Why Corporations Should Train More Intrapreneurs

Consider this scenario:

A large technology corporation has a few hundred products that are sold to thousands of enterprises and small-medium businesses.

Because of the fast pace of change in technology, every single product in the portfolio experiences market pressures of various kinds. Competition from startups. Integration requirements with external products. Architecture changes in the technology stack. New capabilities due to new discoveries.

How does such a corporation stay on top of the constant need to innovate, and not get disrupted by an upstart?

My answer: Train the Intrapreneurs.
>>>

Domain Knowledge Drives SaaS Unicorns

We’ve looked at a number of Unicorn companies so far: Tableau, FireEye, RightNow, Palo Alto Networks,Kayak, SuccessFactors, and Marketo. Today’s featured company is ServiceNow.

Fred Luddy, the founder, was a classic nerd. After meandering his way through various companies as a programmer, he ended up as the CTO of Peregrine Corporation that built software for the help desk and service desk markets. Peregrine acquired numerous companies and eventually grew to $500 million in revenues, but filed for bankruptcy due to accounting irregularities in 2003.

Fred, however, developed domain experience with the IT service desk market through that process. He decided to start a SaaS company in that space. >>>

5 Thought Leaders In Cloud Computing To Follow

A recent report released by Markets and Markets estimates the global cloud computing spend to grow to $121.1 billion by 2015, recording a compounded annual growth rate of 26% over the period 2010 through 2015. Another report by Market Research Media expects strong growth within cloud computing to continue. The report projects a 30% annual growth rate over the five year period from 2015 with the market expected to be worth $270 billion by 2020.

On my blog, I write an interview-based series called Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing where we invite industry folks with interesting vantage points to come and share their points of view about the industry and its trends, gaps, blue sky opportunities.
>>>

Deconstructing The Cloud – From New Book, Carnival In The Cloud

Excerpt from my new book, Carnival In The Cloud, on sale today.

At the turn of the millennium, a new form of computing swept over the world.

Netscape went public in 1995, heralding the birth of technology’s most exciting gilded age. David Einstein of The San Francisco Chronicle had interviewed John Doerr, General Partner of Kleiner Perkins, as he covered the incredible interest in the initial public offering of the Netscape stock, and the madness that followed.

Doerr famously said: “It’s possible that the Internet in fact has been underhyped. I think we’re witnessing the creation of a brand new medium that will possibly be more important than network television.”

Indeed, the twenty first century has seen that under-hyped technology trend boldly and assertively come of age.
>>>

Web 3.0 and Online Fashion

Excerpt from my new book, From eCommerce To Web 3.0.

In 1999, long before fashion on the Internet actually took off, I started a company called Uuma. It was a traditional venture-backed personalized fashion startup that received an acquisition offer from Ralph Lauren before the company was caught in the first dotcom crash.

I am going to articulate the vision behind Uuma, particularly because that vision still remains unrealized. I hope that some entrepreneur, somewhere, will execute on it.

As you know, I define Web 3.0 as a verticalized, personalized user experience. The web is still utterly fragmented. You have to go to different places to find information about the same context. I have long had the vision of a personalized Saks Fifth Avenue. I want my store — my personal store — that carries merchandise that applies to me; that suits my hair color, eye color, skin tone, body shape and personal style. I want it to stock my favorite designers and more like those. And I want to see articles and community discussions that are specific to my interests.
>>>

10 Thought Leaders in Big Data

We have a long-running Thought Leaders in Big Data series on the 1M/1M blog. We started publishing the series back in 2012. Over the last couple of years, we have featured many of the innovators in the field. Of those, today, I will introduce you to ten who I think would be interesting for you to get to know.

Let me explain why I have chosen these ones in particular.

The significant opportunities for entrepreneurship currently exist in the application layer of the Big Data industry. The platforms and plumbing are in place.

Today, the most exciting opportunities are going to be available to those entrepreneurs who harness the power of big data, but couple it with intense domain knowledge in specific areas of business.
>>>

Men’s Fashion e-Commerce Entrepreneurs Thriving

Excerpt from my new book, From eCommerce To Web 3.0.

Most major retailers are latching on to the e-commerce trend but there is also a growing number of online men’s fashion upstarts like Combatant Gentlemen and JackThreads that are using social media channels to understand the consumer and sell effectively under their own retail brands.

Combatant Gentlemen’s strength lies in creating a brand that produces high quality clothing at an affordable cost and then effectively selling it to their target customer of young, aspiring professionals through Facebook. CEO Vishaal Melwani says, “One of the big reasons that we still, to this day, take away clients [from competitors like Men’s Warehouse] is because their messaging is incorrect. They don’t understand the pains and the trials and tribulations that our guy goes through on a daily basis.”
>>>

The 10 Trends In Content Marketing

We’re not too far from a world where Content represents the Brand.

Brands, therefore, are trying to develop good content, and engage audiences by getting them to read/view their branded content.

Here are 10 trends in content marketing that marketers should keep track of:

1. Quality: The online universe is full of crap. Producing quality content isn’t easy, and it isn’t cheap to do so. If you can invest in a high-end content strategy and engage people with it, you have a differentiated advantage. But it is extremely difficult to do. Imagine, you are running a mini New York Times. You have to churn out quality content that is relevant for your audience everyday. If you are a toothbrush brand, that may not be all that easy to do!
>>>