PR has changed a lot. It's not just about getting others to write about you. People have their own platforms now. They're producing content and acquiring customers in all sorts of different ways.
For early stage startups: A lot of times the founders are doing the PR and the marketing team is tiny. We talk about what you do in those cases.
I talked with Sarah Evans (@prsarahevans) about doing PR for an early stage startup. It's about 22 minutes long. Enjoy.
Originally posted at Greg Hartle's blog.
Greg Hartle and I talk about whether it's better to start a company with co-founders or if it's better to be a solo founder of a company. We also talk about some apps we like to use to get through our day.
Check it out. It's not too long. I promise you'll enjoy it.
Welcome to the 4th episode of Scattered Chats.
Hit play and you'll hear how it's like to work for Github from Port Huron, Michigan. Matt Graham works on whatever he wants there. Find out how that's possible.
FAIR WARNING: The audio levels are messed up. Sorry bros.
Video:
Welcome to the 3rd episode of Scattered Chats.
I talk with Tim Bograkos, MSU Basketball player from 2001-2005. He now does alumni engagement with the MSU Alumni Association. We talk about how the MSU basketball team prepares for March Madness and a bit on social media in sports.
The video is about 20 minutes.
Thanks to Tim for taking the time to chat. Please follow him on Twitter: @timbograkos
Also: Thanks to Ian Sefferman for one of the questions we discussed.
PS - If you want early access to these chats and a chance to ask questions for future guests, please join this special email list that I just started.
Video:
Welcome to Scattered Chats Episode 2!
Audrey Walker and I talk about Marissa Mayer's memo that puts a stop to Yahoo's Work From Home policy.
In February, Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, sent this memo to all team members working at Yahoo:
Beginning in June, we’re asking all employees with work-from-home arrangements to work in Yahoo! offices. If this impacts you, your management has already been in touch with next steps. And, for the rest of us who occasionally have to stay home for the cable guy, please use your best judgment in the spirit of collaboration. Being a Yahoo isn’t just about your day-to-day job, it is about the interactions and experiences that are only possible in our offices.
There was a lot of public outrage in the press though some agreed with her decision. It was a curious move by Yahoo and I wanted to get Audrey's thoughts on it.
Did some slalom skiing with Leslie to test the GoPro. The 120fps slowdown is near the end of the video.
I am launching a video blogging series in parallel with Megan Gebhart.
One's called "Scattered Chats" where I have a 10ish minute conversation with a friend about mobile, technology, startups, and culture.
The other one is called "Always Talk To Strangers" where I try to meet 52 strangers over the course of a year. Hat tip to Megan and her 52 Cups series.
Also, I started blogging again. This is my 3rd post.
Video below.
There's a lot of chatter about drones. Drones are the unmanned aircraft that go around killing people in wars. The U.S. is expanding the use of mini-drones inside the country. The FAA has already granted 327 licenses, and it projects as many as 10,000 licensed systems by 2017. It would mostly be used by local police and first responders.
SF startup Tacocopter is working on something that will used unmanned delivery to deliver...you guessed it...tacos. Unfortunately, it was a hoax. But what if it wasn't?
What if drones were used commercially? What would that look like? Here's future of commercial drones:
Amazon sets up same-day delivery service but instead of using UPS, there would be 10,000 drone copters in every metropolitan area flying at a low altitude. Every doorstep would have tiny landing pads.
Everytime you order from Amazon, a drone came and delivered it to you. No human capital needed. And these things could work 24/7.
When the drones aren't in use by Amazon: If my mom wanted to send me some food from her house 25 miles away, Amazon would let her lease drone time to deliver it from her doorstep to mine for $3/hour.
Amazon Drone has a nice ring to it.
Hipchat is an app we use at Detroit Labs. It's a chat app we use to communicate day to day. It's like 37signal's Basecamp except better. Yesterday they released a new beta of their Mac app yesterday which fixed a number of issues.
However…
There was huge backlash on what Hipchat released. Horrible things happened when people launched the new update: Hipchat changed all of the fonts to size 8 Time New Roman. And you couldn't change it back.
I posted the problem in their issue tracking system and quickly got 125 votes by people having similar feelings.
Some of the comments:
"WAT. This is horrendous and unreadable. Either default to a sensible sans-serif or allow users to change the font."
"Yeah it's really really disgusting."
"Ack, it's awful. Please fix it."
"Oh god, it buuuuurns!"
"I now need my laser eyes to properly read my chats."
Within 15 minutes of the escalation, Hipchat tweeted out that they agreed with our issue.
And within 30 minutes, the app was updated to fix the font issue.
That was the fastest issue to get fixed in a Mac app I've ever seen deployed. Well played Hipchat.
