David Feldt Proud father. Entrepreneur. Builder. Catalyst. Accelerator. Guide.

The Experience Economy

I was scanning through my email archive on Gmail and found this email I'd written almost four years ago.  Remember when "experience" was still a glimmer on the horizon? Enjoy ...

"Experience is integrally interconnected into our psyche. Throughout our lives, our experiences shape our attitudes, our character, our relationships and our success.

It's art and science at its best."

Twitter is growing up

Image via the Guardian UK.

It seems we've all been following the "fail whale" drama at Twitter as they've struggled to manage their growth. Tales of Twitter's imminent demise are spread across the blogosphere. As you can see from the chart above, their growth has started slowing in recent months and active Twitterers (me included) started looking at alternatives like Friendfeed. Then, last week, in what seemed like the final straw, they "lost" a whole bunch of followers - we saw the "ego effect" kick in and some people got really mad. In the past few days, the lost followers (sans spammers) have magically reappeared as promised by Ev Williams, Twitter's founder.

So, what's next for Twitter? I'm very bullish on Twitter ... They've recently acquired Summize, a 3rd party Twitter search tool and have rebranded and integrated their service offering into the Twitter experience. This brings several very valuable assets into the fold:

1. Search - Twitter provides a quick shorthand pulse of what's hot across the globe. I find it fascinating that a 3rd party company was able to build a better search tool than Twitter could themselves, using Twitter's own API. I think we'll see more of these types of symbiotic acquisitions in our new open-source innovation world
2. Key talent - the engineers from Summize are all moving to San Francisco to work at Twitter. I'm sure they'll be offered the opportunity to create new tools / services / products as Twitter starts exploring monetization options beyond the basic "slap a banner ad on the page" strategy that we've seen fail at Facebook and other social networks

Will Twitter be valued at $15 billion? Perhaps not but if I was a VC, I'd be lining up for their next round of funding.

Mirror Image

For their latest mission, New York City-based Improv Everywhere (the Frozen Grand Central guys) filled a subway car with identical twins, creating a human mirror. There's video and more detail in the mission report.

Lessons in Life

For over 7 years, Regina Brett was a columnist at The Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio. During that time, she was diagnosed and successfully treated for breast cancer. Regina is now a columnist in Cleveland, Ohio.

Lessons in Life by Regina Brett:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye, but don't worry; Go d never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone, everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.