Mistake Bank Podcast #3 - Tim Berry, Founder of Palo Alto Software

Here's another in our series of interviews with successful entrepreneurs in which they talk about the mistakes that helped shape their careers. Our guest is Tim Berry, a co-founder of Borland Software and founder of Palo Alto Software the publisher of Business Plan Pro and Marketing Plan Pro, among other titles.

Tim has shared many other great mistake stories on his blog.

Tim Berry Mistake Bank Podcast

Content:

0:40 The making of an entrepreneur
5:10 An early mistake - with serendipitous results
10:10 "Adjusting the aim" when evaluating people
15:16 Believing the hype of the dot-com era
19:12 The importance of killing mediocre products

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)

Previous podcasts can be found here.

Mistake Bank Podcast #2 - Charlie Crystle of Chilisoft and Mission Research

Here's our second podcast focusing on the mistake stories of successful entrepreneurs. Our guest is Charlie Crystle, who founded Chilisoft, a web infrastructure provider which in 1999 was sold to Cobalt Networks for $70 million. He and two partners later started Mission Research, which offers low-cost business software to support nonprofits. Now he is working on a new venture and advising startups.

Download the Charlie Crystle podcast (28:27).

Content:

1:10 Investing in someone else's dream
4:00 On breaking up with a business partner
5:53 "Lessons learned doesn't necessarily mean lessons applied."
7:40 Personnel mistakes
12:50 Knowing when to step aside
16:45 On mistakes by your employees
20:00 Consequences of a culture of withholding information
21:00 "Startups have a lot to do with learning along the way"

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)

Mistake Bank Podcast #1 - John Bliss, founder of Bliss PR

Welcome to the first in a series of podcasts in which we explore learning from mistakes with successful entrepreneurs. First up, John Bliss, founder of Bliss PR, discusses starting out working for the family business, then going out on his own, and what he learned along the way.

Download the John Bliss podcast

Content:

0:45 A brief history of Bliss PR
4:35 When you're starting out, you'll take any business you have
6:55 A mistake - sharing equity with a business partner
10:00 Another mistake - losing focus
12:20 A few hiring mistakes
15:30 Going downmarket in bad times
17:15 Learning from mistakes my dad made
19:40 "It's a 'we' business"

(Thanks to John, and also to Elizabeth Sosnow for connecting us.)

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)

Shop Talk Minipodcast - Sydney Finkelstein on 4 Decisionmaking Red Flags

We talked to Sydney Finkelstein, co-author of "Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions and How to Keep it From Happening to You" back in March. In this excerpt, Syd discusses 4 red flag conditions that could indicate faulty decisionmaking.

Minipodcast (4:59)

For more information, you can access a web site with more resources about "Think Again."

Minipodcast with Robert Wiesheu - in-country agents for selling

In this minipodcast, my friend Robert Wiesheu, who has sold in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for more than 10 years, discusses a little-known corner of the sales world: the use of local agents to break into a new country market. It's a challenging area with lots of traps - listen to Robert's common-sense recommendations.

Podcast file (2:21)

Related post:
Full Shop Talk Podcast with Robert Wiesheu

Shop Talk Podcast: Roberto Verganti on "Design-Driven Innovation"

Roberto Verganti's book "Design-Driven Innovation" is one of the best business books of the year. It discusses the methods certain companies use to create products with radically new meanings, offering customers something they never realized they wanted and generating long-term competitive advantage and outsized profits as well. In this podcast, Professor Verganti discusses the ideas behind the book and how it applies to companies like Apple, BMW, Artemide, and Harley-Davidson.

For more information, visit the book's companion website.

Podcast: Roberto Verganti on Design-Driven Innovation (mp3, 39:41)

Timeline:

0:35 What is the "meaning" of a product?

6:00 The meaningfulness of the iPhone

13:50 The role of "interpreters" in Design-Driven Innovation

19:50 Relationships between companies and interpreters

23:45 What is the CEO's role in Design-Driven Innovation?

30:00 How much of the CEO's time is required?

33:25 More resources on Design-Driven Innovation

Related post:
Review: "Design-Driven Innovation"

[Theme music: "Up the Coast" from West Indian Girl's CD "4th and Wall"]

Shop Talk Podcast: Update from Honda's Todd Mittleman on Green Cars

We talked to Todd Mittleman of Honda last spring about Honda's environmentally-focused cars, the Civic GX natural gas vehicle and the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle (which, at the time, had not yet been released).

Well, a lot has changed in a year. The FCX is now out, and that's the least of the news since then. People have reined in spending in many ways, not least of which is their utter reluctance to purchase a car from any manufacturer.

So how do green vehicles fit into Honda's strategy now? We brought Todd back for another discussion. Podcast file: todd-mittleman-mar-2009 (21:37).

Highlights:
0:25 Description of Civic GX and FCX Clarity
4:15 Positioning of "green" vehicles in current economic climate
8:20 Does the US government's support of alternate energy help the GX and Clarity?
10:45 Positioning of the new hybrid Insight versus the GX
14:17 More on the FCX Clarity
15:50 First customer feedback on the Clarity

(Photo: the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle)