Making Music On The Go

There's no doubt that the iPad has revolutionized music creation on the go. From apps like Garageband (which really set the bar) to newer entrants from old standards like Image Line (FL Mobile), the quality of this ecosystem has risen exponentially over the last year.

Over the past few months, as I've sat on numerous airplanes, I've had a chance to play with some of this stuff ... and it's been a ton of fun. However, beyond the sheer enjoyment of creating music, we as mobile app developers can learn a lot from our counterparts in this space. I often marvel at the cunning way in which these developers have created stunning and efficient user experiences. Trust me, it's really worth taking a look ...

Making music is not something I get a chance to do very often, and it's not something that I'd argue I have a huge amount of skill at, but these applications greatly facilitate the process of taking an idea from your head to the real world in a way that I don't think has been possible before.

In a way, these tools are doing for music creation what digital cameras have done for photography ... democratizing it.

Happy New Year!

Ontario Venture Summit Keynote

For those who are interested, here is the video from the keynote I gave last year at the Ontario Venture Summit. 

Abstract

The quest to build value lies at the heart of every startup’s mission … value for customers, value for investors … even value for employees. It’s what startup CEOs must focus on every day, and it can hardly be called a trivial exercise.

In this “view from the trenches”, Mark Ruddock will reveal the lessons learned from over 10 years at the helm of of two VC backed startups … Journeys that he led from seed investment to successful exit.

Effective Storytelling and Visceral Benefits

The latest iPad ad reminded me that effective marketing is about being able to transport your audience directly to a place where they can viscerally experience the benefits of what you are selling. Combined with simple and effective storytelling, it's a powerful motivator. Too often we drown our audience with specs and features ... big yawn, low yield.

Just watch the following iPad commercial to see what I mean.

Slides From DemoCamp Toronto 28

Here are the slides from last night's DemoCamp 28. It was great meeting all of you!

Key Things To Watch For in 2011 ... An Excellent Look Forward By JWT

I'm not a big one for future prognostications, other than for pure amusement, but this deck from JWT presents a particularly thoughtful and compelling look at some of the key potential trends for 2011. Well worth the read.

JWT: 100 Things to Watch in 2011

View more presentations from JWTIntelligence.