Wordle generates “word clouds” from text that you provide. Nico Nabholz made this one from the text in Getting Real.
About Matt Linderman
Now: The creator of Vooza, "the Spinal Tap of startups." Previously: Employee #1 at 37signals and co-author of the books Rework and Getting Real.
Advice to carmaker CEOs driving hybrids to DC (instead of private jets)
“If they were very smart, the CEOs would drive unreleased, next-generation cars that get 100 MPG. They’d stop in a half-dozen towns along the way and invite a newspaper editorial board writer to ride shotgun for a dozen miles. They’d update their status on Twitter. They’d write a few posts for the company blog. They’d shoot video on a Flip camera and talk about how they screwed up at their first appearance, how they’re selling their fleet of corporate jets, and their plans for the future. If they behave like real people instead of CEO machines, they might arrive in D.C. backed by some pretty good word of mouth. In other words, they would prove that in these recessionary times they know what it means to be entrepreneurial, not imperial.”
Multicolr Search Lab: “We extracted the colours from 10 million of the most ‘interesting’ Creative Commons images on Flickr. Using our visual similarity technology you can navigate the collection by colour.” Above = photos with yellow and green.
The Art of the Title Sequence: a great site for opening credits aficionados.
"37signals is the (Lotus, iPhone, Disney) of software"
Recently we asked commenters here how they would describe 37signals to average civilians in 20 seconds or less. A quick recap below:
A lot of people turned to analogy. Some things 37signals is like…
“Just like you can use Gmail for email without installing Outlook on your computer, you can use our stuff to run your small business without installing anything on your computer.”
“If Steve Jobs was in the online apps market, his company would be 37signals.”
“A giant filofax in the sky.”
“The Lotus (cars) of business software. We build lean, compact solutions to business needs. Just like a Lotus, we’re great with everything you need, and we jettison away all the crap you don’t.”
“We do web based stuff like google, amazon or ebay. Except we focus on tools to manage projects, todo’s, sharing documents and contacts and working together – simple stuff that most people and businesses need. At 37 Signals – the BIG DEAL is simplicity. Up, running and effective in minutes.”
“You know the iPhone? It’s gotten all this attention for being so elegant, practical, and kind of fun to use. Imagine if the software you used at work were like that. You know, your project management and organization tools. Fewer menus, more results, kind of fun to use. We make software for the web that’s like that.”
“We are the Disney of software.”
A chunk of people thought we should get salty:
Continued…“We are doing anti-management kickass software.”
“37signals – we help people get their $#!+ together.”
“We take the sh out of IT.”
“37Signals makes products that take the bullshit out of communication so you can communicate.”
“P-roject management done right
I-ntranets for anyone
M-essaging that works
P-eople tracking on a whole n’uther level
S-implified for real”
Make a reservation at OpenTable and the confirmation screen smartly offers to send a custom invite to your other dinner guests.
Pizza pie charts from The Economist’s “Get a World View” campaign. Philly pizzerias distributed the boxes which display pie charts with statistics related to world food distribution, emphasizing those used in pizza production (e.g. global wheat consumption, world cheese imports, arable crop land, etc.).
“Origamized” Basecamp logo
Blue lobster caught off coast of Scotland: “Blue lobsters are caused by a genetic defect. Rather than containing the pigments that combine to make the normal olive green and brown colour, the shell contains only a blue pigment.” [thanks HLO]
This crisis is as much about values, trust, and business integrity as it is about declining stock prices and limited credit. Be sure to remind your colleagues, your customers, and the world at large why what you do matters, why you started the company in the first place, and what kind of impact you’re trying to have on the world. Here’s a question I always ask CEOs to think about: “If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would miss you and why?” Well, since plenty of companies may go out of business, remind everyone around you why staying in business matters.
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Bill Taylor on why you should reassert your mission statement (from Dollars and Sense — Worthwhile Moves for Tough Times)
Bill Taylor on why you should reassert your mission statement (from Dollars and Sense — Worthwhile Moves for Tough Times)