What BlackBerry Addiction says About Obama's Brain

Kermit Pattison — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:00:06 -0500

Obama may have won the election, but he’s about to lose his BlackBerry. During the campaign, Obama’s device was at his side more often than Joe Biden. Alas, change is coming: many expect that Obama will have to surrender his BlackBerry when he enters the Oval Office. We feel your pain, Barack. For many of us, going offline feels like cold turkey. Can email be addictive? Princeton University neuroscientist Sam Wang, co-author of Welcome to Your Brain, weighs in.

Building Trust with Transparency

Kermit Pattison — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:30:10 -0500

What do you have to hide? So asks John C. Havens, co-author (with Shel Holtz) of the new book Tactical Transparency: How Leaders Can Leverage Social Media to Maximize Value and Build their Brand. He argues that the market and customers will increasingly demand that companies become more transparent--and punish those who fail to do so. Havens previously worked as a film and TV actor and appeared in The Thomas Crown Affair, Law & Order, and Spin City and now finds himself in the role of vice president of business development for BlogTalkRadio.com.

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What Obama Can Teach You About Your Business

Kermit Pattison — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:30:05 -0400

Memo to CEOs: Yes You Can. The Obama campaign can teach businesses a few things about using technology. The campaign changes the game just as much as the introduction of tracking polls or focus groups, and is perhaps the most prominent example yet of Net Roots, a combination of Internet and grassroots strategies.

How well has the Obama campaign used technology compared to others?

Obama's use of and understanding of technology is better than any campaign I've ever seen -- ever. Certainly better than any campaigns in this cycle.
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How Innovation Led HTC to the Dream

Kermit Pattison — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:30:06 -0400

Last week's unveiling of the new HTC Dream, the first handset powered by Google's Android platform, represents more than another innovation by the mighty Google. It also marks an important chapter for HTC, the Taiwanese company that manufactured the first Google phone and has quietly built itself into one of the world's leading manufacturers of mobile phones.

How did HTC come to build the first phone powered by Google software?
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Selling Wine the Web 2.0 Way

Kermit Pattison — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:30:11 -0400

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The Social Capital Investment Strategy

Kermit Pattison — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:55:13 -0400

Can't get that VC firm to return your calls? Don't despair! Startups can increasingly scale up by taking advantage of another type of capital -- social capital. Litman, a prominent entrepreneur, says it's easier than ever to leverage relationships into business success, and you have to spend social capital before you can profit from it. In fact, such networking helped him launch his new company in six weeks.

Why is social capital so valuable?
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Animoto: The No-Infrastructure Startup

Kermit Pattison — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:15:06 -0400

In the old days, tech companies faced the substantial capital expense of buying lots of expensive hardware, not to mention hiring IT people to maintain them. Animoto represents a new type of company -- one that outsources virtually all of its computing needs. Animoto is a Web service that automatically creates videos from your personal photos and favorite songs. According to the company, the site has drawn 250,000 registered users, more than 10 percent of whom upgrade to paid service, and another two million have used the free Facebook application.
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Saving the World at Work

Kermit Pattison — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:15:07 -0400

Working for the man is becoming obsolete. Employees and customers want to work for and support companies that share their ethical values, says Sanders. He believes we are in the midst of a "responsibility revolution" in which sustainable business practices and social responsibility will become something no company can afford to ignore. Ultimately, it's all about doing good at work -- why sustainability and corporate responsibility are becoming easier -- and necessary for survival.

What do you mean by is saving the world at work?
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Summer Reading: Why More People Are Listening to Books

Kermit Pattison — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:15:06 -0400

So what did you read this summer? Chances are, more and more of you listened instead. According to the American Association of Publishers, audio book sales grew by 20 percent last year. The largest online seller of audiobooks is Audible, which was acquired by Amazon earlier this year for $300 million. Audible offers more than 80,000 downloadable programs from current best sellers to daily newspapers.

What is popular summer listening this year?
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How TerraCycle Plans to Takeover the Garbage Industry

Kermit Pattison — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:15:10 -0400

Garbage in, garbage out? This old cliché may become obsolete as trash becomes the raw material of innovation and green business. Upcycling, or turning disposable items into new products, is becoming big business. The leading player in this growing industry is TerraCycle, which makes a variety of products from recycled material: fertilizers from worm poop, backpacks from juice pouches and reusable tote bags from plastic bags. Based in Trenton, New Jersey, the 60-person company had $8 million in sales last year and expects $15 million this year.
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