Author Archives: Rocco Tarasi
When you think of the U.S., you often think of the word “opportunity”. For hundreds of years, people have immigrated to the U.S. because it was the “land of opportunity”. That isn’t to say that there aren’t many hurdles – you need an idea, skills, drive, sometimes capital, a dash of luck, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. But generally speaking, with enough of those ingredients you stand a chance of being successful. You also need to be conscious of the laws that apply to your business. If you are a restaurant, or a drug manufacturer, or make children’s toys, or do someone’s taxes, or are a doctor, or are in virtually any other industry or profession there are laws that are designed to make sure that what you are doing is safe. There are also patent laws that give protection to …
A few days ago I wrote about the problems of “misaligned incentives”. The focus of that article was on the sales compensation models of inside sales reps, and the importance of aligning the company’s objectives with the compensation plans of its salespeople. Another example of misaligned incentives has come up in the last 2 days in a story that has been widely reported in the tech press. An Airbnb customer used the service to rent her house for a week to a visitor, and when she returned her house was destroyed and looted. I’ve written about Airbnb several times, including The Risks of User Feedback and Never Stop Innovating. If you aren’t familiar with Airbnb, it allows anyone to rent out their house, apartment, spare bedroom, or even their couch. For most people, the idea of inviting a stranger into their house is unthinkable, …
In a world where Apple can do no wrong and Google has had some product flops, this week their roles have reversed. Google launched its most ambitious social initiative yet with Google+. It is getting very good reviews from GigaOM, TechCrunch, Mashable and others. Due to “insane demand“, Google had to shut down invites to manage a slower rollout. (Even further proof that the world is upside: one of the original Apple Macintosh designers was the lead designer for Google+). Beyond the smart design though was also a smart strategy. First, Google is unifying its services and pushing Google+ with a consistent toolbar across all of its properties. Second, Google is providing seamless syncing of photos taken from an Android phone to your Google+ cloud storage, where the photos can then be easily shared with family and friends. It is a smart strategy …
Now seems like a good time to remind you that you can’t ride on your past accomplishments for very long. If you aren’t working to stay ahead of the curve, your company is going to be left behind. Years ago I was bemoaning to a friend about how I had missed the opportunity to invest in BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM). They were on top of the world. Now app developers are leaving them, and everyone believes they are dead. This shouldn’t be shocking, especially to those people that study and specialize in innovation and disruption. It happens all the time, in every industry. And yet… it still is a little shocking. Even for disciples of books like How the Mighty Fall and Innovator’s Dilemma that show scientifically why it happens, we’re always at least a little surprised by the failures of …
In the last month or so the SEC has said that it will consider changes to certain capital markets regulations, including: Raising the 500 shareholder threshold that triggers a public disclosure of financial results (and usually results in a public stock offering); Adjusting the ban on general solicitations that prohibit or restrict publicizing share offerings; and Allowing some form of crowdsourcing to raise smaller amounts of capital from a larger group of investors. (via Mashable and VentureBeat) Changing these and other rules are long, long overdue. Our capital markets operate under some regulations that are decades old – pre-Internet, pre-mobile phone, pre-lots and lots of other advances. Here are seven reasons why the markets and regulations need a dose of innovation: The current regulations let the rich get richer. Not to get all Robin Hood-y, but most start-ups only raise money from “accredited investors” (at least $1 million net worth) … Continue reading
Hidden Significance of LinkedIn’s ‘Apply’ button by Rocco Tarasi There’s something big about LinkedIn’s recent news that no one is talking about yet. According to a report, LinkedIn is expected to announce their “Apply with LinkedIn” button (via GigaOM). It enables companies to place a button on their websites and online job postings so that applicants can apply by submitting just their LinkedIn profile, instead of needing to fill out a separate application. This is a great idea, and I’d be shocked if there wasn’t significant adoption of this feature, especially among professional services businesses. In one action, LinkedIn (1) increases the volume of applications for the employer (since it is so much easier to apply) and (2) aggregates all their data (skills, positions, education) into a reportable database for easy sorting and tracking – especially important for handling that increased volume. However, there …
