Vote: Who Pulled Off the Most Awesome Viral Stunt of the Year?

AdAge asks who pulled off the most awesome viral stunt of the year.

I picked the PepsiMax — with a huge salute to Travis Okulski for allowing the pee-in-your-pants video to be aired by Pepsi. I don’t think I would have kept my cool, and continued calling the cab driver “Sir” throughout … and Jeff Gorden? He has a career in movies.

But also would loved to have picked Amazon. The Amazon Air Prime video totally got the nod for starting conversations in the “real” world … I can’t tell you how many people talked to me about this video when it came out. Was it real? Could it be done? Was Amazon really going to get into this business? Do I really need things in 30 minutes? What do I need in 30 minutes? Chocolate? Condoms? Cheez-its? The end result was lots of thoughts about how Amazon was ‘owning it’ in online delivery, and probably would own the future too. Good for Amazon.

The Volvo Truck video made me cringe. Ugh. I don’t like thinking about Van Damme’s crotch. And I’m really not in the business for Volvo Trucks anyway, and never will be.

Photoshop Live was cute, but did it really show me what was so cool about Photoshop? No. It just made me realize I probably couldn’t do any of those features as well as the bloke in the van with the pen tablet. And I went to art school. So I felt disconnected.

WestJet? Boring. Any video that starts with that faux Father Christmas voice (I’m English. He’s not Santa Claus) and sounds like “Twas the Night Before Christmas” will make me head for the hills.

Walking to work life balance — thanks #FitBit, #Audible, #Withings, and #LoseIt

At Friend2Friend we’re shortly to be launching a very complex LinkedIn API integration on behalf of LinkedIn and Samsung, in our capacity as a leading Certified Developer Partner. Called “How Do You Match Up,” the campaign is designed to build awareness for the Samsung Knox phone.

Samsung "How Do You Match Up"
Samsung “How Do You Match Up”

One of the actions in the app is to ask visitors for tips on how they manage work/life balance. Presumably this aligns with the brand messaging for the Knox phone, which works as a personal and a work phone.  In testing the app, I naturally had to think of an answer, and that got me to appreciate the way technology has helped in whole new ways for me this year.

I was an early adopter of the #FitBit. I bought one almost as soon as it came out, and happily fell in and out of activity with it, regularly reaching 10,000 steps a day. But I did it alone.fitbit

2014 welcomed a whole new FitBit regimen.  With a small group of friends and family, I am now part of a FitBit ladder, where we regularly Taunt and Cheer who is at the top of the weekly walking list.  Having the FitBit, in combination with the ladder, has wholly changed my approach to my day. Small changes, like parking further away and always taking the stairs. One of our ladder actually empties the dishwasher one item at a time to get more steps….and wears it on her bath towel so as not to miss early morning steps. That’s some psychology at work.

But it has also encouraged huge changes, like my daily commute is now two hours of walking at what has been referred to as “a jaunty pace” for the round trip between home and Caltrain. At first this was a challenge, but now less so. I’ve discovered the family can wait an extra hour until I get home for me to cook dinner. And, actually, they can also shop well under instructions, and cook, so it’s even ready when I get home.

It’s all about psychology.  It’s amazing the difference ‘counting’ makes. And counting with friends is so much more fun. When I have done a studly 20,000 steps a day, I am cock-a-hoop. No doubt irritatingly so.

This has all added up to a huge difference in balancing work and life.  Instead of going to the gym, I walk and listen to books. I think about the day, and my plans. I make phone calls. I schedule appointments. I think of ideas for what to do this summer with the family. And I delegate parts of the running of the family to my capable teenagers. In combination with Audible’s impressive range of books, the walks are both invigorating for the mind, and the body. Finding the time is fun and welcome. And, finally, having linked together FitBit’s app with the Withings scale and LoseIt, I’ve also said goodbye to 15lbs since January.

This is wearable tech at its best.

Should you start a business with a friend? Or a family member?

This is a tough one, and one I’ve felt personally. Multiple times.  Both as an observer. And as a startup founder. Today’s Pando “Startups anonymous” tells a sad story. 

But here’s the problem: in the Valley, friends are co-workers. Co-workers are friends. We meet after work. We talk about work. All the time. Work is our passion. It consumes us. And we gravitate towards partners and friends who feel the same way. It’s what makes the Valley so incredibly powerful. Many of today’s tech startups get kicked off in Dorm Rooms. Don’t tell me those startup founders aren’t friends.

It’s often simply unrealistic to do it any other way.

It’s hard to start a company with someone you don’t know well, and trust. Those who qualify are usually your friends/partners/family.  So either you go it alone, or you do it with a friend, life partner, and/or family member. Or sometimes someone who is all three!

So given that reality, what is a startup founder to do?

Bring in a great team as quickly as possible. Get a great board of advisors who are mature, experienced, and not close friends, family members or life partners. Of anyone. Share the responsibility beyond the friend/partner/family member. Find time to keep the relationship solid outside work. Openly discuss difficulties the moment they appear. Be honest. Be human. Be kind. It can be done.