Likes & Launch: Archive

“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire”— Ferdinand Foch

May 31, 2011

“There’s a certain cadence that you can feel when you spend time hanging any well-run startup company. The management team has to have a bias toward making decisions. They know that a 70% accurate decision made quickly and based on sound principles is better than a 90% decision made after careful consideration.”—

Startup Mantra: Hire Fast, Fire Fast

Tried explaining this to a few friends on why we launched the new version of gtrot before it was 100% perfect.

May 29, 20112 notes

“This time, it’s working toward an unfamiliar end: efficiency. Rather than manifestos of social justice and picket signs, worker empowerment has resurfaced to deal with the unpredictability of technology: innovation opportunities exist everywhere. And the most likely source of it is an unsuspecting employee who stumbles upon a new solution. At places such as Groupon and Hulu, he’s empowered to exploit it.”—Beyond Hawaiian-Shirt Friday: Groupon, Hulu Inspire Employee Innovation With Radical Trust | Fast Company

May 25, 20113 notes

May 23, 20118 notes

May 18, 2011

#education #Cooke Center #Events #New York City

May 17, 20113 notes

#Infographic #Social Media #Facebook

“My life continued to follow this same pattern…I’d pursue my curiosity, volunteer to help, and show up a lot. Again and again, the same thing would happen… people would notice that I cared…and I’d get a chance to learn something new.”—Steve Blank’s Philadelphia University Commencement Speech – May 15th 2011

May 17, 20111 note

May 16, 2011

Play

May 11, 20112 notes

#GPOYW #IdeaMensch #Get.After.It.

““I wasn’t sure that entrepreneurship was the best venue for this and at first gravitated toward theoretical physics and politics.” Later, he says, he became convinced that building something was the best way to direct change.”—How an eBay Partnership Turned into an Acquisition for Milo.com

Play

May 7, 20111,928 notes

“Social media has so broadly changed the landscape of business travel in just the last couple of years that it is difficult to imagine how George Clooney’s character, Ryan Bingham, the frequent-flier businessman in the film “Up in the Air,” survived without using Foursquare to check in at the hotel lobby bar. “I have lived on the road for most of my life,” said Andy Lark, 42, chief marketing officer for Dell’s business unit worldwide, who travels almost every week and internationally every three weeks and uses many different social tools. “They make people more accessible, places more accessible and all the possibilities of travel so much more exciting. And it is as much about devices, like smartphones and wireless networks, as it is about social networks.” Mr. Lark said traveling for business could be a lonely experience and social media tools had helped change that. “We’ve gone from a world where everyone sits on the plane and doesn’t talk to one another and then heads to a hotel room, where it can be hard to understand what to do next. Suddenly, you are plugged into your own networks and you are getting tips and recommendations. Everyone becomes a navigator for you.” He recalled that on a trip to Hong Kong, he checked into Foursquare to discover that two old friends from San Francisco were visiting at the same time; they were able to get together for a drink. During a recent trip to India, he arrived around 4 a.m. at the Leela Palace hotel in Bangalore, and checked into Foursquare, thinking his wife would be the only one to see what he described as a cheeky comment, wondering where he might find a decent cup of coffee in the predawn darkness. To his surprise, he got an immediate response, recommending a nearby coffee bar. It was from a Dell customer, up early to play golf, someone he had never met in person who had seen his coffee question pop up in his LinkedIn account. It turned out that Mr. Lark had linked his social accounts so one post appeared in multiple places.”—

Navigating the World With Social Media - NYTimes.com (via naveen)

Yes.

May 7, 201111 notes

Play

May 7, 20112 notes

May 5, 2011

I love all of the insight into making the sign-on process as easy as possible.

May 5, 20112 notes

“People used to sit at a desk to ‘Internet’. Then they would get up and stop Internetting. Now they Internet wherever, whenever — even when they don’t think they are doing it.”—

100,000 Developers Strong, Mashery Nabs $11 Million To Push The Internet Beyond Websites

Guilty.

May 5, 2011

The Absolutely Only Time-Proven, Fully-Tested, Fool-Proof Tips For Getting Users To Sign-Up For Your Product

danielzarick:

Build a great product

Hustle.

Brilliant!

May 5, 20115 notes

May 4, 20111 note

#hiring #gtrot #tech #Chicago

May 3, 2011

Interview on Girls Who Rock

I’m honored to be featured on the GIRLS WHO ROCK blog. They “aim to bring together the strongest voices in technology, entertainment, and design to advocate and fundraise for girls’ education worldwide.” They hold an annual concert as a partnership with the not-for-profit organization She’s the First (shesthefirst.org) and sponsors girls’ education in developing world countries, while mentoring local student volunteers to be leaders.

girlswhorockny:

As the co-founder of gtrot, Brittany Laughlin is making traveling a much more social experience, with the help of Facebook and Foursquare. gtrot allows you to see where your friends are traveling. …[She] took time from her busy schedule to give GWR her thoughts on travel, technology, and tell us who her role models are.

Read More

May 2, 20117 notes

#Interview #GPOY #GirlsWhoRock