Last week, I saw something about OpenSocial being used through Google Gadgets.
Open Social still has a lot of kinks in it as a newly released October 2007 source code interface, although as more social networking applications are created, the more important it will be from a developer or marketing standpoint to implement this API. It's uncertain how quickly adoption of the API will pick up.
Even more astonishing--Yahoo! is combining forces with Google to strengthen the Open Social platform. And then you say, "What? Aren't they rivals??"
Yes, but according to BusinessWeek, "Yahoo is still fighting off Microsoft's marriage proposal, but it is still open to making friends."
Another site, Techtree.com, India, says the plot of the story is like many Bollywood potboilers. "Now Google and Yahoo! seem to be becoming the new best friends for each other."
As rivals, they have their interests much more aligned than with Microsoft, and it's no secret that Google is constantly pursuing products to reduce market share for Microsoft. Well, that explains the drama, at least for now.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Open Social - Yahoogle?!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Angry Journalist Gripes About Social Media
Whenever a journalist writes a blogpost with an angry rant against public relations practitioners, the word spreads like wildfire. Agencies cross their fingers and close their eyes before reading the forward that gets past around.
I didn't really believe it before but journalists apparently do get angry about being under appreciated for their talents. Good writers are getting quickly trumped by technology and the paper boy isn't worth much to me either. As far as I am concerned, I don't want a wad of paper delivered to my home every day, especially when my News Central is right at my desktop after I check my e-mail.
I visited The Angry Journalist and the most recent gripe by Angry Journalist #2201 is a fairly amusing gripe about Social Media:
"Does journalism even exist anymore? A five-line blurb on the Web? Whoop de doo. Get a real job."
It's not really clear what his gripe is about exactly, it could be the idea that newspapers don't publish new news and blogs are ubiquitous at this point. But yeah, I get that. Journalists are struggling to keep up, but just like everybody else, journalists have to innovate themselves. After a few months at a local daily paper, entirely paid by local advertisers, I knew I had to get out. The newspaper's publisher at the time refused to even archive their paper on the web.
As a girl who met her first Apple computer at age 9, I thought this was just ridiculous.
Angry Journalist #2201, I get where you are coming from. News quality is decreasing and the level of information on the web is just crazy. But maybe, just maybe, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Who said journalism has to be owned by a select few? The first newspaper was probably started by a guy who was experimenting with a printing press and just went around talking to people. No joke.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Social Media for Everyone
Well, I can't say it's not true. There are still very few people who use the wide range of social media tools that are out there and most people think it is about YouTube and Facebook or MySpace.
Mack Collier on Marketing Profs is talking about social media tools like Twitter, Seesmic, and Viddler.
I don't know what it is about these social media tools but the average person doesn't just integrate social media tools into their life, probably because they aren't quick software gadget adopters. Sure, if you go to the South by Southwest conference, you have a microcosm of bloggers and social media chatters. Unfortunately, this won't catch on with everybody.
It would be cool to see Twitter grow big but Facebook status messages seem to work nicely for most people. This is a dilemma for those who want to add more social media tools to the webosphere.
By the way, here's a video posted by Guy Kawasaki on his blog about how he and Steve Ballmer had a witty tete-a-tete. To me, this is like web 1.0 vs. web 2.0
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The Start Up 101 Series - Zonbu
*I was going to post about revenue models today but I met with one of the co-founders of Zonbu today and could not resist posting this instead.*
Business is often an elusive practice. For some odd reason, some businesses succeed and others fail simply by trial and error. So is the term entrepreneurship, and so I should point out here that for all the academic theory and research surrounding this idea, it is those who have been able to embody the spirit of entrepreneurship who have been truly successful.
As for Grégoire Gentil, when I met him in his office on El Camino Real, it became evident that whatever the traits are for an entrepreneur, he is inexplicably an individual that embodies those traits not only in spirit but in action.
Gentil launched three businesses since 1996. In 2006, Gentil and his colleague Alain Rossman created Zonbu.
So what is Zonbu? The technology has the look and feel of the traditional desktop (for $99) or laptop (for $279) but isn't quite the desktop or laptop that we know. Aimed at casual laptop users, Zonbu provides an open source software where the computer is more of a portal to the data stored on a server somewhere rather than a computer.
In addition to that, most of the company's revenue comes from a subscription based service rather than the device itself--a type of HP printer model where the printer itself is a cheap base price, but you pay more for the print cartridges later.
Gentil, as a technology geek and avid trendwatcher, has been able to create what he calls a "disruptive technology"--the very thing that will keep away corporate giants like Dell and Microsoft from his market niche.
As a disruptive technology, it tends to just elusive enough for the corporate giants not to move into this space, and Gentil attributes this to defining a very clear and specific niche where larger players may not be able to support.
So how has Gentil been so successful at creating 4 start-ups to date? Gentil had no direct answer, except to say, "You have to be stubborn enough to believe in yourself and what you are doing, because others may not believe in what you are doing."
He has also been very good at simply identifying solid trends and opportunities. Zonbu is the intersection between cloud computing, sound hardware design and open source. It's an ambitious idea for sure, as he has also been able to integrate poignant environmental issues into the benefits of the technology.
For those of us who want to start a business, Gentil advises, "You have to start early." The older you are the less opportunity there is to succeed. My perception of this is that perhaps the more responsibilities and pressures there are to succeed. This is centrally against the principle that entrepreneurs must be able to pursue risk without boundaries because entrepreneurs risk failure just as much as success.
However it seems that Gentil's skill at identifying opportunities, "stubborn" nature and technology knowledge have contributed most to Gentil's success thus far.
In addition to that, it also helps if you "hire people who are smarter than you."
Monday, February 18, 2008
Microsoft loses sight of company goals
I read Dean Takahashi's column today about how Apple has been very successful at innovating their products recently and taken away some of Microsoft's market share.
Recently I wrote about Microsoft's offer to purchase Yahoo and I think Takahashi is right. Microsoft has to solidify their core business before they tackle the internet space. Yahoo as well seems to be losing sight of their core business by engaging in the Microsoft deal although more recent news suggests that stockholders are holding Yahoo back from making any deals, not to mention that such a merger would be challenging with two very different cultures.
Microsoft may have been largely successful due to the large market share in PC products versus Apple in early years, but if the price point is right, consumers may just switch to Apple, and especially since it seems to have more intuitive and better software than Microsoft's products.
*Updated: Photo to represent not the iPhone but the core business of computers, laptops and OS software. Courtesy of 65 Bit Computers.com
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The Start Up 101 Series - Traits of the Entrepreneur
In the next week or so, I will be writing a series of articles that I will call "The Start Up 101" Series which will be my observations on entrepreneurship from meeting entrepreneurs and what makes a start-up opportunity successful. Not only that--but people can be entrepreneurial while working at corporate companies and there are several Silicon Valley companies prefer this approach than the traditional corporate style.
Some of things that I will cover in the next week based on my observations:
- Characteristics of an entrepreneur
- Identifying opportunities
- Goal setting and creating benchmarks
- Surveying the competitive landscape
- And more as I think of other related topics.
Today is about defining characteristics of entrepreneurs.
First, I'll start by defining my personally coined term "Rookie Stylie." I don't think I had a chance up to now to define what "Rookie Stylie" really means to me. It is finesse, confidence and individuality to make connections and think critically about the business world. Not only that, I will have to say that it is also about being a young professional, maybe in your twenties and having a ton of potential to live up to your passions versus the old skool paradigm of working for the Man.
Entrepreneurship is the art of "taking or entering into opportunities" and many people here have dreams of having their own start-up or company. In Silicon Valley, where everyone is trying to stay competitive, we have to be our own agents or consultants, even if we are working in the corporate world. I don't think you have to be a public figure in your community to be an entrepreneur, per se, but you can be an aspiring entrepreneur if you have passion and motivation to work towards dreams and life goals. The fame comes afterwards (and only if it really is fame that you are seeking. Personally I think being a strong thought leader is a service to the community not a celebrity role.)
Another aspect that is important is to stay focused. I learned recently that it is easy to get distracted because there are a lot of wonderful things in the world that can pull away one's attention, but having an entrepreneurial spirit means you're able to seperate the important stuff from the "crap" much like we have to do with a lot of the information that is available us through the internet today.
Next up: how can you recognize you have a good opportunity to pursue?
Resources
Friday, February 1, 2008
Microsoft-Yahoo
The world is abuzz today as Microsoft has proposed to buy Yahoo! AND Yahoo! is actually considering the offer. There are often mixed feelings for users of services acquisitions happen like this. Microsoft isn't great when it comes to innovation and has been better at simply buying companies who innovate well.
I'm surprised because in some ways, I felt like I should have seen this coming. Microsoft started to go after the big players when they made a bid on Facebook and it's starting to be come clearer now that they want a bigger share of the online space, while they have been leaders in desktop software for a long time.
Economically speaking, mergers are never good for consumers. First of all, Yahoo's problem recently has been in scalability and Microsoft can't solve that problem. There is going to be a lot of organizational change if and when the merger takes place. Second, Microsoft's goals and Yahoo's don't seem well aligned. Microsoft is a stodgy old, uninnovative company and Yahoo needs to figure out some way to act quicker, stay nimble against their number 1 competitor Google.
Maybe it's because I am a user of Yahoo products, but this just sounds like a bad idea.
Other articles fielded on this story:
Thursday, January 24, 2008
This is just a random observation but I daresay in my group of friends, those who are reaching their 30s are less likely to use Facebook and then you have the oddball professor or teacher or parent who is trying to stay hip and connect with their teenagers. Are these non-Facebook users laggards or simply not interested?
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Hooray for Readius
Just read on Reuters.com today that a Dutch company is going to launch Readius, a handheld mobile device with a Kindle Reader like screen. It's a Phillips subsidiary that is launching the product and I must say, we all love mobile and we like the idea of the Kindle Reader which is why I'm getting really interested in this product. Reviewers of the Kindle have commented that the Kindle is kind of clunky and 70s-ish and I think Readius could solve that problem. It sounds like a good idea to have a phone that you can use and a reader that you can pull out when you feel like reading.
Now all we have to do is wait for the reviewers to start giving their pros and cons on this product.
It's going to be priced the same as the iPhone, though, so that will really put up some barriers for people like me who are laggards and tend to wait and see what they early adopters do with such a thing.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Oh, Cellie, Where Art Thou?
I lost my phone between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 17 and it's a bit like losing a third ear. The last place I saw it was on my kitchen table on silent mode and I don't remember moving it, although it could have gone to Peet's Coffee with me between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m. but I don't recall taking it.
I have not been so bummed in my life.
We now live in an age where cell phones are our primary, private lines. I doubt teenagers nowadays ask for a private line in their room. They probably ask for an internet connection and a cell phone. Even Grandma might use a cell phone to text her BFF (can't remember which cell phone commercial that is from).
That is partly why I have not written in the past couple of days, too, because when I am mobile without internet connection, my cell phone is my mouthpiece, my method to contact a friend who can navigate me out when I am lost (which is often) and my meeting maker. It's tough to make weekend plans without a cell phone, especially in a day where I plan to meet different people at different times of the day but we haven't decided what time exactly we will meet, which is after the other thing I am doing. Also hard to call people to let them know if I will meet them and find out where to meet because I don't have phone numbers anywhere but on my cell phone.
I also miss out on who's planning to do what and when, and who is involved or planning on joining.
The other thing that is annoying about not having a cell phone is that I cannot text the Google 411 line to get information about a place if I just need a phone number or an address without bothering anybody I know and without paying $1.75 or more for a 411 call.
Last, it's the "not-knowing" how many missed calls I have and from whom that really gets to me. I have about a dozen of missed calls on it from my house but besides that I have no idea.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Social Media for B2B
I'm still debating whether social media applies to the B2B market. For example, if government niche marketers most likely won't be using social media because of the bureaucracy that remains in the market, but surely governments talk to each other and complain and have some way of communicating.
Social media right now is dominated by all kinds of people who have caught the internet bug and are blogging, posting reviews on everything from restaurants on Yelp!to software on CNet and all this influence through non-marketer authorities in a peer group is really changing the way people buy things. Products these days have to be sold by "organic" product evangelists, not by marketers. So the marketing role is changing because marketers now have to mobilize product evangelists rather than educate the market on what they should or should not buy.
Hark back to the 1990s and you will remember commercials that tell you why Pepsi is better than Coke and vice versa. I don't think products are sold that way anymore--it's more about who buys the product and if they are in the same peer group.
Do we see this kind of behavior happening in the B2B side? In a way, yes, because if we didn't, then companies would not post case studies on their websites. Companies are highly risk adverse where costs are concerned and they often don't want to purchase something if their partners or competitors are not buying the same product.
Therein lies an answer: corporations may be more slow moving in comparison to individual consumers and as the overall population gets more educated with social media, then perhaps we will see a different dynamic in the B2B market. However, this sort of thing is still emerging and there are different issues such as security, IT management and brand management that will come into play.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Value Is as Value Does
Today I've been looking at different companies and trying culminate a few ideas floating around about "value add" and either beating or staying ahead of the competition as well as what it means to work in high-tech where innovation is "a moving target". I read a case study today which Norman R. Augustine wrote about Lockheed Martin's attempt to restructure and survive while thinking about where I would fit into the management mix when I get that first dream job and why a company would need my insights as an employee. Yes, there is a bit of ego in this post, but I figured I needed the extra boost today as part of my introspective research of the day.
There really are very few people like me and that is a cliché statement because everyone is unique and there is no one person like the other. But if you were to define the market segment that I would fall under, it would be "Gen Y girl geek* in Silicon Valley who has lived in three other countries outside of the US and has seen how economic development can affect people in third world countries." Take a sample size: Out of 100 students of the class of 2000 at the Hong Kong International School high school, I am 1 in 100 and out of those students who live in Silicon Valley, I am maybe 1 in 5, (based on my connections on Facebook).
Take that number and try to find the number of people in the sample size of 5 people (a non-representative sample at best) that really wants to understand the history of our modern world through the fast-changing, fast-paced landscape of high-tech business and you are down to a sample of one. Which says nothing except that I am 100% me and if every competing entity on the free market has varied strengths and weaknesses giving each a fair competitive advantage, then it's true that I am totally and economically unique.
The question that often comes up these days is what is your value add and can you compete in this fast-paced, non-traditional, non "9 to 5" industry? Can you chase a moving target and hit a bull's eye? Do you understand what innovation means? I like to think that in about five years from now I will be more of an expert with a stronger understanding of the high-tech landscape. Right now, like our friend Linus Caldwell, I have the right skills for my profession and they have to be put into practice. Hopefully, within the next 5 years, I will have the means and experience to give back to the community and empower young people.
But for now, give me a challenging question to try and provide intelligent recommendations for your industry, and I will work with you to come up with some relevant answers. In addition to that (and I say this with tongue-in-cheek), if required I can get other examples in three Romance languages and maybe one or two major Asian languages.
*No "Geek" doesn't mean braces, awkward fashion, bad breath and oversized glasses. Believe it or not, in Silicon Valley, it's become a sub-culture and says Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners, "After all to be geeky is to be intelligent, have passion for a subject and to know that subject in depth."
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Murdoch Shackles Media
On Mashable.com today, blogger Paul Glazowski discusses Murdoch's business strategy and how Murdoch attempts to revamp the Wall Street Journal in the coming months.
I say pony up, Murdoch. Quit stalling. Just give us the stories, and stop asking for our credit card info when registering accounts. Yes, we know, you like making the most money you can. But as we all know, news on the Net is now news without fees. Give in, dude. Now. Or at least soon. There’s simply no point in holding out any longer.
Well, the internet is definitely taking over the media and a lot of paper-based models, like the Wall Street Journal, are going to have to ways to cope. Certainly, a lot of odd-ball pricing models are going to make their way out especially if media companies want to try to avoid the advertising revenue stream as their main pricing strategy.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Get on the Ski Bus, Gus
Yesterday, I talked about the importance of authenticity in business relationships, which aren't as casual as with your friends, where you can wear what you want and they probably follow the same fashion trends (or lack thereof).
Well, friends are part of your network, too. Yesterday I got into this referral program for a ski bus that takes you to Lake Tahoe and back all in one day. It got me thinking about how smart these ski bus people are. They combined some really important elements of referral marketing (sometimes negatively called the pyramid scheme) and utilized secondary relationships through their ski bus members.
To be more specific, the ski bus solves time, money and efficiency problems that alpine lovers hate. Normally, I don't get suckered in to the things like this but money is an issue and I don't want to sacrifice the snow season either. Here's an imagined conversation with said ski bus company.
Me: I am a snowboarder and I have friends who snowboard. We carpool together and share motel rooms and we've done the whole quick, dirty, cheap snowboarding trip thing. It's not that great, because we spend our first day of the weekend driving! This is why: Driver A thinks it sucks because he has to stay awake while everybody is napping. Then, we stop on the side of the road for gas, and Driver A switches with Driver B so that Driver A can take a nap. Then somebody absolutely has to go to the bathroom, especially the girls who have small bladders, and another wants a snack from the 7-11. We spend more time driving than snowboarding!
Ski bus says:No problem. We'll hire someone to drive, have no stops, keep a lavatory on the bus for emergencies and everybody can take a nap on the way to the slopes.
Me: I just updated all my gear--boots, bindings and board. I don't want to pay for a lift ticket and your bus ride. It sounds like it will be more expensive.
Ski bus says:: You can ride our bus for the same price as a lift ticket with transportation included, because we reduce our costs by not advertising. Instead, what about YOU do our marketing for us? Tell your friends about us and we will give them SKIBUS dollar discounts if they sign up and also, you'll get more discounts if they tell their friends.
Me: Yeah, I would totally refer my friends because I will do anything not to pay my entire year's salary just to have some fun and I know my friends don't want to pay huge amounts either. Not only that, but I'll keep using this service since I get discounts through them and don't spend all my time trying to drive up to Tahoe.
***
The only thing that is a bit annoying about this site is that they have an e-mail address called "typos at skibus dot com" because who ever is doing their copy doesn't know how to spellcheck their work. They know that us snow people are the types who say "Will do anything for snowboarding/skiing" and they really employ high level participation to the max. I mean, typos--that's not our job to notice things like that. It's yours.
If you want a $5 discount to go snowboarding, just comment to let me know. Like I said, if it works on me, it'll work on any ski bunny. OK, I admit, it is a sort of plug for said ski bus but think of it more as me glowing in admiration.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Blood Diamonds for Christmas Anyone?
I saw Blood Diamonds on my Netflix last night and Leo DiCaprio did a phenomenal job of picking up a South African accent but moreover choosing to do this film is commendable. I'm going to start obsessing over this film with all the inane details since I can watch the short documentaries that came with the DVD.
After seeing this movie, it really hit me that a lot of people could be dying because of greed, craziness, and vanity. I don't think there are many people who could purchase such things with conscious knowledge of the conflicts that occur. Worse, it's hard for us to discern between a conflict diamond and a hard-earned one. It's a classic case of market demand and supply with a good dose of Maslow's hiearchy theory mixed in. I mean, we are talking about basic needs like hunger and survival and higher needs like vanity and peer recognition. It is insane.
Africa is one of the most frustrating continents in the world psychologically, socially and economically. I feel sorry for the children who are kidnapped and taught to kill.
Better buy local techie gifts for the holidays. iPod is good, because who doesn't like music? or better yet, get a Creative Zen or one of those $40 USB mp3 players. Screw status--look what it did to African children.
The Creative Zens are are most likely better priced on peripheral products and they will have FM radio which iPod does not. My 3rd generation Nano has a fragile screen according to CNet and the most annoying thing about it is that mp3 cases are overpriced. 1st and 2nd gen nano cases now cost about 5 dollars. I'm not a big fan of Apple's pricing strategy...not sure about other companies but Apple does not really show love to their biggest fans, the early adopters.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Why we are online
Things that could have proliferated the internet in web 2.0 in no particular order:
What else?
Monday, December 10, 2007
Why Newton isn't always right
Newton's law states that anything that is put into motion stays in motion (unless something else prevents it from being so).
I know, marketing is not physics but there is a word we use a lot in viral marketing called "momentum" which is supposed to keep the ball moving, as they say, on a product's development and enhance the buyer's desire to purchase your product over others.
For B2B marketers, this tends to be quite the challenge because business organizations, more than individuals, tend to prefer the products they already have over new products. It's more complicated for IT managers to implement a new system and train people on how to use it than it is to stick with the status quo.
We often hear about products catching fire and gaining popularity. Some recent products of note is the iPhone and well, the ever pervasive Facebook where the inherent notion is getting your friends to join. Someone I spoke to today pointed out to me that it is indeed true with B2C products, but B2B has its own challenges.
I think that this is where PR can play a larger role to create so much credibility and reputation around a product that if your competitors are using the applications, then you better get on the bandwagon.
More on Enterprise applications and why this is a different market than B2C internet culture: Of COURSE enterprise software should be sexy
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
First Movers: Strive through the narrow gate
Early last week, Amazon.com announced the release of the Kindle, the latest device for e-books, thus taking over the market space once occupied by the Sony Reader, which I've seen a couple of times at Borders in Palo Alto.
It's hard to say just which e-reader is going to win out in the battle, but it's not the first time that Sony has come out with a "first-mover" product to be later taken over by competitors with better resources and positioning.
Also true for the Blu-ray, which is in fierce battle now with the HD-DVD. The last I heard, Blu-ray was in the lead and then HD-DVD was winning, mostly measured by number of units sold. Does anyone know where this is now? There is a fair amount of noise around this subject.
I'm definitely not making any eye-opening comments here but I dare say that Sony has had to struggle really hard to keep their brand on the forefront, which confirms that first-mover advantage doesn't always mean that you've won the game.
Even though Sony revolutionized the music market with the Walkman roughly about 20 years ago Apple came and trumped them with the trendy, life-style icon, the iPod and didn't just stop there.
It just seems that whenever Sony comes up with something, no matter which market, somebody else always seems to come up with something better.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Lucky - Albertson's struggle
Last night, I went to my neighborhood Albertson's grocery store to get myself an after-dinner treat to find that the store was closed, and they were changing the Albertson's banner to Lucky's.
I know that legal issues are at stake here, and people's pride is also at stake, but it's really annoying to me as a consumer to be in the middle of a legal struggle.
OK so this is an old issue, but if a company is intelligent, are they going to spend a ton of time and money on licensing issues and spend a lot of money putting up new signs across Northern California just get the "Lucky" brand out there again. I mean, it has been a little less than 10 years since Lucky was originally popular.
Oh well, it's not me spending the money.
Monday, June 18, 2007
What's Your Net Impact?
My 5 every-day environmental guilt trips:
1. Buying groceries: Plastic bags can add about 13 cents to your bill, and depending on how often you buy groceries, this can add up. Plus, it creates waste & carbon emissions every time you recycle.
2. Individual-sized anything: Plastic water bottles (the ones that come in a huge carton with about 16 or 20 bottles per pack) or paper coffee cups. Bottom line: bring lunch and your own thermos to your fave cafe.
3. Transportation: The cost of gas prices + lack of advertising to inform commuters how to take the train!
4. Garbage: Landfills are basically holes sealed off with something to prevent toxic waste from seeping into our ground water. Every time I take the trash out, I get paranoid that I could be poisoning people by adding to the wreckage.
5. Unnecessary air conditioning/heating: Carbon emissions & waste of energy. Blankets are cosier for cold days and windows do wonders for creating more air circulation.
***
Green News:
The Economist, June 14th 2007
A who's who of technology firms launched an industry initiative to reduce computer energy consumption. The campaign, which is being led by Google and Intel, commits makers of PCs and servers to higher efficiency standards.
Europe pumped out fewer greenhouse gases in 2005, according to new data from the European Environment Agency. Emissions from the European Union's 27 member states dropped by 0.7% compared with a year earlier. Finland, Germany and the Netherlands contributed most to the drop.
