Todd Sattersten :: Astronaut Projects

Podbrix II

Have you been following the Podbrix phenomenon? These little artistically modified Lego men are all the rage.

The $16.99 first edition was an ode to the dancing figures in the iPod commercials. There were 300 produced and they sold out in 10 hours.

The second edition is a carbon copy of Mr. Jobs holding an iPod and an Shuffle. The release coincided with Jobs' birthday on Thursday. Again, there were 300 numbered units and it only took 36 minutes to sell out.

I put a ebay tracker on these little guys as soon as I heard about the first sellout. There were three first edition Podbrix that showed up this morning. Each of the auctions has more than 5 days to go, but the top price is $157.25.

Busy day.

I did too much talking in the real world today to have time for the virtual world.

I want to make sure you visit the final stop on the Business Blog Book Tour. Today Wayne is visiting with Anita at Small Business Trends. She has two posts to check out (here and here).

BBBT rolls on...

Barry Moltz is hosting the tour today. Barry was our first author on the BBBT and it is great to see him asking the questions now.

Attention: American Idol Contestants

It is clear you need a list of artists whose songs you should avoid:

• Celine Dion
• Whitney Houston
• Mariah Carey

You cannot possibly sing as well as them. The only way you are going to get away with it is to do it in a different style, but that is really dangerous too.

This is the fourth year of the competition. You should have seen enough others try something similar and fail.

BBBT #7 underway

Rob at Businesspundit did a great job of getting things started with the Business Blog Book Tour. He wrote a glowing review of Starting Something (he says it is #2 on his greatest biz books list) and did a Q&A with Wayne.

I am a little uncertain about today's stop. I'll keep you posted.

Tomorrow you'll find Wayne hosting the 800-CEO-READ blog.

A Biography of Blogging

Fred Wilson wrote a great post a couple of weeks about his interactions with some of the big player of Web 1.0. If you read it, you'll find names like Bo Peabody, Jason Calacanis, and Scott Kurnit. He also writes about what is different about Blogging 2.0.

Daily Show on Blogging

There has been lots of links to this.

It is definitely worth watching.

The GE Whole is Greater the the Sum of the Parts

When Jack Welch was running GE, there were weekly rumors that NBC was going to be sold to [insert entertainment company]. I never understood the intrigue around GE owning NBC. Jack did the deal to get NBC back, and he liked the business. He wasn't going to sell it.

He also understood that having the network(s) created something bigger when you combined it with the industrial businesses and financial services. Last night's episode of ER is a perfect example. The soccer mom played by Cynthia Dixon was diagnosed on a GE Lightspeed VCT and the blood clot was able to be removed with the help of a Innov 4100 system. It is not unusual for their to be GE Healthcare equipment all over the ER, but this episode was partially written to highlight the technology.

The whole is sometimes greater than the parts.

Miracle of Life

Yesterday, we went and visited friends at the hospital who had just given birth to their second child.

You don't often get to spend time with a 7 hour old baby.

It's amazing.

When You Know It's Over

The bizblogsphere is full of talk about brands and the relationships they build with their customers. I think there are few brands that achieve the level of truly influencing your life. For me, Fast Company magazine was one of those brands.

When I started reading FC in 1998, it was a breath of fresh air in the corporate life I was living. They were talking about innovative ideas and the interesting people putting them into practice. I could not wait for the next issue to come in the mail. When it arrived, it stopped everything and read it from cover to cover. Reading the magazine planted the seeds for what I has happened since in my work life.

To celebrate their 10 year anniversary, the magazine is looking back at the big issues of the past. This month, they examine the Tom Peters' "The Brand Called You" cover. The piece is titled "Me Inc.: The Rethink" (you can imagine where this is going). Writer David Lidsky and FC says Brand You was a great idea that never happened and it was a questionable idea to start with. In the list of greatest hits for Fast Company, I would put this article at #2 behind Free Agent Nation.

I feel Fast Company doesn't stand for what they use to. They even seem to be distancing themselves from some of the things in their past. I think John Byrne and G+J wants Fast Company to be a business magazine reporting about interesting companies and telling stories others won't. That is great, but that not what made me fall in love with the magazine.

I want the Agenda.
I want the Passion.
I want Fast Company when it was out to change Your Life.

I think we have both changed and it is time for us to go our separate ways.

Thanks for everything.