Archive for 'Main Page'
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 14 Jan 2010, 12:10 AM - 3 Comments
Photo Courtesy: Juvertson on Flickr
Most ideas wither and wilt in the marketplace. Some ideas take off brilliantly and become ultra-popular. Like any adoption curve, some people get it quickly (early adopters) but most people will wait for the ideas to get baked and time-tested before they jump in to embrace them.
Both (early adopters and late adopters) have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Early adopters might get a “hit” as they are always trying new things. However, since not all of them are “hits,” they might also end up going in circles.
Late adopters have a better chance of succeeding as they follow time-tested methods. However, they have lost the “hit advantage” enjoyed by early adopters
This article is specifically focused on late adopters of ultra-popular stuff. If you are one of them, you need to avoid “the curse of the ultra-popular.”
The curse is simply that once something becomes ultra-popular, there is no premium paid for learning it. The marketplace does not provide you “special status” for knowing the ultra-popular. After sometime, the ultra-popular is nothing more than table stakes.
Being aware or this is avoiding the curse as you don’t expect a “premium” for learning the ultra-popular. Your expectations are in order.
If you are not aware, you will end up expecting a premium for your investment in learning the ultra-popular and when you don’t get it, you are heart-broken.
Have a great day!
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 12 Jan 2010, 12:10 AM - 12 Comments
Photo Courtesy: Julia Manzerova on Flickr
I have written about the power of “free” multiple times before. Here are are a few links:
1. TomPeters.com: The Business Case for Giving Away Your Best Work for Free
2. The Case for “Free” (Again!)
Every time I write about free, I get a few emails about the topic. Every email is different but at the heart of every email are a few things:
1. I like free. I believe in it. How will I make money if I give something for free?
2. I don’t have enough time to give things for free.
A blog post can’t do justice to properly respond to the “free” dilemma. However, if “free” is something that you want to experiment with ( I strongly advise you do ) then you should understand the one of the differences between atoms and bits.
- Atoms don’t scale. Bits do.
- Incremental cost of work by atoms won’t decrease with more work. Incremental cost of work by bits is almost zero.
- Atoms take up a lot of resources to work. Bits don’t.
Your “free” strategy should be mostly based on bits (of course, you require atoms to create those bits) if it has to scale. This means you have to create content that spreads without your ongoing effort to provide the fuel for the idea to spread.
- Providing 1-1 free consulting is atom-based. Creating a free report on the top ten mistakes to avoid is bit-based.
- Doing a free security audit is atom-based. Providing a free tool to a self-service audit is bit based.
- Creating “office hours” is atom-based. Conducting a webinar and providing replays of the webinar is a hybrid model (first part is atom-based and subsequent replays are bit-based)
Use the atom-power to create remarkable bit-based free stuff that spreads 
Posted under Business Models, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 11 Jan 2010, 12:10 AM - 4 Comments
Photo courtesy: jmtimages on Flickr
As soon as you finish that project…
You may want to celebrate.
You might want to take a well-deserved break.
You might want to go off the grid for a while.
You might want to just not to anything and relax a bit.
Before I make my point, let us just stop and think for a minute about life.
Life, for me, is a series of projects. That was the opening premise of my first book (in US) called Beyond Code (you can download the entire book for FREE here)
In fact, you are always on at least two projects – one personal and one professional – that is if you are lucky. Typically you are on more than two projects. The size and scope of these projects are different but they are right there.
There is no time in your life where you can get a clean exit from one project and move to the next project.
[ Note: Ultra-successful people who have achieved autonomy don't fall into the category. They are exceptions ]
If you think about it, most of your life is spent on projects (until you achieve autonomy) and occasionally you get spurts of time where you are in-between projects.
The “in-between project time” is tiny compared to the “project time.” If you are waiting for the “in-between project time” to celebrate, you are missing most of your life. That will be sad.
What if you view engaging in your core projects is a celebration of life. That’s where you spend most of your life so why not celebrate it?
If, for some reason your projects are not worth celebrating, then why engage in them in the first place?
Something to think about.
Two related blog posts on projects:
1. Learn the art of managing multiple projects
2. Connect your projects
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 10 Jan 2010, 12:10 AM - 4 Comments
Photo Courtesy: Laszlo-Photo on Flickr
Typically all it requires is to light the fire is striking a match against a match box.
What happens after that depends on many things.
At one extreme, you can create a forest fire within no time.
On the other extreme, you can just sit and watch until the matchstick burns down and throw whatever remains into the garbage can.
If you are lighting a fire to a cigarette, over a period of time, it will kill you.
If you are lighting a lamp, it will shed the darkness around you.
If you light a candle once, you might be able to create a ripple effect with that candle lighting a thousand other candles.
While it all seems simple, let us look at what is involved:
- You should have a burning desire to light the fire.
- You need the resources – a match stick and a match box. Or, at least two rocks.
- You should know how to light the fire.
- You should know where to light the fire.
- Lastly, you should take the action to light the fire.
- Honestly, the above was not the last step. The last step is whether you like it or not you need to face the consequences (positive or negative) of lighting that fire.
We still have more than 350 days in this year to light those fires.
Do you have the desire to light one and if yes, where are you going to do it?
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sat 09 Jan 2010, 12:10 AM - 4 Comments
Michelangelo said it right – “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
And how does the sculptor discover it?
Simply by removing all the unwanted stone surrounding the statue.
Is this easy? No.
Is this painless for the stone? No.
Is this foolproof? No.
But if you want to discover the statute inside the stone, it’s got to be done. No other option.
If, on the other hand, you want to be nice to the stone and decide that you will simply use a good cloth and start polishing it, what will you get?
Polished crap.
Not a statue but polished crap.
It is the same case with you. There is a beautiful statue inside of you. You just need to remove the unwanted stuff that is preventing that statue to come out. The unwanted stuff can be as simple as “unproductive habits” that is stopping you from getting to where you want to go.
For starters, the “feedback” from the market and the people who care for you is what will remove the unwanted stuff. But, only if you take it seriously and do something about that feedback. If you are defensive and not listen to the feedback, you may never discover that beautiful statue.
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Fri 08 Jan 2010, 12:10 AM - 5 Comments
Photo Credit: JohnW on Flickr
Seems simple but it’s not.
We make assessments based on what we see. What is visible and what our senses can make out influences our thinking all the time.
Today, more than ever people are sharing information via one ore more social networks. This may give the feeling that what is shared is everything. This may be true in some cases but in most cases what you see is the tip of the iceberg. It is hard for someone to share everything that they would share with a close friend. It is not required either.
Think about someone that you met over a social network. You knew a lot about the person via your interactions within the social network. As you built a relationship with the person, you will notice that you learned a LOT more about the person. What you saw in the social network was the “tip of the iceberg” and what you will discover when you build relationship is the “iceberg.”
Being “very” active on the social networks should not be an excuse to shy away from building close relationships. You still need to carve out the time necessary to build the next level of relationships.
The tip of the iceberg is just that – tip of the iceberg. The iceberg is WAY bigger than the “tip of the iceberg.”
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 07 Jan 2010, 12:10 AM - 9 Comments
Photo Courtesy: Litandmore on Flickr
Over the last few weeks, I have been thinking about how many things I have done just because they said so.
I am sure that is true even in your case.
When you highly respect some people and you trust them 100%, you suspend judgment and rational thought and simply take a shortcut and move towards execution.
We all need shortcuts in life and I use them all the time when the instructions come from people the highly respect.
When I don’t have to worry about the “agenda” of the person giving me the instructions.
Better yet, when I am confident that the “agenda” of the person is totally geared towards me becoming a better person.
When I made a quick list of the number of people that can just order me around, I simply felt blessed. The list is quite long and it simply means that I am surrounded by people that I trust and respect.
Look inside yourself and see if you can make a quick list of people where you have that kind of relationship. I am confident that you have a big list too – just that you may never have slowed down to even think about it.
OK here is the real point:
Now think about all the people that matter most to you.
Now imagine, they were doing this exercise and they are asked to make a quick list of people who can tell them something and they would do that just because they said so.
In how many lists will your name appear?
Something to think about.
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 06 Jan 2010, 12:10 AM - 7 Comments
When you meet someone even after a while, they are seeing your 2.0 version.
You meet them again after a while and they again will see your 2.0 version.
With reasonable time between meetings, you change. You evolve and typically version 2.0 is better than version 1.0
What would you feel if someone does not notice that you are v2.0 and starts treating you as if you are still v1.0?
What would you feel if someone makes assessments using the criteria they used to make assessments of your previous version?
What would you feel if they didn’t notice the “significant” change from your previous version to current version?
Not very good I am presuming.
Now lets turn the tables around.
How are you treating people when you meet them after a while?
Do you see them as version 2.0 or do you see them same as before?
How do you think they are feeling?
Something to think about.
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 05 Jan 2010, 12:10 AM - 3 Comments
Photo Courtesy: Monkeyc.Net on Flickr
The biggest asset you have on your hand: Your time.
The biggest asset you have on the hand of others: Their mindshare
The biggest asset others have on their hand: Their time.
You squander their time (their biggest asset) and they stop handing you their mindshare (your biggest asset in their hands)
Mindshare erosion is the silent killer. You start losing it as soon as you stop caring for the time of people in question.
Mindshare erosion is a serious problem because while you can lose it easily, it is not easy to recover that back. Why? Simply because with the newfound time, others will engage with something else that catches their fancy. While it is important for you to get back their mindshare, it may not be equally important for them to hand back their mindshare.
This year, I wish all of you success and hope each one of you will prevent or arrest mindshare erosion and succeed.
Posted under Main Page.
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