Blog @ TalGolan.com

Designers design. Developers develop. Everyone wins.

Tal Golan — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Any project / product, whether it be a website, or a mobile application, or a widget, needs to be designed and developed. I realize this is a truism, but bear with me.

The following is my articulation of how I think this process should work:

Product Manager(PM) communicates the vision to the lead designer (translating what was communicated to the PM from ownership/leadership/stakeholders).
PM and designer do a couple of instant iterations, then the PM leaves it to the designer to work his/her magic.
Designer provides 1 (maybe 2) options. (I prefer only seeing the one the designer feels is best, as I'm not really interested in spending my time evaluating the #2 option.)
Sometimes the PM makes suggestions. Sometimes the PM gives the designer brilliant ideas. Sometimes the PM just says "That looks amazing. Let's use it as it is."
Designs are handed off to development:
1. Development's job is to figure out how long it will take to turn the designs into reality.
2. It IS NOT development's job to re-design the designs.
3. Development is supposed to give a risk assessment and a breakdown of what time the implementation will take.
4. It is development's job to make suggestions to the designer(s) that will make the designs easier for end-users and easier for development.
5. It IS NOT the designer(s) job to tell development how to develop.
6. It IS NOT development's job to "pick and choose" what's to be implemented.
7. It is development's job to go through 1 iteration with design, where designer(s) make the final decisions for what everything is going to look like and work like, based on the recommendations from development.

When this process is working properly there is one person (the PM) who makes final decisions in the event of a conflict between design & development. If you have the right people on both sides of the fence, there are no "final decisions" that need to be made, because development is implementing what design designs, based on the limitations articulated by development. The feedback-loop, when dealing with professional adults, is extremely productive. (a.k.a. Agile)

In my experience, this process works amazingly well, provided:

The development side does not act as if they are better designers than the people responsible for the design;
The designer(s) don't act as if they are better developers than the developers.

The process breaks down under 3 very obvious circumstances:

Timelines and/or requirements are changed without proper respect for the process.
Development does not implement what has been designed and approved.
Design insists on things that are to complex.

Am I using common sense to make me extraordinary?

Tal Golan — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I just read the following blog post from Geoffrey James and thought it was so "spot on" that I wanted to share it in it's entirety. The 8 characteristics Geoffrey details are 100% common sense, however, they are all too often ignored and/or missed.

If I could, I'd add 2 additional "core beliefs" to Geoffrey's list:

Self discipline: Extraordinary bosses are disciplined, methodical, and patient.
Personal responsibility and ownership: Extraordinary bosses lead by example and take their business personally.

Each of us is a "boss" at one time or another. Therefore, as we move through our individual days, each of us should spend the time to ask "Am I using common sense to make me extraordinary?"

--Tal

8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses

by Geoffrey James on April 23, 2012

A few years back, I interviewed some of the most successful CEOs in the world in order to discover their management secrets. I learned that the “best of the best” tend to share the following eight core beliefs.

1. Business is an ecosystem, not a battlefield.

Average bosses see business as a conflict between companies, departments and groups. They build huge armies of “troops” to order about, demonize competitors as “enemies,” and treat customers as “territory” to be conquered.

Extraordinary bosses see business as a symbiosis where the most diverse firm is most likely to survive and thrive. They naturally create teams that adapt easily to new markets and can quickly form partnerships with other companies, customers … and even competitors.

2. A company is a community, not a machine.

Average bosses consider their company to be a machine with employees as cogs. They create rigid structures with rigid rules and then try to maintain control by “pulling levers” and “steering the ship.”

Extraordinary bosses see their company as a collection of individual hopes and dreams, all connected to a higher purpose. They inspire employees to dedicate themselves to the success of their peers and therefore to the community–and company–at large.

3. Management is service, not control.

Average bosses want employees to do exactly what they’re told. They’re hyper-aware of anything that smacks of insubordination and create environments where individual initiative is squelched by the “wait and see what the boss says” mentality.

Extraordinary bosses set a general direction and then commit themselves to obtaining the resources that their employees need to get the job done. They push decision making downward, allowing teams form their own rules and intervening only in emergencies.

4. My employees are my peers, not my children.

Average bosses see employees as inferior, immature beings who simply can’t be trusted if not overseen by a patriarchal management. Employees take their cues from this attitude, expend energy on looking busy and covering their behinds.

Extraordinary bosses treat every employee as if he or she were the most important person in the firm. Excellence is expected everywhere, from the loading dock to the boardroom. As a result, employees at all levels take charge of their own destinies.

5. Motivation comes from vision, not from fear.

Average bosses see fear—of getting fired, of ridicule, of loss of privilege—as a crucial way to motivate people. As a result, employees and managers alike become paralyzed and unable to make risky decisions.

Extraordinary bosses inspire people to see a better future and how they’ll be a part of it. As a result, employees work harder because they believe in the organization’s goals, truly enjoy what they’re doing and (of course) know they’ll share in the rewards.

6. Change equals growth, not pain.

Average bosses see change as both complicated and threatening, something to be endured only when a firm is in desperate shape. They subconsciously torpedo change … until it’s too late.

Extraordinary bosses see change as an inevitable part of life. While they don’t value change for its own sake, they know that success is only possible if employees and organization embrace new ideas and new ways of doing business.

7. Technology offers empowerment, not automation.

Average bosses adhere to the old IT-centric view that technology is primarily a way to strengthen management control and increase predictability. They install centralized computer systems that dehumanize and antagonize employees.

Extraordinary bosses see technology as a way to free human beings to be creative and to build better relationships. They adapt their back-office systems to the tools, like smartphones and tablets, that people actually want to use.

8. Work should be fun, not mere toil.

Average bosses buy into the notion that work is, at best, a necessary evil. They fully expect employees to resent having to work, and therefore tend to subconsciously define themselves as oppressors and their employees as victims. Everyone then behaves accordingly.

Extraordinary bosses see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable–and believe therefore that the most important job of manager is, as far as possible, to put people in jobs that can and will make them truly happy.

Build it. Market it. Sell it.

Tal Golan — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:00:00 +0000

The following is from the pages of my “someday-to-be-released” memoir “Been There. Done That. Screwed that Up.”

Introduction

No one spends the time, effort, and money required to launch an Internet start-up without the desire to create the "next big thing." The wealth that has been created by companies like Google, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, LinkedIn and Zynga, from what appears to be "thin air" from the outside is staggering. Many words have been written about these companies, and much analysis has been done, but one undeniable thread clearly runs through each of these great successes, and likely most financially successful Internet start-ups: perpetual re-building and re-marketing are essential to facilitate successful selling. Not one of these companies was successfully "sold" until they had something to sell that had undergone many product iterations and had been successfully marketed.

The cliché rings very true: "It takes a lifetime to be an overnight success."

Before you can have any chance to successfully "sell" any Internet based service, you must first be comfortable that the service provides benefits people want; then, you must build awareness in the marketplace. Don't forget, you are the only one who knows about your "next great thing" in the beginning. It is very easy to "miss the forest because of the trees" on this one. You have likely put significant time and money into creating something you feel is amazingly powerful and universally desirable. However, the market will not build itself; they will not "come because you built it." Unless you get extremely lucky, you must create awareness in the marketplace, via marketing and PR (public relations), before you get any chance for success in the sales process.

Who's Driving your bus and where is it going?

Before you can sell your product / service you must create awareness within the market. To accomplish this critical task you must know, beyond the shadow of doubt: Who is responsible for driving this bus? Someone in your organization must be responsible, and empowered, to build and lead the team of people that will be required to take you to the promised land. Building awareness for something new is not easy and is almost impossible to accomplish on one's own. It requires significant forethought, planning, organization, creativity, discipline, coordination, teamwork and patience. In addition, it is highly unlikely you will "get it right" on the first try. Remember, just because you know how great your product and/or service is, no one outside your organization (or inner circle) knows or cares in the beginning. If you cannot take responsibility, personally, for the entire day-to-day "grind" of awareness building, make absolutely sure you have someone leading your team that can. Building awareness is not something that just happens, yet it is essential to getting to the ultimate goal - successful sales.

Once you've figured out who is driving the bus, then you need to make sure you know where your bus is supposed to make its first stop. Your bus might be traveling from NY to California, but that trip cannot be "non-stop." While it's very important to have a long-term ("stretch") goal, it's the individual steps that must not be ignored. Setting clear, and attainable, short-term, medium-term, and long-term objectives for the journey is absolutely essential. The driver, whether it's you or someone else, cannot be expected to safely drive 24/7. The bus needs to stop for fuel and maintenance, and the passengers need to eat and go to the restroom, and the driver(s) need to be rested.

What's the message?

Very complex ideas and concepts are created, productized, marketed and sold everyday. Complexity is not the enemy of marketing, but it sure does make things more challenging. The first question you need to ask and answer is: What's the simplest message I can create that communicates the essential benefit of my product / service? Ideally, you should be able to tell the essential message in 30 seconds or less, and this message should be able to fit on the back of your business card. Keep working on your message until you get to this point. Then, step back, and create a strategy that supports the message.

Think Big. Start Small.

What is your very first target market? Remember, before you can successfully sell, you need to build awareness within the marketplace. Don't allow yourself to drink too much of your own Kool Aide. Everyone is not a target market. The object here is to find an initial balance between market size and addressability. Don't forget, the task of building market demand through awareness creation is a marathon, and, as with any race, there must be a first step. No one has ever sold to everyone until they have made their first sale to someone. Before any building / structure can have a solid foundation, you will want to dig a few holes to see what the ground really looks like. The process of discovery is extremely important and should not be skipped. Even if you think you are a veteran, don't forget, whatever you have in front of you now is brand new.

Stacking the deck

No one can guarantee they know how to build the awareness for your product / service that will yield the demand you need to be successful in the sales process. These days, everyone is in search of the elusive formula that will deliver predictably "viral" results. Unfortunately, it is probably easier to predict where lightning will strike than it is to engineer something to "go viral."

Don't waste your time trying to game the system; instead, spend your time stacking the deck in your favor and learning to count cards.

"Stacking the deck" in this context means making sure you have as much understanding as you possibly can with respect to the narrowly focused market(s) you are targeting. You need to know where the people "hang out?" What web sites they read and how are they socially connected? It is impossible to successfully build awareness in today's diverse world without a deep understanding of the social linkages between individuals and the products / services they consume. Human beings are the most social of creatures. This is a fact that has been true since we crawled out of the primordial soup. However, it was not until the invention of movable type (Gutenberg), which lead to the invention of the Internet, that we began to actually measure and understand just how intertwined our inherent social connectivity is when it comes to the products and services we consume.

To successfully create awareness for something new, with the intention of building the necessary demand to support robust sales, a deep understanding of today's social media landscape is absolutely required. Without this knowledge and understanding, you will likely find it impossible to reach even the most modest of target markets.

Show me the money! Show me the data!

When human beings dig in the ground for precious metals, we call this mining. It should come as no surprise that we use the same term (mining) in relationship to data. In his best selling book "Moneyball," author Michael Lewis tells the story of how the Oakland Athletics baseball team used an "...analytical, evidence-based, sabermetric approach to assembling a competitive baseball team, despite it's disadvantaged revenue situation. I contend that any new product / service being brought to market in today's hyper-competitive Internet-centric world is analogous to the Oakland Atheltics "disadvantaged revenue situation." Therefore, it stands to reason that data, and "data mining," is an essential tool that must be employed by anyone who intends to build demand for a new product / service. Without a comprehensive understanding of the data, much of which is freely available, it's like trying to fly a plane through a hurricane without instruments.

Conclusion

There is no silver bullet when it comes to bringing something new to market, especially something that is Internet based. While I do not know Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos or Mark Pincus, I am certain that none of these guys would tell you anything different. However, I do believe it is possible to give one self an edge over “the house" by following these steps:

Build something you think is great. Take the time to get it right. Give yourself time to iterate. Don't keep your secret forever, but don't rush to market. Being first is not a guarantee of success, just ask Yahoo!, AltaVista, MySpace, and Friendster.
Generate demand through market awareness before you expect to have success selling. Don't drink too much of your own Kool Aide. While you might think your idea is the best thing since Facebook, no one outside your organization has any idea what you've done, and, in the beginning, they don't care.
Make sure you have the right person driving your bus, and make sure (s)he is supported and empowered.
Mine the social data. It is highly likely the answers to all, or most, of your questions are available to you.
Keep the correct perspective. It is impossible to sell something for which there is little or no demand. If you have really created something unique, you must build awareness before you will see any demand; and, without demand, there will be no sales. This is not a "chicken and the egg" puzzle; awareness before demand before sales.

Complexity

Tal Golan — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:06:12 +0000

I've been listening to Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. This book should be required reading in every business school, by every student of humanities, and every person studying computer sciences. I'm near the end of the story and I've been struggling to reconcile the dycotomy of how Steve Jobs was able to drive the development of very complex things, while at the same time embodying and insisting on simplicity.

After a great deal of consideration, here's my take...

It's not about removing the complexity. It's about putting the complexity in the right place.

Those of us who work to create great things find ourselves in a constant struggle between simplicity and complexity. However, this struggle is an illusion. True simplicity is a manifestation of complexity.

Life and Soccer

Tal Golan — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 23:31:10 +0000

At the moment you are showing an honest love for the game. You get a considerable amount of playing time and seem to be enjoying every minute. However, personal experience has taught me that everything is fleeting. It is our responsibility, to ourselves and to our children, to teach that winning is not everything; everyone cannot be a goal scorer; not everyone always gets to play the position they want. Growing as a team is the real objective. Begin part of the team is most important.

As a family, we need to look forward and hope that everyone will be able to find ways to enjoy the moments as we do. Life, like soccer, is to be played beautifully; perfection is unachievable.

Rest in peace Mr. Jobs

Tal Golan — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:00:54 +0000

I, like most others, never knew Steve Jobs, but I, like many others, was influenced by Steve Jobs.

My heartfelt sympathy goes to his family, friends, and colleagues.

May his memory serve as a lighthouse for us all.

Time

Tal Golan — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:09:02 +0000

Dear friend:

Try to rest easy in the knowledge that you are handling this whole thing with a grace that few others could match. That does not make this suck any less, but it does make it easier for you, your children, and your spouse. As you mentioned last night, I've got a story for everything. What I've learned as I've been beaten down by the boxer that is life is that time is the most precious "thing" we have. It seems so obvious (and cliché), but time will relentlessly march on, whether we like it or not. The most important thing you can do for yourself, and your children, is to find a way to genuinely live a happy life.

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is credited for saying "No man ever steps in the same river twice." To oversimplify, what he is saying is that change is a constant component of what it means to be human. As you and your family pass through this time remember that today is the beginning, not the end. Live for today. Be conscious of tomorrow. Don't worry about yesterday. Allow yourself to be happy and happiness will return.

Peace my friend. We are here for you when/if you need us.

I cannot stand content farms...

Tal Golan — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 02:32:55 +0000

I don't know about the rest of you out there in cyberspace, but I, for one, have come to the conclusion that Google's search results are nowhere near as useful as they used to be. My perspective is very straight forward when it comes to the "quality" of search... Do I find what I'm looking for in the top 5 results on the first try of a search. I'm not a search expert. I don't know, nor do I have any interest in really "knowing" if Google's search results are really slipping. What I do know is that for me, it feels like search has become noticably less relevant/useful over the course of the last 18 months.

Today Google released what they call the "Personal Blocklist" as a Chorme Extension (download it from here). This tool allows individuals to block specific sites from showing up in Google search results. It's unfortunate that Google did not provide a way to input a list of sites to be blocked in bulk, but I'm sure someone will augment the Extension in short order.

In the meantime, here is a handy list of sites that I will be search for and blocking ASAP.

ehow.com
experts-exchange.com
naymz.com
activehotels.com
robtex.com
encyclopedia.com
fixya.com
chacha.com
123people.com
download3k.com
petitionspot.com
thefreedictionary.com
networkedblogs.com
buzzillions.com
shopwiki.com
wowxos.com
answerbag.com
allexperts.com
freewebs.com
copygator.com

Let me know if you find this list useful, and please help me add to the list.

Thanks.

Privacy Settings Matter...

Tal Golan — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:59:49 +0000

I have been working on a new project I call Electronic Timelines. The ET project is a set of data capture tools designed to structure information streams from news, blogs, and social networks and to correlate/compare them with other less obvious data points. I have been working on the underpinnings of this concept for a while and am finally beginning to see my hypothesis proven correct.

In the process of this work I have become interested in the "discoverability" of data that currently lives within ones social stream/graph. For the sake of this conversation let's accept the following definition of "discovery"...

Part of the pre-trial litigation process during which each party requests relevant information and documents from the other side in an attempt to "discover" pertinent facts. Generally discovery devices include depositions, interogatories, requests for admissions, document production requests and requests for inspection.

The formal procedures used by parties to a lawsuit to obtain information before a trial is called discovery. Discovery helps a party find out the other side's version of the facts, what witnesses know, and other evidence. Rules dictating the allowable methods of discovery have been set up by Congress (for federal courts) and by state legislatures (for state courts).

All the conversation around privacy, particularly with respect to Facebook, tends to focus on non-descript fears, a.k.a. FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt). However, as I have begun to investigate this matter more deeply, I have concluded the number one reason NOT to allow your social stream/graph to be publicly accessible comes when we consider what happens if you are every involved in a legal matter where a "discovery" demand is placed on you.

Apparently, on 26 May 2010, the US District Court (see See Crispin v. Christian Audigier Inc.) ruled that some content hosted on social networking sites will be precluded from discovery only to the extent that those communications were not available to the general public (see http://goo.gl/ykazG). This is huge news and should be taken VERY SERIOUSLY by anyone that uses Facebook or any other social networking site. This is particulary important now that Facebook is all about your location, etc.

Let me pose the following as an example...

You allow Facebook, Foursquare, Google Latitude, etc. to track your every move because you like letting all of your friends know where to find you. (I would encourage you to reconsider this personal policy, but that is not the point of this posting.) If you do not setup your privacy settings correctly, all of this location information would be "discoverable" in a court of law. I don't know about you, but this fact alone should make everyone strongly reconsider just what they really want shared publicly.

I am very interested to hear what other people think of the "privacy question" from this perspective.

If you aren’t getting rejected on a daily basis, your goals aren’t ambitious enough

Tal Golan — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 04:18:22 +0000

Chris Dixon, founder of Hunch, just wrote the following on his blog. It hit so close to home I felt like I should repost it here. If anyone reads this and knows Chris, please let him know how much I appreciated his words. I feel like a disciple of this philosophy as I'm struggling with this very issue as we speak.

My most useful career experience was about eight years ago when I was trying to break into the world of VC-backed startups. I applied to hundreds of jobs: low-level VC roles, startups jobs, even to big tech companies. I got rejected from every single one. Big companies rejected me outright or gave me a courtesy interview before rejecting me. VCs told me they wanted someone with VC experience. Startups at the time were laying people off. The economy was bad (particularly where I was looking – consumer internet) and I had a strange resume (computer programmer, small bootstrapped startups, undergrad and masters studying Philosophy/mathematical logic).

The reason this period was so useful was that it helped me develop a really thick skin. I came to realize that employers weren’t really rejecting me as a person or on my potential – they were rejecting a resume. As it became depersonalized, I became bolder in my tactics. I eventually landed a job at Bessemer (thanks to their willingness to take chances and look beyond resumes), which led to getting my first VC-backed startup funded, and things got better from there.

One of the great things about looking for a job is that your “payoff” is almost always a max function (the best of all attempts), not an average. This is also generally true for raising VC financing, doing bizdev partnerships, hiring programmers, finding good advisors/mentors, even blogging and marketing. I probably got rejected by someone once a day last week alone. In one case a friend who tried to help called me to console me. He seemed surprised when I told him: “no worries – this is a daily occurrence – we’ll just keep trying.” If you aren’t getting rejected on a daily basis, your goals aren’t ambitious enough.