Forbes Column 2009: Recession Entrepreneurship

Zero-In this week focuses on ideas for Recesssion Entrepreneurship. Let me know (in the comments below) if you are hatching one of these. >>>

Billions In The Bubble: Siara CEO Vivek Ragavan (Part 2)

SM: Where was this based?

VR: I took a VP of Engineering role in Pennsylvania. Cable networks were changing while I was there, from pure video signals to data signals. >>>

Mortgage Crisis: Solutions?

My friend Bob Cringely is trying to find solutions to the mortgage problem. I am out of my depth on the topic but am also trying to understand, seek solutions. >>>

Billions In The Bubble: Siara CEO Vivek Ragavan (Part 1)

Vivek Ragavan is the president and CEO of Siara. He has over 20 years of high-tech experience primarily in telecommunications. Prior to Siara he was president of the Residential Broadband Group of ADC Telecommunications, where he was responsible for $300 million telecommunication equipment businesses. He also led development of General Instrument’s leading digital video transport system, which powered the growth of cable TV’s video and data penetration.

SM: Where do you come from? What environment bred your persona and the seeds of your career?

VR: I have always been interested in technology from the time I was young. I grew up in Bombay, India. When I was ten I decided I wanted to get involved with telecommunications. >>>

March 11 Roundtable Recording

If you were not able to attend this morning’s roundtable mentoring session, here is the recording: >>>

Deal Radar 2009: Zoosk

Today’s Deal Radar moves the spotlight from enterprise software and open source to a topic that has not made an appearance recently: online dating. Zoosk, a dating network, was founded by Alex Mehr and Shayan Zadeh. They had met as students at Sharif University of Technology, Iran, and reunited in January 2007 to start a company called Pollection. The idea behind Pollection was to leverage social media to enable quick and cost-effective market research for small and medium businesses by distributing polling widgets on blogs and social networks. Just as they were about to release the first version of their product, Facebook opened its platform to third-party developers. >>>

I Want To Change TV: Mitch Berman, CEO of ZillionTV (Part 7)

SM: You are going for the real idiot-proof user model. TiVo is not idiot-proof.

MB: You are starting to hit it! The viewer experience is key. Search is a key component of the overall user experience. The ability for a human being to get the ads she is interested is something new. It is win-win for everyone. >>>

Next Mentoring Session Tomorrow at 9am Pacific

Make sure you attend the next Online Strategy Roundtable mentoring session for entrepreneurs to discuss your business issues with me. >>>