Dignanimity
New Orleans bound...
This is a map of a few of the places and things we’re hoping to check out in New Orleans next week. Let us know if we’re missing something key.
Want Content? "Pick One"
A meeting with the super smart Avner Ronen of Boxee yesterday, combined with reading coverage of the Pirate Bay trial and the 30 Rock “McFlurrygate” has got me thinking on overdrive about the future of video content.
In a conversation last night with my buddy Aaron, we came up with a simple rule called “Pick One.” While certainly not groundbreaking, it’s an easy way to think about the future of entertainment.I’ve seen a lot of folks living inside the insular tech world develop the attitude that they deserve their content free of:
- cost
- time/focus consuming advertising
- product placement
This led to the “pick one” theory. For a sustainable content production model, the consumer has to pick one of those. I hate to play the old media asshole here, but an episode of Lost isn’t going to get made with none of the above.
So, I know I’m 1/2 month late in riffing here, but I did want to call out, I think it may well be the case that for web content the consumer only has to pick one, but for insanely expensive $5MM/episode HD tv content, they might have to pick two. You like 24? How about putting up with advertising AND that obnoxious Cisco ringtone…
The bottom line is just realigning our expectations post Napster, which believe it or not, never fully happened. There’s no magic “amazing content box.” UGC is not going to create scripted television. So, we have to face facts: making content has a real cost. Somebody, somewhere has got to pay, whether it’s McFlurry, you, or the quality of the content.
Join the Fiesta Movement...
So, as many of you have heard, we’re working on a very ambitious program with Ford called the Fiesta Movement. The idea is simple: we’re lending a Ford Fiesta to 100 amazing people for 6 months, with gas, insurance, and parking included. Then, once a month they’ll be asked to complete exclusive missions with or in the car. These missions will give them access to people, places, and experiences that will blow their minds. Each of the six months has a different theme, and the missions will correlate.
I’m guessing you’d like to be a driver. I’m guessing you’d be good at it. I’m hoping that you’ll apply here:
I’ll put in a good word for you.
Book Review
Just finished “Warren Buffet and the Interpretation of Financial Statements.” While it might sound like a dry read, it was actually quite fascinating. For starters, the level of discussion in the book is fairly plebian, which is a good thing for me as I never got an MBA or a sound education in investment strategy. What the book does cover quite well though, is the way Warren Buffett looks at a company’s financials, and what indicators might suggest a durable competitive advantage. At its core, it seems his investment philosophy is about common sense, patience, and the search for a company that will be competitive for decades rather than years. He’s looking at stocks as equity bonds with a certain rate of return (earnings per share). As you move through the book and note where he pays special attention (or doesn’t) you certainly get a sense for how effective this strategy can be, given an insatiable desire to review financial statements and the composure to exercise unbelievable restraint amidst market fluctuations.
I read the book as a way to evaluate my own company’s financials – to ensure that we have, or can create, the indicators of long-term viability. On the whole, it seems we’re very much on the right track, with one exception being that we’re in a people-driven consulting business, something Warren avoids. For me, the read was encouraging. And, as much as entrepreneurs and investors might gripe about service businesses, where your competitive advantage goes up and down in the elevators everyday, I wouldn’t have it any other way. No other type of business has more heart, more culture, and more subtlety. When your people are your business, it forces your business practices to be more human, and that’s an advantage that doesn’t show up on the balance sheet.
On the similarities between Benjamin Button and Forrest Gump
I’ll admit that it was with great excitement that I entered the theater to see Benjamin Button last night. However, over the course of the film I began to suspect that someone somewhere was hoping this could be Forrest Gump – the sequel. I later learned that the same screenwriter wrote both films! And so, the pieces began to fit. As an exercise I decided I would write down all the similarities I could find in the story/characters of both films. I invite you to read through the below and then share any that I may have missed (I will incorporate into later versions of this post).
- Both Benjamin and Forrest have some deficiency that society rejects.
- Both Benjamin and Forrest have strong mother figures, and both are Southern
- Both mothers offer nebulous wisdom about the uncertainty of the future (“You never know what you’re going to get” and “You never know what’s coming for you”)
- Both Benjamin and Forrest have an unrequited love affair with a childhood female friend who is too much of a free spirit to be loved, until life teaches them a hard lesson, and they finally settle down, and end up geting pregnant by Benjamin or Forrest respectively.
- Both Benjamin and Forrest go on adventures that lead them far from home, including seeing a war firsthand.
- Both end up on a boat for work (tug or shrimp).
- Both have a vitriolic male friend in their lives who drinks too much and curses god (Captain Dan and Captain Mike).
- Both end up not having to worry about money (Benjamin through inheritance and Forrest through Apple stock).
- Both are worried that their baby will share their deficiency (and neither does).
- Both stories use a flying object as a metaphor (a hummingbird and a feather).
More to come, hopefully from you fine readers!
