Opera's CEO seems to take his challenge seriously and swim to USA from Norway. At least the record of 1m downloads in four days was reached. If you want to boost your company spirits make sure there is no PR-people near you...
Richard has asked the question whether Skype is reaching The Tipping Point?
EuroTelcoBlog says yes and reasons that Skype is already ahead of MSN Messenger. More than 1% of world's broadband market is at Skype any given time...
Fred explains what the widely used term 'traction' really means. And since we started here's more about 'scale' by Jeff.
boingboing about Peak Oil.
Apple Profit Jumps 530% by RedHerring.
SkypeIn is at beta mode but it works already with Mac. How about a UK/USA/France telephone number for €30 a year? A quick survey to my close circle revealed that it should work well.
Organisations are like us - they are dependent on their sensations. If there isn't enough or none they are self-created. Companies are living organs that are fed with information. People need to know where they are standing and how they are fit to the bigger picture. If the body is not feeding the head with sensations the head can make them up. In companies this works the another way around as well. Rumours start to circulate easily and people are seeing and filling gaps where there is none. More than often companies are not aligned due to this asynchronous information. No wonder if it is often senseless :-)
An old post from AO but I found it interesting: For VCs, Success Is Staying Awake. Some revelations about Sequoia Capital's secrets to pick up the cherries from the high tech toppings. No surprises here but why all the successful guys tell that it is the details? Maybe they are trying to tell us something. Do you homework - do them well. And most of all - be awake!
Well, Schmidt notes that it's easier to grow and figure out something exciting when things are already moving. Therefore one should scan around those second derivative markets that are already speeding up nicely. In another words - right timing.
Mark Leslie posted a good one about The Sales Learning Curve. The concept is the same as with a manufacturing learning curve. It takes time to get your organisation up to speed and learn the clients buying habits and requirements. This is not dependent so much on the number of sales people but more on the time to adapt. The implications are that one could start with a small crew and add the force later and this way still achieve the results but with lower cost structure.
VentureBlog captured an interesting article about internet success stories in Wired and wrote a post worth reading.
A VC tells which technologies disrupt the existing ones.
I visited Manhattan the other day and was surprised to see so many people using the push-to-talk feature. One could here the beep in almost every block and see people talking to their phones in a walkie-talky manner. I'm still waiting for Samsung i530 to become available...
Two of the most important tools a manager needs are:
1) (Huge) Tolerance for stupidity
2) No expectations policy - just take things as they come. (Second rule could be a corollary to the first one.)
Following these simple rules make life so much easier. Of course they were made up tongue in cheek but I must admit that they really work...
During the years I have had the chance to meet lots of different business people from different industries and cultures around the world.
Somehow all the brilliant minds seem to have some characteristics in common. Usually they are humble and open for any new opportunities. They know that the only way to stay in top is to change and earn the success again and again. Similarly they are approachable and give you a chance to present your case. Naturally this might be only 30 sec or so but still it's enough to validate your standing. Their open-door policy allows them to get feedback and be in the pulse.
One of my favourite examples of renewal and being on the top is Madonna. She has evolved a lot as a singer since the early 80's. Madonna has successfully avoided not to cling on her proven hits and the early day success formula like so many other artists. This has made her interesting and people have started to expect something new and different from her.
The same applies to business. The great types have usually earned their reputation by hard work. They know that it can be done again. They do not have to show off or be arrogant. It's just enough to be. They love new ideas and are willing to take risks. Innovative thinking and new approaches are possible. Unconventional solutions and new talented people are usually around these types.
Most of all the great types are fun to work with. Doing business is relaxed and easy going even thought it can be on the same time demanding and tough. It is a pleasure to work with intelligent people who can focus on the issues and get things done. Almost all these types have a great sense of humour and broad range of interests, not talking about their wild stories and experiences... The key question is just how to meet more of these people? My personal hunch is that one has to meet at least a thousand people to pick up one great type. Or then you have to move to Monaco and hang out in the right places. And still your odds are not much better…
There is a great new weblog for entrepreneurial insight by Joe Kraus (Bnooby), a founder of Excite. I especially enjoyed the story where Vinod Khosla jumped up after ten minutes in their first meeting and ordered a 10gig hard drive for $10.000. Also persistence pays 2 is worth reading.
Those of you how loved Liar's Poker there might be something similar to have fun with: Running Money by Andy Kessler. AO has made a peek for the book. I haven't read the book yet but it's on my agenda.
This is unconfirmed but the source was quite a reliable.
A few years back management of Ericsson changed their bonus structure from the option scheme to something more appealing and realistic - to cash flow basis. This was a few years back when Ericsson was really down and the stock options were naturally worthless.
The shareholder meeting accepted the change of the scheme for cash flow based system. Guess what happened quite a soon afterwards? Ericsson announced the sale of their London HQ's property. It had very nice cash flow impact and the management got their hefty bonuses. Needless to say that the business side of the company was still making losses and the sale was just an extraordinary one-time sale which should not have been taken into account even in the cash flow metrics. Well, never mind the details. Cash flow is king!
HBS Working Knowledge has a good piece about negotiating. According to their research it pays off to start the process by setting an agressive first bid. I agree but where is the fine line between aggressive enough and way to aggressive that turns the deal off?
Loïc Le Meur has a great post about creating a company. As part of the series he discusses the differences between European and US entrepreneurship.
Just came back from an open sea sailing race. Must say that one always promises never to do it again after the race. It's one of those love and hate things. Usually conditions are harsh and the crew is totally wasted at the end. Still it does not take many days one is planning the next journey already.
It's the same with business ventures. One realises the hardship in advance but still it is a must to do another business journey when the right opportunity is at sight. The rough ride gives the required dynamic for life. After a long journey in primitive living conditions one starts to appreciate simple things like sitting in a coffee shop and getting served. Or after a successful IPO doing a round-the-world trip for three years.
It's all over the news today - Google dropped its target price. Burnham's Beat probes a bit deeper.
Is Google a bargain? I have hard time believing that their life will continue to be as high flying growth as it has been for the recent years. Competitors are catching up and Microsoft has caught their eyes on Google as well. How do you continously overperfom the investor expectations which are already discounting all imaginable future growth prospects in the search business? Basically that's the reason why every stock will eventually fail from the Wall Street perspective. No matter how profitable is your business - in the future you have to overperform yourself. Nokia was a good case in point before the major stumble. The stock price dropped heavily after announcement of quartal results which were as they had indicated but less than the analysts had expected them to top the company's previous estimates.
Some good advice on starting a company by Feld Thoughts. It always takes more time than you expect, all your money and most of your patience as well. It's never easy and by doing it a few times you just get to realise the work load and pain more easily. Still it's a stretch - every time. But after founding a few I would not change a thing and definetely will found a few more in the future...The trick is to surround yourself with clever people. One cannot do it alone.
If you don't have the free cash flow to grow you business then you better make sure your term sheet negotiations are going the right way.
Here's a way to get your logo and web-site made cheap (via Deep Green Crystals) .
Recently I have been asked to help fresh entrepreneurs in their voyage for a successful growth company creation. Some of these guys have been in the business world over 20 years in high corporate ranks but never in the startup environment. It's a totally different world when you don't have a secratary that has booked your schedule full for the next twelve months. This freedom drives some people full of energy and action but scares the other ones. No predictability, so many details and issues one has to take care oneself without any assistance or prior experience.
Anyhow, here's my favourite advice for all entrepreneurs already in the route or just about to get started. Read these two books and remember that only the paranoid will survive:
1) Nesheim: "High Tech Start Up"
2) Ferguson: " High Stakes, No Prisoners"
3) for those with need for an advance level course: Sun Tzu: "Art of War".
Nesheim is an excellent guidebook from the start till to the IPO stage. It's a handbook with valuable comments and points. Very practical and easy to read. Ferguson is a subjective story of a successful entrepreneur who made his mark in the boom times of 90's. However this book gives more flavour and spice for the clinical approach of Nesheim. Ferguson is very straight talking and paranoid with his venture - but for a reason. He sold his company to Microsoft and went through many stages of hardship and VC money before landing to the exit stage.
Mårten Mickos writes about software patents and how they are anti-business and anti-innovation. This is especially true for small companies who do not have afford to build a huge patent portfolio in order to prevent possible infringement claims from the big guys.
EU is now in the process of changing its legislation regarding software patents. Open-source movement among others have heavily objected for the changed that are lobbied by large companies such as Nokia.
It's has been a while since the last posting. I was caught up by tons of work with two companies and almost full time of studying on top of everything in the spring. Now the holidays are over and I'm ready to rock again.
I was not the only one slowing the pace with blogging. Last spring lots of biz blogs were getting only a few posts if any. I suppose blogging is a substitute for working and therefore a direct indication of either one's motivation / work load?
A few weeks back I read Richard A Clarke's "Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror". Must say that it was illustrative of the US government ways of working and most of all about politics. West Wing gives too nice of a picture of the behind the scenes actions - at least in the current Bush era. If you have the chance glance the book through.
Last weekend I went to my friend's wedding and the guy next to me in the dinner table was an independent consultant. He had been working with Nokia in the past years. He has been wondering whether to buy Nokia shares or not. They seems to be cheap now but still the most important question for him was that does Nokia has the cuts to come back? He was involved with building a new worldwide logistics system for the company and was more than aware of the quality problems with the handsets. My only advice was that usually Finns are really putting their act together in the time of crisis. The famous 'sisu' steps in to picture and make miracles to happen.
However, I'm still waiting to get my new Samsung handset with Palm OS and more than happy to abandon my ten years history of Nokia phones...
Today I was suprised by the amount of office movers within a few blocks stroll. I don't remember seeing lots of trucks blocking the way for years. Maybe it's just the early spring or could it be the more optimistic outlooks (and expansion plans) of companies?
At least there are some sings for VC springtime according to AlwaysON.
Ventureblog reminded again about those great people who do not know how to fail, only how to get stronger: "I used to be wealthy".
It's interesting to see how the voice market is going to change. Nokia released it's new Communicator 9500 with wlan and voip-applications. Some operators are already putting into a place roaming agreements with GSM and WLAN networks. Sonera seems to be among the first ones screened by ex post. Skype is also targeting for the same space by it's own PDA extension. Now it's just time to wait the network externalities to happen and at least 30% of my most called persons to switch to use VOIP as well...
Gates admits that Google kicked their butt. AlwaysON reports from Davos.
HBS professor David Yoffie discusses Apple's future and its competitive advantages.
Some good thoughts about the social software in "Anti-Social Software?".
Paul Krugman at NyTimes tells how a surplus can be turned into a massive deficit thanks to events in the past...
A good review of the VC process for those who want to refresh their mind...
In the last days many active bloggers have noticed the enourmous boom in the social networking. However, it seems that some of the companies might turn to be just one time shots with current peak already behind. Social Software weblog seems to have quite an extensive list of new entrants to the market. Due Diligence has some additions to the list. Some are even considering outsourcing their social networking activity :-)
After gathering well over hundred people in one of the social networks it really started to loose point. What's the difference listing my contacts in the net instead of keeping them in the Outlook? Anyhow they are just names and numbers. You need to have something in common with the people and keep in touch. It's quality of your people network, not the quantity. And no intermediaries between, thanks.
Social networking seems to be the hot issue of the Q4. I tried those already in the summer but it's just now the things are taking off. VentureBlog has a good post on the issue. For those who want to explore the virtual networking I recommend to start with www.ryze.com. LinkedIn is the latest craze but I find it less useful than Ryze except if you just want to brag about your wide network (and especially on that case check the Ventureblog post!).
Since I started...you should also check Skype. I bought the concept instantly - free calls around the globe. All you need is a modem connection (or faster) and a computer. And this time it really works and the quality is impressive compared to previous concepts such as Net2Phone.
Canada ruled downloading copyrighted material from P2P legal - Cnet covers.
The other day I was trying to implement a system to encrypt my email correspondence. It took me by surpise that the encryption has not taken off. Most of the discussions and remarks are from 1997-2000. On those days Qualcomm and other software vendors were in hurry to implement plug-ins to their programmes. Nowadays it's almost impossible to find a working solution. Technology should not be the issue. I wonder whether the 'national security' concerns have anything to do that people are still sending unprotected emails in business and private conversations over Wlan and other means where it is almost as easy to read the messages as it is to read a message from a billboard...
Forget Netscape - a Seattle based company is heading for an IPO after just 11 months of existence!
Alwayson-Network had a three part interview with Bill Gates. It's still valid though already a few weeks old.
Strategy+Business had a good profile about Charles Handy (reg.req). Especially I was taken by his view where the current form of shareholder capitalism has to give away. Handy has been successfully predicting future changes in the biz environment in the past and this time we are going back to village society. E-lance is relating to the same issue: "The Dawn of the Elance Economy"
The Economist had a survey about TelCo industry a few weeks back. Great issue with analytical articles. Unfortunately their web-edition is no more free of charge.
Russian democracy seems to be more like a joke. A free market economy where all the roads lead to Kremlin, again.
Some ISPs are slower than the snail mail: consumers and businesses are receiving more than 3 weeks old emails and most of the mails have not simply arrived at all. Excellent for all those businesses who have sent out orders, offers, contracts and meeting confirmations ;-) Another example how vulnerable we are if a few things are not working: electricity blackout, email out, mobile network down...
FT reported how mobile payment is taking off in South-Korea. Credit card companies formed a syndicate that enabled mobile users to pay their purchases simply by showing their handset close by a payment terminal. The purchases will show up in your monthly credit card bill. Looking forward in the old continent any time soon...
An outlook for next ubiquity applications by Ventureblog. Check also the "Beauty Contests and Venture Valuations".
Regulated radio frequences are a thing from the past. Obviously governments were making loads of money a few years back thanks to 3G-menia. Maybe this boom could be avoided in the future. Forget the regulation part... Andrew Lippman of MIT Media was talking about the same issue in the spring.
European VC market is recovering according to the recent Amsterdam gathering of some 400 private equity investors from 30 countries (reg. req.)
My own barometer is telling the same: this time the metrix is an amount of invitiations to various corporate parties and inaugurations... For a second I thought I was so popular but then the reality hit (unfortunately). It's the economy, stupid!
BTW, Yesterday Hyppönen of F-Secure was telling that the blackout in States was due to Lovsan virus - well the magnitude at least. Sounded like the usual conspiracy theories but you never know...
RedHerring is back. Not as it used to be but anyhow live and kicking - in the net.
Nokia Revamps Structure, Reshuffles Brass. Among other things a new CFO, Nokia Ventures replaced by Multimedia and Enterprise Solutions..and a new phone released: 7600. Is Vanjoki going to be the next CEO after Ollila?
Slottsbacken (ACR Capital) has rumoured to have some trouble with their LPs - some have left.
Wal-Mart was competing head-to-head with Kmart many years back. Then in ten years Wal-Mart suddenly incresed it revenues four to five times compared to stagnant Kmart. It's interesting to see what is going to happen with Wal-Mart's next efforts to increase their efficiency: RFIDs. Now, it's only about the pace of the change, not the direction.
Flat screen market is a traditional case in point where new technology will brutally replace the current 'old fashioned' TV technology . Traditional tv manufacturers are getting to have hard time competing with slim screens with excellent resolution and decreasing prices.
Having dot-com experience is a two-fold thing. First of all it's a great experience and a real-life school for many things that one should not do... However, unfortunately one is often connected directly to all negative related to dot-com era. Lastweek I visited a lecture in a business school and the lecturer took the dot-com company I used to work for as a case example of some failuries in business operations...
Vint Cerf, the father of VOIP, tells about how he sees the market.
Sorry for the slow posting lately. I'm involved with a new startup that consumes most of my time and energy. I must admit that it's fun to be in the middle of action and see results fast. Only a few weeks from ground zero to total market launch sounds like something unheard of in the software business. It still is as far as I'm concerned. This time it's about real customers, consumers. B-2-C and nothing to do with IT or any high tech. I have been enjoying every bit of it. And no, I'm not copying Jim Clark. Real estate development was in the agenda last year...
New excuses for lousy profit margins in the film industry: teenagers rate the movies on spot and send the text messages across. This piece has raised some buzz around the community.
Wired covers the difficulties in Wi-Fi business models.
VCs have been through the rough times with their portfolios but that's not all: limited partners can be as tough cookies as well. Privateequityonline comments.
Nanoparticles to pinpoint viruses in body scans. Gradually the next hype wave shows its way to consumer market. New funds are coming up in this field like the first timer Seraphima Ventures of NY.
Arnold is currently leading the run and having some big names supporting him from the high tech field. If you fancy to see Arnold in politics why not give him a few bucks for the good cause - Tim Draper does it at least.
Gartner predicts that mobile data services will increase this year by 31% till $16.8m in Western Europe.
My deep throut in Nokia tells that Nokia people are as astonished as anyone else about the Sega.com deal. The quickest have named the deal as 'SNAP, crackle and POP'...
My personal bull market has started - I won a lunch thanks to my pessimistic friend who did not believe that the economy will turn for better in Q3. Hmm, where to get the dessert?
Recently I have found some nice resources for newbie entrepreuners. Innovateur has free templates for financial and business plan needs among others. BillSnow offers advice how to get VC funding and especially why one is not getting it. 'Tongue in cheek' valuation estimator for your new venture with a few question by CayenneConsulting.
Ventureblog seems not to agree with Jim Clark that Silicon Valley is totally dead...
Would you buy a light bulb online? Well, check www.topbulb.com and see with your own very eyes that ecommerce ain't dead yet (link via Rafe Needleman).
A friend of mine is having an interesting start-up in the media platform space: Zinek. I must admit that I have started to get excited about the possibilities of a set of flat screens, a publishing platform and a combination of rich media content and advertisment. The target group will be hanging around the hotspots such as night clubs, bars, coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, ferries etc. I should be surprised if we are not starting to see media targeting for this type of retail segmenting soon. Enough said...
Jim Clark is leaving Valley. The legendary IPO mania was started by Netscape and mainly due to some funding requirements elsewhere (a boat to be exact). You can read the whole story from the New New Thing. So, Jim got tired of the boring athmosphere and is relocating to Florida. Hmmm. I just wonder how much there is to do if Valley was not enough...
Finally, I see a business model that works with WiFi. It's used for improving your service offering and not targeted to generate revenues. How to compete with free?
Nasdaq Germany will cease trading soon. So much about high tech in Europe...Well, Europe is fragmented and there is not one single place to be. However, Nasdaq had also their failure in Japan. Softbank introduced the concept for the conservative Japanese market but the success was less than great.
Is Nokia really serious about N-Gage? Nokia is penetrating for a real tough market. In the last 15 years only Sony and later Microsoft have introduced game consoles for the niche. In both of the cases they have spent tons of money and still sold their consoles in loss. The money is made in the content (i.e. games) after the market has accepted & loved the concept.
Nokia has claimed that it will not sell their devices without profit. In the senior management level they show commitment but in the middle management level their signals are mixed. Lots of talk but not that much decisions. Considered the market segment and dedication it requires it seems that they are not 100 % committed. The market launch is just a few months away but the back office is still undecided and non-investing. Just wondering why. Maybe the past GSM success has made them a bit too confident? Meanwhile the playfield has changed. Content and entertainment don't have that much in common with manufacturing, logistics and hardware design. Introducing a new phone is not the same as penetrating for a totally new industry with established and worldwide competitors with years of track record. In this business it's not enough to design and build the device - it's just the beginning. At least it should be.
The retail price for the device is €300. Still the console is targeted for casual players that have already played mobile games. This market has a size of 250m people. Any bells ringing? Paying 300€ for a machine that is build for gaming but you play snake only once in a while? A repeat N-Gage is not targeted for gamers. Maybe it's just me and the hot summer...
According to the sales director of an IT retail store chain I met today SME sector has not yet started to make big investments. However, might the case be that the basic infrastructure is already in place and thus only adjustments and enhancments are required? Ellison of Oracle has started to think so. He says that "the industry in total will actually shrink."
My personal barometer for high tech activity is sensing once again more action. Yesterday I had some discussions with entrepreneurs who were active during the last dotcom and mobile mania. It seems to be in the air that many serial entrepreneurs are starting to found new companies again. Funnily enough things seem to happen in patches like in the past hype. Everybody is starting to move at once and thinking along the same lines. Well, this time I don't mind since new companies will mean more activity and energy to the economy.
"With the NASDAQ stock index up some 25% since March, history suggests that venture capital will soon follow." The vibes are that funding environment might start to move again. Well, within 12 months at least.
German VC market temperature by privateequityonline.com.
Wi-Fi in perspective by Sky Dayton who founded Earthlink, the second largest ISP in US. And how Boingo got started.
My favourite browser is gaining foothold by having already 10m downloads this year. But don't hold your breath yet: Opera has only 0,6 of the market compared to Microsoft's 95 per cent.
Vinod Khosla of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers tells what went wrong with Excite and why it's a good time to be a venture capitalist. And things he's excited about...
Mr. Terminator is now running for governor of California. Somehow this seems to be the trend around the globe. People with media time will get elected from various backgrounds such as modeling, acting, sports, music etc. Is it telling something about the voters or more about our fragmented society? It's a no surprise that many people have lost their confidence for politics and the real substance behind it. Hence they don't actually care who gets elected. Any 'puppet' will do for the 'Muppet show'. Another issue might be the pure financial power required. Nowadays the society is so fragmented that it's ever more expensive to reach enough people to get elected. Either you need huge financial backing like Mr. Berlusconi or Mr. Bloomberg or then you just simply have to be a familar face across the nation via public media. No matter what's the cause but somehow meritocracy might not sound that bad after all...
Recent statistics show positive market signals at least from Germany and Japan. Also Eurozone interest rates start to rise again after the lowest peak for ages. After all we might gradually get to the revenue increase mode once again. Remember how to do that after all those cost cutting and layoffs? One should actually start to chase new customers and increase the market share. Might be more difficult than it sounds. Pretty many companies have been laying off people and keeping them in fear of losing their jobs. Those that are talented and have had enough might begin to move around when the positive swing is getting back. They will remember the horror and terror and leave the employer with increased demand without sufficient supply and resources. Many companies had the mantra that 'our employees are our most presicous asset' - well that loyalty might get some acid testing soon.
Sorry for the slow posting. I'm on holiday and thus I will drop a note just once in a while.
Camera phones are the latest boom in Asia. People find new innovative ways to use their phones. In Japan it's more handy to snap a picture of a newspaper than to buy a copy. Well, newsstand people are not that impressed... Some Mid-Year review of handset vendors by Steve Wallage.
I'm a great believer of India in IT field. BusinessWeek has a piece that confirms that nowadays even local people are becoming convinced despite China's fast growth path. SAP is also speeding up their presence.
I run into Ryze the other day. Looks better networking site than another start-up called LinkedIn. Is it in the air or am I the only one who bumps into networking stuff recently? A few weeks ago I was 'nominated' for this historical society of international professionals. Maybe the bull market is close since people feel to get right contacts in order to get going. Hope so.
Today I had a great conversation with a director of an European think tank. He was concerned about demographic aging of the population and the importance of having a national 'people' strategy. How are you going to renew your country and keep it's most brilliant minds working within your borders?
Money is not enough to keep people. it's obviously important but even thought you pay more for them still they might leave. Similarily a great geographical location is not enough. So, what is it that keeps the package together? I would say that it's the thrill and challenge. The environment where your talents are appreciated and you can be challenged by your peers. An athmosphere where you have to strecth yourself and be competitive. Clever people crave for action and they like to be around other achievers as well. One has to have a pool of circumstances that together make things work. Silicon Valley is a good case in point. A great number of the new ventures are created by people outside of US origins. They have come to test their wings.
So, how is it with your country? Are they boosting and supporting innovation and R&D in concrete terms? I haven't seen such a support de facto in Europe. We're still too comfortable and lazy with our past success. No need to worry about the aging society and future tax payers. I just wonder who's going to pay for all those baby boomers. They haven't paid their pensions since most of the EU's pension schemes are pay-as-you-go. Enthusiams is not here. Work is not appreciated and it's just something that's financing one's leisure time. Something fundamentally wrong?
Study the history and you will find that in many cases the current great nations were build from the brainpower and resources abroad. This has just tended to faid when the wealth has started to accumulate. The time is not far away that we have to start to thing about something fundamental in order to boost the economy and widen the tax burden or should I say the collateral for nations to rise debt against...
With En Vogue's words: "Free your mind and rest will follow".
Ventureblog describes how the public market opening will boost private investments as well.
When making the best phone is not enough - how Nokia keeps its market share (NyTimes, reg.req).
"Google's a very nice system, but compared to my vision, it's pathetic.",Microsoft executive Jim Allchin. Microsoft has started to raise their interest on Google. The history of Microsoft in war does not predict any good future for Google...
Dan Gillmor visited Nokia's HQ last week with 200 other journalists around the world. Nokia's next big strecth is the bet ' Life Goes Mobile'. Check the piece.
Internet 2.0 and the new normal survival struggle.
Many seem to still wonder whether we're getting for better times or not. For sure this time it's not the IT industry that is going to the lead the way. Well read the article and check whether you're more confused or determined...
My random walk survey through the city centre has found out that there are a growing number of commercial properties for sale that have been empty for months with 'to let' notes. A sign that the peak of the property market has been passed? Or an indication that summer is a killer for many businesses still...
'Master of Design', IDEO's CEO tells about the challenges in high tech design scene.
What's the hype about Wi-Fi phones? Carlo Longino explains.
Wal-Mart is moving its suppliers for RFID era by 2005. This $246.5 billion gorilla will definetely make a big impact for the whole industry - globally.
The biggest Wi-Fi subnet is alive in Europe: 650 hotspots spread around 140 hectar-campus in the Netherlands.
Smells like Wi-Fi IPO...according to Sand Hill Road.
Why some companies are in better shape than their peers despite the economical downturn? Businessweek tries to shed some light to the matter.
FBI might start to fight against copyright violations such as unauthorised PSP file swapping. CNET tells about the introduced bill.
3G is catching up in Japan. In Jan 2002 50.000, Jan 2003 150.00 but in May 2003 350.000 subscribers. Finally the long waited hockey stick effect in demand?
Your boss might start to keep an executive blog as well. Watch out.
US authorities would approve the merge but PeopleSoft's board rejected the raised bid.
Forrester predicts that Wi-Fi investments for hot spots are going to be a waste of money. Only 53m Wi-Fi enabled devices will be around in Europe by 2008. However, just 7.7m users will be prepared to pay for the service...
Location-based services were hyped a lot during the heydays of mobile mania. Gradually the tracking services are becoming available for professional and personal usage. In some cases the pure amount of mobile devices in a singular cell can be handy. Road administrators can follow the traffic levels and congestions in-real time by just tapping into operator's aggregate feed without interfering to anyone's privacy. Wi-Fi seems to catch up the same features - in-house that is. Ekahau is one of the providers in this space. NyTimes covers the topic (req.required).
Google vs. Ebay - Are they rivals? For Ebay yes but Ebay for Google, I don't buy it. In Ecommerce things make sense but Google is not just about matching buyers and sellers.
Check what VCs should be considering while selling their portfolio company (heavy stuff, be warned!).
Acid test for hype-IPOs? RedEnvelope is planning of an IPO and guess what - it's unprofitable...
"There is no such a thing as a free Linux" - mainframe, maintenance and support costs as well as integration to hardware & software. Forbes tells about the other side of the coin: "The Limitations Of Linux".
Number portability is a big issue for both - the consumer and operators. Europe is implementing this already and it is expected to bring the costs down for voice tariffs.
Microsoft is targeting for your all office communications by its RTC Server 2003:
In Microsoft's vision, a company's internal real-time voice and data exchanges will be managed under a network of RTC Server 2003 machines and accessed through devices such as PCs, Internet phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants) and cell phones that run on various flavors of its Windows operating system.
Techies are back and rolling smoothly! Businessweek probes the new stuff in the market leaders' back pockets.
European bloggers might have to start to give a "right of reply" for people who are critized in their blogs. EU seems to take a tighter grip for online publishing even for the non-professional side.
Strategic thinking has developed over the centuries and not the least by war making. Sun Tsu and Microsoft are the topics in Newsfactor.com's article about Microsoft and their "Misguided battle plan". Are Ballmer and Gates starting to hesitate?
Or are we just behind their thinking? Microsoft is dealing with the cable guys and trying to embed their software for the local TV near you. A new standard for channel surfing - reboot your TV every few minutes...
You have sent mail to N.N@nokia.com. The mail has been deleted. E-Mails between nokia.com and microcell.fi are not delivered.This happened recently and according to Nokia it was thanks to intensive mailing between the organisations. They are not having any business relationships between each other and thus there should not be any mailing either, right? Microcell has recruited a plenty of Nokia's brilliant brains and are desiging, developing and producing handsets for Ericsson and others. So, how's it with your organisation - BBC tells about tightening of the rules in UK.
It you cannot life without the web then this is a must for you: BusinessWeek has reported about "the social web".
Since we started with the war theme - what the heck. SAP is taking advantage of the other ERP players' internal fights. Maybe SAP is picking the customers as an appetizer and continuing with a bargain priced bidder?
Telco industry will start to see a pacman phenomenon within the next few years according to David W. Dorman, CEO and Chariman of AT&T. Today there is too many competitors and less powder for the required improvements.
This is one of the first news I have found that a Telco operator has scrapped their plans for Wi-Fi. M1 of Singapore is betting for 3G instead. What makes this interesting is the fact that Singapore ain't that big at all. One could imagine that it would be relatively easily to cover the whole country with Wi-Fi.
The biggest case I have heard of is a town of 30.000 inhabitants covered by a single WLAN network of 50 base stations. The roaming should work seamless even while driving (at least according to city speed limits). The company is called Radionet and it has been founded by ex-Nokia people who are experts in radio technologies.
Hutchison has started a price war by slashing voice prices almost 70% with their newly launched 3G network in UK. They are selling some 600 handsets a day. However the familiar suppliers like Nokia will start to ship their 3G phones only in the end of the year.
More supporting signals for RFID technology: this time it's Wal-Mart. It is estimated that they could save $1-2bn by replacing the good old bar codes. There has been even considerations to include a RFID tag for each Euro note and this seems to be more than just talk.
I saw yesteday IDC's barometer for European IT spending 2003 vs. 2002. This time the SME companies were the real winners: some +5-6% compared to large companies' (>1000 employees) -3%. Altogether the projection was positive, barely 0,4%. As one of the biggest challenges for software this year was seen security. Well, I bet that's an issue as long as we are using Microsoft :-)
Is Euro overvalued? Well, the rate has been varying from 0,8 till 1,2 to $ during the last years. But if you compare to the original conversation rate of 1,17 we should be getting back just to the normal. Why are European companies yelling about supereuro? I hope they have not forgotten to check their own productivity and fitness for competition...
Who your friends know? Needleman found himself invited to a 'invitiation only' social network in web. Check how Bill Clinton relates to the story...
Oracle's bid for Peoplesoft will most likely to fail (75%) according to SiliconValley.com. PeopleSoft has a poison pill which makes the hostile takeover pretty nasty.
Everybody knows x-rays but how about t-rays? This omitted frequency might replace x-rays and spin-off some nice new applications. Technology Review has covered the issue.
MIcrosoft seems to change it's tactics with IE. Previously the free-of-charge browser gained it's market dominance thanks to its underlying OS, Windows. In the future the issue might be vica verse. Will the Opera be a winner or the usual Goliath?
Some light for the tunner in the VC market. CalSTRS has decided to invest $100m for "new and next generation" general partners. Anyone?
How the times change and the sex appeal of technology company's CEO position. Stock options and a startup might be even a bad sign in your resume nowadays. Funnily enough a few years off the biz track may mean that you're out of the executive route once and for all. Actually it's a bit sad that people who have been building some 5 to 10 years their career in high tech mania are not appreciated anymore. Their experience and skillset is more a liability than an asset. That's what I call a turnaround. On the sidelines by Boston Globe Online.
Strategy-business has released their summer edition (registration required). I have become a great fan of their publication. Just pure solid gold.
Personally I have been wondering the lack of strategic marketing skills of many established companies. Somehow the marketing is still regarded as something tactical and non-critical function. The top ad agencies are complaining (behind the scenes) the lack of commitment and executive power from their clients. How are they supposed to provide clear and precise marketing and reach for the target audience as well as the financial targets without any sensible strategy or vision? Bring on the Super-CMO tells about this new trend of Chief Marketing Officers who are strategic in nature and operational in their skills.
Have you been facing a situation where you're totally competent of carrying out a certain task/project but your habitus and credibility are questioned along the process? Someone with more senior experience or better reputation among the management team should actually do your stuff just to be in the safe side... Build Your Organizational Equity explains how one should build a personal stock of equity (not the financial one) in order to protect and cumulate your well-being in the organisation.
SCO vs. IBM (UNIX legal case) explained and recommended!
Web-services - I haven't bothered much of reading about them. It used to be lots of hype and not many concrete examples. Well, Esther Dyson of EDventure holdings has some fresh point of views.
Backward thinking with the wireless video?
Grub, a new grid computing based search engine company, was recently acquired by LookSmart. Are they any serious threat for Google?
Microsoft might start to pick up on Apple again. An excellent piece about new technology battles in the music industry.
Have you noticed the changes which tell that the web is yesterday's technology? Mosaic was created some ten years ago, IBM and other big giants have quietly removed the famous 'e' from their marketing material, the term 'computer' is being converted to 'digital' etc. Kevin Werbach explores the past history and prepares for the future.
Is the next bubble already about to blast? Wi-Fi. Lot's of talk and not so much deeds. Who is actually making money? Have you heard of roaming between different Wlan providers? Are you seriously willing to pay tens of dollars/euros for a few hours web-usage? Businessweek has probed the subject.
According to my knowledge Nokia and Qualcomm are not entering the Wi-Fi game. They stick strictly to their knitting of cellular networks. Still they have the knowhow to step into Wi-Fi radio chip market. Why are they voluntarily leaving out of the big pot of money? Or will the convergence make the 3G network providers the winners after all the buzz? I believe so. Cellular networks are reliable while on move and the roaming (&billing) is no issue. This is not the case with Wi-Fi and I don't see any clear paths to solve the issue in a near future. After all, who could bother making a big deal of the network technology from which the emails are pulled out as long as everything is working smoothly (and priced reasonably) ? I barely can wait the times of fixed priced global wireless connection...
Andrew Lippman from MIT Media Lab spoke yesterday about an old misunderstanding about radio frequences. Previosly it was thought that multiple or many radio transmitters intercept each other and thus this situation has to be avoided. You remember the days with a TV set and a portable antenna? More ghosts and shadow images than in Ghostbusters. The problem was not in the transmission side but of receivers. They could not handle the multiple signals. Today the technology has advantaged enough to turn this into an advantage.
Lippman was illustrating a concept where each cellular phone was also a base station. In other words you could roam via other people's connections (nodes) and thus reach the network via many nodes. An ideal solution for basements and other locations where there is no direct signal. In some occassions you might not even need the base station if the receiver is also in the same network neighbourhood.
Lippman explained how this approach would grow innovation and turn a limited capacity business into a growth model where more units increase the overall capacity and not vice versa like in today's case (too many phones per base stations calling the same time and no one get's through). This boosts innovation and enable totally new concepts and ideas on top of the infrastructure layer.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961)Nicholas Negroponte's interview discusses about flower boxes among other. OK, the future of WiFi...
Are VCs useless for entrepreneurs in this economical situation? Well, read the both sides of the story.
Wired covered Nokia's showcase of N-Gate at Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Is your blog getting a lots of hits from search engines? Clogged by Blogs by Wired.
Deloitte & Touche has released a report regarding the new reality.
The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck. Ralph Waldo EmersonAlmost daily one gets mixed messages and signals about the economical situation. Are we going up, down or something between? My string theory is that if you wait for the aggregate 'go ahead' signal you've already missed the train. Currently some sectors and industries are showing stronger demand but those together are not enough to get the total feeling of the beginning of a bull market. In micro level things are moving up and down disregarding of the major stream. I believe that one should learn to surf with the positive strings in all the economical circumstances. Then it does not matter where the things are in total. Maybe the business world is getting so fragmented and global that every sector will never be going together upwards? Are you willing to take that risk and wait that train?
Champions know that success is inevitable; that there is no such thing as failure, only feedback. They know that the best way to forecast the future is to create it. Michael J. GelbI have been keeping this weblog for a few months now and I should live how I preach. So I need your help. Tell me what you like and what kind of stuff can go. Sometimes I have been telling more personal stuff but usually just business related issues. Or should I just drop the whole thing? I'm totally in blind so I need you guys! Drop a few lines and comment - any feedback is welcome. Especially critical...
Every really new idea looks crazy at first. Alfred North WhiteheadAn inspiring coverage of Amazon's Jeff Bezos at Fortune. Even Warren Buffet has bought his vision (or at least the bonds).
"When you hire [McKinsey], you're going to get a senior director, a senior principal, a junior principal, a senior engagement manager, an engagement manager, and a project manager. And that's before you even get to the consultants that are doing the real work," and some people still wonder why consultancies are having hard times...
If Bezos' business model was something unique in the infancy of ecommerce so is Habbohotel. The idea is to provide a virtual environment where people can meet and hang around. The best part is that they are making money by selling virtual furniture and stuff by which users can make themselves individuals and 'feel' unique. Prices of Ikea without any manufacturing costs.... The company behing the concept is Sulake.
Running out of good excuses? Try this one: " I’ve got to do my Windows critical updates.".
Jack Grubman (SSM) made a two-fold investment strategies: the real ones and those which were told to the clients.
InfoWorld has listed the disruptive technologies for 2003: open source, self-service CRM, digital identity, and Weblogs.
"So the only way to make money in the technology business anymore is to understand a business problem deeply, and solve it using technology." by legendary Fred Wilson of Flatiron Partners. It's the verticals, babe!
"We're moving from an era of killer apps to an era of killer systems, killer business models, and killer businesses," says Bruce Harreld, chief strategist at IBM. Something positive happening in the Valley?
Have you heard of iLoo? Microsoft is leading the revolution...
Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death Albert EinsteinWhy Is Growth So Hard? by Geoffrey Moore and Richard Moran. An excellent article which sets your mind towards the growth phase after cutting down almost to the bone. It's easier to cut down existing costs than get new ideas and new products flying. Moore suggests that each company should make a full time position just for creating growth. A bold place where one has to be able to question and resist existing working models and attitudes. But loads of fun if one likes to create something new and be on the top of the latest new, new thing.
By the way the Optimize looked like an interesting magazine. Another good piece worth checking from the same mag: A Formula For Sustained Success.
Are the heydays over for the software industry and is the maturity striking back for growth companies like Microsoft and Oracle? The debate is still on and at least two sides can been seen, Ellison vs. others (eg. Siebel).
Media industry is a good example of conservative and reluctant attitude towards change. They are spending tons of money and media publicity for protecting their old business model. Still, they have to gradually admit that the resistance will not make the reality vanish away. Digital media formats are coming and already popular around the world. The old profitable model of making highly priced physical containers for media and audio is breaking down. It's hard to convince consumers to buy cds & DVDs for serious bucks when those can be distributed and copied for nothing.
Paris might be catching up quickly with Wi-Fi. Could it become a single hot spot?
"When men are easy in their circumstances, they are naturally enemies to innovations." - Joseph AddisonI had a lunch with a rather fresh ICT transaction boutique. A small niche player targeted for the ICT industry in strategic turnarounds and usually as a result also in transactions. Obviously this is the right time to do such things. Almost all the players are suffering with profitability or should I say with their survival. However, I started to wonder whether there is enough business left nowadays. Not just that many companies are done already but also because the whole industry has changed or vanished.
I have started to consider the traditional software business as an established and a mature state industry. Obviously there is still plenty of new startups but those are in some verticals not in horizontal markets. Old players are coming down to squeeze more pennies to their coffins from SME market that has been the safe bet for smaller growth companies. Microsoft, SAP, Oracle have done it. You just name the rest.
Mobile industry has lost its momentum for innovative and small companies. Big players are ruling the game and have shared the ecosystem among them. Operators and wireless device manufacturers are the major players in the market and dictating the pace and amount of innovation adopted by the consumer market. Innovative companies cannot tap easily into the revenue stream protected by operators.
Wireless industry has risen dramatically in the last few years, especially in the US. However it's still hard to see how one can make money out of Wi-Fi. The most obvious business is to sell the devices and hardware but beyond that. The integration and roaming between hot spots and mobile networks are negligble. This hinders the development of the service layer where the real innovation and small startups can blossom. Standards are coming gradually and meanwhile 3G networks are coming up. In the mobile side the service sector is developing gradually and my prediction is that most of the current infrastructure and models will be replicated for Wi-FI networks as well. The end user could not care less about the network access method under neath as long as there is enough bandwith.
We are still in a tough job situation according to comments around my sphere of influence: A friend of mine told that a domestic bank was opening four trainee positions and got 500 applications. A VC had trouble going through the recruitment process. The CEO apologised that he could not see me till the end of May. Over 200 applicants were looking for an analyst position. He had to spend an hour with the selected top people one at the time. That eats up nicely your working week... The range of people who applied tells the true story: real senior people in their 50's till just graduated and everything between.
Great for the companies since experienced people are around. Dull for so many talented people who cannot find anything reasonable to do. I read somewhere that 50% of all analysts are unemployed at the moment. I wonder whether there is more volatile business than financial industry. An industry that floats with the good times and hits so hard when the bear market arrives.
Some time ago (April 16) I was telling about a LP who was actually the biggest owner of a growth company via three GPs possibly without even knowing it. PrivateEquityWeekly is covering the same problem area when many GPs are joining their forces for a single buy-out case. Who's in charge and whom to blame when the investment goes down the drain?
Sorry for not keeping my weblog for a few days. I was enjoying the sunny days and driving with my bike. Now my latest record is 700km in 24 hours. I visited our summer house and drove back. It's funny how a journey becomes more important than the destination. Even with my ex-sports car I was discovering isolated curvy roads from my ordinary and familar routes. Still, the driving was boring compared to a bike ride. My best experience with a four-wheeler was definetely in the mountains. Nine o'clock in the evening, dry weather and no traffic. A 20% uphilll serpentine road and an intensive session very fast. After half an hour later the car smelt like rubber, the clutch and the driver was in ecstasy. Next time I would like to do it with a car speeding to 0-60mph around 4 seconds. The acceleration is the best thing - driving fast is dull.
Guess what's the latest record for a newbie running into a serious accident with a motor bike? 40 meters! Last year it was still 70 meters. Unbelievable.
AlwaysON Network was interviewing Eric Schimidt of Google, check it out!
If you want to be the first to know whom to call when the recovery starts you should read this prognosis.
Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.
Jeff Raskin, interviewed in Doctor Dobb's Journal
"The computer is a moron." Peter F. DruckerI spent the entire day putting concepts together and thinking about the essence of strategy. It is amazing how little has been said about strategic management in dynamic and complex environments, i.e. almost in any industry nowadays. Most of the talk is about strategic planning and stuff created in the '80s or earlier.
Gary Hamel had a great article in Fortune already some years ago. Most of it is still valid beside some praising of Enron and other fallen stars.
After the dot-com boom it has been a time to build solid businesses again. Customer, not the investor, is the king again and here is a good reminder how to survive in the long term. Especially I liked those seven points at the end.
There is no other guru like Peter F. Drucker. Check his interview at Business 2.0 in 2000. Excellent piece:
Many of the newer Internet companies are struggling to keep their businesses afloat. What are they doing wrong?
Drucker: I don’t think they are doing anything wrong. They’re just not doing anything right.
I heard about Segway a few years ago. Then it was the most posh thing among rich people. Only a few had seen and tested it. They described it as a totally new concept that will change the world. Well, at least Phillip Torrone has been using it for 140 days and 700 miles with success.
Dealing with strategy in a daily basis makes me wonder every time how often the means and objectives are mixed up. Even in the most basic functions and processes. CRM is a good case in point. CRM News reminds us that CRM is not about technology...
Wow, nice weather and the sun shining could not hold me inside. Some 700 kms with bike and still alive! Curvy, paved roads and an experienced friend ahead showing the right lines to get fast in and out of curves. A heaven!
OK, back to boring biz life again (for a few hours that is, the weather is great today, too!). Check the latest BusinessWeek. They have an article about European VCs who are not doing that bad after all. Their US counterparts had a bit tougher ride. Don't get too proud yet. European athmosphere for entrepreneurship ain't as fertile for new startups than the States. Gray panthers are getting the biggest benefits - money comes to money or in this case the financing rounds get to those who have already a few rounds behind from the past.
Where facts are few, experts are many. Donald R. Gannon
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)"a complete catastrophe" - a new cabined has been formed. More spending and reckless policies. Ain't my cup of tea. Better jump off the ship while it's still possible...
To be an equal opportunity weblog I must give the floor also for the US side: Sex Tips from Donald Rumsfeld