The StartUp World: Buzz Words and Terrible Elevator Pitches

I just got an assignment for another one of my Stanford Startup business classes which starts next week. The assignment is “to find a really bad description of a company”. This is also called a terrible elevator pitch. My instructor posted an example from a student:

“(Company X) is an enterprise social media internet cloud company that enables user-created, annotated, and self-published media. Users personify areas with dynamic and rich content, complete with web 2.0 modalities. “

Huh? This is not clear, concise communication. (I’m scratching my head.) Who are they targeting? What do they really do and how do they make money?  I call this Buzzword Barfing. If you are trying to build a tech related business, have you tried explaining it to non-technical, ordinary people? Do they understand you? If you are still not clear on what a buzz word is, just visit a LinkedIn resume.

I see and hear buzz words all the time, everywhere. I’m even guilty of using them.  This brings me to another thought which poses the question: What is the difference between “buzz words” and “jargon”. I looked it up in Wikipedia but was confused by their explanation. So I Googled it and found a more clear and concrete opinion about it here: Jargon Good. Buzzwords Bad.

This assignment makes me think of the way we communicate daily with each other as human beings. Would we become better communicators if we tried really hard to use less words to convey a thought? Is concise communication the road to better relations? In any case, let’s choose our words carefully.

Learning to Code Part I: The Power and Elegance of Ruby

I love the San Francisco Ruby community. This community is not based on jewelry lovers but refers to  Ruby, the computer programming language which originated in Japan. The San Francisco Ruby or SFRuby community is a group of developer volunteers and learners.

This weekend I was fortunate enough to participate in the Railsbridge Outreach for Women to learn beginning coding via Ruby on Rails. Ruby on Rails (RoR) is a framework for Ruby. Railsbridge workshops were founded by Sarah Allen who contributes her time and resources to encourage the representation of women in the technology space. She recognized the need to improve the diversity gap in programming. The Railsbridge community is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area (imagine the Golden Gate Bridge) and Ms. Allen’s vision is to ”bridge the gap from aspiring developer to contributing open source community member through mentoring, teaching and writing.”

The Golden Gate Bridge: I took this photo when I first moved here.

The Railsbridge workshop started on Friday evening and was completed as an all day event on Saturday. I learned enough skills to build my own game by the end of the course! My instructor was engaging and funny. He had long hair and wore a pink shirt. I had fun learning the new lingo. It was cool to learn about hash rockets (=>), arrays ( [  ] ), and strings ( ”  ”) among other things. And even though I got barfing text along the way (think error message), the journey was rewarding.

The guessing game I built.

To me learning Ruby on Rails was not about applying technical skills or thinking like a Math major, but more like using a humanities approach of learning a new (foreign) language and thinking like a Philosophy major. Perhaps the misconception of computer coding is that you have to be equipped with technical skills to learn it effectively. Not so.

At the end of the day, Ruby is a language. Human beings use language to communicate effectively with each other. We learn foreign languages to do good and metaphorically build bridges with outside lands to foster peace and goodwill.  In the Ruby case, we are simply trying to communicate with another entity called a computer. Similar to the multi-lingual diplomat who is trying to do good, the aspiring developer dreams of building something big that will impact society in a positive way. I am not denying that evil exists and there are multi-lingual people who do bad things with their skills, and evil hackers determined to break something good or destroy the world. However, I think the power and elegance of learning a new language is in its potential to do good. Both the diplomat and the developer are both attempting to improve the human experience. I’m just connecting the dots between politics and technology. What have you done lately to contribute to society?

Mint Plaza: Cattle Friendly Italian Food and Start Up Stories

Here is a photo I took on New Year’s Eve 2011 at Mint Plaza in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco. (I was organizing my Desktop and this photo winked at me.)There was something about the yellow leaves and the gray tiles which captured my attention at that moment in time. 

I discovered Mint Plaza when I first moved here and a childhood friend from Honolulu invited me to dinner at 54 Mint, an Italian restaurant. The food was great, the value was agreeable, and the ambiance was terrific. It wasn’t mom-and-pop style nor stuffy white tablecloth establishment. In the landscape of food politics, it felt philosophically very Center or maybe marginally Right of Center towards the white tablecloth. In general, it was a very San Francisco dining experience. After all, they “perform regional Italian cuisine” and they serve “responsibly raised meat.” (as per their website) Remember that this City is a stage where you can be anyone at anytime and how you treat your cattle is very important.

If you look closely at the photo you’ll be able to spot the “One Way” sign. The big windows behind the sign peers into Blue Bottle coffee. I am not partial to Blue Bottle or Philz Coffee for that matter, two very popular non-Starbucks coffee venues and also two San Francisco Bay Area based companies. I recall one of my Quora inbox updates (tagged under Entrepreneurship, I think)  which answered the question: Which coffee shops have inspired startups?( Or which coffee shops bring together a group of people to discuss ideas?)It listed a handful of places in San Francisco and a few in Palo Alto. Blue Bottle was mentioned specifically at this Mint Plaza location and I remember it since I like the general space at the plaza. It feels modern, clean and discreet compared to the rest of the immediate neighborhood.

Fantastic Italian fare and local coffee houses in San Francisco. Nothing new there. But throw in the right people with the right dialogue and the weeknight dinner event or standard coffee house becomes an incubator of ideas.

Sexy Octopus: A Broad Stroke of Intelligent Insight

I just re-named my blog “Sexy Octopus.”

Sexy because I hope what I say is alluring to your mind and inspires you to think and act differently. Sometimes we are so comfortable in our lives that we get stuck in a sameness and miss the opportunity to try new experiences. The octopus is known to be an intelligent creature. I think intelligence or being intelligent in the digital age is about understanding the value of information coming from a wide range of subjects and “expertise”. Connecting the dots between superficially un-related topics does create meaning. So, I hope my voice provides the broad stroke of intelligent insight which can resonate with you.

 Cheers, Cara

Lesson Four: Design Counts (not Price)

…..cont’d from

Lesson One: Why Social Media Experts are Idiots

Lesson Two: Do Not Listen To Customers

Lesson Three: The Biggest Challenges Beget the Best Work

Lesson Four: Design Counts (not Price) People do care about Design. Mr. Kawasaki believes that it is about the “skin” of the product and not the algorithm. He learned this at Apple. Put simply, looks matter. Apple product owners have a sense of emotional pride from being an Apple product owner. They believe in the value of beautiful products.

This sense of emotional pride also reminds me of the luxury market. Think Mercedes Benz, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Burberry, etc….People buy luxury products because it provides a sense of status and equips them with emotional pride. Some would argue that a Toyota runs just as well as a Mercedes, or even better. Some would argue that a $100 handbag functions just as well as a $5000 handbag. So why do people make such purchases when the function is clearly met with a less expensive alternative? Emotional pride. People buy what they want, not what they need. Such high-end purchasers also believe that a luxury product delivers a superior quality compared to a non-luxury product. Price is not important to luxury consumers because they will pay for the Best, or the perception of the Best.

So off to a semi-tangent here…..Consider this photo below of a designer handbag I took from the December 2011 issue of Vogue. On a purely design level, some may consider it attractive, beautiful, cool, awesome, etc…..Others may consider it…..well, ugly. Why would I want a handbag with holes? Why would I want a handbag with these vulgar logos emblazoned all over it? But that’s not the point. These Brands such as Apple (for technology) and Louis V. (for luxury) have become the arbiters of good taste and the authorities for cool in their respective niches. So the irony is that consumers may initially be drawn to a universally accepted “beautiful product”, but the Brands evolve into tastemakers which tell the consumer what they need to buy. They also develop the power to declare what is desirable.

So back to Lesson Four. Design trumps Price. Looks matter. Beautiful products beget emotional pride. Emotion wins. Don’t forget what it means to be authentically human.

Lesson Three: The Biggest Challenges Beget the Best Work

…..cont’d from Lesson One: Why Social Media Experts are Idiots and Lesson Two: Do Not Listen to Customers

Lesson Three: The Biggest Challenges Beget the Best Work. This seems to be in line with conventional wisdom. In the same vein as, “What Won’t Kill You Will Make You Stronger” this could be filed in the ‘Character Building’ box of Life. Mr. Kawasaki believes that if you provide the challenge, employees will rise up. They will rise up and bulid something quite revolutionary, perhaps. As an entrepreneur, how would you motivate your team members to perform with excellence?

I also believe that Freedom Begets Creativity which Begets the Best Work. If an individual feels totally free and uninhibited it becomes an opportunity to create magnificent work. Some people feel that Apple products are a result of creative genius. What products do you possess that are a result of creative genius?

Lesson Two: Do Not Listen to Customers

….. cont’d from Lesson One: Why Social Media Experts are Idiots

Lesson Two: Customers cannot tell you what they need. According to Mr. Kawasaki, Apple does not use focus groups. As an entrepreneur, if you want to make a revolutionary change it is not effective to listen to customers. They will only describe their needs in terms of “better” and “cheaper.” They will not describe them in revolutionary terms. So does this mean, “As an entrepreneur, you need to tell your customers what they need”?

This is interesting. Compare the above Lesson from an Apple disciple with how Eric Ries and his book The Lean Startup posits the value of the customer. The Lean Startup movement or being “Lean” is a very popular topic in the Valley and the Start Up World which has developed somewhat of a cult following. The Lean approach of’ “build, measure, learn” quickly and efficiently  seems pretty customer-centric to me.

So what role does the customer play? Does it depend on the nature of the product/service? Would you prefer to Listen or Tell?