Kevin Rose: Proof that dirty details wash away when your story resonates.
I can’t believe I’ve never heard a backlash about NDA’s (1) or misleading marketing tactics (2) in the launch of DIgg:
(1) Managing his image is another story. Minutes after I arrive in San Francisco, a nondisclosure agreement drops in my e-mail inbox with a number of surprising demands. I, the business journalist, am not allowed to include any financial information about the company or to reveal any details about the personal life of the company’s founder. When I refuse to sign — what kind of profile includes no personal details? — Digg’s publicist, Lacey Haines, apologizes. “We’ve never allowed someone in the offices for so long,” she says, even though I’m scheduled to be on the premises for just a day and a half. “Everyone is really scared.”
(2) In addition to his promotional efforts on TV, Rose started talking up his venture on his blog, which had nearly 10,000 registered users. In January 2005, he described Digg as “a friend’s site and one of my favorite technology news websites.”
If you find a story that resonates with the soul of your targets and cultivate it as long as he has, your raving fans will probably forgive the details.
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