imcqueen

OP here. I'm exploring a new web standard called procurement.txt (robots.txt for agent commerce). It supports everything from simple setups ("email @store.example”) to sophisticated automation standards (UCP, ACP). The pattern would be to check /procurement.txt on any commercial domain and then act accordingly.

I think the internet will adjust to accommodate agents, just like it did for mobile. Agents are the fastest growing website user segment today (like mobile used to be). Others are trying similar things for content (llms.txt).

This should work for any transaction type, but I had long-tail B2B procurement in mind since it's the least supported today by current attempts. Agents will handle discovery and evaluation in the future (at a minimum).

I have found scraping the web to be slow and expensive, and many B2B websites are unusable. Merchants should be properly incentivized if agents adopt the standard.

Early version of the spec is live. I'm seeing ~90% reduction in token usage, but there are likely gaps I've overlooked. Open to collaborators and feedback.

I know it's been tried many times unsuccessfully, but with the benefit of hindsight now would you have preferred to pay a nominal annual fee for the handful of currently free services that you really like?

I realize we're likely too far gone now, but it's fundamentally an issue that we aren't paying for these ad-supported services, so the companies gravitate toward serving the interests of the entities that are paying them.

That's not a justification or reflection of my opinion about privacy and ethics around the use of data, just a thought around removing the problem from the equation all together.

I guess my real question is, if you remove the profit seeking component of the data discussion does the bad behavior completely go away? Definitely interested in other opinions.

Totally agree with this.

A couple of other things I’ve found help me in case they help you:

- public speaking is a skill, not a talent. You can learn to be good at it with practice.

- if you are the type of person that gets nervous, you may never completely cure that, but you will learn to get through it. Many good public speakers still feel a little anxiety before speaking.

- if you have a bad presentation, don’t stress too much. The key is to not let too much time go by after a bad performance, get back out there.

I personally dread public speaking, but I have to do it regularly enough that I continuously have to work at it. I like to memorize the first few lines of any talk. Once I get a few sentences in everything falls into place. I just need to get through the first 90 seconds before my nerves pass. And it only improved through live action.

For anyone that doesn't want to invest 40 minutes in this:

New Sensor Technology

The Connector Force - mobile network

The 2nd Software Revolution - big data, AI, machine learning

Feedback

Synthetic Biology

The Second Industrial Revolution - 3d printing

Nanotechnology

Robotics

Ultra Urbanization

Emergence of the Global Middle Class

You're probably correct here. The part people find a little unsavory is not that it's somehow eroding the middle class. It's the idea that HFT can act as an unnecessary intermediary, essentially taxing a transaction that otherwise didn't need to be disrupted and at scale the amount extracted becomes material.

Imagine your neighbor owned a Ferrari and you told him one day you were going to buy a gallon of milk at the store. "On sale for $3.99!" you say to him. Now imagine he sped past you on your way to the store and when you arrived there he had bought all the milk at $3.99 and was selling it in the parking lot for $4.01.

You wouldn't necessarily be ruined financially paying $4.01 instead of $3.99. The cost is negligible. But you would probably think he was kind of a jerk.

I've discussed this topic with people in the past and I've heard one option is to find a family owned business that does not have a clear successor. In that scenario you can sometimes find a healthy, well-run business that is owned by people who need an exit strategy and are open to selling so they can retire.

Is this maybe a "sell high" scenario for twitter? Sounds like the article is suggesting that, while demand is still strong, the supply of available office space is rising.

Perhaps their thinking is to get the asset under lease while the price is still at it's current rate and then spend on expansion later if it's necessary (at theoretically lower prices based on the supply trend?).

They're definitely doing the math, but to an objective outsider the numbers won't add up. We are all likely underestimating how hard it is to innovate inside a company the size of Walmart.

For what it's worth, Jet is based in Hoboken, NJ.

I have a theory about this, it happened to us when we bought some childrens books on Jet. They came in the mail from Barnes and Noble with a packing slip that had a price higher than we paid included with it.

It doesn't explain the Amazon example you mentioned, but I was under the impression they have special affiliate arrangements with 3rd party retailers and that they were somehow being allowed to invest their affiliate commissions into the consumer (which is typically not allowed).

So if they're making 15% affiliate commissions from B&N they're able to drop the consumer price 10%. They've been focused on scale more than margin since day 1, so it would make sense that they would just operate on something razor thin and continue to drive home that they have unbeatable prices.

For the 3rd party retailers it's a way to compete with AMZN on price without actually having to drop their prices and I can see how that would be attractive to a retailer that's losing market share.

No basis for this, just one man's theory.

The paid membership component makes that tough to compare, but I've also heard they take good care of employees

I don't think you could do a subscription model for this business. It's only profitable if none your customers use your service.

The value proposition makes sense - find a solution faster than searching for it yourself. However, I feel like you would have to pay per use and the level of expertise required would dictate cost.

Are you trying to sell this to businesses as an employee perk or just DTC right now?

I'm guessing most employers who offer this service have people bring their clothes on site to be picked up (anyone with experience please weigh in). Your angle is to eliminate that piece, so that may be a good selling point.

for what it's worth I've tried this service about 3 weeks ago. I printed a sample postcard to test the quality. It was better than I expected, especially coming from a pdf. At the time there was no way to print a two sided job (it's probably supported now), but they accommodated my request and gave me a ton of paper options that weren't available through the api.

Long story short, awesome customer experience and quality result.

Synapse Group Inc. We're a part of Time Warner and based in Stamford, CT.

http://www.synapsegroupinc.com

We're looking for a blend of web development and marketing skills to help grow their online marketing operations group. It's a good role for anyone with an interest in maximizing business performance through a scientific “build and measure” approach.

Here are the details from the careers site. Feel free to reach out to me directly if anyone is interested:

-Iain (imcqueen at synapsemail dot com)

--Begin Corporate Description--

As a member of the web production team you will:

- Build (A/B and multivariate) marketing tests using HTML, JavaScript and CSS

- Analyze test results using industry leading tools like Omniture Site Catalyst and SiteSpect

- Distribute performance results to the proper clients and stakeholders

- Mobilize testing wins into scalable solutions that can be leveraged across all areas of business

- Collaborate with the Synapse online marketing team to brainstorm new testing opportunities

- Research and prototype new ideas by building proof-of-concept applications

- Oversee a portfolio of active promotions

Job Requirements:

- Bachelor’s degree

- Proficient in front-end technologies including HTML and CSS

- Expert level competency in JavaScript

- Strong verbal and written communication

Things that will make you stand out:

- You've contributed to an open source project

- You have an entrepreneurial spirit – tell us about your side project

- You have mobile development experience (iOS, Android or mobile web)

I also think people will be much more strict when it comes to picking "apps" for a device like Glass, or at least more strict with permissions.

Just from personal experience the more capable something is of interrupting me the more selective I am with privileges.

I used to commute an hour each way, but we moved and I'm now back to 25 minutes door to door. There's nothing better than getting time back in your day.

When I was commuting I witnessed on at least two occasions people exercising in traffic. Literally one hand on the wheel, one hand holding a small weight. The bike sounds much safer, but I definitely agree that exercise is key to feeling energized.

One major factor in appearing well dressed is having clothes that fit properly. Even expensive clothes look bad when they're not the right size and cut. It may be cool if a startup could curate clothes that match both style and body type.

This could exist by the way, I don't know of any off the top of my head though. Bonobos.com is the only thing that comes to mind. They're not specifically doing the above, but I think they offer a variety of fits/sizes. I've had a good experience with them in the past.

It's an interesting idea and relevant to one of the major actions users take on facebook (birthday/well wishes).

I think you're right that it's "sufficiently close", but I'm struggling with how I define that. It's essentially someone close enough that I would give them a gift, but not so close that giving them a gift through FB is too impersonal.

Do you have friends that you call or hang out with on their birthday but don't write on their wall? Most of my fb well wishes are from loose connections. My real friends call, text or hang out with me on my bday. Facebook is the least personal touchpoint I'm available through, but maybe I'm an exception.

PS - I think it's been said, but combining gifts is probably the key here(i.e. everyone chips in to get you something).

I would guess that's more a byproduct of the irreplaceable though, right? In an industry where the "good" actors have an agent, not having one would make you look illegitimate. In other words, if Brad Pitt didn't have an agent it's unlikely people would put up with Extra #12 having one.

I also love this idea, but I'm not sure it would translate to anything outside the sports/entertainment arena.

In both sports and entertainment the "agent" model works because the person being pursued is considered highly irreplaceable (like Kobe Bryant or Angelina Jolie). For the team, players having agents is a huge negative. But what choice do they have? People are only willing to put up with a bad process when they feel that they are getting something invaluable. That's why people line up out the door and around the corner at special food spots like Georgetown Cupcakes, or for a cheesesteak in Philadelphia.

In other words, even though I agree that some developers are so highly skilled that they are essentially invaluable, if you walked into a company with an agent they'd simply put your resume aside and find someone else. Programming (especially in the eyes of the non-technical) is a highly replaceable skill.

I'm seeing the same thing. It says Bedford to Stamford is 45 minutes, it's actually about 25 minutes.

I bet it's refreshing once you get comfortable working there, but in the beginning it has to be a little intimidating.