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A man-on-the-street business
By Dave Winer on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 10:33 AM.

If you're one of the people working on a startup and your idea didn't work out and it's time to pivot here's a sure-fire idea.  #

Get a video camera, and a bright attractive person to come with you to hold a mike and a notepad (just as props), probably a woman (to put people at ease) and go to the center of your town and get ready to do man-on-the-street interviews. #

But not just any kind of interview. #

The question is this: Tell me about a company or product that sucks. #

A picture named girlclown.jpgSpend a couple of hours doing these interviews. Go back to the office and review the tapes. You probably won't have to. One of them will stand out. That's the one you feature for that day or week. #

Repeat. #

We get enough messages saying this product is great or this company really cares, and we know it's all bullshit. They don't care, and we're not even customers, rather we're a business model. This came home to me yesterday sitting in a theater waiting for a movie to start. The theater is completely full. Not one empty seat. So we're not waiting for anyone to show up. And they play commercial after commercial. So much so that there were audible groans in the last couple of previews before the movie started. I'd not heard that before. #

Life is filled with these kinds of humiliations. We love to hear these stories and we love to tell them. #

How will you make money? Well, the companies will advertise. That's how little they care about what people actually think. It'll be a very very popular site. #

If you want to throw me some stock, that would be great. Or hire me as a creative consultant. I'm in NYC and am available. :-) #

PS: Here's an example of a man-on-the-street rant from NakedJen. In this case the company-that-sucks is Humana. #




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