In The Pink: A Labor of Love

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IN THE PINK a labor of love Rich Thornett @frogandcode Friday, June 8, 2012

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WHERE SHARING IS CARING Friday, June 8, 2012

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GAME PLAN • Creative control • Product design • Social studies • Sustainability Friday, June 8, 2012

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CREATIVE CONTROL Friday, June 8, 2012

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“We get into creative work because we have good taste.” – Ira Glass http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/02/22/ira-glass-on-the-secret-of-success/ Friday, June 8, 2012

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Friday, June 8, 2012

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COLLAB-HOORAY Dan C[SS]ederholm Friday, June 8, 2012

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“Let's make a site that's purple.” – Dan Cederholm Friday, June 8, 2012

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in the pink in good health and doing well Friday, June 8, 2012

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CODING HORROR Jeff Atwood leaves Stack Exchange, to spend more time with his family. http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/02/farewell-stack-exchange.html Friday, June 8, 2012

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product f(scope, time, resources) Friday, June 8, 2012

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“It's a bummer there's no TechCrunch of lifestyle businesses.” – Matt Haughey http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2012/03/my-webstock-talk.html LESSONS FROM A 40-YEAR-OLD Friday, June 8, 2012

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PRODUCT DESIGN Friday, June 8, 2012

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“Designing a product is keeping 5,000 things in your brain... and fitting them all together... every day you discover something new... a new problem or a new opportunity, to fit these things together a little differently.” – Steve Jobs http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/11/15/steve_jobs_lost_interview_design_is_keeping_5000_things_in_your_brain.html Friday, June 8, 2012

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Mission CHECKS AND BALANCES Users Revenue Friday, June 8, 2012

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PLANTING SEEDS Friday, June 8, 2012

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Woo ideal users Friday, June 8, 2012

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YES... it helps to have a rockstar co-founder http://www.coppermanland.com/band Styling, as always Friday, June 8, 2012

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we sent a hand-picked beta group snail mail invitations & t-shirts BUT... Friday, June 8, 2012

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established culture and content EARLY ADOPTERS like Shaun Inman http://dribbble.com/shauninman/projects/2608-Mimeo-and-the-Kleptopus-King Friday, June 8, 2012

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SOCIAL ARCHITECTURE Friday, June 8, 2012

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INVITATIONS • Graceful growth • Drafting: Ownership and accountability • Community changes slowly, feels stable • Delay spending time on filtering noise • Time we spend on user support • Scaling concerns growth hormones that regulate... Friday, June 8, 2012

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INVITATIONS... Marketing wasn't our focus, but creating scarcity can build BUZZ. It scares us sometimes. Friday, June 8, 2012

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STONE SOUP • Throttled shots (24 per month) • Comments • Likes • Following • Rebounds • Navigation: Following, Popular, Everyone • Working beta: 8-months to marinate Friday, June 8, 2012

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“Community sites need time to grow. We shut down new users signups and there were very few features added between 2002-2004.” – Matt Haughey, MetaFilter http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2012/03/my-webstock-talk.html IS MY BETA TOO BIG? Friday, June 8, 2012

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COMMUNITY • Communities are grown, not manufactured • Happy users become guardians and advocates • The perception of quality matters a lot Community is your competitive advantage Friday, June 8, 2012

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COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT Friday, June 8, 2012

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FRENCH PARENTING Steward, don't police Let the community ﬁgure it out whenever possible. Friday, June 8, 2012

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LEND A HANDBOOK Once a guideline is written down, there's no debate. Simply link to it. Friday, June 8, 2012

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DECISIONS Friday, June 8, 2012

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GAMIFICATION “There's a fine line between stupid and clever.” – David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap Here lies David St. Hubbins. And why not? Friday, June 8, 2012

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PIXELS & DONATIONS?! Thankfully, my stock market idea never even got this far. Friday, June 8, 2012

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FEEDBACK Give users what they need. It may not be want they want. Avoid knee-jerk reactions. Complexity has to earn your attention. Friday, June 8, 2012

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REVENUE •Ads •Pro accounts (designers) •Jobs •Pro accounts (hirers) •[Marketplace] And always be selling t-shirts Friday, June 8, 2012

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“Make it programmable.” – Fred Wilson, wealthy VC http://thinkvitamin.com/web-apps/fred-wilsons-10-golden-principles-of-successful-web-apps/ API Friday, June 8, 2012

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API “Don't publish an API without a strategy. If you rely on revenue, establish your business model. When you understand how access to your data complements that model, then... make it programmable.” – Me, paycheck hugger Friday, June 8, 2012

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“Simply making decisions, one after another, can be a form of art.” – John Gruber http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk3UcgbbmxQ Friday, June 8, 2012

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SOCIAL STUDIES Friday, June 8, 2012

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“By far, our biggest competitor for all our products is email.” –David Heinemeier Hansson http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/37signals-we-compete-with-email Friday, June 8, 2012

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THE SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook, Twitter, etc. Social email? Friday, June 8, 2012

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MIND THE GAP Which problems or people are underserved? Friday, June 8, 2012

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FACEBOOK PIE And this is just the world of images... Others Not all-inclusive and not drawn to scale! (Dribbble is much bigger in my head :) Friday, June 8, 2012

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Facebook may want its pie back... but at pie-high prices $1 billion / slice Friday, June 8, 2012

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DSN Domain Specific Network A social network focused on a single domain that is distinguished by its community. Friday, June 8, 2012

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SCRATCH A NICHE • Simple value proposition • Focus on quality v. scale • Niches are good for targeted advertising or marketplaces Friday, June 8, 2012

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COMMUNITY • Communities are grown, not manufactured • Money & tech are good for manufacturing, but growing requires nurturing and patience. Once More, with Feeling Community is your competitive advantage Friday, June 8, 2012

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Domain Speciﬁc Network (DSN) Friday, June 8, 2012

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dailymile is a "social experience for active people." It's a bootstrapped, profitable 2 person company. ~500,000 registered users Revenue comes from integrated advertising and Pro accounts. Friday, June 8, 2012

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Ravelry is a site for knitters and crocheters. It's a bootstrapped, profitable 4 person company. 2,170,320+ registered users Revenue comes from Yarn-related advertising and pattern sales. http://blog.ravelry.com/2012/01/25/how-does-ravelry-make-money/ Friday, June 8, 2012

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SUSTAINABILITY Friday, June 8, 2012

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DO patronize me KICKSTARTER ECONOMY Friday, June 8, 2012

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“If I like the things you create, nothing makes me happier than giving you money to keep doing it.” – Jason Santa Maria https://twitter.com/#!/jasonsantamaria/status/167342553778237440 Friday, June 8, 2012

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CHEERS! Rich Thornett Dribbble http://dribbble.com @frogandcode Friday, June 8, 2012