Like a midwestern version of Gate 3 Work Club, Allie at Pajunas is offering monthly office subscriptions. That’s right, for a couple hundred dollars a month, you can move your start up out of your house and into downtown St. Paul’s fantastic Renaissance Box. I spoke with her at the Pajunas open house tonight. We …
Author Archives: Garrick van Buren
Find Failure Fast
“If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.” – Thomas J. Watson Sr, founder of IBM “…fail faster so [you] can succeed sooner.” – David Kelley of IDEO I’ve got any number of projects in the works at any given time (current count is north of 20). Last year, there was …
First Crack 07. Upcoming Shows in Minneapolis with Bill Boulger
A conversation with Bill Boulger of IndieTickets.com about the Minneapolis music scene, and the bankruptcy of First Avenue. Listen to Upcoming Shows with Bill Boulger [19 min]
Best Buy Focuses on Personas
Best Buy has taken the first step in their persona-centric model. According to the Wall Stree Journal’s Analyzing Customers, Best Buy Decides Not All Are Welcome, the sales associates have received training to briefly interview customers to determine if they are a Barry, Jill, or Ray Buzz. In an effort to keep their store relevant …
First Crack 06. Blogumentary, Democratic Strategies, Non-English Podcasts
This weekend, local documentarian Chuck Olsen kicked off this year’s City Pages Get Real Documentary Film Festival at Oak Street Theatre with Blogumentary. Intro: Tod Maffin & Sean from I Love Radio. Listen to Blogumentary, Democratic Strategies for 2008, and the Joys of non-English Podcasts [21 min]
First Crack 05. Roasting at Home
I walk you through roasting coffee at home with a WestBend Poppery air popcorn popper and bean from Sweet Marias and dig into the promise of RSS as a distribution channel. Intro: Tod Maffin & Sean from I Love Radio. Listen to Roasting at Home [13 min]
First Crack 04. Better Coffee and the State of Reality TV
I give you some tips on making better coffee at home with the Melitta Mill & Brew 10-Cup Coffeemaker, Black, coffee shops strategies in the Twin Cities, and rant on the poor state of reality television. Featured in PodCat’s Best of Podcasting Oct 29 Listen to Better Coffee and the State of Reality TV [22 …
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A Systems Thinking Overview
As an introduction to the perspective Working Pathway’s brings to your project, I present this excellent overview of systems thinking from the late Donella Meadows: Dancing with Systems. Here are some highlights to get you started: “Before you disturb the system in any way, watch how it behaves.” “Aid and encourage the forces and structures …
Cost of Stolen Towels Comes Out of Marketing Budget
A couple years back, Amazon attempted two things: Advertising in print and on television. Charging for shipping. They found little return on the first, and a found a huge backlash against the second. Amazon now finances their Super Saver shipping with their advertising budget: NY Times – Amazon Tries Word of Mouth Holiday Inn just …
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Sales Clerk Shops Competiton With Customer
Until now there were only 5 responses you’ll receive when asking a store clerk about an item: “Yes, we have it. Allow me to get it for you.” “Yes we have it. It’s in aisle 4, I’ll show you.” “Yes we have it. It’s in aisle 4.” “No, we don’t carry it.” “No, we don’t …
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