Month: April 2010

I think the challenge of product development for the next generation Internet companies is managing the agile process across multiple platforms. Small companies are going to struggle here. Hence the emergence of app only company who are, in my opinion, not taking full advantage of what a great website would do to at least market their products if not extend them. The digital revolution will require more and more designers, user experience professionals, analytics people, and, most of all, product managers. Startups will be challenged to focus while simultaneously making progress across a range of platforms.

Congress is attacking the evil on Wall Street while completely ignoring the nightmare on Elm Street.

In short, the central thing about job creation from young companies is its inevitability. It is a species of mathematical certainty (one driven by initial simplicity and a wall) that young companies must create the most jobs (even without assuming particular skill on their part, or taking into account sectoral or economic growth, both crazily conservative assumptions). That the drunkard’s walk applies to the economics of young firms is an mind-altering realization (in a good way), one that helps put the messy data of company and job creation in a more plain and meaningful context.

It may sound like chaos, but it’s only the lesson drawn from one of the insights of traffic psychology: Drivers will force the accelerator down ruthlessly only in situations where everything has been fully regulated. Where the situation is unclear, they’re forced to drive more carefully and cautiously.

Sweat and bicycling do not necessarily go hand-in-hand! Perhaps potential street-clothes-commuters need to take a lesson out of racing’s playbook and start using heart rate monitors, not to set a high target for fitness, but a low ceiling to stay cool and sweat-free.