Why dyslexics make great entrepreneurs

Interesting [via Business Week].

• Many of the coping skills dyslexics learn in their formative years become best practices for the successful entrepreneur.
• Dyslexics are also forced to trust and rely on others to get things done — an essential skill for anyone working to build a business.
• But, it’s not clear whether dyslexics develop their special talents by learning to negotiate their disability or whether such skills are the genetic inheritance of being dyslexic.

Not everyone can become a great cook but a great cook can come from everywhere.

Why marketing is a marathon, not a sprint

1. The first time a man looks at an ad, he doesn’t see it.
2. The second time, he doesn’t notice it.
3. The third time, he is conscious of its existence.
4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it.
5. The fifth time, he reads the ad.
6. The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.
7. The seventh time, he reads it through and says, “Oh brother!”
8. The eight time, he says, “Here’s that confounded thing again!”
9. The ninth time, he wonders if it amounts to anything.
10. The tenth time, he will ask his neighbor if he has tried it.
11. The eleventh time, he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.
12. The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.
13. The thirteenth time, he thinks it might be worth something.
14. The fourteenth time, he remembers that he wanted such a thing for a long time.
15. The fifteenth time, he is tantalized because he cannot afford to buy it.
16. The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy it someday.
17. The seventeenth time, he makes a memorandum of it.
18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty.
19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.
20. The twentieth time he sees the ad, he buys the article or asks his wife to do so.

Written by Thomas Smith in 1885 [via Guerrilla Marketing].

Modern financial markets, explained

Funny and true.

via Marc Andreessen’s blog.

Why marketing is good for geeks

One great frustration I have with myself is that I can’t think of an original product to build.
—Migs Paraz

If there is one thing I could advice to Migs, it is to learn the principles of marketing.

If you’re a geek and you said “no f****** way” after hearing this advice, it’s alright. That’s the normal reaction 99.99% of the time. I’m sure every developer in the world has a story to tell how the marketing guys turned the software into a “seamless highly integrated end-to-end solution” when all the software can do is import a CSV file. Outside work, we are bombarded with marketing bullshit like “whiter than white skin” and systematic lies like hiring Charlene Gonzales to tell us the Taheebo tea tastes great or gorgeous babes endorsing shampoo products that can make your hair shiny and healthy in 7 days.

But real marketing is not about “lying”. Marketing is about defining the right customers for you, identifying what they value, and creating the whole product package that delivers that value. It is about solving problems, not applying technology. It is about them, not you.

Programmers think they have nothing in common with marketing guys but that is not true. Marketing people also do research, design, and tests just like what we programmers do. If we skip these things and go straight into coding, we produce buggy software. Similarly, when marketing people jump into logos, taglines, color branding, they end up with marketing campaigns that are pathetic.

As a geek, we believe that the value of a product is a function of its objective utility. If an MP3 player with 8GB sells for $100, and the 16GB version costs $150, it makes sense. But if the same 8GB version comes with a choice of fuchsia, cerulean, or periwinkle casing and sells for $125, it does not make sense anymore. The idea of paying more because it has a pretty color or just because you like it is not really understood by geeks.

In the software world, having personal, standard, enterprise editions of a single software product helps many companies earn more money. There is a reason why this is so effective and the marketing guys know them. If you are geek that understands how marketing works, you would be in a better position to build a product that will fulfill the need of your customers because just like the marketing guys, you understand what your customers need. And in case you decided to start your own company, you already know the importance of marketing and you will not shoot in the dark.

For a start, I recommend the following books:

• Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout. This book is a classic and highly recommended.
• The Business of Software by Eric Sink. Eric has devoted 9 chapters on marketing.

Free ebook: Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism

From YalePressWiki:

Imagine this: a mere century ago, the purchasing power of an average American was one-tenth of what it is today. But what will it take to sustain that growth through the next century? And what can be said about economic growth to aspiring nations seeking higher standards of living for their citizens?

The ebook is available for download.

We lack heroes

This my contribution during a discussion why there aren’t many entrepreneurial successes in the Philippines. Yes, there are many successful businesses in the Philippines but we don’t have stories that took over the world. Or, we don’t know about them. When I told friends about Winston Damarillo, Dado Banatao, and Peter Valdez, they all say who?

I don’t blame them. Every time law students take their bar exam, the media is all over them covering even the review sessions. When the topnotchers are announced, it becomes a headline on the front page. In contrast, engineering board exams is a tiny story next to the obituary. While the geeks have become the richest people in the world, engineers are still not regarded as high as we do with lawyers, politicians, and celebrity personalities. (Aren’t these 3 groups related?) When I emailed friends that I had a chance to chat with Winston over lunch, there was no reaction. But when I said that Imee Marcos was also with us discussing the Free/Open-Source bill, the first reaction was “cool, lunch with congressmen”.

Many Filipinos believe that success can only happen if you are in a better country like US, Canada or Australia. Of course, the government’s high-profile never-ending corruption cases and political charades only reinforces this mindset. The good news is that there are people working to nurture and support high-tech business in the country. Some of them are working on local market while others have their eyes on the world.

On a related note, Forbes have a series of articles on opportunity with a take on the American dream.

On one very important measure, America offers less opportunity than almost any other rich country. The real lands of opportunity are places like Canada, Finland and especially Denmark.
— Getting To The Starting Line

Who cares about success rates? Americans feed on success stories, from Horatio Alger to Rachael Ray.
— Be All That You Can Be–And Hurry Up About It!

If wealth and poverty are the result of nothing more than our thoughts, should we blame those poor starving Zimbabweans for being just a bunch of pessimistic sourpusses?
— The Real Secret

Is your tech idea good enough for the real world?

If you would like to shake hands with Dado Banatao and Winston Damarillo — two Pinoys who have made it big in the high-tech world — you can meet them at the AyalaTBI TechBootCamp, which will be held on Oct 6. 13, and 16 at AIM Conference Center (Makati, Philippines). Aside from learning entrepreneurship from people who have been there, you’ll also have a chance to pitch your idea to VC’s and get funded (if that’s your goal).

Unfortunately (at least for me), it would cost you PhP 15,000 (around $326). I don’t think the money from the participants would be enough to cover the fee of the mentors and I doubt if Dado, Winston, and the others have even asked to be paid for their time. I wonder why AyalaTBI can’t make it free. Or maybe, they want the participants to pay so they would value the event.

If I have $326 to spend and wife doesn’t know, I’ll most likely spend it on books or a new slice at Slicehost.

Update:The Oct 16 event is open to the public.

Free talk: Bootstrapping your tech startup

Speaker:

Michael Hansson
Global Design Engineering Manager
Integrated Microelectronics Inc.

Michael Hansson is the Global Design Engineering manager for IMI, an Electronics Manufacturing Solutions provider with 21,000 people and 12 facilities in 4 countries.

Michael is an Embedded Systems Engineer with an M.S. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Linkoping in Sweden, where he also taught robotics and programming. He has over 20 years’ experience in developing a variety of hardware and software solutions, and among other things spent 5 years with Timex Philippines where he headed the electronics R&D group.

He started his first consulting practice at the age of 16 and subsequently moved on to found and manage a variety of technopreneurial ventures, including ICON Information Consultants, CODA Software, Synapse Inc., DSPI, NewNew Technologies, Streamware Development Corporation and
M. Hansson Consulting, Inc. His latest venture, a design company providing customized test equipment to the local electronics industry, was bootstrapped and subsequently acquired by IMI in August 2006.

Where and when:

UP Ayala Technology Business Incubator
CP Garcia cor Katipunan Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City
Wednesday, 12 September
10am
FREE entrance

Smart pricing or scam?

The Medical City hospital charges more for the same medicine if you are in a private room than if you are in a ward section. Similary, doctors charge higher professional fees in a private room. A friend, working as a nurse at another hospital, confirms this practice at their hospital.

A play area for kids inside a mall charges 120/hour on weekdays, but 140/hour on weekends. There is nothing unusual on weekends — no clowns, no free drinks, no sexy attendants.

Is this a smart pricing scheme or are these businesses taking advantage of the situation? Patients admitted in private rooms are, in general, richer than those in the ward section. For most kids, weekends are the only time for mall.

Customers are willing to pay more for products (or services) that they know has more benefits and features than cheaper alternatives. A private room costs more than a ward because it offers privacy, more space, and guaranteed quiet time. But an antibiotic pill has the same effect whether it is taken in a quiet private room or in a noisy ward section yet why is it priced differently?

If the play area offers nothing better on weekends, does it have the right to raise prices?

Tom Peters: Innovation is Actually Easy!