#perpetual beta

[paradisearoundthecorner]

The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.

Nelson Mandela

[wolffolinsblog]

3 Takeaways From TechCrunch Disrupt

By Helen Jones 

I spent Monday at TechCrunch Disrupt, one of San Francisco’s most anticipated technology conferences this year. From all the outstanding big guys and startups, here are three points that stood out to me.

1) BEING A “FOUNDER” DOESN’T JUST MEAN BEING THERE FROM DAY ONE.

Jack Dorsey, the creator of Twitter and founder of Square told his audience that he originally wanted to be an artist or a tailor – he never planned to be an entrepreneur.

He says a founder doesn't need to be someone who was there from the beginning … companies have multiple "founding moments," so it's the people who have impact at those moments who should really be considered founders.  "A founder is not a job. It's an attitude, it's a role, it's an idea that can happen again and again and again."

His example: "Marissa Mayer – is a founder of Yahoo, she has the drive, moral authority and ability to change its course."        

Dorsey’s inspired by the founding fathers’ vision of a more perfect union—A strong philosophy that you need to be constantly open to change, recognize that work is unfinished, undefined and often wrong. We're with him at Wolff Olins, we’ve termed that living in perpetual beta. 

2) USEFULNESS IS A TERRIFIC MARKETING TOOL.

Airbnb founder Nate Blecharczyk told us that at his company they don't think about the competition, they just think about what the need is, and how they can create a direct response to that need.

And so it was they started at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in 2008 –they knew there would be a shortage of housing available and got a primetime CNN video interview to spread the word about their solution. 

Also at the conference was John Zimmer, from 11-week-old social ride-sharing service Lyft. He’s focused on word of mouth, iconic pink mustaches, and the sheer usefulness (and timeliness) of his new service to get the word out. Lyft is a real-time ride-sharing community that lets passengers request a pickup and instantly get a cheaper, safe and friendly driver to help them. It has worked for over 10,000 users already! And people all over the San Francisco are talking about those pink mustaches on what is apart from that a normal car.

3) TECH + PURPOSE MAKE A FRUITFUL UNION.

Corey Booker (@CoryBooker)– Mayor of Newark, NJ, perhaps an unlikely guy to encounter at a West Coast tech conference, was another one of my favorites. He has embraced all forms of social media to reach out, communicate with and hear from his community.  He told the audience “technology has to have purpose, be mission-driven. It has the power to bring excellence to scale.”

He said “Martin Luther King would be a big user of Twitter.”

Booker is also behind Waywire – an alpha app which allows citizens to create and share their own newsrooms and wires.

Helen Jones is a senior account director out of San Francisco.

Image via Hugh MacLeod (@gapingvoid)