The day of the Facebook IPO I was asked to go on BBC Breakfast TV and comment. I declined - I thought what do I really know about it that people would want to hear . I tweeted this fact. A friend replied to me that I was being hard on myself.
Am I?
I know I quite like putting myself down and parodying myself however what do I really know. (in fact I have definitive proof of me being a fraud which is coming soon in another blog)
But the bigger question is whether anyone actually knows anything - about anything.
I am constantly reading articles and blogs about my pet subjects - the economy, the stock market, the tech scene, the angel and VC scene, and football. And the conclusion I have come to is that everyone knows nothing.
What really pisses me off even more is when reading peoples bios they describe themselves as "Visionaries" or even "Evangelists" - WTF! What have these people actually done. I've twice been called a legend recently but please - I got lucky with some website over a decade ago and done nothing since. Surely they meant a Leg End (or knob end as I usually am called)
The world seems to be full of people touting themselves as experts in all kinds of fields. I just wish someone on radio or TV when asked a question some time would just answer "What the fuck do I know"
So back to my pet subjects in the news -
Global recession - economists everywhere are predicting this that and the other - its basically all bollocks as the governments don't even know what to do. Economies are fucked - live with it.
Stock Markets - bouncing all over the place. The standard blurb I get out of my portfolio managers is just full of the same old same old. Basically they can't predict a thing.
The tech scene - are we in a bubble or the start of something great. If the Facebook hype and then slag off is anything to go by then no one knows again. People really seem to have forgotten the boom and bust of 1999/2000 in the tech world.
And the tech start up scene. I suppose I am sort of part of it having done something ages ago and now as an investor. However, I usually start of all the pitch meetings with the fact that I don't know anything and won't bring value. But there are just too many cooks at the moment who are not technical or ever done a startup and are driving up valuations. I have many stories (blog coming on that one soon too)
And finally football. Lets not even begin to think that the good old FA know what they are doing......
(spankyhurst - visionary, coming to your TV soon)
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Anti-Social Networking
I apologise now - this is a sad blog. And a bit all over the place when I re read it.
Its something thats been on my mind for sometime, and I have read a number of articles recently about how social networking is actually a paradox for the word "Social".
Without doubt social networking has obviously enabled the world to keep in touch with each other easier and more often. But the question for me, does this actually make us more social or make life easier and better.
I watched a film recently that had quite a profound effect on me. It was called Dreams Of A Life by a great director called Carol Morley. It is a documentary about Joyce Vincent, the lady who at the young age of 38, was found dead in a flat above a shop in Wood Green in 2006. She had been there undiscovered for 3 years. The TV was still on, and some wrapped christmas presents were by her side. The cause of death was unknown. She had a network of friends and family in London but had sort of "disappeared" of their scene.
During my late teens and early 20's I hung around that area of North London and that sort of made it closer to home. I am still in touch with most of those friends but it made me realise and think where the others were.
2006 was a bit too early for Facebook, but social networking had sort of started back in 2000 so even though this pre dates the current trends, I still think it has something to say about us and our society.
I thought long and hard how we used to keep in touch with mates. The period of teen/college/clubbing for me was the 80's. For a few years I had a large circle of friends, and we used to go out 4-5 times a week at different pubs, clubs and weekend parties all around North London. Nearly everyone was still living with parents so arrangements were just made through a chain of land line phone calls. If no-one heard from someone in the group for a few weeks, phone calls were made to them first, then messages left with parents and eventually just popping round their houses. And even other groups of friends - Sunday nights were regularly making a catch phone call with an old college or work mate who you hadn't spoken to for 6 months or so.
The point is you had to make an effort, and you generally did as a result.
Fast forward to today. The advent of email and so many social networks, the majority of which I love and use constantly, makes this old communication almost redundant. But at what cost.
If you expect to see someone regularly updating their Facebook status or tweeting, do you notice if they stop. And then if they have, do you make an effort to get in contact to see if they are ok. Probably not. We have become used to people announcing what they are doing rather than making the effort to communicate with them.
The Joyce Vincent story is not really an effect of this but a symptom of what could be happening. It is and will always be one of the saddest stories I've ever heard.
And just to make this post even sadder, whilst I was writing this it made me think of another Facebook story that I have had very recently which is sort of relevant.
Back in November, when Facebook were changing over a lot of their data to the new timeline, I appeared to lose loads of data in a closed group I had created. I was angry - tweeted like mad and announced on Facebook I'd had enough and was leaving.
I did not log into Facebook for 4 months.
In February I finally registered on LinkedIn for the first time. That evening I was contacted by an old school friend who at the end of the email asked me if I knew about another school of ours called Sean. Unbelievably Sean had died suddenly in the new year.
Sean was a fantastic guy. He had really looked after me at school. However I hadn't seen him since school days. However we regularly chatted on Facebook - we both supported Spurs and as we still lived 4 miles apart still, we always talked about getting together to watch a game. We never did.
His death was a shock to everyone - he had been on Facebook the night before and his account was full of condolences. However, because I hadn't logged in I had missed his sad death and his funeral. In fact I phoned 2 other friends who knew him and were not on Facebook and both did not know either.
Since then I have gone back to using Facebook regularly - not just for this reason but it made me realise how it had become part of our lives in more ways than I had ever imagined.
Rest in Peace Sean - COYS.
@spankyhurst
Its something thats been on my mind for sometime, and I have read a number of articles recently about how social networking is actually a paradox for the word "Social".
Without doubt social networking has obviously enabled the world to keep in touch with each other easier and more often. But the question for me, does this actually make us more social or make life easier and better.
I watched a film recently that had quite a profound effect on me. It was called Dreams Of A Life by a great director called Carol Morley. It is a documentary about Joyce Vincent, the lady who at the young age of 38, was found dead in a flat above a shop in Wood Green in 2006. She had been there undiscovered for 3 years. The TV was still on, and some wrapped christmas presents were by her side. The cause of death was unknown. She had a network of friends and family in London but had sort of "disappeared" of their scene.
During my late teens and early 20's I hung around that area of North London and that sort of made it closer to home. I am still in touch with most of those friends but it made me realise and think where the others were.
2006 was a bit too early for Facebook, but social networking had sort of started back in 2000 so even though this pre dates the current trends, I still think it has something to say about us and our society.
I thought long and hard how we used to keep in touch with mates. The period of teen/college/clubbing for me was the 80's. For a few years I had a large circle of friends, and we used to go out 4-5 times a week at different pubs, clubs and weekend parties all around North London. Nearly everyone was still living with parents so arrangements were just made through a chain of land line phone calls. If no-one heard from someone in the group for a few weeks, phone calls were made to them first, then messages left with parents and eventually just popping round their houses. And even other groups of friends - Sunday nights were regularly making a catch phone call with an old college or work mate who you hadn't spoken to for 6 months or so.
The point is you had to make an effort, and you generally did as a result.
Fast forward to today. The advent of email and so many social networks, the majority of which I love and use constantly, makes this old communication almost redundant. But at what cost.
If you expect to see someone regularly updating their Facebook status or tweeting, do you notice if they stop. And then if they have, do you make an effort to get in contact to see if they are ok. Probably not. We have become used to people announcing what they are doing rather than making the effort to communicate with them.
The Joyce Vincent story is not really an effect of this but a symptom of what could be happening. It is and will always be one of the saddest stories I've ever heard.
And just to make this post even sadder, whilst I was writing this it made me think of another Facebook story that I have had very recently which is sort of relevant.
Back in November, when Facebook were changing over a lot of their data to the new timeline, I appeared to lose loads of data in a closed group I had created. I was angry - tweeted like mad and announced on Facebook I'd had enough and was leaving.
I did not log into Facebook for 4 months.
In February I finally registered on LinkedIn for the first time. That evening I was contacted by an old school friend who at the end of the email asked me if I knew about another school of ours called Sean. Unbelievably Sean had died suddenly in the new year.
Sean was a fantastic guy. He had really looked after me at school. However I hadn't seen him since school days. However we regularly chatted on Facebook - we both supported Spurs and as we still lived 4 miles apart still, we always talked about getting together to watch a game. We never did.
His death was a shock to everyone - he had been on Facebook the night before and his account was full of condolences. However, because I hadn't logged in I had missed his sad death and his funeral. In fact I phoned 2 other friends who knew him and were not on Facebook and both did not know either.
Since then I have gone back to using Facebook regularly - not just for this reason but it made me realise how it had become part of our lives in more ways than I had ever imagined.
Rest in Peace Sean - COYS.
@spankyhurst
Saturday, May 5, 2012
What Have You Done To Our FA Cup?
[Warning - Football related not tech]
Growing up as a kid, FA Cup final day was without doubt the second best day of the year (christmas day being the first)
The whole week before build up - profiling the players, managers, fans and communities with special programs, quizzes and news items all over the TV. It felt like the whole country got into it.
The day itself. Blanket coverage on both channels from an early start. The teams at breakfast, Its a Knock Out special, profiles, interviews, following the fans, following the players coach to Wembley, the walk on the pitch, the game itself - classics never to be forgotten.
Magical.
Even moving into adulthood - a bunch of us used to traditionally get together in the pub and then back at mine - a game of football, beers, presentation of the Milky Milky Fantasy football trophy, watch the game with loads of silly bets and then more beers.
It was the last game of the season - a time to reflect on past season and look forward as a football fan. And to dream of being at Wembley next year.
It was tradition.
It was part of footballs heritage.
It was envied globally as the best club competition in the world.
So what the fuck happened.
I could probably write a book on what happened but in summary, the FA, The Premiership, money, Sky, foreign players, foreign managers, more money, too much money, overpriced tickets, Stadium, seats, overpaid paid players etc etc.
In the last 10 years its been getting worse and worse - in terms of converage and importance. Man United not bothering to enter. Moving to Cardiff temporarily. Semi finals at Wembley. It just doesn't seem to mean much to the top flight players. I remember seeing Patrick Viera being interviewed after scoring the winning penalty against Man Utd a few years back. It was 15 minutes after the win and in the background were 2 foreign Arsenal players doing warm down stretches - they should have been in front of the fans downing bottles of champagne celebrating for what should have been one of their greatest achievements.
But the final nail in the coffin to me is having the final before the end of the season at 5:15pm today. Last year I found out they did this and I had already booked a trip away. I ended up missing my first ever final waiting at Barcelona airport by myself. Sounds like I had more fun. I heard it was a one off. Oh not so. I didn't even know the final was on today until a few days ago - with still 2 games left in the season and a full afternoon of other league games. The FA have finally killed our greatest tournament.
I've just been out to town - there was a group of kids from my daughters school hanging around. I asked them if they were watching the FA Cup final later - they stared at me like I was mad. And then I asked my nephew if he was watching it and again a blank stare back and asking what that was.
We couldn't even remember who played last year against Man City for ages and yet I can reel off most of the 70's and 80's winners with goalscorers without too much trouble.
So I missed my first final last year - as for today, I will probably go out for a meal with the family and if I get back in time I may see what the score is just out of interest. Because that I am afraid is what the FA has done to our cup - just a passing bit of interest.
@spankyhurst
Growing up as a kid, FA Cup final day was without doubt the second best day of the year (christmas day being the first)
The whole week before build up - profiling the players, managers, fans and communities with special programs, quizzes and news items all over the TV. It felt like the whole country got into it.
The day itself. Blanket coverage on both channels from an early start. The teams at breakfast, Its a Knock Out special, profiles, interviews, following the fans, following the players coach to Wembley, the walk on the pitch, the game itself - classics never to be forgotten.
Magical.
Even moving into adulthood - a bunch of us used to traditionally get together in the pub and then back at mine - a game of football, beers, presentation of the Milky Milky Fantasy football trophy, watch the game with loads of silly bets and then more beers.
It was the last game of the season - a time to reflect on past season and look forward as a football fan. And to dream of being at Wembley next year.
It was tradition.
It was part of footballs heritage.
It was envied globally as the best club competition in the world.
So what the fuck happened.
I could probably write a book on what happened but in summary, the FA, The Premiership, money, Sky, foreign players, foreign managers, more money, too much money, overpriced tickets, Stadium, seats, overpaid paid players etc etc.
In the last 10 years its been getting worse and worse - in terms of converage and importance. Man United not bothering to enter. Moving to Cardiff temporarily. Semi finals at Wembley. It just doesn't seem to mean much to the top flight players. I remember seeing Patrick Viera being interviewed after scoring the winning penalty against Man Utd a few years back. It was 15 minutes after the win and in the background were 2 foreign Arsenal players doing warm down stretches - they should have been in front of the fans downing bottles of champagne celebrating for what should have been one of their greatest achievements.
But the final nail in the coffin to me is having the final before the end of the season at 5:15pm today. Last year I found out they did this and I had already booked a trip away. I ended up missing my first ever final waiting at Barcelona airport by myself. Sounds like I had more fun. I heard it was a one off. Oh not so. I didn't even know the final was on today until a few days ago - with still 2 games left in the season and a full afternoon of other league games. The FA have finally killed our greatest tournament.
I've just been out to town - there was a group of kids from my daughters school hanging around. I asked them if they were watching the FA Cup final later - they stared at me like I was mad. And then I asked my nephew if he was watching it and again a blank stare back and asking what that was.
We couldn't even remember who played last year against Man City for ages and yet I can reel off most of the 70's and 80's winners with goalscorers without too much trouble.
So I missed my first final last year - as for today, I will probably go out for a meal with the family and if I get back in time I may see what the score is just out of interest. Because that I am afraid is what the FA has done to our cup - just a passing bit of interest.
@spankyhurst
Monday, April 16, 2012
Instagram: World Domination by Facebook
Instagram then eh. Great app - been using it for some time, simple, neat and a joy to use. But ONE BILLION DOLLARS - blimey.
I've read a lot of analysis of its worth but the fact of the matter is Facebook's main reason for buying it is because they can. It's all down to Facebook's own massive valuation of 100 billion that makes Instagram worth so much.
I read this the other day on Twitter - don't know how accurate it is but it is quite an eye opener
Instagram 13 employees, 18mnths old, $1bn valuation
Kodak 17,000 employees, 131yrs old, chapter 11
Wow - I know its a bit false to compare such different businesses but it is an amazing stat.
Lets face it, Facebook could snap up a lot of other great apps like Tumblr, Foursquare, Instapaper - in fact anything beginning with Insta - and still have loose change from a fraction of their IPO and future profits. Are we now in a period of tech history where Facebook will begin to take over the world.
So everyone - start thinking now for that next billion dollar idea. Heres my prediction of whats going to happen in the next few year
(and read the $1bn as did Dr Evil in Austin Powers saying the ransom)
Instapoo - the new app that becomes an instant craze as people photo and share pictures of dog poo around the capital together with full poo location GPS. Just 6 months after launch Facebook acquire for ONE BILLION DOLLARS.
WikiPeek - People take pictures of random people on the street and post them to Wikipeak. It is then your job to browse the pictures and find random pictures of yourself or friends based on where you have been that day. Hours of fun as this craze takes off. Facebook acquire for ONE BILLION DOLLARS and instantly shut it down.
AcneFace - you take someones picture and it morphs acne onto your face and makes you look like a 16 year old teenager. On day one of launch it has 10 million downloads and on day two Facebook buys for ONE BILLION DOLLARS.
WalkorStalk - Put yourself forward as a Walker or a Stalker. Then match up with someone at a certain time and place where the stalker can follow the walker for hours. Geo location enabled and it doesn't take off - however that doesn't stop Facebook acquiring it for ONE BILLION DOLLARS.
MugJournal - this massive new social network site gets shut down by Facebook as overnight it sends Cease or Desist actions to two a and a half million sites that have the word Face or a derivative of (e.g. Mug) or have the word Book or derivative of (e.g.. Journal) Overnight Facebook accounts for 65% of all internet traffic.
FriendSwap - allows you to discard friends you no longer want and allows you to swap them with people who don't have many friends. Facebook acquires for ONE BILLION DOLLARS and then sets a maximum number of friends limit of 250.
Thats not all -
Facebook turnover becomes greater than the US GDP at 15 Trillion. As a result of this and lobbying, the next presidential election is voted on by the largest number of Likes against each candidate. Mark Zuckerberg becomes President.
[Note to self - must stop writing a load of rubbish whenever stuck at home with sick children]
@spankyhurst
I've read a lot of analysis of its worth but the fact of the matter is Facebook's main reason for buying it is because they can. It's all down to Facebook's own massive valuation of 100 billion that makes Instagram worth so much.
I read this the other day on Twitter - don't know how accurate it is but it is quite an eye opener
Instagram 13 employees, 18mnths old, $1bn valuation
Kodak 17,000 employees, 131yrs old, chapter 11
Wow - I know its a bit false to compare such different businesses but it is an amazing stat.
Lets face it, Facebook could snap up a lot of other great apps like Tumblr, Foursquare, Instapaper - in fact anything beginning with Insta - and still have loose change from a fraction of their IPO and future profits. Are we now in a period of tech history where Facebook will begin to take over the world.
So everyone - start thinking now for that next billion dollar idea. Heres my prediction of whats going to happen in the next few year
(and read the $1bn as did Dr Evil in Austin Powers saying the ransom)
Instapoo - the new app that becomes an instant craze as people photo and share pictures of dog poo around the capital together with full poo location GPS. Just 6 months after launch Facebook acquire for ONE BILLION DOLLARS.
WikiPeek - People take pictures of random people on the street and post them to Wikipeak. It is then your job to browse the pictures and find random pictures of yourself or friends based on where you have been that day. Hours of fun as this craze takes off. Facebook acquire for ONE BILLION DOLLARS and instantly shut it down.
AcneFace - you take someones picture and it morphs acne onto your face and makes you look like a 16 year old teenager. On day one of launch it has 10 million downloads and on day two Facebook buys for ONE BILLION DOLLARS.
WalkorStalk - Put yourself forward as a Walker or a Stalker. Then match up with someone at a certain time and place where the stalker can follow the walker for hours. Geo location enabled and it doesn't take off - however that doesn't stop Facebook acquiring it for ONE BILLION DOLLARS.
MugJournal - this massive new social network site gets shut down by Facebook as overnight it sends Cease or Desist actions to two a and a half million sites that have the word Face or a derivative of (e.g. Mug) or have the word Book or derivative of (e.g.. Journal) Overnight Facebook accounts for 65% of all internet traffic.
FriendSwap - allows you to discard friends you no longer want and allows you to swap them with people who don't have many friends. Facebook acquires for ONE BILLION DOLLARS and then sets a maximum number of friends limit of 250.
Thats not all -
Facebook turnover becomes greater than the US GDP at 15 Trillion. As a result of this and lobbying, the next presidential election is voted on by the largest number of Likes against each candidate. Mark Zuckerberg becomes President.
[Note to self - must stop writing a load of rubbish whenever stuck at home with sick children]
@spankyhurst
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Peanuts Reunited
Over the past 6 years, even though for a large part of it I wasn't allowed to do any internet businesses, my brain has been full of ideas. Sometimes you get into a groove and you can't stop thinking about them (like now - up at 2am with jetlag)
And of course others have ideas and in pubs and other socials, people love to tell people their latest killer app that is going to take the world by storm (unless of course they want you to sign an NDA - see previous post)
Now FriendsReunited - the core idea behind the site - was not actually my idea. It was Julie's. I've never pretending anything different. Before FR nearly all my ideas I told mates in pubs were just laughed at or told "that will never work". However, just by association I noticed after we sold out that something odd started to happen when I told people my latest internet sensation.
Everyone seemed to think every idea I had was brilliant.
Now of course they could all just be being polite to me. However, I started to wonder whether just because of one success, people (particularly those who just met me) thought everything I did turned to gold. Lets face it - most of my ideas are actually pants and the vast majority are never going to see the light of day - like most peoples.
So, a few years ago I decided to create a placebo idea.
Peanuts Reunited.
Ridiculous even before you hear what the idea is. Here's what a press release would say if it was real (please read in a Moss from the IT crowd voice)
"I was sitting in a pub one evening waiting for for a friend with a pint and a packet of peanuts. Some nuts fell out onto the table and I randomly picked up two split nuts. I placed them together and got a perfect match. It was a great feeling and suddenly Peanuts Reunited was born - a site where you reunite 2 nuts together. Simply take a picture of one half of the nut and the site uses bespoke imaging software to create a 3D image of the nut. Then log the details of the peanut and wait. The software then matches the half peanut with someone else's nut and informs you of the reunion. At that point perhaps a meet up to reunite the halves together and blah blah blah blah....."
You get the idea.
So now and again I used to announce Ive had another great idea, describe away the concept behind PeanutsReunited in a really excited way and wait. There used to be a tumbleweed moment for a few seconds and blank faces before I would then burst out laughing and exclaim it was only a joke (yes its a fun night to be had going out with me)
However, after a few times of doing this, someone in a group of people, before I could announce the joke, actually shouted out "That is just a brilliant idea". I am not going to say who it was as its just too embarrassing.
Anyway, it was enough to prove my point and finally realise that all my ideas were actually probably shit.
[However if anyone goes and does it I'll sue you]
[Please sign the NDA below]
Thursday, March 29, 2012
FriendsReunitedReunited
It's said you should never go back to the scene of the crime. Last week I did just that.
I sold FriendsReunited in December 2005. ITV for some strange reason didn't want me around - no idea why - did they not trust my deep corporate ethic that I so clearly have.
I've kept close contact with quite a few from those days, some very close friends fortunately. However, regarding the actual site itself, I am sad to admit I probably have only logged on a handful of times in 6 years. It felt like it lost its way - concentrating on earning revenue whilst Facebook concentrated on taking over the world before revenue.
I kept quiet too - mainly because although I had an opinion it didn't feel right to criticise the very hand that fed me. Plus I need a week off from swearing online - part of one of my blogs was lifted for the Independent last week, very much out of context (as always) and its embarressing for your daughter to count the number of f words and for your mum to feel equally proud and ashamed of her son at the same time. Don't worry I'll get back to swearing in a day or 2 when things have died down and I am back to writing boring tech crap.
ITV sold FR 2 years ago, and since then it has also been very quiet. I too had had no contact from the company who brought it - Bright Solid - although my friends moved over to them but I didn't really know what they were going to do with it.
Until last week.
By pure chance, they moved into a building in Shoreditch opposite where I do the odd bit of work. And on the day I found this out, I had lunch and a coffee with 2 old colleagues, and FR announced they were relaunching FR the following week. Plus I was contacted by the above mentioned Independent journalist wanting to do a feature.
It felt right to have a look and make a comment (although the Independent article in hindsight was probably a mistake) So I made contact and rudely invited myself over to have a nose.
I suppose I was expecting some dingy little setup (because thats how we ran it) trying to relaunch and take on Facebook - which lets face it would be suicide.
What I encountered was actually a breath of fresh air.
Lets start with the company - the building they have refurbished was probably one of the best work environments Ive ever experienced. Beautiful building with lovely murals and even a Dennis The Menace drawn sneakily into the ceiling (they own The Beano too)
The people - ok I still have friends there but the welcome and general passion and enthusiasm of Chris and Matt at the helm was a fantastic change from some of the Shoreditch stereotypes I encounter (Don't worry I am not talking about you reader - honest)
And the site itself - to have a go and relaunch a failing brand in such a new niche product is risky but very brave. Whether it works for them or not I don't know, but I really feel FriendsReunited is in a good home and deserves a new lease of life that they are going for. The amount of press it generated shows the brand itself is still valuable. I have nothing but praise so good luck and best wishes to them all.
So, this isn't a rant for once, and all you negative fuckers should just give it a chance for once. Damn, shit, bugger - I've sworn again.
I sold FriendsReunited in December 2005. ITV for some strange reason didn't want me around - no idea why - did they not trust my deep corporate ethic that I so clearly have.
I've kept close contact with quite a few from those days, some very close friends fortunately. However, regarding the actual site itself, I am sad to admit I probably have only logged on a handful of times in 6 years. It felt like it lost its way - concentrating on earning revenue whilst Facebook concentrated on taking over the world before revenue.
I kept quiet too - mainly because although I had an opinion it didn't feel right to criticise the very hand that fed me. Plus I need a week off from swearing online - part of one of my blogs was lifted for the Independent last week, very much out of context (as always) and its embarressing for your daughter to count the number of f words and for your mum to feel equally proud and ashamed of her son at the same time. Don't worry I'll get back to swearing in a day or 2 when things have died down and I am back to writing boring tech crap.
ITV sold FR 2 years ago, and since then it has also been very quiet. I too had had no contact from the company who brought it - Bright Solid - although my friends moved over to them but I didn't really know what they were going to do with it.
Until last week.
By pure chance, they moved into a building in Shoreditch opposite where I do the odd bit of work. And on the day I found this out, I had lunch and a coffee with 2 old colleagues, and FR announced they were relaunching FR the following week. Plus I was contacted by the above mentioned Independent journalist wanting to do a feature.
It felt right to have a look and make a comment (although the Independent article in hindsight was probably a mistake) So I made contact and rudely invited myself over to have a nose.
I suppose I was expecting some dingy little setup (because thats how we ran it) trying to relaunch and take on Facebook - which lets face it would be suicide.
What I encountered was actually a breath of fresh air.
Lets start with the company - the building they have refurbished was probably one of the best work environments Ive ever experienced. Beautiful building with lovely murals and even a Dennis The Menace drawn sneakily into the ceiling (they own The Beano too)
The people - ok I still have friends there but the welcome and general passion and enthusiasm of Chris and Matt at the helm was a fantastic change from some of the Shoreditch stereotypes I encounter (Don't worry I am not talking about you reader - honest)
And the site itself - to have a go and relaunch a failing brand in such a new niche product is risky but very brave. Whether it works for them or not I don't know, but I really feel FriendsReunited is in a good home and deserves a new lease of life that they are going for. The amount of press it generated shows the brand itself is still valuable. I have nothing but praise so good luck and best wishes to them all.
So, this isn't a rant for once, and all you negative fuckers should just give it a chance for once. Damn, shit, bugger - I've sworn again.
Monday, March 26, 2012
NDA or Trust?
NDA's - I am sure everyone knows what they are but just in case, it stands for Non Disclosure Agreement - an agreement signed between 2 parties to protect information passed remaining confidential to third parties.
I will happily sign them with regards to deals being done or other such confidential legal matters regarding established businesses. However, when people come to me with ideas sometimes I get asked to sign one before they will even tell me their idea or pitch. In this case I will never sign and if it is a problem I will walk away.
I have been badly caught out - early in the history of FriendsReunited I met with someone who wanted to pitch some ideas he thought would catapult FR's popularity and functionality. He was also interested in getting a job as commercial manager as we started to grow. So I met with him as part pitch/part interview. I was asked to sign an NDA and in my naivety I signed it. We had a good chat but unfortunately it became clear he wasn't either the sort of person we were looking for, and once hearing both his ideas, that his vision for FR was miles off ours and the ideas were of no interest to us.
We left on good terms. By the time I got home I had an email waiting that shocked me. He accused us of just meeting up to nick his ideas and that he would continue to monitor us to make sure we did not use them. And over the next couple of years we continued to be reminded by this bitter person of our NDA with very unpleasant threatening emails.
Well we never even considered his ideas and just for the record - its because they were fucking shit. There, Ive always wanted to get that out of my system (this blogging thing is good for empowerment)
No problem really. However, what if one of his ideas had been on our list of things for future development. Would that mean we could never do it.
Ideas are impossible to protect. The next big thing is currently being thought of by probably hundreds of people at the same time. Its who does it first quickest and best. I currently am involved in about 10 projects - all internet and nearly all in the social/app scene. It's highly likely there will be crossover some times. In fact one idea I am working on I have had for the past 5 years, and had it sort of pitched at me twice over the years. Both times I explained my spin on the idea and because the people were cool it never created a problem.
NDA's on idea pitches are crap. A meeting like that should be done on trust and if someone pitching an idea at me thinks there is a chance I will go off and nick his idea and do it myself then he obviously doesn't trust me and shouldn't be doing business with me.
One extreme case of this, was one of Julie's friends kept phoning her up ages ago wanting loads of advice on how to setup an internet site as she had an idea. When Julie asked what it was she said - "I can't tell you as you might go off and do it" - Nice. Needless to say she is no longer a friend.
I like to do things on trust and so far I don't think I've done too bad - the only occasions where things have got nasty and legal are where documentation was involved and things turned very ugly.
Therefore if you want to pitch an idea at me, don't expect me to sign anything.
I will happily sign them with regards to deals being done or other such confidential legal matters regarding established businesses. However, when people come to me with ideas sometimes I get asked to sign one before they will even tell me their idea or pitch. In this case I will never sign and if it is a problem I will walk away.
I have been badly caught out - early in the history of FriendsReunited I met with someone who wanted to pitch some ideas he thought would catapult FR's popularity and functionality. He was also interested in getting a job as commercial manager as we started to grow. So I met with him as part pitch/part interview. I was asked to sign an NDA and in my naivety I signed it. We had a good chat but unfortunately it became clear he wasn't either the sort of person we were looking for, and once hearing both his ideas, that his vision for FR was miles off ours and the ideas were of no interest to us.
We left on good terms. By the time I got home I had an email waiting that shocked me. He accused us of just meeting up to nick his ideas and that he would continue to monitor us to make sure we did not use them. And over the next couple of years we continued to be reminded by this bitter person of our NDA with very unpleasant threatening emails.
Well we never even considered his ideas and just for the record - its because they were fucking shit. There, Ive always wanted to get that out of my system (this blogging thing is good for empowerment)
No problem really. However, what if one of his ideas had been on our list of things for future development. Would that mean we could never do it.
Ideas are impossible to protect. The next big thing is currently being thought of by probably hundreds of people at the same time. Its who does it first quickest and best. I currently am involved in about 10 projects - all internet and nearly all in the social/app scene. It's highly likely there will be crossover some times. In fact one idea I am working on I have had for the past 5 years, and had it sort of pitched at me twice over the years. Both times I explained my spin on the idea and because the people were cool it never created a problem.
NDA's on idea pitches are crap. A meeting like that should be done on trust and if someone pitching an idea at me thinks there is a chance I will go off and nick his idea and do it myself then he obviously doesn't trust me and shouldn't be doing business with me.
One extreme case of this, was one of Julie's friends kept phoning her up ages ago wanting loads of advice on how to setup an internet site as she had an idea. When Julie asked what it was she said - "I can't tell you as you might go off and do it" - Nice. Needless to say she is no longer a friend.
I like to do things on trust and so far I don't think I've done too bad - the only occasions where things have got nasty and legal are where documentation was involved and things turned very ugly.
Therefore if you want to pitch an idea at me, don't expect me to sign anything.
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