Random Business Thoughts

There’s more than one way to get lucky, and we got lucky twice!  We have two new and extremely talented guys joining our currently-estrogen-leaning office to give our ranks a slight testosterone tilt.  The cool thing about our new team members is they are tailor made for this office and both fit my “perfect candidate” profile–passionate about…

At my previous job there wasn’t much need for developing screen shots to show the client because often times I was the client. Or even when I wasn’t the client, the people I was developing for were so happy to have something, that anything I came up with, no matter…

Yesterday, we had our first day at SXSW Interactive. Each of us had preselected the web/interactive panels that seemd most interesting to us based on the short descriptions listed on the site. Scott seemed to have found several good/great panels that he found interesting, entertaining, and educational. I was a little…

Years ago (that seems kind of funny to say after my seven years in business) when Niall Durham was working with me, we used to talk about spending an afternoon here and there building cool new apps just to test new frameworks, languages, or ideas.  But on the planned day,…

With the challenges we have faced with losing key staff members, I’ve had to step up–or perhaps I should say “step back”–and relearn some of the old programming and HTML code that started me off in this business.  When I told Scott that I was thrilled with the outcome of…

Companies strive–and sometimes succeed–in “getting it right”. Think Apple’s Ipod, Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings,” and Converse Chuck Taylors. Campbell’s Soup is the maker of Prego spaghetti sauce, and it seems the company recently had a short violin piece commissioned to go with one of the Prego TV commercials.…

In business, we rely on a host of employees, affiliates, partners, consultants, and occasional freelancers to serve our clients and meet our goals.  Yesterday, I learned in jaw-dropping fashion that a trusted part of that network has long been engaging in such deceptive practices that I am left reeling from the blow. There are two…

Earlier this week, I tossed, turned, worked, and worried before finally succumbing to sleep at 5:00 a.m. I had just received a phone call from a client who was terribly unhappy about our work. While I had heard rumblings about this client’s dissatisfaction, I hadn’t realized the scope of the…

Well, we wrapped up our first full week (and a day) of Phase Two (post M&M era) with Scott Duff in residence.  Scott knows code, understands processes, server issues, and all the geeky stuff that makes him worth his salt.  While he’s got a lot of learning to do when…

Since I started this business, there has been one absolute that has been our guiding principle: be better today than we were yesterday. I remember the first time I read “Good to Great”. I was thrilled to learn that my business philosophy mirrored that of many standout businesses: avoid being…