Erlend Wilhelmsen

Mistakes made in 2009

• Thinking that my perception of reality was indeed reality. It was not. It was my reality alone.
• Believing that I had the data I needed to make a good decision. I was wrong and made a bad decision.
• Spending a lot of energy on something I knew could not succeed. Did that twice.
• Exerting emotional energy on non-sense. Did that many times.
• Staying in my comfort zone. It is not where lessons are learned.
• Taking far too few videos of Torsten - my son. He won't think much of it, but I do. Maybe he'll forget.
• Working on the December 24th. Yes, I did it. I will probably do that again. Never learn. Passion wins.

Make mistakes

If you're not making mistakes, you're not doing interesting stuff. How many work hours do you think you have left in life? 500,000? Sounds like a lot? Do the math. What are you going to do about it? Leave a legacy or just pass?

The best entrepreneurs make a lot of mistakes. Look at Morten Lund. Felix Dennis. Branson.

I talked to some young Internet entrepreneurs today. They asked what I thought about trying something different. I wish they didn't ask. I wish they just did it. If it doesn't work, they'll know withing days. They can re-group in 5 minutes. It's wonderful. The Internet. Truth. So fast.

Keep up the pace. You don't have forever.

IKEA rocks the branded entertainment world with season II of Easy To Assemble

Yes, I'm biased. Fabric Interactive's team did the design work for IKEA's Easy To Assemble Season II: Co-Worker of the Year. But the truth is that I think that this is one of the best examples of how to do premium branded entertainment that's actually cool!

I think Illeana Douglas has done something pretty unique with this show. I've seen season II and it's comedy. If you like "The Office" you'll like Easy To Assemble. In fact, I think this show has broad appeal and it can work well world-wide.

From a long-term branding standpoint, IKEA stores everywhere should benefit from this. This show was shot at the IKEA Burbank location, which seems to be celebrity central. If you're a tourist visiting Los Angeles, maybe IKEA Burbank should be on your map?

So what's the impact on IKEA furniture sales? Will this help IKEA sell more tables and chairs? It's a bit early to tell. However, Easy To Assemble is not about selling another chair tomorrow. This is smart long-term branding. It's about positioning: IKEA is cool. IKEA pokes fun at itself.

If you manage this brand, you want to keep IKEA relevant and anchored in current pop-culture. You know that advertising - in the traditional sense - don't play well in the social media stream, so trying new concepts that has the potential to break barriers is important. IKEA must be seen as a smart and innovative brand that dares to do things differently. That's how you get the attention of the 18-24 crowd and they are the next customers for IKEA.

I believe IKEA is smart to do this. Today, you have to try new marketing approaches to keep your brand and product relevant and interesting. Hey Target: You got something cooking?

Building a new house in Los Angeles

We just finished construction on a house in LA. Lessons:

• Your architect matters. Make sure your project is a priority.
• Los Angeles City won't tell you what you need to know - until you've talked to them 3 times.
• Nothing in the city code will make sense. Don't fight it. That is "normal."
• Pick a contractor that will be focused on your project.
• Work with a contractor that needs your project to be amazing. (Young and hungry).
• The last 4 weeks are 12 weeks. Finishes takes a lot of time.

Our architect was Jeffrey Birkmeyer. His design is superb. We love it. We also worked with an amazing contractor. His name is Nir and his company is Los Angeles Construction. Get in touch if you want to use them for you project.

Here's an "almost done" picture:

Get your product out

Most of the time, our clients spend to much time messing with small details that don't matter.
You should get your product out. Kick some bugs. Make some mistakes. But always get it out!

The product you dreamed of won't work. It was a dream. This is reality. You need feedback from customers. You need to understand what they need. Then you can change it. Make it work in the real world.

Your customers are waiting for you. What are you waiting for? The perfect prototype? Head out of sand. Go!

Starting a new company?

Here's a few things I learned:

• Don't think its the idea. It's not. 500 people have that idea. It's you and your ability to get a great team together.
• Whatever you're doing, you need people who can sell shit. If you have never been in sales - get someone who has. You'll really need em.
• You need to move fast. But not because of competition. If you don't get stuff done quickly - the people following you will loose interest. That's very bad. (Of course, you'll also run out of money if you diddle around too long).
• You need at least one good advisor. Someone who actually built a profitable company and/or sold a company before. Got that person?
• Last, but not least, you need to be a really good communicator. If you can't communicate the vision with passion - you'll have a hard time selling. And that, in the end, is what it's all about: selling stuff.

Are you cut out for it? Yeah? What you waiting for?

Nevermind Twitter. I'm blogging again.

Starting fresh. So much has happened in the last few years. I think it's time to share some of it.

I'll blab about things I care about and perhaps a few things I've learned. My short-list:

• moving from bergen norway to LA
• having a baby
• startups and raising money
• interactive
• social media
• owning a pit bull
• living in echo park
• entrepreneurship
• building a house in LA
• winning
• failing
• football
• meeting people
• electronic music

I won't separate work from personal stuff. It's BS. I don't believe in it. You got to do something you love. Then, it is not work.

Peace.

Want to run your own interactive agency? Here's some advice.

I've been running Fabric Interactive agency for 8+ years. Lessons:

• Client relationships are key
• Have a plan before you try to execute. Sounds logical. Not many people do it.
• Start a business in a growing industry. It's a lot easier.
• You won't know what to do. That's OK. Few people are truly skilled. You can make it in any industry.
• In services, hire really good people. Smart is important. Dedication is equally important.
• You'll hire some people you have to let go. It's OK. Happens.
• Some clients are not good clients. Let them go early.
• Not all business is good business. If it doesn't fit what you want to do - don't do it.
• Don't try to do many different things at once. Take time to learn how to do a few things well.
• Solid technology is critical.
• It's hard to create work that truly matters. Pick the right clients.

Do you want to start your own company? Ping me. I'll be happy to share my experience.

Self improvement tools - Part II

A while back, when I really felt the need for some self-improvement, I had a look at a couple of different Web startups who I thought might be worth watching. Archived post is here. Today, I went back to see how they were doing and I have to say I found a clear winner.

The Traineo user experience is really excellent. I had a good swing at it and it held up. The design is clean and uncluttered (nice job!) and the light-weight tools do the job they need to do and nothing more.

I was considering taking a deep look at PeerTrainer, but I just couldn't get myself to do it. The site just doesn't do it for me. It's too cluttered. I don't want tools, member posts, community threads, team activity, diet, fitness, health, groups, and tours. I want something simple. I don't have time to go on a discovery mission through the eight+ sections of the site. I just want a product that solves my two issues: 1) set up a program, and 2) motivate me daily to take action (through my iPhone). That's it.

Trying to do too much is "normal" in this space. Don't do it. Keep your product simple. Work on your user experience and make the design really sing. That's what Traineo has done and it works.

Now, I'm going to swim for the first time in a year. Go Phelps!

Check your head before you put ads in social networks

All the cool kids are playing in the social networking playground. Even the big kids want in. Fortune 500 and mainstream brands. They want to be cool. They want to be where the smart kids are. So they grab their ads, their banners, their messaging and head outside.

But the kids don't care. They don't click. They don't bite. Dammit. Wonder why?