Disqus - Latest Comments for FarazQ

Re: Breaking Through

FarazQ — Sun, 04 Sep 2016 09:45:09 -0000

The new app store rules should help. Apple is going to be removing apps that don't meet its definition of 'quality'. Plus, title lengths are being reduced (so apps that are keyword stuffing will no longer have that crutch). Theoretically, this *should* help new apps.

Re: Fun Feature Friday: Featured Comments

FarazQ — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 08:30:01 -0000

What if we could feature a comment 'within' a post/article? Would change how an author gets data or how the article is put together.

Re: The Rise of the Online Vacation Agency

FarazQ — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:37:38 -0000

Agree that people want the confidence that they will love their vacation. Especially for a cruise - it is a complex purchase (many options, tons of information) and it's not returnable (once you are on the ship, you are committed!). Question is what experience can we give people online that gives them that confidence. Look forward to what you guys come up with!

Re: Apps win big over mobile Web in travel as utility apps trump buzzy travel startups

FarazQ — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:37:21 -0000

Interesting data re cruise lines - 100% mobile web. There are plenty of cruise apps, however few high quality ones, plus its an occasional purchase. Agree that utility beats social or <insert latest="" buzz="">.

Re: Can George Lopez save the reputation of cruise ship comedy acts?

FarazQ — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:01:02 -0000

Entertainment on cruise ships have consistently gotten better the last few years. Admittedly, it was pretty bland in the past. The blue man group and Chicago broadway show are some of the recent additions by rival cruise lines and it was time Carnival matched them. This is a good move for Carnival and fits their brand.

Faraz
http://meetoncruise.com

Re: Why Pseudonymity Is Such an Important Concept

FarazQ — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:54:47 -0000

I run a social network for cruise travelers and everyone gets to pick a pseudonym (Username) and if they choose they can reveal their real name to other members. We learned that most people don't reveal their real names and stick with a pseudonym. Why? It's more FUN.

People want to meet others who have the same passion - in our case - people who love to go on cruises. But it's way more interesting to meet a character called "BadPirate" or "CruisinDiva" and interact over your shared passion than whatever their real names are. What they do for their normal 9-5 is not really relevant. They want to talk about their passion and pseudonyms help ppl role play.

I can envision one social network for keeping up w/ people I already know (fb/g+) and then belonging to multiple social networks that are focused on my passions, mostly to meet people i don't already know. and pseudonyms are perfect for that.

Re: When you want to quit because it’s just not worth it

FarazQ — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:47:07 -0000

As the saying goes "the highs are really high...and the lows are really low".

We had been pursuing a customer meeting for a few months. Within 2 days, we got a confirmed meeting (our first big break)...and my main developer resigned. Yes, it was a emotional roller coaster... HIGH and LOW in 48 hours. We pulled it together and got another person on board, but at the time, not continuing was something I considered.

Then you get up the next day...and say, lets keep going. Good post Jason.

Re: When you want to quit because it’s just not worth it

FarazQ — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:46:59 -0000

As the saying goes "the highs are really high...and the lows are really low".

Then you get up the next day...and say, lets keep going. Good post Jason.

Re: - This is going to be BIG! - Hacking Innovation Education in New York

FarazQ — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:50:39 -0000

Carnegie Mellon Univ. Also, it was co-taught by 2 professors: one from the business school and one from the engineering school.

It was a really fun class.

Re: - This is going to be BIG! - Hacking Innovation Education in New York

FarazQ — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:41:53 -0000

The best class I took in business school was New Product Dev. Basically they took an MBA, a mechanical engineer, a comp sci and a designer, threw us in a room and we were given 6 weeks to come up with a working prototype and business plan.

Every one of us learned from each other and we had a real product that worked at the end of the process.

Luckily the school is listening and cross-departmental collaboration is now all the rage.

Culturally, there is still a ways to go. For most [bschool] students, making stuff/implementing/building is not as glamorous as ideas/nbrs/formulas. Why? I have no idea. But this needs to change.

Re: Compounding Interest

FarazQ — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:51:04 -0000

I love the 'rule of 72'. It's another way to think about compounding interest.

Basically the rule of 72 helps you easily calculate how long it will take to double your money at a given interest rate. E.g. If you invested $1000 at a Rate of Return of 7% per year. Assuming you re-invest the interest, the amount of time to double your money is 72/7 = approximately 10 years. If you get a 10% rate of return, you can double your money in 72/10 = approximately 7 years.

You can also use the rule to figure out what rate of return you need to double your money in a certain period. E.g. Want to double your money in 4 years? 72/4 = approx 18% return required.

To me this helps explain how compounding interest makes a huge difference. A 7% annual return may not seem much...but most ppl don't understand that that means you are doubling your money in a decade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Re: Going Virtual

FarazQ — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:02:13 -0000

I love working from home, but I have to put rules in place to manage myself (we all get distracted). This rule has served me well: No lunch till one major task (blog post, page design, etc.) gets done.

good luck guys.

Re: The start-up chronicles: What do you do when your Website sucks?

FarazQ — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:56:03 -0000

I'm going through a similar effort on my site...and I think your #2 is a great insight. Currently, we lay out all our features on the home page..and I can see the value in 'teasing' out the features progressively so users are not overwhelmed.

#1 of course is key.

Good post.

Re: Video's Impending Tsunami in Education

FarazQ — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:23:58 -0000

Not only can web video scale better than today's physical space, but the quality of online courses are better. A 12 yr study released this past summer found, "On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”. See NYT's take on the study here: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.c...

One big opportunity for video education is personalization. We all have different learning styles. So, its silly to think that one professor teaching a single style can effectively teach 500 freshman kids. The web can (and will) personalize education content to each persons learning style. This will be another leap forward where online ed beats the choices we have today. See Christensen's latest book, Disrupting Class - he spends a lot of time on this topic.

Good post Howard! Let me know if you have any comments.

Re: A Tour of my Brain

FarazQ — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:43:44 -0000

Informative and well designed. If you like this topic, see this TED video where a brain researcher literally demos a real brain and talks about her personal experience with a stroke: http://www.ted.com/talks/la...

Also, thank you - now we finally know what Sarah Palin has: Werneke's aphasia:)

Re: What Drives Consumer Adoption Of New Technologies?

FarazQ — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:29:23 -0000

We are all self-centered, insecure and want to be 'stars'. Most of these consumer technologies meet these needs:

Twitter: How cool is it to see your username and all your tweets? better when someone else refers to your tweets.
Wii: Lets us imagine we are that awesome tennis player or golfer we always wanted to be
Pandora: Music just for ME...because I am 'special' - same goes for Hulu, TV just for ME
Facebook: My friends can see all my photos, what I've been up to..and I can expand my friend circle
Rockband: we can be a star

So, takeaway for me is make the consumer feel special...like a star, and you'll win them over

Re: A Second Market Is Emerging

FarazQ — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:38:31 -0000

I saw a chart yesterday that was scary. In 2008, The average time from Company formation to an exit (IPO or M&A) was about 8 years. This has steadily gone up from 1999 where the average time was 3 years. Obviously, 1999/2000 were an anomaly and quality, sustainable companies cannot be built that quickly. However, as an entrepreneur 8 years to liquidity is daunting...and I can see how it will deter potential entrepreneurs from starting a company.

So, I think a secondary market is a great idea. As an entrepreneur I'd want to have an opportunity at years 3-5 to take a little money off the table. Maybe 10%. This is not any different than any other investment - if you have profits, take a little off the table. Taking too much off the table may signal to investors that the founders are not committed or don't have confidence in the business going forward...so the right amount is a bit of an art.

Overall though, having this secondary market will encourage more potential entrepreneurs to take that first step in starting a company. And that benefits us all.

Re: Financial McCarthyism

FarazQ — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:31:45 -0000

Fred,

Dan Ariely has an interesting take on this. If you haven't seen his TED talk I highly recommend it: http://www.ted.com/index.ph...

Essentially, the further removed we are from actual hard cash, the more likely it is we will cheat. I agree that lots of people are guilty for participating in this crisis (the guy who sold the mortgage, the homeowner who lied about their income, and on and on). However, the actors we are discussing here were more than removed from hard cash - a) they are dealing in financial instruments b) they are using other peoples money! So the urge/likelihood to cheat is and was high.

I'm not an expert by any means, but I simply don't believe these are the only guys who can unwind these trades. Also, this may be naive, but if our leaders put out a call that we need specific expertise to help unwind these trades 'for the good of our country', I think many people will step up and do it for free or for less than $250k. The opportunity to be a hero will appeal to many.

Good discussion.

Faraz

Re: Ten Thoughts On The President's Speech Last Night

FarazQ — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:35:17 -0000

Indeed. It IS a good thang!

Re: Ten Thoughts On The President's Speech Last Night

FarazQ — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:34:51 -0000

I disagree Pat.

My family immigrated to the U.S. in 1988. My parents came here for the same reason all immigrants do - OPPORTUNITY. The expectation was if we work our butts off, we can increase our standard of living. This was clear to me and my brothers on day 1 here (I was in jr high at the time).

I don't know a single immigrant who come here because of government handouts. Frankly, most of the people looking for that end up staying in their home country as its too difficult and risky to uproot their family, connections and trek over here for the free 'handouts'.

Re: Ten Thoughts On The President's Speech Last Night

FarazQ — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:32:13 -0000

Agree with your points. esp re energy and education. Lets please hand both over to the entrepreneurs and let the innovation process run. The established players in both those spaces should be put out to pasture. The talented people that are in those industries will get re-hired by newer, smaller and more effective firms.

One point I was surprised about - how can we punish companies that hire global talent ("keep jobs in the U.S.") and at the same time warn of the dangers of protectionism? Seems contradictory to me.

I can't wait for some meaningful stats to be posted on recovery.gov!

Re: MeetingWave Blog: Have a great idea? What about a Patent?

FarazQ — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 14:54:04 -0000

Great tips John. This is very helpful.

For inventions that are still in the idea stage, do you recommend filing a provisional patent before you tell the world?

Thx!

Faraz

Re: Disrupting Class and Playing Games

FarazQ — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:40:03 -0000

That's fantastic. Good for them and their generation.

I'm looking forward to reading Disrupting Class.

Re: Disrupting Class and Playing Games

FarazQ — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:37:19 -0000

He may be a bit young for this, but you might want to give Alice.org a try. It teaches kids programming concepts in a fun visual 3D environment. I believe its aimed towards high school/early college kids...and was the brainchild of Randy Pausch (CMU professor, last lecture). I just checked the site...it looks like they have a product aimed towards middle school girls (what a great idea!)

On another note, in addition to economic another important reason Asian cultures have pushed science/engineering is culture/status. Engineers are highly respected (sometimes more than doctors). Unfortunately, culture is going to be the toughest to change. As an optimist, I say yes we can...but we can't afford to wait till we hit bottom.

Re: Power to the People

FarazQ — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:00:08 -0000

Will do.