Unleashing the Ideavirus

Unleashing the Ideavirus
159
 www.ideavirus.com
Most marketers focus on getting organic word of mouth going without taking the time to lay
a framework for the compounding effect. Music Direct, on the other hand, goes to great
lengths to leverage powerful sneezers. On their site (
www.amusicdirect.com
) they list the
recommended recordings of several high-end stereo magazines. Each one is linked directly to
their online ordering service. Thus, you can read a review in 
Stereophile
and know that you’re
only a click away from buying it on their site. Look at a few of the lists and you’ll notice that
the same record shows up more than once. Boom. Even if you weren’t considering buying
that title, the fact that three trusted sneezers have recommended it makes it much more likely
that you’ll consider it.
The folks at Telarc Records learned this lesson early on. Unable to compete with the big
boys at the other classical music labels, they recorded the Cincinnati Orchestra playing
dramatic renditions of songs that only a stereo lover could love. Big cymbals. Cannons. You
get the idea.
Then, they worked hard to get high-end stereo shops to use the CDs they were recording to
demonstrate their equipment. Thousands of consumers who might never have rushed out to
buy another recording of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” now discovered that Telarc’s
recording was being used anytime they listened to $5,000 speakers or $3,000 amplifiers.
Hey, if you were willing to drop 20 large on a stereo system, certainly it was worth a few
more bucks to have the best CDs to play on it, wasn’t it?

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Unleashing the Ideavirus
160
 www.ideavirus.com
Bill Gates’ Biggest Nightmare
One of the repeated mantras during the Microsoft anti-trust sideshow was that middleware
threatened the very essence of Microsoft’s cash cow: the Windows OS.
Basically, middleware is software that sits on top of the operating system on your computer
and talks to the Internet or other programs. Once you develop a killer piece of middleware, it
doesn’t matter what operating system you’re running—the middleware works the same. The
first successful example of middleware was the browser, but you can be sure there will be
more.
Today I spoke to a woman named Louise Wannier who developed a piece of software called
enfish. You can find it at 
www.enfish.com
.
What if there were a piece of middleware that was designed for people who had an “always
on” connection to the Net. And what if that software let you automatically track your stocks,
your email, your calendar, your instant messages—all the stuff you spend time doing online,
but in an organized way, and all at once?
If you’re like me, that accounts for the vast majority of time you use the computer.
Suddenly, Windows is obsolete.
Sounds like it’s time for Louise to start shopping for a new Porsche, no?
But there are some problems. And all of them are related to the idea she’s created and how to
turn it into an ideavirus.
Problem #1 In order to use enfish, you have to download code. Experience has shown us that
this is a huge amount of friction with which to saddle a new idea. Basically, you can’t enjoy
the software until you go through the pain and suffering of downloading and installing it.

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