StartupGarden: May 2002 Archives

Floating Off the Page, a Beach Business Book

After pounding at the keys on a big deadline YHB (your humble blogger) is back after a bit of an absence. Today I’d like to recommend a business book you can take to the beach: Floating Off the Page, a collection of the middle column stories from the Wall Street Journal. Here you can read about dwarf-tossing, Klingon translations of the Bible, sheep orthodontists, modern versions of massive medieval catapults…and even more obscure stuff. All written in the clear-headed style that characterizes this unique form of journalism. There’s no better example of great writing than these stories, which should be taught in journalism courses—or any nonfiction courses for that matter—as examples of great detail, clear language, and a great sensibility about what constitutes a gripping story. And because the pieces all run no more than three pages, this is a great book to pick up and read a chunk at a time. Also, the Journal does a nice job of accessorizing the book through a webpage.

By the way, look for more frequent postings on this site now and in the future. In that vein, I welcome suggestions from readers on stories, companies, books, websites, and any other resources by or about small business that folks should know about. Send me an email at Tom@startupgarden.com with suggestions. Thanks!

Posted by tom at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

Linked

Here's a book I can't help but recommend, and highly. Linked: The New Science of Networks by Transylvanian physicist Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, vividly explains how everything from websites to global financial meltdowns are connected. The emergence of of the web as an organizing principle in our lives gives the book particular resonance right now. But it would be a terrific read even if we weren't becoming ever more interrelated. Barabasi's book provides an engaging look at how scientists today limn the dynamics of networks ranging from electrical power grids to terrorist organizations to the path of a virus among individuals. Yet whereas Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, which covers similar turf, charms the reader with anecdotes, Barabasi keeps you reading with his deep understanding of the science and his expansive coverage of networks throughout history in a range of settings. He provides the science behind ideas like Six Degrees of Separation, the 80/20 rule, and how the rich get richer. His book calls to mind Complexity by Mitchell Waldrop, another scientific work that had no business being so compelling. And yes, I did say Transylvanian physicist.

Posted by tom at 12:26 AM | Comments (0)

Get Buzz, Make Buzz

Here’s a new book that will help you develop the crucial entrepreneurial skill of generating publicity—frugally. Guerrilla Publicity, by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, and Jill Lublin, extends a popular line of "guerrilla" guides stretching back nearly 20 years to the extremely successful Guerrilla Marketing title. "In a nutshell, guerillas are business operators who substitute time, energy, and imagination for money," write the authors, "Unlike traditional marketing, which is geared to big businesses, guerrilla marketing is targeted to operators of small businesses who have big dreams rather than big bankrolls." In this book the authors provide hundreds of tips on how to bootstrap publicity. They show how to create a killer press kit, how to write a pithy sound bite, when and how to contact the media, and how to develop a compelling story about your product or service. And, the book contains a rich appendix with more than 60 pages of sample press releases and other documents that help you plug in—and plug—your own story.

If, on the other hand, you have more resources on hand than the ordinary startup, there are several other excellent guides to spawning buzz and launching blockbuster products. The recent book The Anatomy of Buzz by Emanuel Rosen gives a smart explanation of the dynamics by which individual products become the darlings of passionate early adopters before catching fire. Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm provides a wealth of tactics for tracing this trajectory. And, the recent Piloting Palm by Andrea Butter and David Pogue provides an excellent narrative tale of how one startup helped create a hit product—the Palm Pilot—and an industry in the process.

Posted by tom at 11:42 PM | Comments (0)

Bootstrappers?

I recommend an excellent, if slightly contradictory, article in today’s Wall Street Journal. I couldn’t agree more with the premise of the piece: that as a result of today’s economy, more entrepreneurs are practicing classic bootstrapping, through such practices as conserving cash, focusing on profitable activities, and beginning their own businesses while still employed for others. But then the article shows that each "bootstrapper" is looking to raise anywhere from $500,000 to $5 million in startup financing. Hmm. What’s wrong with this picture? I admire these individuals for mitigating risk by beginning their companies a piece at a time, starting discrete activities prior to jumping completely on board. That’s smart. But I wonder why they need such a large early investment. Yes, too many companies fail for lack of finance. But too many also fail because they spend too much time looking for too much money rather than focusing on their profitable activities. Again, I refer folks back to the bible for bootstrappers, Amar Bhide’s The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses, in which he shows how the vast majority of startups, even high-growth high-tech success stories, start with less than a thousand bucks.

Posted by tom at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

Small Business's Best Magazine

A lovely review of my book in Inc.com raises a good question: Where do you get your information about small business? To me, the best source remains Inc. magazine (for disclosure’s sake, a former employee of mine.) More than any other publication, this magazine preaches the soul of the small business, the intimate connection between the folks who run the business and the way in which the business lives or dies. There are two good examples in the current issue. The first instance can be found in Editor George Gendron’s column, in which he discusses his seven-year-old son’s stab at a (virtual) business. Most reporters get cloying or cute when talking about their kids; and most journalists miss the spirit of entrepreneurship when practiced by a kid. This piece nicely avoids both traps. And Mike Hofman’s nice article on creating an emotional brand for your company underscores a crucial point. At a time when technology enables skilled companies to knock off products and services quicker than ever, the biggest source of competitive advantage for good small companies is personal. That is, the more that you animate and differentiate your company with your identity, the greater your chances will be of thriving.

Posted by tom at 01:40 PM | Comments (0)