Skip to content

Category: english

Machine learning and Facebook Ads

Published by Joni on May 17, 2017

Introduction One important thing in machine learning is feature engineering (selection & extraction). This means choosing the right variables that improve the model’s performance, while discarding those reducing it. The more impact your variables have on the performance metric, the better. Because the real world is complex, you may start with dozens or even hundreds of variables (=features), but in…

Continue readingMachine learning and Facebook Ads
How to do political marketing on social media? A systematic process leveraging Facebook Ads

How to do political marketing on social media? A systematic process leveraging Facebook Ads

Published by Joni on April 30, 2017

This post very briefly explains a process of using and scaling Facebook advertising for political marketing. It might not be clear for all readers, but professional online marketers should be able to follow. The recipe for political marketing by using Facebook Ads: Create starting parameters (Age, Gender, Location, Message) Create total combinations based on the starting parameters Use prior information…

Continue readingHow to do political marketing on social media? A systematic process leveraging Facebook Ads
The Role of Assumptions in Startup Pitching

The Role of Assumptions in Startup Pitching

Published by Joni on April 30, 2017

More than truthfulness of the numbers, investors evaluate the assumptions underneath a pitch. They are not asking “Are these numbers real?” but “Could they be real?”. The assumptions reveal the logic of thinking by the founders. When examining them in detail, one should get logical answers to questions like: How many sales people are needed to hit the sales goals?…

Continue readingThe Role of Assumptions in Startup Pitching
Startup due diligence: Some considerations

Startup due diligence: Some considerations

Published by Joni on April 30, 2017

We had an interesting week with the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) that had invited several high-profile entrepreneurs from the US to evaluate the technologies of Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend all the sessions, but from what I saw I picked up a few pointers for due diligence work done by investors when…

Continue readingStartup due diligence: Some considerations
Social media marketing for researchers: How to promote your publications and reach the right people

Social media marketing for researchers: How to promote your publications and reach the right people

Published by Joni on April 16, 2017

Today the Social Computing group at Qatar Computing Research Institute had the pleasure of listening to the presentation of Luis Fernandez Luque about social media marketing for researchers. Luis talked about how to promote your publications and personal brand, as well as how to reach the right people on social media with your research. Luis is one of the most…

Continue readingSocial media marketing for researchers: How to promote your publications and reach the right people
The balanced view algorithm

The balanced view algorithm

Published by Joni on April 16, 2017

I recently participated in a meeting of computer scientists where the topic was “fake news”. The implicit assumption was that “we will do this tool x that will show people what is false information, and they will become informed.” However, after the meeting I realized this might not be enough, and in fact be naïve thinking. It may not matter…

Continue readingThe balanced view algorithm
The strategy algorithm

The strategy algorithm

Published by Joni on April 11, 2017

Introduction The purpose of the strategy algorithm is to present a simple, parsimonius, and proven method for successful creation of a corporate strategy. In corporations, the problems usually do not relate to lack of resources or options, but to complexity of having in fact too many choices. This can lead to illusion of superiority which is not a short-term problem…

Continue readingThe strategy algorithm
Using flow principles to introduce addiction to mobile or Web app

Using flow principles to introduce addiction to mobile or Web app

Published by Joni on April 7, 2017

Introduction Flow is a well-known concept in psychology, invented by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and published in 1975. It describes the state of losing yourself to a task; basically losing the sense of time and being just very immersed and focused on what you are doing. While many professionals (including myself!) would kill to have flow 100% of the time, because it…

Continue readingUsing flow principles to introduce addiction to mobile or Web app
User feedback: A startup perspective
Startups! Are you using a ‘mean’ or an ‘outlier’ as a reference point?

Startups! Are you using a ‘mean’ or an ‘outlier’ as a reference point?

Published by Joni on March 30, 2017

Introduction This post is about startup thinking. In my dissertation about startup dilemmas [1], I argued that startups can exhibit what I call as ‘reference point bias’. My evidence was emerging from the failure narratives of startup founders, where they reported having experienced this condition. The reference point bias is a false analogy where the founder compares their startup with…

Continue readingStartups! Are you using a ‘mean’ or an ‘outlier’ as a reference point?