Fight the Bull

book to read: why business people speak like idiots


Fight the Bull: " My dad always told this great story about when he was in high school. Story goes that one day they opened up the hood of a teacher's car and wired the brakes to the horn so that every time he tapped the brakes it would honk the horn. I have no idea if it's true, or if that's even possible, but it's a funny story. I've always thought it would be nice to have something like that happen whenever anyone utters any corporate vapor-speak. You've heard it before: 'This is just the kind of synergistic, customer-centric, upsell-driven, out-of-the-box, customizable, strategically tactical, best-of-breed thought leadership that will help our clients track to true north. Let's fly this up the flagpole and see where the pushback is.' Well it looks like Deloitte Consulting (as if that's not ironic enough) has done the next best thing, and it's now a book: Link: Fight the Bull - Why Business People Speak Like Idiots."

The Zen of Business Plans

The Zen of Business Plans: " In my day job, I not only hear a lot of PowerPoint pitches, but I also read a lot of business plans. The PowerPoint pitches explain my Ménière's disease, but the business plans explain my recent need for reading glasses. One of my goals for blogging is to reduce the external factors that are causing the degradation of my body, so this entry's topic is the zen of business plans. Write for all the right reasons. Most people write business plans to attract investors, and while this is necessary to raise money, most venture capitalists have made a “gut level” go/no go decision during the PowerPoint pitch. Receiving (and possibly reading) the business plan is a mechanical step in due diligence. The more relevant and important reason to write is a business plan, whether you are raising money or not, is to force the management team to solidify the objectives (what), strategies (how), and tactics (when, where, who). Even if you have all the capital in the world, you should still write a business plan. Indeed, especially if you have all the capital in the world because too much capital is worse than too little. Make it a solo effort. While creation of the business plan should be a group effort involving all the principal players in the company, the actual writing of the business plan--literally sitting down at a"

Addendum to How to Get a Standing Ovation

Addendum to How to Get a Standing Ovation: " My, my...this topic sure generated a lot of comments. I'll respond to them here: Dress code in Hawaii. A great aloha shirt is the way to go. Have I got the solution for you. The world's best aloha shirts come from Anne Namba. I often wear them in my speeches because it's powerful to know that you are wearing the most expensive shirt in the room. Here is a horribly out of focus (don't blame me, I didn't take the picture) picture of me in an Anne Namba alongside Rick Smolan and Russell Brown. Dress code of Steve Jobs; Steve denigrating the competition. Steve is Steve. There is only one Steve Jobs. Very few rules apply to him. Certainly not the rules of a mere mortal like me. Toastmasters. Can't say I know much about them, but I hear nothing but good things. My father was a member in Hawaii, and he was a great speaker. Conversational tone of voice. Absolutely. This tone is a natural outcome of telling stories. I'm an evangelist, and I hate the preachy tone. I despise the, “I've come down from the mountain to inform you ignoramuses” tone too. Keep it simple. No simple answer here. I believe I can cover ten topics in a speech. :-) Certainly you shouldn't ramble, but remember: be entertaining! Better to be too short than too long. Generally, true, but if you're too short, you can ins"

How to Kick Butt On a Panel

How to Kick Butt On a Panel: " Despite my intention not to blog tonight, I cannot resist.

Today I moderated a very good panel at a conference, and while this experience is fresh in my mind, I want to explain how to kick butt on a panel. At any given conference, there are about three keynote speakers and twenty five panelists, so the odds are much higher that you'll be a panelist than a keynote speaker. Thus, I hope this entry appeals to a broader audience.

Superficially, a panel looks easy. There are four or five other people on it--all of whom you think you're smarter than--and it only lasts sixty minutes. How hard could it be? Herein lies the problem: everyone thinks a panel is easy so they don't take it seriously. A panel is actually a better opportunity to position yourself than a keynote because you are juxtaposed to four or five people in real time--whereas keynotes are sequential. If you want to stand head and shoulders above the other panelists, here's what to do: Know the subject. I hope you're getting as tired of duhisms as I am, but this needs to be said. If you're invited to a panel on wireless security, and you don't know much about the subject, then you should decline. I don't care how wonderful the opportunity seems to be. If you can help it, never provide an audience the opportunity to truly know that you're clu"

The Venture Capitalist Wishlist

The Venture Capitalist Wishlist: " By popular demand (okay, two people asked me to do it), here are the top ten ways to attract the interest of venture capitalists. There's no guarantee that if you do these ten things that you'll raise millions of dollars, but this wishlist will get you in the game.

Before you even start addressing the hard stuff, never ask a venture capitalist to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). They never do. This is because at any given moment, they are looking at three or four similar deals. They're not about to create legal issues because they sign a NDA and then fund another, similar company--thereby making the paranoid entrepreneur believe the venture capitalist stole his idea. If you even ask them to sign one, you might as well tattoo “I'm clueless!” on your forehead. Build a real business. This seems like a “duhism,” but few entrepreneurs do it. Most entrepreneurs focus on quick flips to an IPO or acquisition. Don't get me wrong: venture capitalists aren't necessarily good guys who want to make meaning and change the world. It's just that we've noticed that entrepreneurs who make meaning and change the world usually also make money. Nothing is more seductive to venture capitalists than a company that they can easily imagine having a big impact on the world. Get an intro. Venture capitalists are lazy people."

How to Get a Standing Ovation

How to Get a Standing Ovation: " When I started public speaking in about 1986, I was deathly afraid of public speaking--for one thing, working for the division run by Steve Jobs was hugely intimidating: How could you possibly compete with Steve? It's taken me twenty years to get comfortable at it. I hope that many of you are are called upon to give speeches--it's the closet thing to being a professional athlete that many of us will achieve. The purpose of this blog entry is to help you give great speeches. Have something interesting to say. This is 80% of the battle. If you have something interesting to say, then it's much easier to give a great speech. If you have nothing to say, you should not speak. End of discussion. It's better to decline the opportunity so that no one knows you don't have anything to say than it is to make the speech and prove it. Cut the sales pitch. The purpose of most keynotes is to entertain and inform the audience. It is seldom to provide you with an opportunity to pitch your product, service, or company. For example, if you're invited to speak about the future of digital music, you shouldn't talk about the latest MP3 player that your company is selling. Focus on entertaining. Many speech coaches will disagree with this, but the goal of a speech is to entertain the audience. If people are entertained, you can slip in "

Art of the Start Online Seminar Archive

Art of the Start Online Seminar Archive: " If you'd like to view the Art of the Start seminar that I recently did for Raindance Communications, please click here. (My seminar is near the bottom so keep scrolling.) The way this worked was that the audience viewed my PowerPoint slides while they listened to me talk (live) via a conference call. There's a registration process, and your computer/browser may not (apparently) pass the browser test. Keep “continuing” through the browser test no matter what you're told. Essentially, this is the keynote speech that I give based on The Art of the Start. If you'd like a PDF copy, click here. "

Weekend Reading - Best of The Seeking Alpha Network

Weekend Reading - Best of The Seeking Alpha Network: " Full Transcripts of Earnings Conference Calls - we continue to put up actual transcripts of earnings conference calls. Most recently added: LG Philips (LPL), Homestore (HOMS), Infosys Technologies (INFY), Helen Of Troy (HELE), Genentech (DNA), Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) and Manugistics (MANU). We plan to publish approximately 400 transcripts of leading companies’ conference calls this earnings season on the Seeking Alpha Network. Enjoy! Overland Storage’s Big Run May Well Continue. A comprehensive look at Overland (ticker: OVRL). (From The Hardware Stock Blog) Siliconware Precision Industries Flies as Intel Stumbles. Tony Sagami of Harvest Advisors explains. (From The Chip Stock Blog) Taking Advantage Of F5 Networks’ Big Drop. The ‘Edge Trader’ sees opportunity. (From The Networking Stock Blog) Forget Google — Apple’s The Real Tech Stock Star. Some interesting data to consider courtesy of Ajay Jindal. (From The Consumer Electronics Stock Blog) Why Google’s a Long-Term Buy, WebSideStory and Overstock are Shorts, and the Jury’s Out on Amazon. Seeking Alpha Founder David Jackson dissects an article by usability guru Jakob Nielsen. (From The Internet Stock Blog) All Out War – Sharp vs. Matsushita; How to Invest in Related Japanese & South Korean Stocks. Steven Towns explains. (From The Ja"

The Art of Branding

The Art of Branding: " In honor of the recent Macworld Expo and the upcoming Super Bowl (the two great branding exercises of every new year; one much more fruitful than the other), this blog entry is about the art of branding. My assumptions are that you don't have infinite resources and that you do have a great product (see Guy's Golden Touch). If you do have infinite resource and don't have a great product, there's still hope, but you don't need to read this entry any further. Seize the high ground. Establish your brand on positive attributes like “making meaning,” “doing good,” “changing the world,” and “making people happy”--not doing in your competition. Think about it: when is the last time you bought a product to hurt a company's competition? (Other than maybe Macintosh users.) That's not why you spend your dollars. If you want to beat your competition, establish an uplifting brand, but don't try to establish a brand based on your silly desire to beat your competition. Create one message. It's hard enough to create and communicate one branding message; however, many companies try to establish more than one because they are afraid of being niched and want the “entire” market. “Our computer is for Fortune 500 companies. And, oh yes, it's also for consumers to use a home.” Face it, V"