Victory In Increments 
Don’t Let Engineers (or Lawyers) Name Stuff
By Julie | June 27, 2009
From time-to-time, engineers and lawyers give marketing short shrift, but the naming lesson is a poignant example of the shortcomings or the purely analytical-minded. Years ago in Boston, I watched a presentation by Colin Angle, CEO of iRobot. He’s an engineer, a good one, from MIT no less. He said “Don’t let engineers name stuff.” He had a bunch or awful alternative names for the Roomba, but the one I remember was “Robosuck.” Let’s just say it’s a good thing they spent some time and money to get the name right.
Recently, I’ve become more aware of the same issue with lawyers. They are, as a group, terrible at naming things. Who can remember all those names, and what’s more important, who cares? The marketing value of an utterly forgettable name of Whoswho & Soandso LLC is exactly zero. Even if I remember the name of the firm as your customer, the person I tell about you will be unlikely to remember that name. If they bother to look it up, they will be bombarded by similar looking and sounding firms with other equally forgettable names.
An interesting naming note set me on this tirade, a new venture firm called Blood Sweet, LLC chose their name through a contest. Thankfully Mr. Healthypants and Snert were passed over.
Topics: business, entrepreneurship, law, rants |
Paradise Valley and Chico Hot Springs
By Julie | June 17, 2009
My first day back in Montana, I made a little side trip to one of my favorite hot springs, Chico. Chico was established in 1897, only a few years after Montana became a state. Generations of Montanans have enjoyed swimming at Chico, including this week, myself, my mother, and my grandmother. It also boasts a gourmet restaurant (make a reservation if you decide to try dinner).
Chico is located in the heart of Paradise Valley (between Livingston and the Gardiner entrance to Yellowstone) near Emigrant (brightkite couldn’t find it). The weather was sporadic rain showers, and I caught one shot in the late evening on the way back to Bozeman.
The Alternate Routes at the Bluebird
By Julie | June 17, 2009
The Alternate Routes swung back through Colorado on Sunday to play at the Bluebird. Once again, it was an amazing show. I continue to absolutely love their new album, A Sucker’s Dream. The Alternate Routes are one of those rare bands that has it all: a great live show, a beautiful album, poetic lyrics, and musical range. I only got two blurry shots before they made me put my camera away:
I had a chance to talk to Tim, the lead singer for the Routes after the show, also the nicest guy (and has a wonderful voice). I also picked up the band’s first album, Good and Reckless and True. The song Ordinary is a gem:
And because they know I love Twitter, I can find their tweets: @alternateroutes.
Topics: music |
In My CD Player: Dark Was the Night
By Julie | June 13, 2009
I picked up this absolutely stellar compilation double album on my latest trip to Bart’s CD Cellar.
It includes a who’s who list of indie rock including: Andrew Bird, Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, David Byrne, Cat Power, The Decemberists, Feist, Jose Gonzalez, Grizzly Bear, Iron & Wine, My Morning Jacket, The National, The New Pornographers, Spoon, Sufjan Stevens, Gillian Welch, Yeasayer, Yo La Tengo and others. The Red Hot website also let me pick out three of the tunes from the CD to make a widget:
All the proceeds from the project go to AIDS prevention and awareness. The Red Hot Organization has been around for a while raising money to prevent AIDS through music projects.
This is why I still buy albums.
Gordon Sutton and CollegeWeekends.com
By Julie | June 10, 2009
One of the great things about an MBA program is the people you meet. I am particularly impressed with the entrepreneurial spirit of a number of my classmates. Gordon Sutton (a.k.a “Gordo”) came to the program as an entrepreneur and has spent a good share of the last two years applying MBA knowledge to his business that matches visitors with short-term renters in college towns. One big project he’s been working on for a while is a revamped website. The site looks great and for all the CU alums looking for a place to stay the next game day (or ready to rent your place out), you’ll be happy to know College Weekends is now up and running in Boulder. Great job Gordo!
Topics: business, entrepreneurship, web |
Binging and Purging on Sleep
By Julie | June 8, 2009
It’s a bad habit; going with less sleep throughout the week and then “catching up” on the weekends. I would be so much better going to bed and getting up at about the same time each day. I learned about the sleep binge and purge bad habit back when I worked for a sleep start-up now called Zeo. They sent me their sleep monitoring product, called Zeo, a few weeks ago, and now it’s all to easy too record and upload my sleep data. To illustrate, the following are two snapshots of my sleep; one from Saturday night when I didn’t set an alarm and one for Sunday night when I had to get up to go to work the next day.
SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY MORNING:
As you can see from the snapshots, I got over 8 hours of sleep on Saturday night. I also felt great the next day. Unfortunately, I put off some work I needed to get done and stayed up later than I should have the next night. When my alarm went off this morning a little after 7 I hit the snooze. I also got less than 6 hours of sleep and felt tired today. Comparing the two pictures also shows that by not getting enough sleep this morning, I didn’t get as much REM (light green) as I could have. It got cut off when I got out of bed. I’ll try to go to bed earlier tonight and get back into a rhythm. My body will surely thank me.
Topics: entrepreneurship, photos, products, sleep, technology, web |
Whole Foods, You’re Ruining Me
By Julie | June 1, 2009
I can’t shop anywhere else. I’m addicted to some of the things you sell that I can’t find anywhere else. Let me give you some examples. Your mango salsa. More addictive than coffee (and that should say something). It’s sweet but not too sweet with a cilantro and onion zest.
Then there is the quinoa black bean salad. I’m not much for salads, and this stuff doesn’t look that appetizing, but it’s fantastic. Light and perfect for summer. Beats a potato salad any day.
Check it out a Whole Foods near you. I’m say that because I’m yet to find any of these delights at my local King Soopers or Safeway.
Topics: products |
Colorado State Track Meet
By Julie | May 18, 2009
I’ve spent the last few months coaching high school pole vault at Fairview High School. This weekend was the state track meet held at Jeffco Stadium. There were some great performances, including Chase Cooper who jumped 17 feet. This is the photo I shot of his jump at 17.
This is a HUGE jump. Unfortunately he didn’t clear 17′4″, which would have broken Pat Manson’s 23 year old record of 17′3″. Pat Manson was watching. Wish his standards were a little closer, he had it cleared. By the way, I would like the answer to the following question, “How many officials does it take to run the pole vault?”
Some other snapshots I snapped at the meet:
Topics: photos |
What’s In My CD Player: Loney, Dear
By Julie | May 17, 2009
I first heard Loney, Dear off a mixed CD by my friend and music treasure hunter. I Am John was the track that caught my attention, and the rest of the album was ok. So I recognized the band name when I opened Paste Magazine last month and saw a review for the group’s new album, Dear John. I took a mental note. Then a few weeks later I was sent two free downloads, one of which was “Airport Surroundings” off the band’s new album. It was awesome.
I bought the album. There are moments of brilliance, and I highly recommend. The two albums are so different, I can’t believe it’s the same artist.
Best Practices for Corporate Blogging and Corporate Twitter
By Julie | May 4, 2009
Last fall I took a class in high tech marketing at the Leeds School of Business. A requirement for the class was to write a paper on a topic of our choice. I decided to look deeper into enterprises using blogs and Twitter. Here is my paper on best practices for corporate blogging and corporate Twitter. The Twitter data in particular is a moving target; the number of Twitter users, for example, is already far larger. The underlying themes are still valid. Comments and feedback welcome.
Topics: business, entrepreneurship, technology, web |