Victor

  • Dr. Michael J. Norden, a University of Washington professor of psychiatry, found a correlation between playing ultimate frisbee and success in university. He explains: Students not known for athletic prowess “can show up at college having never played” and be good at it by year’s end. The game calls for “spatial aptitude” (“to ‘read’ the…

  • The ING Logo

  • The VC bloggers have been discussing alternate funding models for a while, but this story from the New York Times on Sevin Rosen Funds giving back $250 million to $300 million to investors is more than just punditry, it’s walking the talk… “If we really believe that there are fundamental structural problems in the venture…

  • BarCampNYC2

    BarCampNYC2 happened last weekend and was a great time. Holding it in the Microsoft offices was a little spooky, but at least that turned up some booty. More than anything I was surprised at how little code talk there was compared to start up and design talk. Sessions like Entrepreneurial Improv Theater were a great…

  • My friend Harry received this useful piece of advice from his writing coach. She suggested you follow this schedule during a day of writing: Spend 10 minutes planning your work Write and write until you are out of ideas and energy Reward yourself with fun work like research

  • Some folks are asking this question. I’ve spent the past two years making the transition from designer to business consultant, jumping a lot of hurdles along the way. Here’s a little of what I learned: Highlight opportunities instead of bitching. As designers, we walk around in the world and feel overly sensitive to everything that…

  • I had the pleasure of getting to know Chris Conley at Overlap and was impressed with the breadth of his teaching, from agile innovation to applying real options to innovation investments. In his role as professor he’ll be pimping the Institute of Design here on Oct 30, discussing design education and its relevance to innovation…

  • …or at least his writing. In his latest post he offers an alternative to Porter’s three generic strategies and looks at the Siemens/BenQ situation through this lens… I have anticipated that all companies over time will unbundle into three much more focused business types – infrastructure management businesses, product innovation and commercialization businesses and customer…

  • “He used to liken [design thinking] to climbing into a volcano: It’s messy and it’s risky and it’s dangerous.” That metaphor might work for me if I’d been inside a volcano.

  • Torch is Wicked is the blog of The Torch Partnership, a new consulting firm based in Toronto that uses design methods to grapple with business problems.

  • Word is they’re capping the madness at 200 attendees, sign up now.

  • Idealized design is a way of thinking about change that is deceptively simple to state: In solving problems of virtually any kind, the way to get the best outcome is to imagine what the ideal solution would be and then work backward to where you are today. This ensures that you do not erect imaginary…

  • Until I get around to recording my own observations, here’s Michael Roger’s review of the recent World Future Society conference in Toronto.

  • I really like the idea behind the IDEA Conference: recognize that big D design is inherently a cross-disciplinary affair, so invite the smartest (not necessarily the most famous) speakers to illuminate the connections among us through their practical experience. Peter Merholz is instigating, so it’s sure to be bound up with tons of enthusiasm and…