Hi All, I'm sure many of you were at the Dave McClure event today...
A few points really resonated (at least this is what resonated and i took away): * You don't have to aim to be a billion dollar business * The "old world" businesses/markets have a lot to offer and many times are easy wins when you tweak them and take them digital Quite a lot also did not resonate, i don't doubt the wisdom of a lot of what he said, but it reminds me (and reinforces) why you must be very careful who you take money from. Many a time's it's a scatter gun or "portfolio" approach that incubators/funds/investors take - and personally you're a statistic - sometimes that's a fabulous thing and indeed desired at a certain stage... at seed, hmm... well... (it's their "suddenly taking notice" only when things are going wrong (and not sharing the passion that you do) creates much of the issues)... The most insightful comment that truly resonated was in fact from Avis [and i paraphrase] "everyone talks about changing the world, it's not by worrying about a bunch of numbers and the bottom line that change in the world really happens"... Avis, you're such a reality check, so often we fool ourselves into thinking we are changing the world, when in fact we are only wanting to make a billion dollars and the "change the world" is a cliche! If you really want to change the world, it has to be a "true" gold... cudos to Avis who actually practices what she preaches and truly is making this world a better place :) Dave of course missed the mark on many responses - for some reason, he just didn't actually get the gist of virtually any question that was asked, but anyway, his comment on the above that he was very interested in "social good" because he thinks it made a great "marketing tool" made me cringe! i shudder even at the mention of it again! Another interesting insight was from the guy from new inventors - paraphrasing again "about 5-8% of people that presented on the show actually went on to be successful, and there seems to be a strong correlation between a magnetic/dynamic personality and success" - i've found that to be relatively true as well - an exceptional product is at the core (if you haven't got that, doesn't matter how magnetic your personality is!) - but if you do have a good product, a dynamic personality goes a long way... (perhaps that's why i liked what he said, because it's my belief too :) That brings me to a person who shared (privately) about creating shared experiences through interactive mass gamification (whether it be using your mobile to interact with the cinema screen or on the train playing a game (on a shared screen in the front) with someone sitting 5 seats away... his process into recruiting founders was brilliant - i'm sure i only got the high level take of it as it was only a 5 minute conversation, but it had the essence (although of course, how it's executed really defines it's value) of really being able to find good founders... a video i highly recommend on "shared experience" if anyone is really interested is at: http://www.ted.com/talks/charlie_todd_the_shared_experience_of_absurdity.html- i personally feel "shared experiences" usually do and can create the "moments" that leave you with a smile for the rest of the day (and even tragic shared experiences, although don't leave a smile, they do bond people and communities together very strongly). It reminds me a lot of when the olympics were in sydney in 2000 and how everyone on the trains were smiling and talking and greeting each other as if we were just one large village - unfortunately as soon as the olympics ended, everyone seemed to go back to staring at blank walls and avoiding eye contact - but there's an essence in shared experiences that can't be avoided, and i suspect, with the right tools, that attribute can really help change the world! :) Anyway, thanks to the organisers for bringing Dave to Sydney... it was a very interesting evening - having him here created yet another context for many insights from all members of the community. simran. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more Forum rules 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
