Blog - Ben Guttmann

The season of sharing… content

Milestones make us reflective. The “homo economicus,” a figurative human that is only interested in purely rational action would say that January 1 and December 31 are no more different from each other than May 12 and May 13. The digit at the end of the year shouldn’t make a difference – but it does. Thankfully, we’re irrational creatures by nature.

December 2, 2022

•

2022's little bits of tech that I’m thankful for

It’s a season of giving thanks, and as I first did a few years ago, I’m looking around at my digital life for a few things to be thankful for in 2022. It’s been a tumultuous year in technology and culture (but then again, when was the last time it wasn’t?), but in the midst of all of that I’m grateful for these little bits of creativity and innovation.

November 22, 2022

•

Netflix and "Johnny Appleseed" technology revolutions

Like Johnny Appleseed transforming communities across the country by plopping down orchards along his path, technology swept through the media industry, changed everything about the landscape, and left. In the years since, pretty much every media company threw together their own streamer. And now, the difference is no longer the technology, it’s the content.

November 8, 2022

•

Um, so what the hell is going on?

The advice I would give to either young people looking to start a business for the past ten years is now probably wrong. This was it: The world doesn’t really need another photo app or social network. But as we're seeing with Musk and Twitter, maybe that insight doesn't hold up so well anymore.

November 2, 2022

•

AT&T predicted the future, but they couldn’t win it

In 1993, telecom giant AT&T hit the airwaves with a branding campaign that predicted the next 30 years of progress – all set to some sweet 90s beats and the soothing sounds of Tom Selleck’s narration. In a series of commercials and other ads, company asked a bunch of hypothetical “have you ever…” questions, leading up to the single answer for all of them: you will.

October 26, 2022

•

The unscientific state of social media, according a bunch of 21 year old students

Last night, I ran one of my favorite classes of the semester – the focus group. After a couple months of me doing most of the talking, in this lesson we turn things around and I spend an hour and change asking the students questions about how they use social media, their phones, and everything else we talk about in our course. Increasingly, the results have been putting me in my place.

October 18, 2022

•

Don't be an ultracrepidarian

If you want a list of the smartest people in history, while not perfect, the Nobel list is a pretty good place to start. But, as Isaac Newton (who predated the prizes by a couple centuries) would instruct us, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And the dark, or at least annoying, side of this prize is mockingly known as “Nobel disease.”

October 13, 2022

•

Five rules for doing work in exchange for equity

As I’ve spoken to friends that have also run marketing agencies and development shops, or even law firms and lobbying groups, there is one tempting idea that everybody considers at some point in their journey: doing work for equity. Instead of charging a client $5,000 or $500,000, what if you did the work for “free” as an investment and get a pile of stock in return?

October 10, 2022

•

Podcasting is in a pretty weird place right now

If you haven’t done so recently, take a quick look at the top podcast charts. There are basically just three things that make up the first few dozen spots: Murder or other gruesome crimes, politics and news, and guys talking. After a few years of what felt like a constant stream of blockbuster podcasts, starting with "Serial," the industry is in a bit of a funk – sorta.

October 6, 2022

•

The curse of pseudo-asynchronous communications

The most terrifying sound in the world isn’t the roar of some ferocious predator or the crash of a thunderous wave. It’s a “knock brush.” What the hell is a knock brush? If you’ve worked on any team in the past five years, it will likely send a shiver up your spine. The dreaded knock brush is the default notification sound on Slack. Bum bum tsk.

October 3, 2022

•

Sign-up for my free 3 Simple Things newsletter.

Each Tuesday, I’ll send you one thing from me, one link from somebody else, and one idea to think about. That's it.

Got it. You're on the list. 🍻

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Thoughts.