Bio:
Web companies and
TALLULAH cosmetics
Challenging the status quo
Hangouts:
Twitter
LinkedIn
>140:
iamjoewheeler
at gmail . com
This is basically the application I had spec’d out about a year ago, but quickly realized that it will be years before “corp” is ok with their employees using this type of application. There are many who don’t even allow IM; this is way beyond IM. I think if small biz wants to be private, they should just protect updates in Twitter.
Yammer has a tough nut to crack with corp and must differentiate themselves from Twitter to make small biz’s get it and migrate.
I think there is so much potential for corp to grow and learn from if they encourage their employees to use apps like this; that potential is what made sense for me to go after. But there is so much old school thought that still manages corp that is really tough to navigate and convert.
If you are a CEO or even a manager, you should at least watch the Yammer demo; he uses some great examples to illustrate potential.
What I wanted to do was expose some great data analytics through the UI based on the company content over time. If participation and employee adoption was high, the analytics on the data would be priceless. There is so much mis-communication in corp and I think a tool like this could really close some gaps. Heck, I would even give incentives to employees to participate.
My suggestion to Yammer would be to focus efforts in the Valley; where execs and CEOs are much more liberal in the workplace. Good luck!
Yammer can best be described as a private Twitter for the office. They launched a minute ago, if your a small business I urge you to check it out. Their interface is seamless and they already have a mobile application.
Very excited about the launch of Cappuccino by 280North.
280Slides is built with it and it’s amazing how close the design and function is to Keynote on the desktop.
Anyone experimenting with Cappuccino yet? Let me know, would like to talk.
As you can see in the pics below I spent the last week in southern California; half business half mini-vacation.
I wanted to share a few thoughts on how I as a mid-westerner viewed life and business in Orange County. This is quick with not much thought.
Life:
1. The superficial gene is real and exists in all social classes of the Orange Co population
2. Time seems to slow down
3. 90% of Mercedes Benz income has to come from this one county - I actually overheard a 40k /year employee seriously shopping for a new CLK; and she called the Lexus a Camry with extra cup holders. You just don’t see that here. Funny.
4. People are generally not as friendly (there were exceptions in business) - I think this comes from people who have always lived there not realizing that there is an entire country of states to their east. Like the world exists of the state of California only. Just my impression.
5. Reasonable housing doesn’t exist
6. Beaches are amazing; so different than what I am used to
7. Surfers take on more risk in a day than some take on their entire life
Business:
1. Opportunity is larger - From a start-up perspective I think this is natural with bigger businesses and bigger money in any particular demographic. People are looking for deals everywhere; even in the OC.
2. Cheery business environments - I had meetings with three different companies in three different offices and in each instance the entire organizations appeared to be overly cheery and optimistic about everything. I don’t think this was because of my visit, I just think they work that way. I think the west coast probably does this better than the rest of the country.
3. Commutes suck BAD
4. Work hard play hard - they get it
5. Less analysis more action - Business people seem to think less and act more often. Again, only saw 3 companies, but that attitude existed in all of them and I am glad I got to see it.
For me the OC is a nice place to visit, but probably not somewhere I would want to call home. I would love to do business there because of all the points I listed above. I honestly didn’t see much I didn’t like on the business side.
I had a very interesting political discussion today with our director of development who happens to be from India.
I had a copy of today’s WSJ on my desk and I asked him if he followed much of the US political race; he answered not really, and added that it was a little confusing for him.
I answered, don’t worry, it’s confusing for all Americans too…. :)
We always have great discussions that lead to Indian cultures and traditions, which I typically drive towards because I am always trying to understand it more. This one lead right into the political structure that exists there.
If you are from India and happen to be reading this; please take no offense, but please try to understand that as an American it’s just as difficult for me to fully grasp your culture as it is for you to grasp mine.
What I learned today that political leaders are often movie stars! WHAT?
No lie, movie stars often turn into political leaders because they are idolized and thought to be able to make a reality of who or what they portray in movies. Indian movies are always happy/fantasy stuff, never “real” or based on reality (usually sad drama). So there evidently is always this super human fantasy situation that the people of India love and rally behind.
These movie stars have no political backgrounds at all, but because they are able to succeed and lead society in a movie, the people believe that they can do it in reality.
Very odd to me, but a reality. I guess the closest thing that has happened like that is the “Arnold” situation in California.
So here is a very real story of an Indian movie star turned politician that my friend at work showed me today.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/27/stories/2008082757380100.htm
By the way, it took 120 acres to hold all the people for the rally he had.
Impressive!
