Overheard on Yesterday's Ride

"Tough way to start the day."
"This is hard. No, actually, the trail's not hard, it's just that I suck."
"This trail is kicking my butt."
"Man, I'm old."
"Man, I'm weak."
"I am such a spaz on my bike".
"I'm a mess."
"I can't believe how much of this I am walking."
"I used to be able to ride this kind of stuff."
"This is going to take forever."
"Perhaps we should have ridden this the opposite direction."
"I think we should've just stuck with Horse Thief Bench."
"It's too early in the season for this."

Clearly we had fun! Just as clearly, we're a bunch of whiners... But, we did not fail.

Quote of the Day: Tiger Woods

"I view my life in a way … I'll explain it to you, OK?...The greatest thing about tomorrow is, I will be better than I am today. And that's how I look at my life. I will be better as a golfer, I will be better as a person, I will be better as a father, I will be a better husband, I will be better as a friend. That's the beauty of tomorrow. There is no such thing as a setback. The lessons I learn today I will apply tomorrow, and I will be better."

Tiger Woods
ESPN
Hat Tip to Ben Casnocha

Brand Attribute #1 Is Always Reliability

In today's competitive world, reliability (synonomous in the software world with quality and robustness) has to be at least a perceived attribute of a product before a customer will contemplate purchase. So you won't sell much if you don't pay the price to build quality.

There are also a number of reasons why it's beneficial for an organization to think about building a reliable product. Off of the top of my head I can think of the following:

1. Quality is the cornerstone of building brand and trust. So it is not just important to get the first product sale, but it is also the beginning of the relationship with each customer. If you want them to buy from you again, they better be impressed the first time.

2. If a customer is pleased, they may evangelize for you, and tell their friends and colleagues. (There are many articles, both academic and anecdotal, about how word of mouth is by far the least expensive and yet also the most effective form of marketing).

3. If a customer is dissatisfied, they will tell the world and cause real damage to your brand.

4. Building an organization to support product problems is expensive. It is a huge time sink, especially to those who are trying to drive the product forward. Refunds and recalls are deadly.

5. If you're spending big time and energy dealing with problems in your current product, you surely can't quickly scale the product.

6. It is extremely fatiguing to an organization to steadily hear negative feedback from customers.

7. Conversely, repeated positive customer feedback is uplifting and energizing and empowering, and can propel the organization to even greater levels. There is little that is more individually empowering than having pride in your work.

8. Life is short. Who wants to spend their time around suckiness? Recruiting into an organization that builds mediocre products gets harder and more expensive, and building a great team becomes next to impossible.

I'm sure there are many other reasons, too - anybody got any?

Friday Humor #2

Friday Humor

Jackie Moon Old Spice Commercials

Gabi Hutter - You'll Be Missed.

Gabi and I talked about skiing together last weekend. I opted to stay in Boulder and enjoy the warm spell on my bike, just for a change of pace.

Then this.

Damnit. Damnit all to hell.

Andreessen Gets Integrity

Marc Andreessen's blog is well known amongst the high-tech entrepreneurial community to be well-written, insightful, and expert.

However, his occasional political posts have been, to put it mildly, sophomoric. (Perhaps they are almost as juvenile as mine).

However, his post this morning does a fantastic job of illustrating why Obama is such a great candidate to lead our country. This has nothing to do with the man's political persuasion; it is just that Obama is (like McCain) a person of great character and integrity, and that these qualities coexist harmoniously with tremendous political and leadership skills.

And we all know how rare this combination is.

(Self-serving egotists clearly are not worthy of being mentioned here.)

Warren Buffet Fan Club - Praise #4343

A student transcribed a recent Buffet talk, and it's well worth reading, even by Buffet standards.