The Starbucks Lean Startup - A How To

Starbucks has taken some of the financial pain out of buying a latte and surfing the web in their stores by offering up free Wi-Fi to customers in Canada and the US. "Enjoy great coffee and the Internet at your fingertips." says the companies website. 


Om Malik, is adding to the mix by letting us all in on his little secrets about lean startups and maximizing your business startup experience at Starbucks expense:

• Almost always favor a single location. It makes it easier for your contacts to drop in for meetings.
• Learn the names of most of the baristas and also take time to have a conversation with them. It helps build a human connection.
• Make the baristas involved in your venture – share your news and make them feel part of your struggle.
• Make sure you buy coffee or something at least three times a day.
• Tip generously – up to $10 a day will ensure that folks at the store don’t view you as a freeloader and a pest.
• Don’t spread out your stuff and take up too much space at the store.
• Invest in great noise-cancelling headphones (to counter the loud background music).
• Keep your mobile phones on vibrate and leave the store for conversations.
• Make sure that the number of people attending a meeting is fewer than four so that you can all circle around a single table.

Think I need a latte.

Twitter Attracting Venture Capital Attention

Gigaom is reporting that micro blogging service, Twitter has ignited a bidding war amongst venture capital firms who are hot to get in on the companies next round of financing. Twitter has been spreading like wild fire amongst the tech savvy but has had it's growing pains too. Some of the companies senior staff members have left, willingly or otherwise, due to difficulties scaling the service and numerous outages as the result. Nevertheless the valuations for Twitter are said to be upwards of $70 million, though there is no clear business model as of yet.

If you are yet to give Twitter a try I'd encourage you to do so, though be warned it is addictive. You can follow this blog by adding GreatBigGeek to the list you are following or message me direct @GreatBigGeek!

Is Google after Skype?

According to The Guardian Google is in talks with eBay to buy Skype! Well, that's what the rumors circulating London say... and according to OM Malik the Skype spokespeople are not commenting. I guess with all of the interest in telephony these days at Google it's not a big stretch of the imagination to speculate on this deal, and they do have the cash to make such a purchase happen. Can Google succeed where eBay has failed? Time may tell...

New Flickr interface with Geotagging!

First Google Earth and now Flickr, seems like geotagging is the "in" thing in user interface on the web. Om Malik seems impressed by the Flickr move, which provides users with a map like view and pinpoints where photo's were snapped relative to the map. I agree it's a great tool for browsing, though I don't think it will ever replace searching. Again another new way to waste time on the Web.

As a side, I've been planning a family trip to Disney and have been contemplating the purchase of a new camera. The decision process has been complicated by the fact that I can't decide on still or video... I realize that most stills take video and vice versa. One of the video cameras that I've been eying is the Sanyo Xacti and now Om has made the choice even more complicated. The video displayed in his post was created with the Xacti and is a bit grainy, the light is obviously dim and that would help explain it but it's got me questioning the quality. Then again if it's good enough for Om Malik... Anyone have any experience with the Xacti? I'd love to get your comments!