Appsaloosa

App Confusion - CardMunch and Shoeboxed

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Sun, 20 May 2012 05:01:00 +0000

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I often use apps episodically. I can go for months without using an app but I know it is there when I need it. For example, it is easy to capture business card data using an app. I wrote a post about how I was using CardMunch to do this and how I was a bit miffed at the processing backlog I ran into. Now CardMunch is part of the happy LinkedIn family so I ought to try it again.

It turns out, that I completely forgot about CardMunch this weekend. I was using Shoeboxed.com to process receipts. I just take a photo of them on my iPhone and they end up as an entry in a spreadsheet. Pretty awesome. Shoeboxed processes business cards too and I inadvertently ended up using their app. The icons are similar and they do pretty much the same things. Both work great. Shoeboxed sends a customizable automatic email to people once their business card is digitized. The next day I had a pang of fear because someone had responded to my customizable email and I wasn't sure if I was using my "hey great to meet you in Casper, Wyoming at the U2012 Conference" email or not. Luckily, I was using a generic email that wouldn't offend someone attending a UofA Geology/Geophysics reunion. Now it is called Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Initially I thought it odd that weather forecasters would be lumped in with geologists but that was before the climate research funding gravy train came a runnin'. Everything from research grants to travel requests suddenly required a some reference to changing climate.

What I like about CardMunch is that it automatically connects with LinkedIn. I can make that loose connection with someone (as long as they are on LinkedIn) without invading their inbox. I love Shoeboxed for receipts but I'm leaning towards CardMunch for business cards.

Facebook is Forty Bucks - What Does it Mean?

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:36:00 +0000

My latest email discusses Facebook in broad terms. The haggling over whether Facebook is overvalued or undervalued helps fill up the space between the ads in traditional media. I figure it could be priced at $10 or $100 and still be in the ballpark. There is a long history of amazing technologies that didn't take their investors along for the ride. Satellite radio?

What I find exciting is that Facebook is not shy about making acquisitions. Any potential competitor showing early growth will get snapped up before it gets much above a $1billion valuation. Complimentary services will get picked up in the $100 million range to help build out the platform.

Facebook is Forty Bucks - What Does it Mean?
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Conferencing Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:35:00 +0000

I was recently a speaker at the 2012 Vancouver Resource Investment Conference. Its one of the biggest mining conferences in the world with over 500 exhibitors and 8000 attendees. Here are a few of the apps that I like to use when heading off to a conference.

Tungle
I'm a big believer in serendipity so I dislike taking introductory meetings at a conference. I never know what I'll learn at a conference but when I'm getting an overly detailed presentation on the end uses of an element that may never be produced by the company I'm meeting, my thoughts turn to the next thing. There's always a next thing.

When I'm presented with more than one meeting request, I tend to freeze up. I'm not good with choices. Tungle solved my "deer in the headlights" scheduling issues. I was able to share blocks of times with people who wanted to meet with me and they picked the time.

I botched the time zone component for one meeting as I live in Calgary and the conference was in Vancouver but with a more diligent user, I'm sure that problem is avoidable. It did a great job of syncing to my Google Calendar. This app does one thing very well. I'll try Doodle next time to compare.

Lanyrd
This has yet to gain traction in the resource world but an open source conference guide is a great concept. Lots of ways for speakers and attendees to share what they are up to. Currently, I'm using it to document my speaking career more than anything else. If conference organizers ever figure out the benefits of pushing this app onto their exhibitors and users, it could take off quickly. This app can only get better over time.

Cardmunch

Cardmunch is not getting better over time because processing my stack of business cards is being held up. In theory, you take a photo of your business card and a few hours later you get a contact record along with a button to push if you want to connect with them on LinkedIn. Awesome! Cards aren't quite dead in the business world.

The fruits of my conferencing labours.

I hope heavy card volumes don't kill this

Cardmunch was recently taken out by LinkedIn and while the acquisition makes great sense, fickle users are not going to like any restrictions on usage, especially following a conference (apps are all about me). I get my business cards in large bunches so if 10 cards backs up the system, I may have to find an alternative.

Twitter

Our conference used the hashtag #VRIC12 and for the first time, I saw plenty of twitter traffic around the conference. Most of it was from speakers and exhibitors. Currently, it would be foolish to ask for twitterverse questions for a panel at a resource conference but that day is coming soon It is best to be ready. I used the ever trusty buffer to schedule tweets with this hashtag over some of the conference.

Wikipedia Blackout - Decelerating Intelligence

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:26:00 +0000

There's this uneasy feeling I get when an external source of information is suddenly unavailable. Usually this happens due to connectivity issues. A bit of frustration (depending on how close a deadline is) mixed in with powerlessness. Today, however Wikipedia has "gone dark" as a protest measure against SOPA and PIPA.

Realtime access to the world's largest encyclopedia has changed how humans interact. Our conversations are further reaching. I'm often in a group where one person takes on the role of data gatherer to fill in the factual blanks of a conversation. What other movies was that actor from the Golden Globes in? How many people live in that country? While much of this "trivia" is mindless, once in a while it provides a solid reality check on someone's unproven assertion.

To paraphrase Eric Kim, co-founder of Twylah, if our conversations become even 1% smarter and that ability gets multiplied across the entire planet, imagine what kind of societal shifts could happen.

They're happening already. We still have conversations, we still meet friends for coffee but it is socially acceptable in many circles to use an iPad or smartphone to add factual information to a conversation.

I agree heartily with Ray Kurzweil's take...

Better the government shut down than Wikipedia go on strike. That would be part of my mind going on strike. Just give them [Wikipedia] whatever they want — we don’t even need to hear what it is.

Kurzweil describes the consequences of accelerating intelligence. Losing Wikipedia for a day has definitely but the brakes on.

There is still some light...

#wikipedia blackout hack. You can take a screenshot of the page you want to read if you've got gamer reflexes.
— Jim Letourneau (@JimLetourneau) January 18, 2012

Where Do Apps Come From?

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:49:00 +0000

Apps start out as eggs that often require incubation before setting off into the world as hatchlings.

Forbes put together a great article on the 10 Hottest Startup Incubators. Unfortunately they opted for the slideshow model (this encourages multiple clicks on their site but I find it very slow). They also didn't provide links to the actual incubator sites. So here is the quick and dirty list compiled by Forbes. It is a great place to look for new apps that just might change your life.

Y Combinator - Mountain View, Calif.

TechStars - National

Excelerate Labs - Chicago, Il.
500 Startups - Mountain View, Calif.
Capital Factory - Austin, Tex.
DreamIt Ventures - Philadelphia, Penn.
Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator - New York City
I/O Ventures - San Francisco, Calif.
Tech Wilcatters - Dallas, Tex.
AngelPad - San Francisco, Calif.

Simplicity Matters - Starbucks for iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:50:00 +0000

I like coffee. I like Starbucks. My coffee doesn't have to come from Starbucks but it often does. Starbucks has successfully pushed out gift cards that could be added to a web-based account for quite some time. The ability to transfer balances to a single card is one of my favorite features. Now I don't need to worry about losing a gift card, I immediately transfer the balance on any new card to the one in my my wallet.

Do we really need to use cards now that smart phones have been invented? twitter.com/JimLetourneau/…
— Jim Letourneau (@JimLetourneau) December 24, 2011

...while the Cardstar app has the right idea for eliminating the need for cards, it doesn't work at gas pumps (you need to swipe a card), it doesn't work at Shoppers Drug Mart (you need to swipe a card) and often it requires manual entry of the card number. Often the scanned card number has a few extra digits that screw up the manual entry. So in the absence of a perfect card elimination solution, it is encouraging to see that one company is getting it right.

The Starbucks for iPhone app has some great options but I use it regularly to pay for coffee. I need the app to do this one thing really well...and it does. It loads quickly. I can switch from showing my balance to a scanner code and instantly pay for my coffee in most stores. My balance updates in seconds. I like the giant green thumb sized button.

For me this app works better than the alternatives; paying with cash or fumbling around in my wallet to find my Starbucks card. I can still pay with my card or cash if I don't have my phone with me. Let me reiterate, the reason this app is a winner is that it is better than the status quo. It is easy to use and fast.

There's a long road ahead for consumer payment options but its nice to see something better than cash or AFWC.*

*Another F*cking Wallet Card

UPDATE

My Christmas stocking included 2 Starbucks gift cards. Adding them to my main card using the app was a breeze. Transferring balances from one card to another is a simple drag and drop exercise.

Social San Francisco

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:21:00 +0000

Twitter is growing at around 14.4 million users a month (Jeff Bullas estimate) and they could all use a little help. If you're wondering how Twylah might change your life or why anyone would want to use Buffer for tweets or Facebook posts, I'm happy to explain.

I had a Twitter brand page before Coca-Cola did. My brand is me (such as it is).

This is my Twylah page http://tweets.jimletourneau.com.

My tweets are separated into topical buckets. Some buckets are more interesting than others but they provide a viewer with a longer term average of things I tweet about. I'd hate to be defined by someone reading one of my anti-Calgary Flames tweets.

My Twylah page is on my domain so the traffic goes to me. Coca-Cola's Twitter brand page traffic goes to Twitter - http://twitter.com/CocaCola, a significant difference. My Twylah page has a Facebook Like and Google+ button. Twitter doesn't provide that to Coca-Cola.

Most importantly, any brand page makes more sense to a new Twitter user than either a stagnant stream from a few friends or a raging torrent of Tweets from a large friend list. As Twylah's founder, Eric Kim, likes to say "My mom can understand my Twylah page."

I thought Twylah was pretty cool and Eric was gracious enough to meet me for breakfast after my talk at the San Francisco Hard Asset Conference. There is more value than meets the eye in a Twylah page and I managed to understand most of what Eric had to say. The conversation turned to Buffer and Scoop.it and a few other apps that help make social media more efficient. It turned out that Eric was investing in Buffer and he graciously offered to put me in touch with Joel Gascoigne and Leo Widrich of Buffer.

Buffer lets you schedule your tweets "automagically." According to their research, scheduled tweets outperform random tweet intervals by 200%. Many people find cool stuff to share during the evening. Unfortunately, the half life of a tweet is measured in minutes. Your brilliant 2AM tweets are washed away during the morning rush hour of the time zone to the right of you. Also, tweeting in bursts (which is the natural workflow for people who send tweets) is less effective than spacing them out every half hour or so.

Joel and Leo are often homeless, country-less in fact. Joel works out of coffee shops. Leo out of an apartment. At least they did before they got kicked out of the US because they couldn't get visas. Hong Kong has coffee shops and apartments so they are moving there for a while. They are having successes and the happy accidents that are supposed to happen when you trust the universe.

I met Joel and Leo for coffee at one of their favorite hangouts that afternoon. We shared a fondness of Louis CK's "Everything is amazing right now and nobody is happy." Their enthusiasm is infectious.

I invested, along with 18 other awesome investors.

If you tweet, you NEED Buffer (click here)

If you want a Twylah page (click here and request an invite)

Santa's Calling - Merry Christmas to Google

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:09:00 +0000

The good people at Google have come up with a couple of fun holiday apps. Impress your friends by having them Google "let it snow." You'll see some snowflakes and then your screen will appear to fog up. You can then write a nice note for your loved ones like "I ❤ U" by dragging your cursor over the fog. The best part is there are no irritating digital fingerprints.

Even better is the http://www.sendacallfromsanta.com app. Simply answer a few form questions to personalize the call. All the politically correct variants are available so don't worry about offending anyone. I tried sending one to my daughter at ~10PM and it said she might be sleeping (my daughter is 17, actually) so it does have a few quirks.

Apps like these are meant to be used. Fire up a few browser tabs, set up your calls and send one to each member of your office team.

White Hot Startups - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 07:38:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on www.jimletourneau.com but I felt they belonged on an app specific blog... so I made Appsaloosa and moved them here.

The right app can change your life. If you find yourself "not getting" an app, there's a good chance that someone is working on a similar one that you will get.

TechCrunch has unveiled a list of "private Internet companies" that Goldman Sachs thinks may IPO in the next year. I thought it would be useful to check out what these companies actually do so I've added links and a brief description of each one.

One Kings Lane - Elegant, curated online sales

Peixe Urbano - Exploring the city (Brazil - site is Portugese)

Polyvore - The best place to discover or start fashion trends

Quantcast - It's your audience, we just find it.

Quora - A continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it.

Rent The Runway - Rent dresses for any occasion.

Rue la la - Coveted designer offerings. Private sale prices. Members only.

Rovio - Angry Birds!

Shopkick - Gives you awesome deals and rewards simply for walking into your favorite stores.

Specific Media - Innovative global interactive media company.

Survey Monkey - Create and publish online surveys in minutes

Square - Start accepting credit cards today.

TrialPay - The Leader in Transactional Advertising

Trunk Club - Personalized clothing service for men.

Tumblr - Feature rich and free blog hosting platform.

Uber - Everyone's private driver

Warby Parker - Vintage inspired eyewear.

WePay - The easiest way to accept payments online.

Xoom - Send money online to friends and family.

ZocDoc - Find a doctore and make your appointments online.

Zoosk - World's largest social dating community.

White Hot Startups - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 07:35:00 +0000

Airbnb - Find a Place to Stay

Beachmint - A Next Generation Social Commerce Company (girly e-commerce)

Beauchamp

Birchbox - Discover Beauty Better

Bluekai - Your Data Performing at Scale

Badoo - Boost your social life. Chat, flirt, meet up and have fun!

BOKU - Pay with your phone number

Box.net - Simple, secure sharing.

BranchOut - Career networking on Facebook

Cloudflare - Give us five minutes and we'll supercharge your website

Coupons.com - no explanation required

DropBox - Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily.

Eventbrite - Make your event a success

Gogobot - The best travel advice

Hipmunk - We make booking travel faster and easier

Instagram - Fast beautiful photo sharing for your iPhone

Jawbone - delivering innovative products that improve the mobile lifestyle through ever-changing software and wearability

Klout - Measuring influence since 2008

Narrative Science - We Turn Data Into Stories and Insights

Ness computing - Personal search engine

Pinterest - Online pinboard

App Updates Matter

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 07:26:00 +0000

While classic business applications of the Microsoft Office ilk don't change radically, many others change dramatically over the course of a year. I've experienced several recent examples where an app that I had previously tried surprised me with a radical increase in functionality.

When I first looked at Flipboard, it had a limited selection of news streams that could be added. While the design was impressive, I stopped using it because I wanted more news sources. It turns out that Flipboard added Google Reader functionality over a year ago. What was I thinking!

Path is another app that has been radically improved over the last year or so.

My takeaway is that I need to pay more attention to app developments. There's no point trying out an app early and then condemning it... which is what I've been doing.

The Right App Can Change Your Life

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Letourneau) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 07:05:00 +0000

Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake in the Social Network) says that “Twitter is still trying to find a way to make money”.

While some see Twitter as a noisy place full of meaningless babble, there is a gold mine of information in the “Twitter stream”. Journalists and hedge funds are already using it to get an edge. Do you really want to read today’s news tomorrow?

While blogs could easily scoop mainstream news outlets on breaking stories. The real time nature of the Twitter stream is even faster. The challenge for the uninitiated is to make sense of the news fragments, shortened links that are mixed in with the flotsam and jetsam of people’s personal lives.