Steffan Antonas' Blog » Business http://blog.steffanantonas.com On Books, Technology, Human Dynamics, Design and Development Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:41:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en 5 Minutes With Woo: My Interview With A WordPress Rockstar http://blog.steffanantonas.com/5-minutes-with-woo-my-interview-with-a-wordpress-rockstar.htm http://blog.steffanantonas.com/5-minutes-with-woo-my-interview-with-a-wordpress-rockstar.htm#comments Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:59:20 +0000 steffanantonas http://blog.steffanantonas.com/?p=128 I’m humbled and excited by all the positive attention that the redesign of my blog’s been getting these past few weeks and I’m honored by how well the new look has been received by the WordPress community.

After being featured on the WordPress Premiums Showcase, PJ’s Best Of August Picks, and Mark Forrester’s Blog my traffic has more than tripled and random people from all over the world have been sending me email, asking me about WordPress design and Premium Themes.

As many of you know, this blog’s proudly sporting a customized “Woo” Theme, so I was particularly psyched this weekend to have the new design included in the launch of the brand new WooThemes showcase. Of course, I was twice as psyched when Adii, one of the Web’s top WordPress theme designers, contacted me over the weekend to interview me and get some of my thoughts on the new design and Wordpress Premium themes. Among other things, we discussed blog design and why the choice to go Premium is an important blogging decision. I also shared some breif thoughts on blogging trends like lifestreaming. Adii posted a transcript of the interview this morning on the WooThemes blog.

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]]> http://blog.steffanantonas.com/5-minutes-with-woo-my-interview-with-a-wordpress-rockstar.htm/feed Appealing to the Next Generation of Tech Users - Thoughts on Maslow, Apple, and Identity http://blog.steffanantonas.com/appealing-to-the-next-generation-of-tech-users-thoughts-on-maslow-apple-and-identity.htm http://blog.steffanantonas.com/appealing-to-the-next-generation-of-tech-users-thoughts-on-maslow-apple-and-identity.htm#comments Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:56:44 +0000 Steffan http://blog.steffanantonas.com/?p=105 I’m not ashamed to admit that I spend an absurd amount of time tinkering in Apple stores with absolutely no shopping agenda. I feel bad for the sales reps, actually. I have a hopelessly expressive face and I must have the look of a kid in a candy store, constantly giving off a “dying to buy” signal that makes me a magnet for unsolicited customer service.  If I had a dime for every time I’ve brushed off a friendly apple rep who was trying to be helpful, I could probably afford one of those new Macbook Pros I’ve been drooling over (apple reps, please accept my apologies).

The other day I was in the Apple store suffering through palpable inner turmoil, talking myself out of a $2500 impulse buy.  After inventing a few “creative financing” scenarios for myself, the rational part of me (ever the deal breaker because it’s the part that looks at my bank statements) contributed a very direct “do you need this?”. The answer to that, of course, is no, which brought me back to earth pretty quickly. But then I looked around the store and was all at once keenly aware of the fact that none of the people in the packed store did. None of it. Any of these people (myself included) could hop online and find a perfectly good, meat-and-potatoes PC for hundreds less. Same goes for iPhones - the human race has managed for thousands of years without the internet in their hands - no one really needs these things and there are decent substitutes for all of them out there for a fraction of the price. So I started thinking…what’s driving the apple craze? Any consumer shopper could tell you that it’s definitely not price, and my personal gut reaction from my (regular) observation of crowds in the stores, which seem to be a veritable smorgasbord of ages and cultures, tells me that it’s not a particular target market that’s driving demand. The Mac has definitely gone mainstream. But why the shift? I have a few of theories -

image thanks to http://stevenojobs.com/The Apple Has Become A Symbol of Identity

Seen a Mac vs. PC ad lately? Brilliant marketing. Not ONCE since the inception of Apple’s Get A Mac campaign in 2006 has an actual computer been the center of attention in an ad. Instead the ads focus on differentiating the “hip” mac user’s image from the “not-so-hip” non-mac users (technically it’s a PC vs Mac ad, but realistically it’s mac and not mac). And subtle the comparison is not. Each commercial is an image war between a cool guy decked out in gear from Urban Outfitters, Levis and vans, and a dumpy, insecure Milton-esque guy wearing a 1970s polyester suit.  For a year and a half now, millions of viewers have seen a very likable Mac guy win awards and talk about how great “his” OS is while PC guy goes to therapy, sings the vista blues and takes flack from pissed off yoga instructors (My recent favorite is the ad where PC guy introduces a host of stress-releiving herbal teas like “crashytime camomile” and “pomegranite patience”). Each ad asks viewers to question who they want to be (viewed as). I think people are responding to these ads (among other cultural signals) in ways that clearly show that your choice of computer says just as much about who you are as the car you drive or the clothes that you wear.

Dress Mac

(image courtesy of mactropolis.com)

Geek Is Chic

It helps that the Apple logo has become synonymous with “geek”, because it’s allowed Apple to successfully align itself with (and no doubt amplify) a greater social trend that’s on the rise. The geek image has shifted from lame to cool, and likeable geeky characters like Ugly Betty have become pop-culture icons. Who know’s, maybe society at large has watched young entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg (Age 24, Founder of Facebook), David Karp (Age 21, Founder of Tumblr) and Daniel Ha (Age 22, Founder of Disqus) become tech celebrities and taken note? Geeks are becoming heros. I snagged this video of a session from Katie Couric’s Notebook on YouTube (Dec 07) that discusses the new trend towards Geek Chic.

Appealing to the Next Generation of Computer Users Through Esteem-Based Ads

So what can tomorrow’s marketers learn from Apple’s example? The message is loud and clear - brains are in and people are buying technology based on decisions they are making about their identities, not just functions and features…a quick side dish to illustrate:

Recognize this?

  • Transcendence: help others realize their potential
  • Self-actualization: creativity, morality, realize your own potential, self-fulfillment, peak experiences
  • Esteem: self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others/gain approval, independence, status
  • Love/Belonging: love, family, friends, sexual intimacy
  • Security: protection, safety, stability
  • Physical: hunger, thirst, bodily comfort

It’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and you probably remember it as a pyramid because it was originally thought of as a ladder, but research suggests that people pursue all of these needs simultaneously. The point here is that not many marketers these days go far beyond the physical, security and belonging layers - Apple, on the other hand, focuses almost all of its ads on the Esteem and Self-actualization layers (including promoting creativity) with it’s pro-geek chic. It’s simultaneously riding and reinforcing a social movement. And I think it’s why they’re gaining so much ground in the personal computing market. Marketers should take note. Tech isn’t just a tool for getting what you do done, it’s a statement of who you are….which is probably why this Geek has an existential crisis every time he sits down to type a blog post on his PC.

Any thoughts on this? Do you base your tech-purchasing decisions on both fashion and function?

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]]> http://blog.steffanantonas.com/appealing-to-the-next-generation-of-tech-users-thoughts-on-maslow-apple-and-identity.htm/feed On Professionalism http://blog.steffanantonas.com/on-professionalism.htm http://blog.steffanantonas.com/on-professionalism.htm#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:47:20 +0000 Steffan http://steffanantonas.com/on-professionalism.htm Professionalism isn’t just about physical appearance or demeanor. It’s a method of interacting with people. Exhibiting professionalism is about respecting people’s time, intelligence and their right to unbiased information via the manner in which you engage them. It requires communicating in a way that minimizes exaggeration and eliminates emotionally charged language or personal opinions about others when sharing information.

Becoming a professional is easy. Being professional all the time is not so easy.

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]]> http://blog.steffanantonas.com/on-professionalism.htm/feed What’s The Right Amount Of Outsourcing? http://blog.steffanantonas.com/whats-the-right-amount-of-outsourcing.htm http://blog.steffanantonas.com/whats-the-right-amount-of-outsourcing.htm#comments Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:17:06 +0000 Steffan http://steffanantonas.com/whats-the-right-amount-of-outsourcing.htm Over on the AdaptiveBlue Blog Fraser’s posed this question that’s started a good exchange of thoughts:

As digital creeps into all forms of media, and companies adjust their structure and strategy, what’s the correct amount of “digital”, or “technology”, capacity that they should bring in-house?

I’ve thrown my two cents in. Come on over and join the conversation.

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]]> http://blog.steffanantonas.com/whats-the-right-amount-of-outsourcing.htm/feed The 10 Biggest Business Myths & Gilbert’s Secret Rules of Business Success http://blog.steffanantonas.com/the-10-biggest-business-myths-gilberts-secret-rules-of-business-success.htm http://blog.steffanantonas.com/the-10-biggest-business-myths-gilberts-secret-rules-of-business-success.htm#comments Fri, 23 May 2008 03:00:53 +0000 Steffan http://steffanantonas.com/the-10-biggest-business-myths-gilberts-secret-rules-of-business-success.htm The following is a transcription of the 2008 commencement speech given by Steve Gilbert at the Lauder Institute of The Wharton School. Steven is the Senior Managing Director and Chairman of SUN Group (USA). He is also Chairman of the Board of Gilbert Global Equity Partners, L.P., a billion dollar private equity fund and Vice Chairman of the Executive Board of MidOcean Partners. For those of you that are interested, this is a brilliant read full of no-frills, hard hitting advice.

When I sat, where you are sitting right now, the speaker at this venue, who had entered Wharton 40 years before I started, was probably Class of 1927. That means, he (there were no women in those days), was born around the turn of the Century.  He was too young for World War I, but his grandfather was born about the time of the Civil War.  And he was headed right into the Great Depression.

In 1905, when he was born, the average life expectancy in the US was 47 years. 14 percent of US homes had a bathtub.  8 percent had telephones. There were 8,000 cars, and 144 miles of paved roads. 95% of all births took place at home.  90% of all doctors had no college education. Most women washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Crossword puzzles, canned beer and iced tea hadn’t been invented. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. Marijuana, heroin and morphine were all available, over the counter at the local corner drugstore.

My speaker in 1967 had a business career that did not include the Internet, e-mail, calculators, personal computers, cellphones or the electric toothbrush. How did they ever survive?  How did they ever do business? How did they ever succeed? Of course, that’s what you will be thinking, when your holograph stands here 40 years from now. But I wanted to give you a touch of perspective. Because the arc of your career will be a lot shorter than you think.  But some things haven’t changed. I am confident, that whatever the technology over the next 40 years, what I am about to tell you will remain constant.

Now, you all suppose that I am about to launch into a diatribe about macro-economics, Sovereign Wealth Funds, and international economics.   If that is what you find interesting, read The Economist. Because what you all want to know, as you enter the work force, is “What are the secrets of success?”  By just being in this room, you are amongst the elite of this planet.  You are surely in the top 1%.  Being in the Lauder School, the top one percent of that metric.  But only some of you, hardly all, based on history, will succeed in business. That’s because you don’t have Gilbert’s Secret Rules of Business Success. They have been derived from a lifetime of trial and error. Take notes.

1. Show up on time. You might think this to be humorous or facetious.  But, as your career goes on, you will find there are a lot of people who cannot do this.  Their plane is always late, they pick up the phone before the big meeting, they can’t meet a deadline.  90% of meetings start late.  When your colleagues and bosses know that you will show up when promised, they will have confidence in you, and begin to trust you.

2. Do what you are asked to do. Don’t do what you think ought to be required.  Don’t add pages of data to prove your point.  Summarize the data so your boss doesn’t have to.  Don’t change the assignment.  Give your boss what he asked for, and life will be simple.  You can add exhibits for recreational reading, but only the first two pages will be read.

3. When asked a direct question, answer, “Yes”, ‘No”, or “I don’t know but will find out”.   Don’t tell a story.  Don’t obfuscate.  Don’t repeat the question you were just asked.  Don’t fill the air with information of interest only to you.  Answer first.  Tell the story second, if you must.   You would be shocked at how few people can do this.  Always make full disclosure.

4. Handle every piece of paper only once.  Paper left on your desk will grow, even without food or water.  Looking at the same piece of paper multiple times is wasteful, counter-productive, and cuts down on your recreation time.

5. Make your boss look good.  Eventually, this will work.  Organizations always know who really does the work.  Empty suits can’t hide forever.  If you make your boss look bad, you might have to try this at your next job.

6. If it isn’t in writing, it doesn’t exist.  Without an email or a piece of paper, nothing anyone says to you means anything.  Promises are broken all the time in business, and memories are extraordinarily selective.

7. Everyone works hard, don’t complain or point out how hard you are working.   No one cares.  They all have their own issues.  Your best bet is to act like a duck, looking calm and composed on the surface, but pedaling furiously under the water.

8. Honesty is the best policy.  Not just because it is, but also because when things get complicated, you won’t be able to remember all the lies you told.  If you are always honest, only your memory for the truth is at issue.

9. Being nice is more profitable than being nasty.  It takes much less energy to be nice.  People want to work with you.  You will be happier and so will your colleagues.

10. Speed is important.   Most people will value a quick “no” more than a lengthy “maybe”.   Responding quickly is much appreciated.  Run to the problem first.

11.  Work smart, not just hard.    Don’t confuse speed with torque.  Sitting at your       desk all night is not the same thing as making progress. Figure out, each day, what you need to do to succeed.  Determine what you need from a meeting; don’t just blindly enter the room like a lamb.

12. Be realistic.  No one is going to make you CEO while the ink on your MBA is still drying.  Even for the best, it takes a few years before people are comfortable that you can do all the things you think you can.

13. Don’t be afraid to be bold.   You can, and certainly will, be able to get another job.  Don’t be afraid to find the door if you don’t like what is going on. The sign on the door of opportunity reads PUSH.  Don’t be afraid to suggest a new line of business.   Don’t be afraid to stand up for your vision.  As Ayn Rand said  “Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men’s stupidity, but your talent to their reason.”

14. You have more than one job.  You can never be happier than your least happy child.  You may have to be a husband, wife, father,  mother, a son, a daughter, a nurse or a nursemaid during your lifetime.  If you fail at any of these jobs, success in the others will be meaningless.

15. You don’t have to cure cancer to be a success.  Being a good citizen, a good parent, a good friend, a productive and charitable member of society is all most of us can hope for.  And remarkably few achieve.

If you follow these simple rules, you should do just fine.   As simple as they sound, 98% of all MBA graduates cannot, or will not, comply with these rules.  You know who you are.

Now, I am going to give you the ten biggest business myths.  Things you hear, or, are told, that sound plausible, but just aren’t true.  Keep these on file, and send me $10 every time you hear one.  I will leave a Post Office Box address in Lichtenstein after the speech.

1. You have more security here at Gigantabank than you do on your own.   Just not true.  One strategic shift, one downsizing, one reorganization, one boss with a bad hangover, and you are toast at Gigantabank.  You have no job security.  You just have less pay.

2. “You’re really smart!” When you are a buyer, every joke you tell is funny and every insight you have is brilliant.  Don’t try these jokes at home.  Most people see your position, not your fabulous personality and good looks.

3. “There is almost no risk to this”.  A good definition of risk is that more things will go wrong than can go wrong.  Nothing is without risk.  Your job is to find the risks, define them, see if you can contain them or live with them, given the return offered.   Nothing is riskless.

4. “This time it’s different”.   Not that I can tell.  The laws of supply and demand, risk and reward, greed and fear, have remained constant since men got up on two feet.   And I suspect it always will.

5. “It’s not about the money”.  When someone tells me this, I am then sure it is about the money.

6. “You can tell me”.  No, you can’t.  When someone entrusts you with confidential information, anyone you give it to won’t trust you to keep a secret.  And, they are likely to pass it on, no matter how sincere they seem at the time.   Keep your own counsel. As Ben Franklin said,  “three can keep a secret if two are dead.”

7. “We are Best-in-Breed”.  If dogs could talk, this would matter.  But who is going to tell you, “we are just a second-rate operation, please do business with us”?  Internally and externally, it is in the interest of everyone to assume they are the best and brightest.   Hopefully, you will be able to tell the difference.

8. “We have no politics here”.  This is true, but only if you have a lights-out, industrial clean room with robots.  If there are people involved, there will be politics.  Even in the Bible, they just had Adam and Eve, they had politics.

9. “Everyone is doing it” This is the surest ticket to a custodial experience that I know.  Not only is everybody usually wrong, but they are probably treading on a fuzzy white line.   If everybody is doing it, you probably shouldn’t be.

10. “My word is my bond”. If your word is so good, why won’t you commit yourself to paper?  Because they don’t intend to keep their word, and don’t want a record, that’s why.

If you follow the No Longer Secret Gilbert Rules, and don’t believe the myths, you should do fine.  It really isn’t much more difficult than that.  Because we all know you are smart.  Smart is just the beginning.  The basic requirement.  There is no shortage of smart people in business.

And there are more smart people on the way. Investment in infrastructure in newly developing countries will unlock vast quantities of human capital, probably the most valuable resource on the planet.  Airports, roads, hospitals, ports, power plants, communications, potable water, adequate sanitation and other related investments will bring hundreds of millions of new consumers, investors, artists, writers, businessmen and women into the worldwide matrix of human capital.

So, Lauder graduates another pool of human capital, small in number, but large in intellect, ambition and desire.    Now, armed with the secret rules for business success, go forth and prosper.

Thank You.

Thanks, Jules for sending me this, and of course to David, who sent it to her (and so on).

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]]> http://blog.steffanantonas.com/the-10-biggest-business-myths-gilberts-secret-rules-of-business-success.htm/feed Book Review: The Adsense Code - What Google Never Told You About Making Money With Adsense, By Joel Comm http://blog.steffanantonas.com/book-review-the-adsense-code-what-google-never-told-you-about-making-money-with-adsense-by-joel-comm.htm http://blog.steffanantonas.com/book-review-the-adsense-code-what-google-never-told-you-about-making-money-with-adsense-by-joel-comm.htm#comments Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:27:24 +0000 Steffan http://steffanantonas.com/book-review-the-adsense-code-what-google-never-told-you-about-making-money-with-adsense-by-joel-comm.htm The Adsense CodeBefore I dive into the pros and cons of this book, I think it’s important to acknowledge how significantly the book has impacted the way thousands of Internet publishers use and understand Adsense. At this writing, the book is just over a year old and it has been heralded as an instant classic in the growing world of Internet marketing. After making the New York Times best sellers list in 2006, The Adsense Code firmly established Joel Comm as an authority in the world of contextual advertising. Regardless of what I say in this post, the numbers tell the story. This book was a hit. Here’s why.

Although countless millions of websites run adsense ads, very few sites actually generate enough traffic to really see large, consistent adsense earnings. When web site traffic is low, infrequent and unpredictable, it’s tough for site owners to see how small tweaks in the placement or configuration of ads on a page affect click rates and earnings. This makes maximizing your adsense income difficult. But big numbers don’t lie. When a website is getting large amounts of consistent traffic, small changes in the way ads look and where ads are placed can make a big difference to the number of clicks they get.

At the time that Google released their Adsense program, Joel Comm was running sites like WorldVillage.com, which were generating hundreds of thousands of visitors daily - You might say that Joel was in the right business at the right time. Exposing large numbers of daily visitors to adsense ads can mean big money…we’re talking “6-figure-income” big for the ones who’s pages are really sticky and popular. Joel experimented with his traffic by filling his sites with different types of adsense ads, making changes in placement and configuration of the ads over time and tracking his income and clickthrough rate results. Joel’s documentation of the results of those experiments, found in chapters 3 4 and 5, make up the heart and soul of this book. They provide data-driven answers to a gamut of basic, but elusive questions like “Where Do I Put Ads On My Page so that People Click more? and “What Colors make people click the most?”. Because clicks are what generate revenue, these three chapters alone make this book a must-read for people who want to learn how to maximize their adsense income. The book has definitely influenced my adsense strategy for the better, and I refer to it often when building sites that run adsense ads. Most importantly, the fact that it’s available under $20 on sites like Amazon begs the question, why not buy this book? You can probably find it on amazon used for under $15. I got my used copy for $6 on a holiday special.

What This Book is Not

Maxing out your pages with Adsense doesn’t do anything if your website isn’t getting any traffic. If you’re looking for answers about how to drive traffic to your website, this book is not for you. The core of The Adsense Code focuses on strategies for converting existing traffic into clicks, not how to get the traffic in the first place. If you’re looking for information on how to drive traffic, I highly recommend The SEO Book. It’s a bit pricey but it’s the best resource available today for getting the traffic you need to make money. You also get a bunch of free software tools that professionals use included in the purchase price.

Criticism of The Adsense Code

Although this is the best resource out there for learning about how to amp your Adsense earnings, not everything in this book useful for non-novices. You probably wont be surprised to find out that a lot of the later chapters in this book act as advertising for some of Joel’s sites that are riddled with Adsense ads and affiliate links. He does give good high-level advice, though, and he helps novices find good resources and tools to get started. Affiliate marketing professionals and webmasters that are already using powerful tools like Wordtracker and Affiliate Elite may not want to waste their time reading the whole book because Joel doesn’t offer much beyond high-level advice and recommendations on commonly known strategies and resources. Novices, however will benefit from the general awareness his overviews provide.

Summary and Final Thoughts

This book is not just for novices, it’s for everyone using Adsense to make money online. The people who will benefit immediately from reading the book are going to be those that already have large numbers of repeat visitors coming to their sites. Bloggers, newbie web designers and affiliate marketers, however, will gain a good awareness about how to build content around adsense to maximize their earnings in the future as they build a web presence. On the whole, The Adsense Code is a quick, valuable read, and for the price you can get it for on Amazon used, it a steal.

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]]> http://blog.steffanantonas.com/book-review-the-adsense-code-what-google-never-told-you-about-making-money-with-adsense-by-joel-comm.htm/feed Like Moths To A Flame: Why Open Source Draws Entrepreneurs And Why It’s Important For Innovation http://blog.steffanantonas.com/like-moths-to-a-flame-why-open-source-draws-entrepreneurs-and-why-its-important-for-innovation.htm http://blog.steffanantonas.com/like-moths-to-a-flame-why-open-source-draws-entrepreneurs-and-why-its-important-for-innovation.htm#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:07:43 +0000 Steffan http://steffanantonas.com/like-moths-to-a-flame-why-open-source-draws-entrepreneurs-and-why-its-important-for-innovation.htm Where there’s a social buzz around good open source code, there’s opportunity. And where there’s opportunity, there will be entrepreneurs. In fact, digital entrepreneurship is one of the most natural and predictable bi-products of the open-source movement. Although open source die-hards (myself included) associate the open source movement with “freedom”, we should never delude ourselves into thinking that “freedom” will always produce code that is “free.” I’ve never understood why some open-source advocates are so adamant about defending the concept of a free digital utopia. Drawing entrepreneurs to code is fundamental to innovation, community-building and sustainability of any open source platform. Here’s a few arguments why entrepreneurship around open source platforms should be encouraged:

Innovation Requires Time, Effort and (often) Capital

Let’s be real, there aren’t many people who are willing to take on complex problems for the fun of it. It’s not a question of coding for coding’s sake either, it’s that most people just don’t have the time, energy or resources to justify starting, even if they can see a clear solution to a well-defined problem. The opportunity cost associated with “diving in” is often too great. The opportunity to profit from an idea or solution, however, can create a powerful incentive that shifts priorities enough to turn someone (who may have never started) into an innovating entrepreneur.

Innovators Respond Well To Social Incentives

Sure, entrepreneurs are driven to innovate because of monetary incentives, but that’s not the whole story. Social status, power, connectedness and pride play a large part in the innovating process. Income generation is often just the spark that starts the creative flame, but once a project is in motion, other incentives provide a lot of the fuel that keeps things moving. Successful entrepreneurs know that they’re not going to just release code off into a vacuum. In today’s hyper-connected world, communities form around innovative code, especially if it solves a common problem or need well. The word gets out, traffic increases, communities form and innovators can become celebrities (sometimes overnight). Even at a basic level, the popularity that ensues creates a sense of achievement and recognition that all human beings strive for. The desire for status and connectedness can be a powerful incentive that not only pushes digital entrepreneurs towards great code around platforms and products, but drives community-building and overall sustainability around those platforms and products.

Entrepreneurs Put In Effort To Draw Crowds

Because of the above-stated social incentives, entrepreneurs who innovate around open source platforms have incentives to become agents that build communities. We’re all marketers of our own brand to some extent, but for innovators releasing code into the wild it’s especially true. Making a stable, consistent income “adding” to open source platforms results from a combination of (A) filling a need or solving a problem and (B) making sure A LOT of people who are having that need or problem know about you. The A + B combination results in crowds, which is definitely what you want around open source because a lot of eyes and scrutiny results in better code (that’s the theory at least) and patterns of improvement lead to sustainability.

The point I’m trying to make, of course, is that whether or not profiting from an idea was the spark that got someone to innovate should be irrelevant - the end goal should always be community-building, better code and sustainability of open source platforms. Entrepreneurs are, and will always be, agents of change because they have a unique set of incentives that drive innovation and community-building. Those who are pro-open source should recognize that those incentives can have great affects for everyone and not get so hung up on defending the “free” faith. If we try to squash incentives that drive entrepreneurship by requiring everything that is produced to be free, the end result will just be less innovation.

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]]> http://blog.steffanantonas.com/like-moths-to-a-flame-why-open-source-draws-entrepreneurs-and-why-its-important-for-innovation.htm/feed Hat Tip To The Boys In Blue http://blog.steffanantonas.com/hat-tip-to-the-boys-in-blue.htm http://blog.steffanantonas.com/hat-tip-to-the-boys-in-blue.htm#comments Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:32:37 +0000 Steffan http://steffanantonas.com/?p=24 Adaptive Blue LogoFirst off, congratulations are in order to my friends over at AdaptiveBlue. Not only have they surpassed the 1 million download mark this year, they’ve been recently highlighted by Richard MacManus, Founder of the the influential Read/WriteWeb blog, as one of 10 Semantic Web Apps to Watch.

Also, thanks to Fraser Kelton, Director of Business Development at AdaptiveBlue, for the gracious thank-you email I received this morning for my miniature contribution to the great work they’re doing as part of their xmas giving. It completely put me in the Christmas Spirit. I am totally psyched to receive and devour my en-route copy of Zen and The Art of Motorcyle Maintenance! Thanks so much guys!

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]]> http://blog.steffanantonas.com/hat-tip-to-the-boys-in-blue.htm/feed Interview Skills: What Really Matters to Interviewers? http://blog.steffanantonas.com/interview-skills-what-really-matters-to-interviewers.htm http://blog.steffanantonas.com/interview-skills-what-really-matters-to-interviewers.htm#comments Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:53:29 +0000 Steffan http://steffanantonas.com/?p=86 interview skillsIn my final year of business school I remember being inundated with a lot of pre-interview advice and prep materials from my professors and from the feel-good folks at the career center. In retrospect I think a lot of it was supposed to serve as some sort of scare tactic - Prepare-them-for-the-worst kind of stuff. My favorite prep sheet was a grandiose list of questions you could be asked like If You Had To Move Mount Fuji, How Would You Do It? and What are 10 ways to use a pencil other than writing? While I’ve heard of people being stun-gunned with ridiculous questions like “What’s 1300 divided by 17″ in interviews, in a real-life situation, being on the other end of a question like that would make me curious about the real motivations of the interviewer. Should you really expect obscure test-your-mental-agility type questions in most interviews? The answer is no, and here’s a few reasons why.

Interviewers deep down are all looking for the same thing - a good fit. It doesn’t matter how democratic and egalitarian the interview process seems on the surface, and it doesn’t matter whether the job requires knowledge of quantum physics or basic domestic skills. Interviews are all about the interviewer finding answers to very basic (but fundamentally important) questions they have. When time’s limited, most interviewers are more likely to focus on using that time to make you as comfortable as possible so they can constructively collect data around their greatest concern areas, rather than testing to see if your brain can do the can-can. Effective hiring is about building a community of people who all work well together, interviewers are human, and the job doesn’t always go to the person who’s most qualified. That said, here are some of the big issues on most interviewers’ minds:

Does this person have the skills necessary to perform well? (or at least be able to learn quickly)

If you’ve gotten a face-to-face interview, someone thinks you’re qualified enough to at least take a shot on. Find confidence in that fact alone. Make sure to highlight how your skills and past experiences relate to the job you’re trying to get. Try and be direct but subtle - giving the impression that you’ve got an ego can turn off an interviewer quickly. No one wants to work with someone who thinks he’s God’s gift.

Is this person self-motivated enough to pull their own weight, be proactive and work independently?

Huge. Everyone wants to work less, even workaholics - if people are afraid at all that you’re going to be a burden on the team and the budget, you can kiss the job goodbye. I’ll usually scan the person’s resume for evidence of going above and beyond the call of duty in some aspect of their lives - whether in a work setting or otherwise - and then follow up with some questions about what the person does in their free time, which is a great litmus test. If the person can show that they are active, energetic and that they use their free time productively it’s a big plus.

Is this person going to get along well with the team and be fun to work with?

This one might be the most important of all, and it’s a pit-fall for many interviewees - I’ve seen tons of well qualified people never get a call back at my firm just because we work in teams in tight quarters for LONG periods of time, and one of the team of interviewers thought that the person would be a drag to be in close quarters with for extended periods of time. Do whatever you’ve got to do be awake and vibrant when you show up to the interview - people want to see energy and a positive attitude.

Does this person really want to be here?

It is shocking how many people I interview that don’t have a clue what they’re really interviewing for. It sends up an immediate red flag. There’s only so much preparation you can do for any interview, but if you don’t know what the business is, at least at a high level, it shows that you didn’t even care enough to do a Google search. People who can answer this question for an interviewer well, and with confidence will always shine and be memorable. You should be able to send a clear message that you’ve made a well calculated decision by showing up to the interview - that you’re there for good reasons. It’s a good idea to come up with a set of good probing questions about what it’s like to work at the job you’re interviewing for, what the team is like, what the work-life balance is going to be. Not only does it show that you’re giving the opportunity some thorough, balanced consideration, asking questions and keeping an interviewer talking will only reflect well on you.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Answer the fundamental questions for yourself, before you step into the interview - Do you really want this job at all? How are the new responsibilities you’ll have to take on going to affect your lifestyle, free time and happiness? Do you want this to be a short term or long term gig? Are you looking for a way to just pay your bills, or is this new opportunity going to open up doors for you and build your skill set? Chances are, giving yourself time to answer these questions yourself on your own will not only allow you to deliver clear, well articulated answers when you eventually get into the interview…it’ll allow you to be confident that you’re in the right place once you’re there - and it’ll show, which is half the battle.

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]]> http://blog.steffanantonas.com/interview-skills-what-really-matters-to-interviewers.htm/feed The Powerful Advantage of Admitting You’ve Made a Large Mistake http://blog.steffanantonas.com/the-powerful-advantage-of-admitting-youve-made-a-large-mistake.htm http://blog.steffanantonas.com/the-powerful-advantage-of-admitting-youve-made-a-large-mistake.htm#comments Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:03:26 +0000 Steffan http://steffanantonas.com/?p=56 Eliezer Yudkowsky’s response to her reading of a history of Enron’s downfall, The Smartest Guys in the Room…

After I had finally and fully admitted my mistake, I looked back upon the path that had led me to my Awful Realization. And I saw that I had made a series of small concessions, minimal concessions, grudgingly conceding each millimeter of ground, realizing as little as possible of my mistake on each occasion, admitting failure only in small tolerable nibbles. I could have moved so much faster, I realized, if I had simply screamed “OOPS!”

And I thought: I must raise the level of my game.

There is a powerful advantage to admitting you have made a large mistake. It’s painful. It can also change your whole life.

It is important to have the watershed moment, the moment of humbling realization. To acknowledge a fundamental problem, not divide it into palatable bite-size mistakes.

Do not indulge in drama and become proud of admitting errors. It is surely superior to get it right the first time. But if you do make an error, better by far to see it all at once. Even hedonically, it is better to take one large loss than many small ones. The alternative is stretching out the battle with yourself over years. The alternative is Enron.

Since then I have watched others making their own series of minimal concessions, grudgingly conceding each millimeter of ground; never confessing a global mistake where a local one will do; always learning as little as possible from each error. What they could fix in one fell swoop voluntarily, they transform into tiny local patches they must be argued into. Never do they say, after confessing one mistake, I’ve been a fool. They do their best to minimize their embarrassment by saying I was right in principle, or It could have worked, or I still want to embrace the true essence of whatever-I’m-attached-to. Defending their pride in this passing moment, they ensure they will again make the same mistake, and again need to defend their pride.

Better to swallow the entire bitter pill in one terrible gulp.

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