Roger James Hamilton's Blog, page 35
April 8, 2014
Why Being an Artist is Better than Being a Good Techie
How will technology change how you do things? Here is Picasso turning his back to his painting and painting with light…
In 1949 Picasso was visited by Gjon Mili, a photographer who turned time lapse photos into art. The moment Picasso saw the photos he was inspired and, without hesitation, he picked up a light and asked Gjon to take photos of him as he ‘painted’ in the air.
The photos were published in Life magazine and became a sensation. From that day Picasso changed from the painting style he is known for to larger public works and sculptures using steel and technology not in existence just decades earlier.
If you’re concerned about the rapid change in technology, and how it may affect your job, your business, or your career – the answer is not in becoming a better techie, but becoming a better artist.
Being an artist is about being in touch with your unique self expression. The moment new technology appears, as Picasso showed, it simply becomes a new way to express yourself.
So honour the artist within you, and make your month a masterpiece.
Story: by Roger James Hamilton
Powered by: www.wealthdynamicscentral.com and www.rogerhamilton.com
April 7, 2014
Why Being an Artist is Better than Being a Good Techie
March 27, 2014
$2 billion in 2 years? At 21? Is he just Luckey?
February 21, 2014
The WhatsApp Buyout for Billions
This week Jan Koum just sold his 4 year old company, WhatsApp, to Facebook for $19 Billion(!) He drove to the North County Social Services office to sign the deal. That’s where he used to stand in line to collect food stamps not so long ago.
Jan has gone from having no money to $19 Billion in four years (That works out at at every day in retrospect being worth over $13 million, day after day for four years).
How did he do that and what can we learn behind the crazy-big numbers?
Back in 2009 the idea was hatched in the kitchen of Jan’s friend, Alex Fishman. Alex recalls “Jan was showing me his address book, His thinking was it would be really cool to have statuses next to individual names of the people.”
Within a month, Jan had WhatsApp up and running on the Apple Store. But it kept crashing and few people were using it. Faced with his failure, while out playing frisbee with his friend, Brian Acton, he said he was going to have to go look for a job. Acton said “You’d be an idiot to quit now, Give it a few more months.”
Jan tried again, adding instant messaging and deciding the app would be the opposite of Yahoo, where he had worked for a while: Simple and non-commercial. He wrote the rules: “No ads, no games, no gimmicks”
As a simple alternative to expensive text messaging, WhatsApp began to grow. First to 10,000 users, then 1,000,000, and now, today, to a staggering 450,000,000 users (That’s compared to Facebook who only had 145 million users after four years).
It’s free for a year, then 99c a year. By focusing on the users and their experience, the number of users has grown exponentially.
IT’S ALL ABOUT LIFETIME VALUE
Jan’s whole focus has been on his customers – and the lifetime value of each customer. What’s the lifetime value of your customer?
Here’s the math on WhatsApp…
With WhatsApp’s growth (with one million NEW customers each day), Jan sees the potential for between 1 billion and 2 billion customers within the next two years. If they stick around for even just 5 years at $1 per year, that’s up to $20 billion in sales.
The $19 billion price Facebook is paying for WhatsApp puts each WhatsApp user at $42 in lifetime value.
Facebook, on the other hand, has 1.3 billion users and is worth $176 billion, which means each user is worth $135 (That’s 3x the value). So Mark Zuckerberg sees the $19 billion he is spending as a bargain.
How much is the lifetime value of your customer? What will keep them coming back again and again? And who can you partner with or even eventually sell to where each of your customers is worth even more to them than to you?
“NO ADS, NO GAMES, NO GIMMICKS”
Jan’s focus on what to deliver to his customers has as much to do with what he said “no” to (“No ads, no games, no gimmicks”) as what he said yes to. What is it that you can say “no” to today, that will keep more of your customer saying “yes”?
One more thing – In a world where everyone’s focused on brand-building, Jan has been so focused at his customers over the last four years, he hasn’t even put a sign outside the WhatsApp office, which is behind a signless door down a back street in San Jose.
After all his success, Jan was asked if he would fork out for a WhatsApp sign for the office…
“I can’t see a reason for there being a sign. It’s an ego boost.” he answered, “We all know where we work.”
Story: by Roger James Hamilton
Powered by: www.wealthdynamicscentral.com and www.rogerhamilton.com
February 20, 2014
The WhatsApp Buyout for Billions
February 13, 2014
A Genius Insight: The Four Stages of Flow
When was the last time you experienced true flow? When you connected to the genius within you? What if you had the process to tap in to your flow whenever you want? Getting into your flow state does not need to be by accident!
I’m on a trip to the United States right now, and have had a chance to connect with a super-expert in Flow: Steven Kotler.
Steven co-wrote the NY Times Bestseller, “Abundance”, with Peter Diamandis. His latest book, “The Rise of Superman” comes out this March. It is all about how elite athletes and extreme sportspeople get into flow, and what we can learn from them. Steven has teamed up with many of the leading action and adventure athletes along with top scientists to decipher what these athletes are doing to harness flow.
What does this mean to you? How can flow improve your results? Steven calls flow “The source code to our intrinsic motivation”. He cites many studies, from McKinsey to the US Army, that have found that people who harness their flow state can increase their productivity and results by 200% to 500%+
I’ve recorded a conversation I had with Steven about the science behind “The Rise of Superman” and the mission of his “Flow Genome Project” – to understand and unlock ultimate human performance in each of us.
You can listen to the entire conversation we had here:
One of the things Steven explained is the four stages that we go through to achieve our flow state. There’s much more in the recording, but here’s a summary that you can apply immediately:
The Four Stages of Flow
Stage One – STRUGGLE
The first stage of the four stage flow cycle feels almost like the opposite of flow. This is when you’re working hard, pushing to train, research, brainstorm – when you’re overloading the brain with information “until your heads about to explode, but not completely explode”. Most people never push this first stage far enough, which is why they constantly miss the doorway to the flow experience.
Stage Two – RELAXATION
This is when you take your mind off the problem entirely, taking a break, going for a walk or doing something physical. This isn’t the same as watching television or some other distraction that keeps your brain busy. It’s about relaxing the brain so the conscious mind lets the subconscious mind take over. Many people miss this break and as a result are constantly in overload and burnout, missing flow altogether.
Stage Three – FLOW
This third stage is the superman experience – where inspiration takes over, and where your preparation and relaxation expresses itself almost magically. You come up with the best ideas, you achieve results almost effortlessly, and you often surprise yourself by your own performance. It’s almost an out-of-body experience whether it’s mastery of a physical, emotional or mental activity.
Stage Four – CONSOLIDATION
The final stage is where learning and memory is amplified dramatically, consolidating the experience of flow into your unconscious. There’s also a downside, where you come off the high of the feel-good neurochemicals released during the flow state. You go on a down which often leads to self sabotage or an emotional reaction to try and regain the flow state. The key here is not to let this stress block the learning or reverse the results of being in flow, but to move smoothly back to the next phase of struggle and repeat the cycle.
Most of us aren’t aware of this four stage cycle, and so we end up either not getting into flow, or we mess things up when we get there. Knowing the cycle exists gives you a map to know where you are, and what to do at each stage.
What challenge or task do you have where it would really help to step in to your flow to conquer it? Use these four steps to get going today.
You can listen to my full conversation with Steven at http://youtu.be/JFcDrXqewn4
I also recommend you buy his book, which is available now for pre-order at 20% off the list price. Simply go to his site here:http://riseofsuperman.com/
And finally, I love his pre-launch video trailer for the book, which has already been watched over 250,000 times. You’ll find it here: http://youtu.be/Utd1oeZuOb8
Story: by Roger James Hamilton
Powered by: www.wealthdynamicscentral.com and www.rogerhamilton.com
