Play the Game of Life
Ryan Petersen's Blog

When I first read this letter from now-retired hedge fund manager, Andrew Lahde, I really admired him for putting his personal life above financial payouts as he rode off into the sunset after a miraculous year of investing. The guy's hedge fund rose 866% last year, leading him to write a scathing letter about the financial services industry (you'd think he'd be more grateful) as he retired from money management.

And while I still recommend reading the letter, and wholeheartedly endorse the sentiment that lead him to write it, I think this guy has been fooled by randomness. Here is a classic example of a guy who got lucky, and not realizing that somebody had to get lucky, clings to the belief that he is somehow special.

On top of that, the guy's actually pretty petty. He attacks everybody who went to an elite school, saying they are all stupid. Then he tells the world--presumably including friends and co-workers who helped him on the way up--that now that he's rich he won't be returning their calls).

Let's hope that when the rest of us make it big, we can make a more graceful move to the exit.

Everyday Medical, a distributor of discounted wheelchairs and medical supplies, presents a really interesting case study in the opportunities and challenges of marketing to an older demographic on the Internet.

The company is growing tremendously thanks to an easy-to-use site, well-managed online advertising campaigns, and a customer service-oriented culture. To get elderly people to shop online, you need to convince them that you're trustworthy, and that starts with telephone support that shows you care. These guys have become masters of the art.


Nonetheless, many elderly people remain uncomfortable with the online shopping experience. Even where the exact products they want are available at steep discounts from online distributors, many prefer the more personalized shopping experience of their local retailer.

The problem is likely to diminish with time, as today's younger, more web savvy people become tomorrow's elderly generation. But there must be certain steps a company can take to increase speed of the transition.

A few things they've done so far include providing a vastly greater selection of wheelchairs and other medical products than any pharmacy could hope to stock. They also provide better prices while making every effort to match the customer service experience of in-store shopping.

They've also implemented online chat with Live Person, rapid e-mail support, and most importantly, hired truly caring phone support people to represent the company.

* What other steps can companies take to convince older folks to start shopping online?

* Are there other tools you could add to an e-commerce site to make it more friendly to the elderly?

If you have any ideas, let us know in the comments section.

Labels: entrepreneurship, Web marketing