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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
Salesforce.com’s Incubator: René Bonvanie (Part 7)
I continue my discussion regarding the need for Incubator companies to receive assistance in their initial customer acquisition phase. I push Rene a fair bit. I think he is getting slightly annoyed and defensive 🙂 SM: If you go back to the beginnings of Salesforce.com, and you ask Mark Benioff, I am sure he will
Salesforce.com’s Incubator: René Bonvanie (Part 6)
Among the most significant challenges a company faces is obtaining its initial reference customers. Salesforce has a core competency revolving around telemarketing and sales, so I inquire about the type of support they provide to companies in the Incubator in order to address this challenge. SM: How do you handle the go-to-market phase with Incubator
Om Malik: Pioneering Blogs (Part 11)
Here Om and I discuss some the challenges of operating a blog. The industry is in its infancy. In particular, there are difficulties with advertising networks and lack of analytics. SM: Are you following what Time Warner is doing with companies like Adify? OM: I have not. There are several reasons for that, mainly I
Salesforce.com’s Incubator: René Bonvanie (Part 5)
Bootstrapping has emerged as a very popular trend recently in the Valley as more entrepreneurs are bypassing Venture Capital. Here I ask Rene about the roll of boostrapping within the Incubator, and also get introduced to SmartFunded. SM: Do you have examples of partners who have been able to bootstrap and avoid VC funding? RB:
Om Malik: Pioneering Blogs (Part 10)
Om discusses his vision for the company. SM: When you look at the scaling of the company, what is your vision? Where do you want to take it? OM: I want Giga Omnimedia to be a proper publishing company. Just like companies publish magazines and newspapers, we publish a web / blog hybrid. Just think
Salesforce.com’s Incubator: René Bonvanie (Part 4)
Here we review the details of the terms. Companies pay $20,000 per cubicle per year for the Incubator, and in exchange they receive training, facilities and access to expertize. SM: Does that $20,000 also give them access to the SalesForce.com platform? RB: We do not charge for building upon the platform. When you start to
Om Malik: Pioneering Blogs (Part 9)
Publication businesses earn their revenues through advertising. Running a blog requires a great Ad Network partner to achieve success. for Om that has been FM. SM: When did you sign up with FM? OM: Right out of the gate, before I even left my job I had already signed. I think it was the end
Salesforce.com’s Incubator: René Bonvanie (Part 3)
Here, René explains the benefits Salesforce.com receives from the Incubator initiative. The idea is very new to the marketplace, so the effectiveness of it remains to be seen, although common sense indicates this is a solid business plan which we are bound to see replicated in many industries from this point on. SM: What is
