http://www.danhou.com Random Ruminations Fri, 17 Apr 2009 06:09:56 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en There's a lot of buzz these days about viral loops, and how critical they can be to the success of certain startups.  It's one thing to understand the concept in theory.  It's quite another to see miniature case studies of successful user flows laid out in an easy to consume ... http://www.danhou.com/2009/04/16/give-your-users-a-cold/ For the past year, I've been experimenting with, starting and running a few online small businesses.  The most recent is a startup guide that I co-authored with my fellow Wharton alumni and former Microsoft colleague Peter Burchhardt. I'm extremely pleased with the way Fundamentals for Founders: A Practical Guide to Kick-Starting ... http://www.danhou.com/2009/04/15/book-launch-guide-for-entrepreneurs/ Nihaar over at Youlicit recently shared an insightful finite state machine that describes how users interact with a new product. It's refreshing to see such a methodical approach, yet it's not enough to have a mental model. I was curious to see what practical implications could be derived ... http://www.danhou.com/2008/11/03/finding-focus/ In most of the other countries that we've been to, it was either relatively easy to tour a city on foot or taxis were suitably cheap.  Unfortunately, South Africa is both sprawling and comparatively expensive and now that we've been living here, our transportation standards have changed.  I'm no longer ... http://www.danhou.com/2008/10/20/ballad-of-the-beast/ Sarah and I have had made some incredibly rewarding side trips to mesmerizing Zambia and relaxing Mozambique.  We've thoroughly explored Victoria Falls, swimming on the very edge of the falls and rafting through the violent churn of the Zambezi at its base.  I've watched the sky light up in brilliant ... http://www.danhou.com/2008/09/23/victoria-fallin/