Josh Bancroft’s TinyScreenfuls.com

Chris Messina and Tara Hunt are on stage at Gnomedex, talking about “think small, do it for the love” - they ran through their presentation in silence. The room was totally quiet, reading along. It was powerful. I hope they make the preso available - it was full of great principles, and I’d love to show it to as many people inside Intel as I can - think small, fail cheaply and often, redefine success, do it for the love, etc. You don’t have to be the 800 pound gorilla to be successful, and happy.

I work for an 800 pound gorilla (Intel). I believe strongly in the “do it for the love” way of doing things (Gnomedex, 30Boxes, Dogster, etc.), and there are other people inside Intel who feel the same way. I asked a question of Chris and Tara, and especially of the community in the room and beyond: what do they want to see Intel do that would delight them in the same way? Here’s what they said:

• It’s in the details. Don’t overlook the little things.
• Marc Canter said that he sees Intel Capital make bad multibilliondollar investments (he said when he sees Intel Capital fund a company, he knows it’s going to die). Instead, take those billions of dollars, and make hundreds of smaller $100,000 investments in small companies and people. Talk to Marc, Dave Winer, et al to see what needs to be fostered, what’s going to be important.
• WiFinder.com was going to go under, but they found that Intel CPC ads keep it profitable. Because of Intel’s interest in WiFi, and their advertising dollars, they kept this service alive, indirectly. When there’s a marketing effort that Intel cares about, we should create an easier to access sponsoring program for small sites, and do it where Google isn’t skimming off the top.
• BigCos are an isolated environment - find ways to get into a space together with the community.
• Form relationships. Don’t come up with a “strategy” - go out there and be in the community. Use your real email address, not something faceless.
• Can a big company buy the power of small teams in a small box? Maybe, maybe not. But they can help fund small teams. Provide a room, funding, facilitate ideas in the community.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU all for the responses! I really appreciate it. It gives me lots to think on, and work on, and talk about, and I’m going to take this back inside the mothership, and start spreading it around. I want to see this kind of thing come into reality, and I really believe it can happen.

If you have more ideas or feedback you’d like to share, please feel free to email me at jabancroft@gmail.com, or post a comment here.

You guys rock! This is exactly why I love the community, and Gnomedex. Thanks again!