i've reworded the main web site after (thank you phil!) seeing simon sinek's ted talk, to answer the question "why" as the top priority. it's the same "why" that captivated everyone's attention (900,000 supporters and a reach of 380 *million* people) on phonebloks.com.
q: why does this project exist at all? a: to reduce the e-waste and environmental impact of mass-volume consumer electronics.
[in fact the clue is in the word "consumer" that there is something desperately wrong with the current approach].
your help in getting the message across much appreciated. crowd-funding campaigns work by having people put out the word, but it would appear, from simon sinek's talk, that you have to get the word across about WHY you are doing something as the first absolute top priority, then HOW and only then finally WHAT.
any company or campaign that starts purely with WHAT, is extremely unlikely to succeed. the motivation is unknown, so how can any salesman sell something if they don't know *why* they're selling it?
so please, help get the word out when the campaign starts: the project exists to reduce the environmental impact of computers. it's as simple as that.
l.
On 11/02/14 20:01, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton wrote:
i've reworded the main web site after (thank you phil!) seeing simon sinek's ted talk, to answer the question "why" as the top priority. it's the same "why" that captivated everyone's attention (900,000 supporters and a reach of 380 *million* people) on phonebloks.com.
q: why does this project exist at all? a: to reduce the e-waste and environmental impact of mass-volume consumer electronics.
[in fact the clue is in the word "consumer" that there is something desperately wrong with the current approach].
your help in getting the message across much appreciated. crowd-funding campaigns work by having people put out the word, but it would appear, from simon sinek's talk, that you have to get the word across about WHY you are doing something as the first absolute top priority, then HOW and only then finally WHAT.
any company or campaign that starts purely with WHAT, is extremely unlikely to succeed. the motivation is unknown, so how can any salesman sell something if they don't know *why* they're selling it?
so please, help get the word out when the campaign starts: the project exists to reduce the environmental impact of computers. it's as simple as that.
l.
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so maybe you should put a link to the website somewhere in your email
On Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 7:13 AM, Simon Kenyon simon@koala.ie wrote:
your help in getting the message across much appreciated. crowd-funding campaigns work by having people put out the word, but it
so maybe you should put a link to the website somewhere in your email
normally in a conversation which is non-confrontational one would word this as a question, "i don't see a link to the web site, is that an oversight or is there a reason why?"
so let's assume that that's what you've asked, if that's ok, and the answer would then be as follows:
apologies but this is quite a tight deadline for organising everything: i only got the units last week, had to prepare them and have shipped one of the prototypes to them only a few days ago, so that they can take photographs and get the web site ready (even if it just a sign-up landing page).
so, to answer your kind question simon it's not ready yet. as people on this list have been so supportive i did not however want to go straight to "surpriise! campaign!", instead letting you know what's happening and what's coming next.
now, the point of writing what i am writing right now is to ask people who may be considering helping get the word out is to *change the focus*. previously we (including myself) have been telling a "what how why" story. or a "what why how" story. look at ice-computer's crowd-funding campaign:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ice-xpc-a-modular-computer-as-small-as-yo...
fantastic idea: we know that... but you have to go 80% the way through the text to find out that its purpose is to reduce e-waste! if you don't hook people on *why*, then they go "yeahh it's all very good, i get the specs and all, but it doesn't *feel* right" - just as simon sinek says.
so please, when you talk with people about this project, tell them "because you will help reduce e-waste" as the first priority.
any questions?
l.
Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton lkcl@lkcl.net writes:
On Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 7:13 AM, Simon Kenyon simon@koala.ie wrote:
your help in getting the message across much appreciated. crowd-funding campaigns work by having people put out the word, but it
so maybe you should put a link to the website somewhere in your email
What Luke was trying to say was:
Oops: http://rhombus-tech.net/
but he tends to get cranky when he's busy, and starts writing long rambling texts about how little time he has. ;-)
The "why how what" obsession is my fault, as I pointed him at the Simon Sinek TED talk -- he'll probably calm down about it soon, so apologies to anyone that gets tired of hearing about it before then -- the video is worth a look (albeit a bit Fanboi-ish), as I think he has a point about one of the reasons that great products fail to find a market.
Cheers, Phil.
On Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 9:25 AM, Philip Hands phil@hands.com wrote:
Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton lkcl@lkcl.net writes:
On Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 7:13 AM, Simon Kenyon simon@koala.ie wrote:
your help in getting the message across much appreciated. crowd-funding campaigns work by having people put out the word, but it
so maybe you should put a link to the website somewhere in your email
What Luke was trying to say was:
Oops: http://rhombus-tech.net/
ah right yes that one as well. that needs review, but there is also the crowdfunding one which is still being written. only 2 days to official launch so it might end up being a "please subscribe email address" page for a while on their site.
but he tends to get cranky when he's busy, and starts writing long rambling texts about how little time he has. ;-)
*sigh* yeahhhh... been there, done that...
The "why how what" obsession is my fault,
*grin*. a yoda-esque muppets-style "inspired about inspiration, i am" springs to mind... why does yoda sound sometimes like fozzy bear, anyway??
no honestly it was very much an "argh, been going about this arse-about-face" moment, where it dawned on me the significance of what that guy was saying, and how, for the past *four years* i haven't been answering "why" when people ask me what i'm doing.
now that i think about it, in the (often 10-minute-long) conversations that i have with non-techie people about the project, it's only when i get to the re-use and e-waste savings bits that they go "huh, that's cool - let me know how it goes because i would really like to buy something like that".
fouuur yeeeeears...... well, better late than never...
l.
On 11/03/14 09:07, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton wrote:
On Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 7:13 AM, Simon Kenyon simon@koala.ie wrote:
your help in getting the message across much appreciated. crowd-funding campaigns work by having people put out the word, but it
so maybe you should put a link to the website somewhere in your email
normally in a conversation which is non-confrontational one would word this as a question, "i don't see a link to the web site, is that an oversight or is there a reason why?"
i've been on this mailing list for a long time now. i suppose i should have expected a response like that. all i was doing was pointing out that you were asking people to "get the message across" and then neglected to include a link to the website.
On Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 9:51 PM, Simon Kenyon simon@koala.ie wrote:
On 11/03/14 09:07, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton wrote:
On Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 7:13 AM, Simon Kenyon simon@koala.ie wrote:
your help in getting the message across much appreciated. crowd-funding campaigns work by having people put out the word, but it
so maybe you should put a link to the website somewhere in your email
normally in a conversation which is non-confrontational one would word this as a question, "i don't see a link to the web site, is that an oversight or is there a reason why?"
i've been on this mailing list for a long time now. i suppose i should have expected a response like that.
soorryy simon :) i feel it necessary to be overcautious. i'm still working that out.
all i was doing was pointing out that you were asking people to "get the message across" and then neglected to include a link to the website.
i know - it's that *i* know the reason why that was the case, but like when you can't see the wood for the trees (or when debugging a program you've been working on for a long time) i forgot what i had and hadn't told everyone.. or why.
anyway, it'll be a couple of days yet, the point was to invite people who may be talking to others about this project to use a different message when the announcement is actually made.
l.
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