I regularly talk to small and medium-sized designers and business owners in the sectors where Aprizi plays. It is always interesting to hear about their challenges and tactics for success. They are entrepreneurs just like we are in the world of tech. Some of these interviews get converted into posts for The Tail, Aprizi’s blog. I wanted to highlight one …
Hashable, the future of business relationships?
I’ve been playing around with Hashable since August, and have become a pretty regular user. Why? Relationships are the lifeblood of business. LinkedIn took a first step, and then stopped innovating in a meaningful way. From my perspective, they treat relationships as a commodity, and they are anything but! Hashable is taking the next step forward, with an appreciation of …
Gap, Tropicana versus Apple: Conviction versus the Mob
Gap has completely fumbled their logo change, but not because of the design. I am not going to comment on the design. I am going to share how appalled I am at Gap’s lack of conviction and leadership. Completely abdicating your own vision is just as bad as never talking to your customers at all! Sometimes truly inane branding decisions …
Design is always context-specific
I’ve had an interesting couple of days here at Altimeter’s “Rise of Social Commerce” conference. It was great being in the startup showcase with some cool companies like Swipely, Quorus, Open Sky, and 8 others. There have also been lots of case studies from bigger companies trying to make sense of “social commerce”. The diversity of what I have been …
Landmines on the Road to Product Market Fit
On Friday, I gave a 20-minute talk at a product design conference organized by Ty Ahmad-Taylor (CEO of FanFeedr) and Hard Candy Shell (the talk shared the same title as this post). I discussed mistakes and lessons from Aprizi’s journey. I don’t think it was videotaped, so I am going to take advantage of this flight to California to write …