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Yesterday my company announced we are joining Kandu (a new betaworks venture) and in effect; will be closing our services, piictu and lenz. We are very excited for the opportunity and the road ahead.

For the past 2.5 years I’ve personally been lucky to share and work with people I admire and respect, inventing ways for humans to enrich their lives through communication and software. It is, without a doubt the, biggest, hardest, funnest, most honest, interesting and humbling effort I have ever been a part of.

We built products that were used by hundreds of thousand of people all around the world, and which hopefully made their lives a happier and better place. We are proud of what we built and how it touched people’s lives.

We were, and continue to be, unimaginably fortunate for all the people that helped and supported us along the way and who by sharing their time, resources and energy ‘literally’ enabled us to try and change the world. For their support we feel  tremendous gratitude.

To Joe, Andy, Adam, David T, Jon, Josh, David C, Adam, Vin, Eric and David P, Sebastian and Andres, thank you for believing in me. Your support makes me as committed as ever to building great things. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to count on and I am beyond appreciative. (or beholden or thankful)

I plan to write more about this and our specific lessons over time.

We are happy we found a partner that shares our vision of the world that we want to create. I am personally excited about the future and humbled by the people that have and continue to accompany me on this journey.

Pic or it didn’t happen:

In 2012 we humans hit an inflection point with the data we are producing on the go. Fueled by the “explosion” of mobile computing and network storage, the constant generation of valuable data is a reality.

Of all the data Pictures or Images have a particular power because of theta cost value ratio. What this means is within the cost of 700kb of data we can express an enormous amount of information with 3 taps of our fingers.

Once this content is generated it then has a very high value in what it can communicate and because of its strong properties of engagement. Finally, images are the easiest form of consumption of information. (if they say an image is worth 1000 words then it takes 2 seconds to consume the 1000)

Most pictures taken on the planet today are shared on a variety of social networks but as a whole they represent the “mass of photo data”; that is basically documenting every moment at every place from now on. Even though we are not 100% there yet, the early signs are a definite signal of what is to come.

Now… buried within this “mass of photo data” are photos that would be very helpful, informative and insightful for your life… they can do this by sharing how other people (close to you and not so close) are doing some of the things you are planning to do or have done.  

These photos can help you know and discover more about the people, places and things around you in a way they don’t when you just appear in a feed / news format.

Whether it’s discovering a new place to drink bubble tea near your office, or another #houseplant aficionado in your neighbor; photos can help us “teleport” our presence across locations and time to see and know more.

With Lenz we are building a mobile technology that helps you look in to the “mass of photo data” whenever and wherever you are - visually revealing the places, interests and people most relevant to you.

We think this is going to be one of the most valuable activities to happen in the future of this growing medium.

Jon

Inovation Development Manifesto Remixed:

This is a mix of 2 lists i merged from 2 of the product thinkers I admire the most. Steve Blank and Tina Roth Eisenberg. All credit goes to them, and I hope you find it as useful as I have when creating.     

-The best way to complain is to MAKE SOMETHING.

-There Are No Facts Inside Your Building, So Get Outside.

-Failure is an Integral Part of the Search for what works.

-If You’re Afraid to Fail You’re Destined to Do So.

-Iterations and “pivots” are driven by Insight.

-Whenever in doubt, do something different.

-Validate any hypotheses with Experiments.

-Give your team the gift of data.

-No plan survives first contact with customers.

-Agree on market type – It Changes Everything.

-Fast, fearless decision-making, cycle time, speed and tempo.

-If it’s not about passion, you’re dead the day you opened your doors.

-Preserve cash while searching. After It’s found, Spend.

-Communicate and share Learning.

-Startups demand comfort with chaos and uncertainty.

-Don’t try to create and analyze at the same time - they are different proces.

-If an opportunity scares you TAKE IT - you will learn and grow

-Consider everything and experiment.

-Be happy whenever you can manage it - Enjoy yourself, its lighter than you think.

-The only rule is work - if you work, it will lead to something.

-Nothing is a mistake. There is no win or lose only MAKE

Piictu included in the The Art of Apps exhibit in NYC

I always felt the real difference between art and design is around the notion of “responsibility”. Basically, artists get to be somewhat “irresponsible” about what they create with the justification of a greater good, message or feeling they want to convey. In “design” that responsibility is usually serving more of an external force like a market, clients, problems… etc

However… they both share the same core challenge: “what to do next”. 

The big dilemma of any creator is constantly answering the “what” the “how” and finally the “why”. Artists and designers are simply people that get accustomed to asking those questions every little step of the way. They live in that question, and by doing so, have access to a constant flow of answers (ideas, forms… etc).

At Piictu design really touches every aspect of our process, from how we think of UX/UI to the metaphors and messaging we borrow to communicate. The easiest way to describe how that process works is “we strive to live and face that question every day”. Because of this practice, as a team, we are lucky to count on that constant flow of fresh ideas and perspectives about what we are working on.

There is a big tendency to shy away from questions as soon as something starts working; but its usually not a good idea. Contrary to how it might feel, that is exactly where you want to be.

We are really excited to be a part of the first “app art” exhibit in NYC called The art of Apps next month. We’ve always considered ourselves a “design driven” company and feel really proud to be included among some of our favorite apps like Path, Paper,  Mixel, Tweetbot.

If you are in NYC this May please stop by the show to see how art, technology and design are opening new opportunities for us to interact and relate to the world.

Jon.