As I mentioned on the Viget blog, I’ll be speaking at the Tech Cocktail Conference in Chicago on May 29th.  Corey, COO at Squidoo, and I will be telling the story of how Squidoo (a Viget client) went from concept to profitability.  There are a couple things about the way they did it that make them a bit unusual compared to a lot of the start-ups you read about:

1. They didn’t take VC.  Granted, it’s easier to self-fund when you‘re already pretty darn successful, but as a philosophy (don’t raise money unless you have to) it’s still important.
2. They don’t charge for anything.  Chicago is home to our friends at 37signals, makers of Basecamp, and advocates of the revolutionary (and for some odd reason controversial) idea of making good software and then charging for it — couldn’t agree more.  Squidoo’s model is different, though, and they’ve made it work to a similar end without needing to charge users a fee.  In fact, you get paid to use Squidoo.  We’ll talk about how & when we think that model can work.

Frank & Eric have put together a great line-up.  If you’ll be in Chicago at the end of the month, come on by …

One of the things I love about Viget is working with clients who are really making a positive impact on the world, especially when it comes to kids.  Healthy Child Healthy World is one of them. 

Healthy Child Healthy World is a national non-profit dedicated to protecting the health and well-being of children and families through cleaner, greener, and safer lifestyle changes.

Today, CEO Christopher Gavigan released his book Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home on Amazon.  I’m just helping to spread the word.

While I’m in a book promotion kind of mood, I can’t help but join the rest of the universe and plug Gary V’s new book Gary Vaynerchuk’s 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World.  Gary’s not a client.  He’s also not yet our VP of Strategy, despite my best efforts to recruit him.

Gil is the Chief Engineer at Squidoo.  He put up a lens telling the story of how Squidoo went from an idea in Seth’s head to a profitable business and the 14th fastest web site in 2007.  They’ve always had a lean strategy, and early-on that meant hiring Viget.

“To keep our staff as lean as possible, we considered several options, ultimately leading to a partnership with Viget Labs, who helped us build version 1.0 of Squidoo.  Hiring in-house employees vs an outside consulting form can be a difficult choice for any startup. On one hand, hiring employees can be a great (and sometimes inexpensive) way to ensure dedication to your project, but the security of fixed cost development and no long-term employee commitments proved to be the right choice for us.”

It’s great to get an inside perspective on both the good decisions and the mistakes that an online start-up is making.  He touches on the benefits of short iterations and frequent releases:

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Congrats to the Razoo team for their coverage on the front-page of the Washington Post business section yesterday. 

Social Networking for the Socially Minded
District Firm Razoo Joins Other Web Site Builders Trying to Reinvent How People Give Money to Charity

The WashBiz blog also picked it up in the post Social Networking For Social Causes.

Viget has been working with Razoo, which launched a public beta this past summer, for more than a year.  It’s always a thrill to see clients earn major coverage like this.  I expect this is just the beginning of this kind of press for Razoo.

I blogged on Viget’s Four Labs tonight about old friends / colleagues / clients John and Leo, co-founders of Incando / Pickle.com.  Their company was just acquired by Scripps Networks, so they’re marching into a new phase of their careers — transitioning from shot-calling entrepreneurs to VPs within an established organization.  There’s a lot of potential for greatness at Scripps, and I think they’re excited about the challenge.

Over dinner and drinks, we talked a lot about the Pickle saga.  We also talked about Viget and our future, and got some candid, insightful advice from guys with an interesting perspective.  John and Leo ran a web consulting firm in the 90’s, where I worked out of school before starting Viget.  They know the consulting side.  Launching Pickle and working with us, they also know the client side.  Having evaluated a number of funding and exit options, they know the market well, and where the needs for services are.  They had suggestions for types of clients to target, deals to go after, and how to best focus our energies in the short- and long-term.

I came away as excited as ever about where Viget is headed over the next several years.  We have an incredibly talented staff, great client experience, and a unique service offering.  We’re growing, and we could go in a number of attractive directions.  As they say, the sky is the limit.

If I had to summarize John’s advice in a word: focus.  Funny, that’s what I always say.

I’m a huge Gilbert Arenas fan.  He’s talented, super hard working, and plays with a chip on his shoulder.  He’s probably the NBA’s most prominent blogger.   He’s also a bit nuts.

This bit from his blog got some laughs from my friends at EarthEcho:

There Are No Such Thing as Shark Attacks

I know this is random, but I just want to clear this up for people out there.

There are these things called shark attacks, but there is no such thing as a shark attack. I have never seen a real shark attack.

I know you’re making a weird face as you’re reading this. OK people, a shark attack is not what we see on TV and what people portray it as.

We’re humans. We live on land.

Sharks live in water.

So if you’re swimming in the water and a shark bites you, that’s called trespassing. That is called trespassing. That is not a shark attack.

A shark attack is if you’re chilling at home, sitting on your couch, and a shark comes in and bites you; now that’s a shark attack. Now, if you’re chilling in the water, that is called invasion of space. So I have never heard of a shark attack.

When I see on the news where it’s like, “There have been 10 shark attacks,” I’m like, “Hey, for real?! They’re just running around? Sharks are walking now, huh! We live on the land, we don’t live underwater.”

I don’t know where he comes up with this stuff.

Update: Andy’s comment points us to Dan’s D.C. Sports Blog (which then points us to Gilbertology) which explains exactly where he comes up with this stuff.