In almost every industry you have the well known bad boys thaT people love. The ones that break the rules and just don’t care. That person willing to call down the thunder simply because you looked at him wrong in the sales meeting where he’s selling to you. Why do we not have them in…
Is fragmentation really a bad thing?
You may have heard, but the latest retread reason that analysts and “experts” are bashing on Android is the concept of fragmentation. Essentially every manufacturer makes a few different handsets a year with different specs – screen size, processor, and most importantly the Android version. Each of these versions treat apps slightly differently which makes…
Follow the leader
Leaders get to their position for a reason. They offer a compelling offering that customers get. Follow in their footsteps because there are only two ways to overtake them: Beat them at their own game. Reinvent the game. Number two is the cleanest way to win but also the riskiest. Number one is a tough…
Don’t forget to include the fun
It’s amazing how often these days people equate business with serious. It’s as if we sometimes don’t believe that fun is allowed to exist inside the four walls of our workstations. Raise your hand if your company blocks “fun” sites from access inside the office. When working remember two things: Never take the full time…
A challenge in start-up
One of the most significant challenges of this blog has been to ensure that I have the discipline to keep the posts coming on a daily basis. When faced with low (but rising) readership and a significant workload in the real world, it can be difficult to maintain the updates here (and make sure that…
Green/LEED/Sustainability – the Great Myth
I find it amazing how many people are willing to spend not just marketing dollars, but construction and design dollars, on a piece of paper that says that they thought about the environment when they built out their space. Build two buildings exactly the same but get one LEED certified and you will likely be…
Technology and enabling relationships
In my time in real estate I’ve noticed a trend. The real function of brokers is to make their clients feel good about the decision they are making. The actual negotiation of a lease, while important, is something that most people can do. Saving a dollar or three a square foot is nice, but not…
Say it quickly.
You know those 60 minute meetings on your calendar that only have about 15 minutes of useful content…why aren’t you holding people accountable for wastefulness of time? Why do some people feel the need to go up to the last minute? It isn’t bad or wrong to let people go 10, 20, even 45 minutes…
The weekend is dead….long live the weekend.
Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t believe we’re 5 months into this year. I’ve had one down week all year and weekends have been non-existent. So this one I blew off my responsibilities and told myself to deal with it all on Monday. You know what happened? I had a great, relaxing weekend (if…
Real Estate is the anti-zero sum game
A zero sum game implies that when one party wins someone else must lose by an equal amount. But in this world, most things aren’t actually zero sum. But real estate in particular is about value creation for all parties. Buildings are owned by investors that have an interest in owning an asset. Their model…