PR for Startups: Deconstructed

Blog MaverickIt turns out that my post last week about item #11 on Mark Cuban’s list of 12 Rules for Startups — “Never Hire a PR Firm” — set off a firestorm that prompted a more nuanced response from Mr. Cuban.In his expanded view, Mr. Cuban did not disavow his disdain for the PR industry. In…… Continue reading PR for Startups: Deconstructed

“Never Hire a PR Firm”

Maverick Mark CubanThat NBA champ, author, and billionaire blogging maverick Mark Cuban offered up some mostly sound advice to the startup community this week in a post titled “Mark Cuban’s 12 Rules for Startups” on Entrepreneur.com.I say mostly because his #11-ranked recommendation read as follows: “Never hire a PR firm. A public relations firm will…… Continue reading “Never Hire a PR Firm”

Friday’s Video Views

This week’s edition of Video Views captures notable quotables from both coasts, including Mark Zuckerberg, David Remnick, Kara Swisher, Steven B. Johnson, Jeff Pulver, Gary Vaynerchuk and others…To start, AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher sets the hand-held stage for Facebook’s inaugural f8 conference for application developers, held in Santa Clara:From the same conference, we get a rare…… Continue reading Friday’s Video Views

Small and Big Screens…

I had the good fortune to attend the thought-provoking “Future of Media” panel, hosted by MediaPost and sponsored by AOL and others, in New York City last week as part of Advertising Week.Featured (from left to right) were: Mark Cuban (HD Net, Dallas Mavs), Vivien Schiller (NPR), Bob Garfield (Ad Age, NPR), Martha Stewart, Reid…… Continue reading Small and Big Screens…

Malcolm in the Middle

One can’t help but notice the brouhaha that Malcolm Gladwell tipped with his prominent dis-endorsement of Chris Anderson’s latest book Free.His New Yorker magazine review of the timely tome, which portends an age where all media content shall be set free, prompted many in the Twittersphere to weigh in (mostly in favor of Mr. Anderson’s…… Continue reading Malcolm in the Middle

A Subdued Cuban

So by now, you’ve read the unfortunate news that the SEC has charged Mark Cuban with insider trading. The original maverick who made a gazillion dollars by selling Broadcast.com to Yahoo! and taking the money to buy the Dallas Mavs, today comfortably resides at the intersection of media, technology and sports.This blogger has admirably followed…… Continue reading A Subdued Cuban

Ink-Stained Victims

One of the older case studies I like to cite in my public talks on the changed PR landscape entails citizen empowerment and the hatchet job The New York Times did on Blog Maverick Mark Cuban several years ago.Instead of sulking or demanding a printed retraction, Cuban took to his keyboard to cut and paste…… Continue reading Ink-Stained Victims

Thin-Skinned Hippocrate?

No. I’m not talking about “Client-9,” but rather A-list blogger Mark Cuban whose actions this week prompted a letter of protest to NBA Commish David Stern from the Society of Professional Journalists.Mr. Cuban’ decided to ban full-time bloggers from his Dallas Maverick’s locker room. The feisty blogger explains his rationale (sort of) in a blog…… Continue reading Thin-Skinned Hippocrate?

Biz Blogs

Other than the fun of sharing one’s opinion (whether it’s sought after or not), the beauty of blogging often lies in the ability to caress, after the fact, how one’s portrayed in the formerly indelible mainstream media.We all know what happened after a brash Cubby-seeking maverick took issue with his less-than-positive profile by The Times’s…… Continue reading Biz Blogs