KA+A : Blog

Startup Remix

Janneane Blevins — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:51:34 +0000

We all know music sampling. Like the song “Take Care”, which began with Gil Scott-Heron, then passed through Jamie XX and ultimately on to Drake, who sampled it and pulled in Rhianna for vocals.

Listening to all of its permutations the other day, inspiration struck — sampling occurs in startups, too! Like Fancy, which I blogged about the other day; it feels a little bit like Pinterest, Svpply and Fab all rolled into one. And Pinterest – isn’t that a little bit Tumblr and Polyvore? Obviously/ironically/interestingly enough, I’m not the first one to have this idea : ). After a quick search, I found Everything is a Remix.

The four part video series, produced by Kirby Ferguson, covers the phenomenon of “Copy-Transform-Combine” as is applies to songs, movies, and technology. Here’s Part 3, detailing how the computer came to be:

Also, here are some awesome sketch notes by Craighton Berman from Austin Kelon (author of Steal Like an Artist) & Kirby Ferguson’s recent 2012 SXSW panel: Everything is a remix, so steal like an artist.

Using Kirby’s Copy-Transform-Combine, I applied it to a few more of my favorite startups:

Facebook = Hot or Not + Friendster + MySpace
Twitter = SMS + Blog
Tumblr = Blog + Delicious + Twitter
Spotify = Napster + Pandora + iTunes + Last.fm
Pinterest = Tumblr + Polyvore
Fancy = Delicious + Tumblr + Gilt + Pinterest + Svpply + Google + Fab

This sampling of functionality, interface, and identifiable structures has allowed startups to earn quicker adoption, integration and utility. The most creative people have figured out how to copy, transform, and combine a wealth of ideas to create unique value.

What are some of your favorite startup remixes?

The Fancy : Pinterest for Men

Janneane Blevins — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:23:13 +0000

If you’re one of those guys thinking Pinterest is just for girls, and can’t bring yourself to adopt it despite its stunning growth, you might check out The Fancy – part store, part magazine, part bookmarking – a tool to curate the things that define you. It’s a bit like Pinterest, but sleeker, cooler, more minimal, and more provocative. It’s luxury. And women, don’t be shy; you can Fancy as well (the break down is about 60:40, male:female). Backed by the likes of Kanye, Jack Dorsey, Andreessen Horowitz, and PPR, Fancy is certainly not lacking street cred or style.

Aside from demographics, monetization is another characteristic that separates Fancy from Pinterest. Fancy members can browse deals and sales – literally shop the photos. The entire checkout process takes place on Fancy, rather than linking out to the merchant’s website. Ultimately, Fancy plans to “support a Google-like bidding system, except instead of keywords, merchants will be bidding on the demand surrounding users’ clipped postings” as detailed in a recent TechCrunch piece.

Pinterest has shown some promise for monetization as well, with functionality to tag images with prices making them more shoppable. But, as Jeremy Levins acknowledged, their strategy “isn’t in the oven and it’s not even off the baking table”. Some of the more inventive efforts have been from the brands using Pinterest rather than Pinterst itself, such as Gilt Baby & Kids’ “Pin it to Unlock” campaign. Group buying, meet pinning. Gilt posts an image, and once it’s been re-pinned 50 times, the pin links to an exclusive, hidden sale on Gilt.com.

So while Pinterest and Fancy share some common functionality, their strategies are entirely different. It’s a race to see who can crack the social commerce nut first.

Facebook & Instagram : Buying Cool

Janneane Blevins — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 20:06:54 +0000

It’s been days now since Facebook erupted the tech world with their $1B purchase of Instagram. Since then, bloggers and reporters alike have been trying to determine the causes and ramifications of the deal. Popular theories include:

Defense/Offense: Facebook bought a potential competitor and prevented other competitors from doing the same. As David Carr said in the New York Times, “Good for Facebook for buying a bandwagon before they got ran over by it.”
Mobile UX: Facebook’s mobile app is perhaps its weakest link and has been “publicly labeled as a risk to its bottom line” as reported on Inc.com. Instagram has mastered the platform with its simple, well-designed & loved app as proven by its 5 star App Store rating, based on more than 80,000 reviews.
Photos are the future: People love looking at and expressing their lives through photos, and Facebook has always been a popular platform to share these images. “Instagram is helping users create an image of themselves they’d like to be seen” quips Cliff Kuang in Co.Design.

But if we humanize Facebook, as we often do with brands these days, then their purchase of Instagram really just mimics users own adoption of the app.

Users like Instagram because it adds instant cool to photos. Without any skill, one can quickly apply a filter to create an artful image. Instagram is well loved by designers for its aesthetic and developers for its language. So if you think of Facebook as a person, then buying Instagram for its coolness factor totally makes sense. Even they are delighted by the slick photos, smooth interface, and seamless functionality. And I’m sure they hope having Instagram in house will give them more street cred.

Furthermore, Instagram helps users construct an (apparent) authenticity – albeit, a rosy colored, vintage-romantic glimpse of their lives, carefully curated one image at a time. Facebook on the other hand, whether disliked for their privacy policies, straightjacket UI, or even their sheer size, lacks this authenticity-factor. Something that Timeline hasn’t even been able to fix completely.

And so Facebook bought the thing that is hardest to fake. It bought sincerity. – Paul Ford

So what can we expect from this recent union? Hopefully an improved mobile app, better sharing for Instagram photos (maybe even tagging), and perhaps a rebuilt Facebook? One can only dream.

Quipol

SXSW 2012 : Empathy Building Tools for Better Collaboration

Janneane Blevins — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:27:19 +0000

I enjoyed the better part of an hour, attending the bite-sized Future 15 panels at SXSW 2012. At just 15 minutes a pop, these talks were focused, direct, and spanned a variety of topics that kept my interest. One that I enjoyed in particular, was by Kyra Edeker of Project202: Empathy Building Tools for Better Collaboration.

Kyra prescribed three tools, to help teams work better:

Deep Listening
Non-attachment
Generosity

Deep Listening
Deep listening is all about being present and communicating it through body language. So put away those phones during meetings! Also, practice simply listening to what people are saying, rather than for when you can say something next. And don’t worry about silence – just let it sit. Sometimes these pauses will spur the speaker to share something they wouldn’t have if you had interjected.

Non-attachment
Not to be mistaken for apathy, non-attachment is about being open – meaning it doesn’t have to be your way or the highway. To do this, research: ask questions that might change your current position; reframe before you go into a discussion; and observe what’s pressuring your coworkers – deadlines, budgets, family, etc. This added flexibility and awareness will lead to a better team-built solution that everyone can get behind.

Generosity
To work well, we need 3 positive interactions for every 1 negative interactions. Through generosity, we can create those positive interactions and give our coworkers the gift of play, fun, and brainstorming. As a project manager what can I give my coworkers to get the project done? Is there more scoping, risk analysis, a roomier schedule that I can provide? As a designer, how can I make it easier for the developer? Can I take the design assets to the next step? Generosity is not about giving away power, but creating an environment for collaboration.

SXSW 2012 : Storytelling : How To Build Entrepreneurship Communities

Janneane Blevins — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:51:51 +0000

SXSW has long been advising on how to build startup communities, as you can see from Kristian’s post back in 2009. This year’s “How to Build Entrepreneurship Communities” panel was no different. Successful startup communities still need capital, mentors and support systems to thrive.

Perhaps new to this year’s conversation, though, was the need for storytelling. The startup epicenters on the coasts have media bulwarks in their neighborhoods – Fast Company, Mashable, TechCrunch, The New York Times – lapping up their frenzy and pushing it out into the world. But what is the official news source for activity happening more inland? What publication would you turn to if you wanted to find out something about, say, Chicago’s startup community? The largely coastal based panel was at a loss (although one member did have hopes that Built might be the one to do it.)

Jeff Slobotski, one of the panel members, shared his experience with bringing leading news coverage further midland. In 2008, he founded Silicon Prairie News, a story platform that has helped increase awareness of entrepreneurial activity both within, and perhaps more importantly, outside of Omaha, Des Moines and Kansas City’s startup communities. Jeff advised that it’s important to build your reach through both online and offline experiences. He described their early success hosting events that attracted out of town/state talent into their communities (perhaps a catalyst for Big Omaha?). These types of events are big opportunities to share your talent, gain more traction, and also benefit from outside resources & inputs.

Indy’s fortunate to have a number of media outlets sharing startup stories – IBJ, Inside Indiana Business, StartupDigest, Verge, and Startup Spectator. As we grow a strong community, I think it will be important to continue to project outward – to connect our community and our startups from coast to coast.

SXSW 2012 : Homeless Hotspots: Pro vs Con

Lauren Esposito — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:54:08 +0000

Fresh off the plane from this year’s South By Southwest Interactive conference I’ve been lining up all the blog posts I want to write. Rather than kicking things off by sharing one of the incredible panels or awesome events I attended, I wanted to dive into one of the most buzzed about issues that happened this year: Homeless Hotspots.

As you can imagine, when thousands of techies congregate within in a 5-mile radius for the hottest interactive event of the year, wireless network capacity is an issue. In an effort to help bring more network capacity to Austin and help out a few individuals along the way Bartle Bogle Hegarty’s BBH Labs launched Homeless Hotspots in Austin. Their campaign wasn’t just meant to give SXSW attendees access to an on demand 4G network, but also to promote awareness of an opportunity for these individuals.

Homeless Hotspots equips homeless individuals to become walking, talking wireless 4G hotspots. If you were down at SXSW and ran into one of them (sporting the Homeless Hotspot t-shirt), you could pay to connect to their network. The suggested rate was $2 for every 15 minutes, but anything you donated went straight into the pockets of that homeless individual.

At first this seems like a harmless idea, and a great way to provide an honest day’s work to those seeking employment. However, there was a lot of criticism directed toward BBH Labs for promoting their brand using those in less fortunate circumstances. Some believed that this campaign didn’t actually help the homeless because it didn’t guarantee a steady income or a reasonable fee. It was a one-time opportunity that may have gotten these individuals paid for a few days but didn’t actually do anything relative to helping the cause to end homelessness.

These claims sound fair and true, but looking at it from the perspective of the 13 men and women who sported the t-shirt for the last few days you may see things differently. Rudolph a local from Austin has been homeless for a year and makes it a point to have a positive attitude about his circumstance. Clarence is from New Orleans and has been “houseless” since Katrina. Melvin is from Ohio and is actively searching for a job and home, creating awareness that homelessness is not a choice. Stacia has been homeless for over ten years due to an abusive marriage and is working to put her life back in order. (You can check out the remaining 9 individuals who acted as a hotspot here.)

In the eyes of the 13 participants, this campaign has helped them at a time in their life when they needed it the most. BBH Labs has been active in ensuring that their motivation and purpose behind this campaign was not to promote themselves in anyway. Their most recent blog post outlines a few facts they feel haven’t been shared with the world, including:

We are not selling anything. There is no brand involved. There is no commercial benefit whatsoever.
This is a test program that was always scheduled to end today (there’s no 2-week payment cycle)
Each of the Hotspot Managers keeps all of the money they earn. The more they sell their own access, the more they as individuals make (it’s not a collected pot to be shared unless people choose to donate generally).
Underheard in NY is NOT becoming a reality TV show. The confidential plans are much more akin to an interactive documentary. Regardless of what happens, it will stay true to the original idea: to give homeless people an unedited voice so people can understand their lives.
The biggest criticism (which we agree with actually) is that Street Newspapers allow for content creation by the homeless (we encourage those to research this a bit more as it certainly does not work exactly as you would assume). This is definitely a part of the vision of the program but alas we could not afford to create a custom log-in page because it’s through a device we didn’t make. However, we’d really like to see iterations of the program in which this media channel of hotspots is owned by the homeless organizations and used as a platform for them to create content. We are doing this because we believe in the model of street newspapers.

I’ve got opinions that lay on either side of the line, but overall I think more good than bad was done in Austin this year. I’d love to get your opinion whether you were attending or not!

What say you?

Quipol

SXSW 2012 : The Fashion Fog : Redefining Content & Commerce

Janneane Blevins — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 18:57:31 +0000

The intersection of fashion and tech has long been an interest of mine, as you can see here, here and here (and here). Much to my delight there’s an entire mini-section of fashion-techie panels at this year’s SXSW.

Kicking it off yesterday were: Alisa Gould-Simon, Pose; Allison Kellman, Ideeli; Claire Mazur & Erica Cerulo, Of a Kind; and Lauren Sherman, Lucky Magazine. During their panel titled, The Fashion Fog, they discussed how commerce and content could coexist.

Ecommerce and brick and mortar fashion brands alike, are leveraging popular social content platforms like Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and even Foursquare to create personality for their brands. When it comes to being heard in a saturated social landscape, Lauren Sherman of Lucky Magazine believes in spontaneity; hit people with a tip when they least expect it.

Or as we like to say at KA+A, “surprise and delight your users.”

Some of the biggest challenges for these companies are in UI/UX space. It’s not pleasant to click outside of the editorial environment to buy. That red “buy” button may test better, but how does that fit with the brand?

And this is where the fashion and tech intersection gets really interesting. Building great experiences online through creative and user-focused design is the domain of tech-led companies, largely because that’s where their products live, wrapped up in services.

So what can fashion ecommerce companies do to create a more seamless experience? Part of the solution is getting to know customers better, to deliver great product recommendations. And fortunately there’s technology for that.

Culture : These are Our Beliefs

Janneane Blevins — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:35:12 +0000

“Culture is the beating heart of your business – it’s your purpose and values practices over time.”
Walter Robb, Co-CEO, Whole Foods

Culture is king. Today’s talent migrates to the companies that offer a lifestyle and a team that they can identify with. Culture – it emanates from the design of the physical workspace (open space, light, color, sleek design), to the policies (flexible schedules, equipment provisions), to the interactions of the team (engaging dialogue, constructive critique, Friday afternoon drinks).

What does the culture look like here at KA+A? Well aside from loving good craft beer, biking to work (including motorcycles!), and making it awesome, we’ve adopted a more formal ethos. Here’s a peek at the KA+A culture, when we recently put pixels to paper.

Launch of the Speak Easy

Janneane Blevins — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:08:20 +0000

Over the past year, we’ve had the opportunity to participate in the development and launch of the Speak Easy, a place for entrepreneurs, startups, and the folks who support them to work, play, and collaborate. Crafting a brand, web presence, and influencing the structure itself, we couldn’t have been happier to launch the Speak Easy on January 18th.

Taking a cue from coastal co-work spaces like Grind in New York, a group of 8 investors and entrepreneurs (including our own Kristian Andersen) set out to create a gathering place for those active in the startup community. The resulting space is a combination of a 17th century salon, coffee shop, and science lab.

Collaborating with local designers and architects – Nikki Sutton, Nick Allman and Craig McCormick – they transformed a 5,750-square-foot warehouse into a common area office infrastructure, conference rooms, and, in the words of Verge, “a massive opportunity to connect and collaborate with others in the startup community.” Wi-Fi, refreshments, a library and gaming center are just a few of the accoutrements that will be fueling Indy’s creative class as they work at the Speak Easy. Take a peek behind the scenes in IndyHub’s interview with Kristian about startups and the Speak Easy.

The Speak Easy bar, photo by Clay Reinken

The Speak Easy isn’t an accelerator nor an incubator. Rather, it’s a collaborative workspace, where entrepreneurs in any phase of an early-stage startup can work. A membership is required to utilize the space, but thanks to funds from local veteran entrepreneurs, Develop Indy and the CICF, only a nominal annual fee will be required of members.

To learn more and apply for membership, visit SpeakEasyIndy.com.

Rule #7: Heroes are Tyrants Made Cruel by Priests

Pete Gall — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:55:13 +0000

This is a personal thing for me. But it’s also a conviction that applies to the branding work we do at KA+A. What’s true for individuals happens to be true for organizations. In fact, we’re finding that people tend to join organizations that share their root passions and vices, and that as we work with leaders, we reshape brands, and as we reshape brands, the organization influences lives…and heroes are emerging. If this line of thinking appeals to you – personally or in terms of how you relate to your business – I’d love to hear from you.

Rule #7: Heroes are Tyrants Made Cruel by Priests

The myths with which I’m at war in this rule:

That life is a “choose your own adventure” story.

That we can “win” by becoming something other than what we are.

That a false self can be a real self.

The terms in the rule:

Hero: a person who is applauded for sacrificial behaviors born from deep personal convictions.

Tyrant: a person who governs by oppressive, dictatorial, and ultimately selfish means that are rooted in a basic conviction that the person being governed is inadequate.

Cruel: harsh, unkind, merciless, bringing about pain.

Priest: a person who serves as gatekeeper or purveyor of God or a person’s most profound yearnings.

What I’ve learned.

Heroes don’t choose to be heroes for the sake of being heroes. They make their choices because they love something beautiful with a passion that inspires great response. The rule I try to live by is this: if I tell the story of a hero, I draw attention to the beautiful thing the hero sees – not to the heroic behavior.

To put a finer point on it, what made the firefighters who died on September 11^th heroic was not that they died. What made them heroic was their choice about what constituted a life worth living. To them, there was a beauty and honor in radical service that was worth pursuing, and worth the cost. Dying doesn’t serve anybody – but living with the sort of passion required to be a firefighter benefits everybody.

When people tell stories of heroes for the sake of inspiring particular behaviors, they hold up an example that communicates a type of dare for the audience. They communicate, in effect, “if you do something like this, you will be a more valuable human being.” This communication also draws attention away from the beautiful thing that inspired the original hero, and promises the would-be hero that they can have glory – not from following the beauty, but from forcing the behavior from themselves.

We’ve all known people who strive to be like their heroes. A few of them see beyond their heroes to get a glimpse of the beautiful things that held their heroes’ attention, but very often they strive to model their own behaviors after the behaviors of their heroes. This way of life slowly saps their confidence – and their authenticity – as they shape themselves into mere copies of a noble original.

It’s a natural process, of course. Kids want to grow up to be firemen, or cops, or teachers. Children aspire to be like their parents or older siblings. A dose of this – examples that inspire a person along a course for a time – is part of what living in the company of other humans entails, and it’s a big and good part of how societies are shaped.

Things get perverted, though, when the priest gets involved. In the straight religious sense, Jesus is the ultimate hero and example so long as his example does what he said he was here to do – facilitate connection with God. Jesus is a great example if his example points a person to the beauty (intimacy with the Father) to which Jesus was devoted. Jesus becomes the ultimate tyrant, however, when priests (literal priests or anyone who would speak as gatekeeper to God) intervene and hold Jesus’ behavior as the standard by which others should be measured.

There are heroes and priests in every segment of our lives – not just the religious ones – and they’re all tied to deep and meaningful parts of us. Every person is of fantastic worth, and what we do with our lives is hugely meaningful. There is no such thing as a secular moment. The heroes may take the form of business role models, and the priests may show up as mentors, investors, or bosses. Heroes may show up on The Biggest Loser, and the priest may arrive in Spandex, yelling at you.

What priests ultimately convey is that until your behavior measures up to the behavior of your hero, you are less than your hero, and the distance between your hero’s standard and your own behavior is the measure of your inadequacy. And so long as your inadequacy exists, so too will the pressure to be something other than who you actually are. And so long as you strive to be something other than who you actually are, you will be tempted to cheat, will prioritize poorly, and will remain dangerous and jagged to the people around you.

Priests, whether they’re motivated by good intentions or by a drive for power, want you to reshape your behavior, but they are not oriented to having your “graduate” from their influence because you get a clear view of the beautiful thing heroes see. Priests want zealous sheep, conformist managers, and skinny clients…who still need shepherds, investors, and trainers. The difference between a priest and a friend is the clarity of their view of the beautiful thing, and their desire to have you love it as well.

You cannot sanctify (consecrate, bless, purify, make holy) a false self. It is not a real thing. A false self – when set to become a hero, and successful at achieving behavior that only looks like heroic behavior – is only capable of stealing your life for a false cause.

You have a true identity, and it is wrapped around a gift born within you for you to offer the world. It takes work to chisel away the marble to uncover the sculpture within, but it is there. You are already a hero. The secret is in grooming your passion for the beautiful thing that will draw easy and automatic heroic action from you.

Marketing (just as a lot of church programming) loves to leverage heroes – because marketing is about generating a response by whatever means are required to create responses. It’s extremely difficult to be a good marketer without falling prey to Machiavellian temptations. Marketers are almost always priests – to their customers, teams, and their brands. Marketing without a solid identity and a clear view of the brand’s passion could hardly be anything else.

Until you discover the passion for which you are willing to live, the best you – and your brand – are likely to do is run, or send others, into collapsing buildings thinking dying is the point. And, it is worth noting, the more dying seems like the heroic thing, the more cowardly a sane person will become (which only makes the pain of the tyranny, and the sense of separation from God or the beautiful thing, that much worse).

So tell your hero stories carefully.