major part of my life: building tech products and companies that one day may create a sliver of the impact you’ve had. Your passing today is a reminder to all of us to stay true to our passions. 

As they say, when one door closes, another opens. Here’s to the future of technology and to those who will follow in your footsteps and shape it. 

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

RIP. 

Sent from my iPad

GroupMe, the company that bought my (and Andy’s) startup Sensobi just a few months ago, is now part of Skype. 2 exits in the same year. I’ve been very lucky.

But as they say, better to be lucky than good. I’ll take it.

Working at GroupMe has been an incredible experience. I’ve been fortunate to work with some super smart, driven, fun people as we built this business.

Over this Hurricane long weekend (curse you Irene!) I’ve had plenty of time to think about what I’ve learned at GroupMe so far. There’s way too much to list in a short blog post, but here are some of the highlights:

1. Pick the right platform. One of the best decisions GroupMe ever made was to build the product on top of normal text messaging from day one. The team could have easily made a mobile app with a slick UI, but not everyone has a smartphone. SMS, on the other hand, works on every phone. It’s an interface that everyone from my tech friends to my grandmother understands. When I create a group using GroupMe, I know for sure that everyone will be able to participate. When it comes to building the right product, we often think about features and UI. But picking the right platform is just as important. Building GroupMe on top of SMS made it a better product.
2. Identify the right initial community. Although SMS allowed GroupMe to reach a wide market, the team was smart to focus (in the beginning) on a community that needed GroupMe: live music festivals. And as members of this community they could identify the problem, feel the pain. Even with the BHAG of “solving group communications”, the company needed to start somewhere, and live music festivals provided enough of a tight knit community for the initial virality and network effects of the product to kick in. 
3. Go as fast as you can, and then go faster. When I first met Jared and Steve, my initial impression was, “These guys are sharp.” And then: “Damn, do they move quickly.” Faced with a decision they act without hesitating, immediately moving to the next task at hand. Just one week after our first meeting, I was in their office helping them out - and it would have been much sooner if I wasn’t for my own schedule. This speed and decisiveness is a big reason why they were able to build so much so quickly and become the market leader in a space that was quickly getting crowded.
4. Aggressively recruit the best talent. Almost every hiring story at GroupMe involves some kind of fortuitous introduction/referral, followed by Jared and Steve recruiting that person as hard as they could, making it one of their top priorities. And its paid off - this group is one of the best teams I’ve ever worked with. Also I’ve noticed that as the team gets better, recruiting gets much easier. Smart people attract more smart people.
5. Have FUN.  I doubt that any of our competitors have as much as fun we do. I’ve worked at several startups before GroupMe, and none of them have been as crazy. Our office is part tech startup, part zoo. But thanks to all the ridiculous mayhem, our hours don’t feel as long, our product is built with a little more love, and we create an environment where people want to show up every morning. 

It’s been a fun ride so far, but there is still a long road ahead of us. There are billions of consumers out there who need help managing their real life social network.

What started as a simple dream at Sensobi (“Turn your contacts into relationships”) is now a much larger mission at GroupMe, on the vast shoulders at Skype.

Don’t change the channel, we’re not going anywhere, there is a lot more to come…

I spent a good part of the first week of 2011 in Vegas for my first CES. In between meetings, I managed to spend some time on the Exhibition Floor.

Wow it was not what I expected.

First of all, CES is massive. A rumored 125,000 people attended this year’s show. It’s become the largest convention in Vegas. The exhibition floor feels like Times Square in December x 10. (Pro tip: Leave your laptop bag at home.)

Second, CES is a sea of “me-too” products. Walking around the floor, I expected to see new, breakthrough consumer devices that are going to change our lives. Instead, I saw a lot of patterns: 3D TVs, Android tablets, iPhone/ iPad/ tablet cases, sleeves, covers, and more. Some companies try hard to stand out with booth girls, flashy displays and more, but even then there’s already a lot of that. 

Overall I found CES downright humbling: thousands of companies producing good products that most people have never heard of. But one thing was clear: to wow the customer, you need to launch a revolutionary product that clearly stands out in the crowd. 

Here are a few that rose above the noise:

Orbotix: Makers of a robotic ball (Sphero) that you control with your smartphone. Now I am a biased here (Orbotix is a fellow TechStars company). But just by walking up to the booth, you could see that they had something totally fresh and different. And playing with the device brought out the kid in me. Although their addressable market is unclear (at least to this guy), I believe they’ve clearly got something on their hands. I can’t wait to see what other folks develop once Orbotix opens up their APIs.

Motorola Atrix: While the Motorola Xoom was the most hyped tablet at this year’s CES, I was more impressed by the Atrix. A 4G, dual-core Android phone with HDMI out AND a set of accessories (like the Laptop dock, above) that allow you to seamlessly incorporate the device in other parts of your life. Connect the Atrix to the Laptop dock, and BAM, you have your own netbook. Imagine offices, Internet Cafes, desks everywhere populated with these docks, where you plug in your phone and have your own customized work station. Plus, from a business perspective, Motorola is clearly taking a cue from Apple and building a universe of custom accessories and peripherals to lock in their users. That’s smart.

Eton / American Red Cross: Products with a well designed combo of form and function: hand crank/ solar powered flashlights, radios, cell phone chargers, and more. Great for a camping trip or to keep in the back of your car. I was impressed by their booth as well: very large, open, and soothing - in other words, a nice oasis in the middle of the CES chaos.