Companies

  • A benefit of being a speaker at Failcon was getting an invitation to a talk hosted by Anit Guha of Orrick Legal. Here’s some of his wisdom that I noted down: When choosing a name use the uspto site and a 3rd party search service Avoid incorporating in California; use Delaware C Corp. Not only…

  • Rosenfeld Media asked me my opinion of Amazon’s idea to use drones to deliver packages. Here’s a short excerpt from the interview: Say what you will about Jeff Bezos, the man knows how to touch off a media storm. Which is precisely what ensued after Bezos told 60 Minutes that Amazon is testing the use…

  • Toyota gets Surowiecki’d (a straightforward, insightful summary)… …if Toyota doesn’t look like an innovative company it’s only because our definition of innovation—cool new products and technological breakthroughs, by Steve Jobs-like visionaries—is far too narrow. Toyota’s innovations, by contrast, have focussed on process rather than on product, on the factory floor rather than on the showroom.…

  • Though we probably wouldn’t refer to ourselves as a design agency, these are kinds words from the folks in Cambridge… Tap design agencies for a jump-start on culture and process. Many companies turn to outside agencies for help designing self-service channels or products — but the more lasting value of the partnership is often the…

  • As Vonage prepares for their IPO, are they enacting measures to improve their cost structure? Your email is important to us but due to high email volume we are unable to accept your email at this time. For immediate assistance, please visit the Help section of our web site to search our library for related…

  • John Holusha of the New York Times profiles Westin’s decision to move to an all non-smoking format in their hotels. I think this rocks on several levels: It’s progressive, recognizing only 6% of customers request smoking rooms (only half of which actually smoke in the rooms), and this segment isn’t key to their success. Also…

  • James Cobb of the New York Times generates the latest praise for the Chrysler 300 and adds, It also melds Stuttgart engineering with Detroit style, providing a rebuttal to those who were skeptical – we know who we are – of Daimler’s takeover of Chrysler. Beneath its audacious design, the 300 is packed with well-engineered…

  • There is now a species of Razorfish called Victor, or Xyrichtys victori to be precise. I know this because the man who discovered it off the coast of the Galapagos, Benjamin Victor, just wrote to say Hi. He sent a picture too, of the male and female: Cute little bugger, yes? Benjamin compares it to…

  • Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty battles the definition of beauty offered by mass media and seeks to raise women’s self-asteem. I’ve come to regard similar campaigns skeptically, after having been sucked in by a powerful ad only to reveal commerical intentions sprinkled with a touch of social activism. What I think makes Dove’s effort more…

  • If I was just starting out and living anywhere near Edmonton, I’d jump at the chance to work with Jess and Gene. They’re smart guys, and they pretty much rule the Alberta UX market. I love that companies with a clue are now hiring “User Experience Consultants” rather than mere designers or whatever, it really…

  • This time for $160 million, by aQuantive, who owns Avenue A. SBI had picked up Razorfish for $8.2 million less than two years ago, but also added MarchFirst, iXL, Scient, Lante, etc. to the mix. Would be interesting to do the math and see how much SBI actually made on the flip (sorry to put…

  • Chris Fahey and friends launch their firm’s v2.0 site. I’ll admit to disliking the previous version, and for all that lacked the new version more than makes up for it, in what is one of the purtiest-funktional designs for a design shop. They include their own original Venn diagram, and the nav bar is just…

  • Press release. For me it means new service offerings (process design, supply chain management, integrated marketing) and a return to having a presence in Europe. As opposed to the July 2002 acquisition of Scient‘s ‘certain assets and operations,’ SBI acquired all of Razorfish. Of SBI, Gartner says Verticals: Energy, Finance, Consumer Packaged Goods, Retail, Transportation,…

  • Pleasing writing on the MetaDesign site… Information needs design. You cannot not communicate. It looks good and it makes sense. MetaDesign…an international network of visual engineers, bringing a broad perspective to the complex challenges of everyday communications.

  • Scient was acquired by SBI/filed for bankruptcy. I’m not sure how to read that financial transaction, how it should feel to clients, or what it means strategically for the company. I just hope folks don’t lose their jobs. Word around town is that real estate liabilities hurt the bottom line (which means they had too…