<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <rss
version="2.0"
xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
> <channel><title>chrisfriedland.com</title> <atom:link href="http://chrisfriedland.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /><link>http://chrisfriedland.com</link> <description></description> <lastBuildDate>Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:51:27 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency> <generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1</generator> <item><title>Expanding Chico Air Options</title><link>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/expanding-chico-air-options/</link> <comments>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/expanding-chico-air-options/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:34:57 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>chris</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Chris]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://chrisfriedland.com/?p=721</guid> <description><![CDATA[<a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/expanding-chico-air-options/"><img
align="left" hspace="5" width="150" height="150" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/UAL-CRJ-150x150.png" class="alignleft tfe wp-post-image" alt="UAL-CRJ" /></a>As part of the Chico Economic Stewardship forum last February, one topic that emerged as a major inhibitor of economic prosperity locally was the lack of air services in and out of Chico. With no disrespect to the airport personnel or the carrier, our flight to San Francisco is frequently delayed due to weather. This [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/expanding-chico-air-options/attachment/ual-crj/" rel="attachment wp-att-722"><img
class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-722" title="UAL-CRJ" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/UAL-CRJ-300x200.png" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a></p><p>As part of the Chico Economic Stewardship forum last February, one topic that<br
/> emerged as a major inhibitor of economic prosperity locally was the lack of air<br
/> services in and out of Chico. With no disrespect to the airport personnel or the<br
/> carrier, our flight to San Francisco is frequently delayed due to weather. This<br
/> recurring delay prevents the flight from being a viable and dependable traveling<br
/> option, and complicates doing business in Chico.</p><p>I’ve met with a number of prominent local business people and institutions and we<br
/> all agree on one thing: reliable air transportation is a fundamental building block<br
/> towards making Chico a more desirable place to do business. Economic prosperity<br
/> isn’t a single thing, but instead a hundred little things—and we believe reliable air<br
/> service is key.</p><p>Today I’m meeting with the Air Service Development board in Chico from 5:30 p.m.-<br
/> 6:30 p.m. I’m striving to be the change I’d like to see in the world by helping them<br
/> form a fellowship to convince a carrier to offer flights to and from LAX. The idea<br
/> is that a Chico-to-LAX flight won’t suffer the regular weather delays Chico-to-SFO<br
/> does. We also believe the flight could be economically viable by intercepting the<br
/> traffic to Disneyland by families who’d otherwise fly out of Sacramento. All is still in<br
/> discussion at this point, but we’re heading in the right direction.</p><p>I would appreciate you using your Facebook account to make a comment in support<br
/> of expanding air service out of Chico at the bottom of my post. Thank you, Chico!</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/expanding-chico-air-options/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Startup Weekend In Chico</title><link>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/startup-weekend-in-chico/</link> <comments>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/startup-weekend-in-chico/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:58:49 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>chris</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Chris]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://chrisfriedland.com/?p=707</guid> <description><![CDATA[<a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/startup-weekend-in-chico/"><img
align="left" hspace="5" width="150" height="150" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/JumpStartPromo-150x150.png" class="alignleft tfe wp-post-image" alt="JumpStartPromo" /></a>One of my favorite CSU Chico professors ( Peter Straus ) is hosting a Startup Weekend IN CHICO next week. Yes, I&#8217;ll be there, but you should be there too. All Programmers / Finance People / Marketers / Engineers / Designers - All with a burning passion to start their own companies or be involved [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of my favorite CSU Chico professors ( <a
href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/peter-straus/4/821/b74">Peter Straus</a> ) is hosting a Startup Weekend IN CHICO next week. Yes, I&#8217;ll be there, but you should be there too. All Programmers / Finance People / Marketers / Engineers / Designers -</p><p><a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/startup-weekend-in-chico/attachment/jumpstartpromo/" rel="attachment wp-att-710"><img
class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-710" title="JumpStartPromo" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/JumpStartPromo-271x300.png" alt="" width="271" height="300" /></a></p><p>All with a burning passion to start their own companies or be involved in a startup  are welcome and should attend.</p><p>Here is the bump they asked me to pitch:<br
/> &#8220;Jumpstart Chico will be an amazing opportunity for all inspired and entrepreneurial-minded students and members of the community. This event, inspired by Startup Weekend – see <a
href="http://startupweeked.org/" target="_blank">startupweeked.org</a> for details &#8211; which lasts for 36 hours, will start with ideas being presented by participants on Friday evening, April 20<sup>th</sup>.</p><p>After the top ideas and concepts are selected all participants will break out into project teams for the remainder of the event.  It is not required to bring an idea to the event. Working on a team will be a very rewarding experience. At the end of the event each team will present their concept and work before a panel of judges of entrepreneurs, local business people and perhaps a VC or two. There will be cash prizes for the winners; plus, free food for all!  In fact all food, four meals, plus all the coffee you can drink will be made available.</p><p>What you put in is what you will get out of this experience. JumpStart will take place April 20<sup>th</sup> and 21<sup>st</sup>; will cost $29 for students and $59 for non-students. This is an event for people who crave action; not just talk. As an added bonus all teams, and their resulting project will receive a free app from <a
href="http://biznessapps.com/" target="_blank">biznessapps.com</a>; a tremendous value. The event will be held at Chico’s Innovation Lab, 345 Huss Drive, in the Hegan Lane Business Park. Visit <a
href="http://www.chicocea.org/" target="_blank">www.chicocea.org</a> for details and registration.&#8221;</p><p>So sign up and put it on your calendar NOW!</p><p>Still not sold? Here are a few cool videos describing Startup Weekend as well:</p><p><iframe
src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3Agjf0xLnws" frameborder="0" width="420" height="315"></iframe></p><p><iframe
src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/thWuppIGw6Y" frameborder="0" width="560" height="315"></iframe></p><p>Oh, and the attachments as well:</p><p><a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/startup-weekend-in-chico/attachment/jumpstart-weekend-faqs-rev-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-709">JumpStart Weekend FAQ</a></p><p><a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/startup-weekend-in-chico/attachment/jumpstart-registration-form-rev-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-708">JumpStart Registration Form</a></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/startup-weekend-in-chico/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Save 30 Minutes A Day</title><link>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/unsubscribe-bulk-mail/</link> <comments>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/unsubscribe-bulk-mail/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:21:00 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>chris</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Chris]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://chrisfriedland.com/?p=685</guid> <description><![CDATA[<a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/unsubscribe-bulk-mail/"><img
align="left" hspace="5" width="150" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Lite-SPAM-300x251.png" class="alignleft wp-post-image tfe" alt="" title="Lite-SPAM" /></a>I&#8217;m constantly trying to make my day more efficient. Email is a double edged sword &#8211; efficient to communicate with, but much like the telephone, if you spend too much time in email and not working on higher level tasks, you end up being less efficient. As I&#8217;ve posted before I&#8217;m a huge fan of GTD but [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m constantly trying to make my day more efficient.</p><p>Email is a double edged sword &#8211; efficient to communicate with, but much like the telephone, if you spend too much time in email and not working on higher level tasks, you end up being less efficient.</p><p>As I&#8217;ve posted before I&#8217;m a huge fan of <a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/build-dot-com/get-yourself-organized-with-gtd-toodledo/" target="_blank">GTD</a> but no matter what we all find ourselves looking at our email more often than we should.</p><p>Google and Outlook seem to have solved the majority of the SPAM problem, as I get very little spam in my inbox these days, but I get a dirty variation, lets call it SPAM LIGHT?</p><p><a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/?attachment_id=627" rel="attachment wp-att-627"><img
class="alignleft" title="Lite-SPAM" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Lite-SPAM-300x251.png" alt="" width="300" height="251" /></a></p><p>What is SPAM LIGHT? It is those emails which are from my beloved retail friends or vendors or whoever who interrupt my day with a bulk email message which I don&#8217;t really want to deal with RIGHT NOW.</p><p>I get at least 50 emails a day with a great special on something or new product I just HAVE to try. While I probably asked or agreed to get this SPAM LIGHT, its a nuisance, just as much as unsubscribing to everything or maintaining a burner email for purchases.</p><p>I call this stuff SPAM LIGHT but some of it is actually good and worth reading, just not exactly when I receive it. Thanks to CAN SPAM law, along with a little genius on my part. I&#8217;m going to save you 30 minutes a day of wasting time on this stuff with a little trick I figured out. Its called Bulk Mail + Unsubscribe.</p><p>I figured out that if you simply create a filter to pile all your SPAM LIGHT into, and have it skip your inbox by simply filtering for the word &#8220;unsubscribe&#8221; you catch about 95% of this stuff, and then you can read through it on your own when you have time.</p><p><em><strong>DISCLAIMER: These are instructions for Gmail or Gmail for Domains, I&#8217;m sure it can be done with Hotmail/Yahoo/Exchange but I don&#8217;t use that so you&#8217;re on your own to figure that out. If you do, please post for the other saps not on Gmail or a Gmail variant.</strong></em></p><p>So, hows it done? Pretty simply really. Here are a few step by step instructions on how to do this with Gmail.</p><p><em><strong>1. First, go into your Gmail settings by clicking the little gear in the upper right.<br
/> </strong></em><em><strong>( for this example I&#8217;m on Gmail for domains )</strong></em></p><p><img
title="Screen Shot 2012-03-12 at 11.34.47 PM" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Screen-Shot-2012-03-12-at-11.34.47-PM.png" alt="" width="507" height="131" /></p><p><em><strong>2. In mail settings, click on Labels and create a label called &#8220;Bulk Mail&#8221;</strong></em></p><p><img
title="Screen Shot 2012-03-12 at 11.30.30 PM" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Screen-Shot-2012-03-12-at-11.30.30-PM.png" alt="" width="322" height="174" /></p><p><em><strong>3. In settings go to filters and  create a filter for the word &#8220;unsubscribe&#8221;.</strong></em></p><p><img
title="Screen Shot 2012-03-12 at 11.30.46 PM" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Screen-Shot-2012-03-12-at-11.30.46-PM.png" alt="" width="486" height="298" /></p><p><em><strong>4. Now make sure we have all your &#8220;unsubscribe&#8221; email skip your inbox and find its way to the new &#8220;Bulk Mail&#8221; pseudofolder you&#8217;ve created for yourself and apply it to all your existing SPAM LITE as well.</strong></em></p><p><img
title="Screen Shot 2012-03-12 at 11.31.00 PM" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Screen-Shot-2012-03-12-at-11.31.00-PM.png" alt="" width="390" height="412" /></p><p><em><strong>5. Tada! Now enjoy having a real inbox, along with a secondary inbox for your coupons.</strong></em></p><p><img
title="Screen Shot 2012-03-12 at 11.29.54 PM" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Screen-Shot-2012-03-12-at-11.29.54-PM.png" alt="" width="171" height="282" /></p><p>This will guaranteed save you at least a full day this year, enjoy some of that extra day doing something really nice for yourself, like buying something from <a
href="http://www.build.com" target="_blank">Build.com</a>, then downloading the glorious <a
href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coffee-table-catalog-shopping/id365822347?mt=8" target="_blank">Coffee Table application</a>, rating it 5 stars, and buying something wonderful from there as well.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/unsubscribe-bulk-mail/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Build.com vs Louis Vuitton Customer Service</title><link>http://chrisfriedland.com/build-dot-com/build-com-vs-louis-vuitton-customer-service/</link> <comments>http://chrisfriedland.com/build-dot-com/build-com-vs-louis-vuitton-customer-service/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:50:19 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>chris</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Build.com]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Chris]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Customer]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://chrisfriedland.com/?p=606</guid> <description><![CDATA[<a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/build-dot-com/build-com-vs-louis-vuitton-customer-service/"><img
align="left" hspace="5" width="150" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/louis-vuitton-fake-82008-1.jpeg" class="alignleft wp-post-image tfe" alt="" title="louis-vuitton" /></a>So it finally had to happen. My wife fell in love with a Louis Vuitton purse on a shopping trip. Melissa is traditionally hard on things, and with three kids, she&#8217;s very considerate of not paying too much for an individual item since things wear out fast around the Friedland household. Low and behold, we [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So it finally had to happen. My wife fell in love with a Louis Vuitton purse on a shopping trip. Melissa is traditionally hard on things, and with three kids, she&#8217;s very considerate of not paying too much for an individual item since things wear out fast around the Friedland household. Low and behold, we were getting close to Xmas day , and absent another really &#8220;thoughtful&#8221; creative idea, I figured I&#8217;d get her splurge and buy the $X,XXX status symbol.</p><p>I have no problem spending money on fancy things, a wise man once told me you can&#8217;t separate cost from quality.</p><p>I&#8217;ll give them A &#8220;B&#8221; on web user experience. I maneuvered through the checkout process, and after a few bugaboos, was the proud owner of Melissa&#8217;s xmas present. Arrived in good condition on time, all wrapped and under the tree. On the unveiling, Melissa was just as shocked. All working to plan, except it wasn&#8217;t quite the model she wanted&#8230;. No emotion on my part, the money was spent as far as I was concerned. Lets get the woman what she wants!</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t until she made the trek to return the purchase at their brick and mortar location is where the wheels started falling off the wagon.</p><p>Not to toot my own horn, but I&#8217;ve stayed at some fine resorts and hotels, and also been a long time customer of customer service great <a
href="http://www.nordstroms.com">Nordstroms</a>. The stuff these luxury chains put up with to maintain their impeccable margins is sometimes staggering. I&#8217;m a pretty reasonable client, but I&#8217;ve seen these firms bend over backwards to keep their customers happy. Hense luxury right? When you&#8217;re buying a vinyl bag for 1000&#8242;s of dollars, you expect to be treated like a prince / princess?</p><p>Not so much.</p><p>The salesperson explained that she couldn&#8217;t do the return without the original credit card ( receipt was available ) and that she couldn&#8217;t credit it back or do an exchange.</p><p>Melissa &#8220;How about you just take the return and ship it back to the online store, we&#8217;ll pay for shipping&#8221;<br
/> LV Nicole &#8220;Sorry, its against policy.&#8221;</p><p>This is where I get the call from the store from Melissa looking for help.</p><p>Chris &#8221; Nicole, this is Melissa&#8217;s husband, can you just accept the return, we&#8217;ll pay for the other purse, credit us later, just send it back, we&#8217;ll pay for return shipping. I can email you a photo of the credit card I used. ( not smart BTW) &#8221;</p><p>At this point, I could tell Nicole not only felt bad but was nervous and said she was constrained by &#8220;policy.&#8221;  Policy&#8230;.</p><p>So I asked to speak to her manager, Sandra. Sandra would not take my call&#8211; even worse wouldn&#8217;t even talk to my wife in the store. My wife left the store with the purse she didn&#8217;t want, feeling like a second class citizen.</p><p>I called to complain to the 800 number and was greeted by &#8220;Jennifer&#8221; who did the best job she could to de-escalate me and provided the same service level that should have been given in the store. Jennifer was great, but too late, the experience was ruined. The whole experience ruined my wife&#8217;s day, my day, and made us do the exact opposite that Louis Vuitton intends to do, made us feel like less of people.</p><p>So she sulked back into the open and welcome arms of Nordstroms and overpaid for one of their purses, where she was greeted with friendly smiles and non draconian return policies. Next time we want to get stupid with a purchase, we&#8217;ll maybe try Hermes.</p><p>When things like this happen, it makes me even more proud to have been a part in developing the culture we have here at Build.com.</p><p>Couple known mantras are :</p><p>1. No one has ever gotten fired for trying to help the customer, even if is against policy.<br
/> 2. Open escalation. ( We don&#8217;t always get it right, but I&#8217;m a pretty easy guy to find if things go that sideways. )<br
/> 3. Revenue is the most important thing, but without an exceptional customer service, you won&#8217;t find your way to more revenue.</p><p>So, while Build.com may not sell $1000.00 handbags, we do sell $30,000.00 <a
href="http://www.build.com/herbeau-0711-medicis-6-foot-copper-free-standing-soaking-tub-with-center-drain/p677414">bathtubs</a> and if you choose to buy one from us, I can promise your experience to be as impressive as the Louis Vuitton experience presents itself to be.</p><p>So Dear Louis Vuitton, I&#8217;m a believer in redemption, please reach out to me and explain how you&#8217;ve fixed your &#8220;policy&#8221; to accommodate a more customer forward approach, and I&#8217;ll repost and gleam your praises&#8230;</p><p>And until then, I&#8217;ll find my own way to glorify your brand. <img
src='http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /></p><p><img
class="alignleft size-full wp-image-614" title="louis-vuitton" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/louis-vuitton-fake-82008-1.jpeg" alt="" width="500" height="300" /></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://chrisfriedland.com/build-dot-com/build-com-vs-louis-vuitton-customer-service/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Future You</title><link>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/future-yo/</link> <comments>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/future-yo/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:31:54 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>chris</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Chris]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Family Life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Fitness]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Food]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://chrisfriedland.com/?p=595</guid> <description><![CDATA[<a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/future-yo/"><img
align="left" hspace="5" width="150" height="150" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Do_not_open_until_19851-150x150.png" class="alignleft wp-post-image tfe" alt="" title="Do_not_open_until_1985" /></a>Most of us set some bullshit new years resolution, most of the time around losing weight or making more money. Whatever your future vision of yourself is you&#8217;re trying to accomplish is, without some modicum of accountability you are impairing your chances of success. What I like to do is to write myself a letter to be [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Most of us set some bullshit new years resolution, most of the time around losing weight or making more money.</p><p>Whatever your future vision of yourself is you&#8217;re trying to accomplish is, without some modicum of accountability you are impairing your chances of success.</p><p>What I like to do is to write myself a letter to be opened next year around what I want the &#8220;Future Chris&#8221; to look like. The process forces me to organize my thoughts around health, family, business, interpersonal relationships, money, et cetera.</p><p>This exercise &#8220;frames&#8221; up the next 12 months for me. I&#8217;d recommend you do the same.</p><p>The 1.0 way to do this, is to draft yourself a letter, seal it in an envelope, hide it somewhere, and put a note on your calendar to open it December 26th 2012.</p><p>The 2.0 way I like to do it is through <a
title="FutureMe.org" href="http://www.futureme.org" target="_blank">FutureMe.org</a>, a great little free service which allows you to draft yourself a note to be emailed to you on a specific date.</p><p>While I won&#8217;t share exactly all of my 2012 goals are with you, I can tell you that sitting down and writing it gave me some great clarity on not only what I want to be doing in 2012, but what i DONT want to be doing as well.</p><p>The closest way to predict your own future is to decide on it today and create it.</p><p><img
class="alignleft size-full wp-image-601" title="Do_not_open_until_1985" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Do_not_open_until_19851.png" alt="" width="450" height="253" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/future-yo/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Evaluating Talent &#8211; A&#8217;s B&#8217;s and C&#8217;s</title><link>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/evaluating-talent-as-bs-and-cs/</link> <comments>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/evaluating-talent-as-bs-and-cs/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:15:12 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>chris</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Chris]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Entrepreneurship]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://chrisfriedland.com/?p=573</guid> <description><![CDATA[<a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/evaluating-talent-as-bs-and-cs/"><img
align="left" hspace="5" width="150" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/abc-blocks-300x291.png" class="alignleft wp-post-image tfe" alt="" title="abc-blocks" /></a>After I sold my company in 2007 I was solicited by a guy named Mark Helow to join a CEO peer group called 10xceo. http://www.10xceo.com/ Coming off of what was a very lucrative sale, I felt as if I was the smartest guy in the world, what could I gain from a CEO peer group? [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After I sold my company in 2007 I was solicited by a guy named Mark Helow to join a CEO peer group called 10xceo.</p><p><a
title="http://www.10xceo.com/" href="http://www.10xceo.com/members.html" target="_blank">http://www.10xceo.com/</a></p><p>Coming off of what was a very lucrative sale, I felt as if I was the smartest guy in the world, what could I gain from a CEO peer group?</p><p>In fact, I saw it as charity work. I would be donating my valuable time and insights to a bunch of chumps who needed my help. After a multi-call interview process Mark said he thought I would &#8220;qualify&#8221; to be part of a group. Qualify? Did this guy not have any idea who he was talking to?</p><p>So, I find myself flying over Utah on my way to my first meeting in Colorado thinking, &#8220;how did I get talked into this?&#8221;</p><p>So after I got settled, and made my way to my first meeting and went through Mark&#8217;s process, I found myself not as the brilliant entrepreneur who just engineered a great exit, but  as one of the more mediocre CEO&#8217;s in the room.</p><p>Jackpot.</p><p>It took me probably about 9 months before I started pulling my weight in the group, but I can tell you that my membership over the last 3 years has paid for itself in spades. That plus I&#8217;m now I feel as if I&#8217;m giving back as much or more than I&#8217;ve been receiving.</p><p>I could write a diatribe on all our learnings and principles. Such as the top 3 priorities of a CEO, but I wanted to talk about something which I think should be communicated with employees at all levels of your company which was transformative for me.</p><p>One of the most important things we can do is to make sure that we have the very best teams, and while there are a lot of different schools of thought on the subject, it was the concept of a quick gut check measurement of employees by ranking them as  A&#8217;s, B&#8217;s, and C&#8217;s which really resonated with me. Not only was it simple to understand, but simple to communicate to others. I wanted to take a moment to share this little gem with you if you aren&#8217;t familiar with it.</p><p>( I don&#8217;t address D&#8217;s or F&#8217;s because if you have them in your company, go fire them RIGHT NOW and then finish reading this article. )</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/evaluating-talent-as-bs-and-cs/attachment/abc-blocks/" rel="attachment wp-att-574"><img
class="size-medium wp-image-574 alignleft" title="abc-blocks" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/abc-blocks-300x291.png" alt="" width="210" height="204" /></a>So, in evaluating talent there are all sorts of surveys, reviews, qualitative and quantitative ways to judge if someone is a top performer or not.</p><p>I think the A,B,C approach simplifies them all.</p><p>As a competent CEO/VP/Director/Manager you probably think you know your &#8220;A&#8221; players are along with who your &#8220;B&#8221; players and &#8220;C&#8221; players are right? In fact, your &#8220;A&#8221; players probably feel pretty secure in their positions and you lean on them to get work done. Your B players make up the backbone of your business and get the day to day work done, while C players need supervision and help.</p><p>I&#8217;d like to create a tighter definition of what these labels mean in a framework I learned in a 10X CEO meeting a few years back and share it with you. In fact I think you should share it with your company as well and let them qualitatively evaluate themselves.<br
/> First lets go bottom up in defining what a &#8220;C&#8221; employee is and what to do with them..</p><p>C employees:</p><ul><li>Are usually hard workers</li><li>Can do good work</li><li>Require supervision</li><li>Need to be managed to stay on task</li><li>Require schedules</li></ul><div>Your first order of business if you have a C reporting into you, is to fire them. You didn&#8217;t hire people to teach them how to be responsible adults. A lack of skill is trainable, a lack of discipline isn&#8217;t. Their parents failed, lets someone else play mommy and daddy &#8211; move on.</div><div>B Employees</div><div><ul><li>Work hard and finish work on established timelines</li><li>Create quality work product</li><li>Works well with others and team</li><li>Reports back problems and is pro-active in getting ahead of timeline changes to projects</li><li>Creative and a pleasure to work with</li></ul></div><p>B employees are your core constituency and should in some cases have A potential. Having a B working for you is great, but you should be working towards turning them into an A or transitioning them out as well.</p><p>Disclaimer:  I would only preface that is if your position in your company isn&#8217;t high level managerial, B&#8217;s make up the basic workforce : The backbone of some companies. For a line worker who plans on staying a line worker forever, a B may be the right fit for the job, but not someone a rockstar like you should be managing.</p><p>A employees</p><ul><li>Are more like mini-entrepreneurs</li><li>They are the change they want to see in the world within the constraints they operate in</li><li>Lead and execute on a vision, don&#8217;t need a directive but can work with one as well</li><li>Never present a problem without a proposed solution</li><li>Most importantly &#8211; recruit, hone, and train OTHER A&#8217;s ( sometimes better than themselves )</li></ul><p>A&#8217;s aren&#8217;t just self motivated, but are the change they want to see in the world &#8212; and probably the most important attribute is their ability to self replicate.</p><p>They recruit, train, and retain other A employees. They aren&#8217;t complacent and are constantly pushing the envelope.</p><p>It sounds so self evident, but so rarely seen in real practice.</p><p>So your homework is first a rough look in the mirror.</p><p>Are you an A, B, or C?</p><p>Figure out where you live today, and work on figuring out where your deficient, and if possible try and find yourself an A to report into even if you&#8217;re not one today, as it would be fait-accompli for you to become an A yourself if you found yourself working for an A&#8230;. Well, I guess you could just end up fired.</p><p>The bad news is that if you already have a team of direct reports and are B&#8217;s or C&#8217;s, you are probably a B or C yourself and unable to identify an A. The good news? Before too long you&#8217;ll be working for the A, so if your enlightened enough to identify them, make a point to be very nice to them now.</p><p>In short, the lengthy performance review and balanced scorecard are about creating documents for HR to justify decision making, but the real evaluation of your team should be as simple as applying the simple criteria as listed above and should also serve as a tool of constant self-reflection where we should ask ourselves whether we exhibiting &#8220;A&#8221; behavior? Are we creating a team of A&#8217;s and leading innovation?</p><p>What is even more powerful, is based on this criteria, employees (who are honest with themselves) can quickly self qualify where they stand as well. I&#8217;ve had performance reviews where people have admitted that they are B&#8217;s, and ask for help on how to exhibit more A behavior.. A lot of which successfully make the jump.</p><p>Add this diatribe to your toolkit and go out and make some magic!</p><p>What do you think about this as a way to evaluate talent? Any suggestions? Leave a comment below.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/evaluating-talent-as-bs-and-cs/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>The Catalog Reinvented &#8211; CoffeeTable for iPad</title><link>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/the-catalog-reinvented-coffeetable-for-ipad/</link> <comments>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/the-catalog-reinvented-coffeetable-for-ipad/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:23:58 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>blogger</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Chris]]></category> <category><![CDATA[CoffeeTable]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Entrepreneurship]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Customer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Web]]></category> <category><![CDATA[app store]]></category> <category><![CDATA[catalog shopping]]></category> <category><![CDATA[catalogue]]></category> <category><![CDATA[iTunes]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online shopping]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://chrisfriedland.com/?p=440</guid> <description><![CDATA[<a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/the-catalog-reinvented-coffeetable-for-ipad/"><img
align="left" hspace="5" width="150" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Coffee-Table--300x217.png" class="alignleft wp-post-image tfe" alt="" title="Coffee Table -" /></a>Do you remember how awesome it was to flip through the Sears catalog in the months leading up to Christmas, fantasizing over all of the great toys locked in the pages? Writing a list to the big fat red guy, including the page number, product number, and price?  Neither do I, but apparently it’s what [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Do you remember how awesome it was to flip through the Sears catalog in the months leading up to Christmas, fantasizing over all of the great toys locked in the pages? Writing a list to the big fat red guy, including the page number, product number, and price?  Neither do I, but apparently it’s what old people used to do.  Along came the internet, and with it the ability to shop virtually – as long as we’re sitting in front of a bulky computer, connected to the web.  With <a
href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coffee-table-catalog-shopping/id365822347?mt=8" target="_blank">CoffeeTable</a>, you can order new luggage from eBags, a new ottoman from Crate and Barrel, or get your lovely a complete yoga outfit from Title Nine – and the only thing you need is your iPad.</p><h2><a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/the-catalog-reinvented-coffeetable-for-ipad/attachment/coffee-table/" rel="attachment wp-att-442"><img
class="size-medium wp-image-442 alignleft" title="Coffee Table -" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Coffee-Table--300x217.png" alt="" width="300" height="217" /></a>Enter CoffeeTable for iPad</h2><p>Flip through the pages of your favorite magazine while you’re watching TV, sitting in a coffee shop, or pretending to watch your kids while they play in the yard.  When you see something you like, all you have to do is touch it.  It’s like going shopping, without the hassle of parking, fighting through lines, and eating in the food court, which means it’s nothing like shopping.  It’s what shopping <em>should </em>be.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>What Does CoffeeTable Do?</h2><p>With CoffeeTable for iPad, you’ve got instant access to some of the hottest catalogs in the US:  Crate &amp; Barrel, CB2, eBags, Bounce, TitleNine – and many more coming soon. And no matter which catalog you’re looking at, you can use the same built-in, secure checkout in CoffeeTable.  The pages of your favorite catalog look stunning on the iPad; truly showcasing each vignette. If you see something you like, simply touch the blue circle on it and a window will pop up with the product description and the option to add to your cart. If it’s exactly what you want, buy it instantly. One app, one checkout – multiple catalogs.  The easiest shopping experience you will ever have.</p><h2><a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/the-catalog-reinvented-coffeetable-for-ipad/attachment/coffeetable-for-ipad/" rel="attachment wp-att-443"><img
class="alignright size-medium wp-image-443" title="CoffeeTable for iPad" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/CoffeeTable-for-iPad-300x210.png" alt="" width="300" height="210" /></a>Much more than just a viewer</h2><p>CoffeeTable for iPad has a full shopping cart built into the app, which helps it stand out from other catalog viewing apps found in the App Store.  Gone are the days of trying to figure out the iPad keyboard, autocorrecting every other word while you enter your shipping address, credit card info, and pertinent information.  Once you’ve setup your personal profile, you won’t have to do it again. More time for you to check out the fantastic products from your favorite retailers.</p><h2>Online or Offline</h2><p>While CoffeeTable works best with a WiFi connection, you can still browse your favorite catalogs while offline.  Make your selection and add to your cart, then finalize the purchase when you’re back online.  As well as working wherever you are, your purchases are private.  If you’re a good looking guy from Chico and want to buy yourself a pair of Lily Pultzer Koi Sandals from SimplySoles – we won’t judge, and when you purchase it on your iPad, no one else can judge, either.</p><h2>The Best Free App Available</h2><p>We’re really impressed with how flawlessly this app works with all of the retailers we’ve selected. You probably won’t guess the intricacies of the coding required to make this app work as well as it does, and we’re proud you don’t have to think about it.  We’ve taken the time to make the experience as simple as possible, so all you have to think about is choosing the right product for you and your home.  Since it’s free – you can test it out yourself.</p><p>Soon, you’ll find yourself handing over your iPad to show your friends the perfect furniture for your deck or a stunning back-to-school outfit for your kids.  Think how easy it will be to “accidently” leave the app open on the very page that the perfect outdoor kitchen lives, just in time to catch your spouse’s eye.  CoffeeTable for iPad brings dropping hints to new levels, and lets you – or your spouse – make the purchase instantly, to be delivered right to your home.</p><p><a
href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coffee-table-catalog-shopping/id365822347?mt=8" target="_blank">Check it out in the App Store</a> today, or join the <a
href="http://www.facebook.com/ShopCoffeeTable">growing community of CoffeeTable lovers</a> on Facebook.  Leave us a post on our page – we’d love to know what you think.  We’re pretty sure you’re going to love it as much as we do.</p><div
style="float: center; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%;"><a
href="http://facebook.com/shopcoffeetable"><img
class="aligncenter" style="border-width: 2px; border-color: #cfcfcf; border-style: solid;" title="on Facebook" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/facebook-300x102.png" alt="" width="192" height="66" /></a></div><div
style="float: center; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%;"><a
href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coffee-table-catalog-shopping/id365822347?mt=8"><img
class="aligncenter" style="border-width: 2px; border-color: #cfcfcf; border-style: solid;" title="on the App Store" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/AppStore-300x100.jpg" alt="" width="192" height="66" /></a></div> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/the-catalog-reinvented-coffeetable-for-ipad/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>How Google Could Change the World &#8211; Again</title><link>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/how-google-could-change-the-world-again/</link> <comments>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/how-google-could-change-the-world-again/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:34:39 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>blogger</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Chris]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Entrepreneurship]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Web]]></category> <category><![CDATA[build a better email]]></category> <category><![CDATA[email 2.0]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Google]]></category> <category><![CDATA[next generation of email]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://chrisfriedland.com/?p=427</guid> <description><![CDATA[<a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/how-google-could-change-the-world-again/"><img
align="left" hspace="5" width="150" height="150" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/google-wave-fail-whale-150x150.png" class="alignleft tfe wp-post-image" alt="google-wave-fail-whale" /></a>Organization It’s key to me. I have a real estate portfolio, 3 kids and a wife.  I am the president of a 300 employee company, and have a series of other investment/business interests &#8211; all working in harmony. My value add? I bring organization and structure to everything. Not because I have a photographic memory.. [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><p><span
style="font-size: 26px; font-weight: bold;">Organization</span></p></div><p>It’s key to me. I have a real estate portfolio, 3 kids and a wife.  I am the president of a 300 employee company, and have a series of other investment/business interests &#8211; all working in harmony. My value add? I bring organization and structure to everything.</p><p>Not because I have a photographic memory..</p><p>In fact my business partner at CoffeeTable is a few <em>decades</em> my senior and often helps get me back on track after having a senior moment.</p><p>The reason I am so efficient and successful at managing multiple spinning plates is a very tight organizational system.</p><p>I&#8217;ve always operated off of lists. Not only my own lists, but I’ve required lists from anyone who works for me. This way we all have some semblance of control.</p><p>My world changed with <a
href="http://www.strazz.com/">Robert Strazzarino</a> introduced me to the <a
href="http://www.davidco.com/about-gtd">GTD</a> platform. GTD was a great old-school system of organizing your life using 43 folders. Supplement it with <a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/build-dot-com/get-yourself-organized-with-gtd-toodledo/">ToodleDo</a>, and I now had an electronic system and methodology to push people, as well as adopting it myself.</p><p>My life improved. The lives of the people I work with improved. It was a huge iterative step, but not a solution, especially when you collaborate with others.</p><h1>Go with the Flow</h1><p>So, the problem is ToodleDo as a tool wasn&#8217;t good for collaboration, so enter <a
href="http://getflow.com/">Flow</a>.</p><p>Flow did a great job of adding out-of-app collaboration. Flow has some limitations around UI/UX which drive me crazy, but overall, it has been an improvement. I think I&#8217;m going to formally move once they get reoccurring tasks&#8230;</p><p>So on to the next problem. Multiple systems. In fact GTD is a solution to email overload. More of my time is spent organizing, coordinating, assigning emails to tasks in Flow, or adding commentary&#8230;..</p><p>I still live in email and then work in Flow.</p><h1>Attention: Google</h1><p>Since I&#8217;m too busy to create the change I want to see in the world, (thanks Ghandi!) I&#8217;m asking someone to do the grunt work for me, and ideally unlock massive value. What I&#8217;m saying is, we need to reinvent email and add a layer of task management on it to take a step forward, improving productivity in the world.</p><p>Enter Google. Google might have boffed it with Wave (which I still can&#8217;t explain,) but really evolved email through Gmail. In fact, incredibly so. All my exploits use Google Apps, and it has now became my ecosystem for communication, augmented by Flow, GTD, and Toodledo.</p><p>So what should someone do? Someone (ahem, Google) should create email+. Take the existing POP3/IMAP protocol and add an additional layer.</p><p>Too much time is spent working on the next hot web start-up, that it seems like the framework could use a bit of innovation. <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Office_Protocol">Wikipedia</a> tells me that some variation of POP3 was abandoned in 2003, codenamed <a
href="http://www.pop4.org/pop4/pop4spec.html">POP4</a>, and the initial concept was to include basic folder management and some other fancy tricks. So, I&#8217;m letting this one off into the wild. Take Flow &#8211; and turn it into an email client. Make it so it’s POP3/IMAP backwards compatible. FTW.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>While I think the client and design could be properly executed by a capable entrepreneur, I think the actual pushed (forced?) adoption could only be done by a force as powerful as Google.</p><p>Now someone smart go re-invent email to make it more efficient.</p><p>P.S. Don&#8217;t use any of those guys who created that Wave beast&#8230; <img
src='http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /></p><p><a
rel="attachment wp-att-428" href="http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/how-google-could-change-the-world-again/attachment/google-wave-fail-whale/"><img
class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-428" title="google-wave-fail-whale" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/google-wave-fail-whale-300x179.png" alt="" width="300" height="179" /></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://chrisfriedland.com/chris/how-google-could-change-the-world-again/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Going Native</title><link>http://chrisfriedland.com/entrepreneurship/app-attack-%e2%80%93-going-native/</link> <comments>http://chrisfriedland.com/entrepreneurship/app-attack-%e2%80%93-going-native/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:02:41 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>blogger</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[CoffeeTable]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Entrepreneurship]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Web]]></category> <category><![CDATA[coffeetable]]></category> <category><![CDATA[html5]]></category> <category><![CDATA[html5 vs native apps]]></category> <category><![CDATA[native apps]]></category> <category><![CDATA[tablets]]></category> <category><![CDATA[the future of mobile]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://chrisfriedland.com/?p=386</guid> <description><![CDATA[<a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/entrepreneurship/app-attack-%e2%80%93-going-native/"><img
align="left" hspace="5" width="150" src="http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/143/192/1431926_75.jpg" class="alignleft wp-post-image tfe" alt="" title="CoffeeTable" /></a>On the flight home from my recent vacation in Hawaii, (side note – never put up with poor service) I had a bit of time to play with a few of my toys, and that got me thinking about what the future of the web is going to be like.  Where is it going, which [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>On the flight home from my recent vacation in Hawaii, (side note – <a
href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150107277007168&amp;set=a.66155917167.64014.501632167&amp;type=1&amp;theater">never put up with poor service</a>) I had a bit of time to play with a few of my toys, and that got me thinking about what the future of the web is going to be like.  Where is it going, which platform will dominate, and how I can make money on it?</p><p>So, gentle readers, I’ve pulled out my crystal ball to make a few predictions of how people are going to be interacting with computers in the future:</p><p><strong>Mobile </strong>–The pundits at <a
href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/who-is-winning-the-u-s-smartphone-battle/"> Nielsen</a> are predicting that the smartphone penetration will be almost equal with traditional (feature) phones by the end of Q3/2011, aka – Christmas. Literally, every other person with a cell phone will be rocking a smartphone of some sort.  But what about the tablets? According to <a
href="http://www.brandrepublic.com/bulletin/digitalpmbulletin/article/1064881/apple-predicted-dominate-tablet-sales-2015/">Brand Republic,</a> Apple is going to dominate until at least 2015.  The iPad, and its future iterations, is expected to make up about half of the tablet market – or something like 294 million units annually. Based on my own consumption of Apple products, I tend to agree.</p><p>Those are some serious numbers, but as Brand Republic points out, the hardware is nowhere near as important as the apps on the device, and Apple’s competitors are playing catch-up on the wrong field.  Instead of trying to exploit the hardware features missing from the Apple devices, they should be focusing on the apps, and not just web based apps.  Angry birds could have been run on all of the smartphones (it’s on iPhone, Android, and Nokia – and <a
href="http://twitpic.com/2p0n7v">and look, even a release for Blackberry!)</a>, but it went viral thanks to the App Store.</p><p>If you want to make money in the smartphone and tablet market, find a void in the app world – and fill it with a well designed product that your customers didn’t realize they needed.   Hmm, maybe it’s time to plug <a
href="http://www.shopcoffeetable.com/">www.shopcoffeetable.com</a> – America’s best retail catalogs on your iPad.</p><p><img
class="alignright" title="CoffeeTable" src="http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/143/192/1431926_75.jpg" alt="" width="75" height="75" /></p><p>More to come on that in the very near future.</p><h2><strong>HTML5 vs Native Apps</strong></h2><p>There is an ongoing debate regarding whether App&#8217;s are just running their course and HTML5 is the future. Today, I sit squarely on the side of APP&#8217;s being the changing force over the next 3-4 years.  So why are native apps better than HTML5?  Well, if we take a look at this article on <a
href="http://venturebeat.com/2011/04/07/how-html5-will-kill-the-native-app/" target="_blank">Venturebeat.com</a>, it looks like they aren’t.  The author almost makes a few good points, but one of the comments puts it very well:</p><blockquote><p>“Right now this article is like claiming that: &#8220;roller skates and bikes will rule over cars for transportation in the future as they have no CO2 footprint&#8221; because: &#8220;people live close to their work and close to the grocery shop&#8221;.</p></blockquote><p>“IF” HTML5 is ready in the next few years, and “IF” the hardware hasn’t advanced significantly, HTML5 might have a chance at catching up to native apps – but that’s a lot of “IF’s”.</p><p><a
rel="attachment wp-att-387" href="http://chrisfriedland.com/entrepreneurship/app-attack-%e2%80%93-going-native/attachment/html5-coming-soon/"><img
class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-387" title="html5 coming soon" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/html5-coming-soon-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a></p><p>Native apps are the dominant force because:</p><ul><li>They’re designed to run on the hardware they were created for, which means – providing they were coded properly – that there will be limited to no hardware conflicts and incompatibilities</li><li>They’re designed to use all of the hardware on the device, without any fancy manipulation.  You can build blue tooth support into your app if you need it, you can have the right screen size, and your graphics can use all of the bells and whistles that the newest hardware has available</li><li>Native apps can be used offline.While abroad, there are some places when you can’t get a signal, but you’d like to access the apps on your phone.</li></ul><p>Right now there is a lot of momentum behind native apps (GOOGLE / APPLE) and a lack of interest in giving up control to HTML5&#8212; might not last forever, but it is the law of the land today.</p><p>Truth be told, if you built a webapp in 1997 instead of an application, you may have been right, but your timing was wrong. Good timing is better than being right, and if you’re having the debate now, build an APP <em>then</em> build your HTML5 solution when that ends up being the right decision.  The mobile app market is expected to <a
href="http://mashable.com/2010/12/13/idc-mobile-apps-study/">hit $35 billion by 2014</a>, growing from 10.9 billion downloadable apps in 2010 to 76.9 billion in 2014.  If you’ve got an idea for an app, there’s still some time to get it rolling – but if you wait too long, you’re going to have some serious competition.  As every niche fills up with mobile apps, you’re going to have to promote the hell out of yours to be heard through the noise.</p><p>My prediction – more apps, more niches, and more hardware advancements.  Higher res screens, better cameras, and faster processors are nice to have, but if the webapps on your device don’t do what you need them to do, what’s the point in having them?  I don’t think that HTML5 will be able to keep up with the hardware, so my money’s on native apps.  Like <a
href="http://www.shopcoffeetable.com/">CoffeeTable</a> – coming soon as a native app to a smartphone near you…</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://chrisfriedland.com/entrepreneurship/app-attack-%e2%80%93-going-native/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Get Yourself Organized with GTD + ToodleDo</title><link>http://chrisfriedland.com/build-dot-com/get-yourself-organized-with-gtd-toodledo/</link> <comments>http://chrisfriedland.com/build-dot-com/get-yourself-organized-with-gtd-toodledo/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 03 Mar 2011 01:58:03 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>blogger</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Build.com]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category> <category><![CDATA[getting things done]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GTD]]></category> <category><![CDATA[personal productivity]]></category> <category><![CDATA[task management]]></category> <category><![CDATA[task manager]]></category> <category><![CDATA[toodledo]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://chrisfriedland.com/?p=362</guid> <description><![CDATA[<a
href="http://chrisfriedland.com/build-dot-com/get-yourself-organized-with-gtd-toodledo/"><img
align="left" hspace="5" width="150" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/toodledo-150x150.jpg" class="alignleft wp-post-image tfe" alt="" title="toodledo" /></a>I was recently chatting with a very successful venture capitalist friend of mine talking about doing more in a day. I took the opportunity to share with him a system I learned about through my good friend Robert Strazzarino &#8212; David Allen’s system called the GTD system &#8220;Getting Things Done&#8221; or also known as the [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a
rel="attachment wp-att-366" href="http://chrisfriedland.com/build-dot-com/get-yourself-organized-with-gtd-toodledo/attachment/toodledo/"><img
class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-366" title="toodledo" src="http://chrisfriedland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/toodledo-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a>I was recently chatting with a very successful venture capitalist friend of mine talking about doing more in a day. I took the opportunity to share with him a system I learned about through my good friend Robert Strazzarino &#8212; David Allen’s system called the GTD system &#8220;Getting Things Done&#8221; or also known as the <a
href="http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/08/getting-started-with-getting-things-done">43 Folders system</a>.</p><p>If you are interested in getting more efficient and organized, and do not currently have a formal system, I strongly recommend GTD.</p><p
style="padding-left: 30px;">Step 1. <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280">Read the book</a>.  Then read it again.</p><p
style="padding-left: 30px;">Step 2. Find a technology solution to actually implement the 43 folders system.</p><p
style="padding-left: 30px;">Step 3. Make it a habit.  Commit to the program, and make the time to follow it.</p><p>I currently use (the name sort of ruins it) <a
href="http://www.toodledo.com/">ToodleDo</a>.  Toodledo has become my life list, filled with my business, personal life, &#8230;everything. It’s a great tool with a crappy name.  You can access Toodledo via the web, or you can <a
href="http://www.toodledo.com/info/iphone.php">install the native app</a> on your iphone/ipad/ipod touch, or you can use other technologies to augment it, like the <a
href="http://www.appigo.com/todo">TODO app for iPhone</a>.  There are plugins for your browser, you can use it with your twitter account, embed it in your iGoogle start page, and even create a printable booklet for those of you who prefer a hipster PDA, but like to Get Things Done.</p><p>There are lots of GTD systems out there, but Toodledo has worked the best for me.  I am currently testing another system that seems to be better for teams, called <a
href="http://getflow.com/">Flow</a>.  Still in beta, but it’s better for assigning tasks and the UI is more elegant. More to come on that in an exciting blog post in the future.</p><p>The GTD system helps me manage my own life so nothing slips through, and it also gives me more free time to work on important things rather than hovering over my inbox.  The scheduler feature in ToodleDo lets me tell ToodleDo how much time I have to work on a project, and ToodleDo will find a pending task that I should be able to complete in that time.  Great for procrastinators and anyone that has a hard time figuring what to tackle next.</p><p>Another great thing about ToodleDo is the ability to email yourself tasks, and you can quickly categorize everything with a few keystrokes in your subject line.  Because I love to help, here’s a list of shortcuts to put in your subject line to help keep your ToodleDo tasks organized, so you can GTD:</p><ul><li><strong>Priority &#8211; </strong><strong>! </strong>– use ! to !!!!! to set the importance of this task</li><li> <strong>Due Date &#8211; </strong><strong># </strong> &#8211; example “#tomorrow” or “#3/13/2011”</li><li><strong>Due Time &#8211; </strong><strong>= </strong>- to set a specific deadline. Eg: “=3:45pm”</li><li><strong>Length &#8211; </strong><strong>~ </strong>- to set the expected time it will take to complete a task eg: “~.5hours”</li><li><strong>Star &#8211; </strong><strong>* </strong>- use this symbol by itself to star a task</li><li><strong>Folder &#8211; </strong><strong>* </strong>- *followed by the name of your folder eg: *RealValuable.com</li><li><strong>Context &#8211; </strong><strong>@ </strong>- to set the context of your task eg: @phone</li><li><strong>Repeat </strong>- <strong>&amp; </strong>- to set the frequency this task should repeat. Eg: “&amp;weekly”</li><li><strong>Reminder </strong>- <strong>:</strong><strong> </strong>- to set a reminder before your due date/time eg: “:2 hours”</li><li><strong>Location </strong>-<strong> </strong><strong>- </strong>- to set the location for this task. Eg: “-home”</li></ul><p>You can stack the different syntax as long as your separate them with a space:</p><p>Research Telomeres !!! @google #Friday =5:00pm ~1hour</p><p>For a complete list of the special syntax for email, <a
href="http://www.toodledo.com/info/help_email.php">click here.</a></p><p>Print this off and stick it on or near your monitor so you can get in the habit of using these shortcuts, and you’ll find that you get more stuff done, faster.  And my wife might say differently, but faster is generally better.</p><p>I also use the GTD system for the management team at my company. They either have to present to me a better system (I&#8217;m always interested in improvement, if improvement exists) otherwise they work using GTD and Toodledo. Period. At our monthly management meetings we review their Toodledo lists.</p><p>Let me know if you have any more specific questions, or have a better organizational system, I&#8217;m always looking to evolve.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://chrisfriedland.com/build-dot-com/get-yourself-organized-with-gtd-toodledo/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> </channel> </rss>