We as a industry are obsessed with death. And its a trap that clouds your thinking. Facebook did not kill MySpace, YouTube did not kill Hulu, Google did not kill eBay, Pownce did not kill Twitter, and I could go on and on and on.

Yes, like cars and soft drinks, web services compete with each other for customers/users. But there are almost a billion internet users globally these days. And you can build a very nice business serving millions or ideally tens of millions of users.

So I’d like to suggest that we stop focusing on who is going to kill whom and instead think about market share, business model, sustainability, and profitability which are the measures that people in most businesses tend to focus on.

The Death Trap : A VC

Velmi zajímavý zp?sob jak prodávat design:

The Deal

Each limited edition numbered shirt is screened onto the size and cut specified by the buyer. The number in the series is printed on the back, just below the neck. This number determines the price of the shirt. Shirt #1 goes for $1, #35 is $35, the example above would be $100, and so on. Once we’ve printed the full run of a design, the prepped screen is destroyed; it will never be reproduced. Our shirts are printed onto the finest pre-shrunk, 30 single, 100% cotton blanks available. They’re super soft, won’t fall apart in the wash (I’m looking at you, Cafe Press) and they have a “tagless” printed tag for comfort.

200 Nipples | Killer Limited Edition Tees from $1 – $100.

Barking as a customer acquisition strategy is a relative affair, whether spamming bloggers with press releases, peppering a neighborhood with door hangers , dressing up a mascot to stand on a street corner, or pimping a new website on Twitter. Real marketing is designing elements into a business that will get the attention of customers so you don’t have to yell.

Are you a barker or an attractor?: Church of the Customer Blog

If it’s important enough for you to send to me, it may be important enough for me to write back.

I know it’s horribly expensive and inconvenient to work your way through the replies, but aren’t the replies exactly what you need to see? What an opportunity.

Here’s what you do:

1. Send the email to your permission list, an announcement that’s anticipated, personal and relevant.

2. Set up a “reply to” that’s a different address.

3. In the email, at the bottom, give people a web address where they can go to give feedback, or give them an email they can write to that will be read by a real person.

4. If they hit reply, the replyto will automatically send the note to the right person.

Seth’s Blog: If you don’t want to get email

The most common misconception about Long Tail thinking is that if you don’t succeed at pocket 1, don’t worry, because the tail will take care of your product and you’ll just end up in #2. That’s not true. #2 isn’t a consolation prize for mass market losers. Mass market losers are still losers. In order to become a mass market star you make choices about features and pricing and quality–and if you lose that game, there’s no reason to believe that those choices are going to pay off for a different market.

Seth’s Blog: The Long Tail and the Dip

photo credit: mathoov

Startup school is an annual free conference for hackers interested in startups. This year notable speakers included Mike Arrington, Marc Andreessen, Jeff Bezos and Paul Graham.

The official website is http://startupschool.org/

Videa z této velmi zajímavé konference m?žete najít zde:

http://omnisio.com/startupschool08

Je to klavitni material pro vsechny kteri premysli nad startupy (podnikani od piky ale s napadem )

photo credit: mathoov