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
online media
YahooBay, not SkypeBay
True, that 157 Million Users need to be further monetized with additional services. But Skype is not the answer. In fact, if I were to put two large scale net properties together, those would be YAHOO & eBAY, making YAHOOBAY a fitting answer to Google’s rising power.
The Tech Opportunity in Toys
The $20 billion toy industry has faltered in recent years as children’s tastes and styles of play have changed. Toy spending has been widely seen as migrating to consumer electronics. Children are increasingly craving devices their parents want, many analysts say, like cellphones, digital cameras and portable digital music players, iPod being the best example of a beneficiary of this shift. Is there an opportunity for the tech sector innovators in this transition?
Microsoft + Hollywood
Don’t be surprised if the rules of the content business change dramatically in the future. For example, a successful movie may be turned into a book!
Cricket on Cell Phones: India’s killer app
For Yahoo and Nokia, this is an example to take some cues from: Understanding the cricket ecosystem will provide numerous clues into the consumer psyche of a few hundred million Indians, and working that understanding into their local strategies would prove immensely lucrative.
Yahoo! starts beefing up
Between Yahoo and Google, I still like the former, despite the latter’s sky-high stock prices and current halo-effect. Long time back, Microsoft won against IBM and Apple (and many others) with a Fast-Second strategy. Yahoo may not be at the fore-front of innovation anymore, but some of the properties they have – especially My Yahoo! , Yahoo! Groups, and HotJobs – could be interesting leverages, IF they spend the cycles to figure out how to take those to their true potential. Now, with the focus on better technology and usability, they can, if they fix Product Marketing next.
The Personalization Potential of Konfabulator
Yahoo! Konfabulator should pay a lot of attention to what widgets people want, because mosquito conditions in a certain area, I am afraid, is not exactly a killer app. However, finding the right clothes from the private desktop of big, fat women may well be one!
Twenty-First Century’s Best Venture
Twenty-First Century’s best venture is the Harry Potter franchise. Starting with a great set of thrilling stories, J.K. Rowling’s marvelous boy-hero has started off a whole generation of youngsters on paths of reading, courage, friendship, adventure, and Rowling herself, on a path of great riches. Traditionally, Venture Capitalists did not finance content plays. But if you look at the numbers, one begins to wonder whether or not they should start … books, music, films, toys, games …
Starbucks and the Music Business
Perhaps, a natural extension would be to start having live-music and dancing at Starbucks cafes as well, with carefully selected musicians, in carefully selected musical genres!
