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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.
The new year brings with it a new 37signals employee. Welcome aboard Jeffrey!
The first step with any new hire? Keeping things secure. Here’s where we begin…
1. Use encrypted mail for 37signals stuff. For Mail.app users: If you don’t already have a client certificate installed, you can use this guide.
2. We use Adium (for it’s encryption) for IM so we can throw around passwords and other sensitive data.
3. We use encrypted disk images for source code. I think everyone here uses Knox for that.
My Macbook Pro has had multiple battery problems this year. It’s been a bummer but the genius bar at the SoHo store has helped immensely. I scheduled my appointments in advance using the online reservation system, received help from friendly staffers, and was given two brand new batteries at no charge. I was annoyed by the problems, but the level of support definitely helped turn a negative situation into one that at least makes me feel like Apple’s got my back. It’s really reassuring to know I can go somewhere and get instant help if/when the shit hits the fan.
According to “Inside Apple Stores, a Certain Aura Enchants the Faithful,” I’m not alone in feeling this way. The article describes how personal attention is driving tons of growth at Apple’s stores.
(Some numbers: Apple’s stock is up nearly 135 percent for the year. 20 percent of its revenue comes from its physical stores and that number is growing: The stores accounted for $1.25 billion of Apple’s $6.2 billion in revenues in 2007’s fourth quarter, a 42 percent increase over the previous year.)
The article suggests attentive staff may be the stores’ secret weapon.
Continued…But the secret formula may be the personal attention paid to customers by sales staff. Relentlessly smiling employees roam the floor, carrying hand-held terminals for instant credit-card swiping. Technicians work behind the so-called genius bar, ministering to customers’ ailing iPods, MacBooks and iPhones. Others, designated “personal trainers,” give one-on-one instruction and lead workshops.
Personal shoppers are available by appointment, and last month the company took the concept of personalized service to a new level, with concierge teams stationed throughout each store.
“They’ve become the Nordstrom of technology,” said Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director at Jupiter Research, referring to the department store that is known for its service.
Ron Johnson, Apple’s senior vice president for retail, said he believed the high level of service played a large role in the success of the stores.
“The idea is that while people love to come to retail stores, and they do it all the time, what they really appreciate the most is that undivided personal attention,” Mr. Johnson said. The result is far fewer qualms among consumers about paying premium prices: $30 for an iPhone case, $200 for an iPod Nano or $1,200 for a computer.
CBS News Forums
Scott Schwartz pointed out some interesting copy at the CBS News site. This is the text that precedes the comments section of a story:
Now you’re in the public comment zone. What follows is not CBS News stuff; it comes from other people and we don’t vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.
Simple and to the point. And here’s the Rules Of Engagement:
People who want to post comments on CBSNews.com are going to have to follow our rules. We know that not all forums are like that, but this one is.
There’s legal language nearby. Here’s the plain English: no libel, slander, no lying, no fabricating, no swearing at all, no words that teenagers use a lot that some people think aren’t swearing but we do, no insulting groups or individuals, no ethnic slurs and/or epithets, no religious bigotry, no threats of any kind, no bathroom humor, no comparing anyone to Hitler, Stalin or Pol Pot. We expect heated, robust debate, but comments should be polite and civil. We consider this to be public space so behave and write accordingly.
Yes, what is not allowable is subjective. CBSNews.com absolutely reserve the right to remove posts we think break any of the rules or the spirit of the rules and we reserve the right to ban individuals from commenting. We will use language filtering programs to block certain words and we will use human editing too.
Comments should be limited to the topic of the original posting. This is not the place for private conversations, no matter how innocent.
We require everyone who comments to register and provide a real e-mail address. No exceptions. And posting comments is not the same thing as complaining to CBS News or notifying CBS News of a problem – legally, there’s a big difference.
Very important: if you see a comment that you feel is inappropriate, let us know by clicking on the “comment complaint” or “report this complaint” button.
As Scott says, “Legalese be gone. And they know Godwin’s Law to boot!”
Peerless Faucet instructions
François Beausoleil writes: “I just bought a Peerless faucet, and they have instructions on how to uninstall your existing one.” (Viewable at FaucetCoach.com.)
Neil Wilson asks:
’”Get Ink” is the fundamental marketing mantra. You guys are natural self-promoters. What do you find is the best way of getting your name in the frame?
10 ideas that come to mind when I think about ways to get people to notice you/your product:
1. Provide something of value. The first step is recognizing that marketing is asking for someone else’s time and attention. You need to provide something worthy of those valuable commodities. So keep your message brief and interesting. When you educate or entertain other people, they’ll pay attention. If you bore them, they won’t.
2. Know your hook. Imagine you are a reporter who wants to write an article about your company. What’s the hook? What’s the angle that will be interesting to someone who normally wouldn’t care about your software? We’ve got a lot of mileage in the press out of staying small and focusing on “less.” What’s unique about your story?
3. Stand for something. Know and expose your company’s philosophy and mantras. 37signals started with a manifesto back when we launched as a design firm. Even though it’s from 1999 and our company has evolved a ton since then, you can see the seeds of many of our current ideas there. That sort of belief foundation will help guide you (and others) to your story.
4. Get your face out there. It’s tempting to think you can do it all from a keyboard. But emails are a poor substitute for real, face-to-face interactions. Go to conferences and meetups, take someone you admire out to lunch, etc. It’s ok to “network” — just don’t be a douche about it. Which leads to…
5. Try to build real, sustained relationships. Actually be a friend instead of a guy trying to get something. Keep your interactions human (a sincere, honest note will go a lot further than a buzzwordy press release). Seek out ways to help others. It’ll all come back to you.
6. It’s the message, not the amount you spend on it. Companies that spend tons of ad/PR dollars to convince people their products are worthwhile are like guys who spend lots of money on gifts and dinners to woo a woman. What kind of relationship are they really building? Successful customer relationships are like any other long-term relationship: They start with a foundation of communication and showing you care about the other person.
7. Give stuff away for free. (I don’t think this contradicts the previous point but maybe?) People love free. Offer a free version of your product, provide coupon codes, etc. Whenever we include a coupon code in a newsletter, there’s a big uptick in upgrades.
8. Ride the wave. Seek momentum and ride it. Is everyone buzzing about the iPhone? Then make an iPhone app. Are people interested in rapid development processes? Then blog about building your app in, say, under a month. Find out what people are talking about already and then figure out a way to get in the picture.
9. Be in it for the long haul. Recognize that promotion, like other aspects of building a company, takes time and effort. If you’re starting from scratch, you have to claw your way up. It’s uncanny how many “overnight success stories” you hear about are actually people who busted their asses for years to get into the position where something might take off. Don’t expect instant recognition.
10. Be undeniably good. Steve Martin was on Charlie Rose last week. At the very end, he gave his advice to someone who’s trying to make it in any field: “Be undeniably good.”
When people ask me how do you make it in show business or whatever, what I always tell them — And nobody ever takes note of it ‘cuz it’s not the answer they wanted to hear. What they want to hear is here’s how you get an agent, here’s how you write a script, here’s how you do this — But I always say, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” If somebody’s thinking, “How can I be really good?”, people are going to come to you. It’s much easier doing it that way than going to cocktail parties.
That’s some good advice. Go out and make something that kicks ass and people will notice.
Related: Check out the “Promotion” chapter in Getting Real.
Got a question for us? Please send it along to svn [at] 37signals dot com and use the subject “Ask 37signals”.
Google Gets Ready to Rumble With Microsoft provides an interesting look at how Google develops new apps.
Grand Prix, the company’s new iPhone app (screenshots), took six weeks from conception to launch. This excerpt mentions one of the company’s favorite mantras: “Nothing speaks louder than code.”
Early this month, Google released new cellphone software, with the code-name Grand Prix. A project that took just six weeks to complete, Grand Prix allows for fast and easy access to Google services like search, Gmail and calendars through a stripped-down mobile phone browser. (For now, it is tailored for iPhone browsers, but the plan is to make it work on other mobile browsers as well.)
Grand Prix was born when a Google engineer, tinkering on his own one weekend, came up with prototype code and e-mailed it to Vic Gundotra, a Google executive who oversees mobile products. Mr. Gundotra then showed the prototype to Mr. Schmidt, who in turn mentioned it to Mr. Brin. In about an hour, Mr. Brin came to look at the prototype.
“Sergey was really supportive,” recalls Mr. Gundotra, saying that Mr. Brin was most intrigued by the “engineering tricks” employed. After that, Mr. Gundotra posted a message on Google’s internal network, asking employees who owned iPhones to test the prototype. Such peer review is common at Google, which has an engineering culture in which a favorite mantra is “nothing speaks louder than code.”
Some other interesting bits: Since Google moves so fast, people are routinely offered jobs there without being told what they will be doing.
Continued…Another draw is Google’s embrace of experimentation and open-ended job assignments. Recent college graduates are routinely offered jobs at Google without being told what they will be doing. The company does this partly to keep corporate secrets locked up, but often it also doesn’t know what new hires will be doing.
Christophe Bisciglia, a 27-year-old engineer, qualifies as a seasoned veteran at Google, having worked there for four years. Mr. Bisciglia has done a lot of college recruiting in the last two years and has interviewed more than 100 candidates. “We look for smart generalists, who we can be confident can fulfill any need we have,” he explains. “We hire someone, and who knows what need we’ll have when that person shows up six months later? We move so fast.”
Sequoia
Sequoia, the guys who funded Apple, Google, and YouTube, have a no-frills site. It stands out from the typical flashy, fancy, or salesy VC firm site.
1-800-GOT-JUNK
Vincent Hubert writes:
Have a look at the bottom of the page here: 1-800-GOT-JUNK
You want to have a clue on how much clutter you have? Just click on the truck ratio, and you will see the amount of junk it represents.
This is the fourth in a series of posts showing how we use Campfire as our virtual office. All screenshots shown are from real usage and were taken during one week in September.
This time we’ll take a look at how we use Campfire to help us write copy for our apps, marketing sites, blogs, etc.
Collect ideas for copy
Jason asks for suggestions about a blog post he’s writing. Ryan, Mark, and Sam offer up some ideas.
Suggest a copy change
Jason suggests adding a message to an app that says, “Upload photo, one moment…”
This post at The Onion’s A.V. Club blog rails against “Everything Sucksism.”
Another reason I’m pursuing this project is to refute what I like to call the “Everything Sucksism” afflicting popular culture, a cheap adolescent nihilism that delights in taking down celebrities and pop-culture entities that are already walking punchlines. “Everything Sucksism” reigns on E! and VH-1, where seemingly half the shows (especially those with “Awesomely Bad” in the title) consist of anonymous C-listers making agonizingly banal, snidely delivered comments about tacky celebrities and failed projects. Boy, that K-Fed isn’t a very good rapper! That Britney Spears sure is unencumbered by excesses of dignity and intelligence! Isn’t Paris Hilton worthless!? Wasn’t hair-metal lame?! Milli Vanilli sure was cheesy! And what’s up with The Macarena? What were we thinking?
Everything sucksism is ugly, it’s cheap, it contributes nothing of value to popular culture and worst of all, it’s not funny. Everything sucksism reduces all of human endeavor to a cheap punchline.
Good stuff. But am I the only one who thinks this is a bit pot-kettle-black coming from The Onion? You know, the publication that runs, in the A.V. Club section, a column called “The Hater” — which hates on celebs — and each week features “The Tolerability Index” (“A Guide To What We’re Barely Putting Up With This Week”).
Because, you know, that’s the spectrum of opinions: tolerable to unbearable. God forbid you actually like something. Thank goodness The Onion’s staying away from “anonymous C-listers making agonizingly banal, snidely delivered comments about tacky celebrities and failed projects.”
The Sound of Young America’s Odd Ends episode features an interview with Kasper Hauser, a San Francisco comedy sketch group. In it, they offer up some hilarious examples of screwing with Craigslist scammers: Listen to the excerpt (MP3) or check out the whole episode of the podcast (KH is at the beginning).
If you dig that, more KH: KHraigslist is the group’s collection of fake Craigslist ads. And they also have a SkyMaul spoof catalog (it’s a book too).
Actionhead Studios
Actionhead Studios is a nice little web studio site.
Salad vs. Big Mac
This graphic on food subsidies packs a punch. (source)
Meetup
Meetup.com’s job section offers this sidebar graphic which quickly shows potential applicants the company’s tide is rising.
Have an interesting link, story, or screenshot for Signal vs. Noise? Contact svn [at] 37signals [dot] com.