Disqus - Latest Comments for fnazeeri

Re: Why I Finally Read 'Sapiens'

fnazeeri — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 10:44:02 -0000

My primary selection process is to choose topics that interest me and then read the top 1-3 books on that topic. Recommendations is the next most important pathway. And Sapiens is an awesome book. I have probably given 30 copies of that books to friends and acquaintances. Homo Deus, his follow on book is workable but not nearly as compelling. As a friend said, it feels like Harari spent his career working on Sapiens, and then wrote Homo Deus to make some money.

Re: Electrek is sponsoring the American Solar Challenge! Join us!

fnazeeri — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 18:11:21 -0000

That is great! I was a solar car racer 25 years ago and have been a fan ever since! I will be following along the race route and am looking forward to seeing all the competitors.

Re: Making a MOOC

fnazeeri — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 14:59:15 -0000

Harvard does do this, but it's with HBX by Harvard Business School. http://hbx.hbs.edu/ HBX leans heavily on the case method which includes interactive simulations, peer student feedback, cold calls, and yes, the occasional short lecture video but even those are mostly expert case studies. More and more, you're seeing this come into work by HarvardX. They have a saying that they don't want to, "Film a play and call it a movie." That's hard to do on the edX platform, but not impossible if you modify it with xBlocks and otherwise.

Re: CLI (Cognitive Load Indicator)

fnazeeri — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 09:52:29 -0000

I wish there was a good way to measure cognitive load in real-time and track it. It would be an awesome tool to help me be productive and at my happiest. A sort of Fitbit for cog load. I've looked at this before. There are some papers on cog load and how to measure it. The best way is with a "secondary task". Occasionally you ask the subject to do some "other thing" and their response time to that is an indicator of cog load. So, for example, in lab tests you can have a subject use some web tool, but then have a little pixel up in the tool bar occasionally turn from green to blue or something and when that happens the subject has to click on it.

So maybe a wrist band that randomly has one of a few haptic stimuli and for each the wearer has to do something unique in response. Track that over time...

There's a business idea in there somewhere for you to fund!

Re: Why EdTech Is A Good, But Not Great, Business

fnazeeri — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 16:13:36 -0000

This is awesome...I always say that my exit strategy is "death" and a big part of the reason is that in edtech good things take a long time. It's also true that investor-backed companies with a 5 or 10 year time horizon force decisions that aren't necessarily aligned with learners and teachers. Obviously this isn't 100% true, but certainly more so than in other industries. Nicely put!

Re: A MOOC sees its greatest impact in the classroom at MIT

fnazeeri — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 07:23:19 -0000

I've seen a lot of research on pure MOOCs (e.g. Guo et al on video engagement) but love to see more research on the blended learning / flipped classroom model.

Re: Measurements of MOOC Success

fnazeeri — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 10:00:29 -0000

"I received 47 pages of thank yous and compliments from students all over the world". This is an incredibly important point. This seemingly throw away comment is the main driver behind open source movements...think Linux or Open edX.

Re: Impacts of MOOCs on Higher Education

fnazeeri — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:33:26 -0000

I'm reminded of an article about the "MOOC Hype Cycle" from 2013 that talked about the "peak of inflated expectations" for MOOCs being sometime in 2013 and that would be followed by the "trough of disillusionment" for 2014 and much of 2015. Then, every so slowly, we would reach the "slope of enlightenment" followed by real, tangible productivity gains driven by MOOCs.

http://pando.com/2013/09/13...

Re: Mining the MOOC: HR Looks to Online Courses to Recruit and Retain Talent

fnazeeri — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 17:27:41 -0000

This is definitely happening, however it's funny how "MOOC" has become a generic term like Kleenex or Xerox before it. When using online learning for recruiting or employee retention it is not necessarily a MOOC (as originally defined) but rather just an online, interactive learning experience.

One of the biggest challenges for someone thinking about joining a company is how to answer the questions, "what's it like to work here?" An online interactive learning experience is going to be way better than a handful of discussions in an interview or surfing discussion forums.

Re: Corporate MOOC: Extreme Content Marketing

fnazeeri — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 19:02:49 -0000

When I first spoke with Tim about his idea of the MOOC for content marketing and education for prospective clients I knew that it was a big idea. I remember saying to Tim that he was, "Either going to end up like Lewis and Clark with high schools named after him....or face down in some unknown river with arrows in his back!"

The early results show that MOOCs are an amazing tool for content marketing. Super excited to see the next chapter of their evolution!

Re: Leaving Stanford Online Ed

fnazeeri — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 18:08:22 -0000

Sef, we're sad to see you move on but thankful for everything you've done! Keep pushing for Open edX on the Advisory Board...you're a huge addition to that group!

Re: MOOCs: Why Now? [Video]

fnazeeri — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 08:05:48 -0000

An article in the Economist today just made the same argument: "A cost crisis, changing labour markets and new technology will turn an old institution on its head."

Re: Helping Startups Understand Salespeople & the Sales Culture

fnazeeri — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 07:14:51 -0000

"They are supposed to be the best paid people in the company."

Depending upon the business, you spend between 8 and up to 25% of revenue on sales. Typically sales (and marketing) is one of the top 3 expenses of a business. But the spend is incredibly wasteful.

I've always found it interesting that you can get a PhD in computer science, accounting, marketing, human resources and every other business function...except one: sales. Sales is the only business function (left) that is still taught in the 18th century model of "master and apprentice". Yet, go into any bookstore (physical or virtual) and the longest shelf in the business section is sales. Unlike every other business function, as a hiring manager you have tells as you how smart or motivated someone is. Have a computer science degree from MIT? You're smart and probably a hard worker. MBA from Stanford? You're probably not terrible at what you do.

But then there is the salesperson. Maybe they have a degree in something but maybe not...even if they do it's from a school you've never heard of most likely. How are you supposed to tell if they are any good? Referrals? Interview? They're a salesperson for gods sake! And then add to this that, "they are supposed to be the best paid people in the company." How is it that we've collectively decided that the "dumbest guy" in the company "is supposed to be the highest paid?" And think about the job. It's 90% clerical work. Email. Phone call. Schedule a meeting. Talk to someone. Send another email.

Isn't there a better way?

There are a lot of reasons that you can't get a degree in sales. But wouldn't it be amazing if you could? There is a ton of stuff you could teach in a classroom format (lecture and case studies). Not just the marketing strategy stuff (which would be a good addition) but the stages of a pipeline, how to qualify, how to overcome objections, time management, sunk cost scenarios, CRM systems and analytics, etc. All this stuff is teachable in the same way that you teach a dentist the basic skills but they only learn the art when they get experience in the field (true in every profession).

On the one hand, Mark, you're right about everything you discuss in this post. I just wish there were a better way. I wish we treated sales with the same standards we do every other business function.

Re: 8 Inspirational UX/UI Examples

fnazeeri — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 05:10:52 -0000

Thats awesome!

Re: Information is the Interface

fnazeeri — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 20:13:41 -0000

"Information is the Interface." So true!

Re: We Need an “NTSB” for Entrepreneurship

fnazeeri — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 10:17:07 -0000

A good point. Interestingly, here in the US, we're much better at business failure than in other parts of the world, Europe in particular. I was shocked at the penalties for failure of a startup in the UK. So a long way of saying, "it could be worse..."

Re: Bijan Sabet: Picking up our own tab

fnazeeri — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:53:29 -0000

It seems like a win-win strategy...portfolio companies will like it and LPs will too.

Re: Salary at Venture-Backed Companies - Perceptive.ly

fnazeeri — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:09:47 -0000

You should check out https://compstudy.com/ It is a long term (10+ year) study of salary, bonus, equity and other compensation at early stage, high-growth ventures. It's searchable/sortable based off many criteria like industry, location, role, revenue, $$ raised, etc. It's really the Kelly Blue Book of startup executive compensation.

Re: How to hire a lot of talented people, very quickly

fnazeeri — Tue, 29 May 2012 21:20:51 -0000

This sounds like the Greece of startups...

Re: When should you give up on an idea?

fnazeeri — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:46:31 -0000

For me the answer is "never". That doesn't mean I'm a moth to a flame, but rather that sometimes, I get the market timing wrong and I just need to hold on to the idea until the market or technology catches up. Think James Cameron and Avatar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Re: Lorem Ipsum is Evil

fnazeeri — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:21:14 -0000

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Phasellus vulputate ornare leo. Maecenas ut dolor vel quam sollicitudin mollis. Sure it helps with design...but what's the message?

Re: Lorem Ipsum is Evil

fnazeeri — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:38:17 -0000

Truly outstanding designs require you to know what the message is so that it informs the design.

Re: Lorem Ipsum is Evil

fnazeeri — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:51:53 -0000

Nice! Though I bet they don't use it in their *advertising* and marketing.

Re: Lorem Ipsum is Evil

fnazeeri — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:49:25 -0000

Placeholder text used for development is a usecase that makes sense. I was referring to using placeholder text for design, which I think is lazy.

Re: Lorem Ipsum is Evil

fnazeeri — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:46:45 -0000

You are right, but I've learned the hard way that it works better to have these integrated. With our clients, we always push for real content.