Sunday, October 21, 2012

But Of Course

Analysis: Yahoo CEO's comeback plan homes in on technology, not media
Her hires, acquisition musings, and other early moves hint at an ambitious, technology-driven comeback plan designed to revitalize aging but well-trafficked properties such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Sports..... Mayer, 37, wants to make Yahoo's properties much more interactive, on PCs and on mobile devices, using social media tools to personalize the user experience and new technology to boost advertising sales. Her well-known focus on user design is expected to result in a simpler, less-cluttered email and home page .... positions Yahoo squarely against Facebook Inc and Google .... Two types of deals are under consideration: companies that will increase user engagement, including on mobile, and those that will boost advertising returns ..... She's spending almost all her time with the product folks ..... Yahoo's advertising technology products, headed for the auction block before Mayer's arrival, are back in favor. De Castro, her highest-profile hire, is known for a deep-understanding of the complex advertising landscape, where dozens of businesses and technology providers are interlinked. ..... Right Media, an automated exchange that allows marketers to blast ads across a network of websites. ..... Roughly 700 million users visit a Yahoo website every month - putting it in the top ranks globally. But the amount of activity people engage in on many sites is steadily declining, and its smartphone offerings are deemed lackluster. .... "The largest change is to be deadly serious about mobile" ..... Facebook and Google, two companies that have taken consumers' time, engineering talent and market value from Yahoo. They are also trying to make the transition to mobile, but it has been difficult
Her mere appointment told me Yahoo now means to do technology, it will no longer aspire to be some kind of a media property. This writer has taken a few months to come to the same conclusion.

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Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Next Big Thing In Software: Never Me


I was never trying to do the next big thing in software.

In 1999 when I was a founding member of a dot com that did pretty good - $25 million raised round two - it was trying to create a community online.

A little after when I was pitching VCs on my own, what I had in mind is what the Chromebook is today, only the price point is not right yet. But then I was not thinking touch as a possibility at all.

The nuclear winter happened. A few years later when I moved to NYC it was with the Chromebook concept in mind.

I got pulled into doing full time political work on a volunteer basis, in Nepal and in America. They were both historic opportunities. I did raise 100K as was the first goal, but my political enemies in the city made sure the idea got scuttled. They killed it. And the Great Recession happened.

After that I started thinking in terms of microfinance, for profit high tech microfinance. Advising or rooting for or even joining the teams of others don't count. A few dot coms fall in that category.

Today I am squarely in Clean Energy, one of the next big things like nanotech and biotech. I will also do sales, and I hope to pick up microfinance down the line. When it comes to software, I am a great user, I'd like to believe. But I never was a guy trying to do the next big thing in software.

I came to New York wanting to do hardware. I am glad Google picked up the slack. I want Google to also do globally wireless gigabit broadband. That is the only way it can become a trillion dollar company.

As for me, let me worry about hydroelectric dams in Nepal.
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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Chromebook: $249 A Much Better Price Point

$199 would have been better still. $199 ad free, $100 ad supported.


Google launches 11.6-inch ARM-based Samsung Chromebook: $249, ultra thin and light, 6.5-hour battery, 1080p video
The new Chromebook, for everyone
Google Unveils New $249 Chromebook by Samsung
Samsung/Google's new ARM-powered Chromebook looks like a MacBook Air, costs just $249
Google announces new Samsung Chromebook, available for $249 on Monday (hands-on video and photos)
Google wants new $249, ARM-based Chromebook to be your second computer
New Google Chromebook Has a Great Price: $250
Google's thin 11.6-inch ARM based Samsung ChromeBook with 100GB of online space is finally compelling at $249 (Video)
Nope, Google's $249 Chromebook totally didn't rip off MacBook Air wholesale
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Monday, October 15, 2012

Patent Wars Are Death, Agreed

Image representing Eric Schmidt as depicted in...
Image by Charles Haynes via CrunchBase
But Google was a pacifist in the Apple-Samsung battle. Was there any doubt that was a proxy fight with Google?

Eric Schmidt: Android-Apple Is the Defining Fight in the Industry Today
“These patent wars are death,” Schmidt said, noting that software is always overlapping, and that there are an estimated 200,000 patents covering the software industry. Schmidt said the impact is worse for small companies than it is for companies like Apple, Google and Samsung that can afford to protect their technolopgies. “I think this is ultimately bad, bad for innovation. It eliminates choices.” ..... “Facebook is attempting to become the world’s communications hub, and Amazon is attempting to become the world’s largest store.” .... Shouldn’t Microsoft be included in there, Mossberg asked? No, Schmidt said. “It’s a well-run company,” he said, “but they don’t make state-of-the-art products.”
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