Secret Sauce

I always find it interesting to see where value lies and where brands and businesses get built.

Today I discovered that Dropbox uses Amazons S3 storage service. I’ve used Dropbox for personal files for over two years now. I love the service. I’m a big fan. But I was shocked to learn about S3. Not because it doesn’t make sense, but because I’d just assumed that they had a different solution or some other proprietary cloud storage solution. They don’t.

Perhaps I was shortsighted? Or did they simply do a brilliant job of making their service so easy to understand and so usable, that I didn’t even think about what was behind it? They positioned it as a consumer solution, rather than a cloud storage and synchronization solution. I used it, it worked beautifully and I never thought about it again. Until today.

OxygenCloud also seems to have a comparable solution (though possibly aimed at the enterprise space), however they communicate it in quite a tech way. From a brand and usability point of view, it appears miles behind Dropbox.

I also find it interesting to think that Dropbox found the value between an enterprise cloud service, that most consumers would not have a clue about, added a layer of smart technology to make it usable and useful (solves a consumer problem), and have subsequently built a 25 million person customer base, in 175 countries. And not just users – major fans. They have a large and thriving community of users who request and vote for features, forums for bug fixing and support, and a growing third party application directory.

It’s awesome what they’ve done in three years.

Amazon should buy them. Even better, Apple should buy Dropbox, fix its MobileMe service, and then add in a quality digital wallet. And of course, make it all work beautifully together. That would be very compelling for consumers and realizing some hidden value in the marketplace.

In today’s world, these opportunities exist more then ever. The real challenge goes out to every established brand to do the same – they need to hunt for new layers of value in their markets, make it easily understood and deliver it to their customers. If they don’t, someone else will. (My next article illustrates a case where a three-person startup, with a bit of smart technology, suddenly poses a threat to Nike +.)

Rob

P.S. Following on from my last blog post, the insurance company could not produce any medical evidence and have since withdrawn their restrictions on my insurance. Appalling.

Recently I applied for top tier health insurance.

As part of the full disclosure, I told them that a close relative had passed away from a fairly rare disease that’s not hereditary. It’s been researched extensively and I even visited one of the leading research centers in the U.S. to check it out. And sure enough, there was no connection.

Despite this, the insurance company refused to cover me for that “family of diseases” in case there was a chance it was hereditary. I asked for proof and about eight pages of highlighted documentation were produced.

The top of the pages read, http://en.wikipedia.org. Their evidence had come from Wikipedia.

I was in shock. Dismayed. Pi**ed off to say the least.

The worst bit is that it’s now up to me to prove there is no connection. If I let it go, I set a precedent, if I go to another insurance company, I have to state I’ve been declined coverage for certain ailments, which then triggers an exclusion.

It’s me against the masses on Wikipedia. I will be recruiting doctors and specialists from around the world to prove my point, but why should I? This is a case of Wikipedia vs. the medical specialists.

I’ve fried my brain over this and I’m still yet to decide if collective consciousness/collective intelligence are a positive or negative. Think social media and swarm mentality.

It raises the question of whether we are collectively dumber or smarter. Whether we can collectively reduce risk for ourselves and optimize our future, or amplify false truths that lead us like lemmings off a cliff.

Long term, I’m still trying to figure out how to solve this issue.

Right now, I’ve got to fight Wikipedia and an insurance company to get them to acknowledge the truth of this disease.

Not only for my own future, but the future of everyone whose insurance company uses Wikipedia to evaluate medical risk.

Rob

 A few days ago, Douglas MacMillian wrote an article in Business Week about AOL’s new campus in Silicon Valley, which is designed to spur innovation.

(You can read the article here)

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_14/b4222043205512.htm

AOL has built a cool office space right in the heart of the Valley, with Facebook and Twitter just around the corner (as well as the 100s of other startups you don’t know about). AOL are allowing other startups and entrepreneurs into their space and hoping some of their magic might rub off.

I wish AOL all the best and applaud their effort, however I don’t think it will work. Here’s why and what I’d do instead:

Silicon Valley starts with a state of mind. And that is where AOL should start.

I’d take the capital and rent they’ve forked out and hire a few entrepreneurs and product developers from the outside, who already have some kind of vision for what they would do with AOL or its products, and then create the environment for them to work in.

I’m not referring to the office space. I mean the management environment, and the culture. AOL needs to carve out an entirely new way of working and give these people the freedom and rewards to work within that.

Cool offices are the last thing they need. I remember my startup in San Francisco. The most creative and most productive work we produced came about in the worst office space, in the worst neighborhood, with the shabbiest furniture and no natural light, and nothing but a paper note hung on our door with our name. It was incredibly exciting, as we were all committed to the goal and we all genuinely thought we were changing the world. Deluded as that may sound to some of you, that is the type of belief and passion it takes. We had the freedom to create and the freedom to execute.

I believe that’s what AOL needs and it has to come from the inside. Not from the office fit out, location or other companies working beside the AOL team.

There needs to be one person inside; the driving engine that’s going to make that happen. That’s the first person I’d hire. (Read: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand)

Any big company who struggles with innovation needs the startup inside. And in today’s fast changing world, you need to do it quick.

I look forward to your stories and feedback.

Rob