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The times they are a changin'

Monday, May 26, 2008


We had a lot of family staying over the weekend. When they had gone I amused myself by browsing some old family videos. The ones I looked at were from the 1960s.

We have about 50 years of cine film and video- all now converted and sitting on terrabytes of computer storage. Some of it is even editted. It spans five generations of the family and I find it a constant source of interest.

But I hadn't been back to the 1960s for a long time. Something remarkable happened around 1963. In 1962 the world as I had filmed it looked like TV footage you now see of the 1930s , 40s and 50s. In 1963 there seemed to be a fundamental transition: everything had changed - cars, buildings , people , clothes - suddenly recognisably modern and Bob Dylan was on the record player singing The Times They are a Changin'.

I cast my mind back to what was happening then:
  1. a new generation (the baby boomers) , quite unlike any before it was growing up and beginning to impact business and culture
  2. a new young American President , quite unlike any before him had created a new vision for the American people and was putting a man on the moon

Now in 2008 , 45 years later, we seem to be on the verge of another fundamental transition. The factors that have powered up economic growth and personal well being since the 1960s are apparently reversing. The pundits say we have seen the end of cheap and plentiful food, energy, travel and credit.

A new generation (the digital generation) quite unlike any before it is growing up and beginning to impact business and culture - fuelled by the continuation of plentiful and cheap consumer technology and digital information, entertainment and communication.

A new young American politician quite unlike any before him and with a new vision for a new age has a great shot at the presidency. The papers are calling him the Facebook politician. His style and vision is echoed by a young conservative leader in the UK.

As Dylan said - Your old road is rapidly agin' .

Please get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand

For the times they are a-changin'

We've seen web 2.0, we talk about customers 2.0 , sometimes we think about Business 2.0 , but I wonder what World 2.0 will look like?

The Crowd Goes Wild!

Thursday, May 15, 2008


Go and see the Jersey Boys at the Prince Edward in Old Compton Street.

"The Crowd Goes Wild" was the headline in the New York Times when it opened and it's an understatement.
When you walk out of the Jersey Boys you will feel better than when you walked in - even if you were feeling great when you walked in.
It is simply stunning.
The music which I had barely noticed in the 60s , seems to have grown in power over the years and is attracting us ageing boomers and the youngsters alike.
Not only that but this story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons will give you a few glimpses into what it's like creating a new business - if you know what you are looking for.

Here are just a few quotes from the show that will resonate with anyone who has read my book :
"You guys will get nowhere until you decide what you stand for and find yourself a name people can relate to" - Producer talking to the band when they were struggling to get a first record launched (See Chapter 7 to read about how brand is really about what you stand for)

"It's like a f****** roller coaster" Frankie Valli , talking about the ups and downs of becoming and remaining successful. (See Chapter 2 - to read about the roller coaster ride of putting a new idea into the world) )

"That Gaudio- he's got his head so far in the future he can't see what's happening under his feet " : Band realist Nick Massi talking about the band strategist, song writer and visionery Bob Gaudio (see chapter 9 - to read why visionery leadership can sometimes slip into delusion about today) .

"That is not going to work" - all the industry experts telling Gaudio to forget about what what turned out to be his greatest song and the one that cemented the band's financial success ("Can't take my eyes off you"). ( See Chapter 3 to read why many big ideas get that reaction from experts)

I also noticed that the band really took off when it passed from being led by Tommy de Vito to becoming a partnership between Valli and Gaudio. (Chapter 5 - why VCs invest in entrepreneurs who come in pairs)

As the boys sing memorably a few times in the show:
Oh what a night!

I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours

Friday, May 9, 2008



The official book launch is imminent. There have been some books available from late April and some reviews published already but the major bookshops should all be stocked by Monday and the marketing and PR campaign really starts then .

Writing a book is like giving birth to a new company -definitely worth a party and a few drinks, even if you have no idea what is going to happen next.



I think my best moment in writing the book was being sent a link by the Apple PR guys to a video of Steve Jobs chatting to Bill Gates.


I watched a bemused Bill listen to Steve saying

..the answer to most of life's questions is contained in a Bob Dylan song (Actually Steve added ..or a Beatles song, but I'm choosing to ignore that) .

Just in case there is any sad person reading this who doesn't know who the great man is:


Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, author, musician and poet. Dylan was included in TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century, and in 2004, he was ranked #2 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2008, Dylan was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."

As ever Dylan has penned a line to match all occasions and in this case I've borrowed the title of this post from one of his songs. My dream in writing the book and putting this web site together is to inspire would be entrepreneurs and innovators to stop dreaming and get on with it , and to provide them with some insights and advice that lets them aim high, be ambitious, and think big.

The book is aimed at people looking to start a new company. Particularly those who have ambitions for a creating company whose value can be measured in the tens of millions at least and who realise they probably need some sort of venture funding to help them get there (probably angel funding to start with). People who would have been inspired by Innocent Drinks where a bunch of young guys with no resources started in a kitchen and with one dose of angel funding built a £300m international company,which is still growing fast.

It can be done and it's not down to luck.

The book also contains useful information for would be innovators in large companies. The web site and particularly the forum is aimed at both entrepeneurs and innovators. So come on join me in my dream and I'll see if I can help you with yours.

If all that's too much , just listen to Dylan:



The innovators anthem : It's all over now baby blue

The entrepreneurs anthem : It's all right ma I'm only bleeding

And the leaders anthem : Love minus zero/no limit

All of these are on my favourite album of all time:

Bringing It All Back Home


More on how Dylan's lyrics provide insight and inspiration to me in future posts.























Don't drop me!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

With Ideo CEO Tim Brown at MIT



My two year old grandson has taken to mixing in the odd "Don't drop me!" along with his usual whoops of delight if I pick him up and whirl him about a bit.


I was reminded of that this week when I ran (with Tim Brown CEO of innovation leaders IDEO) a two hour seminar at a mid careeer MBA course at MIT in Boston. We were talking about how innovation is increasingly applied across an entire customer experience not just product features and performance.


The key principle here is that any new product or service which is to be successful has to address real human needs (rational and emotional) , which are currently not being fully met. (Chapter 4 of my book covers how to come up with products and services like this. )


Anyway at MIT I was talking about the market research results we got after the first few months of Firstdirect - which broadly concluded that "Firstdirect consistently exceeds its customers expectations". That's the prize you get by meeting both rational needs (in this case 24/7 banking) and emotional needs (in this case feeling valued and looking smart). Exceeding expectations generates economic value in greater customer loyalty and lower customer acquistion costs as the word gets out.


One of the students asked a great question - "don't you just raise the bar when you exceed expectations - isn't it better just to meet expectations?"


That made me think .


And what I think is this - raising the bar puts a bigger gap between you and the competition which is always a good thing. You may have to keep innovating to maintain the gap - but that's normal. What is absolutely critical however is that once you have raised the bar you musn't let standards slip. You really disappoint customers that way and they will hate you for it.


Once you've got them whooping with delight because you have picked them up and are whirling them around , remember that in the back of their heads is a little voice saying "don't drop me!"
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