Kottke’s business influences
Link: My business influences (kottke.org)
I agree with everything Kottke said in his post today:
As you may have noticed by reading the site in the past year, I’ve
been reading and thinking a lot about companies…how they succeed, why
they fail, how to approach them from a holistic sense so they make
sense on a human scale and not just from a business perspective, that
sort of thing. In deciding to start my own little company of one, here are a few things I’ve run across that have influenced how I’m approaching it.Coudal Partners is a design
studio based in Chicago. Like many blogs (their site is a little more
than a blog, but we won’t get into that now), their site features
advertising in the form of text ads in the top left corner of the page.
But they only accept advertising
from companies whose products they have used: "sell us something then
we’ll sell you an ad." I love this because it ties advertising back
into its word-of-mouth origins, makes it more human, personal, and
believable. (More on advertising stuff in a few days.When Google decided to pursue their IPO, the filing included an "owner’s manual"
written by Larry Page, one of Google’s two founders. Google is aiming
high — focusing on the long term, trying not to be evil, taking on
risk, not giving too much control of the company over to shareholders
– and it will be interesting to see how they fare over the long term.
Google’s gotten a lot of shit for aiming so high, especially about the "don’t be evil"
stuff, just like the NY Times gets criticized for attempting to produce
objective journalism, but I think that’s unfair. I’ll choose a company
with ideals they’re trying to live up to over a business that’s aiming
for the status quo any day of the week.