Michael Richard Murphy

Try What If Instead of If Only

Michael Richard Murphy — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:34:40 +0000

An entrepreneur recently posed a question to a group I’m a part of and asked, “What is <insert his city> missing?” The issue is that while he has had some successful ventures, success in his city is apparently not the norm. Not for startups anyway. To be honest, I’m not sure success is the norm for startups anywhere but there’s no denying certain areas of the country seem to have more than their fair share of it. While my city, Rochester, is not his city, I think there are some aspects which are very similar and this is a legitimate question if you live anywhere other than New York City, Boulder or Silicon Valley.

I’ve asked myself the same question several times also, and chatted and met extensively with others to try to figure out what’s missing here. We’re pretty smart people and there’s no shortage of great ideas but inevitably the ifs always work their way into the conversation:

If only Rochester/Buffalo/whatever had investors, we could get companies off the ground.
If only we had a density of other entrepreneurs/mentors/whatever that we could rely on for support.
If only we had some examples of success we could use to inspire others to entrepreneurship.
I could get started on my idea if I knew a developer/designer/whatever.
I could focus on my idea if I didn’t have a full-time job/family/whatever.

What’s that saying about wishing in one hand and something in the other…? While I agree that it would be nice if our community had all those things, the fact of the matter is that there are some it doesn’t. And it won’t. Until somebody stops wishing it would and actually does something about it.

What if, in place of saying if only, we asked what if instead? And then we tried to find out.

Even The Ordinary Has Value

Michael Richard Murphy — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:44:27 +0000

This time of year there’s a lot of resolution-themed updates and articles flying around. And I’m always all for it. One I shared recently was advice for 20-somethings that ranged from backing up your hard drive to becoming more politically informed. I shared it with my network with a note that those tips aren’t just for 20-somethings. Then I moved on with my life. As you do. Just another status update.

That was a few days ago but made me think of it recently. So I revisited it. The first piece of advice was this:

Before you status update, Tweet, Tumble or Instagram, pause and say to yourself, “is it entirely necessary that I share this morsel of thought with my entire social network?”and if the answer is not, “yes, I absolutely must,” then step away from the Internet.

At first I was in wholehearted agreement. Most people don’t want to read about what the people in their various networks have for breakfast every morning (or worse). Or about all their comings and goings (thanks Foursquare). But then I thought about some of my interactions from the last few days.

Yesterday I had a nice conversation with someone on Twitter, yes it can happen, because I tweeted the album I happened to be listening to at the time. Up to that point, we both followed one another, I’m not sure for how long, but had never actually interacted. We’ve chatted regularly since then.

A while ago I got a lot of responses when I posted a picture of my grandfather’s straight razor, which I had restored, and said I was going to try shaving with it. Not exactly earth shattering news but it sparked a lot of great conversation including some about tradition.

My point is that most people probably aren’t interested in what I’m listening to or what kind of razor I use to shave with. But you never know when something simple like that is going to resonate with someone. And the resulting conversation strengthens that relationship a little bit.

Isn’t being social what social media is about after all?

Good Spaces and Third Rooms

Michael Richard Murphy — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:29:47 +0000

I was introduced to the idea of good spaces and third rooms a few weeks ago during a talk at TEDxBuffalo and I’ve been fascinated by the concept ever since. I think it stuck with me because it finally provided a name for a concept I had been thinking about but couldn’t really identify.

Ethan Cox gave a talk called Embeer Your City for Fun & Profit, about the role of beer as well as micro and craft breweries in community building. The entire speech is worth watching, but what got me excited is about 7 minutes and 50 seconds into the video.

Cox said people spend most of their time in one of three “rooms”: their home, their work and a third room for cultural exchange. Cafes, barbershops, and community centers can all function as third rooms, but ideally a third room is any neutral space where “…people get together and create culture.”

You’ll see examples of it in any thriving arts or music community where there is a lot of crossover and collaboration among members. Substitute culture for companies or products and you could be talking about our local startup or entrepreneurial community.

For instance, Coworking Rochester, is doing a great job of being the technology community’s de facto third room. It’s a place where locals can gather, work, socialize and exchange ideas. The benefit of this type of gathering place are the partnerships it fosters.

Paul Graham recently wrote an article on a similar topic called Why Startup Hubs Work. The question he was trying to answer is, Why do certain communities, like Silicon Valley, seem predisposed to host a seemingly disproportionate number of startup companies?

He thinks there are three main reasons for this. Environment, chance, and numbers. He provides a pretty good explanation of how each contributes to Silicon Valley’s success.

First, they have an environment that almost actively encourages creating startups. In Silicon Valley, creating and being involved in a startup is fashionable. In other communities around the country, saying you left a full-time job to start a company is almost synonymous with, “I am unemployed.”

The sad reality is that most new companies fail. Even with all the moving pieces perfectly aligned, success still involves an element of luck and being in the right place at the right time.

Can you get introduced to the investor with the money to make your idea a reality? What are the odds that you will randomly meet someone who has worked on, and solved the exact problem you didn’t even know you had yet? That’s chance.

As the undisputed king of startup communities, Silicon Valley attracts the kind of numbers that make those chance encounters much more common. The sheer number of investors, technical folks and idea people in Silicon Valley loads the dice a little in success’ favor.

Based on those key ingredients, I’d say it sounds like Silicon Valley has somehow managed to create a community-sized third room.

It’s a city that supports the visions of its members and has adequate resources to help them make those visions a reality. So now the big question is, how do we create those good spaces and third rooms in Rochester? I have some ideas and I’ve written about them here in my Democrat and Chronicle blog column.

I’d love to hear about the third rooms in your community? How were they created?

Fake It ‘Til You Make It

Michael Richard Murphy — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:05:06 +0000

We’ve all heard that catchphrase and frankly, I think it gets a bad rap. Maybe it’s because when the word ‘fake’ is applied to things it usually means a cheap or low quality knockoff. And fake people are phony or superficial. So fake as a descriptor isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.

I think that’s missing the point though. There was a theory developed and popularized by Dr. Anders Ericsson that suggests it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become expert at something. That’s almost five years of full-time work. Achieving expertise is a long term commitment. So what does that process look like?

The statue David wasn’t Michelangelo’s first attempt at sculpture. His father owned a marble quarry and he spent extended periods of his early life living with a stonecutter. He went on to study sculpture under di Giovanni, another famous sculptor in his time.

Aside from a brief history lesson, the point is that David didn’t happen overnight. In fact the statue itself took over two years to carve. In order to achieve that level of skill, Michelangelo devoted himself to it. He lived and breathed it. He studied with the masters of his time. He learned their technique. And he copied it. Yes, copied it.

“Fake it ‘til you make it” isn’t supposed to be about being phony or pretending to be something that you’re not. It’s about observing people who are expert at something or who have traits or achievements you admire. Then reproducing the techniques and habits they’ve developed that got them there. Copy the experts until you know the ins and outs. Then you can use that understanding to find your voice and make the work your own. And there’s nothing fake about that.

The Life of a Redesign Project. Part 1: First Contact

Michael Richard Murphy — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:13:02 +0000

This is part one of a series on the project lifecycle for a typical website redesign. Here is the intro and a little background on the idea.

The first phase of any of my projects begins after the initial contact with a prospective client. We’ve talked (depending on geography, either by meeting in person or conversations via phone, instant message, Skype, etc) and they’ve expressed an interest in my services. Usually I try to get as much detail about the project as possible during this interaction. First, I want to qualify them according to a few criteria: is it the type of work I do? Does the expected start time and duration fit into my workload? Is their budget reasonable and does it align with my rates?

Sometimes at this point I find out the client doesn’t have a budget, or they’re reluctant to tell me what it is. This isn’t always a deal breaker, but it could be a warning sign. No budget could mean a few things:

The client isn’t familiar enough with the process to have even a rough idea of what things cost – not a huge deal but will probably require a little extra hand holding throughout the process.
They haven’t thought enough about the project. This can make extra work for me in the long run. If the client can’t clearly define exactly what they want, I’m trying to hit a moving target. It will be particularly important to nail down, and agree to, specific requirements before beginning. Otherwise these types of projects tend to get larger and larger (scope creep). Again, not a deal breaker but it will be important to keep things on track. I have a questionnaire that I use to try to get clients thinking more in-depth about their project.
If they have a budget but won’t disclose it, they’re probably shopping around by price. If I can determine that’s the case, I usually say “thanks but no thanks” and move on. I’m not trying to position myself as the lowest cost provider so it’ll likely be a waste of time. I can spend hours researching solutions and putting together a proposal, only to get it tossed out if I’m not cheapest.

What They Really Need, Not Just Want

Once I know my skills, availability, and rates fit with the prospect’s general requirements, it’s time to get into more detail. Prior to writing a proposal, I give my prospective client a copy of this web design project kick-off questionnaire.

The questionnaire is a living document that gets edited and the questions asked are specific to each client’s project. They make a good starting point to get them thinking about their project in terms they can more easily communicate to the developer. What they tell me helps me need their needs better. For example: if the client anticipates that their initial content will quickly be outdated or needs frequent updates, my solution should probably include the ability to modify that content.

Sometimes clients come to me with very specific requests. They saw something somewhere and really liked it, their competitors have it so they need it, or they read or heard that technology X is “really hot right now”. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons behind these requests but other times what they think they want isn’t what they actually need to solve their real problem. The questionnaire can help me get to the bottom of that, uncover their goals, and tailor a solution to meet those goals. Not just keep up with trends and fads.

Eating My Own Dog Food

If you’ve ever heard that saying, then you know it’s a good idea to use your own products and services to show clients what you can do. That’s one reason why I’m keeping this journal of my own redesign. When the series is complete, I’ll have documented my process and have a much needed redesign of this site. The next post will cover my answers to the questionnaire and nail down requirements necessary for the proposal.

Additional Resources

Paul Boag from the UK firm Headscape has some excellent articles on the web development process and getting the most from the client and designer/developer relationship:

My kick-off questionnaire is based on the Freelance Switch article How to Extract the Facts with a Web Design Client Questionnaire. Martha’s excellent post contains some additional questions as well as explanations of the relevance and importance of each answer.

The Smile Exchange

Michael Richard Murphy — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:02:13 +0000

The Smile Exchange is the brainchild of Mark Colgan as a way to “pay-it-forward”; recognizing people for their good deeds and inspiring others.

James from House of Bogue originally approached me about developing the project after he signed on to do the design. The idea behind The Smile Exchange sounded interesting to me. It certainly wasn’t your average brochure-ware site, and I knew that the features and functionality they wanted would take me a little outside of my comfort zone and challenge me. So of course I said yes.

Because of the completely voluntary nature of the site, we knew we needed to eliminate as many barriers to entry as possible. With that in mind, Facebook users can connect with one button click and be interacting with the community in seconds. Registration for non-Facebookers was pared down to just the essentials: username, email and password.

While Mark has lots of plans for growing The Smile Exchange, the initial release is all about getting the basics right. The design and functionality focuses specifically on the most important aspect: to make writing and sharing updates as simple as possible. Easy ability to share updates on Facebook and Twitter help spread the word and the ability for smile traders (members) to connect and share with one another helps build a sense of community. We’ll use member feedback to determine where things go from here.

Consider joining and posting a good deed to inspire others or just browse and be inspired yourself.

The Cobbler’s Children Have No Shoes

Michael Richard Murphy — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:07:40 +0000

I think “the cobbler’s children have no shoes” is a pretty common saying regardless of what field you’re in. If it doesn’t sound familiar, it’s a rough translation of a Spanish proverb. The idea is that someone with a specific skill is often too busy assisting others that their own affairs go unattended.

Maybe it’s a designer’s attention to detail/quest for perfection or the rapidly changing nature of technology and trends but it’s always seemed particularly apt for web designers. We regularly complete (hopefully) amazing client work while our own websites become outdated and neglected. I know I’ve spent weeks redesigning my own website, working in fits and bursts between paying client work, only to get bored or tired of what I’ve done before I even get around to implementing it. Likewise, I know that I should be creating content for my own site while helping others find their voice. But it just doesn’t seem to happen that way.

Matt Kersley has an interesting solution to this dilemma. He’s published an undesigned version of his site with the idea that as a web designer, he’s now represented online, very publicly, by a crap site (his words, not mine). And that will sufficiently motivate him to finish as soon as possible.

Although I’m not necessarily as brave as Matt, the idea did inspire me. Of course, instead of just copying a great idea, I needed a little twist to make it my own. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and write about it as well. It sounded like a good opportunity to educate potential clients on my process and maybe get some feedback from others on how/why they do things differently. At the end of the project, I should have the redesign I’ve needed for a while and hopefully some interesting content as well. Win-win.

I expect the process, and subsequent posts, to cover some of the following topics: requirements gathering (what are my goals for the redesign? What do I need to do differently this time to accomplish them? What needs to be added, removed, or changed?), the design process (how will the site look and act to accomplish the goals and meet the requirements we set?), prototyping and implementation (the actual building/development), feedback and follow-up (what metrics for success did we decide on in the requirements phase? What are the results? Did the redesign accomplish our goals?).

Broken Windows

Michael Richard Murphy — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:14:52 +0000

I first heard about broken windows in Paul Graham’s book Hackers and Painters. Broken windows was originally a criminology theory along the lines that obvious neglect and disorder breeds more neglect and disorder. We’ve all seen abandoned buildings full of broken windows. They didn’t start out that way. Most people would be reluctant to throw the stone that breaks the first window. But once one or two are broken, and not replaced, that apparent apathy makes it easier to continue the trend. It slowly erodes that “barrier to entry”. People who wouldn’t ordinarily do something like that possibly consider it because, after all, it’s obvious that nobody cares. Before you know it, all the windows are broken.

The photo above was taken over two years ago but that building still looked the same when I ran by this morning. It’s an apartment complex near my home and I pass by it regularly. Every time I do, I think of broken windows. It’s not exactly the same idea but I think it’s pretty close.

It’s possible that the apartments inside are amazing and that the building is otherwise well kept. Other than the sign, the outside of the building makes it difficult to tell either way. It’s pretty nondescript; not very fancy but not in obvious disrepair either. Except for the sign.

But I think that sign is symbolic. It’s the face the world sees. It’s that building’s “brand”. And it’s not very inviting. If the management company is sloppy and lazy about maintaining that, I can’t imagine how they conduct the rest of their business. Apartments in that building could rival those in Trump Tower. But I wonder how many people, like me, will never walk in the door and find out. Just because of the message that sign sends. I don’t know how much it would cost to repair it but I can’t imagine it’s more than the negative impression it makes on everyone who passes by every hour of every day.

I think we all have broken windows in our personal and professional lives. Little things we could do differently that have the potential to make big differences for us. And the way people perceive us. I know I can work on being more responsive to email and phone calls from potential clients. It probably sends the message that I’m a flake or that I don’t care about their business. In reality, as a solo employee, I sometimes get busy working on a current project and don’t spend as much time thinking about or planning for the next one. But that’s a lame excuse and I need to be better about it.

What are the broken windows in your life? Is there anything you’re doing, or not doing, that sends a message not consistent with how you’d like to be thought of? What can you do about it?

Follow Friday – April 22, 2011

Michael Richard Murphy — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:23:38 +0000

Fresh from a BarCamp Rochester event last weekend, this Follow Friday edition is very tech/startup themed. There are a lot of great people and organizations in this area working very hard to make this a great place to start a business and life. Below are just a few that I’ve met in the last week or so. I know there are more out there so please don’t hesitate to share their names with me so we can meet!

UNY Startups (@UNYStartups)
Julian Baldwin only founded UNY Startups about a month ago, but it’s been a busy month and he’s hit up conferences and seminars all over Upstate NY since. I met him recently at a BarCamp Rochester event and we’ve had a chance to chat a little bit since then. His passion for startups and entrepreneurship is evident and UNY Startups is all about fostering communication and cooperation between groups to reinforce the entrepreneurial spirit in Upstate NY. He’s working very hard at consolidating information on all the tech/startup related events being put on by different groups across the region so be sure to follow them for a convenient place to get the scoop on what’s going on in your city.

Dan Magnuszewski (@magnachef)
Dan and I have been following each other on Twitter for a while but only got a chance to meet in real life this past weekend at BarCamp, which he and some fellow Buffalonians drove in to attend. Dan is the Chief Data Architect for startup My Favorites, a great way to share your favorite things with friends. In his “spare” time, Dan works tirelessly on the Western New York Open Data project to make data compiled by civil organizations available to the public (in a usable format).

Terry Martin (@tzmartin)
Terry is another member of the Buffalo contingent that drove in for BarCamp and it was our first time meeting, although I’d heard his name mentioned quite a few times before by mutual friends. Terry is the founder of Semantic Press. He’s also a mobile developer and advocate for Appcelerator’s Titanium platform. His presentation at BarCamp has me sold on Titanium and I’m looking forward to pestering him with endless questions about it.

Justin Groden (@justingroden)
Justin and I were introduced online through a mutual friend when his startup, Stampede.it was looking for a designer. Stampede.it offer deals on digital goods like web and mobile apps, traditional software, digital content, and social gaming. Justin would love to see an event like Hack Weekend Boulder happen in this area, so if that’s something you’re interested in, get in touch.

Todd Clausen (@ToddJClausen)
As the Young Professionals Editor for the Democrat and Chronicle, Todd and I have had some interesting conversations about the challenges and opportunities for young people here in Rochester. Todd’s column, both online and in print, is a great resource to the young professionals community and he works hard to profile and raise the visibility of local individuals and businesses who serve as examples of success for the rest of us.

Rob Speciale (@RobSpeciale)
Rob and I met for lunch a few weeks ago and had a great chat about the events he’s working on for the Rochester Young Professionals. As chairperson of their Professional Development committee, Rob is organizing some upcoming events designed to connect younger members of our community with role models within the local startup community.

Breeze Social design and user interface/experience

Michael Richard Murphy — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:12:38 +0000

I’m very excited to announce that the Breeze Social web application is finally live and I can talk about it here.

In November 2010, I was asked by BlueTie, a local provider of collaboration tools for businesses, to work with them creating the user interface and user experience for a brand new type of social media management tool. I’ve always been active in and passionate about social media so this was a great opportunity for several reasons. First, from a design standpoint I had the opportunity to craft, from scratch, the entire experience surrounding how this application would look and work. Second, this was a service I’m passionate about and would use myself.

While there are already several applications and services that are capable of managing different account profiles over various platforms, Breeze Social has some key differences. It’s specifically designed for small to medium sized businesses who know they need to be participating in social media but aren’t necessarily sure how or where to get started.

From a design standpoint, applications like Tweetdeck and Hootsuite are great for savvy users. I have columns where I can view my main timeline, lists, mentions, direct message, etc. All for several accounts. While that’s great for me, all that power and terminology can be overwhelming to someone new. What is a mention? How do I use lists? What is a retweet? A conscious decision was made from the beginning to avoid technobabble and use plain English. Businesses need to be able to see what people are saying to them and about them. So that’s how we labeled those sections. The other most important piece? Posting. From any page, type an update in a tumblr-style input and click ‘Say it!’. Breeze Social automatically formats your message accordingly for each of your social networks. Discrete options are available for scheduling, choosing networks, etc but it’s simple by default.

Another obstacle/objection to participating in social media is perceived time commitment. This is approached in two ways. First, finding quality content can be time consuming. Not knowing what to talk about is a reason why many social media efforts stall. Breeze Social is able to intelligently recommend relevant content based on both information gathered during the signup process and ongoing conversations. Unless you’re extremely focused, social media can also be very distracting. People spend hours each week in Facebook alone. With that in mind, Breeze Social has two “modes”. A Pressed for Time mode is pared down to just the essential functions: posting and responding to communication to or about you. Manageable in five minutes a day. A Stay Awhile mode offers more options: a main timeline for your connections, suggested topics and articles to post, extensive reports, etc.

While there are many other features and advantages (too many to get into here), those are the biggest differentiators. At some point soon, I hope to get a more in depth review published here. In the meantime, please check Breeze Social out.

Mike quickly dove into the subject matter and was an integral part of the process, lending ideas and insights at every turn. Next time we have a need, Mike’s my first call.-Shawn Ryan, Breeze Social product manager