Business Lessons from sucessful entrepreneurs and business leaders: LunchLearning.com

Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes

Video Time: 34 minutes 54 seconds

Effectively communicating something, anything, requires authenticity. A message without authenticity may be received, but it may not be a good message that gets across. A poorly crafted message can often backfire, bringing a sense of resentment or that the company has some dishonesty it wishes to hide. Matthew Haughey (@mathowie on Twitter), the founder of MetaFilter, one of TIME magazine’s 50 Best Websites, presents on the ability to communicate with customers in an authentic fashion.

The bandwagon of online communication is something that a plethora of companies have jumped on. However, not all companies have managed this well. A stellar example of this failure is the infamous “All I want for Christmas is a PSP” viral campaign that was immediately regarded as an insulting, stereotyping campaign that thoroughly alienated its market and was counter-productive. On the other hand, the Will it Blend? campaign, a clear marketing ploy, enjoys considerable success.

Authenticity, as Haughey puts it, is something that is remarkably simple, yet so often left by the wayside. It consists of the traditional values that people live by, such as honesty and ethical behavior. However, many of these elements seem to be forgotten or blown to the wayside in favor of strategies that offer a quick gain in return for long-term sustainability. The simple element of remembering that you are still working with other people and that the change of medium, from magazines, radio or television to Internet makes no difference to the fundamentals will resolve many of the conflicts that may arise.

Whether the platform consists of blogs, Facebook fan pages, newsletters or an attempt at a viral campaign, all companies want the same things: increased visibility, demonstrated benefits and, ultimately, increased sales. The secret is in engaging them in a fashion that is genuine. The short cuts, or get-rich-quick schemes may offer a good start, but that’s it. There is no longevity or any secret formula to achieving success. In the end, communicating online is the same as communicating anywhere else.

Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes

Video Time: 21 minutes 50 seconds

Many people view innovation as a cumulative process, more evolutionary than anything. Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia Law School and known for coining the term “net neutrality”, speaks at The Institute of International and European Affairs and explores a radically different perspective. Rather than viewing innovation and develop as the process where things continually grow and change gradually over time, Wu proposes that innovation occurs on a cyclical system that is dependent upon revolutionary developments.

The vast majority of innovation consists of incremental improvements on a given platform. However, these changes are minor and are merely refinements or additions upon the existing structure. As a platform matures, innovation slows down as the market is saturated and the low hanging fruit has all been claimed. A revolution reveals entirely new avenues of potential and, as a result, spurs innovation and new developments rapidly. This cycle is present everywhere, ranging from product development and personal growth to infrastructure and business.

It is absolutely vital to manage both the evolution within each cycle as well as the revolutions. Ignoring one results in stagnancy. While development isn’t absolutely necessary, it does limit the viable lifespan of anything that is restricted. The cycle of each revolution has its ups and downs as well, something that Wu is careful to note. Just as the Internet is currently growing, it is absolute folly to think that the Internet, as its perceived today, is the final, penultimate standard. It, like television and radio, CDs and cassettes, will undergo an eventual decline.

As you watch this video, consider the influence of cycles in your life, both personal and professional, and how things are transformed as a result. They are not inherently good or bad, but merely different and a prepared individual can anticipate and prepare for the changes they bring.

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Reading time: 3 - 5 minutes

Total Video Time: 22 minutes 25 seconds

Games tend to exist in a single state. Board games exist in reference to the board, sports take place on a given field or arena and video games exist in an enclosed virtual domain. With the advances in technology however, there have been developments in creating games, if they can still be rightly termed, that break through these boundaries. Alternate, or Augmented Reality Games (ARGs) utilize a number of platforms to develop immersiveness and to blend the boundaries of reality and fiction.

ARGs exist for a wide variety of purposes. They have been used to advertise, generate buzz, be a stand-alone game or even educate and push an agenda. However, what defines them is the blending of the real world and artificial world with no clear distinction. To achieve this, “hacked” websites, buried treasure, things washed up on the surf, to shadowy individuals and user contributions are utilized.

While a respectable number of ARGs have been developed, there are four particular landmarks: The Beast, produced in conjunction with the Stephen Spielberg movie A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Perplex City, I Love Bees, developed to market the video game Halo 2, and World Without Oil. The Beast was the first major successful ARG, attracting three million individuals around the world to participate through emails, websites, faxes and phone calls. I Love Bees followed a similar, but far more complex path, inviting its participants to solve puzzles as well as further develop the narrative of a digital intelligence stranded on Earth. World Without Oil is regarded as the first serious ARG, utilizing user submissions to describe a, well, world with rapidly diminishing oil supplies to liven its narrative.

This video series follows the observations of Naomi Alderman, the lead writer for Perplex City, one of the first major ARGs designed to operate independently without external funding. While it was only moderately successful in achieving its goals, much of its structure is now part of the standard for ARGs. In a world where company interaction becomes an increasingly important element in marketing, ARGs are a step far beyond that of Facebook groups and Twitter feeds.

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Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes

Total Video Time: 36 minutes 15 seconds

You’ve heard from business experts the past few days. Why not spend some time picking the brains of the people who created the major social networking sites? How did they come up with these ideas, and where do they see them progressing in the future? You have to wonder if they knew their creations would get the insanely popular response.

Mark Zuckerberg (@finkd on Twitter) is the CEO and creator of Facebook. He is a perfect example of a young entrepreneur with a creative idea who has gotten so far professionally at such a young age. Facebook went from being a fun social networking site to a way of life. Very few young people these days do not have a Facebook, and the way they connect now is by “friend requesting” new people they meet. As seen in Tuesday’s video from Clara Shih, Facebook has become a social phenomenon that impacts cultural norms. Did Zuckerberg have any idea where this would go? And more importantly, can you get any ideas about how to get your business to succeed? Watch and learn.

In this video, Mark talks about where Facebook has been, how it has evolved, and its plans for the future.

Some of the things you’ll learn in this video:

1. Changes in Facebook from 2007 to 2008
2. Plans for international expansion
3. How Facebook plans to move into sales
4. Can Facebook be a bad thing, to the point of being banned?

From Mark’s bio:

“Mark Zuckerberg is the CEO of Facebook, which he founded in 2004. Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, families and coworkers. Mark is responsible for setting the overall direction and product strategy for the company. He leads the design of Facebook’s service and development of its core technology and infrastructure. Mark attended Harvard University and studied computer science before moving the company to Palo Alto, California.”

(from facebook.com)

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Reading time: 4 - 6 minutes

Total Video Time: 53 minutes 36 seconds

The last few days, we’ve been looking at technological changes that can change the playing field that are just arriving or are on the distant horizon. Today, we’re stepping in a different direction and looking at something a little less physical and more conceptual: the transformation from push-based mass production to pull-based mass customization. Or, simply put, selling customers exactly what they want, not just whatever’s available.

Robert Brunner (@rdbrunner on Twitter), the former Director of Industrial Design at Apple and founder of ammunition, best known for designing the PowerBook, hiring his successor, Jonathan Ive, and winning 23 awards from the Industrial Designers Society of America speaks on the importance of the brand and how, more than ever, it’s defining your company. In this lecture piece, Brunner strives to drive home the impact of the brand. However, it’s a subtle, complex element. The brand is not a product, though it draws from it, and the brand is not advertising, though it’s often used in it. Brand is each individual’s emotions towards the company. Or, more generally and purposefully applied, the collective mood of the people. This becomes ever more important when increased customization increases the diversity in product style and thus diluting product recognition.

This power of the idea of the brand is especially important in today’s environment where the emphasis is not on mass production anymore, but mass customization. Businesses in all sorts of industries have adopted this position, whether exposing it openly or as one of their core elements. Burger King’s slogan, “Have it your way” and Dell’s built-to-order flexibility are two prominent adoptions of this concept.

Customization is a powerful element and people have already shown that they are willing to pay a premium to design things to their specifications. Whether it’s food, computers or even refrigerators or garage doors, if there’s an after-market customization available, it’s fully possible to modify it first. Why should somebody else benefit?

Think of the past, envision the future!

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Reading time: 3 - 4 minutes

Total Video Time: 39 minutes 29 seconds

Escape is a fantasy that the vast majority of people share. Virtual worlds have, to a limited extent, allowed that dream to come true. frog design’s Chief Creative Officer, Mark Rolston, speaks on the future of technology with the blurring of reality and virtual environments. Even today, we’re already feeling the effects of an increased virtual presence, but augmented reality is yet to come.

Rolston’s talk at eComm, the Emerging Communications Conference, centers on the rapidly increasing value of the individual’s “second life”. A term largely inspired by the virtual world Second Life, its grown to encompass the virtual persona that every person online develops. While, today, the worlds are fairly distinct, the lines are being crossed.

Shrinking devices with increased capabilities are allowing individuals to experience both worlds simultaneously in ways that could hardly be imagined even several years ago. Phones can create public records of our daily lives that can be played back at will, forming a communal memory. But even more than just an abstract layer above our real lives, Rolston shows how they can be incorporated into a part of our daily lives.

In one vivid example, on the border of what is possible today, he shows an individual with a portable computer, projector, camera, and various minor sensors taking photographs with a movement of his hand and receiving book reviews simply by studying its cover. All of this, he is careful to note, is well within the boundaries of what can be done today.

Individuals, as well as companies, are free to leave their mark in these meta-worlds that cross boundaries. People like to leave their mark and, if Google Maps is any indication, people will tag places with ideas or comments wherever they go. However, this is a world that is still in its infancy and whether or not it becomes a turning point
depends on how readily people will accept and utilize its capabilities.

Think of the past, envision the future!

Reading time: 3 - 4 minutes

Video Time: 24 minutes 55 seconds

Hello, my name is Alan Chang and if you’ve followed us before, you’ll know that we here at LunchLearning explore a different theme every week and if you haven’t—we do. This week, we’ll be looking at paradigm shifts that have transformed entire industries as well as newborn technologies and platforms that have the potential to bring about change yet haven’t quite matured and reached their full potential yet.

Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora on Twitter), one of the presidents of Google and responsible for strengthening their core business, discusses the gap in technology usage between generations. In addition to giving Google the focus they had lost when they grew, he was a critical piece of the puzzle for a number of other businesses, such as T-Mobile, whose industries had changed dramatically through the years.

Changes in the market are obvious in hindsight, but the secret to their importance, and success in their utilization, is to understand what is a revolutionary product and what isn’t. Mobile phones were once considered an elite product, with only the richest and most important people owning them. Similarly, until recently, as Brandon Shook explored last week, games were considered best for targeting children. Things have changed.

Social networks are rapidly increasing in prominence, visibility as well as importance. However, knowing that something is going to become the standard is not enough. Being able to determine exactly who the winner will be even a few years in advance can make a tremendous difference. Just as the landscape of the internet was different ten years ago, it will be something entirely different in ten more years. Taking steps to capitalize on these changes will strengthen your position.

Within this video, Nikesh Arora briefly considers a variety of areas ranging from viral marketing and interacting with customers to company reach and market research. All of these things, and more, have changed throughout the years and will continue to. Equally important, each of these can be directly attributed to the success of failure of a company. Somebody has to succeed, so why not you?

Think of the past, envision the future!

Reading time: 4 - 6 minutes

Total Video Time: 28 minutes 20 seconds

Today I want to switch things up a bit and present a person who used savvy business skills to turn her dream into a reality. That person is Felicia Day and If you’ve ever played an online RPG or if you know which color kryptonite makes Superman go crazy then you probably already know who I’m talking about. If you you’re asking, “What do rocket propelled grenades have to do with video games?” or “There’s more than one color of kryptonite?” that’s OK, let me explain my point. Felicia has done a fantastic job of marketing her popular web series The Guild to a niche group of…well, for a lack of a better term, nerds. The Guild is a show about six online gamers who must band together online and offline to help keep each other out of trouble. Whether she knows it or not, Felicia used smart business sense to create a show that caters to the needs of her niche. Here are just a few ways Felicia turned her zeal for online games into a successful business venture.

1. Passion - This is the most important part of making a business successful. As you watch as she explains the origins of The Guild, it’s easy to see that Felicia truly loves her craft.
2. Customer Service (the fans) - Felicia knows who her fan base is and knows what they want. In the video she describes how using a web series format was perfect for reaching her target audience. Even the interview at BlizzCon, a huge gaming convention, shows that she knows which events are important for circulating information to her fans.
3. Realistic - She works within her budget and doesn’t try to spread her self too thin when it comes to costs. In the interview, she discusses how she filmed in her house to minimize the overhead.
4. Growth - Felicia has a successful show on her hands and she knows that if she wants to grow her brand she needs to expand her footprint. Her cross platform content like The Guild comic book and The Guild music video insures that her brand will stay fresh and appealing to her current fans and attract new ones.

For those of you not familiar with how the gaming industry works some of the video’s content might be hard to understand. Don’t focus so much on the specifics, but focus on the big ideas; like the energy and drive it took to create a show from scratch or how Felicia answers every question with enthusiasm indicating her love for the subject matter. I hope this video will inspire new entrepreneurs and perhaps invigorate old ones to follow their passions.

Happy learning and Game On!

Reading time: 3 - 4 minutes

Video Time: 48 minutes 44 seconds

There’s no need to give Bill Gates a lengthy introduction, we all know his outstanding accomplishments. As founder of Microsoft he helped revolutionize the personal computer and his recent philanthropic efforts are extensive. In this lecture at Carnegie Mellon University, he discusses the future of software and the many ways it will affect our lives.

The lecture starts out with a small introduction and a short comedic video that Gates plays for the audience. The video is quite humorous, involves numerous celebrity appearances, and deals with his decision to switch from full-time work at Microsoft to full-time philanthropy work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. If you want to skip the humor and dig right into the lecture, then by all means skip about 14 minutes into the video.

Gates begins his discussion by asserting that we are on the verge of numerous technological breakthroughs, and that more and more processes are now being done digitally. One example he gives is the use of encyclopedias today. Ten years ago, most people would have pulled out a hardcover alphabetized reference book, but today, we’re more likely to consult sources like Wikipedia for our information needs.

Throughout the lecture, Gates speaks in much detail about specific software advances, such as “Microsoft Surface,” which is a surface computing product that uses motion and physical objects to control digital content. Gates explains how these new innovations will change how businesses operate, making information more readily accessible to workers, and that it will make the workplace more efficient but also more exciting. Not only will businesses change, but the technology we use at home, at schools, and in scientific research will too.

In the final part of this lecture, Gates turns to the topic of global problems. He gives some examples of how to use technology to solve global problems, particularly issues involving the poorest sections of the world. Despite the many problems around the globe, he is unwaveringly optimistic about progress; he knows that people do want to help and that the opportunities are out there.

So, enjoy this extremely educational and relevant video. Hopefully you’ll learn a little something about software, and get excited about what’s to come!

Reading time: 3 - 4 minutes

Video Time: 34 minutes 59 seconds****Woz starts talking about 5:30****

Steve Wozniak (@stevewoz on Twitter) is best known for co-founding Apple Computer Inc. with Steve Jobs, and inventing the Apple I and Apple II computers. In this video, Wozniak appears at a National Kidney Foundation gathering in San Jose, CA to talk about his book, iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It. Wozniak speaks animatedly about his interest in computers at a young age, his attempts throughout high school and college to invent and create, and how he and his good friend Steve Jobs finally created their own groundbreaking business. Certainly, there are many lessons we can learn from Wozniak’s fascinating and often humorous story, especially if we are facing our own challenges in the business world.

Wozniak explains how very early on in life he had a keen interest in computers. He was so anxious to learn about them, that in high school he was already designing and building “mini-computers.” Not having a lot of money or even much information at his disposal, he consulted whatever manuals he could get his hands on, and simply built and rebuilt. At one point in the video, Wozniak implies that not having the money to build a computer was actually a blessing, because this gave him the motivation to build a computer that needed fewer parts to run. Wozniak stresses how he was constantly challenging himself, and used whatever resources he had at his disposal to learn and create.

Wozniak discusses his optimism for the possibilities of technology that continued to motivate him throughout his college years. Unable to take any undergraduate computer science courses because they were simply not available at the time, he enrolled in graduate courses. He was not going to let anything stop him from learning what he was most passionate about.

Wozniak ends the speech by touching on his eventual friendship with Steve Jobs and their business collaboration which, of course, brought about Apple Inc. Wozniak beams as he reminisces about the early days of Apple, remembering the exhilaration he and Jobs felt at the prospect of a business that was their very own.

In this video, Wozniak inspires us with his resourcefulness, motivation, and optimism. He asserts that the best kind of learning in life often comes from just digging in and getting hands-on experience. Let his enthusiasm and life lessons inspire you to achieve your own goals!