A gold bubble starting to show signs of deflating?

After all, historically, gold has been anything but a safe investment. Sometimes it yields big gains, as it did in the late 1970s and again between 2001 and 2011. But that 1970s run-up was followed by an epic plunge, with the real value of gold falling by more than two-thirds.

An interesting model for a food delivery service

• Taste test the product
• Ask customers to pre-order their meals by 10:30 to guage demand.
• Ask restaurants to prepare the orders during down periods.
• Pre-negotiate rates and sell product through a retail model.
• Track everything. 
• Provide customers with good data on where there food is in the process.

• textbooks at least — are not always available in digital format.
• it’s still not quite as easy to mark up a digital text as it is a printed one. And oftentimes the content in these books is “locked down,” so students can’t share their notes or share their books with another.
• According to the eBrary survey, “the vast majority of students would choose electronic over print if it were available and if better tools along with fewer restrictions were offered.”
• That sharing aspect is important. Students want to be able to utilize social media as they do their reading and research, and according to those surveyed by eBrary, they want their textbooks integrated with social tools.
• But students also share their textbooks because they are so incredibly expensive. And as the digital rights management (DRM) restrictions on e-books makes lending someone your copy difficult if not impossible, students are likely steering away from e-books because they simply don’t work for them — practically or economically. 

A great overview on optimizing Amazon Marketplace

I agree with 5 of the 7 which are:

1. Be sure the cost is clearly visible early and often to avoid surprises.
2. Create the opportunity to check out as a guest, while offering registration as an option for future coupons and promotions.
3. Include privacy and trust language next to any fields asking for personal data.
4.  Clearly state return policies and provide several ways customers can reach you, including a phone number, email and postal address.
5. Provide multiple payment options

Perhaps a little more useful than the last list. :)

I finally got around to looking for chrome pluggins. Here is what I found. 

1. Stop “Selling” 
2. make sure there’s a middle option available
3. Provide Package Deals
4. Make a Special Offer
5. Break Your Product Down into Components 

A few fun facts:

Spend every dollar like it is your last.

The CEO of a startup must, must, must be the product manager. He/she must own the functional user experience.

Stack rank your features.  No two features are ever created equal.  You can’t do everything all at once.  Force prioritization.

The only thing that matters is how good your product is.  All the rest is noise.

The only judge of how good your product is is how much your users use it.

Most people really only heavily use about 5 to 7 services.  If you want to be an important product and a big business, you will need to figure out how to fit into one of those 5 to 7 services, which means capturing your user’s fascination, enthusiasm, and trust.  You need to give your users a real reason to add you into their time.

Work with people who are smarter than you at certain things

Work with people who argue with you and tell you no.

You’re never as right as you think you are. 

Choose your investors based on who you want to work with, be friends with, and get advice from.

Make sure your personal business goals are aligned with the goals of your investors.  The business will only succeed if you are motivated.  Investors can’t force the business to succeed.  And they certainly can’t force a CEO to care.

Hang a lantern on your hangups.

Mature, but don’t grow up

Make mistakes, but learn from them.  I’ve made hundreds.