Beginning. Shawn Blanc is turning his site into a full-time gig. A $3 monthly membership fee is part of how he’ll make the financial side of things work.
Month: February 2011
On the oversaturation of news sources. In other words, you aren’t going to create the innovative journalism company of the next 10 years by finding additional sources. You’ll do it through reinventing the consumption experience, finding new ways to engage readers users, and curating the really valuable content.
The downside to outsourcing subscriptions
Ben Brooks has written two great posts about Apple’s plan to take 30% of subscription revenues sold through its App Store. In the first one he notes:
Apple is giving you an out from customer service. If someone needs to unsubscribe or has issues with their subscription — it is no longer your problem, Apple needs to fix that.
While that can certainly be seen as a benefit for small iOS development shops or small publications it’s a dangerous risk for a business to take.
When users struggle with your payment gateway or feel that you’re unwilling to provide a refund or cancellation when things go wrong you are dead in the water. No money, no business.
iOS developers already give Apple control over a lot of the financial side of their business. Now Apple will control the downloading, billing, recurring subscription charges, and unsubscription process/support.
App developers will be passing more control over the revenue side of their businesses to Apple, who is probably not focused on crafting the same happy experiences for your paying users.
Hiring for a Boostrapped Company. When you’re running a bootstrapped company you should hire for the moment and look in your network for great people.
Field pillows
Flying over snow-covered fields can make them look like patchwork pillows.
Internet kill switch bill gets a makeover
Internet kill switch bill gets a makeover. Just one more shining example of how our representatives don’t know jack about how the web works or why it’s important. (via @matro)
Vienna
I’m heading out to Vienna for a week to spend time thinking up new ideas and projects with the rest of the Happiness team at Automattic. Should be a blast!
Why did Twitter suspend UberTwitter? Bill Gross, CEO of UberMedia, gives the background of why Twitter suspended UberTwitter, UberCurrent, and Twidroyd. Ruh oh, time to watch out for the gulag.
Status
Radiohead drops one day early. My eardrums are rejoicing.
Angola’s wealth: Mine, all mine. Burgeoned by its vast natural resources Angola now has a budget higher than some European nations. The downside is that very little is finding its way to most of the population. Luanda, the capital, was the world’s most expensive city last year.