Teenagers are trendsetters and early adopters, and they total 33 million in the U.S. They are also aspirational in nature. They prefer to stay ahead of the pack. Research shows that 67% of the teenagers in the U.S. own a mobile phone and 45% of them have iPods. 32% of the teenagers play computer or video games frequently. According to CBSNews.com poll, teenagers on average spend 2.9 hours surfing the Internet daily and are among the most avid users of the Internet.
87% of the teenagers log on to the Internet from their home whereas around 75% of the teens log on from school or a friend’s house. The Internet is a vital part of the teenagers’ education process and 90% of the teens in the U.S. use the Internet to research school assignments. 88% of the teenagers’ use the Internet for email, 82% Instant Messaging, 68% social networking and 60% download music. Compared to 16% of adults, 28% of the teenagers have blogs and it is an important medium for them to share personal news and commentary.
Such has been the popularity of the Internet media that Teen People a popular teenage magazine has withdrawn its print edition and decided to concentrate on its website ONLY. According to TNS Media Intelligence advertisement revenues for TeenPeople.com has grown six folds from 2004 to 2005 indicating a strategic shift in advertising and elevating the Internet as the most preferred medium. Elle Girl also withdrew its print edition and is currently available only on the Net.
Kodak has just announced its turnaround strategy of going against the grain of the printer business, and drastically cutting the prices of ink cartriges from the industry norm of $30 down to $10 for black and white, and $15 for color. The ink business is $45 Billion a year, and Kodak currently has no position in it. The market shares are as follows, dominated heavily by HP, followed by Epson, Canon, and Lexmark.
In this section, we explore some of the ways in which Philippe draws parallels between life and business. In the process, we discover his exchanges with Netscape’s know-all CEO Barksdale and Philippe’s next few mistakes. Read the full article »
Our next segment of the interview is an incredible story where a small company of 10 takes on Microsoft, and wins. Philippe discusses his business strategy and how he was able to guide cc:Mail to success. Read the full article »
“Draper Fisher Jurvetson manages a little more than $4 billion, but it’s spread across 19 funds and run out of 33 offices from Boston to Beijing. Regional managers can often spot opportunities more quickly than those in charge of “monolithic funds” based on Sand Hill Road, says Ravi Belani, an associate at DFJ.
Three of Draper’s four home runs of the past two years—Baidu.com (BIDU), eBay’s(EBAY) Skype unit, and Focus Media Holding (FMCN)—have come from outside the U.S. The fourth, Divx (DIVX), is based in San Diego. “Most of the amazing innovations we’re seeing actually aren’t in Silicon Valley,” says Belani.
Oak Investment Partners scored last June when Gmarket (GMKT), an online marketplace in Korea it had funded, went public. Gmarket is worth more than $1 billion on the Nasdaq now; Oak sold a 10% stake in the company to Yahoo! (YHOO) a week before the IPO.” Read the full article »
Marketwatch reports:
The board of Laureate Education (LAUR), a for-profit provider of higher education, has agreed to a $3.1 billion buyout led by founder and Chief Executive Douglas L. Becker and backed by a private equity consortium including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Citigroup Private Equity and hedge fund S.A.C. Capital Management LLC.
Under the deal, announced Sunday, Laureate shareholders would receive $60.50 a share in cash, an 11% premium to the closing price of the stock Friday. Including assumed debt, the total value of the deal is $3.8 billion. The board will actively seek a higher, competing bid under a “go-shop” clause for the next 45 days. While such arrangements don’t typically produce competing bids, the management team’s agreement with the financing group isn’t exclusive, meaning it could, in theory, sign up with a richer offer.
The deal extends a foray by private equity firms into for-profit education following a transaction last March in which Providence Equity Partners and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners paid about $3.4 billion to acquire Education Management. Read the full article »
