AI and Content are already downing shots at your local bar

Yep, it’s 5:30 p.m. on a Friday and AI and Content are already downing shots at your local bar. Rather than remarking “OMG, whaddya we do?” you might want to mosey on over, order your favorite beverage and have a “Chat” (pun intended). There’s a lot hitting the national news about artists-creators and AI. Of […]
If Steve Jobs were alive today . . .

It is so amusing to note historical music industry reactions in a Google search of “Steve Jobs fragmentized the music industry.” Oh, the Sturm und Drang. Bon Jovi: “Steve Jobs is killing the music industry” (2011). Guess what? It’s now happening with the book publishing industry (less Steve Jobs RIP). They just don’t know it […]
We’re Drowning in (Audiobook/Ebook) Subscriptions

Subscriptions are often touted as the answer to the pay-for choice hurdle—the alternative of the ebook product sale. However, as service after service clamors for our monthly subscription fee, we find that we are drowning in subscriptions. In fact, we might be at a tipping point when the subscription economy gets disrupted, less abused, or […]
Inara Serendipity Mixed with Domain Experience Uncovers “The Missing”

Aspiring startup founders often ask themselves, “How does a person get an insight into a really big problem that needs to be solved?” This is an important question in the context of what’s called Category Design. If you are interested in creating an entirely new category (market), we recommend you read the book, Play Bigger: […]
Inara :: what’s in a name?

We get asked a lot: “Where did you get the name Inara for your company? Okay, so to put it out there front and center for all to see, here you go. First, Inara is an Arabic word for “lighting,” “brilliance,” or “ray of light.” But that’s not what came up on our radar screen […]
Inara Launches $5 Free Offer to Start Reading with Dropp

What if you could only pay for what you read, one page at a time, and got $5 for free to start reading? That’s what Inara’s new offer does for every reader who sets up their Inara account. Back in July 2021, Inara formed a collaborative development relationship with Dropp Together, Inara and Dropp created […]
How Uber Got Crowned Category King

Real simple. Uber got us to understand that hailing a taxi sucked and there was a different way to solve that problem. Kalanick and Camp discovered that we had an old, ongoing problem. People didn’t know it was a problem that could be solved in a new way. Uber got them around to that understanding. […]
The Path to Success is Paved by Investing in Others

As a leader in your industry, it’s likely that you have run across the term emotional intelligence, which is chiefly about the ability to recognize, understand and manage our own emotions and to recognize, understand and influence the emotions of others. To truly be transformative one has to go beyond grasping and dealing with emotions. […]
“This is our story, this is who built it and who it’s for.” Decoding “who is it for?”

Marketing guru Seth Godin asserts that a marketer can change her story, but she can’t easily change the worldview of the person she seeks to sell to. Read about it in Godin’s post.
How startups fit into Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

If you believe that the Problem is the primary driver of the Startup, then you will be especially interested to see these groupings of successful startups within Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in this CB Insights article