What a difference a Century Makes

Red Sox celebrations in 1903 and 2013

Red Sox celebrate World Series victories in 1903 (against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Huntington Field Boston) and in 2013 (against the St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park).

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Thrival Festival a Success; Bobby Z “Gets” Customer Support

Thrival LogoThis weekend’s Thrival Festival, conducted by Thrill Mill was excellent.  The investor pitches that happened at Google’s Pittsburgh Office in Bakery Square were among the most polished pitches I’ve seen.  Then the evening’s music festival across the street was hopping.

Early in the evening, I mentioned to Bobby Zappala (co-founder of Thrill Mill and organizer of the Thrival event) that I was not able to grab my ticket online because ShowClix had had shut down ticketing already – and his reaction demonstrated customer service at its finest: he reached into his pocket and pulled out a $20 bill (the cost of admission), handed it to me, and said. “Use this.  I’ll get it back later from the person at the gate.”

Now I understand why his portfolio companies looked so good in the afternoon and why the event went so well.  His reaction showed class, quick thinking, and an attitude that doesn’t hesitate to put the customer first.

 

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Modcloth – Model of Tomorrow (and Yesterday)

The ModCloth fulfillment center in Pittsburgh - efficiency like the old Pittsburgh; growth in California style.

The ModCloth fulfillment center in Pittsburgh – efficiency like the old Pittsburgh; growth in California style.

 

I had the chance last week to visit the Modcloth fulfillment center – and boy was I shocked. (“Impressed” would work too – and be an equal descriptor).

I’ve heard for a few years about how the company was growing on the strength of retro styled clothing (hence the yesterday) – and that they have kept a foot in Pittsburgh while growing here and in California.  My college-aged daughter and her friends drool over their fashions – and at least one has based her entire wardrobe on Modcloth purchases.

So when I traveled into my old neighborhood and found a grand fulfillment center and offices a mile away from the condo I used to own, my eyes got wide.

It didn’t take me long to realize the Modcloth team has its act together.  Alex Kyyashko (senior industrial engineer) and Aire Plichta (fashion press specialist) showed me around the fulfillment center and let me ask questions ranging from the usual business stuff to the more arcane operational questions – and demonstrated that the company has a focus on efficiency in the present and an eye for the future – even though they’ve made a reputation with clothes reminiscent of the past.

Udi Nir, the company’s chief technology officer, spoke of vision – not of technology, making it clear that the company uses technology as a tool to serve its markets.  Unlike many CTOs, he’s interested in relationships – in his markets and in the communities his company serves.

Despite the growth, the company seems to have maintained its start-up atmosphere, with lots of the perks you see in Silicon Valley and its own distinct Modcloth style.

 

 

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Blackberry Camera Has Feature Whose Time Shift Has Arrived

Blackberry Z10 TimeShift

Group photo time!  Get everybody together – ready? Smile…>>click<< “Ah Dad! You got me with my eyes closed!”

Sound familiar?  If so, you’ll be interested in a cool feature in the Blackberry Z10 called “Time Shift”.  With time shift, you can take a photo of a group; then adjust the photo so you catch everybody just when they looked the best – even though they’re all in the same photo?  As the name suggests, it’s as if you are able to time shift a few seconds for each person in the photo.

Here’s how it works:

  1. First, put your Blackberry Z10 camera into Time Shift mode (as opposed to still photo or movie modes).
  2. Then aim at your subjects like you normally would – then take the picture by touching the screen.

So far it’s all familiar; right?  Until you want to time shift…

For the next step, select the face that looks not quite the way you want.  Time shift mode will pop up a circle with a control that you can drag left and and right.  As you drag it left, it steps back in time to the few seconds before you snapped the photo – or right to go forward in time.

Now you can get the perfect look on the face you’ve chosen and keep that look in the picture – instead of the one that was showing when you snapped the photo.  Do the same thing for subsequent faces until they all are perfect.

This is a truly remarkable feature that could change the way you take your photos.  In essence, it is taking pictures even before and after you snap the shutter, and lets you edit in place right after you take it.

No more closed eyes, runny noses or turned heads.  Everybody is happy because you don’t have to choose the pose in which one person was ready but the other was not.  Why didn’t somebody think of this years ago?

David

The scoop:  I was testing the Blackberry Z10 on VerizonWireless Network.

 

 

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Good problems to have

GoodProblemToHave

When we first started growing Just Between Friends, we were surprised when new groups came in by the thousands.  In 10 weeks, we had doubled our projections for our first year.  That made our job hard as our system wasn’t yet prepared to handle it.  Whenever I would tell executives from other companies, they would say, “That’s a good problem to have.”  But I knew it was a problem nevertheless – and that it needed to be addressed (which took us more than a year).

So when I saw an interview with Evernote’s Founder/CEO, Phil Libin, I was ecstatic to see what he said about “Good problems to have”.  I know at least one executive understands what that really means – and has a similar philosophy.

Here’s that portion of the interview with Phil Libon of Evernote.

 

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