Month: October 2010

Often times, I discover things online that I want to deal with at a later time.

It could be planning a trip, reading an article, watching a video, listening to a song, even an ad, etc.

There are a number of wonderful apps that allow me to consume content later and on my preferred device. Here are a few examples:

–Instapaper. A simple and brilliant app. When you see stuff you want to read later, you use the Instapaper bookmarklet and save it for later. I started out using Instapaper on the iPhone but I’m addicted to it on the iPad. It’s fantastic on the airplane or train. Some people compare it to Flipboard but I think that isn’t accurate. The beauty of Instapaper is that it provides offline access on multiple devices.

–Boxee. Boxee is my favorite way to watch web content on the big screen. Right now, I use Boxee on a Mac Mini connected to our HDTV but pretty soon I’ll use the Boxee Box instead. Boxee has an awesome “consume later” mode. Any videos that show up in your Twitter timeline or your Facebook feed show up in your queue on Boxee. I love that feature.

–Google Chrome to Phone. This is a simple but awesome app. It’s a Chrome extension that allows you to push links, maps, and selected text & phone numbers to your Android phone. I use it all the time. I wish it worked for iPhone. Pushing maps from Chrome to the phone is dreamy.

It’s extremely useful to time and place shift the web. I’d love to see more apps do this. 

Earlier this week I spoke to a bunch of entrepreneurs at MassChallenge.

One of the things I suggested to the group is to get out from behind the desk and meet and talk to people about your company and your product. 

It’s very easy to be seduced into thinking that all of your attention should be on developing and perfecting your product. The list is long and there isn’t ever enough time in the day. Also for many founders, they aren’t comfortable talking to people directly. They would rather build then talk. 

But getting out and spreading the word personally and meeting and touching people that use or might use your product is critical. Its worth noting that Twitter and Foursquare were essentially born at SXSW (in different years). The founders and their early community of users plus some brilliant marketing launched both products.

There are many ways to get out there. Some companies organize meetups in various cities. Some founders speak often on panels. Other founders are active on twitter or on blogs – that’s another way of virtually getting out of the office.

Online products need offline efforts. They go together nicely.