Cable Cowboy: What I've Learned

Chapters 1 & 2:

John Malone

• Great dad who taught him things (taught him a way)
• His dad instilled in him a desire to operate in a certain way and to achieve
• First class education all the way to a Ph.D.
• Networked through McKinsey to General Instruments to TCI

Me

• No dad
• A step-dad who was disengaged
• Autodidactic
• Didn't network ... built

John Malone was classically trained.  I am self taught.  I excel at building an MVP and getting it up and running.  I enjoy building new technologies and then leveraging them to build other new technologies.  And selling them.

At this point I don't think I can learn alot from John Malone.  I think I can learn more from Bob Magness than from John Malone at this point.

What I've Learned

• Always ask "if not,"  If this doesn't work where does it leave me.
• Seriously consider selling your first business and using that capital to build something else
• Know your energy level.  When are you getting exhausted and need some new blood

Passing an Object backward to a ViewController

        NSArray* viewControllers = self.navigationController.viewControllers;

        

        OrderDetailsViewController* previousVC = [viewControllers objectAtIndex:[viewControllers count] - 2];

        

        self.orderDetails.cashOrCredit = @"cash";

        

        previousVC.orderDetails = self.orderDetails;

        

        [self.navigationController popViewControllerAnimated:YES];

Marketing Ideas: door2door-drycleaning.com

What do you want the brand to be for your company Curtis?  What should playLabs be?

playLabs should be my Britain Cufflinks.  It should be the Victrola that I got for LaChauna.  It should be upscale, tailored, functional, offbeat, a cool, conversation piece.  It should be something to talk about in a cool way.  Our advertising should be an expression of ourselves.  It should rub people the right way.  It should be something that they go to work and say, you won't believe what happened to me today.  It should be artistic and an expression of ourselves.

playLabs Principle:  Marketing is Art

-- Explanation:  Art must have a point of view.  It must be distinctive.  People don't talk about marketing.  People always talk about art that's true to them.

playLabs Principle:  Design is really important.  But don't be perfect.  Get a product out there.  Then innovate.

-- Personal explanation:  don't wait to get a product out there.  Get the product out there.  Then iterate.  I'm not good at design but I know what good looks like.  

Door2Door-drycleaning.com

-- Clean clothes.  No stress. --

Brand Awareness:  Driving Sales

Builds social media awareness:

Youth market:  Target Market

-- Delivery by Delivery People in Cute Costumes

Moms:  One market:

-- Giving out balloon animals to kids with Door2Door-Drycleaning ads on them

   -- Kids bring balloons home.  Mom sees them.

Cross Branding:

Talk to Charles Tyrwitt -- Maybe a once in a while advertising deal

Young men:

-- shaving event: always look fresh ... door2door-drycleaning.com

-- beer + brat tasting:  20 beers/20 chefs/  free of charge

-- 1 Page Catalog:  Get a discount (Charles Tyrwhitt)

-- 

Acquiring Vendors:

-- Talk to a potential vendor: 

    -- This is the product I have

    -- This is what it can do (a demo)

    -- This is why I invented it

    -- This is how it works

    -- This is our pricing structure

    -- This is the cost/benefit to you and to me

    -- I've never sold to dry cleaners and you're local and I'm local.

    -- What I'm asking is what would it take for you to sign on

Places to Go: NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/01/10/travel/2014-places-to-go.html?hp&_r=0

How We Got Our First 2000 Users

http://www.fastcolabs.com/3024472/how-we-got-our-first-2000-users-doing-things-that-dont-scale?utm_source=Product+Hunt&utm_campaign=af88ca3153-daily-email-01-06-2014&utm_term=0_2cd7d34185-af88ca3153-104053773&utm_reader=feedly&utm_content=buffer31fc2&utm_medium=twitter