I recently spoke with the entrepreneurs and students at Draper University about captivation marketing, specifically the captivation triggers that capture our attention. I talked to them about the tools and techniques they would need to captivate new customers and investors. Check out the videos Draper University has graciously provided. If you want a deeper dive… Continue reading The Seven Triggers of Captivation Marketing [VIDEOS]
Category: Business
Oversubscribed: A New Podcast on Media and Tech with Jason L. Baptiste and Me!
I’m thrilled to announce that my friend Jason L. Baptiste (author, The Ultralight Startup; Founder, Onswipe and Morsel) and I have launched a new podcast: Oversubscribed with Jason L. Baptiste and Ben Parr! Every week on Oversubscribed, Jason and I shoot the sh*t on topics in tech and media (and other quirky things). This is… Continue reading Oversubscribed: A New Podcast on Media and Tech with Jason L. Baptiste and Me!
How to Build a Management Team When You’re Not an Experienced Manager
I recently dropped by MSNBC to answer business questions from entrepreneurs alongside S3 Agency CEO Denise Blasevick. We answered a question about how a clergyman could market himself tactfully and another question regarding how to focus on a core business while also focusing on expansion and other lines of business with more growth opportunities. You… Continue reading How to Build a Management Team When You’re Not an Experienced Manager
The Three Things That Get Us Stuck [VIDEO]
In this video interview with Behind the Brand, I discuss the three key things that “get us stuck” — execution (or lack thereof), the grind, and the problem. Overcoming these three key factors is essential to getting your startup, brand or career out of a run and back on an upward trajectory.
What Is a Brand? [VIDEO]
What is and isn’t a brand? How do we as a society create and perceive the brands of people and companies? And can you shape, define and build a brand that lasts? A few weeks ago, I sat down with Behind the Brand and Visage to discuss Captivology and provide some advice for entrepreneurs. In… Continue reading What Is a Brand? [VIDEO]
Is Marketing an Art or a Science? [VIDEO]
Is marketing more of an art or a science? Or perhaps the better question is: how can you use the science of attention to master the art of marketing? In this video interview with Behind The Brand, I discuss the core triggers of Captivology, how the book got made, and the surprising things that captivate… Continue reading Is Marketing an Art or a Science? [VIDEO]
Why We Invested in Shots
As you may have heard, the mobile app Shots has been on fire. It has over 5 million active users (and growing fast), just launched 3-second video, and recently raised $8.5 million in its Series A financing. My venture fund, DominateFund, invested in Shots during the seed round. We’ve kept our involvement pretty quiet, but… Continue reading Why We Invested in Shots
Watch Bill Gates Try to Explain the Internet to David Letterman in 1995
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
My thoughts on TMZ’s iPhone “Scoop” on CNBC [VIDEO]
Yesterday, I hopped on CNBC to talk about TMZ’s new iPhone on Closing Bell. Suffice it to say, I wasn’t buying it. Check out the video:
Why Are Google Glass Users Such Assholes?
Childish. Petty. Disrespectful.
These were the only words I could muster after reading about how a group of Glass users destroyed the Yelp rating of a local NYC restaurant, all because they asked one person to take off her Google Glass in their restaurant.
I’ve been asked to take off Glass before, and I’ve obliged without issue. After all, it’s their restaurant and their rules. If a restaurant asks me to put my cell phone away, I will. If somebody asks me to take off my shoes in their home, I respect their wishes. But Katy Kasmai didn’t take being asked to remove Glass so well. She refused to eat there because she couldn’t put the computer off her face. Instead she posted to Google+ and, for some reason, her Google+ followers and other Glass users decided to vote down the restaurant on Yelp, OpenTable and Google/Zagat.
(Correction: From what I could find, Katy never rallied or asked her followers to downvote the restaurant. Google Glass users did that all on her own.)