I recently sat down with Kevin Sasser, Vice President with Company.com, to talk about product management.

Here’s a link to his new – and witty – article about my suggestions for how to discover authentic customer demand for a product. And for how to bound the otherwise unbounded risk of building products not enough people want to buy:

“Looking the Tiger in the Eye, and Other Ramblings of a Mad Man“, by Kevin Sasser.

Thanks to Kevin for writing the article. And for comparing my strategic approach to presentations to Don Draper’s.

“People tell you who they are, but we ignore it because we want them to be who we want them to be.” Don Draper, season four, The Summer Man

I recently spoke at the Technology Association of Georgia “TAG Entertainment: Entertainment Industry Summit“.

Our Digital Media & Gaming panel discussed topics including R&D and innovation; incubation, acceleration and collaboration; product development and launch; and content delivery.

What they said after our session:

“It was a total HIT. I had people coming up to me afterwards, saying it was “inspirational” and “awesome” and several consulting the notes they took and wanting to hear more. Everyone I talked to after wished that we could have gone on longer, which never happens.” – Jesse Lindsley, panel moderator

“I have done a lot of panels – usually in front of comic book fans dressed as Klingons – and that was one of my favorite ever.” – Paul Jenkins, comic book writer, panelist

Jesse Lindsley, CEO, Thrust Interactive, moderated a great lineup of panelists including:

• Jeff Hilimire, Co-Founder, Dragon Army. Jeff recently sold digital media agency Engauge to Publicis Group for a reported $60M-$70M, and has just announced his new venture, Dragon Army, a mobile incubator out of Atlanta Tech Village in partnership with David Cummings.
• Paul Jenkins, Writer/Creator, BOOM! Studios. Previously comic book writer for Marvel Comics. Paul is doing so many things in transmedia story telling to even attempt to list.
• Blake Lewin, President, Atlanta Game Cooperative. Blake and I worked together as VP’s in Turner Broadcasting’s New Products Group. Blake has just launched his latest venture, Atlanta Game Cooperative, bringing 3rd party game development projects to Atlanta.
• Gil Weinberg, Founder, Zooz Mobile. Gil is the Founding Director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology and is also keeping busy launching new games/apps as the Founder of Zooz Mobile.
• David Eckoff, Co-Founder, Pickoff Sports, a technology startup developing a SaaS social games platform. In 2012, the company was selected as one of fourteen startups to participate in the Flashpoint accelerator program at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I’m also working on some exciting product strategy leadership with my advisory company Revolutionary Ventures. Previously VP New Products at Turner Broadcasting, Real, Rivals.com, IBM. Ustream.tv; Zazzle.

Honored to receive the “Best Presenter” award by vote of the 300 attendees at the seventh annual ProductCamp Atlanta conference yesterday. I presented: “Hacking Customer Discovery”.

Attendees of my session learned how to dramatically reduce the risk of building products that nobody wants to buy.

Product managers and entrepreneurs who attended:

– Learned a customer discovery process to get you moving incredibly fast
– Learned how to avoid the most common big mistakes people make in Customer Discovery (don’t do these!)
– Discovered a powerful approach to testing your hypotheses that you’d never come up with on your own
– Learned a simple but non-obvious hack to get interviews with customers you don’t know yet

It was a great audience, and a lot of fun to lead the session at ProductCamp Atlanta.

Attendees of my session are keeping the momentum going with a month of weekly group coaching accountability sessions via teleconference, starting this Tuesday night.

This month, I’m pleased to be judging the semi-finals round of the TAG Business Launch Competition.

This will be my sixth year judging the competition. I love seeing the variety of startups in Georgia. And enjoy learning from the perspective of the other judges.

Companies will be competing for a cash prize and a suite of related professional services that is valued at more than $450,000.

Over two days, each of the 10 semi-finals companies will make a 15 minute pitch to the panel of judges, followed by a 15 minute Q&A session. At the end of each day, the judges will discuss their views about each company and summarize feedback for the company about their plan and presentation.

Then, at the end of the two days, the semi-finals judges will deliberate and select companies to continue to the finals round.

Ten companies have made it to the semi-finals round:

• Blue Mountain Software
• Flash Issue, Inc.: “An online publishing tool that can help anyone effortlessly find fresh content and create newsletters in minutes.”
• here LLC: “Transforming the way local merchants connect to consumers through an innovative mobile application that generates simplified business analytics.”
• Merlin Mobility, Inc.: “Augmented reality instruction.”
• Rigor: “Monitor customer experience on your website.”
• SafelyStay: “The safest way to rent a vacation home.”
• Sideqik: “Partner marketing. Simplified.”
• Techturized: “A social network for hair and beauty.”
• WACSI: “a SaaS solution for all Brands’ products Environmental Claims verification needs, with a consumer facing interactive app”
• We&Co: “Using data to hireand reward people inthe service economy”

Judges include:

Preliminary Application Judges:

• Paul Freet, VentureLab at Georgia Tech
• Melanie Leeth, Imlay Investments
• Jeff McConnell, Whisper Communications
• Keith McGreggor, VentureLab at Georgia Tech
• Michael Price, CEO Ventures
• Adrian Sawczuk, Alvarez & Marsal
• Weichun Tei

Semi-Finals Judges

• Evelyn Bolden, Cox Enterprises
• David Eckoff, Revolutionary Ventures
• Linnea Geiss, Arcapita Ventures
• Sig Mosley, The godfather of Atlanta angel investing
• Blake Patton, ATDC
• Martin Tilson, The Tilson Group
• Judi Vitale, VitaleCFO

Finals Judges:

• David Cummings, Serial Entrepreneur
• Steve Fredrick, Grotech
• John Glushik, Intersouth Partners
• Ashish Mistry, BLH Venture Partners

About the TAG Business Launch Competition

The Business Launch Competition, now in its eighth year, supports economic development in Georgia by encouraging the creation and growth of new companies that will strengthen and expand Georgia’s strategic high tech clusters. A group of Georgia’s most successful high tech entrepreneurs has agreed to serve as mentors. A preeminent panel of business leaders, entrepreneurs and a venture capitalist has been recruited to judge the competition. In addition, a group of local investors will attend the final event and receive copies of the business plans for the finalists.

Register now to attend the Finals competition – early bird pricing ends April 19, 2013.

Congrats to Competitive Sports Analysis, a startup I advise, for their new fantasy baseball app on CBS Sports!

scoutPro Fantasy Baseball uses highly accurate calculations based on key baseball statistics and expert subject matter analysis. The result is “scoutEDGE” scores, which are single numbers used to compare players’ fantasy value. scoutPRO optimizes user rosters based on its scoutEDGE scoring system and individual league rules – helping general managers gain a competitive advantage.

The app’s player comparison tool updates scoutEDGE scores throughout the 162-game season based on trends in performance and injury developments, as well as venue and opponent factors. It even provides ongoing free agent and trade recommendations based on scoutEDGE scores, recent player performance and custom analysis of the user’s roster.

Here’s the app on the CBS Sports App Store: scoutPro Fantasy Baseball

On Friday, March 1, 2013 it was announced that I’ve accepted an invitation to join the Board of Directors of Health Discovery Corporation (HDVY).

Health Discovery Corporation is a molecular diagnostics company that uses advanced mathematical techniques to analyze large amounts of data to uncover patterns that might otherwise be undetectable. It operates primarily in the emerging field of personalized medicine where such tools are critical to scientific discovery. Its primary business consists of licensing its intellectual property and developing its own product line of biomarker-based diagnostic tests that include human genes and genetic variations, as well as gene, protein, and metabolic expression differences and image analysis in digital pathology and radiology.

Teamed with IBM research scientist Jeff Nichols, I recently spoke about “Emerging Technology and Sports Journalism” at the Symposium on Computation + Journalism at Georgia Tech. It was a packed house and great audience!

Five years after the first Computation and Journalism symposium  (which featured Krishna Bharat, Principal Scientist at Google and creator of Google News), this second event brought together leaders in both journalism and computation to discuss and debate current trends and future opportunities.

Here’s video from our session:

Update: A terrific article that covers some of the points raised in our session: “Disruption guru Clay Christensen says incumbent media players are making a classic mistake (PaidContent.org)”

Other topics covered at the conference included:

I stepped up to the fire pit, about to do something insane. In front of me was a bed of hot burning coals twelve feet long. With a temperature of 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit – twice as hot as my Weber grill. The coals were glowing and ashed over. It looked like Hell. And I was about to walk across them barefoot.

I’m just a business person. If I had known in advance that walking barefoot across hot burning coals would be part of this event with Tony Robbins, I wouldn’t have attended.

In that moment, looking at the hot coals, I felt fear like I’ve never felt before.

I also felt the heat on my face, radiating from the embers. These coals were real.

Everything I had ever learned in my life had my brain telling me “don’t do it! It’s going to hurt!”

Applying What I Learned

But we had just learned and repeatedly practiced techniques for how to break through fear and not let it stop us. And I applied what I learned.

I put myself in a peak state to accomplish my goal. A state in which I felt unstoppable. Felt more powerful than ever before. Felt complete and utter certainty about what I was about to do. That’s a damn good way to feel when you want to get something done.

Not So Fast…

Then just before I was about to take my first step, they said, “Hold on. We’ve got new hot coals for you.”

Apparently, they thought the coals weren’t hot enough.

“Seriously?,” I said to myself, shaking my head in disbelief. “Just before I go, they bring out even hotter coals?”

And they poured a large bucket of fresh hot burning coals onto the fire pit in front of me.

I thought to myself, “It’s not every day I walk barefoot across hot burning coals. If I’m going to do it, I want to do it all the way. So bring it! Bring the hottest coals you’ve got! Bring it on!”

Conquering Fear

I put myself in a peak state again.

And I took my first step onto the hot burning coals.

With each step I took, I applied the techniques we had learned to focus my thinking on accomplishing my outcome – despite the distraction of the hot burning coals.

In five strides, I reached the end of the bed of coals and stepped onto the lawn on the other side. Unscathed. And I celebrated!

Yes, I conquered my fear and walked barefoot across 1,200 degree hot burning coals, without getting burned.

The Most Important Step

Before I accomplished this, I thought that the most important step I’d take would be the last step, when I completed the firewalk.

With time to reflect, I now realize that the most important step was the first step I took. Taking the first step despite my initial fear. Despite all my past experiences that would say to not take that step. Despite not knowing if I could do it.

Practical Application

There’s no practical application to walking barefoot across hot burning coals (unless you want to impress guests at a backyard BBQ, which I don’t recommend doing). So what’s the practical application?

Today, I know that if I can conquer that fear of walking across hot burning coals, I can conquer any fear that I have in business.

As an entrepreneur, every day fear can stop you and your team from taking the first step. Stop you and your team from getting things done.

My point is this. When you feel fear, put yourself in a peak state. Then take that first step. Focus on your outcome despite the distractions. You’ll turn fear into power. And get things done that most people would think are impossible.

What do YOU think? How do YOU kick fear’s ass in your business and in life? Post in the comments section, I’d love to hear your story.

Photo: via Flickr By rogersmj

Bonus: NBC News Video of Tony Robbins fire walk:

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My friend Todd Schnick has put together a wonderful compilation of stories about how people kicked fear’s ass (my story is essay #32). In an ebook that’s free. You should get it and read the rest of the stories! Download the free e-book.

Todd and I are collaborating on writing a full-scale book, titled (what else) “Kicking Fear’s Ass”. Do you have a story you’d like to tell us for the book? Get in touch with me.

e-book cover illustration by the remarkable David Cohen!

I had a chance to conduct a 1:1 interview with Marissa Mayer when she was Vice President at Google. The 90 minute interview was filmed before a live audience at Turner Studios.

In honor of Marissa Mayer being named CEO at Yahoo, watch a flashback of our interview and read the five-part series I wrote about it (links below):

Excerpts in this five-part series Q&A articles:

• Innovation at Google: Interview with Marissa Mayer (Part 1)
• More from my 1:1 interview with Marissa Mayer: Culture & Innovation (Part 2)
• Talking with Marissa Mayer: product management, prototypes, 20% time (part 3)
• Interview with Marissa Mayer: Small Teams and Leapfrogging (Part 4)
• Google at 10: Marissa Mayer, VP Google talks about Apple and Steve Jobs (Part 5)

About

My name is David Eckoff, and I’m cofounder of Pickoff Sports a technology startup developing a SaaS social games platform.

I’m also an advisor to media and technology companies, helping take revolutionary ideas from the drawing board to market, through my company Revolutionary Ventures. I’ve worked with companies included Kleiner Perkins backed Zazzle.com, live interactive broadcasting platform Ustream.TV, 3D Virtual World innovator Kaneva, and more.

I love feedback! Contact me.

The TAG Business Launch Competition finals event will be this Thursday, May 24, 2012 from 3:30 – 8:00 p.m.

In addition to pitches by the final four startups competing for $50,000 in cash, there will be a VC Panel discussion with VC’s from around the country. The event will also feature a cash bar and heavy hors d’ouvres throughout the evening.

I will be emceeing the Finals event (Billy Crystal and Ricky Gervais look out). If you’re in Atlanta, I recommend attending. To attend, here are more details and registration info.

Location: The Defoor Centre (1710 Defoor Ave NW, Atlanta, GA).