The Good Enough Revolution

Allen Kupetz sent over a piece from Wired Magazine that I’ve been forwarding around to folks interested in entrepreneurship here at Syracuse University. The article, The Good Enough Revolution: When Cheap and Simple is Just Fine is getting some interesting comments from faculty and friends. Take the time to read it; it’s rather long but provides some things to think about for those of us who are creating the next product or getting ready to kick-out a great new service. It’s telling us that time is a limited and precious resource, and that the more complex a device is, the less we’re going to use it or maybe even want it.

The Flip's (video camera) success stunned the industry, but it shouldn't have. It's just the latest triumph of what might be called Good Enough tech. Cheap, fast, simple tools are suddenly everywhere. We get our breaking news from blogs, we make spotty long-distance calls on Skype, we watch video on small computer screens rather than TVs, and more and more of us are carrying around dinky, low-power netbook computers that are just good enough to meet our surfing and emailing needs. The low end has never been riding higher. So what happened? Well, in short, technology happened. The world has sped up, become more connected and a whole lot busier. As a result, what consumers want from the products and services they buy is fundamentally changing. We now favor flexibility over high fidelity, convenience over features, quick and dirty over slow and polished. Having it here and now is more important than having it perfect. These changes run so deep and wide, they're actually altering what we mean when we describe a product as "high-quality."

And it's happening everywhere. As more sectors connect to the digital world, from medicine to the military, they too are seeing the rise of Good Enough tools like the Flip. Suddenly what seemed perfect is anything but, and products that appear mediocre at first glance are often the perfect fit.

The good news is that this trend is ideally suited to the times. As the worst recession in 75 years rolls on, it's the light and nimble products that are having all the impact—exactly the type of thing that lean startups and small-scale enterprises are best at. And from impact can come big sales. "When the economy went south before Christmas last year, we worried that sales would be affected," says Pure Digital's Fleming-Wood. "But we sold a ton of cameras. In fact, we exceeded the goals we had set before the economy soured." And this year? Sales, he says, are up 200 percent. (Another payoff: In May, networking giant Cisco acquired Pure Digital for $590 million.)

To some, it looks like the crapification of everything. But it's really an improvement. And businesses need to get used to it, because the Good Enough revolution has only just begun.

Entrepreneurship and the Cookie Company

It’s hard not to like entrepreneur’s like the one in this story from the August 27 Wall Street Journal. In an age of corporate bailouts and oversized bonus checks, it’s great to see people willing to take chance on launching their own business, placing their own money at risk. Take a look at the article on Tate’s Bake Shop and cheer on this group of entrepreneurs who want to make a difference, one cookie at a time.

Looking for an Opportunity: Consider the Pet Industry

As an opportunity for entrepreneurs, I love the pet industry. I love it because there are lots of neat niche’s out there for companies to find and exploit, the boomers are aging and with their kids leaving the house are spending more time and money are their pets, and perhaps most importantly it continues to grow even in difficult times. Take a look at the article in today’s Wall Street Journal: Nestle Finds Pet Owners More Willing To Spend by Goran Mijuk and Anita Greil.

Some quotes of interest from the article:

Nestlé SA, the world's largest food and drink producer by sales, reported a drop in first half profit and revenue Wednesday as consumers scaled back purchases of items like bottled water, prepared meals and dairy products. But the company did a lot better with animals than it did with humans. The same focus on premium, higher-margin products that may have put a damper on overall sales growth paid off in the company's big pet-care division, as recession-stressed consumers still found ways to spend more on their dogs and cats.

The strength of spending on pets has caught the eye of companies across the world economy.
The main beneficiaries are companies selling pet food, but the growing market is drawing increasing interest from players in sectors ranging from health care to insurance.
"Growth in pet care remains resilient," said Nestlé Chief Financial Officer Jim Singh. The company, Mr. Singh said, is scaling back underperforming and mainstream products in favor of premium offerings "that are delivering improved nutritional benefits for pets."
The American Pet Products Association, a trade group, estimates U.S. spending on pets will rise to $45.4 billion this year, from $43.2 billion in 2008.

Purina and Friskies are among Nestlé's fastest growing brands, with sales of each up by more than 6% in the first half. Dog Chow, which saw sales jump by more than 16%, had the second-fastest growth among Nestlé's major products, outstripped only by coffee system Nespresso, which has a growth rate above 20%.

You Can’t Give Up

When you have a moment, take a look at this video of Dana Bowman. A truly inspirational story…and when you think that it’s too hard to launch a company, or the work ahead of you is to daunting, think of this amazing individual. Thanks to Dr. George Burman for passing this along.

“I Know What It Will Take”

If you haven’t read this interview in the August 7 Wall Street Journal with the new head of the SBA Karen Mills, take a look at it. In particular, I like the fact that she will keep reminding Washington that even through the bailouts and the bonuses on Wall Street, the engine of growth that will drive this country comes from…you and me…the entrepreneurs. As the head of the SBA puts it, “Seventy percent of the jobs in this country are created in small business. And over half of the people who work in this country own or work for a small business. They are the engines of our economic activity here. They are going to be critical to creating the jobs that will lead us into the recovery and out of this economic difficulty.”

However, I met with a banker yesterday and she reminded me that while the SBA guarantees are in place, the business still has to qualify for the loan. That means good credit, a solid business plan and cash flow that makes sense in relation to the amount that you want to borrow.

Angel Investing in a Recession

I am fascinated by angel investors. I’ve been an angel, belonged to a group and watched the process…so I’ve had the chance to see the types of deals that the typical group sees, and I’ve also seen a lot of entrepreneurs making a pitch for funding. Whenever I see something interesting on angels, I’ll be sure to post it and here is something from Scott Shane and the NY Times on How Has Angel Group Investing Held Up During the Recession? And yes, the NY Times posted a comment of mine on this article.

Making the Most Out of Twitter

I like Monday evenings, and it’s not even football season yet. I like Monday’s not because I’m ready for some football (which I am), but because Monday’s the day that I get Barron’s. Now I know lots of you have been reading Barron’s for years, but for me, this is something new. And one of the reasons’s I like it is because I’ve been finding in every issue something interesting.

Take today for example: I’ve been struggling for a while now to make sense of Twitter. I use it and try to follow what’s being written on entrepreneurship, sports and politics. Among others, I follow Charlie Weis, Karl Rove and Shamu, probably enjoying Shamu’s posts the most. But as I follow more and more people, the less value Twitter seems to be giving me because even with Tweet Deck, it’s tough to make sense out of what people are saying…which leads me to believe no one really reads what’s out there on Twitter. People are talking and nobody is listening, which was causing me to pay less and less attention to it. But in the current issue of Barron’s there is an interesting article by the Electronic Investor (Mike Hogan and Nancy Miller) on using Twitter for chatting on investments which maybe is one interesting reason to start paying attention again to the Tweets. Or maybe I’ll just go back and see who Shamu is dumping on today.