In a world where Apple can do no wrong and Google has had some product flops, this week their roles have reversed.
Google launched its most ambitious social initiative yet with Google+. It is getting very good reviews from GigaOM, TechCrunch, Mashable and others.  Due to “insane demand“, Google had to shut down invites to manage a slower rollout.   (Even further proof that the world is upside: one of the original Apple Macintosh designers was the lead designer for Google+).
Beyond the smart design though was also a smart strategy.  First, Google …

Now seems like a good time to remind you that you can’t ride on your past accomplishments for very long.  If you aren’t working to stay ahead of the curve, your company is going to be left behind.
Years ago I was bemoaning to a friend about how I had missed the opportunity to invest in BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM).  They were on top of the world.  Now app developers are leaving them, and everyone believes they are dead.
This shouldn’t be shocking, especially to those people that study and …

There I was, 2 weeks ago sitting in an auditorium on a Sunday attending TEDxCMU.   It was an inspiring and emotional day with 12 fantastic talks from local and national presenters.
One of the talks was by Luis von Ahn, a CMU professor.  It only took me a minute to realize that I was in the presence of an amazing innovator, and that I had the privilege of being one of the first people to hear about his latest project.
All the confirmation I needed that what I witnessed was important came …

When I was growing up, running a lemonade stand was easy.  You picked a hot day, made sure you had a good location, priced it right, and provided a quality product.
But in the Web 2.0 world we live in, that just isn’t enough.  Everyone knows that it takes much less capital to start a business then it did 20 years ago, so everyone in your neighborhood is probably thinking about starting a lemonade stand too.  How will you ever be able to beat the competition?  Here is your guide to …

Google has just mailed out window stickers to 190,000 businesses that contain 2-dimensional bar codes (or “QR” code), which when scanned by a mobile phone will call up the business’s local directory page on – you guessed it – Google.  There are over 1 million businesses that have filled out their Google local listings, but the company has mailed these stickers to the 20% that are most searched for on the web. (Source article from TechCrunch, image from Gizmodo article.)
Great distribution model
What struck me first was the efficiency of Google’s …