Ideas are Orange

Some ideas on improving Kiva

I hace recently loaned some money through Kiva to some  promising entrepreneurs in developing nations (like my own). Kiva is a fantastic idea, the process of micro-loans cannot work without an enabling technology, and finally somebody put two and two together and launched this service.

I do have some ideas that could improve certain things:

1. The Listing: The People Listing needs to have filters (using dropdown menus) on top. The listing needs to allow people to boil down the large list  by several criteria such as: gender, country, business type, amount.
   In the world of donations (had significant experience building several projects for non-profits), people often donate to a specific target population (women, children), or for a specific purpose (education, nourishment, etc...). Kiva's criteria could be split in genfer, country, bus. type and others. For example, I am more inclined to donate to women in south pacific countries.
   If they really want to increase usability, this listing should be built using ajax, so that no reloading is necessary.
2. The "I have contributed widget": Contribution is the next big word! Warren Buffet gave away his money and so will Bill Gates. Everybody wants to be like No. 1 and No. 2, but suddenly they aren't the richest, but the ones that contribute the most. One should be able to export a Widget - to put on your site, your company's site, your blog, your LinkedIn profile, etc... - to show how much you have contributed.
   If people compete for stuff like having more LinkedIn connections, or more Myspace friends, surely they'll compete for the most amount of money loaned. The current widget asks people to loan to a specific entrepreneur, it needs to be the other way around, it needs to show how much a specific person has contributed. I'm sure some guy wanting to appear first on the list will donate a large amount of money.
3. Kiva + Google Maps: A mashup is needed here, mainly to show in a visual manner the areas that are getting more loans and less loans. A visual representation could show where the money is flowing and what other regions need support. Analytics are visual and I suppose "equality" is important here, but there is no visual way of knowing which areas (not necessarily people) are in need.

This is a great project... I definitely encourage people to loan at www.kiva.org

The Next Net - LinkedIn

Business 2.0 magazine published on its March cover the 25 hot startups to watch. It struck me that LinkedIn was not included in the top 25, as I think they will probably be 2007's most important web 2.0 application.

Here is the thing. Most web applications need only one thing, and one thing only to become great. Much like Google owns search, Flickr owns pictures and Youtube owns Video. Well, LinkedIn owns the people, who are what make it all happen. Or at least business people.

In any information system or application, there is always a bit of information to which all others are attached. In a CRM system for example, the basic input is having client accounts, that is to what you associate contacts and proposals. LinkedIn has the people, which is the piece of information to which everything is attached. The have begnu creating functionalities to "attach" certain things, like other people, answers, recommendations, but it can really be taken further.

LinkedIn is in a unique position to become the next killer app, because it can work as a hub to which all other apps. are attached. But they should be more concerned with linking the LinkedIn profiles with other things such as:

• Showing on your linkedIn profile the number of pictures you have on Flickr.
• Showing on your profile the amount of money you´ve contributed through Kiva.
• Showing on your profile Squidoo lenses that you´ve created
• Showing on your profile the [Lulu] books you have published
• Showing on your profile a map of places you have been (WAYN comes to mind)
• etc...

These could be attached through Widgets (what web 2.0 app. doesn't use widgets?)

The key thing here is that LinkedIn should focus on keeping and expanding the people, not the functionalities. The "people" functionality is more than enough, it simply needs to create a way to tap into other apps and make the profile more visible - by showing other bits of information (pics, kiva contributions, etc...) that people own.

Salesforce + eProject = Deliveryforce - Part II

I saw a lot of visitors to the Deliveryforce post, so I decided to expand a little on that.

This is what a "Service Economy" value chain (the simple version) looks like. Knowledge workers prepare or acquire skills and competencies that will help them escalate from technical, to human to conceptual roles. They use that knowledge to propose solutions to different issues that companies are facing, and most important of all, the need to deliver on the promise by planning, executing, controlling an engagement.

To sell, you need a process and an enabling technology (salesforce.com is my pick)

• You need to prospect and plan identifying opportunities (90% is starting in the right direction)
• You need to qualify leads
• You need to manage relationships
• You need to manage proposals and follow up
• You need to analyze the data around the sales cycle.

All this is enabled by functionalities in a CRM program. The key issue is that this needs to be web enabled and that sales techniques - including the process - change so much that you are better off purchasing web software that will be managed by an expert provider instead of having a system that will freeze your organization in time with practices that will tend to get old.

Why this is important:

• Organizations need to be about change
• The only way to change is to go from point A to point B
• To go from A to B you need a project or a change initiative
• To manage it you will be required to manage some key elements of a project like benefits, stakeholders, objectives, documents, third parties, risks, issues, changes, and others.

So... why do you need a PPM tool (case in point eProject)?

• Basic premise of project management is that it takes two to tango. You and the client. Projects are a team effort. So therefore, the enabling project management technology needs to enable teamwork, to be collaborative, or get ready for communication problems.
• Timeline management is a critical success factor. eProject for example imports MS Project and shows a web gantt chart that is spectacular.
• Schedule management is critical. eProject has a monthly calendar to plan all project meets, appointments, etc... No more one-to-one communication.
• Document management is perhaps one of the critical issues of large scale projects. People send sensible information via e-mail just like they send viral videos. eProject allows for a central repository of documents with version control and notifications.
• E-mail is for notifications... not for management. eProject provides notifications in a user-defined workflow to be notified about appointments, document changes, etc...
• Progress reports should not require sweat. In eProject, everybody updates the % progress of their tasks and you get an automated. No more calling everyone to update the MS Project File or incorporating changes to a .mpp file which always works out wrong.
• MOST IMPORTANT... are custom apps. You will need to build small apps to store other project information. I have used it to build an improvement opportunities matrix, a stakeholder map, a communications plan and others. you can build any dynamic web app to store the information digitally on a web data base and not in a document that will limit you when delivering a large project.

There are many opportunities with owning value chains, of an economy in general or industry specific ones. In this case, won proposals usually turn into projects (in the service economy), and delivering projects also has a key set of elements that some people / organizations take very lightly.

Making the Gootube awards the new oscars

The Internet over time has proven the difference between most well designed, well built, etc.. and most widely used applications. This is a notion from way at the beginning when we were told (Michael Porter) that what mattered wasn't the technology, it was the use given to it.

The Youtube awards are the formal milestone that is testament to that affirmation. Video is a global phenomenon, so much that it warrants a complete award ceremony. It is most viewed videos and that is not exactly related to best filmed, directed, profuced, etc...

I had an idea to make the Oscar's more like the World Cup of soccer. Make it a truly global event. I doubt it will happen, no point in trying to change a 70+ year old legacy award show. They won't decide to change until it is to late.

But Google and Youtube can innovate here. Perhaps they can make the Video Awards a global event. Something massive. Something that is held annually across borders, in several countries and with several categories - expanded beyond those that exist now. It would draw millions of virwes, just what the Oscar's needsa. The post on the Oscar's might be insightful, and innovative if put into practice by an innovative company.

Salesforce + eProject = Deliveryforce

The service economy value chain has a common macro-process taxonomy.

It is esentially based on preparing, selling, and delivering work. This means that the first input of the process are prepared knowledge workers with adequate skills and competencies. Then, that knowledge put into working practice is used to sell services, through several techniques. Finally comes the delivery process, in which you have to plan, execute, control the engagements to deliver the work that you proposed.

Salesforce.com is a brilliant tool that enables de "Propose" process of this "service economy" value chain. They are the clear leader, perhaps with crmondemand.com (ex-siebel now Oracle) lagging behind.

But there is no clear leader that is enabling [online] the "Deliver" process. Mostly this has been done in a one-to-one manner through Microsoft Project, and then - in very sofisticated teams - using MS Project Server. But Project and Porfolio Management (PPM), structured in SaaS could be owned as a value chain by Salesforce.com

Salesforce could snap up eProject and own the service economy value chain in its main processes. eProject is a brilliant web-based PPM (Project Portfolio Management) tool for professional project managers. All web-enabled, all web, all the time. No software!. MS Project comes above on features in a web review, but the best timeline is no good if your customers can't se it, and the era of one-to-one collaboration (oxymoron there) is very much over.

I am currently an eProject customer, and it gets the job done. I am also an MS Project user (you can upload MS Project files to a web timeline in eProject).

It would be great to have a fluid transition between selling and delivering. Sales turn into projects and there could be an adequate hand-off between sales and production/operations teams. It would allow to really look at a client from a full view (just sales is not a full view) and establish a solid link between the importance of selling and delivering. After all, successful implementation/use is what earns you the right to the next sale/project.

More info on revies for PPM software: http://project-management-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Kiva + LinkedIn = Contribution

"Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back." Source: Kiva

LinkedIn, on the other side, is the premier site to register your professional network, keep track of business relationships, get business recommendations, create people-to-people connections that can bring new business; as well as provide other services as business answers.

Kiva is enabling a global objective, the need to contribute by way of lending to those in need.
LinkedIn is contributing to another global objective, the need to connect.

Kiva is basically creating visibility for a large set of small entrepreneurs that do not have access to capital, which in developed economies translates into small sums. This comes after largely know initiatives such as the Grameen Bank. The interesting bit is these people need the visibility because people are willing to contribute (lend in this case) but there is a need for more contribution platforms or mechanisms.

LinkedIn is interesting because it is mostly based on the concept of connection on a group level, but visibility on an individual level. People want their career and expertise to be visible, they strive to have several relationships, to the point where it exceeds those people you actually know, they strive to give expert answers to business questions posed, and ask for recommendations from others to certify their expertise.

Kiva could use LinkedIn

• By allowing LinkedIn people to lend money to entrepreneurs in regions of interest, areas of interest or others - linking Kiva into the profiles.
• By making loans a visible aspect of a persons LinkedIn profile. That is the amount that a person has lended and its global impact.
• By making contribution evident and showing members that contribute the most. The richest men in the world (Bill Gates + Warren Buffet) are now hip because they contribute, not because they can buy the world. You could have www.toplenders.com as they have www.toplinked.com
• By providing tools to show a global footprint of needs. Think a global map of where loans are required. If Kiva uses the crowd appropriately it could be satisfying capital needs in key areas of the world.
• LinkedIn could get "smaller" profiles in exchange. Is any profile to small in a world where we are all people? Although there is definitely a challenge in getting these entrepreneurs to use the net, and LinkedIn. US$ 100 laptop with the loan anyone? (that's another post... but every entrepreneur needs a laptop)

For Kiva this is a way to tap into a savvy business network willing to contribute and lend. The community is the judge, and the community is willing to judge how much people contribute. If [developed economy LinkedIn] people don´t mind, having not-developed economy people in their profile, its a way to start bridging the digital and economic divide. This is a practical way of putting capable individuals in touch with individuals in need.

the Virgin Atlantic Experience

During my holiday vacation I traveled from NYC to London on Virgin Atlantic. I did it in part because my younger brother wanted to fly the airline real bad. I observed something very interesting though...

Being interested in the "experience economy" it became obvious that Virgin Atlantic (VA) was definitely a player in this arena. And one of the key elements through which they create an entertaining, engaging, remarkable experience is by leveraging the power of communication.

During the VA flight, the flight manager constantly threw out fun lines that create a laughing emotion (what an experience is about). Here are some of the things he said (in a thick British accent):

• Ladies and gentleman, this is a non-smoking flight. If you do however decide to light one, we'll put you out on the wing where you can light it and you can smoke it!
• Ladies and gentleman, now that our flight has landed we do ask that some of our passengers stay behind to help out and clean the toilets. We do reserve this spot is reserved for those who stand up before the fasten seat belt sign is turned off.
• We are aware that you have the Internet and many choices and thank you deeply for flying Virgin Atlantic. The next time you feel like jetting off in a giant pressurized metal tube, please do think of us.
• Some sharp, smart passengers shave brought to my attention that our entertainment software is not up to date. I will make sure to have a serious chat with our engineers once we are on the ground and to point out that our passengers are much smarter than them. We do apologize and hope you enjoy the current movie catalog.

An experience requires:

• Communication that gives people value makes people want to be a part of the experience. There is no such thing as too much praise or saying nice things. Calling passengers smart, brilliant and other adjectives makes them feel great.
  • In contrast to the service economy where everyone is pointing out pains, problems, issues and other things that trigger buying reasons. In the experience economy, positive language is what feeds buying behavior perhaps?
• Nicely worded lines that make people laugh are key. This just takes practice and careful planning of what are the things you usually say (like saying that it's a non/smoking flight) and rewording them in a fun, engaging manner.
• Diversity is necessary - an international flight manager has a certain aura that makes him objective to the crowd. If it had been your local flight attendant telling you that the software is out of date, people would have been enraged.
• There are more practical ways of getting people to do things, like the toilet trick, instead of being coercive and setting limits. The limits become socially imposed.

Under Armour Burquini

UA is one of my most admired companies. I find their products amazing in every sense. In fact, their products basically saved me from freezing during a rock climbing trip to Greece with some very cold winds. I am a fierce supporter. Also, to me Kevin Plank's story sounds very similar to Phil Knight's (NIKE) story.

I have no doubt they will be a huge brand some day... perhaps surpassing Nike

I recently saw something that I found extremely interesting. It was as an NY Times article by Raymonnd Bonner about a Muslim teenager that has found a balance between her religious beliefs and the local Australian surfing culture. She developed a "Burquini" which is a suit that allows her to perform in the ocean in life saving situations and also maintain her body covered, to a similar (but functional) extent as a Burqua would.

Under Armour is a company that has the technology and innovation guts to create a UA Burquini. They can create something catered to a global taste and trend. They will probably need a Muslim ombudsman to find a perfect name, and some council on if this could trespass against anyone or any group. But they already have one of their product sponsors in Australia with this teenager. You only need one person, and one action (like the teenager in the article) to trigger a huge socially acceptable trend. (Thank you Malcom Gladwell).

I wonder if all sports brands (like UA) have to be function specific (soccer, basketball, etc...) or can be culture specific at some point.

With Muslims growing in number perhaps this is a significant market. The very least, it might be a good strategy to tap the Middle East region and step into it. They could eventually work to become a Shariah compliant company and even float some stock in a Mideast exchange... perhaps one day be part of the Dow 50 Arabian Titans.