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[...] about these trends, there’s only so much we all cando to sway the masses. There’s a great post on “Why Executives Don’t Get Social Media” that I think captures what most non-adopters feel. The reasons are simple: they don’t see the [...]
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[...] on Minnov8 Posted on February 27, 2012 by garrick “He’s brought a blank page back to the internet” – Phil Wilson This entry was posted in Uncategorized by garrick. Bookmark the [...]
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[...] Minnov8 Gang 97: R U Kidding about KidBlog? | Minnov8 [...]
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[...] a great post on “Why Executives Don’t Get Social Media” that I think captures what most non-adopters feel. The reasons are simple: they don’t [...]
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[...] Minnov8 Gang 97: R U Kidding about KidBlog? | Minnov8 [...]
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[...] November our colleague, Kurt Roots, wrote this post about Datuit entitled, Big Healthcare Data. In it he discussed how the company is “…an innovative software company that is [...]
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[...] Marissa’s local connections (Graeme’s post) [...]
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[...] co-founder, Dan Flies, was interviewed on the weekly Minnov8 podcast. http://minnov8.com/2010/10/08/minnov8-gang-97-r-u-kidding-about-kidblog/ 10.09.10 – 0 Views – [...]
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[...] Ben Edwards interview [...]
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[...] Graeme Thickins’ post here about Tom and Dan speaking on “Indie Capitalism & Design Entrepreneurship” for the [...]
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[...] Well, let’s say nicely funded, anyway — a fully subscribed seed round that fulfills their near-term capital needs. I wanted to write a post to report the latest update on this amazing Minnesota tech startup: Kidblog. You’ve seen me write about these guys before: earlier this summer … and almost a year ago when I posted an update from the EduTech Minnesota conference, when the company hit a million users. We also had one of the Kidblog cofounders as our guest on the podcast about that same time: Minnov8 Gang 97: R U Kidding about Kidblog? [...]
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[...] successful Kickstarter projects Pebble (which has now raised $10.2M) and SmartThings (our coverage here), along with WIRED’s Geek Dad, who published an awesome post about QFO Labs [...]
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[...] the QFOLabs Toy-helicopter startup has the tech, needs the lift (Minnov8 profile by Graeme here) and how Borsch would like it if it had munitions on board (especially [...]
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[...] Check Out the Minnov8 Podcast Here Post Published: 10 November 2012 Author: Robert J Weber Found in section: Entrepreneurship, Interviews, Mobile [...]
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[...] 8thBridge 2nd Annual Social Commerce Study [...]
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[...] January 5th: DaVinci Fest, Stillwater High [...]
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[...] Last year’s predictions show: Minnov8 Gang 150 [...]
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[...] image credit: minnova8 [...]
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[...] SpiceApps releases alpha of BrowserTap [...]
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[...] QFOlabs [...]
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[...] the Minnov8 site, where I also blog occasionally, you may have seen my story this morning: “CoCo Ties Up with Google.” Big news for our [...]
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[...] Phil’s in-depth review (& cheesy unboxing video) of his new Pebble watch [...]
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[...] Here is a post and interview I did with co-founder Ben Edwards last August (and released it the day their Kickstarter campaign debuted) as well as YouTube videos like this series of SmartThings YouTube videos if you’d like to see more. [...]
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[...] Steve’s initial thoughts on SmartThings [...]
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[...] W3i Rebrands, Launches Native Ad Platform for App Devs, Adds Trip Hawkins as Senior Advisor [...]
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[...] image credit: minnova8 [...]
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[...] Sam’s first post for Minnov8: [...]
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[...] Spark Devices Launches ‘Spark Core’ [...]
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[...] Speakers and sponsors alike said they really enjoyed it, were having fun, and were excited about next year. We also had some great blog coverage. [...]
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[...] Fargo Roadtrip: Midwest Mobile Summit [...]
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Thanks for the writeup, and rightfully dinging us where we deserve it. The HTML5 video player is in the pipeline, and should deliver video in a seamless, cross-platform way. It just was one thing that didn’t quite make the cut for launch, much to our designer’s horror.
As for load times, we’ve been pretty aggressively attacking this since launch, so it should get better soon. We’ve got some resource allocation to address on the servers, but it’s been tricky to do in a production environment. Hopefully in the wee hours this weekend…
I’ve also just implemented (in development, shortly rolling out) a new compression routine on our images that should knock .5M(!) off the total download size. Should help enormously. We’re also going to turn on far-future cache times once the emergency fixes slow down, which should make YSlow much happier.
Check back next week to keep us honest, k?
Thanks again for the article and the links!
Thanks for the quick reply. Obviously I loved the new site and was reluctant to ding you guys, but have to for the sake of our readers & listeners.
You bet I’ll be back next week…and frequently besides. Keep up the great work. You’ve set the bar A LOT higher for any other organization in the field.
Thanks Graeme and Phil for presenting the awards at the holiday bash and for running through the winners on your podcast. You know I’m a big fan of your work.
For anyone who missed the holiday bash, we showed a custom video highlighting the year at W3i. It was pretty fun to put together. The video is now posted on our blog here- http://blog.w3i.com/2011/12/16/w3is-on-fire-watch-how-team-w3i-rocked-in-2011/
Best,
Rob Weber
Co-founder
W3i
Next, will you reach out to Senator Al Franken and ask why he is a sponsor of the Protect IP Act?
hmmm…I did not know that. How did that not hit my radar (he says, sheepishly). I will reach out NOW.
Steve – Senator Klobuchar is also a sponsor and is also the author of another bill coming down the pike that isn’t getting good reviews. I can dig up more info if you need it.
In light of some of the niftyness available at the University, something I’d like to hear one of you guys cover in 2012 is a conference at U of MN. http://tedxumn.com/the-events/ aka TEDxUMN 2012-Apr-21. It is described as being for the Univ community, so unless you have a strong connection there, you may be out of luck.
Hi Chuck,
We’ll definitely look into that TEDx at the UofMN. Thanks for the heads-up and who knows, maybe they’ll let alums in!
~Steve
Good show guys!
And of course, I can’t pass this up
… Good to see you (Steve) admit the terrible WordPress security record. As you said though, it was probably good training for a coming CyberSecurity Pearl Harbor.
(For those that aren’t aware, I’m an ExpressionEngine guy so love tweaking Mr. Borsch about his WP troubles)
Sorry I didn’t reply earlier. Thanks for the props on the show AND for another gut punch on WordPress!
Question: What percent of sites are running on Expression Engine? With WordPress:
+ 14.7 percent of the top million websites in the world use it
+ 22 of every 100 active domains created in the U.S. are running WordPress.
I rarely even hear anything about Expression Engine other than you tweaking Tim and I all the time.
Did anybody find out why franken and klobuchar support this bill yet?
Nope. I did call in to both offices and made my views known, requesting a statement. None has been forthcoming and, since we’re not a major media outlet and just a constituent, I doubt one will appear.
Since comments on Podcast #149 seem to be closed, and since I just got word from a fellow CoCo member of the discussion about me on that episode, I have to comment here!
Just wanted to clear up the mystery of the one-named lawyer….no typo, most folks just know me as Davis, which yes, is my last name. And, another surprise, I’m a HER! (I can understand the default to him considering the general make-up of the profession though).
Anyway, thanks for the chuckle, and the shout out!
K.M. Davis
Davis Law Office, LLC
A good follow-on to our CES discussion is this piece that appeared since our podcast…
“CES not always the greatest guide for commercial success” (CNet):
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-33363_1-57354490/ces-not-always-the-greatest-guide-for-commercial-success/
Hi Davis!
Sorry about the delay in responding. Yep…we autoclose comments after 15 days since spam commenting was off-the-charts and even Akismet didn’t catch it all (so I was manually managing all of it).
I didn’t make this podcast (one of a handful I’ve missed in 3+ years) but probably would’ve mangled it anyway! Thanks for the clarification.
~Steve
Great article, Steve. It’s pretty scary the freedoms we’re losing in this country, not to mention now NDAA and possibly SOPA…yikes. I think Americans would be horrified if we actually knew the extent of this domestic intelligence gathering, and is it to fight terrorism or to maintain control?
Either way, I’m glad I read this article; we need more people spreading the word. It’s sad that the only mainstream outlets that cover some of these REAL issues are foreign media like RT. Also, in case you haven’t seen it, I recently watched a great program on Frontline from September called “Top Secret America” that examines the expansion of intelligence agencies after 2001.
Freedom!
Thanks for the comment Jerome. I had *not* heard about that Frontline program and will definitely check it out (says Borsch, as he adjusts his tinfoil hat).
I received an email from Al Franken’s office about this. The message claims these words come directly from Senator Franken:
Dear [constituent],
As you may know, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has decided not to bring the PROTECT IP Act (the Senate’s version of SOPA) up for a vote next week. And since I’ve heard from many of you about this issue, I wanted to take a moment to share why I support copyright protection legislation – as well as why I believe holding off on this bill is the right thing to do.
As someone who has worked hard to protect net neutrality, I understand as well as anyone the importance of keeping the Internet free from undue corporate influence. There are millions of Americans who rely on a free and open Internet to learn, communicate with friends and family, and do business.
At the same time, there are millions of Americans whose livelihoods rely on strong protections for intellectual property: middle-class workers – most of them union workers – in all 50 states, thousands of them here in Minnesota, working in a variety of industries from film production to publishing to software development.
If we don’t protect our intellectual property, international criminals – as well as legitimate businesses like payment processors and ad networks – will continue to profit dishonestly from the work these Americans are doing every day. And that puts these millions of jobs at serious risk.
That’s reason enough to act. But these criminals are also putting Minnesota families in danger by flooding our nation with counterfeit products – not just bootleg movies and software, but phony medications and knockoff equipment for first responders.
We cannot simply shrug off the threat of online piracy. We cannot do nothing.
I have supported the approach Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy has taken in crafting legislation to respond to the threat of online piracy – and I appreciate his leadership on this important issue.
But I’ve also been listening carefully to the debate – and to the many Minnesotans who have told me via email, Facebook, Twitter, and good old fashioned phone calls that they are worried about what this bill would mean for the future of the Internet.
Frankly, there is a lot of misinformation floating around out there: If this bill really did some of the things people have heard it would do (like shutting down YouTube), I would never have supported it.
But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take seriously the concerns people have shared. And if holding off on this legislation gives us an opportunity to take a step back and try to bring everybody back to the table, I think it’s the right thing to do. This is a difficult issue, and also an important one. It’s worth getting this right.
I strongly believe that we need to protect intellectual property – and protect the free and open Internet. I think most people, even those who have expressed concern about this particular bill, agree. And it’s my hope that we can now build a stronger consensus around how to accomplish these two important goals.
Thanks for reading. And for those of you who have written to me about this issue (even if it was an angry letter), thanks for being honest with me. I’ll always return the favor.
Al
You write about Team Full Court WordPress – but the image is teamBIOS!
You’re right…should’be been more clear! Added teamBIOS to the picture credit.
Just a quick comment while it dawned on me why I liked todays show…
Today’s show remedied me of the old Minnov8 podcasts – No guests, just local tech buddies BS’n about thangs – I liked it.
I’ve heard Lynn on NPR’s Science Friday and quite enjoy how she interprets science fact by seeing its beauty. Will definitely attend this talk.
I live in MN and work for “iCompany” and in the past two months have been contacted by recruiters from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. Oddly enough only 2 MN companies have reached out to me ( My Linkedin profile shows MN ). I spend 1/3 of my time in California and the Bay / Valley area seems like it is back to boom times for people in tech.
Thanks Graeme! I’ll have you know as I’m typing this I’m staying in a dinky little Travelodge room in downtown Chicago (some things never change).
haha – Travelodge FTW!!!!!
App.net — There was an alternative to Twitter way back when – Identica (open source too) — A bunch of notables joined (Scoble, Gillmor, etc) but very few people followed. Not giving App.net much hope with a paid service – in spite of the hype/money – when a free one drew a very small crowd.
Side Note: Damn you Borsch – Loved the music and now ran up my iTunes bill with Burks tunes.
Randy (@PXLated) — First off, as I’m selecting music I always think about how to drive sales for the musicians by tormenting our listeners with amazing tunes!
I, too, leapt on Identica right away (in fact, you were the first person to connect with me) and am bummed that a widely federated ID like that didn’t catch on.
My dad lives in Wausau and I’ll be visiting him this weekend as I have many times over the past 20+ years. I have always found it to be more of an industrial type of town. I’d be curious what Lief thinks about the atmosphere there. To me, Wausau resembles many of our outstate Minnesota communities. For those of you whom missed it, I even blogged about this topic pretty extensively awhile back- http://www.appmarketingtips.com/2011/02/tech-entrepreneurs-in-rural-markets-speak-out/
Also, anyone have any idea if Marissa still makes it back to Wausau anymore?
Hi, Rob. I didn’t realize you had that Wausau connection. I’ve only been there once (nice place! and bigger than I thought it would be). As an outsider, I think of it more as an insurance town, naturally, because of its namesake company. And I suspect a bunch of financial services companies may have grown up around that? I am aware of a successful midsized banking software firm that’s located there.
Other than that, I don’t know much about Wausau — maybe Lief will weigh in? I do know he hasn’t seen Marissa in many years. One thing I heard about her, because it was mentioned in one of the huge number of media stories that have appeared recently: she has competed in at least one of the Birkebeiner events — it didn’t say which one or which year(s). But that would indicate she still goes back home, as that’s located in the same general areal of Wisconsin. (A little aside: did you know the “Birkie” events web site is powered by the “NGIN” platform from our friends at TST Media in Minneapolis?)
I generally agree with Rob’s thoughts on Wausau (the name means “far away place” in Ojibwe). The county (Marathon) has at times in the past had the highest rate of millionaires per capita of any county in the U.S. (presumably lumber baron days) and also the highest alcoholism rate per capita of any county in the U.S. There was a robust mfg/industrial industry, but a number of the big businesses either were swallowed up or failed. It’s not a small/quaint town, but it’s also not really big either. Wausau just played host to the international kayak championships. The geography/topography of the area in unique.
NOTE: Wausau is the center of the northwestern hemisphere: 45 degrees longitude and 90 degrees latitude, the point halfway between the Equator and the North Pole and halfway between Greenwich, England and the International Dateline.
As you enter Wausau you see a mountain that seems to come up out of nothing. That is Rib Mountain and where I grew up (a bit of a Wausau suburb if you will). The ski hill has over 70 runs. I participated in farming growing up and (believe it or not) ginseng was our cash crop. We produced a significant percentage of the world’s consumption of ginseng and we had Chinese import/export office down the road from my home. I’ve spent countless hours slaving away in the ginseng fields. The fields are unmistakable – when you enter the area you’ll see fields with raised fabric about 6-8 feet off the ground (ginseng growth requires shade).
In highschool Marissa was wicked smart and she knew it (not cocky, but very confident). She was always 100% business, all the time. She was not known as a “popular”, but she was highly involved/diligent. She was on the Pom Pon squad, she participated in Junior Achievement, Key Club, Debate, Spanish Club, et al. What ever she did, she tried to make it perfect. I was in a public speaking class with her and you could tell even at that early age that she had the confidence and conviction to address crowds.
I’m sure every small town spits out people who want more out of life than to live and grow old in that town. My childhood friend Scott Wimmer, for example, spent a lot of his time at the racetrack by our house. I spent hundreds of hours with him messing with cars out in a shed. He went on to compete in NASCAR, took 3rd at Daytona, and even won the Busch NASCAR series a few years ago.
Steve,
Once again, I must remember to not share anything with you.
Oh…you mean like this?
Thanks guys for touching on my recent project, SmartThings. We think it is going to be huge. It is certainly a very large undertaking and we’re going to need the whole Minnesota tech scene behind us as we kick this thing off in the coming weeks. Minnov8 is a great place to start!
You’re sure welcome Ben. We all are…but I’m *very* intrigued by what you guys are doing. Trying to figure out of it’s a Wifi box that does it’s own NAT to devices; if it’s a ZigBee direction; or what. When you can clue us in please do and good luck! Ye old internet-of-things is going to be huge and SmartThings would be on the ground floor.
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Wow! I had no idea Phil was such a stylish dude back in the day;) Thanks Steve for sharing.
Every time I look at that photo my sense is that something is missing. Then it struck me: he needs a pipe and maybe a John Cougar Mellencamp album cover in the background.
Somehow despite the audio, glitches my voice sounds better than I usually think it does. Now if I can just work on sounding smarter
I was able to fix the audio and reuploaded it so give it a listen. Unfortunately the “Sounding Smarter!” filter is super-expensive so nothing I can do for you there.
The good news? Your personal value prop is your ability to make a vision a reality by building code. Most of us would like to be able to do that!
I’m pretty sure that they have had ReliaCloud for years. I should know – we had a site hosted on Visi’s ReliaCloud platform 2 years ago that vanished without a trace. Hopefully this iteration is much, much better
Yep…they’ve had it for at least two years which is why I said “fully launched” and probably should’ve been clear about that point.
Vanished without a trace? Yikes…no backup by them?
Sounds familiar: http://minnov8.com/2009/10/22/visi-launches-reliacloud-services-to-packed-house/#.UFMoBEKAq18
Which raises that age-old existential question: how many times can one thing launch?
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Love the new site, as well! Who is the designer or design team behind it?
Thanks,
Mariel
This Walker post by Nate Solas from last December talks about who is behind it.
Gang,
I’ve spent a decent amount of time with the ex-Ceo of Digital River Joel Ronning and I think he is a pretty solid guy. I like his direct communication style. We have too many passive aggressive personalities in this state.
I think Digital River’s big problem is their services are being viewed as a commodity. There big partners like Microsoft and EA can put the screws to them and threaten to leave and build their own commerce platform which hurts their ability to generate a fair margin. In reality, I think these companies don’t get it. They’d be hurting if they broke ties with Digital River.
Steve- you’re right about comparing W3i to Digitl River. I think the big difference is we’ve created a culture around pioneering spirit, and embrace new tech disruptions like App Stores whereas Digital River hasn’t found a way to participate.
My two cents…
Rob
As always, thank you for listening “Listener #2″.
Appreciate your comments about the perspective of Digital River as a “commodity”. Being viewed as “infrastructure” means that anyone who is buying it (as you pointed out their biggies: Microsoft and EA) can rip you out and replace you. It’s only when one moves up the value stack can a long term value creation happen.
It’s like anything cloud…
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
- Platform as a Service (PaaS)
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
…IMHO unless Digital River can move up to more of a PaaS play and offer tools for developers to tap in to their world-class IaaS, the commoditization of Digital River will only accelerate.
Nice mention of the story on W3i’s Chairman Young Sohn, Chief Strategy Officer at Samsung. It will be interesting to see how Samsung competes with Apple over the next 5 years. According to the MIT interview, Samsung is very impressed by the whole ecosystem Apple has built. Could that mean that in the future, Samsung will take its roughly 50% Android market share, and fork off from Android with their own Operating System?
2013 Prediction- Could we see Scott Forstall join Young’s new team at Samsung?
“…and fork off from Android with their own Operating System?”
“2013 Prediction- Could we see Scott Forstall join Young’s new team at Samsung?”
OK Rob Weber….these are two of THE most interesting and insightful question/predictions I’ve seen yet. Hmm…forking Android. Well Amazon did it, right?
Would Forstall join Young’s team at Samsung? I can only imagine that Apple tied up his vesting/compensation/parachute to ensure he’s got a bulletproof non-compete so something like that doesn’t happen. But I’m now to the point where virtually nothing surprises me anymore (unless guys like you drop provocative bombshells like these in our comments!).
Yeah Steve. You are probably right on the hands tied for Forstall. I must be dreaming. Samsung is possibly the only real competition to Apple left. I’d love to see Forstall go there. It probably won’t happen though.
Oscar Barnes is the MiniMicrosoft of “The Box”
So I’ve scratched my head over your comment, Randy, about what “MiniMicrosoft of “The Box”” means. Can you enlighten me?
Microsoft has an employee that posts about internal politics, maneuverings, and things anonymously just like Oscar at BBY. He goes by Mini Microsoft.
Thanks for including my Marketing At The Speed of Sound in your show notes…. listened to the show — good stuff… congrats on hitting 200.
Thanks Tom…stop back too!
OK…..now THAT unboxing video was funny! Nicely done Phil.
The battery life indicator is in the top right corner in the watch menu and only visible when battery is low or charging.
As I thought, it was there and I couldn’t find it. Of course, when it’s on the menu screen and not on the watch face itself (which is the screen most would see regularly) and only available while charging or the battery is low, it’s pretty easy to miss. I would contend a battery indicator is more important when something is not charging, no?
Thanks, mysterious unknown Pebble Fan with generic email address.
Very cool, Steve!
Is smartthings compatible with ThinkEco Modlet? I like the modlet because you can turn on/off from your smart phone and it also shows the usage of electricity.
Is there anything else that does the same function?
Kirsten — Don’t think it’s compatible with SmartThings since the Modlet works with a USB dongle. SmartThings work with various protocols like Zigbee and ZWave so you’ll have to ask the ThinkEco folks or go to the SmartThings.com community forum.
“Is there anything else that does the same function?”
Turning on and off…lots of devices. Seeing electricity usage, I haven’t seen one yet.
Graeme-
I’m just catching up on my podcast listening…
Thanks for all your support at GDC. I especially enjoyed the conversation we had with Trip Hawkins which you referenced on the podcast.
Oh, and I do agree with that GDC press room worker that made the snarky comment about your use of typepad. You do need to upgrade to WordPress or something else;)
Keepin’ it real from beautiful SF to thundersnow today in Minneapolis.
Best,
Rob Weber
Minnov8 Fanboy
Good video. I am a Bruce Sterling fan and hadn’t seen it. No question investment in startups means you give up lots of equity. I just don’t think it is some sort of conspiracy though.
Sorry Steve, we did have Tonettes here in MN – Where I grew up you had to take tonette lessons/classes before you could pick an instrument and get into the highschool band.
By the way, I flunked tonettes – It has always been a family joke (especially with my mother) that I flunked but then was in two very successful rock bands.
Well….*we* had fluteaphones in Bloomington schools (http://goo.gl/xqabn) and I’ve heard that this is why we had such a superior education and never flunked anyone out of the class. Later I heard it was because the administration feared someone who flunked out would go on to be in a successful rock band.
Probably why there were never any good rock bands from Bloomington – Nor any good music venues
Do you still have your Fluteaphone? I think I still have my Tonette – Probably still can’t play it.
“Do you still have your Fluteaphone?” Of course. You mean you haven’t seen me in “The Fluteaphone Jazz All-Stars” at the Dakota?
Seriously though, the things were such cheap plastic they usually didn’t make it home when school was done.
You’re an asset to our community Paul, I will always appreciate your candor and passion. Thank you for mentioning TECHdotMN, although we are a bit surprised. Certainly there are others “doers” that deserve to be on that truncated list before us!
We’re pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback we’ve received at only 23 days young. As we evolve, we’ll be rolling out new features that aim to consistently add more value to the Minnesota startup scene. We certainly have a long way to go in achieving our objectives but are all about promoting those who are “walking the walk.” For example, our “Local Startup Spotlight” podcasts feature homegrown entrepreneurs and technologists that are out there in the trenches, pushing the envelope – the ones down there on the ground level living it day in and day out. We feel that they deserve all the support they can get and strive to positively impact their initiatives – however microscopic.
We recently started a new series focused on creating more dialogue amongst the Private Equity side of the equation. Tongue in cheek, it’s called “Unmask the VC” (props to Zach Robins for that one). Regardless of one’s opinions on the role of investment capital in our startup environment, we believe that more awareness from both sides of the equasion (entrepreneurs and investors) will advance our collective understanding of the situation.
News, data, and actionable intelligence will be exchanged through our site on a hyperactive basis. This frequency isn’t for everyone which is why you can get TECHdotMN as it happens via Twitter and RSS, just our Podcasts, just our calendar of MN TECH events, or everything together in one monthly digest.
We’re convinced that Information Technology will play an integral role in Minnesota’s economic viability over the next decade and we’re looking to connect with other individuals/ groups that share our passion and desire to see the Minnesota tech market achieve its potential. Those who share our values, understand intentionality, can roll up their sleeves and get dirty are welcome to join the party. Hell, we’ll even promote those in our space that don’t see value in our efforts or believe in the concepts of mutuality, reciprocity and collaboration!
In honor of those who have come before us and those who have laid the foundation, we will bang the Minnesota Startup drum louder than ever before. I do have one question for tomorrow’s show: who’s dead serious about putting Minnesota on the startup map?