Two of the keynote speakers at the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition (IRCE) this year included Jason Goldberger President, Target.com and Mobile and Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit. There will be an in-depth post about Jason’s presentation and the work being done at Target. The quote I took away from Jason was ““Be guest obsessed, not channel obsessed.”
Alexis discussed the founding of Reddit and the steps and miss-steps of two college students who founded Reddit. What I appreciated about Alexis is that he presented an unvarnished view of their journey. His opinion is that too many origin stories enhance the founder’s insight, brilliance or vision and I agree with that point.
The points that that resonated with me are:
- To fellow entrepreneurs who are struggling or uncertain, Life is not a paint by numbers, people don’t have it all figured out.
- Startups today are what bands use to be; to be cool you need to have one or be in one
- When presenting your brand online, be a good human. Behave like you would at a neighborhood gathering. Would you show up and say “Hello, I’m here, buy my thing!”
That last point I think is one of the best, do not use social media or social marketing as a megaphone, Do not shout. Be a good human. That is a sentiment we can all benefit from.
