The Leader Board

Think Different

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:55:00 +0000

Frictionless

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:57:00 +0000

I have had the unique privilege to have a best of breed product in our category on the opening day of an App Store. The response has been very exciting. More on that later. One of the most poignant realizations this experience has provided is that web apps suffer from the lack of a unified sales process. App Stores have introduced huge advantages to the publisher over the traditional software sales process. For example, to sell a web app you’ve got to create the entire marketing and subscription sales process from scratch. Even if you use a lot of SaaS solutions in combination, it is still a unique experience for customers. It still requires specialized steps and/or information gathering for a customer to commit to a free trial. Traditional software licensing and piracy hurdles are also major problems which the App Stores provide a remedy.

What if there was a way that web apps could be sold through a simple, frictionless mechanism without completely deprecating the infrastructure that is already in place? I think the solution could be simpler than originally conceived. Here’s how I think it can be achieved. I hope it sparks some ideas in internetland.

Collectively, web app developers could agree that alongside of the current sign-up processes we would integrate another payment method, we’ll call this Acme. Acme is a service where a developer can add their app to a directory, they can define a limited use version of their service and how much it costs. Say just $4.99/month. They can check which information is required to complete the transaction. Acme provides them a payment link, if clicked a registered Acme user can instantly access the service. Re-billing is based on continued usage.

No email, no password and no email activation. Click, buy, done.

Back on the Acme site you can discover new web apps, provide reviews and manage your subscriptions. It also handles the payment and syndicating your core personal information. Publicly, Acme’s website is for all purposes a Web App Store. I realized that Google is attempting to do this with Chrome but I think they messed up the ability for individual websites to integrate their checkout process into their existing infrastructure. Most are free and ad supported. People want high quality paid app brands such as Basecamp, Wufoo or Harvest in there, just like it is on any other platform. Without titles, the Web App Store wouldn’t work.

Given the opportunity, execution and adoption of high quality web applications, I think you would find that the ideas of a centralized subscription management and frictionless buying would increase the conversion ten-fold. The web application publishers need to find a better way to enable customers to easily find and buy competitive cloud-based solutions without all the hassles of discovery and sign-up. Until we do, Facebook, Google and Yahoo will continue to provide most of what they need personally and we’ll fight over the early adopters and business customers in other segments and hope that the media will follow along.

App Stores provide benchmarking through popularity, sales and reviews that web apps don’t have in place at this time. If a Web App Store was executed well and universally adopted I believe that we could see a major rise in the number and variety of solutions available. That means more collaborative solutions built by developers and more adoption by wider less technologically savvy audiences. Less complicated equates to bigger sales which is good business any way you slice it.

The App Paradigm

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 15:47:00 +0000

For the last couple of years Robert and I have been having the same conversation over and over again with customers. We have entered an application paradigm. Nearly all forms of content and business services will need to become available through web-based software applications in some form. Books, movies, television, games, services, news, magazines are all becoming forms of software that need to become available on different devices and delivered over the web. Now business and consumer services – the dry cleaner, the retail store, your vendors, your snow removal company – all need to be able to provide an interface to their customers through web-based or mobile applications.

When customers come to us and want to build a website, for the last few years we’ve steered them into building software around their business instead. The website is part of that approach, but the concept goes much deeper than a surface level web page design. With the advent of iOS, things have been changing. “Apps” have been embraced by the masses. What many business owners will soon discover is how all forms of service, business, transaction and otherwise could also transition to the app paradigm. How much of our world could be completely rethought based on a concept that every business can deliver their service entirely, or at least provide an interface for their customers and vendors through a corresponding application?

What will banking be like? Legal services? What about automative repair? Medical services? Education? Design? Snow removal?

Everything has the opportunity to be reinvented as a killer app, new or old.

These business interfaces could be delivered to the end user in different formats, platforms and combined in various ways with others. For example, there is nothing stopping a service to provide both the audiobook and soundtrack when you buy the ebook — all built within an application that allows you to comment, watch video and join a reader community. That is just one example of how this new paradigm will change everything about how we use and enjoy products and services. They will be multi-format, multi-sensory and most certainly software applications.

At our Lake Tahoe office, we often get feet of snow in a single storm. Many home owners in our area have a plow service to remove the snow from their driveways on a subscription service. This normally a fairly low-tech interaction, but there are a couple ways even this could be enhanced through custom software and an app for customers. Imagine a fleet of snow removal equipment who have a list of homes to visit after a storm. As they approach the each house on their route the home owner could automatically be notified by SMS message to let them know it would be a good time to move the cars. Homeowners who are not on subscription could easily purchase a one-time clearing that adds their home to the queue of the closest snow removal driver – all through custom software and the ability to distribute apps to customer’s mobile phones. There’s much more to this example of what could be done, but I’ll save that for another article.

The ability to create and distribute a real-time interface to your company’s services is extremely powerful. The companies that move toward making their services easier to buy through apps and web-based software will become the new leaders in their industries.

The final aspect I want to touch on is that I believe we are coming to the end of “Website Development Companies” which are small service companies that build websites for customers. Look at your work. Are you designing and building software? If so, then like us you’ve entered the custom software business. Don’t freak out. This has been coming for some time. The web is a platform in which we deliver our products and services, but for most companies making this stuff, the work looks more like software more than a website anymore. Websites will always have a place within the full business solution, but I believe that there will be a differentiation between custom software companies and website design companies as more and more business owners come to understand just how powerful their business system could be through an app.

Meet three of our customers...

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:36:00 +0000

Santa Barbara entrepreneurs Michael Crandell of RightScale, Kevin O’Connor of FindTheBest, and Brian Donahoo of Appfolio talk about the growing opportunity in Sillicon Beach.

The Power of Less

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 03:54:00 +0000

If you know me you know that I am a non-fiction book junkie. I am always on the lookout for the next cool new idea that someone has to offer. A little known book called “The Power of Less” caught my eye. I read it a few times and listened to it once to make sure I programed the ideology into my head. The idea is pretty straightforward — focus on the essential and eliminate the rest. It is a simple idea that can be very powerful when put into action. Much like the business and design tenets found in 37signals’ Getting Real, The Power of Less asks the reader to consider a minimalist approach toward the way we live our lives.

I have been instituting this way of life over the past few weeks and I have to admit there is something remarkable about it. I am donating, selling or simply disposing of anything that I don’t truly need or I have a personal obligation to in some way. This ranges from video games and books I have either played or never really finished to electronics that have failed to fit into my life. Even clothing I just never wear. It seems the deeper I seek to remove “stuff” from the farthest packed corner the more useless junk I seem to find. Humans have some weird need to accumulate and disregard. I am a pretty minimal person to begin with yet even I have tons of useless, worthless stuff that fills my closets, garage and attic.

I beg of you to consider getting rid of all the excess junk you surround yourself with but have little need for. If you do you’ll begin to live a better, more balanced and less stressed life. I have only scratched the surface of the radical changes that this idea will help me to change my work and my life. I hope it helps you too.

Don’t screw around. Buy the book today on Amazon.

The Age of Connection

Sun, 07 Nov 2010 19:15:00 +0000

I think it is safe to say that the age of information has come, changed everything and is a mainstay in our daily lives. With the rise of social networking which is quickly leading to more connections between people than merely information creation and retrieval. It is time to accept that a new era has dawned. Whether you are The Gap running deals that incorporate check-ins powered by social networking or you are BP getting destroyed by it, we must all come to terms with the fact that it isn’t merely about information any longer. It plays a big role but the story is so much deeper than that now.

The Age of Connection

I think we have to look at the concept of connection in two ways. Firstly, connection to each other socially. Secondly, the connection to the cloud ubiquitously. Regardless of the way we perceive these two concepts both are two of the important tenants to what is driving the future of technology. The fact that we need to be connected to the cloud and we need to be connected to one another to enhance the quality of our daily lives is undeniable. Many things may change but it is doubtful that we have fully recognized the power and peril that comes with this new age.

Newspapers, Television and Radio are all top down editor curated business models that are supported by non-trackable general advertising. Through innovation they’ve continued to flex both their power and relevance over the years. Their power is weening but they’ll be around for a while longer. All of these inventions are relics of the information age. Providing people information in a way that generated revenue by a third party providing ads which trade attention for free information or entertainment. I am skeptical that these tactics will continue to remain relevant in the future. While social networking tools use them now I believe they will ultimately be replaced with more frictionless economic solutions.

The information age begun with the personal computer and the empowerment of the individual to create and distribute information faster, cheaper and easier than ever before. This concept combined with the power of networking brought about the internet and everything thereafter. Books, Movies and Music seemed to transition well from the industrial, information and then to the connection age. They were also met with new digital counterparts Games, Software, Websites, Blogs and Podcasts. But it was the “connection” to each other and our tastes of these types of content is where everything began to change. It was the “connection” we have to the web through mobile devices that augments our reality everyday with layers of information.

I strongly believe we’re now leaving the information age and heading into or have already arrived at The Age of Connection. Examples such as more people spending time social networking than emailing or searching the web. Products from companies such as Facebook and Zynga continuing to dominate the attention of a majority of people over Google and Electronic Arts which are both deeply rooted in the height of the information age. These are just the early signs that things have changed forever. The Age of Information lasted a very long time and helped us all gain access to all of the world’s history, science and entertainment. Its full impact on our world can never be fully measured but it is hard to imagine the world without it.

The Age of Connection has only begun. I haven’t a clue what it fully means yet. I do know that some things will remain and others will disappear. This is okay as humanity leverages the full power of connectivity to solve our problems. It is time to embrace this new age wholeheartedly and realize that these tools are not toys or merely a fad but are as important us as the invention of the printing press, television or the internet itself.

Digital Text Platform

Sun, 07 Nov 2010 05:05:00 +0000

Digital Text Platform has existed for some time but I have failed to see many people utilize it to produce shorter, simpler and more affordable e-books that can be sold on Amazon. Thye can be downloaded directly to the Kindle for just a couple of bucks. I attempted to author Lessons for Leaders into a small paperback and deliver it in multiple formats. It was a royal pain in the ass. DTP can help reduce that pain by proving the distribution system that makes your book available on a variety of devices that support the Kindle App with frictionless purchase and minimal review process.

As physical books begin to decline as a relic of an earlier age I believe DTP and formats like PDF and ePub will begin to rise in relevance and popularity when it comes to publishing premium content. So why wait until this format becomes the next MP3 for books? Check out the DTP platform connected to millions of readers that are enthusiastic for what you have to say. Consider writing less of a 200 page master pieces for $12 and consider simple how to guides or short interesting ideas for $2-$5.

Check out http://dtp.amazon.com to learn more.

Productivity Gaming

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 14:43:00 +0000

A shift is happening in the software industry right now. Something I never expected. We can’t ignore it any longer. Social games are literally propping up the social networks and mobile application marketplaces simultaneously. People are spending most of their time gaming rather than working or being productive. Virtual items and credit based economies are new mega businesses that barely existed 3 years ago. Zynga in now the biggest gaming company in the world. It is more than just entertainment. I don’t think this is a passing fad. I think we’re about to see the reinvention of all business software within 5 years.

Imagine if you will a game layer upon our daily lives. Our real money represents our currency and the way we are rewarded. Our energy is how many hours we should work. Our task lists are our challenges. Completing some challenges would add to your skills and attributes while others have a monetary value which is rewarded in money. Doing this will help you to level up meaning you can master certain skills. Graduating from college or work experience builds skills points within career track. We acquire things along our way we treasure.

This is already going on. Actually it has been since the dawn of man. For the first time in history we will have the technology in in our pockets to literally program ourselves to succeed by merely leveling up by completing challenges that improve our lives. People will exchange challenges for rewards in the future. The next “thing” is going to involve modifying behaviors real life. Gaming for the good rather than for wasting time. Your job may have a leader boards, achievements, rewards and challenges. Your “level” which determines role within a organization maybe measured by the data rather than just the opinion of others. I have no idea what the ramifications of this are long term. I do know that you will see all productivity software someday contain a playable strategy to succeed by using it. I kind of already of think of software without this type of architecture prehistoric, lacking depth of thought or a reason to continue to use it. This will lead to a happier, healthier world.

What will be possible is an entirely new generation of productivity games that encourage education, health, and savings. While they have their benefits they will also be fun but most importantly they will create data which can be further analyzed to make the games more challenging and enjoyable. If I were you, stop whatever you are working on. Think about how you can put a game playing strategy that is healthy and enjoyable into it and you’d be future proofing it.

Founders Talk

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 00:09:00 +0000

Founders Talk is an interview podcast profiling founders building businesses both online and offline. Adam Stacoviak talks with Geoffrey Grosenbach about his quest for greatness as Senior Visionary in building PeepCode Screencasts.

Subscribe via RSS:
Audio RSS

Download The Podcast
iTunes Audio

Provided By 5BY5 Studios

Lookout featured in Verizon Ad

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:08:00 +0000

We’re getting primetime air cover in Verizon’s latest Droid does commercial. Check it out! http://bit.ly/bK2tx5less than a minute ago via TweetDeckLookout
Lookout

Let's talk!

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:42:00 +0000

Lately I have been trying take every call anyone wants to have about a new project, our company or how we do what we do. It isn’t always a perfect method but it sure makes my day more interesting. In a world that is moving toward more autonomous, impersonal, asynchronous forms of communication, I believe that the magic is in the alternative direction. No menu weirdness, labyrinths of button pressing or customer service representatives. Just me.

Just dial 1-888-844-6256 and ask for Kevin. Try to keep it between 9AM- 6PM PST, Monday – Friday.

If I am available I will take your call and we can discuss anything you like. No meeting or prescheduled time is necessary. If I can’t take your call my receptionist will take your message and I will follow up as soon as I can. The more information you provide about the reason you are calling the more I will be prepared for the follow up call.

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Keeping your word

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:25:00 +0000

One of the most important aspects to delivering a terrific customer experience is the ability to keep a promise. The most obvious way to keep your word is clearly communicating honest truth about what you can offer. Another way is offering the best way for a customer to find the maximum benefit or savings when working with you, even though it might not equate to making you the most money initially. Delivering something on-time, on-budget with the quality and features they were expecting is yet another way to manage the customer’s expectations. You can also decline or offer an alternative if the customer has an expectation that isn’t realistic or just a bad way to approach the situation. If you can’t meet their expectations communicate that fact and offer an solution to part of their problem you can wholeheartedly deliver on.

Nobody’s perfect. No one expects any service to be 100% flawless all of the time. The world is unpredictable. We try like hell to keep our promises and endlessly apologize when we can’t come through. All that a customer wants is the dependability and honesty that they deserve. That they are paying for. If things happen that will impact their expectations they want to know that they can trust you to inform them. That you’ll make your best efforts to keep it from happening again in the future. Try not falling on your sword and make a decision to end the relationship on the customer’s behalf. They have the right to choose the punishment for not meeting their expectations. Not you. You could make things worse by not allowing them to decide. Quitting because you can’t deliver or meet their expectations is much worse than admitting that you’ve tried and it may need more money/effort/time to meet their desire.

That’s it. It is really simple stuff.

Keeping your word is so important to creating long lasting relationships with customers and receiving positive recommendations that will provide new opportunities. Instead of sugar coating it, coming up with another excuse or just finding a way to omit the truth. Consider keeping your word and really making the effort to go above and beyond to do so. I assure you that it will mean all the difference in the world to your customers and will help you build a legendary reputation.

Place an order

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 03:08:00 +0000

I have an idea I would like to share with our existing and future customers…

Just place an order with us.

That’s it. At New Leaders we’ve been spending the last three years building a business that can accept on-demand requests from customers that need to get creative and technical work done. We’ve got no shortage of work to do but I would like to reduce the rigamarole with getting started. It is really costly for us.

It seems like there is a barrier to getting customers comfortable enough with us that they know they can shoot over an email and ask us to take care of something and we will. New customers want to work on a “Big Project” and therefore there are all these things that need to be accounted for before we can help.

What if you never had a “Big Project” but instead you had and “Idea” with lots of tiny, little simple steps involved. For example you could just call us and say — “I want a single designed landing page of this…” and then when we delivered it you can just request another one or changes to the first one we created. Even if you plan to do an entire web site and application it never really needs to enter into it until you want it to.

I think the “Big Project” is a total myth. You may have a goal but you still have to take it step by step. Must everything be accounted for before we even begin? I think this is more of a concern of control than it is of necessity. Left overs from other forms of contracting. If you can trust that we’ll do the very best we can when you make a simple request, then I can assure you that we can start helping you right away.

The New Engine Yard Site

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:13:00 +0000

I am very proud to announce that the new Engine Yard website has launched. We worked for over a month with Engine Yard to help them create a much smaller more focused site that aimed to be as simple as possible. While the previous site design was solid we need to provide even more clarity to customers. The new design is clean and modern. We’re pleased to hear that is is being received well and we’ll continue to help Engine Yard refine the site until it is perfect.

Visit Engine Yard to view the site

Procore for iPhone

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:56:00 +0000

With the help of their mighty developers, New Leaders designed the new Procore for iPhone application. More than merely just a client, the new Procore iPhone app delivers audio recording, transcription, photos galleries and location integration. In a fairly short period of time we were able to create a tool that far exceeds the experience a web application can provide. Procore for iPhone is only for existing Procore users. We really hope you’ll consider becoming one.

“Create, manage and share construction project data on your iPhone. Changes made on your iPhone show up instantly in Procore, letting you bring Procore with you, wherever you’re working. You can use Procore for iPhone to search project Directories, create and assign Punch List items, add notes to Daily Logs, add to Photo collections, and more.”

Check out the the new Procore for iPhone App

Lessons For Leaders In Paperback

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:18:00 +0000

For the past several months I have been working on the book version of Lessons For Leaders. I have actually removed the section from the Leader Board in a effort to provide the more complete and finished version in Paperback and E-Book. Lessons For Leaders is a collection of articles I wrote during the first three years of bootstrapping. The book offers practical advice how any product or service company can deliver a better service by re-imagining how it is experienced. I also expose interesting situations you’ll discover along the way and provide unconventional solutions. It is a short book and easy to read. This effort will help me get familiar with writing books on a more frequent basis which is one of my life long goals. I am currently in the process of developing one of the articles found in Lessons For Leaders into a full fledge book of its own. It is called Freelance Reform and it will allow me to articulate what we are up to at New Leaders. I’ll keep you updated on the progress. I hope you’ll accept this first attempt as good example of things to come. Thanks to everyone that helped me as well as New Leaders to succeed. For that I will always be grateful. I am very humbled by the experience as it is more difficult to write a book than I originally anticipated.

Get your free copy of Lessons For Leaders or order it today in paperback.

Advance copies of Lessons for Leaders at LessConf

Sat, 22 May 2010 04:47:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce that advance copies of Kevin Milden’s new book Lessons For Leaders is being released today at LessConf in Atlanta today. The book was developed over the first three years of New Leaders. The book is based on a series of short essays that were posted to our site that capture the challenges and successes we’ve had running a small business. The new book will be released to wider audiences in June.

Service as Software

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 23:48:00 +0000

We started using the term Service as Software a couple years ago to explain human-powered services with software interfaces. Rather than Software-as-a-Service (SAAS) which means you subscribe monthly or rent it. SAAS usually involves some sort of do-it-yourself application. Service as Software is when someone knowledgeable or talented completes the service for you. You use an application to place an order and then software helps to facilitate the transaction. Usually a pay-as-you-go service. The application is is free to use. It is the person’s time or end-product you pay for. I have seen design, voice talent and legal services using Service as Software models. Some people have also called this “Labor in the cloud.” which doesn’t quite sound as attractive.

I know this is a big deal. Much bigger than do-it-yourself. Way better than artificial intelligence. Its more knowledgeable and talented than Mechanical Turk. We created Thincloud to help businesses achieve Service as Software nirvana. It is complicated work but worth it. If you thought products were cool, just wait. I believe when you combine them most talented people in the world with interfaces that allow their customers to commission work from them quickly and easily something beautiful will happen.

The Big Game

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 07:42:00 +0000

I noticed something going on in the social gaming market. Have you noticed that it seems there is a lot of business (and money for that matter) flying around social gaming, mobile gaming and virtual gifts? At first I was like “Sure those things are very popular” but then I took a deeper look into it.

Mark my words — Games are the secret to success of Facebook, iPhone and any platform for that matter.

No doubt there is more there than just playing games to these services and devices. I have just noticed that these wildly successful platforms are propped up by this gaming phenomenon that is taking place. The games are what keep the customer occupied for long periods of time.

So what does this mean?

Software as a form of entertainment has been around nearly 20 years. We’ve all heard how video games are eclipsing Hollywood blockbusters. There isn’t any news here. I beg to differ. You see there is this huge rise in a new type of casual gamer. Not the twenty-something playing Modern Warfare on XBOX 360. Instead a forty-something playing Farmville.

This is a fundamental shift in the marketplace. A shift that only insiders of these platforms seem to understand and are positioning to themselves to take advantage of.

What can you do about it?

Imagine the applications of the future to feel more like real-time strategy games than Microsoft Office. Imagine a world where badges and ranking are aspects to how people are rewarded for a job well done. Imagine forms of virtual gifts, credits and currency. Imagine how gaming will influence the way we work and live and I think you’ll be on to something.

Calacanis vs. DHH

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:05:00 +0000

This is the best interview I have seen in years. Finally we get some clarity from DHH on his opinions about how businesses should operate. Calacanis plays devil’s advocate and expresses the status quo of aiming for an exit. This is a must see for all entrepreneurs.

Local, local and local

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:53:00 +0000

Here is the deal. Everyone wants to pretend that the best customers come from anywhere. The truth is the best customers are local.

Local customers provide much stronger support of your business and will encourage more local businesses to spend money with you. Local is like an extra benefit. You and your local customers are in the same area and are interested improving it for mutual benefit. Local provides domain experience over reaching the immediate market. Local meetings are a lot easier. Local customers can connect you with other local businesses that are great. Local businesses help you find the best talent. The local press cares about you. Local banks want your business. Your reputation really matters locally. You can be the best local guy which is much better than the best somewhere else guy.

Local wins on so many levels. You shouldn’t underestimate it.

Money is a byproduct

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:56:00 +0000

For many people creating a new product or service they are focused on the money it will generate. While it is good measure to have compensation in mind it shouldn’t be your only goal. Money is a byproduct of doing something people want. Doing something great. When making money is the only point the execution it tends to be weak. Customers get fleeced, the offer is soft and the product usually sucks. Try focusing on doing something that you are both passionate about and is worthwhile to your customers. Care more that you should. You’ll find that your compensation usually follows pretty closely behind a great execution.

The other great thing about focusing on the execution and customer service rather than merely the compensation is that you needn’t bother with the hard sale. You don’t need to use questionable and untrustworthy tactics when getting people to buy your products and services. It is cheaper and easier to convert new customers. When you are fair, honest, and ethical as well as do a terrific job it is so much easier to sell. So much energy is put into tricking people into buying things that aren’t worth a damn.

Your energy is better spent in improving what you have rather than devising a complicated strategy into tricking people or selling something they don’t want or need. Try investing some time into improving the product and making it better and easier to buy rather than fleecing your customers.

If you do, there will be no end to the money you can make.

Why does it have to be a trick?

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:48:00 +0000

Search engine optimization. Links in Tweets to a blog post about your product. A newsletter which is just an ad. Advertisements cleverly disguised as helpful information. Why?

Why can’t we just do great work or build great products and people will recommend you to others? How come when you create a marketing plan the first item on the list isn’t do a great job or build the right product? Let’s face it. Most of the stuff that is out there doesn’t deserve any attention. But through a clever form of trickery we are some how allowed to sell things to people they may not even want. The argument is, maybe they do or just don’t know it yet.

I am compelled to buy stuff through marketing and advertising. But is not the ads that compels me, I am just curious to learn something new or want to buy something to solve a problem. When I want to buy something I have already made up my mind about it — I have a problem, this might solve that, let’s shop. That’s why Google, Amazon and Ebay are so successful. They are that little text box you enter what you desire in to and you get exactly what you want, ads for that solution.

So then, without a problem the rest of the ads are just noise. It is noise because if I had a problem it is doubtful I haven’t gotten around to buying something to solve it. I mean that is the fun part of solving problem, the shopping part.

Is it reasonable to believe that trying to sell a solution when people are not in the mindset of solving that problem isn’t necessary at all. The trick doesn’t work. It only appears to work when then person already decided that they wanted something to solve a problem and the advertisement just happened to be there. It is completely premeditated or coincidental. I guess we could say that ads are targeted mostly to inform people of solutions or encourage impulse buying but I would have to argue that its very ineffective

Like cops never being around when you need them. I think ads work the same way.

Introducing New Leaders North

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 03:22:00 +0000

After a year or so of working on our second location we’ve finally finished it. What took so long? We’re still getting our bearings when it comes to setting up new stores. The good news is that we’ve managed to remodel two locations in the past two years under budget without taking on any kind of debt or outside investment.

Photo Credit: Rob Retting

Check out the photos on Facebook

It was accomplished by working hard and being conservative with our cash during the recession. This is a milestone for us as it was merely a dream to have multiple locations that could serve different markets. It is hard to imagine that it all started with two freelancers, a PDF file (yes, we didn’t even have a site when we started) and the dream of a company that could bring superior quality and customer service to web development. We know that we aren’t perfect yet, but we are in the process of making each location operational through our procedures so that we’ll be able to open up more locations over the next couple of years.

If you are in the Lake Tahoe area please stop by and say hello.

Lake Tahoe — 10770 Donner Pass Rd #103, Truckee, California 96161 (map)

Next Up: We are going to be adding a fresh look to the Santa Barbara location and then start laying down the plans for the next store. We’re thinking either San Francisco or Orange County. We are already servicing a number of customers in both markets so it makes sense.

Think Different '10

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 08:39:00 +0000

To commemorate yet another day in which Apple demonstrates their leadership in innovation, we’ve created the following audio recording. Apple’s products and their ideals have shaped my whole life. I’ve been using a Mac since I was a child and it has deeply effected who I am. Without Apple, it is hard to imagine myself becoming a creative professional at all – at least that is that way I feel about the brand. So, while Apple has given something to all of us today, we wanted to give something back. Over a decade ago, Apple launched the “Think Different” campaign. From that moment forward, they have continued to fulfill their commitment to being the most innovative company in the world.

To the one and only crazy one, Steve Jobs. Thank you from New Leaders.

Download The Think Different MP3 (1.2Mb)