Doing something crazy: on taking risks to change the world
The Personal Story Behind Outbox: Meet Evan Baehr from Outbox on Vimeo.
It is an honor to be an entrepreneur in Austin, TX, and to be part of the WeAreAustinTech community, working together to make this city the best in the world to build a company.
This feature length documentary about iconic American design power couple Charles and Ray Eames is a beautiful window into design, innovation, and creativity. They spent years working on a manufacturing method of bending plywood in order to create molded, wooden furniture. By history and necessity, they began manufacturing leg splints for the US military–a seeming distraction that proved the critical exercise for perfecting the wood molding process. Part of their inspiration for designing beautiful furniture was to create the best for the least for the most – a fascinating motto seemingly closer to the worldview of Walmart founder Sam Walton than of most elite designers. There is something powerful and beautiful about a democratic vision for design: that what they (we) build ought to be designed to shape how thousands, millions, even billions of people live. Now that’s a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
Over the last twenty four hours I read Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, which left me concerned that, despite degrees from Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, I am on a path toward a brain that doesn’t work.
The idea. Marshall McLuhan, author of Understanding Media and partly the inspiring philosophy of Carr’s work, argues that our tools end up numbing whatever part of our body they “amplify.” The power loom left weavers without manual dexterity. The mechanical plows left farmers with no tactile understanding of soil. Carr explores the next application of this thesis: if computers and the internet are meant to amplify the brain, do they also numb it?
Previous inventions–the book and the calculator–enabled greater human understanding and materially advanced the cause of mankind, Carr argues. With the book, humans were able to communicate (write) and understand (read) across time and place, eliminating the need to obtain a rare physical copy or, even worse, find someone to recite it. With the calculator, students could stop spending hours on long division and instead devote time to calculus. But the internet is different: it enables us to outsource our brains – or at least the entire set of facts, images, and stories – to external storage. Although this outsourcing might seem efficient because it allows humans to focus on higher order thinking (e.g. combining the images, telling narratives with the facts, etc.), outsourcing actually robs us of the very act that enables us to do the higher order thinking in the first place: the neural process of committing “data” from short term memory to long term memory. While remembering things seems unnecessary and even irrational in an age of cloud storage, failing to do so actually leaves us incapable of doing anything meaningful with that memory. Continue Reading →
I first learned about design thinking during a Harvard-sponsored trip to Silicon Valley where we spent an afternoon at IDEO, the iconic design firm involved in many of the most famous designs in the last 25 years, including the mouse, the PalmPilot, and many of Apple’s flagship products. There was something refreshing about the attitude of the designers, the culture of the firm, and even the design of their workspace. The firm is filled with “t-shaped people”– experts in one trade but generalists in all. A team of anthropologists, structural engineers, and graphic artists can sit down, be given an outrageously difficult problem, and hours and hundreds of Post-it notes later, they often have a remarkably elegant solution. This was something I wanted to learn more about.
Cofounding a new venture nine months ago has provided an opportunity to infuse design thinking into a technology company from the beginning. Below are a few things we’ve tried along the way. If you are curious about design thinking, just pick one and get started!
1. Learn what it’s all about: the best place to learn about design thinking is Stanford’s bootcamp bootleg found here. This 100 page bootleg document is the best summary I have found and was created by probably the institutional leader in the field: the Stanford d.school. Empathize. Define. Ideate. Prototype. Test. That’s it!
“[My aspiration is] to change the world,” said Dennis Crowley, cofounder of Foursquare. “If this turns out to be an amazingly big business at the same time, well, that’s an added bonus.” This is hardly what you would expect to hear from a founder who raised $20 million in a Series A from all stars including Andreessen Horowitz. Aren’t these guys supposed to be razor focused on monetization? In a quixotic way, many founders of revolutionary internet companies begin with visions that have no component on monetization. How can we explain this irony: some of the “best” and “most innovative” internet companies–and therefore those with the highest valuations–are often founded by visionaries who are supposedly indifferent to–you might even say disinterested in–monetization.
Consider Crowley, a dreamer who was fascinated by the idea of bringing a gaming layer to the physical world. Indeed he even wrote his NYU thesis on the subject. And it was this nearly-academic curiosity that shaped his vision for the company. “We just want to get all these things built… and to put as many pieces in place as possible. After we do that, then we’ll try to monetize,” he explained. “And if we can’t monetize, at least we will have pushed the world forward a little. We taught people about check-ins. We taught them about location services and about life as a game,” he offered. For Crowley, monetization is literally an afterthought. It is secondary in sequence and importance to product and impact. To understand Crowley and founders like him, it is critical to understand his personal motivations. He values teaching society about a concept. He values helping people build better relationships. And he values pioneering sociological concepts that enable future companies to realize his vision. His passion reminds me of Ronald Reagan’s line: “It is amazing how much you can get done if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
Consumer-facing businesses have a unique opportunity to touch millions of real lives in a personal way every day. Put on your consumer hat for a minute and think through your day: the coffee shop barrista, the cashier at McDonalds, the sales associate at Target, the attendant at the gas station, the waiter at your restaurant, and on and on. Indeed we have conversations with several people every day–probably dozens a month–in the context of retail businesses. Retail employees are amazingly prevalent in our lives – a prevalence surpassed only by our friends and family members. That consumers spend so much time and even emotional energy interacting with employees creates a real opportunity for businesses to go beyond traditional roles of sales and customer service.
A few weeks ago I had the privilege to visit Chick-fil-A headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, for an all-day tour and series of discussion with the company leadership. Based on my conversations, here’s my impression of how Chick-fil-A sees its business: 1,600 community spaces where 7+ million Americans spend time with their friends and family… and to these spaces their customers bring their stories, their needs, and their hopes. Although it is great chicken sandwiches and a welcoming restaurant that get people in the door, once customers show up employees have an opportunity–albeit brief–for real interaction. Yes there is customer service: taking orders, making change, delivering food. However, there’s more. Chick-fil-A wants to serve the full range of needs of its customers. So when an elderly woman walks in the door, the posture isn’t just: “what value meal can I serve this woman?” It is also: “What is this woman’s story?” and “In my few minutes of interaction, how can I somehow connect with and empower this woman?” Continue Reading →
“When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and you’re life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.” – Steve Jobs
The launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger had already been delayed twice, and the White House was pressing that it launch before the SOTU address on January 28, 1986. Central to that story was Christa McAuliffe, the first civilian, a school teacher, to travel into space. With nearly half of all school children in America watching the live broadcast, the Space Shuttle Challenger burst into flames 73 seconds into flight, killing the entire crew. Instead of delivering a State of the Union Address, Reagan delivered a magnificent eulogy, paying honor to the fallen and consoling a nation. This address is one of the greatest speeches of 21st century American political life.
Ray Dalio, founder CEO, of Bridgewater (arguably the most successful and largest hedge fund in the world), distilled the principles responsible for his success in a fascinating document below. What is most striking is their general applicability, as he explains in the preface below:
“I am confident that whatever success Bridgewater and I have had has resulted from our operating by certain principles. Creating a great culture, finding the right people, managing them to do great things and solving problems creatively and systematically are challenges faced by all organizations. What differentiates them is how they approach these challenges. The principles laid out in the pages that follow convey our unique ways of doing these things, which are the reasons for our unique results. Bridgewater’s success has resulted from talented people operating by the principles set out here, and it will continue if these or other talented people continue to operate by them. Like getting fit, virtually anyone can do it if they are willing to do what it takes.”
See the full 123-page Principles manifesto here.
”If you sell your expertise you have a limited repertoire. If you sell your ignorance, you have an unlimited repertoire. He was selling his ignorance and his desire to learn about a subject. The journey of him going from not knowing to knowing was his work.” – Richard Saul Wurman, founder of TED, about Charles Eames’ approach to life.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
–Theodore Roosevelt (Paris, France on 23 April, 1910)
With thousands of people descending on Austin for SXSW, attendees must prioritize whom to meet. Keep an eye out for these movers, shakers, ideologues, and financiers.
THE PROPHET: Mike Maples, Jr. (LI / @m2jr) – founder of Austin-based Motive, Mike went out to “become a VC” and ended up with a small investment in a podcasting-turned-messaging company called Twitter. A thought partner with Roger McNamee, Mike is a ideas guy always developing big investment theses.
THE MAVEN: Joshua Baer (LI / @joshuabaer) – the quintessential “Austinpreneur,” Josh eats, sleeps, and breathes Austin startups. He’s a serial founder, gives all of his free time to help entrepreneurs in part through the CapitalFactory, and gives back to the community with projects like WeAreAustinTech.
THE EVIL GENIUS: Whurley (LI / @whurley) – a man referred to by one word, “Whurley” is a tour de force in bringing and building amazing companies and projects in Austin. He’s currently an evil genius with Chaotic Moon, a firm as odd as its name.
THE CONNECTOR: Dean Kakridas (LI / @ATX) – Frogger, designer, entrepreneur, and superconnector, Dean not only knows everyone in Austin, he brings them together with purpose and excitement.
THE DESIGNER: Jon Kolko (LI / @jkolko) – while his earrings take some getting used to, Jon Kolko is a godfather of the Frog design exodus and recently founder of Austin Center for Design (AC4D).
THE GODFATHER: Damon Clinkscales (LI / @damon) – the godfather of the Austin rails scene, Damon is hacker, tacodeli-promoter, and all-around nice guy.
THE MONEY GUY: Bryan Stolle (LI)- a UT graduate, Bryan built a few huge enterprise tech companies and later joined famed Sandhill Road VC Mohr Davidow. With a war chest, he’s poised to make some big investments in Austin.
THE SAGE: Bob Metcalf (@BobMetcalfe) – the man who literally invented ethernet (founder of 3COM), Bob moved to TX after 30 years at Harvard/MIT because his wife liked the weather! He’s now at the helm of entrepreneurship at UT and doing some amazing things.
THE INNOVATOR: Jonathan Berkowitz (LI / @berkokid)- shepherd of hundreds of Triology alumni, “Berko” and partner Steve Waters built Thinktiv, a “venture accelerator” that has recruited some of Austin’s top design and developer talent to go hands on with incubated companies.
THE ANGEL: Bill Boebel (LI / @billboebel) – wise as he is soft-spoken, Bill cofounded Webmail.us, later sold it to Rackspace, and now corrals angels and former rackers to build awesome companies.
THE SCRIBE: Lori Hawkins (LI / @LoriCHawkins) – Lori’s incisive questions, eloquent prose, and uncanny ability to know about everything going on in town make her tech beat for the Statesman a definitive read.
Evan Baehr moved to Austin in the fall of 2011 to cofound Outbox, a company aiming to reinvent postal mail. Upon arriving in Austin, he founds dozens of amazing people, just a few of whom are mentioned above. Since then, he can’t stop talking about how amazing this town is.
A superb essay from Peter Thiel and the Founders Fund team. Full version found here.
We have two primary and related interests:
From the 1960s through the 1990s, venture capital was an excellent way to pursue these twin interests. From 1999 through the present, the industry has posted negative mean and median returns, with only a handful of funds having done very well. What happened?
To understand why VC has done so poorly, it helps to approach the future through the lens of VC portfolios during the industry’s heyday, comparing past portfolios to portfolios as they exist today. In the 1960s, venture closely associated with the emerging semiconductor industry (Intel, e.g., was one of the first – and is still one of the greatest – VC investments). In the 1970s, computer hardware and software companies received funding; the 1980s brought the first waves of biotech, mobility, and networking companies; and the 1990s added the Internet in its various guises. Although success now makes these investments seem blandly sensible, even obvious, the industries and companies backed by venture were actually extraordinarily ambitious for their eras. Although all seemed at least possible, there was no guarantee that any of these technologies could be developed successfully or turned into highly profitable businesses. When H-P developed the pocket calculator in 1967, even H-P itself had serious doubts about the product’s commercial viability and only intervention by the founders saved the calculator. Later, when the heads of major computing corporations (IBM, DEC) openly questioned whether any individual would ever want or need a computer – or even that computers themselves would be smaller than a VW – investment in companies like Microsoft and Apple in the mid-1970s seemed fairly bold. In 1976, when Genentech launched, the field of recombinant DNA technology was less than five years old and no established player expected that insulin or human growth hormone could be cloned or commercially manufactured, much less by a start-up. But VCs backed all these enterprises, in the hope of profiting from a wildly more advanced future. And in exchange for that hope of profit, VC took genuine risks on technological development. Continue Reading →
Bret Victor is a fascinating man. Much of his career was spent developing UI for Apple’s iOS products – not bad. But his passions are much broader. He writes, “I’m passionate about enabling people to understand, and visual explanations are crucial for understanding many concepts. But because our tools are so weak, we usually resort to describing when we should be depicting.”
In this talk he calls for creating new developer tools that enable the developer/creator to have more immediate visual connection with the product as opposed to the arbitrary representation of the product (the code). Moreover, he lays out an admonition to “invent on principle” – recognize a wrong, commit to right it, and deploy technology solutions to solve it.
As part of my renewed interest in design, I’ve now watched all three of Gary Hustwit’s documentaries about the subject. My favorite remains Objectified–a film about human interaction with created objects and the people make them. This film changed my perspective about design; I used to think design was about creating beautiful things for fancy people. Through it I learned that design is actually about fabricating things for the massess. In fact, the historical roots of design trace back to the Chinese military’s discovery that when a soldier died, fellow soldiers were unable to pickup and use his arrows, as they were handmade and custom. By deploying a consistent arrow design, the military was able to better utilize is weaponry. Thus design is not really about fancy things for fancy people – it’s really about creating a physical world for everyone so that they flourish.
Consider two very different approaches to product development:
The former is about having a vision of adding value and meaning to the user… of contributing to their human flourishing… of capturing a valuable insight into what makes them happy and building something that fulfills a desire they may not have even known they had. These product developers have vision, insight, and a deep understanding of people. Think Ideo: hundreds of man hours spent on observation, questioning, sketching, prototyping… and eventually out comes a beautiful shopping cart.
The latter is about a huge array of A/B testing that constantly iterates based on the user feedback. These product developers begin with a basic idea and turn it over to the user, allowing thousands or millions of them to lead the product in any direction the users desire. (From the offline world), think Harrah’s casino: eye-grabbing blinking, beeping, waitresses, booze, dealers… all “A/B tested” to extract every last penny from casino goers. Continue Reading →
As you walk down the alley between two rusty warehouses, you get a glimpse of waves crashing under the Bay Bridge. When you enter the facility, bright sunlight pours through curved skylight windows, bringing to life the dark tones of the original wood flooring, the shine of beautiful metallic chairs, and the bright white of meticulously organized shelves. The employees move around quickly, though not hurried, often carrying a recently brewed cup of exotic tea. The people themselves are works of art–their distinctive hair, stylish yet hipster clothing, and rare footwear. Small moments over a catered lunch or taking in views of the bay provide opportunities to talk about their passions, their vision, and how they can make the world a more beautiful place.
This is Ideo – a revolutionary design firm whose patriarch, David Kelley, invented “design thinking” (see this for a great introduction) and founded Stanford’s d.school. These institutions and this school of thought is exerting tremendous influence on corporations and their attempts to innovate. However, when Ideo hipsters meet corporate pinstripes, some things get lost in translation. This clash of cultures–you might even say of civilizations–is instructive for how big corporations ought to partner with innovators/creatives. Continue Reading →
Most people’s use of Powerpoint is appalling. Times New Roman. Stock Powerpoint templates. Way too much text. Not sure of the next slide. Eek. Combine this with the fact that most people giving a Powerpoint presentation are actually trying to persuade their audience, and we quickly understand the oxymoron that is “Powerpoint persuasion.”
Edward Tufte – the father of visual representation of data – has a wonderful essay on the perils of Powerpoint. He writes, “the popular PowerPoint templates (ready-made designs) usually weaken verbal and spatial reasoning, and almost always corrupt statistical analysis.” Zing.
Into this morass of bad fonts and poor communication lands an emerging school of “visual thinking.” Dan Roam’s book The Back of a Napkin is a fabulous “how-to” guide for using diagrams and sketches to present ideas. It’s so basic – yet so profound. Continue Reading →
Data visualization will likely be central to the future of the consumer web experience. Much design today seems to begin with the idea of a literal page on which we scroll up and down to view its length. It is as if we are looking at a long piece of paper which just doesn’t fit within the size of our monitor. Gaming has led the way in creating awesome experiences for interacting with objects. My hope is that we will see the world of data viz brought to bear on other types of content: data, news, and video.
For anyone new to the field, it is worth buying a book by Edward Tufte, considered the grandfather of data visualization. Trained as a political scientist, Tufte began exploring data representation on his own as a side project,
self-published a “little book” (The Visual Display of Quantitative Information) on the subject, and over a few years essentially became the father of a new discipline. Next time you are around hackers, check out their bookshelf. Positioned next to MySQL, PHP, and JSON books, you’ll often seen the oversized Tufte hardback. A surprising number of serious hackers have been inspired by Tufte’s work. I have also heard that Tufte’s one-day in person course is truly superb—and a great way to get a good price on the books.
The applications of Tufte are really exciting. Consider Palantir, an amazing Silicon Valley company that is known to have recruited several hundred of the smartest engineers in the country. Their primary product is a data analytics/visualization tool that empowers human analysts to analyze multiple, large sets of real time data. Think about a military intelligence analyst trying to mash up phone call logs, bank records, and location. Added onto this is a sophisticated way of controlling access to specific parts of data. Essentially, it is the ultimate tool for large organizations with human analysts and lots of data… which is, well, all of the intelligence world, plus finance, government, and even industry (think about Walmart, Amazon, or Harrah’s). To top it off, TechCrunch has speculated that Palantir will be the first billion dollar company (its current valuation is $735mm) that never had a sales force. As founder Alex Karp said, “We are long on dealing with the most important problems we can find. We are short on the near term. So, we’re not hiring a sales or marketing team… and don’t plan to get any of them.” Any project with Alex Karp, Peter Thiel, several hundred first class engineers, and no sales force or “MBA-types” is one to keep an eye on. Continue Reading →
The more time I spend observing men and women who are high achievers, the more I realize that while many have visionary leadership, keen intellect, and a passion for change, perhaps their most unappreciated yet impressive skill is their ability to get things done. This sounds outrageously oversimplified. To many people “getting things done” seems like a commodity skill set—sure there are tricks but at the end of the day all that matters is that people check off their task list. From my study of a few outrageously impressive people, efficient task management is one of their key competitive advantages. So if you are serious about making a difference in whatever sphere you work, spend a few hours exploring project management. You’ll find that productive management results in more successful projects (e.g. that new non-profit finally gets off the ground), more free time (for your friends or family), more sleep (yielding more focus), and/or more time to explore your passions (to figure out how you actually want to spend your time). Below are a few resources I have found helpful in my journey. Please send your tricks and tips my way!
Getting Things Done (buy here): the classic book on the subject. I really believe this book can change your life. Allen has consulted with hundreds of top executives. What he finds is that after these executives implement a trusted system for task/project management, they unleash an inner-creativity. They literally start coming up with all sorts of new ideas for their business or personal interests. Allen argues that since the human mind is so inefficient in determining what to store in its short term “RAM,” once you clear that memory of lots of tasks and reminders (by writing them down in an organized fashion), you free up intellectual computing ability to devote to other processes (including brainstorming). You can find a summary of some of the book’s highlights here. Continue Reading →
Many allege—or, arguably, observe—that conservatives are without message. “Conservatives are not for anything—only against things,” they suggest. It is a good question to ponder: what are conservatives for? What is our agenda or platform? About a decade ago American conservatives developed and rolled out an agenda they called “compassionate conservatism,” spearheaded by several brilliant minds deeply schooled in the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville and Edmund Burke. The agenda was rooted in civil society, public/private partnerships, and an empiricism that examined what social policies actually delivered results. Despite the policy’s roots insound political theory and sociology and its exemplary advocates, the effort failed so miserably that even the phrase “compassionate conservatism” is unusable. In this reflection I detail what Bush’s compassionate conservatism was, why it failed, and how we might revive its sound foundations for future use. Especially given our nation’s current state—with the federal government growing in unprecedented ways (e.g. bailouts, healthcare, and energy), conservatives still having no credibility in fighting for limited government, and conservatives/Republicans struggling to find their message—the time is ripe for thoughtful conservatives to recall the best of Tocqueville to develop a uniquely American picture of human flourishing where families, neighborhoods, and communities thrive.
The Early Days
Marvin Olasky, John DiIulio, and Don Eberly were at the center of the brain trust of the “compassionate conservative” agenda introduced by President George W. Bush in the 2000 campaign. Continue Reading →
I recently tweeted this Wall Street Journal book review titled, “Bogus Theories, Bad for Business,” a review of Matthew Stewart’s The Management Myth. I’ve not read the book nor do I know much about consulting, but found the article rather provocative. Sure enough, a friend who is much more knowledgeable about this space than I am penned the response below, which I found too insightful to not share. Adam B. Hopkins, Princeton ’05, is a former Mercer Oliver Wyman consultant and currently a PhD student in physics at Princeton.
Evan: Coming from a former consultant – and one who left consulting because he didn’t believe that in the long run he wanted his life to revolve around increasing the “shareholder value” or profits of businesses that already make plenty of money – the article/book you tweeted is really off-base, and you might not want to support such a clearly biased “piece of work.”
Perhaps Matthew Stewart has some interesting things to say about management philosophy (or management science, as it is sometimes called) and its moral (or amoral) implications. I don’t know, I haven’t read his book. But his bombastic statements about the uselessness of consultants are quite overblown. He writes that management consultants are “intelligent nut-jobs devoted to corporate in-fighting, client-gouging, psychological humiliation and sexual harassment”, according to the article. Continue Reading →
