Mar
11
Hamel on Apple
Filed Under innovation, leadership, startup, technology | Leave a Comment
Two articles from one of the world’s leading business strategists, Gary Hamel:
Mar
3
Angel investing
Filed Under innovation, startup, venture capital | Leave a Comment
Last week, I was just recommending that someone get an Angel rather than approaching a VC firm. And, lo and behold, this article pops up a few days later. Awesome.
Link:
Angels vs. Venture Capitalists
Sep
24
More news about Mint.com
Filed Under startup, technology | Leave a Comment
From Slate:
The interesting part of this article isn’t about the acquisition. It’s about the marketing tools used by Mint’s marketing department.
Here’s a snipppet:
“Mint.com, which advises customers on how to pinch pennies, does some penny-pinching of its own. It uses Wordpress (free) to run its Web site and blog. To analyze traffic partners, conversion rates, and other essentials of an online business that generates its revenues through lead generation, it uses Google analytics (free and sufficiently simple that Wells’ marketing staff can use it without the help of software experts).”
Very interesting. The big question is this – If you provide real value to the market, maybe you don’t need billion dollar marketing budgets.
Just a thought.
Sep
21
VCs and value
Filed Under Posts about venture capital, startup, strategy, venture capital | Leave a Comment
Here’s a recent post on VCs at TechCrunch:
What Have VCs Really Done for Innovation?
There are several important points in the article, none of which I’m going to comment on. However, there is an important point.
Capital is a necessary component of the startup equation. You aren’t going to get far without it. Many people build slowly by self-funding, some find family money, others find a few angels, and then some go to VCs. The debate shouldn’t be on the value of a VC, that’s almost shirking the issue. VCs are just another means for capital injection.
The real debate should be on directing the VC on finding value in companies and then investing in those companies.
Sep
16
Crowdsourcing in the city
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CitySourced lets city residents take pictures of offensive items or infractions and report them to the local officials.
TC50: CitySourced Lets You Report Pot Holes And Graffiti On The Go
This is a great idea. I wonder how long it will take for local officials outside of tech centers to understand the technology and implement it.
(I also wonder how long it will take before a large community tries to form a cartel and game the system. )
Sep
16
Aggregate all of your accounts into a single stream
Filed Under innovation, startup | Leave a Comment
Threadsy provides a service that allows you to combine all of your communication apps into a single thread.
TC50: Threadsy, A Communications Stream To Rule Them All
It’s not that aggregators aren’t interesting, but to win the game you need lots and lots of folks. Are there enough users who have this problem? My observation is that the average user (meaning in the center of a normal distribution) has 2-3 accounts, not 6.
If I were to bet, the strategy here is to get ‘just big enough’ and then get acquired.
Sep
16
Coders can now challenge each to a duel of programming wits
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Trollim provides a platform for coders to test their skills and challenge other coders to programming duels.
TC50: Trollim Lets Coders Battle For Programming Superiority
This is very cool. It looks like the main force of the service will be on evaluating a programmer’s debugging skills. As one of the panel members points out, there is more to programming than debugging. However, for the majority of engineers, debugging is a primary activity. I’ve heard more than a engineers describe their job as ‘debugging the product into existence.’ Meaning that they start with a bunch of old code and then ‘fix it’ to the parameters specified by the product management teams. Sad, but true.
This startup has potential.
Sep
16
Search engine for movie clips
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AnyClip is a startup aimed at helping you search for specific movie clips.
TC50: Find The Perfect Scene, Every Time. AnyClip Is A Search Engine For Movie Clips
This is an interesting idea. You see evidence of this need on YouTube already when folks post clips and excerpts from their favorite movie and TV show. This certainly is anecdotal evidence.
The biggest problem is identified in the article. Trying to navigate the legal waters of an industry who has onlyrecently ‘gotten’ the idea that the landscape has changed.
Sep
15
Techcrunch 50: Financial expertise for women
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LearnVest is a guide for financial health targeted at women.
TC50: LearnVest Is A Personal Financial Guide For Women
As far as a differentiating strategy, it’s okay. I don’t see a revenue model. If the founders can create a community around this idea then it’ll take off. If they keep the site dry and boring, women will sign-up and never come back.
Sep
15
Techcrunch50 : Therapy over the web
Filed Under innovation, startup | Leave a Comment
Breakthrough is hoping to link together therapists will individuals who need mental health treatment.
TC50: Have You Considered Tele-Psychiatry? Schedule A Session With BreakThrough
This is a classic interchange business model. The idea is to reduce the search and coordination costs of consumers who are looking for professional therapists.
This could be huge if the demographic is targeted properly. For one, I wouldn’t target major conditions and try to resolve them online only. (I mean things like suicidal tendencies, delibitating depression, etc.) However, there are many issues in the middle. Coping with aging parents, coping with children’s problems, financial distress, etc. I think the people dealing with these issues would be less concerned with privacy, but would be less likely to schedule a trip to a therapist.
This service would help those folks find someone to talk with, even if it’s only a few sessions.
