Ask Gnomedex: What do YOU want to see from Intel?

Posted on by

Chris Messina and Tara Hunt are on stage at Gnomedex, talking about “think small, do it for the love” – they ran through their presentation in silence. The room was totally quiet, reading along. It was powerful. I hope they make the preso available – it was full of great principles, and I’d love to show it to as many people inside Intel as I can – think small, fail cheaply and often, redefine success, do it for the love, etc. You don’t have to be the 800 pound gorilla to be successful, and happy.

Chris Messina and Tara Hunt
I work for an 800 pound gorilla (Intel). I believe strongly in the “do it for the love” way of doing things (Gnomedex, 30Boxes, Dogster, etc.), and there are other people inside Intel who feel the same way. I asked a question of Chris and Tara, and especially of the community in the room and beyond: what do they want to see Intel do that would delight them in the same way? Here’s what they said:

  • It’s in the details. Don’t overlook the little things.
  • Marc Canter said that he sees Intel Capital make bad multibilliondollar investments (he said when he sees Intel Capital fund a company, he knows it’s going to die). Instead, take those billions of dollars, and make hundreds of smaller $100,000 investments in small companies and people. Talk to Marc, Dave Winer, et al to see what needs to be fostered, what’s going to be important.
  • WiFinder.com was going to go under, but they found that Intel CPC ads keep it profitable. Because of Intel’s interest in WiFi, and their advertising dollars, they kept this service alive, indirectly. When there’s a marketing effort that Intel cares about, we should create an easier to access sponsoring program for small sites, and do it where Google isn’t skimming off the top.
  • BigCos are an isolated environment – find ways to get into a space together with the community.
  • Form relationships. Don’t come up with a “strategy” – go out there and be in the community. Use your real email address, not something faceless.
  • Can a big company buy the power of small teams in a small box? Maybe, maybe not. But they can help fund small teams. Provide a room, funding, facilitate ideas in the community.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU all for the responses! I really appreciate it. It gives me lots to think on, and work on, and talk about, and I’m going to take this back inside the mothership, and start spreading it around. I want to see this kind of thing come into reality, and I really believe it can happen.

If you have more ideas or feedback you’d like to share, please feel free to email me at jabancroft@gmail.com, or post a comment here.

You guys rock! This is exactly why I love the community, and Gnomedex. Thanks again! :-)

  • http://pigpog.com/taxonomy/term/220/0 Creative Living | PigPog

    Unusual Tactics Josh was at Gnomedex 2006, and witnessed an unusual presentation from Tara Hunt and Chris Messina – they didn’t speak at all. I’m not quite sure how that worked, but he says “It was powerful.”

  • http://www.horsepigcow.com/2006/07/think-small-slide-show.html ::HorsePigCow:: marketing uncommon »

    exactly what we were going to talk about. We wanted it to be positive…hopeful…upbeat…and inspiring. We decided to just run the slideshow in silence so everyone could absorb it and think about it before we started blathering on. The format was quite well-recieved. I think what the silent reading did was made everyone look up from their computers and read and absorb. The message was simple: think small, act passionately, collaborate…the discussion that ensued was great. Entrepreneurs talking about how

  • http://aceremarks.tumblr.com/post/9844564 Remarks on the World

    Unusual Tactics Josh was at Gnomedex 2006, and witnessed an unusual presentation from Tara Hunt and Chris Messina – theydidn’t speak at all. He says “It was powerful.” You can see for yourself – there’s a video of the ‘talk’.

  • http://factoryjoe.com/blog/2006/07/01/thinking-small/ Thinking Small at FactoryCity

    [...] Reviews seemed to be pretty positive about our session, Think Small, which Kosso did a great job filming (yay for vlogging!). [...]

  • http://blendingthemix.com Paul Fabretti

    I have been a big follower of the Pinko community “start it small, nurture it and let it grow” movement and I am delighted to see someone from such a big organisation as Intel, consider that there may be another way!

    Maybe you could do for Intel what Bob Scoble did for Microsoft?!

  • http://www.tinyscreenfuls.com Josh Bancroft

    Thanks, Paul. That’s exactly what I’d like to do! :-)

  • http://www.tinyscreenfuls.com/2006/07/links-for-2006-07-06/ TinyScreenfuls.com » links for 2006-07-06

    [...] Ask Gnomedex: What do YOU want to see from Intel ? Got something you’d like to see Intel do in the new web world? Let me know! (tags: intel gnomedex thinksmall) [...]

  • http://montblancpens.freehostia.com/blog/2007/05/06/giving-more-engaging-presentations/ Mont Blanc Pens » Blog Archive » Giving More Engaging Presentations

    [...] was at Gnomedex 2006, and witnessed an unusual presentation from Tara Hunt and Chris Messina – they didn’t speak at all. He says “It was powerful.” You can see for yourself – there’s a video of the [...]

  • http://michaelrandall.co.uk/post/9478166/giving-more-engaging-presentations Michael Randall

    [...] was at Gnomedex 2006, and witnessed an unusual presentation from Tara Hunt and Chris Messina – they didn’t speak at all. He says “It was powerful.” You can see for yourself – there’s a video of the [...]