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Posting this for kicks, awesome deck – Boston pride baby (also so I’ll remember it later)…

Major league baseball (”MLB”) teams over the past 13 years, since the league expanded to its current 30 team format, have been able to spend their way to success in the win column.  Payroll and team win data has shown that the more money a team is willing to spend in a given year, the more wins they are likely to attain that season.

Over the course of the past 13 seasons, we see that the American League has in fact spent more money on their payroll than the National League and that has equated to more wins.  The graph below shows this data:

We can also look at a scatterplot graph of teams in MLB over these past 13 years to see the same story. The data represented in this graph is 13 year averages for payroll and wins for each MLB team, each team represented by a blue data point. The graph shows that the teams that do spend more in payroll on average do have more average wins:

Interesting side stories are also found in this graph, like which teams are most efficient with their money – take the Oakland A’s for instance. They are consistently one of the teams that spends the least amount of money, but does win anyway. Looking at the RedSox and the Braves also shows two teams that basically have won the same amount, but the RedSox have spent almost $25 million more. This graph really speaks to the effectiveness of the front offices of MLB teams, which I think is really interesting.

In the end though, as the data shows, more money spent equals more success in MLB.

First this – if you’re into FourSquare, check out the new site from @kylejames, @davidgallant and @andypitre that is covering FourSquare and its prolific badges:

http://www.4squarebadges.com/

Then there’s this hilarious video from @hubspot – no explanations, just watch:

As some of you many know already, I’ve taken on a new position at a great company here in Boston (Cambridge actually) – HubSpot. the company is an internet marketing software firm that produces a great product that helps other companies practice inbound marketing. For those who have no idea what inbound marketing means, it’s basically the practice of making your company website a ‘hub’ for your industry. Optimizing it and creating content that will enable you to get found on the web and (most importantly) convert your website visitors into leads that you can then qualify and convert them into customers.

So far, I’ve been very impressed with the products and people at HubSpot. The company was founded by two MIT Sloan school graduates who’s ideas and experience brought them to the idea that traditional promotional marketing techniques (referred to as ‘outbound’) were broken. Inbound marketing is the wave of the future (or at least part of it), especially for small to medium sized businesses who face strong localized competition in today’s economy.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of HubSpot though is the way they ‘eat their own dogfood’ – a lesson I learned a while back in the 37 Signals book ‘Getting Real’. HubSpot’s practices what they preach (inbound marketing), perhaps more than any company I’ve ever seen or heard about. Literally, their own products and philosophy drives their business everyday and they’re happy to admit it. I’ll be the first one to tell you that Inbound marketing works – and there are countless examples to prove it (HubSpot being just one).

In any case, another move that I’m going to be making is that more of my writing around the technology and media industries are going to be on HubSpot’s internet marketing blog.  Check it out!

During the 2008 presidential elections, I found myself getting sick and tired of all of the biased partisan dribble that was being produced from the major news channels – you know the culprits. It seemed like my options were either totally liberal MSNBC, or totally conservative Fox News, with not a whole lot in between. Online, in written news articles, the same sort of biased opinion exists, with a few exceptions. I’ve always found myself craving multiple sources in my news and not simply settling for reading one source all the time.

Fast forward to today, and enter Newsy.com – an online video news site that covers the day’s news from multiple sources.  Their format is strictly video, and they use their own ‘reporters’ to cover the sources in their attempt to touch on all aspects of the story as it unfolds.  At first glance, the site doesn’t appear to have a ton of stories, a product of their age and resources most likely, but I expect this to increase over time.

Newsy also just launched an iPhone app, which has me very excited (as I just picked up a new 3G S).  I really like the video format – it takes less time to consume the stories and the reporters do a good job keeping you interested during each 5 minute or so clip.

The company earns revenue through advertising around its videos and also offers to license them to other sites who may want to incorporate them.  The site is about 10 months old, and has already received funding, and apparently is going to announce another round of funding at $2 million.

One question I have is how are their sources and news stories are being uncovered?  As they move forward, are they putting the resources into developing a piece of technology that will automate this process (a la Memeorandum)?  The lack of automation in finding and filtering news stories from all of the sources they cover could be the cause for them being slow to publish new videos.  They could also be suffering from a lack of personnel and video creation and editing resources.  I would say that for them to really make a splash in the public news market, they have to produce at least an hour’s worth of video per day.

Will this new site fix the ever slowing news industry?  Probably not – that will take a true shift in the industry’s access and revenue models – but this format is certainly interesting and useful.  The company is doing a lot of the legwork for us in filtering out articles for stories that we may never see, and for that I am grateful.

Ok, so you have a great idea, a partner or two, some cash to make it happen and you want to embark on your idea full time. First of all, good for you – it’s a big step. Something that you will most likely come across very quickly is the dynamic of working from home. This means different things for different people of course, and for those of you who can make it happen (and have your significant others ok with it too), good for you. My problem when I’m freelancing is creating separation between work time and home time (Aimee, my fiancee will tell you that – it’s tough).

An easy answer for any small business getting off the ground is to rent some co-working space at one of the many facilities in the Boston/Cambridge are.  These spots have become a popular option for young companies trying to keep costs down while being out of the house in a constructive, nurturing environment.  Then, when you begin to grow and need more space, these guys will accommodate your needs.  The best part though?  Not having to worry about ALL of the intangibles that come with having an office: Internet, phone lines, printers, fax machines, electrical/heating bills,  supplies, furniture, desks I could go on – trust me, it’s a lot of overhead and a big pain in the ass.

Enter the co-working facility, and it’s all taken care of – wrapped up in one bill, how nice is that?  So onto the players to consider:

1. Beta House – Central Square, Cambridge:

Though not a lot is know about Beta House – their website is very minimalistic (which is fine, it includes all critical information).  We do know that they are located in a Brownstone in a residential neighborhood in the Central Square area.  The space appears to be largely a social space with an open working environment, great for people who want to work amongst their peers, and have the ability to openly collaborate and have some sense of camaraderie.  Beta House appears an excellent option if you’re a solo entrepreneur looking to meet other people in your field (mostly web folks I’m hearing).  Most things I’ve heard about Beta House are overwhelmingly positive – including the price which is very reasonable at $225-$375 per month, depending on options and space you need.

2.  Cambridge CoWorking Center (@ Cambridge Innovation Center) – Kendall Square, Cambridge:

C3, as it’s referred to, is the new workplace option at Cambridge Innovation Center – a longtime leader in Boston’s temp office market.  C3 is rather similar to Beta House it would appear – with even a similar price point at $250/month – again, very reasonable.  C3 is fairly new and has gotten some great reviews thus far.  Their big brother CIC is home to some of Boston’s best startup companies, so these guys really know how to make office space work.  C3 keeps its costs down by not giving residents land lines or food or wired internet.  Another great option in an equally good location.

3.  Geek Offices - Inman Square, Cambridge and Framingham, MA:

Geek offices is brand new to the Cambridge co-working scene.  While the rates at thie spot are a little more expensive than their rivals, they maintain a huge advantage in that they offer private work space.  You can get your own cubicle for $400 per month, and have some space to work that is relatively private.  Standard amenities are included: coffee, Wi-Fi, water, kitchen, whiteboards, shared conference room, etc…Another great thing about these guys is that they’re flexible about the time and pricing you may want.  For example, if you only want space one day per week, it’s $120/month, 2 days is $200/month and full time is $400.  It’s definitely nice to consider that flexibility.  Check these guys out – the company was started by my former colleague John Smith.

BTW, here’s some funny Q & A with the Beta House guys: http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/news/hub_20/index.php/2008/03/03/co-working-the-future-of-boston-tech/

A few years back I lived with some kids who made their coin as bike couriers in Boston. They spent their days riding around town, delivering packages from building to building or doing anything that was required. I always wondered how the service was centralized and worked in terms of organization. I eventually learned that the service was run by dispatchers and a point man – with the couriers equipped with radios. But this service was almost meant to live online. Fast forward to today, and there’s a service that’s popped up here in Boston that is somewhat along the same lines: runmyerrand.com.

RunMyErrand is a service networking company that provides a way to post chores or errands that other folks can pick up and do for a fee – typically ranging from $7 – $50, depending on the travel time and complexity of the errand. The flip side is that people can then choose to do certain chores and make money doing it (talk about a decent way for unemployed folks to make some money). The map of errands is fairly impressive actually, as I could potentially step out of my door right now and make some loot:

When you sign up for RunMyErrand, you purchase credits that will be used to pay for the errands that you post. These credits are like currency – and also enable the company to make some money, especially as the number of users and errands grow. The errand is then picked up by a ‘runner’ and they will contact you to discuss the price for the errand (bargain with you), and then make it happen if you agree. The runners are then paid by the service – pretty smart system if you ask me.

Some issues that Run My Errand face is somewhat of the ultimate chicken and egg problem. The service needs errand runners and a lot of them – available ideally at all hours of the day – in order for it to be worthwhile for folks to post errands. For example, if I want to post an errand for someone to pick up my dry cleaning, I want it done today, or else I’ll make the time to pick it up myself. I certainly don’t want to wait until Thursday for my dry cleaning when I posted the errand on Monday.

But the site does possess the tool to drum up some errand runners – money. If they mandate that the cost of errands go up, then it will increase the amount of folks who run errands – though it may also decrease the amount of errands posted. This at least would be a starting point for a service that I think could be very useful and popular. Right now, the service is only in Boston, and hence their lowish traffic numbers to date. Look for them to expand and grow in the future (I’m really excited to see how this does in NYC, a city that was made for this it would seem). Check out the founder at Hubspot TV the other day: