Business book video summaries...A Case Study

KennyPowers

KennyPowers

Motherfucking fastball
Jul 2, 2010
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Gentlemen,

Ever since signing up for WickedFire I reaped tremendous benefit from the value provided. Now it's time to give back.

In this thread, I will be updating my progress on a new site I'm launching which will be 100% free but invite based. Hence, with the lack of monetization, I offer complete transparency. Ask me anything you want.

Here's the concept: A collection of business book summaries in video format. Completely free - KhanAcademy style. In ten minutes you can attain over 50% of a book's value. Why read or audiobook for 10 hours when you can get the same value at a fraction of the time. Plus, if time is not a factor, then why not listen to 60 summaries instead of 1 book?

So why am I launching this without making any money?
1. It's a service I'd use. As of now there is nothing like this. Yeah, there's mixergy, written summaries, etc. but there aren't business book summaries for the modern day student (where audio plus video works best).
2. I belive basic knowledge should be free. I'm on a full-ride in college and am repulsed that people pay $40,000 a year for what they can get from books. Here's a great Goodwill Hunting quote:
Ya see, the sad thing about a guy like you is that in 50 years you're gonna start doing some thinkin of your own and you're gonna realize that there are two certainties in life: one: don't do that. And two: you dropped a 150 grand on an education that you could have gotten with $1.50 worth of late charges at the public library.
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3. I want to provide more value than I take.


And lastly, why am I making this thread?
Simply: to get feedback which will allow me to make a great product. I know a lot of you subscribe to different information mediums and also read a shitton of books. Maybe not all, but a good number of you are my target market.

I need help from you so that I can create a product that you'd use. Feel free to be harsh in your feedback and criticize wherever necessary. By this time next year I want this service to provide more value than you can get anywhere else.
 
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+Subbed.

Do you plan on monetizing it in the future?

WF gurus: Is there invite based software like the one he is describing?
 
I like the idea, subbed as well.
Will you be doing the videos or do you just provide the platform?
 
Total respect for starting a case study, but I doubt the value of such service.

Without the actual reading process there's no proper learning. When we read, we talk along inside of our mind, which develops the brain. There is effort and there is the fruit of it. When we listen or watch, we are only entertained.

Why read or audiobook for 10 hours when you can get the same value at a fraction of the time. Plus, if time is not a factor, then why not listen to 60 summaries instead of 1 book?
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Don't be hatin', but there is a reason all learning and development takes time. Knowing what a book is about is not even remotely as good as having read it.

When you read a book you get the understanding of why stuff described works. As a result you can assume, predict, plan and construct new things in your mind.

If you've just watched a bunch of videos and know what books are about then there is nothing more to it. You just know that author X said that Y is true in a book Z. You can support a conversation about the book now but you did not get any intellectual luggage from the author and you are one step behind anyone who's read it.

I might be the minority hear but this sounds like a service for breeding halfwits. Which is not a bad thing in terms of business - people always want the easy way so why not charge them, but it's far from a philanthropy project.
 
thelorax said:
Definitely a good concept. I would be interested.
Why do you say video works best?
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Definitely. I spent over a year studying how to study and couldn't find anything better. When you're learning, in order to retain the info, you want to see, hear, and take notes on what you're hearing. That's the perfect combo which let's you learn rapidly and also explains why people go to class instead of learning straight from a book.

With sites such as Mixergy, I found the same effect as going to class if I took notes during the videos. With audiobooks I found they were more effective if there was a visual input before I got distracted.

My theory is if you listen, watch, and take notes concentrating for 10 minutes, you'll get a similar effect as if you half-assed reading an entire book.

Ibanez | Jan said:
I like the idea, subbed as well.
Will you be doing the videos or do you just provide the platform?
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As of now my friend and I will be doing all the videos. We want to get an MVP (minimal viable product) out there as soon as possible. If it turns out someone else is more effective - we'll outsource. This has nothing to do with our personal egos but effectiveness.

JAWSS said:
Do you plan on monetizing it in the future?
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If monetization will provide more economic value to the userbase (through more videos, better quality, etc.), then yes. But as of now we're just planning to keep it free.

dzianis said:
Total respect for starting a case study, but I doubt the value of such service.

Without the actual reading process there's no proper learning. When we read, we talk along inside of our mind, which develops the brain. There is effort and there is the fruit of it. When we listen or watch, we are only entertained.
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Challenge accepted. You might be completely right, but unless something actually goes on the market then speculation is all you have. This project is highly based on the 80-20 principle: Pareto principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that says you get 80% of your value from 20% of you inputs. It's also based on the theory that, at the very least, these videos can get hardcoded into your subconcious. Jung defined intuition as "perception via the unconscious". As long as a different learning format can shape your subconcious, it should shape your intutition which will help make smarter business decisions - even if you don't remember where you got the knowledge from.
 
Day 1

Gathered all the notes I ever took for any business book.
My friend and I made the first two videos. (used screenflow with simple powerpoint)
Registered http://maintakeaway.com/. (used namecheap.com)
Made Wickedfire thread to get immediate feedback.
 
Here's the first summary on Blue Ocean Strategy. Thought I'd start with a marketing book on differentiation.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUcLIZkaKLs]Jeremy - YouTube[/ame]

Please tear the video apart and give feedback so the next summary's better.
 
KennyPowers said:
Here's the first summary on Blue Ocean Strategy. Thought I'd start with a marketing book on differentiation.

Jeremy - YouTube

Please tear the video apart and give feedback so the next summary's better.
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Horrible audio quality, didn't make it through the first 2 minutes. Get a proper microphone for the next videos.
 
The video is too much of a powerpoint. See if you can draw out the graphs when you are presenting. Also, maybe have a download link for the notes so people can read them later.

I was also thinking, if you want to monetize it in a "positive" way, you could have a referral link to the Amazon listing for the book.
 
I think Skank has a point. Instead of having it as a replacement for reading the books, have it as a synopsis of the books to see if they are worth reading. Publishers will send you the books for free, you can drive people to Amazon or B/N and make a little profit, and if someone wants to shortcut reading the book you will still be providing the service.

As a Dad with a teenage son I see him using Khan Academy regularly. The value is not in the replacement of the teacher, it is in the broadening of the perspective of the education. If his teacher did a poor job of teaching a topic in class, he can come home and watch it on Khan. He would not chase learning an obscure math technique on his own, I promise you, but instead he is finding a way to learn it better so he is not screwed in the future.

Tutoring companies would go broke if their clientele was expected to be proactive searching out one on one education. Instead they make a fortune fixing a problem.
 
Here's Josh Kaufman's Personal MBA in 3 parts. Keep the feedback coming.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAeWcU_NBsc]MainTakeAway: The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeqhjmPqBnQ]MainTakeAway: The Personal MBA Pt. 2 by Josh Kaufman - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c1N-e0IReY]MainTakeAway: The Personal MBA pt. 3 By Josh Kaufman - YouTube[/ame]
 
TeeBird said:
He would not chase learning an obscure math technique on his own, I promise you, but instead he is finding a way to learn it better so he is not screwed in the future.
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I think the difference between a math class for a teenager and the videos the kennypowers is proposing is that it isn't forced upon people. Teenagers have to go to school and take the mandatory classes. The people that would eventually watch business videos from kennypowers are doing it voluntarily and are actively searching for how to learn. Anyone is automatically more inclined to do things if it is in a subject they like.

I do like your Idea of a synopsis of the book when people first look at the webpage.

@kennypowers: I think that when you design your website it should have in this order:
Small paragraph review of book, quick video review of book, aff link to site (Amazon or other) selling book, then the videos you originally mentioned, then a comments section where people can discuss the book and it's techniques.
 
I agree w/ skank about the discussion of the book.

This discussion/comment area can be a great place for people to get feedback about the book, and how they use it in their business.

@skank The quick video review is a good idea, but why would Kenny have any right to gives his review? He is some random dude creating a website so I think his review doesn't mean shit until he builds this site up to at least 100 books.
 
Ibanez | Jan said:
Horrible audio quality, didn't make it through the first 2 minutes. Get a proper microphone for the next videos.
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Still in concept testing and didn't think a high quality mic was essential. With that said, would you say proper audio quality is a deal breaker?

skank said:
See if you can draw out the graphs when you are presenting. Also, maybe have a download link for the notes so people can read them later.

I was also thinking, if you want to monetize it in a "positive" way, you could have a referral link to the Amazon listing for the book.
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We considered hiring an animator to make the videos, but that would cost about $350 a minute - which is way too much for a concept's that not tested.

What if we include infographics on the same webpage as the video? Would that help you to retain info or would that be fluff?

Lastly, we'll probably put the affiliate links on there, but a $1.00 profit per conversion is still nonessential when compared to our other ventures. I don't see it covering more than just the server costs.

TeeBird said:
As a Dad with a teenage son I see him using Khan Academy regularly. The value is not in the replacement of the teacher, it is in the broadening of the perspective of the education. If his teacher did a poor job of teaching a topic in class, he can come home and watch it on Khan. He would not chase learning an obscure math technique on his own, I promise you, but instead he is finding a way to learn it better so he is not screwed in the future.
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I don't agree with that. I personally jumped on KhanAcademy when it first came out. It took me 3 weeks to learn Calculus. I then had my little brother put in an hour a day over a summer doing math. He's now in 4th grade testing into 7th grade math. Just because something has always been done does not mean it's right.

JAWSS said:
This discussion/comment area can be a great place for people to get feedback about the book, and how they use it in their business.
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I'll definitely put in a comments area. Possible forum once the userbase is large enough. But main problem I see with that is businesspeople either don't want to share info, or don't want to waste their time sharing.
 
KennyPowers said:
We considered hiring an animator to make the videos, but that would cost about $350 a minute - which is way too much for a concept's that not tested.

What if we include infographics on the same webpage as the video? Would that help you to retain info or would that be fluff?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go for hiring an animator. Maybe stand in front of a white board and illustrate the things you are trying to say. Or a camera that points down to a piece of paper when you have illustrations. Just a thought.
 
I see a lot of people listening to the video, rather than watching them.

Connect an mp3 download to the pages so people may listen to them on the go. I know that is what many people do for Mixergy, and why he has his content in so many different forms.
 
Been gone for a bit distracted by the holidays and my main businesses.

Anyways, here's a new summary for all of you. The 4 Hour Work Week:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2U9dnoSsEw]MainTakeaway: Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss - YouTube[/ame]

Tell me what you think.
 
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