30 June, 2009
“Telling people what to think will always make them grumpy.”
— What’s true for satire is often true for business. Australian burlesque dancer Moira Finucane on ABC TV’s Sunday Arts program.
27 June, 2009
“Only when we understand the customer at a deep, visceral level can we really build something that will thrill them.”
— Martin Hosking, Founder of Cool Company Awards winner RedBubble (Tunnel Talk – Building Online Marketplaces).
26 June, 2009
“Ah… Jeff… You have 1,347 messages. ”
— Jeff Goldblum’s secretary, a short time ago.
25 June, 2009
“Just wanted to let you know that while you were away our company went into administration. But don’t worry. We then underwent a management buyout. Everything’s back to normal. Just wanted to make sure you got the news from me, in case you hear any rumours.”
— One half of a mobile phone conversation overheard yesterday at Parliament Station, Melbourne. (We do indeed live in interesting times.)
24 June, 2009
“Most VCs come from an M&A/ banking background, and haven’t actually wrapped their arms around their toilet bowl and vomited blood because they don’t know where the payroll is coming from. They’re generally not interested in playing in this space. It’s high risk and bloody hard work.”
— Trevor Presser, “Built to Flip”
23 June, 2009
“I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.”
— Warren Buffet, investor and billionaire.
22 June, 2009
“If you ain’t the lead dog, the view never changes.”
— Lewis Grizzard on the rat race.
19 June, 2009
“SwineFlu your Clients!
Merlin’s Body Found – Magical Wizard Real!
Bondage Barbie – the Whips and Chains of Brand Enforcement
How a little green button made me $30,000 last month
Scandalous Publicity Stunt Sends CEO to Prison
Why Waste Time Swatting at Flies When You’re Being Burned at the Stake?
You need to keep your business intelligence in your pants
Babies on fire in lesbian pillow-fight car-chase alien invasion and shootout with local police”
— In our search for rabble-rousing bloggers, we asked applicants to submit a headline to make eyeballs pop. These were a few that definitely made us sit up (then question our sanity).
18 June, 2009
“When you get up to go to work, after three hours sleep and you don’t curse and you can’t wait, that’s when it’s right.”
— Sahil Merchant, founder of MagNation, on the joys of start-up life.
16 June, 2009
“A critical network upgrade must be performed to ensure continued operation of Twitter. In coordination with Twitter, our network host had planned this upgrade for tonight. However, our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran. Tonight’s planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran).”
— Today’s announcement by Twitter that it has postponed network maintenance downtime because the microblogging service is currently playing a critical role in the aftermath of the Iranian election.
Forget the hype (and the ocean of inane tweets). Twitter has arrived.
15 June, 2009
“Woe betide the organisation that promises its internal entrepreneurs freedom to fail then expects them to ask permission.”
— Liz Cassidy, Intrapreneurship: A guide to harnessing the power of entrepreneurs within organisations.
12 June, 2009
“I always arrive late at the office, but I make up for it by leaving early.”
— Charles Lamb, celebrated English essayist (1775-1834), who was clearly an advocate of ‘Beer O’Clock’ well before his day.
11 June, 2009
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”
— Bill Cosby
10 June, 2009
“Once you meet the individual, you might change your mind. We invest in people, not businesses. We want to see the eyeballs of the people we are going to invest in.”
— Michael Panaccio, Starfish Ventures, on what venture capitalists look for in a promising investment. The Buck Starts Here.
09 June, 2009
“Sorry, someone had to say it. Your products are predictable. Your insights are recycled. You don’t bring surprise with you when you enter a room. That’s why people are ignoring you. Which used to be fine, because you could just buy attention for your brand or your company or your sales efforts. But that half-price sale on attention is now over. The only path left is to lean out of the edge and become interesting, noteworthy and yes, remarkable.”
— Seth Godin, You’re Boring
05 June, 2009
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
— Voltaire‘s celebrated attitude towards censorship.
04 June, 2009
“Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.”
— Currently # 4 on TOP 100 funniest one-liners on the internet!
03 June, 2009
“The Australian economy has outperformed every other advanced economy in the March quarter, recording positive growth in the face of a savage global recession.”
— Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan, on the announcement today that Australia has narrowly avoided falling into a technical recession.
02 June, 2009
“People don’t care about your business. They care about what you can do for them. They care even more if you’ve experienced the same kind of distress and challenges they’ve experienced. You just have to have the balls to share it with them.”
— Ben Angel, “What the original Material Girl has that you don’t!”.
01 June, 2009
“Create more value than you capture. All successful companies do this. Once they start capturing more value than they create, their market position erodes, and someone displaces them. It may take a while but it happens eventually.”
— Tim “Web 2.0” O’Reilly stripping business down to essentials.
