Brad Barrish

Without a doubt, the 179 SEC page filing is a must-read for ecommerce investors and entrepreneurs everywhere. The reason: on one extreme it highlights how well they have executed on an incredibly tough business in just four short years, going from a zero to $600 million in annual sales (my estimates for 2013). On the other extreme, they have limited profits and have lost $56 million to get to this point in their life-cycle. In between, there is a ton of interesting and pertinent information.

My reaction to Zulily’s IPO filing and Flash Sales explained | #LongLA

At a minimum, this blog post is must-read.

(via gregcohn)

When I was a kid back in the ’70s and ’80s I was really into hi-fi systems. I couldn’t afford much gear, but I could borrow copies of The Absolute Sound and read them cover-to-cover. In those days the general wisdom was to buy an amplifier with way more power than you could possibly ever use, because it would sound great at low and normal volumes.

That wisdom stuck in my head, and I think it applies to software

inessential.com: Why Care About 30,000 Notes?

Fraser Speirs - Blog - Battle: Los Angeles

Fraser Speirs - Blog - Battle: Los Angeles

The point is that this is a programme of culture change, not just technical change. Some may criticise this as “giving out candy” in school but people are not rational and children doubly so. You can enforce obedience through technical means or you can use all the carrots, sticks, honey, sweets, jokes, cajoling and nudging that real, sustainable cultural shifts require to move your organisation to a better place.