Goodbye Gruesome 2009

I want to close the year by drawing your attention to a few important pieces from 2009. The first is my Forbes Sneak Peek at the 2010 decade. Many of you have read and resonated with Capitalism’s Fundamental Flaw, Rich Vs. Poor Is Not The Right Debate, and India’s Next Celebrities. The sneak peek is a synthesis of those ideas, and an optimistic outlook on where we are headed. >>>

Building A National Health Information Network: NaviNet’s Brad Waugh and Tom Morrison (Part 1)

NaviNet, founded by Tom Morrison and with Brad Waugh as president and CEO, is America’s largest healthcare communications network. Tom has been involved in healthcare IT for 25 years and was a co-founder of Firepond Partners. Brad was previously CEO of $2.6 billion financial services firm Wincor Nixdorf as well as an entrepreneur who founded Watch Hill Partners.

SM: To start off, please give me the genesis of your personal stories. Where do you come from, and what in your background has led you to this path?

TM: I come from a small town in Minnesota. I worked my way through college as a pilot and was an aeronautical engineer. My academic background has nothing to do with what I am doing today. After I graduated in engineering I went on to law school. >>>

Helping You Book Vacation Rentals: FlipKey CEO T. J. Mahoney (Part 7)

SM: There are certain types of metrics which are in your hands which you could provide. How many hits does any given property get? What kind of click through rates do they get?

TM: We absolutely care about those statistics. That is entirely how we measure our value for some of our clients. They are only charged if we indeed deliver that value based on those metrics. We very much keep our eye on those stats. >>>

How A Warren Buffett Protégé Built Overstock.com: CEO Patrick Byrne (Part 7)

SM: Let’s talk more about your financials. Overstock.com started slowing down in 2005. In 2008 you went back up to $800 million-plus in revenue but are not very profitable and the market cap is pretty low. What is your take?

PB: We reached $800 million in 2005 and stayed there through 2008. We are starting to grow reasonably again. The first half of 2008 we grew 27%. >>>

Next Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs on Thursday, January 7

Sramana Mitra is offering free weekly online strategy roundtables for entrepreneurs to address positioning, financing, and other aspects of a startup venture. Up to 1,000 people can attend each session, but only the first five who register to pitch will be able to present their business ideas. All attendees are able to join in on the conversations via a live chat. >>>

Deal Radar 2009: Clearpath

By Guest Author Shailesh Otari

In this post we discuss Clearpath Technology, an Indian company in the field of Internet marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). What started as a hobby in engineering college became a profession for the company’s founder, Deepak Bansal. Surfing on his home computer and learning methods of search engine optimization led Bansal to develop expertise in this area, and he even wrote a book on the subject. Convinced that Internet marketing is his greatest passion, Bansal took the road less traveled and founded Clearpath right after his graduation in 2005. >>>

Helping You Book Vacation Rentals: FlipKey CEO T. J. Mahoney (Part 6)

SM: What percentage of property managers do you think understand your value proposition?

TM: Any property on our site with guest reviews understands. If you went to FlipKey.com right now and tried to leave a review of a random home, you could not do it. The only way you can leave a review of the room is if you have been invited by us because we have a booking record showing that you have stayed in the home. >>>

How A Warren Buffett Protégé Built Overstock.com: CEO Patrick Byrne (Part 6)

SM: There is another nuance which is very relevant in your business, which is organic search. Organic search remains relatively unleveraged. What has been your experience with that?

PB: It is a great area if you can get it right. The first people who seemed to get it right were fringe buyers such as porn sites or small retailers. >>>