Wrkng - Latest Comments

Re: Civic Startups (Web 2.0 Expo Slides)

Tung Ly — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:03:28 -0000

Great example, Nick. TurboTax has an advantage in that the service was already a business model. Also a serendipitous example, since I was dealing with issues with our sales tax collection site this past week. I like the idea of developing APIs to increase compliance as you have illustrated here by making it easier for citizens to access affordable services provided by third parties.

Re: Civic Startups (Web 2.0 Expo Slides)

Nick Grossman — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:08:52 -0000

In my mind, "build on the platform" basically means "be an app that consumes gov't data, and/or talks directly to a gov't API". So, that leaves the question of business model pretty open. TurboTax is a good example of an app that integrates w/ gov APIs -- charging for value-added services.

Re: Civic Startups (Web 2.0 Expo Slides)

Tung Ly — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:50:36 -0000

How do "Build on the Platform" model startups become sustainable, find a business model? Currently I only perceive two sources of revenue: screen time for advertising and marketing data. Am I blind?

Re: Big boy calling it quits.

Sumana Harihareswara — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:19:18 -0000

Thanks for the heads-up.

Re: Big boy calling it quits.

Nick Grossman — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 09:33:12 -0000

Thanks Walter! It's nice to hear that you're listening! I will definitely leave this site on for the long haul, and who knows -- maybe I'll pick it up again one day...

Re: Big boy calling it quits.

Walter — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:30:59 -0000

I subscribe to the RSS and enjoy the posts here. I appreciate the heads up that you are moving to Tumblr exclusively.

I've bookmarked/shared some posts here, so I hope those links will remain working, but I understand if you turn things off.See you over at the new feed!

Re: Civic Startups (Web 2.0 Expo Slides)

Nick Grossman — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 07:07:23 -0000

Thanks! That is cool. Would love to connect w/ your friend behind portlandoregon.gov.

(also I owe you an email!)

Re: Civic Startups (Web 2.0 Expo Slides)

Logan Kleier — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:46:48 -0000

Nick,

This is a great presentation. My friend who built portlandoregon.com (somewhat similar to everyblock) who's look for ways to leverage that with other cities.

Re: Civic Startups (Web 2.0 Expo Slides)

Nick Grossman — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:04:55 -0000

Thanks Tony! I don't believe the videos have been posted yet, but will go up sometime soon on the Web 2.0 Expo site. I'll leave a comment here when they do, so you should get an email.

Glad to hear you took something away from this!

Nick

Re: Civic Startups (Web 2.0 Expo Slides)

Tony Yet — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:51:14 -0000

hi Nick, I love what Open Plans is doing and your slides gave me many inspirations, even for China, where I am living in. I am wondering if there's video for your talk online?

Re: jPlayer sprites SVG

elliotd — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 02:29:48 -0000

saweet thanks!

Re: Wanted: An Open Commonplace Book

Robert Thuston — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:55:00 -0000

Thanks Nick.

Re: Wanted: An Open Commonplace Book

Nick Grossman — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:29:27 -0000

Thanks Robert. The one project that's out in the open is
http://findings.com I haven't used it yet, but it is addressing at least
one piece of this.

Re: Wanted: An Open Commonplace Book

Robert Thuston — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:15:07 -0000

Nick, I've enjoyed reading this, and am working on something similar to the commonplace book (initial phases). I read your comment on the AVC blog about "Frequency of posts" written several days ago, and it brought me here. In the post you mentioned knowing a couple of people working on solving this problem, and I was wondering if you could send me the contact info of one or two of them. Because I'd be interested to make contact with them. Best regards, rthuston at gmail dot com.

Re: jPlayer sprites SVG

trza — Mon, 23 May 2011 20:19:52 -0000

awesome! thanks :)

Re: New App Idea: Dude, Where’s My Car?

lazer ile epilasyon — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:18:43 -0000

this would be a very good man..

Re: The Enterprise End-Run

Nick Grossman — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:23:25 -0000

It's a little less clear-cut, but I do like the idea that end-runs (especially across an industry or sector) can actually be initiated through the (one of the) front door(s). That's sort of how it worked in the cases of GTFS and Open311.

Re: The Enterprise End-Run

Nick Grossman — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:22:04 -0000

Yeah, there's a measure of "ask for forgiveness not permission" here

Re: The Enterprise End-Run

Nick Grossman — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:20:27 -0000

Great question. Surely not always, but my working assumption is that a groundswell of actual use (assuming you can generate it!) is a powerful thing. My other working assumption is that this is perhaps more likely to work in difficult environments like gov't and education, where front-door change is that much more challenging.

Bryce Roberts actually wrote a post with a very similar point of view yesterday; worth a read: bryce.vc/post/4749320567/a-sto...

Re: The Enterprise End-Run

Scott Silverman — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 01:13:52 -0000

Great post, Nick. Much of the work Code for America is doing with the City of Boston is an end-run, although I never thought of it as such until I read your piece. We are coming in through the front door and doing our best to reach end-users directly. Hopefully they'll use and like our software, building a compelling case for broader distribution and city-wide adoption. It's fascinating, challenging, and hopefully effective.

Re: The Enterprise End-Run

@Slavamenn — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:11:16 -0000

Enterprise End-Run. Three words that brought clarity to Socrative's business model. The assumption here is that the enterprise listens to the employees. Do you believe that's the case in gov't and education? -Slava@socrative

Re: The Enterprise End-Run

Rulaszek — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 22:55:46 -0000

This can be very effective for internal tool and process development as well. The really diffiicult problems in an organization are often still there because their is some institutional barrier to getting it resourced. I have been most successful when I have solved a problem enough for individuals to see the potential and then assume ownership of the backlog and drive requirements, resourcing and adoption. they see themselves as the problem solver and I just become a facilitator.

Re: The Enterprise End-Run

Karl Fogel — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 22:24:03 -0000

As I was reading I was thinking three things:

1. "Amen."
2. "We should circulate this phrase because it perfectly encapulsates a key idea that many people are familiar with but didn't have a word for until now."
3. "This is exactly how open source has always gotten in the door!"

So you can imagine how I smiled when I got to the section where you point to Open Source as the classic example :-).

Re: The Wheels on the Bus…

Ed — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:05:57 -0000

Hi Nick'

I'm proud of you.

Your Dad

Re: jPlayer sprites SVG

Nick Grossman — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:32:48 -0000

You're welcome! Glad you were able to use it.