Effective Enterprise 2.0

Business Jive Profiling Entrepreneurs

This is from Business Jive. "Armed with a unique philosophy of software development that challenges even the most agile, Jason Fried’s company, 37 Signals, is building products that are revolutionary, if only by virtue of how little they actually endeavor to accomplish. Fried discusses his professional background and the foundations of his less-is-more approach to business and life."

• 37 Signals started 1999
• Making things easier was one of his goals
  
• Making documents should be a continuous process while you're doing stuff
  
• It was for the process the documents were made
  
• You can't make decision about things when you get starte
• In the beginning you don't have a lot of information
• Making the decisions up front doesn't make sense
• As you work, things starts to emerge
• The old plan, make the decisions when you have the information
• Can you change the standard default way
• The product is the interface
• Build the product around that experience
• Design the interface first
• Make the work a more enjoyable experience
• Write a functional specification
• The illusion of agreements
  

Young CEO Corporate Blogger from Finland

Helge: My next corporate target is Teemu Arina, CEO and young entrepreneur. I try to analyze what patterns are typical for corporate bloggers. Teemu is by far much younger.

Teemu Arina Writes in his blog: “The structures of our society are shaking under increased communication and complexity. I’m a good example having spent 1/3 of my life as an entrepreneur before the age of 25, teaching my first semester when I was 17 years old, building two large Open Source projects and now working as an advisor to many companies, universities and non-profit organizations on the impact of social technologies on their operations. I’m well connected with leading thinkers and I perceive my network as my second brain where most of my learning occurs.”

Helge: Open source man. Young and talented entrepreneur, connected to leading thinkers. Great. One pattern emerges. Teemu is also related to Kone Oyj.

Teemu: My name is Teemu Arina. I’m partner and CEO at Dicole Oy, a company focusing on understanding the role of social technologies in knowledge work and networked learning in organizations.

Helge: Sounds familiar, Social Media, knowledge work and learning organizations.

Teemu: We also develop our own Open Source based software called Dicole Knowledge Work Environment. We use it in cases where we can’t find any better/easier/cheaper alternatives. It integrates wikis, blogs, feed readers, forums and files in a unified system that supports multiple separate or interconnected work areas for individuals and groups. Some of our users use it as a PLE (Personal Learning Environment) too, when they connect del.icio.us, Flickr, Youtube etc. with it..

Helge: Open source and Web 2.0, PLE, good…Read more about Visualradio at Kauppalehti Presso

Teemu: I’m a programmer, teacher, consultant, networker, mentor, entrepreneur, self-directed learner and artist who has deep interest in Open Source, networked learning, collaboration, cooperative work, social software, self-organizing systems, complexity, networks and related emerging technologies. I like spicy food, juggling, underground electronica, online gaming, gadgets and thoughtful conversations.

Helge: He is young and talented, many roles, modern, learning, also time for some fun in life.

My blog is a tool for my own personal learning. It’s a place for reflection and sharing of ideas. I write ideas down for later reference and starting point for discussion. It also serves as a portfolio of my work. In the right-side of my blog you will also find my recent del.icio.us bookmarks and Flickr images.

Helge: The blogging objectives and motives are nearly the same.

I will write about a wide variety of topics but the general themes will be things like Open Source, networked learning, software industry, futures, knowledge management, knowledge work, emerging social technologies, personal publishing and creativity.

Helge: Multiple writing styles, I have several blogs, I travel fast from one subject to another on a global scale.

Juha: MY writings on Open Source in education will be posted in FLOSSE Posse, where I’m a co-author.

Helge: I’m not OS but we have one in our company leaning towards Linux. But we all try to implement the Open Source Methodology in our work.

If you like my blog, please leave a comment on any of the entries.

Disclaimer:
Everything I say in this blog is an opinion of my own and is not the official opinion of any companies or customers I work for.

Here is my digital contact information:

• Skype: infe00
• AIM: infe00
• Google talk: teemu.arina AT gmail.com
• ICQ: 220322382
• Email: teemu AT dicole.com
• Phone: +358-50-555 7636

Helge’s Digital Contact information

• Skype: visualradio
• Googletalk: helgekeitel at gmail.com
• Email: helgekeitel at gmail.com
• Phone: + 358 50 309 2021

Corporate Blogger

I will start tracking Finnish and International Corporate bloggers and analyze what they are writing about. I guess that is going to be a thrilling task.

• How personal should or could the blog be?
• It's a way to learn to understand your company
• Corporate blogs for big companies
• The business blog and small business blogs
• Being personal, fresh, transparent and honest
• Creating a personal voice, taking down the PR-barrier
• Show the low of running a business and being an entrepreneur

What's an example? How genuine are the blogs?

• Dell is a good example
• They don't sound like the business talk
• PR people doesn't need to be controlling
• Should you ask the PR department to write
• It's better to sound real and have a genuine voice

Give a window to the inside information

• Robert Scoble changed the attitude towards Microsoft
• Scoble helped to look at the companies differently
• The business blog can help you to move a step ahead of your competitors
• Customers expect to have a conversation with your business in real time

Why is Apple Cute?

"Apple’s been in the news quite a bit lately. Nowadays, Apple is a media darling. The critics like the company’s direction, and so does Wall Street. But it wasn’t always so. This summer marked the tenth anniversary of Apple’s lowest point–a time in 1996 when the company’s profits and products were hitting bottom. (Steve Jobs’s return to the company he founded was still a year away.)," Write's Pogue in his New York Times blog. Find more about the Apple blog here.

I can find parallels to the Apple Cinderella story here in Finland as well. Nokia wasn't the best of companies in the early 90's. Satama Interactive has been going through difficult times, but has received good publicity in the last weeks. Start-ups are very vulnerable in the early stages of development. We've been addicted with success stories and would like to read more and more about the good things. All companies go through good and bad times. All quarters aren't pure and linear growth in earnings, rising stock prices and new successful product launches. Companies need to live through the times they travel on the dark side of the moon.