categories
HOT TOPICS
- The Accelerator Conundrum
- The Startup Velocity Question
- Platform as a Service
- Man and Superman
- Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS)
- The Future: End of Capitalism
- Capitalism 2.0
books
Shutterfly’s Strategy: A Conversation with CEO Jeff Housenbold (Part 4)
SM: Your vision was to move beyond the traditional print model, and rather be the center of a lifestyle. JH: I also saw us as building a personal publishing platform. Yes, we have consumers doing all the beautiful cards, books and calendars, but we also have lots of small businesses, charities, schools, non-profits, jewelry manufacturers,
Amazon Pursues Growth At All Costs
In 2007, Amazon’s stock price appreciated by over 125%. How does it look in 2008? Amazon preserves leadership in its core retail business, while layering on a variety of “services”. Amazon posted Q407 results in line with the Street’s estimates. Revenues grew 42% y-o-y to $5.67 billion from $3.99 billion in the quarter a year
Deal Radar 2008: MyStrands is MyChoice
Given how much you heard me talk about personalization being an open opportunity, I would like to start my Deal Radar 2008 series with MyStrands, a company that has taken the personalization opportunity seriously. Founded in 2003, by Dr. Francisco J. Martin, MyStrands has developed a social recommender engine designed to provide personalized recommendations of
Borders vs Amazon
We have talked much about eBay vs Amazon, Yahoo vs Google, Netflix vs Blockbuster. Yesterday, while walking around in Union Square, looking at the lights on the Macy’s windows, we also walked into the Borders bookstore opposite Saks Fifth Avenue. This, below, is a camera-phone capture of a shelf that attempts a brick-n-mortar version of
Web 3.0 and Verticalization
I have worked with the Web 3.0 framework for months now, and taken a crack at defining how the web is likely to evolve in the future. So here’s a recap of the thesis so far. I will be adding a dimension to this framework shortly, so it is a good time to stop and
Hat’s Off, J.K. Rowling!
In its first 24 hours, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the seventh and final installment in the wildly popular series by J. K. Rowling that officially went on sale at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 21, 2007, sold 8.3 million copies in the United States, according to Scholastic, the publisher. The book’s official cover price
Re-engineering the Book Business: Blurb CEO, Eileen Gittins (Part 6)
SM: If I were to publish books through Blurb based on my blog writings, I would need to be able to have a paperback that sells for $5-6. I would also need to have a customized storefront on my site that seamlessly ties into yours, so that you can fulfill the order. Can I do
Re-engineering the Book Business: Blurb CEO, Eileen Gittins (Part 4)
SM: What are your top target segments? EG: We segment the market very broadly into Consumer/Prosumer and Professional. Top segments within consumer/Prosumer are: * photography books of all kinds including travel, fine art, compilations from photo enthusiast communities * wedding (participant books) * yearbooks, student/class books * family histories * cookbooks Top segments within Professional
