

Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss talk about Startups, Angel Investing, YC and Traffic/Conversions - mikeyur
http://vimeo.com/3934635

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pxlpshr
Great first show, love that they kicked off discussion around naming and
branding. It's usually one of the first issues to come to surface amongst
founders, and one of the most misunderstood areas of importance in my belief.

I also think it's worth noting that the bar for consumer sites / services is
set pretty high now. So while server and infrastructure costs are decreasing,
one should probably put some of those costs savings into developing a great
brand (very important in B2C). After all, infrastructure costs decrease with
competition — marketing and branding increase. It's pretty surprising what a
well-executed brand can do for you, I consider it low hanging fruit with the
right person managing it; however, when mismanaged it can turn into a your own
barrier.

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jgrahamc
The way he used Google AdWords to test book titles is exactly what I described
here ([http://www.jgc.org/blog/2008/11/testing-book-titles-using-
go...](http://www.jgc.org/blog/2008/11/testing-book-titles-using-google.html))
when I was working on the title for The Geek Atlas.

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gcheong
Interesting. When people clicked on the ad, what did it say on the landing
page?

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kyro
Funny how as an investor, Kevin is clearly unaware of iminlikewithyou's name
change to omgopop. :P

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pg
omgpop

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ivankirigin
the real question is how you pronounce it. I think saying "ohh my god, pop!"
is the way to go. "Ohh em gee pop", just doesn't work for me.

By the way, if there is one game I think you might actually play it's
<http://letterblox.com>

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lackbeard
I'm inclined to pronounce it "ahh-mg pop".

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iamelgringo
Summary:

Use Google Adwords to A/B test your company/product name. Throw up 6-12 names
on adwords, have them lead to blank pages, find out what names convert the
best.

Both Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose are doing angel investing.

I lost interest after that.

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ojbyrne
I'd suggest a really good lawyer who would look at the deal with an
adversarial perspective before taking money from either of them. Just my two
cents.

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iamelgringo
Speaking from experience Owen. :) You would know what you're talking about.

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ojbyrne
While sometimes I overdo the bitching and moaning (especially after a few
beers) I think I'm offering solid advice in this case. Though I guess I'm
being a little unfair to Tim Ferris - I've only met him in bars, he may have
some integrity. He just seems like a tool.

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iamelgringo
I actually rather enjoy your comments about the Digg fiasco. I've _never_
gotten the impression that Kevin was a great business man. And, I'd avoid
taking business advice from him most days of the week, although his celebrity
might be handy. I'd definitely take advice from you re: business arrangements
with Kevin any day of the week, however.

Tim... I agree. Very tool like. I actually liked Tim's book. He's a rampant
self promoter, and turns a lot of people off. But, he did have some
interesting ideas, which I liked a lot, however. Having him as a angel or
board member... I don't know. I'd have to think about that one a lot.

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ryanmnly
I've never had a negative impression of him. He is confident and forces you to
think in a different direction. I also know the "4 hour" week is an
exaggeration. Pay close attention and he does a lot of work related stuff
(including writing a book) that consumes time. Nonetheless, he is providing a
road map for things most of us have thought were unobtainable.

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davidw
Transcript? I prefer reading/scanning to watching.

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jgrahamc
You can do as I did and listen to it and not watch. There's no actual need to
watch these two poseurs on the sofa.

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davidw
I prefer reading/scanning to listening, too. If I'm listening and doing
something else, the moment the something else gets a bit complicated, I tune
out what I'm listening to, and find I've missed half of it. If I sit down and
really listen, I can't do much else... I'm just not much of a multitasker that
way, I find paying serious attention to audio to be incompatible with working.

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peregrine
How does Tim Ferriss keep popping up everywhere?

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jlees
He's got to do something with the 164 hours a week he's not working.

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silvia77
Amazing video... I transcripted out all the great info and advice Tim and
Kevin had to share, check it out <http://tinyurl.com/cpaw8o>

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jpwagner
Tim Ferriss seems way more savvy than Kevin Rose

