Jorbb's Blog!

Off Topic - Just US$3 Million for US$50 Million worth of...

2008-08-20T08:14:00.001+08:00

We had to post this, hopefully more people will forward this around and some rich Samaritan with a few million to spare will help buy over the collection.

At over 3 million records, it's the largest in the world. He's trying to sell it due to his advancing age and health problems. Unfortunately, as he puts it, "no one gives a damn." Paul Mawhinney's record collection is appraised at US$50 Million but he only wants $3 Million for it.

Paul's been building his collection for most of his life. He used to run a record store, and while running it he never sold the last copy of any album or single, instead keeping it for his archives. Over the years, those really added up.

Now, at an advancing age, stricken with diabetes and legally blind, Paul wants to sell the collection. It's been appraised at about $50 million, but Paul is asking a mere $3 million. He's had no serious offers, and an eBay auction back in February fell through.

In a time when you can access pretty much whatever music you want online, hard copies of albums are declining in value, both monetary and sentimentally. But to see such a mind blowing collection as this sitting in a basement, unwanted, is really heartbreaking. This is historic, no matter that we live in the iPod era or not, and it belongs in a museum. If only one cared enough to buy it. [World's Greatest Music Collection via Nah Right]

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.
Article and Image Source.
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Off Topic - Singtel iPhone pricing leaked

2008-08-19T14:52:00.000+08:00

Three new data plans (prices including 7% GST)

iFlexi Value (SGD$56)
- 300 MB Data
- 200 Mins Outgoing Voice
- 500 SMS
iFlexi Plus (SGD$95)
- 500 MB Data
- 500 Mins Outgoing Voice
- 500 SMS
iFlexi Premium (SGD$205)
- 1500 MB Data
- 1500 Mins Outgoing Voice
- 1500 SMS

Note

Additional data usage charged at 1cent for each 2KB extra. These plans also come with 3 value added services free (Voicemail, roaming and Caller ID)

Handset Price

iFlexi Value
- 8GB: SGD$348
- 16GB: SGD$508
iFlexi Plus
- 8GB: SGD$49
- 8GB: SGD$208
iFlexi Premium
- 8GB: Free
- 16GB: Free

Existing Singtel Plan With Broadband Mobile

You may use your existing voice only plan and add the mobile on broadband plans, then the handset price will be more expensive and you will have to sign either a 24 month or 30 month contract.

Handset Price

8GB: SGD$568
16GB: SGD$728

Note

You cannot get the handset without any contract from Singtel.

(Unofficial - Jorbb.com accepts no responsibility for this information)
Article source theyoungbusinessman.blogspot.com and Image Source Unwired.
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Finding the perfect job match

2008-08-19T06:52:00.000+08:00

The simple matter of an ad in a local paper, a few applicants and a handful of interviews began to get more complex 20 years ago.

Personal mobility, employees’ desires to change not just companies but countries, and employers’ tighter job specifications all led to a need for better job markets and faster information. There was another factor at work, too. Company culture became recognised as a reality. It had always existed, of course. Great patriarchal families such as Cadbury or Mars and early enlightened employers such as Marks and Spencer had attracted the cream of the available talent for generations. In Japan, the company was often an employee’s whole life, taking precedence over family and personal ambition.

Then, quite quickly, the picture changed. One cause was the recognition of the value and scarcity of real talent. The wage gap between the “average” employee and the top widened. Systematic training started, partly because of technology spreading its tentacles from factory into office and partly because employment costs demanded that every ounce of productivity had to be achieved to make a job viable.

This soon led to a recognition that the cost of an employee was not the wages and perks but the accumulated investment the company had made in his or her job and, subsequently, the maintenance of that asset in a changing technological world.

It was these influences that led to the rise of job portals and companies such as Monster and to the growing awareness that hyperbole in a CV plays a very little part in securing a job. My experience is it often turns off an employer because he has read it all before and is not prepared to do so again. Time spent reading copy-written CVs is resented, as is the carbon footprint involved in travel to interview overseas talent or the cost of bringing candidates long distances only to find out they in no way fit the bill.

So poor is the quality of many CVs that a simpler style is long overdue. At least one new service is shortly going to provide an online format for this. Meanwhile, if you are concerned about your CV and you care to send it to me, I will let you have a comment on it together with a content checklist to ensure what you are presenting is useful. I do not charge for this and all information sent to me will be held in strict confidence.

Technology now allows employee/job matching to move into a new era where “essential fact CVs” coupled with a short video provide a desktop way of searching through the credentials of many potential employees and producing a short list in a fraction of the time it used to take and at a tenth of the cost. All this can initially be done without revealing the employee’s identity until she or he is ready to do so.

New services such as SeeMeCV display enough information for an employer to make the decision to interview with twice the chance the employee might be hired than any other system provides. Candidates will still need skills in the preparation of their one-page CV and in filming their video clip. They will require excellent interview performance and all the emotional intelligence that face-to-face meetings always demand. But at least they will be reviewed faster, called to fewer wasted interviews and confronted by fewer frustrated employers wondering how to fill the half hour they know will not lead to a job offer.

The age of the useable CV has arrived. Is yours up to date and up to scratch?I suggest you review it now.

John Bittleston mentors people in business, career and their personal lives at www.TerrificMentors.com.TODAY/ra

Article and Image Source Today.
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Annotate Youtube Videos with TubePopper

2008-08-18T08:39:00.001+08:00

Have you ever used Youtube videos for a presentation and wish there was a way to annotate the videos. Youtube has an annotate feature but only for owners of the videos, which means you cannot annotate someone else's video.

Summarised from Mashable - TubePopper is also limited to the videos available on YouTubejust enter the URL for the YouTube video you’d like to annotate, or perform a YouTube video search directly on TubePopper’s site.

Beyond this, TubePopper has the expected networking features: embedding options, commenting, related clips, and one-click sharing across various social networks and bookmarking sites, which is a feature powered by Gigya.

Here's a sample, does remind me of Mei Mei Watches MTV on Chinese MTV Channel.

Article and Image Source Tubepopper.
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Off Topic - Latest Craze is a Bouncing Ball (on Water!)

2008-08-16T15:10:00.000+08:00

Since it's the weekend, here's something you saw first on Jorbb.com/blog :)

The Waboba ball, which is about the size of a golf ball, has taken off around the world after videos were posted on YouTube.

Made of a combination of plastics with a Lycra coating, it is described as having the consistency of a breast implant.

The ball is about the same density as water and floats when at rest, but bounces high and true when thrown. It continues to bounce until it is caught or runs out of steam.

The ball took Swedish inventor Jan von Heland several years to perfect, but it is now being sold around the world after first taking off on the beaches of Australia.

“I first got the idea when I was throwing a Frisbee upside down on the water trying to get it to bounce,” he said.

“I thought it would be good to get something that used the water to bounce off and began to experiment.”

You can buy the ball for around US$7-10 at these stores.

Article and Image Source Waboba.
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Opportunities amidst economic uncertainty / Fair Employment Practices

2008-08-16T14:45:00.000+08:00

Mr Hawazi Daipi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Manpower & Health) delivered this speech at JobsCentral Career & Learning Fair 2008 today.

The speech covered 2 main topics: Opportunities amidst economic uncertainty and Fair Employment Practices.

The economic outlook continues to be uncertain, with concerns over the impact of the US credit crisis, rising inflation, and weaker demand from our external markets. Some employers have become more selective and cautious in hiring. As a result, some jobseekers might find it more challenging to land their dream jobs. However, while the labour market outlook is not as rosy as before, our fundamentals remain strong.

We will continue to create many good jobs in sectors such as finance, aerospace, logistics, interactive digital media and tourism. Many employers are still actively looking to hire and invest in new talents.

Jobseekers who need more information on the opportunities in the wider economy can refer to the Career Compass and Labour Market Highlights. They provide a comprehensive overview of the developments in the current and future job market, including information on upcoming manpower demand and occupational requirements.

Years of education and training have equipped us with skills to fulfil our career aspirations. However, we must bear in mind that the final leap to secure our desired job is possible only because there is fair employment practices. We are fortunate that in Singapore, we do not have a serious problem with workplace discrimination. This is the result of our firm belief in meritocracy, which extends into fair employment practices.

While discrimination might be low, small pockets of our workforce could be facing challenges in employment search because of their age, gender, marital status, etc. Both workers and employers lose when there is workplace discrimination. While the worker is denied a fair opportunity, the employer limits his pool of possible talent and the chance of recruiting the best person for the job. More importantly, treating employees fairly and with respect creates a harmonious environment that better motivates and retains valued employees. This is critical for any business that seeks continuity and growth.

Article and Image Source MOM.
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Workgroup in talks with insurers to plug coverage gaps for workers over 65

2008-08-15T14:23:00.000+08:00

Yesterday we posted an article regarding the launch of Re-employment.sg, the government's initiative to assist employers in hiring older workers.

We are glad that Today's article reported that measures are also being made to help with insurance coverage for older workers.

"WITHOUT steps to correct the situation, mature workers who wish to stay on the job once re-employment laws kick in could find a crucial element missing from their contract — medical insurance coverage.

Right now, the last entry age cap practised by the market to insure mature employees stands at 64.

Yesterday, the Tripartite Implementation Workgroup revealed it will soon release a list of insurers that have agreed to raise it to 65. And it hopes they can be persuaded to set the bar even higher.

“At 64 and 65, we are still okay. But we are talking to the insurance agencies about raising this cap,” said Mr Koh Jun Kiat, executive director of the Singapore National Employers Federation (Snef), at a forum to launch a new re-employment Web portal and guidebook.

He also raised the issue of allowing a mature worker to take a break before he starts his re-employment term.

“If the break is too long, there is a problem with continued medical insurance,” he said, explaining that the current standard for insurers to continue coverage without re-evaluation is up to a month.

He added: “We are also talking with insurance agents about lengthening this gap a little bit.”

At the same time, Mr Koh said, the 2012 legislation will be shaped so as to allow companies the option to let employees begin their re-employment term immediately.

“We will take this up to see whether the law can be crafted in such a way he can be re-employed the day after. So, there is no need to go for a break.”

Applauding these moves as a “natural progression forward”, Mr David Ang, executive director, Singapore Human Resource Institute (Shri), told Today: “Life expectancy has gone up. It would be good for insurers to review past practices which might have been based on parameters that have undergone some transformation.”

But he also proposed that companies consider a portable medical insurance scheme, with coverage at work tied not to companies but individuals.

To this end, he said, the Shri — along with some insurers — will next month launch such products.

Meanwhile, Mr Leong Sze Hian, president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, warned of the costs of raising the last entry age cap beyond 65. “The older they are, the higher would be their insurance claim. So there will be higher premiums set for mature workers. Are employers willing to pay the higher premium?”

He suggested that the Government make it compulsory for every Singaporean to take up a national basic health insurance plan."

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i-directory for SMEs to get better IT support

2008-08-15T13:09:00.000+08:00

As more Singaporeans start to shop online, SMEs have to better equip themselves with IT innovation in order to get a slice of the market. This according to Senior Minister of State for Education and Information, Communications and the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew, who was speaking at the annual Infocomm Commerce Conference on Thursday.

According to a survey by the Infocomm Development Authority, the proportion of users who shop online has more than doubled from 17 per cent in 2003 to 35 per cent last year.

So, to help SMEs, a second infocomm resource centre (SIRC) is being set up to help SMEs learn more about IT and its applications to specific businesses.

Also in the pipeline is an i-directory which will be a one-stop portal housing an extensive list of infocomm products and services offered by SMEs in Singapore.

And with cyberspace, companies must always take into account online safety.

So, in addition to the new initiatives, a Cyber Security Awareness Alliance will help raise awareness and adoption of cyber security measures among businesses and even individuals.

Article and Image Source CNA.
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Apple Apps store (Are developers making money from it?) and Experience Design

2008-08-14T15:35:00.000+08:00

During WWDC when Jobs launched the new iPhone 3G and everyone gasped at the "low" price, I was more interested in the Apps Store. At 5am, when I was listening to the keynote on a Qik stream, I had the "Eureka!" moment.

I used to work at a Research and Innovation Centre which did research work in Experience Design (XD) - an area of study popularised by Shedroff / Pines & Gilmore. In a nutshell, XD speaks about how every brand / product / service can be commoditized and there's a limit to profits you make from any brand / product / service.

There is more money to be made by selling the "experience cloud" around your brand / product / service especially AFTER consumers have purchased your product / service. You do this by introducing moments of engagement or touch points, so that the consumer will continually be reminded of your brand / product / service throughout their daily activities. The more "moments of truth" you can embed between your offerings and the consumer, the more successful your offering will be.

Apple are masters at doing this. Think iPod, iPhone, Macbook, iMac, iTunes Music Store, Apple TV, Apple accessories to complement your Apple products, and now Apps and MobileMe.

When I was at P&G, "Moments of Truth" are firmly etched in their brand philosophy. HP is another company to lookout for (reaching out to bloggers, marketing their PCs as a lifestyle necessity instead of a PC). Locally, I might also add that Singtel is slowly and steadily adopting this strategy.

The new iPhone 3G / iPhone 2.0 software really hit the nail. At a micro-level, how much profit can Apple make from selling an iPhone, after sharing with AT&T and overseas cellular providers?

Now fast forward to the Apps store and MobileMe. Sure, they have made a profit off you buying the device / call plan etc, but in order to generate continuous income, tadah! Apple presented the Apps store / MobileMe.

Either way, Apple earns. Selling the phones (Friggin' 1 million sold in 74 days) and selling the apps (10 million downloads) / pushing the convenience of the cloud.

Before I do the summary of TechCrunch's post, here's something you / your business should keep in mind.

Do not just sell products / services. Because products / services can be replicated, cheaper, faster, better than what you provide. There has to be an "sticky" factor for people to want to keep using your offering and more importantly, willing to pay more to enhance the initial investment they've made in the first place because they want to, not because they need to.

Back to the main reason for this post:

Development house taptaptap has just publish sale figures of their iPhone app. WhereTo retails for US$2.99 in the store and 24,094 copies were sold in the first month - netting the company just over US$50,000 in revenue after Apple took their cut (it currently ranks #69 on the top paid application list). Tipulator retails for US$0.99, and sold 3,168 copies which resulted in just over US$2,200 of revenue (it is currently unranked).

So question - If their products are ranked #69 and Unranked, how much are the top paid apps developers making? The current list can be found here.

Go figure...

Image Source taptaptap.
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Make payments with Mobile Phones - Near Field Communications Public Trial

2008-08-14T14:05:00.000+08:00

NETS together with SingTel and United Overseas Bank announced the launch of a six-month trial which will enable Singaporeans to make payments using their mobile phones. The trial using Near Field Communications (NFC) commences immediately.

This public trial, involving 250 specially invited SingTel-UOB credit cardholders, aims to provide customers with smart, savvy and innovative solutions, allowing NETS and SingTel to be at the forefront of the mobile payment technology revolution. The aim of the trial is to allow NETS and SingTel to assess how consumers will use and adapt to this technology.

This public trial is a follow up of the September 2007 staff trial by SingTel and NETS that introduced the mNETS payment application (mNETS Wallet) and the mNETS Coupon application on NFC-enabled mobile handsets.

Participants of the public trial will also be able to make payments at more than 500 participating merchants island-wide who accept mNETS for payments. Users pay for goods and services easily by flashing their mobile phones at the NETS FlashPay readers at participating shops.

Participation in the NFC public trial is free-of-charge. SingTel and NETS will loan customers an NFC-enabled Nokia 6131 phone that functions as an mNETS Wallet. The SingTel-UOB credit card will be the default mode for topping up the stored value in the trial phone. There are no transaction fees or surcharges for purchases, and for top-ups using the SingTel-UOB credit card.

The key highlight of this trial is the innovative and convenient way for the participants to redeem coupons. Users simply open the coupon on their phones and flash it on a NETS FlashPay reader for the coupon to be automatically redeemed. NETS is the first in Asia to offer such an intuitive way of redeeming a coupon. The patent for this real-time coupon redemption feature by NETS is pending.

Article and Image Source mNets.
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Unboxed and Reviewed - Singtel Mobile Broadband (Updated)

2008-08-14T12:15:00.001+08:00

Thanks to Jems, I decided to sign up mobile broadband, with Singtel.

I spend 60% of my work hours using Wireless@SG and although the national initiative is commendable, the service is not reliable. I'm sure you have experienced network problems although connected into a full bar SSID. I also noted that sometimes POP / SMTP / MSN is blocked.

So far I've tested Orange's service and I couldn't even get it running consistently (Orange staff said it was something about Vista and my HP notebook not compatible with the Huawei modem). As for Green, well, go on... keep up the throttling and you'll see more customers leave.

The plan I got was the 1mbps plan, since you can upgrade (not downgrade) without penalty.

So being the Geek, here's the unboxing and also the speedtest ~~(which was a little disappointing)~~. By the way, installation was a breeze, plug in, install software, click connect and w00t!

So based on the website, I should be getting up to 1mbps downloads and 384mbps uploads right.... let's see how it goes (end of blog post).

The unboxing begins...

The results... ~~Hmmm, not exactly as advertised huh.~~ Around 1/4 of the maximum download speed. As usual, I'm sure the standard "depends on current location and surrounding conditions blah blah blah" disclaimer applies. I will test again and post an update when I'm at a public location - I shall hunt for a cellular tower! (Updated - new test at a public location yielded surprising results)

14 August 12pm - I've just tested at a public location. Nice!

Nonetheless, IMHO, the convenience it offers does surpass the download speeds it is capable of. After all I don't download torrents, mp3s, nor animes.

Seriously.

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Re-employment.sg launched to prepare for re-employment of older workers

2008-08-13T19:45:00.001+08:00

Did you know that there are 4 schemes which help employers offset any costs (re-training, offering flexible work hours and more) of hiring older workers?

The Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) have launched a new website to guide employers and employees on the re-employment of older workers.

The website, www.re-employment.sg, is a one-stop information and resource centre to help employers and employees get started on re-employment before legislation is enforced in 2012.

The site has useful information like how Employers can implement re-employment:

Familiarise yourself with the Tripartite Advisory on the Re-employment of Older Workers
Review existing HR policies
Align policies with the Tripartite Advisory on the Re-employment of Older Workers, with inputs from both workers and unions where appropriate
Find out more about the assistance available to help in the implementation of re-employment in your company

It provides practical information, lists workshops and case studies of companies that have implemented re-employment successfully.

Employees can also find out how to upgrade their skills and prepare themselves for re-employment.

Moreover, the website lists the workforce age profiles of more than 250 companies from sectors such as hospitality, manufacturing and retail trade.

The information is posted voluntarily and tripartite partners encourage employers who have not done so to make similar postings on the website.

Article and Image Source CNA.
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Teens' lives are an open (Face)book

2008-08-13T14:15:00.000+08:00

Teens are getting more wired these days, and it seems that gossip, as a hallmark of teen social life, has also made its way online.

A Straits Times survey of 100 teens here revealed that almost all, or 94 per cent of respondents said they had a profile on at least one social networking site. Some teens have their profiles on as many as seven of these sites.

More than half the respondents said they visited Friendster or Facebook at least once a day. Some said they check their online profiles more than 10 times a day.

These teens spend hours online finding out the latest about their friends, chatting, sharing photos and updating their profiles with details of their lives - where they hang out, what they eat and whom they are dating.

"It's an addictive habit," Secondary 3 student Sofia Akram told The Straits Times. She also told the English daily that users on such social neteworking sites can add people they don't know, and that others can add them likewise. "As long as they look interesting, I want to find out more about them."

The Straits Times reported that studies confirm that this rapid and widespread adoption of profiles on social networking sites is a worldwide trend.

Experts say teens who use such social networking sites usually fall into two groups, according to The Straits Times.

The first group are the "deep" users whose lives exist largely online through chat applications, forums and blogs. They usually create well-designed profiles that prominently showcase their "friends", who can number in the hundreds or thousands.

Their profiles are also heavy on content, with details such as the user's preference for flowers and so on.

On the other hand, "shallow" users have profiles that are light on content. They only spend a few minutes updating their profiles and do so only two or three times a week.

In Singapore, teens usually fall into the first category, The Straits Times reported.

Mr Alan Rambam, a senior vice-president at Fleishman-Hillard, told The Straits Times, "In Singapore, both parents tend to be working. These kids may be the loneliest generation ever. Naturally, they will reach out for friends at every opportunity."

Dr Chung Wai Kung, a professor of sociology at the Singapore Management University also told the English daily that popularity of social networking sites may be because of the accessibility of technology here.

Parents have a right to be worried, as social networking sites can invite unwanted attention, The Straits Times reported. Drawing data from its survey, the newspaper said that 84 per cent of respondents said they received messages from strangers, of which 34 per cent wanted to meet in person.

Article and Image Source AsiaOne.
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Need Resume Templates / Samples?

2008-08-13T09:54:00.001+08:00

Check out these 2 links for resume samples / templates. Some are definitely eye-catching, which does help differentiate in the clutter of resumes the recruiter might receive.

Here and here.

As bonus, here's one that's really... extravagant and another that you can wear.

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Newly Trained Security Guards Tripled in Past Year

2008-08-12T11:22:00.000+08:00

Demand for security guards growing as tourism industry booms - The number of newly trained private security guards in Singapore has tripled over the past year to 7,360, and demand is set to grow over the next few years.

The demand for security officers has gone up so much that companies are taking in untrained staff and sending them for training programmes.

Industry players said due to tourism growth and the development of mega retail and entertainment outlets, some companies have secured large contracts to supply security officers and have to fill up the shortfall in a short time.

It is estimated that the industry will need another 4,000 guards over the next three years.

Article Source CNA
Image Source Daylife.com
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Singapore growth decelerates sharply in Q2

2008-08-11T23:02:00.000+08:00

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Singapore said Monday its economy expanded at its slowest quarterly pace in five years and said it now expects exports to contract from year-earlier levels.

Gross domestic product expanded 2.1% in the second quarter from a year earlier, down from a 6.9% expansion in the first quarter, according to a statement by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The ministry lowered its export outlook, saying it now expects a contraction of 2% to 4% this year, compared with its previous forecast for an expansion of between 2% to 4%.

Singapore last week reduced its economic growth forecast for the year, saying it expects growth in the range of 4% to 5%, down from its earlier target of 4% to 6% growth.

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Trade Ministry warns Singapore in for rough ride ahead

2008-08-11T10:19:00.002+08:00

Singapore's full year economic growth is likely to come in at the lower end of the revised four to five per cent range, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).

The Ministry warned on Monday that Singapore is in for a rough ride ahead, although it will stay above water.

The second half of the year is also likely to look like the first half, which saw weaknesses in pharmaceuticals and electronics weighing down on growth.

Electronics will remain soft due to weak semiconductor demand, while biomedical manufacturing will see strong competition from generic drugs and approval delays.

Strengths remain the construction and services sector.

The Ministry also noted that labour productivity has continued to dip, especially in sectors like hotels and restaurants.

MTI said it expects to see job losses in sectors like manufacturing by year end due to a dip in labour productivity, reminiscent of cycles before.

However, the Ministry said that it is unsure of the magnitude of the job losses.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.1 per cent on year in the second quarter, down from 6.9 per cent in the first.

Growth for the first half was 4.5 per cent.

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Are you a startup? How to pitch / demo your service... Excellent tips by @jasoncalacanis

2008-08-09T15:35:00.000+08:00

Techcrunch posted a posting from Jason's mailing list (CEO Mahalo.com) who has sat through 200 company demos in 10 days. Great advice / tips on how to deliver a killer pitch / demo. Thanks Jason.

"For the past 10 days I’ve sat through 200 company demos for the TechCrunch50 conference. These demos are mostly done over the phone for 10 minutes using the phone and web conferencing software like WebEx or Adobe’s wonderful new “Connect” service.

After doing 2,500 minutes of demos (40 hours) this year and many more last year for the conference, I’ve learned a lot about what makes for a great demo and what makes for a horrible demo. Since demoing your idea is a key to your success as an entrepreneur, I thought I would share everything I know in a few simple bullet points.

These tips are applicable to presenting in front of an investor, a partner as well as a demo style conference. Of course, every situation is different so consider these loose guidelines.

Background: The TechCrunch50 conference is taking places on September 8-10th in San Francisco and you can find more information here: www.techcrunch50.com. Mike Arrington of TechCrunch.com and I started the event last year as a place where fifty startup companies could launch their products without having to pay a fee (i.e. the incumbent conference called DEMO charges $18,500 to launch a startup company–that’s really low/abusive in my book). Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Sequoia Capital and a bunch of other fine partners have joined us in hosting the event.

1. Show your product within the first 60 seconds
——————————————-
Most folks start their presentations with information like the size of the market they are tackling (tens of billions, we only need 1%!), their inflated corporate bios, the philosophical approach they’re taking, and boring Powerpoint graphics explaining some convoluted workflow of their product.

The longer it takes for you to show your product, the worse your product is. Folks who have a kick-ass product don’t spend five or ten minutes “setting the stage” or “giving the background.” Folks with killer products CAN’T WAIT to show you their product. Their demos start with their homepage and quickly jump into the users experience. If a picture tells a thousand stories, then a product demo tells a million.

Show your product immediately, and if you don’t have a product to show don’t take the meeting.

2. The best products take less than five minutes to demo
——————————————-
The greatest tech products over the past 10 years would take no more than five minutes each to demo. For example:

a) Larry and Sergey could demo Google search in less than five minutes. Here’s a box, type something in and you get a huge reward.

b) Steve Jobs could demo the iPod in less than five minutes. Plug it in, put in your CDs and it syncs your music. Turn it on and use the wheel to select what songs you want to listen to.

c) Chris DeWolfe could demo MySpace in less than five minutes. Sign up, fill out your profile, and add your friends. For bonus points add some widgets to your page.

I think you get the idea: the better the product the LESS time it takes to demo. If your product demo takes more than five minutes to demo, it probably sucks. All the tiny little features that matter to you are of course important–God is in the details–however, when presenting your company, you don’t have to show them. Larry and Sergey wouldn’t open up the advanced search tab and the list of operators you can use in Google during a demo.

Steve Jobs does take the demo details to a fairly detailed level, but you and I are not Steve Jobs. There is only one Steve Jobs and there is only one Apple. You’re never going to build something as cool as Steve, and as such there is no need for you to talk about your product for five or ten minutes.

3. Leave people wanting more.
——————————————-
If you take my advice in point two, then folks should be either blown away or intrigued by your core product. If they are not somewhere in that spectrum, you need to rebuild your core product.

When I pitched Mahalo to investors, I had five sheets of paper with different search results on each. I put them on a table and said which one is the best. Obviously I knew my result was the best, and that simple demonstration lead to MASSIVE discussion: how was the page built? how long did it take to build? what would it cost to make that page? how often do you need to update it? how can you scale that business? how many pages can you create before it breaks even?

It’s best for folks to discover the merits of your product for themselves, and it’s up to you to make such a compelling core product that they are intrigued enough to explore it.

4. Talk about what you’ve done, not what you’re going to do.
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Weak startups and their leaders seem to immediately start talk about “what’s next,” as opposed to focusing on the core product. Anyone can say we’re going to add: a mobile version, collaborative filtering, an advertising network, visualizations, a marketplace, a browser plugin, a browser and a social network to their product. In fact, given the amount of open source and off the shelf software out there, combined with the large number of developers in the world, anyone can bolt these things on to their service in a week or three.

Who cares what you’re going to bolt on to your startup? What really matters is the core functionality of your startup.

Steve Jobs has become at once the world’s greatest salesman and product developer because he only announces Apple’s achievements. He doesn’t waste time on what Apple’s going to do: he talks about the here and now. Microsoft’s old strategy was to talk about products that were coming and that put them in the horrible position of having to backpedal when they changed their mind about a product.

5. Understand your competitive landscape–current and historical.
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This year I’ve had three companies show me group SMS messaging products, and most of them did not know what UPOC.com was (Gordon Gould’s group SMS messaging service that was five years ahead of its time). I’ve had three or four companies over the past two years of TechCrunch50 conferences pitch me on Third Voice–the controversial “web annotation” service from Web 1.0. [Side note: I loved the concept of Third Voice so much I considered starting a company like it and even bought the domain name annotated.com.]

When I pitched the idea for Weblogs, Inc. to Mark Cuban, Yossi Vardi and Jeff Bezos, I understood all the niche email marketing and newsletter companies from the early and mid-nineties cold. I researched why they worked and why they failed, and I knew which ones were sold and bought and by whom. When I pitched Mahalo to Sequoia Capital, I knew the history of human-powered search and directories from DMOZ to Yahoo Directory to LookSmart.

If you don’t know the competitive landscape, and the shoulder’s you’re standing on, folks are not going to be comfortable giving you their money, time or attention.

6. Short answers are best.
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When taking questions about your product answer questions shortly. This is a very challenging thing for many people–including myself–to do. If you’re like me, you’ve probably thought out your startup’s issues a thousand different ways. When I sit at the poker table I play a game where I think out every possible scenario for not only my hands, but the hands of my opponents (this is fairly standard among advanced poker players from what I understand).

Say I have Ace King and I raised out of position and the button called my raise pre-flop. Then they re-raised me on the flop, which had an Ace. What does that tell me? They could have an ace, they could have two aces and have slow played me, they could have a medium pocket pair and they want to see if I have an ace, maybe they are on a flush or straight draw or maybe they suck at poker. Who the hell knows?!?! You can go insane trying to figure all these things out–that’s why poker becomes very addictive.

The point is all that inner thinking is chaos when you try to explain it to another person. It’s pure madness after 60 seconds of talking. The best thing to do is answer the question with the most concise answer. For example, when asked “what happens if Google enters your market?” answer quickly and with confidence:

a) Google has entered many markets, but they are only #1 in search and search advertising. They trail in social networking to MySpace and Facebook, in classifieds to Craigslist, in news to Yahoo and AOL, in email to Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo, and in instant messaging to Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo.

b) We’re not sure if Google will enter our market, but hopefully we’ll have developed our product enough that it will be a real sustainable business by that time.

c) We think Google might enter our market at some point, and if they do they and their competitors will certainly consider buying us–creating a bidding war for our entrenched position.

d) Google is a very big company right now with a very big cash machine that they have to focus on and protect–they will never do our business with our level of focus. We will out execute them on all fronts.

These are all amazing answers (I did, after all, come up with them), and you can say them in around a minute. However, if you cram all four of these sentences together you’ve spoken for five minutes.

7. PowerPoint bullet slides are death
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Do not make slide after slide explaining your business in bullet points, because it’s really, really boring. Powerpoint/Keynote slides that are not boring include charts, product shots, feature set tables and the like. Things that explain big concepts with ease and grace are great, but bullet points of obvious facts show that:

a) you don’t have the ability to create a compelling story with data

b) you don’t think that much of the person being presented the information

I’m not a huge fan of “funny slides” or lots of graphics for graphics sake. You’re not pitching your company to get laughs–unless you’re on stage–you’re doing it to raise capital, close a partnership or get on stage at a conference. Keep it focused and to the point.

8. How to use this new device called the phone.
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When presenting over the phone use a handset and a land-line… only!

It’s amazing to me that any person doing a business call would conduct it on their mobile phone. Mobile phones sound horrible 95% of the time, and they frequently cut out. If you are presenting your company take it seriously and get yourself to a landline. You have limited time and don’t want folks to miss a single word.

Speakerphones are horrible, and putting the person receiving the demo on speaker phone during a demo is just disrespectful. You can hear all the rustling, side conversations and horrible echos when you’re on speaker phone. When doing a demo pick up the handset and speak. If you go to a Q&A session then use speaker phone. That’s why it exists.

Only use a headset if it is very, very high-fidelity and you have the microphone right up to your mouth. Also, don’t eat, drink or breath heavy into the microphone or you run the risk of sounding like an animal. I use an amazing Plantronics headset, and I like me some Green Matcha tea, but I hit the mute key when I sip!

I know it sounds crazy to have a discussion about how to use the phone, but the majority of these young people actually think it’s acceptable to have two or three drop offs in a call–it’s not. Grow up and get a land line.

9. How to handle questions you don’t know the answer to
——————————————-
After you do your concise presentation you’re hopefully going to get a lot of questions. Here are some important tips to consider when you don’t know the answer cold:

a) take a moment to think about the question. You can even say “Hmmm… that’s a good question. Let me think about that for a second.” Folks appreciate a little consideration when someone takes a question.

b) if you don’t have an answer be honest and say you don’t. There are many ways to say this including: “I’m not really sure, I’m going to have to think about that for a bit and get back to you,” or “I’m not sure to be honest. What do you think?”

c) feel free to think out loud and brainstorm with the person. You can do this by saying “I’ve never really considered that. Perhaps you can expand the question a little and we can explore it right now.”

d) if you’re not sure of the answer you can always say you’ll cross that bridge when you come to it. “I’m not sure how we would deal with a sudden spike in the cost of bandwidth, we would have to collect more information and answer that question down the road. It is a manageable risk factor I suppose. ”

The worst thing to do when you don’t have an answer is b.s. the person. No one has an answer for everything, except a b.s. artists. So, feel free to say you don’t know–folks find it refreshingly humble and honest.

10. Always confirm the time of your meeting/call, and always be 15 minutes early.
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People are really busy and meetings get mixed up. Every meeting or phone call I do is confirmed twice: once by email, and once on the day before the meeting. Reconfirming meetings makes you look like a true player and it costs you nothing. You do this by sending a simple email saying “Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at your offices at 123 Main Street at 3pm. If anything changes you can reach me on my mobile at 310-555-1212.”

Also, be early. Come on. If you’re doing a meeting with someone who might invest in your company, do a business deal with you, etc., you can show a lot of respect by being in their lobby or on hold on the conference call five to 15 minutes ahead of time. Don’t show up more than 15 minutes ahead of time or you’ll look like a stalker. If you get to your meeting 45 minutes ahead of time go to the Starbucks and buy yourself a treat for being so on top of things.

What are your best tips for giving a proper demo of your company on the phone or in person?

In your mind, what are the worst things folks have done during a presentation?"

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Mothers want more flexible working conditions

2008-08-08T14:57:00.000+08:00

Earning money for the family is the main reason why mothers want to return to the workforce. But they said on average, their paycheck has to be at least S$1,200 a month to make it worth their while.

These are some of the findings from a survey of 1,000 mothers by the support network, Working Mothers Forum, in April.

The pool of respondents was made up of 560 working mothers and 440 stay-at-home mothers who intend to re-enter the workforce.

37 per cent of the respondents said their main reason for stopping work was because they did not want to leave their children in childcare centres or with maids.

71 per cent of the stay-at-home mums said they wanted to work to earn money for the family. But 63 per cent of them said they were unable to find jobs that offer family-friendly working hours.

Whether it is pay or flexible working conditions, most of the mothers surveyed said employers and the government are in the best position to help them attain work-life balance.

Getting the right work-life balance could help boost Singapore's flagging birth rate.

Article and Image Source CNA.

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Worried about keeping your job during hard times?

2008-08-08T11:47:00.000+08:00

"Work your tail off," keep a high profile, and find a mentor, veteran job coaches say.

While it is uncertain times for the job market in the US, are cutting staff as financial pressures mount. And while the U.S. unemployment rate has held steady at 5.5% for the last two months, there are no guarantees that workers—especially those between ages 50 and 60—will be able to avoid further cutbacks.

Older workers have experience and knowledge they can leverage to keep their jobs. But with staffing budgets increasingly under scrutiny, it may pay to be proactive. The first and most important move workers should make: Look for new experiences with their current employer.

Some tips:

"Be Visible"

Employees can raise their profiles when they make the effort to join special committees or even help organize a companywide social engagement.

"Cultivate a Mentor"

Workers who are more engaged with the day-to-day operations at their companies have a distinct advantage over those clock-punchers who focus solely on the tasks in their job descriptions. But staying in a job is also about building relationships. While it's advisable to work well with your peers, it never hurts to develop a close relationship with a mentor, particularly with someone higher up who can help keep you out of harm's way when the axman cometh.

"The main element in your career plan has to change from doing what you have to do to impress your superiors to doing what you have to do to impress yourself," says Haberfeld.

Article Source BusinessWeek, Image Source Dreamstime.
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5 Books on Corporate Social Media

2008-08-08T07:26:00.001+08:00

Mashable has come up with a list of 5 books that can help improve your thinking about the value of social media to the enterprise.

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies

Corporate executives are struggling with a new trend: people using online social technologies (blogs, social networking sites, YouTube, podcasts) to discuss products and companies, write their own news, and find their own deals. This groundswell is global, it s unstoppable, it affects every industry and it s utterly foreign to the powerful companies running things now.

When consumers you ve never met are rating your company s products in public forums with which you have no experience or influence, your company is vulnerable. In Groundswell, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester, Inc. explain how to turn this threat into an opportunity.

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

"How do trends emerge and opinions form? The answer used to be something vague about word of mouth, but now it's a highly measurable science, and nobody understands it better than Clay Shirky. In this delightfully readable book, practically every page has an insight that will change the way you think about the new era of social media. Highly recommended."
-Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and author of The Long Tail

Web Analytics: An Hour a Day

Written by an in-the-trenches practitioner, this step-by-step guide shows you how to implement a successful Web analytics strategy. Web analytics expert Avinash Kaushik, in his thought-provoking style, debunks leading myths and leads you on a path to gaining actionable insights from your analytics efforts. Discover how to move beyond clickstream analysis, why qualitative data should be your focus, and more insights and techniques that will help you develop a customer-centric mindset without sacrificing your company’s bottom line.

The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media

"As word of mouth loses opinion-forming power to word of blog, companies are faced with a revolution in how their brands and corporate image will be shaped in the future. Paul Gillin provides a very insightful and well-written guide on how to effectively benefit from these dramatic changes. A must read!" --Patrick J. McGovern, founder and chairman, International Data Group (IDG)

The Art of Strategic Listening

Listening To Your Customers’ Conversations Can Provide Big Dividends

Do you know what your customers or bloggers are saying about your company and your products? Marketers used to be able to assess the perception of their company or their products by simply monitoring the media and reading any letters of complaint that came by mail, but that was pre-internet and social networking.

Now there are more than 80 million blogs, as well as social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, video aggregators like YouTube and EveryZing and thousands of other social media sites on the web where customers talk with each other and make all kinds of comments, good and bad about your firm, your competitors, and your industry.

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Economic Growth May Remain Weak

2008-08-07T23:27:00.000+08:00

Singapore's Finance Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, cautioned on Thursday that the country's economic growth may remain weak for some time.

The minister was speaking at ST Aerospace's National Day observance ceremony.

Mr Tharman said that these are challenging times, with growth slowing down around the world, and Singapore should be prepared for weakness in its own economy for several quarters.

Economic planners around the world are closely watching the American economy, Mr Tharman continued to say.

"It is still moving down - the cycle," he said. "Some people say it will take as much as another year before the bottom is reached.

"We have to expect continued weakness in the global economy, which might extend into next year and we won't be able to avoid a slowdown if that happens."

"The situation now is different from what it was three months ago. The American economy is in a much more perilous state now and the risks facing the financial system, which is a global system and not just an American system, are still very substantial."

Mr Tharman also said he expects inflation to ease towards the end of the year, not just because of declining oil prices.

"Food prices have also somewhat levelled off. So our expectation is we should be within our latest inflation forecast of six to seven per cent - lower inflation at the end of the year compared to what we saw in the first half of the year.

"Singaporeans can expect to hear more about the state of the economy in the next few days. The Prime Minister is expected, in his televised National Day message, to give an update on growth forecasts for the year."

Meanwhile, Mr Tharman said he is confident that Singapore still remains a strong and fit economy, with investments still coming into the country.

Image / Article Source CNA.
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Are you Self Employed or Informal worker? Do this before 31st Aug and get up to $1600.

2008-08-07T16:55:00.000+08:00

The self-employed and informal workers are due to receive their first payment of Workfare on October 1.

But before that, they have to make Medisave contributions by August 31.

The CPF Board is urging those who have yet to do so to contribute to Medisave.

They can do so with cash or through NETS, or make out a cheque payable to the CPF Board or through an e-payment.

The self employed and informal workers stand to receive up to S$1600 in Workfare for work done for the whole of this year, of which up to S$800 will be paid out during the October 1 payment.

Meanwhile, employees who meet the Workfare Income Supplement criteria will also get their payment on the 1st of October.

Source CNA.
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9 Smart Money Tips To Help You Quit Your Job

2008-08-07T14:57:00.000+08:00

Mint, the highly reviewed finance management site, just posted an interesting article on how you can establish your goals and work toward a day when you have enough money or alternative income to quit. Do visit the link above for full article.

Here's an extract:

Tip 1: Diversify your income sources - In addition to increasing your income, diversification can ensure that if one source of money dries up, you haven’t lost everything. Losing your job won’t mean the end of your income, and you will be in a position to ramp up one of the other sources to replace the lost salary.

Tip 2: Develop passive income streams - Even as you diversify your income sources, you’ll realize that there are only so many hours in the day. The beauty of passive, semi-passive and residual income is that these streams continue to generate money even while you are occupied at your regular job, meaning that you can increase your income exponentially without being limited to how much you can actively accomplish during working hours.

Tip 3: Pay yourself first - Make saving money a priority, and set aside a percentage of your income as savings.

Tip 4: Avoid debt and high interest rates - Huge credit card balances and car loans are two of the biggest pitfalls on the way to wealth.

Tip 5: Live like a millionaire - The Millionaire Next Door, that is. Mimic the frugal habits of self-made millionaires if you wish to join their ranks. They spend less than what they earn, research large purchases, avoid debt and pay cash for their vehicles. The very wealthy tend not to have especially expensive taste.

Tip 6: Invest wisely and regularly - Don’t invest in things you don’t understand, and make sure you diversify your investments to minimize your risk. Set up automatic investment contributions, and participate in any employer-matching plans available to you.

Tip 7: Stay married - Divorce is one of the leading destroyers of wealth in American families. The cost of divorce, legal counsel, child support and alimony add up to severely limit your ability to save money and grow wealth.

Tip 8: Track your finances - A written budget, whether it’s in your notebook or online at Mint.com, keeps you on track and gives you a visual representation of your overall financial picture.

Tip 9: Borrow carefully - Look for the lowest interest rates available, and only take out loans that make sense for your financial situation.

Early retirement or the opportunity to pursue your dream job? The choice is yours. Follow these easy tips and pretty soon the millionaire might not just be next door, he or she might just be living in your house.

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