As I mentioned in the book, I often offer a sort of measurement challenge to an audience where I’m speaking about measuring the immeasurable. I ask anyone listening to give me an example of an impossible measurement at any time during the conference and, after a 15 minute session with that person, I’ll explain a method to measure that very thing. So far, I haven’t actually failed to identify a valid measurement in that time period but there were times it took longer to explain to the person that what I described actually would measure it.
Give me an example of a difficult measurement. Any example. The harder the better. And we’ll discuss the answer right here.
I’ve ordered your book today for I hope it will give me a way to measure the value of (generic) Internet Domain Names that aren’t in use (yet). To give you an example: DJ.NU (could be of interest for DJ’s or Dow Jones?) Or HRM.NU or Malaria.NU or IVF.NU etc. These domain names are out of the ordinary .COM extension so they won’t generate traffic without advertising. Of course, as always the value is now (and ultimately?) determined by what the fool is willing to pay for it as we in Holland say…
Ultimately, that is correct. Also, we can use the guideline of what other fools paid for similar things . This is, in fact, how most valuations in art, real estate, antiques and so on are estimated.
If your current uncertainty about the value is very high, then just knowing the distribution of values of similar purchases will reduce your uncertainty at least a bit. I might start with how .biz or other new extensions starting pricing out.
Are you interested in valuing an existing set of specific domain names you already own or are you more interested in computing the value of that extension in general?
Thanks for your interest,
Doug Hubbard
Dear Doug,
I have read your book and am deeply impressed. I live in Japan (of Indian origin) and if you ever visit Tokyo, I will gladly buy you a couple of rounds.
To state my challenge: Every once in a while I have clients or friends who approach me for some advice or quick answers on various matters which have nothing to do with the project or the work at hand. Sometimes like in scenario “C” below, consultative replies do not get me business continuity.
A. Owner of the Italian restaurant cum bar, 9PM:
“My sales are really down since early Jan. Can you suggest something we can do to help us improve? You do have a Ph.D after all!”
B. PTA parent at the ASIJ.org lobby while looking at High School Senior Art displays, 11AM:
“What is a good field of study for my child? You must have done due diligence and don’t keep your secrets to yourself.”
C. My former client, a CIO of an Electronics firm, at the Guinness pub, 11pm:
“Sarath, I have good managers but seems like they are spending very long time at work and are completely stressed out. Can you suggest some improvements which they could apply? Any help you can give me right away is greatly appreciated!”
Now I think these questions do not necessarily fall under the purview of your book’s coverage. But the questions do refer to intangibles don’t they?
I am certain your perspective on approaching these real world situations would be great.
Looking forward to your comments. Warm regards and thanks in advance.
Sarath
Sarath,
Thanks for your interest. True, these are not exactly challenges to measure specific things, but they are issues that might be solved by the right measurement. I’ll address each of these in future posts but, for now, I’ll reveal my “secret” about how I would address each of these. Remember my four working assumptions for all measurements:
1) It has been measured before (one just needs to do some research to find out how other clever people have measured something similar)
2) You have more data than you think (we just have to be resourceful regarding data that exists)
3) You need less data than you think (remember the more uncertain you are to start, the fewer observations it takes to reduce your uncertainty)
4) More data is easier than you think (we just have to be clever about sampling, experimental methods, measurement “instruments” and so forth)
For each of these, a clarification is in order and perhaps you could help me out:
– What kind of sales is he refering to in question A? Are we talking about B2B, retail (walk-in, online, etc), services, commodities, etc? Does he have recurring customers who buy less? If so, can he survey a few of them? If it is walk-in retail, we have other measurement methods that might explain the drop in sales. If drops in sales correlate well to other local economic measures, that might be a clue. Can he survey customers leaving the store? The more detail you can offer the better.
– The second question depends on what they mean by “Good field of study for a child”. Something they will enjoy? Something that correlates well to future income given that child’s demonstrated aptitudes? Again, the more detail the better.
– Regarding managers, can you describe what they do? Can we break down how they spend the bulk of their time into a dozen or so major categories? Can we just ask them what parts of the job are more stressful, if any? Can we ask them if things have changed recently? Can we track workloads by looking at past sales volumes? As much as you can say.
Thanks,
Doug
Dear Doug,
I guess long winded responses are not acceptable here so I’ve condensed my post this time as well. Thanks for your insights which are quite intuitive and perceptive.
For (A): His restaurant serves Italian food (single shop) and the economic downturn seems to have badly affected him. His food and service is pretty good. Trouble (according to him) is that he is facing competition from the large chains which offer a variety in food and bigger interaction spaces (and cheaper).
(B): At Intl schools, the children are tested for aptitude and abilities and when the choice becomes ART or History, the parents tend to fear for the future of the child. I guess what he wanted to do hear was how he could really entice his child to join a lucrative field (irrespective of aptitude).
(C): I will suggest those options the next time we get together. Prelim conversation along similar lines suggest that the IT managers work 8-11 daily without much of a written plan and firefighting issues. Project Management is in place but the managers apparently treat it with disdain.
Honestly, what I really wanted was your approach to resolving such unclear but troubling issues . Your 4 point approach is actually quite helpful when viewed from that angle. Thank you very much for your advice and I wish you good luck in all your efforts.
My offer still stands and it will be my greatest pleasure: sanku_sarath@hotmail.com
Regards,
Sarath