Independent Thinking » Tim Berry

Using Smart Design to Decode the Data

Daria Steigman — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 13:15:03 +0000

We’re swimming in data, but are we mining it intelligently?

David McCandless is a “data journalist,” and he has spent a lot of time thinking about how to sort through data and make the information relevant. In this TED talk, McCandless talks about data in a connected world, and how knowledge compression and smart infographics can help us put information to good use.

Hat tip to Tim Berry, who tipped me off to this video.

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The Truth About Planning

Daria Steigman — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:11:56 +0000

For years I thought I was an accidental business owner. I mistakenly believed that I’d fallen into business ownership out of a determination to avoid bosses and office politics, which eventually led to an aha moment when I figured out that—yes!—I like the business of running a business.

What really happened was that I identified a market need and the appropriate universe of prospects, created services and pricing, developed a marketing strategy, and got to work selling. In other words, I had a plan.

And that’s the short secret to business success–and the topic of my latest column for IABC’s CW Bulletin. It features wisdom from Tim Berry, entrepreneur, founder of Palo Alto Software, and author of The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan, who talks about misconceptions about planning and offers three planning essentials.

Read the complete article here.

Photo by w00kie (Flickr).

Second Look: Netflix, Social Media Side Trips, Mobile Trends

Daria Steigman — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:37:02 +0000

A double-decker second look covers two weeks of top posts, surveys, and other news that I have read and/or tweeted about that you may not have seen. As the name implies, I think they deserve a second look:

Netflix, Innovation, and ROI: The second place team in the Netflix $1 million contest lost the money, but their search for a better predictive model yielded huge insights. Great article looks at why companies spent millions on the Netflix contest and the innovation payoff.
Social Media Side Trips: Paul Chaney, author of The Digital Handshake, talks with Toby Bloomberg about social media. A sample: If social media is a road trip, then “the ‘side trips’ have to do with the people we meet and the relationships we forge along the way.”
Business Loans, Personal Collateral: Should you use personal assets as collateral for a business loan? While it might be unavoidable, you need to negotiate carefully, borrow only what’s essential, and recognize the risks. Open Forum article looks at how to manage those risks. Shout out to Gini Dietrich for alerting me to this one.
Mobile trends: Rather than another post about apps and geo-location, the Economist takes an in-depth look at how mobile technology is changing the rules in the developing world. Key trends: availability, Chinese telecom companies, and the rise of mobile services.
Negotiating Tips: Three keys to good negotiations–empathy, win-win, and it’s not about contracts–by Palo Alto software founder Tim Berry.