Smarter Stuff

What's the simplest thing that will work?

That is a helpful product development question I learned to ask a long time ago, when I consulted for a company called Well Engaged, a software-only spinoff from The Well during the Bruce Katz years.

On Venture Hacks (an interesting blog), there's a nice transcript and narrated slideshow of The Minimum Viable Product, which is another way of saying the same thing (at least I think they're the same).

BTW, the interviewee, Eric Ries, has a great blog called Lessons Learned, where he has his own take on the interview.

Evidently, there is a Part II to follow...

Lifestyle Pets Scam

Mike, the mind behind the very funny I Am Prepared to Give Up at Any Time blog just wanted a non-allergic cat for his daughter.

Unfortunately, Lifestyle Pets appears to be a scam.  At least, they took his money, but haven't delivered a cat.  

Has anyone out there actually received their Allerca hypoallegenic cat?

Someone's Unscrupulous Teeth Trick

Let me explain. CathysTeethTrick.com is a one-post blog. In it, "Cathy" tells you she got whiter teeth using free samples of two different whitening products. And she helpfully gives you links to them, after mentioning that you'll need to pay a few dollars for shipping.

Go ahead and look at the site.  It's safe enough to look at.

It's a great story, and if you drink wine like I do, the whiteness of your teeth is probably of concern to you.  Cathy seems like a helpful soul who accidentally discovered an easy, low-cost solution, which she's kind enough to share.

I don't know if there is a real Cathy out there, but it points out that a convincing story which addresses a perceived need -- whiter teeth, in this case -- makes it easy to sell things on line.

BUT THE OFFER IS UNSCRUPULOUS (although probably perfectly legal):

If you sign up for the free samples (with their $6.99 shipping & handling fee), you have also agreed to have them charge your credit card $79 after the 14-day trial, and continue to send additional product  each month and charge you $86 for it.

Plus, to cancel your free trial, you need to jump through several hoops (obtain a return authorization, and mail the stuff back), making it less likely you'll succeed in cancelling without charge.

It's all there in the fine print.

There are at least two additional dangers:

1. You are giving your credit card information to people who are clearly unscrupulous.
2. You have no idea what's in the two products that Cathy recommends.  For all you know, they're the same thing in different packages.

I've seen similar URLs (Audrey's White Teeth) making the same offer, so I don't know if there's some affiliate program where people are paid to send traffic to the "free sample" signup pages, or whether it's just a clever operation using multiple sites to see what phrases/imagery drive the most traffic.

It's definitely a trick, though.  Don't fall for it.

(Courts have ruled that Google is not liable for bad products sold through AdWords, but I still wish they would do something, since AdWords is one of the ways that these people are getting traffic to their sites. )

The Four Seasons

Today is the Spring Equinox, traditionally The First Day of Spring.

But it's not.

Today is the exact middle of spring.   Similarly, the Summer Solstice is the middle of summer (from there, the days get shorter until the Winter Solstice).

There are 4 seasons, each 91 days long, with 45 days between a Solstice or Equinox.  So, the real start of each season is (approximately) as follows:

Spring	February 2 (45 days before the Equinox)
Summer	May 6
Autumn	August 6
Winter	November 5

"Search your heart, Luke.  You know it to be true."

100% Responsible Employees

Employees should be masters of their own time: 

The suggestion is that you implement one single company-wide rule. The rule is simple: every employee is 100% responsible for how they spend their time. If it sounds simplistic, let me try and make the case that it is actually quite radical.

A worthwhile read.