duanebenson

The Crowdfunding Pricing Paradox

by duanebenson

Marketing for non-marketeers, lesson 6 I’ve haunted the working world for quite a while and have found that more often than not, common business workings… Read More »The Crowdfunding Pricing Paradox

Stage 3 Marketing

by duanebenson

Marketing for non-marketeers, lesson 5 As an engineer entering the land of entrepreneurship, you know (over simplification warning) design can be split into two philosophies:… Read More »Stage 3 Marketing

Minimalist Market Segmentation

by duanebenson

Marketing for non-marketeers, lesson 4 As an engineer entrepreneur, you’ve probably heard the phrase “market segmentation.” If you haven’t, you really should have, and, well…… Read More »Minimalist Market Segmentation

Secret Dialects of Marketing

by duanebenson

Marketing for non-marketeers, lesson 3 Much of marketing can be summed up with the word “communication.” It’s communicating about a product or service, about wants… Read More »Secret Dialects of Marketing

Millennials Need Not Apply? Boomers?

by duanebenson

Do you know how to get past your biases and market to “the other” generation? Are they just too mysterious? Well, I don’t give a… Read More »Millennials Need Not Apply? Boomers?

An Engineer Entrepreneur’s First Brand Lesson

by duanebenson

Marketing for non-marketeers, lesson 2 If you’re an engineer starting a business, do you need to worry about the business’s brand? In a word: yes.… Read More »An Engineer Entrepreneur’s First Brand Lesson

What is Marketing in the world of Engineers?

by duanebenson

Marketing for non-marketeers, lesson 1 Good marketing requires a black-box of arcane knowledge and magic spells – or does it? No, despite what many marketing… Read More »What is Marketing in the world of Engineers?

How To Make Your Child Interested In STEM

by duanebenson

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers are getting a lot of press these days. They are important for global competitiveness and the general advancement… Read More »How To Make Your Child Interested In STEM

The Top Ten Generic Things

by duanebenson

I’m in a bit of a ranting mood right now. That just happens sometimes. Usually it’s on a specific subject, but today, I seem to… Read More »The Top Ten Generic Things

Cromemco, where are you?

by duanebenson

Seattle Computer Products placed a quarter page black and white advertisement for RAM chips on page 224 of the September 1979 BYTE Magazine. The ad promoted type 4044 chips: 4K by 1 [bits], 18-pin, 5 Volt, 5% supply. 250 nanosecond chips sold for $7.50 in quantities of 1 to 31. You could buy the slower 450 nanosecond chips for a dollar less apiece. These were the same chips used in their “premium quality” RAM boards.

For every Andrew Carnegie or Bill Gates, there is an Alvah Roebuck, a story of a miss of almost unimaginable proportions. Richard Sears and Mr. Roebuck started a small business selling, at first, surplus pocket watches and eventually virtually anything needed by the fast expanding nation of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Sears kept at it while Roebuck left to do more important things. Many years later, Mr. Sears’ former business partner finished his life nearly penniless and working in the mailroom of the company he co-founded. Sears went on to become Americana.