Thought Leaders in Mobile and Social: Alex Bard, VP and GM of Desk.com, a Salesforce Company (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: There are limits to what you can do for your customers without blowing your profitability or viability. For example, we have taken this charter of democratizing entrepreneurship education. One of the value propositions we are working on is democratizing management consulting. Now, that cannot possibly happen. We charge a $1,000 annual membership fee,

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Thought Leaders in Mobile and Social: Alex Bard, VP and GM of Desk.com, a Salesforce Company (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: This is not an easy problem to solve. It’s not easy to do social customer support, right? Alex Bard: Well, it depends. The way we think about it is – and this is if I was giving advice to an entrepreneur or business – you have to start by listening and understanding that

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Forbes Column 2009: What Amazon Should Buy Next

This week’s Zero In assesses new targets which, along with the recently acquired Zappos, could help Amazon create a strong portfolio of high-margin vertical offerings. Read What Amazon Should Buy Next.

Deal Radar 2008: Figleaves and Specialty e-Tail

(I want to preamble this piece by saying that when you read it, please don’t be surprised if Google AdSense starts pushing lingerie ads to you. It is not a very smart algorithm!) Figleaves.com is the world’s largest online retailer of branded intimate apparel. It includes Aubade to La Perla to Zimmermann. Users can shop

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Deal Radar 2008: Zappos Wants to be Amazon When it Grows Up

You have heard me talk about the verticalization of the web. Here’s a good example of a brand built on that premise. Zappos.com is the #1 online footwear retailer. Apart from retailing around 1,100 well known brands of shoes, boots, sandals, and athletic footwear, it also retails accessories including socks, wallets, belts, designer handbags, and

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Web 3.0 & Amazon (Part 4)

Acquisition Targets Amazon has been slow to acquire companies. Amazon acquired dpreview.com, a London-based digital photography review site in May 2007. Amazon needs to use acquisitions to enter businesses that have a higher profitability dynamic in their business models. For example, Amazon could consider acquiring on-demand, customized product creation company CafePress. CafePress.com is a growing

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