A lot of web startups have interesting data but they don’t make good (or any) use of it. That’s a big mistake. If you have data – flaunt it! Releasing some interesting piece of data, ideally something unexpected, is a wonderful way to attract attention. With a nod to Caterina’s Biz Dev 2.0, I think of this as PR 2.0. My friend Alan Gould, the founder of IAG Research (now part of Nielsen) was a master of this. IAG does advertising effectiveness research and to this day, when you go to their si...

A lot of web startups have interesting data but they don’t make good (or any) use of it. That’s a big mistake. If you have data – flaunt it! Releasing some interesting piece of data, ideally something unexpected, is a wonderful way to attract attention. With a nod to Caterina’s Biz Dev 2.0, I think of this as PR 2.0. My friend Alan Gould, the founder of IAG Research (now part of Nielsen) was a master of this. IAG does advertising effectiveness research and to this day, when you go to their si...

Over at DailyLit (my wife’s company), some books are free and others require payment. Right now, DailyLit accepts credit card and PayPal. From that I have some good first hand experience with online payments. Based on that here are some of reasons why the existing solutions are painful and ready for disruption: 1. The fees are outrageous. Not only do the card companies take a cut but you also pay for a gateway fee. With PayPal you just pay them, but again it’s a hefty fee. Now it is well know...

Over at DailyLit (my wife’s company), some books are free and others require payment. Right now, DailyLit accepts credit card and PayPal. From that I have some good first hand experience with online payments. Based on that here are some of reasons why the existing solutions are painful and ready for disruption: 1. The fees are outrageous. Not only do the card companies take a cut but you also pay for a gateway fee. With PayPal you just pay them, but again it’s a hefty fee. Now it is well know...

A little while back I wrote a post describing how scale is the critical challenge for education on the web. I was reminded of that on my trip to Berlin, where I met with a couple of online education startups. Both of them have interesting (and very different) approaches and both of them are thinking hard about how to get to scale. The key questions they currently face are “whom to charge” (teachers? schools? students? parents?), “how soon to charge” (right away? later?), and “for what to char...

A little while back I wrote a post describing how scale is the critical challenge for education on the web. I was reminded of that on my trip to Berlin, where I met with a couple of online education startups. Both of them have interesting (and very different) approaches and both of them are thinking hard about how to get to scale. The key questions they currently face are “whom to charge” (teachers? schools? students? parents?), “how soon to charge” (right away? later?), and “for what to char...

Adobe made a couple of big announcements about the future of Flash on mobile platforms. First, they announced that RIM has committed to making full Flash available on BlackBerries. Second, they showed an early version of compiling Flash into native iPhone apps as a way of getting them into the app store. Now some of the discussion has focused on all the problems with flash. And yes, there are many problems with Flash, the biggest being that it is a proprietary and closed system controlled by ...

Adobe made a couple of big announcements about the future of Flash on mobile platforms. First, they announced that RIM has committed to making full Flash available on BlackBerries. Second, they showed an early version of compiling Flash into native iPhone apps as a way of getting them into the app store. Now some of the discussion has focused on all the problems with flash. And yes, there are many problems with Flash, the biggest being that it is a proprietary and closed system controlled by ...

A lot of US startups seem to go to London as a launch pad for their European expansion. There are some obvious advantages, such as the same language and many direct flights. But after one day in Berlin (and so take this with a grain of salt), I think Berlin merits serious consideration for any Internet business. There is not much of a language barrier as pretty much everyone speaks English. As advantages, the cost of operating from Berlin is likely to be as much as a third lower than London. ...

A lot of US startups seem to go to London as a launch pad for their European expansion. There are some obvious advantages, such as the same language and many direct flights. But after one day in Berlin (and so take this with a grain of salt), I think Berlin merits serious consideration for any Internet business. There is not much of a language barrier as pretty much everyone speaks English. As advantages, the cost of operating from Berlin is likely to be as much as a third lower than London. ...

I wrote about the fight for net neutrality earlier this week and got some comments that suggest I did not succeed with my hosting example. I was thinking of clarifying that in a comment. Then I read a column by Holman Jenkins in the WSJ (love reading the WSJ to challenge my own opinions) titled “Neutering the ‘Net." That column shows some of the same misunderstanding, so I am thinking a full post might be in order. Where we live, Verizion offers FIOS and in their ads and on their site they cl...

I wrote about the fight for net neutrality earlier this week and got some comments that suggest I did not succeed with my hosting example. I was thinking of clarifying that in a comment. Then I read a column by Holman Jenkins in the WSJ (love reading the WSJ to challenge my own opinions) titled “Neutering the ‘Net." That column shows some of the same misunderstanding, so I am thinking a full post might be in order. Where we live, Verizion offers FIOS and in their ads and on their site they cl...

Here are a few more observations about Germany, even though I have already been in London for a day and a half, but there is a lot going on in Germany at the moment. On Sunday, Germany held Federal elections and the results will bring about a significant change in the governing coalition. Germany will move from a CDU/CSU+SPD coalition to a CDU/CSU+FDP coalition. Now if the alphabet soup of German parties doesn’t mean anything to you, think of CDU/CSU as fiscally and socially conservative, SPD...

Here are a few more observations about Germany, even though I have already been in London for a day and a half, but there is a lot going on in Germany at the moment. On Sunday, Germany held Federal elections and the results will bring about a significant change in the governing coalition. Germany will move from a CDU/CSU+SPD coalition to a CDU/CSU+FDP coalition. Now if the alphabet soup of German parties doesn’t mean anything to you, think of CDU/CSU as fiscally and socially conservative, SPD...

Julius Genachowski gave a great speech yesterday outlining his position as the chairman of the FCC on net neutrality. The speech is well worth reading because it provides a coherent argument in support of the neutrality principles. Genachowski first reiterated the importance of the “four freedoms” (later restated as four principles, a good comparison is here). But then he added a critical fifth principle:The fifth principle is one of non-discrimination – stating that broadband providers canno...

Julius Genachowski gave a great speech yesterday outlining his position as the chairman of the FCC on net neutrality. The speech is well worth reading because it provides a coherent argument in support of the neutrality principles. Genachowski first reiterated the importance of the “four freedoms” (later restated as four principles, a good comparison is here). But then he added a critical fifth principle:The fifth principle is one of non-discrimination – stating that broadband providers canno...

I left last night for a 1 week trip to Europe. This is longer than I usually like to be away from my family, but I decided to spend a few days with my relatives in Germany, in particular my grandmother who is 96. While on the road I will post some travel observations. Arrival at the Munich airport is a stark contrast with arrival at JFK. Not only is the airport clean that you feel you could eat off the floor, but the passport lines are short and the controls seem cursory at best. Not suggesti...

I left last night for a 1 week trip to Europe. This is longer than I usually like to be away from my family, but I decided to spend a few days with my relatives in Germany, in particular my grandmother who is 96. While on the road I will post some travel observations. Arrival at the Munich airport is a stark contrast with arrival at JFK. Not only is the airport clean that you feel you could eat off the floor, but the passport lines are short and the controls seem cursory at best. Not suggesti...

Spent three great days in London. Just like the last couple of times before that, the weather was sunny and warm. It was easy to forget how far north London is compared to say New York, although spending a day on Gavin’s ship for an AMEE offsite provided a reminder with a huge change between high tide and low tide. I was told by the AMEE team that the mild climate in the southern UK is largely due to the Gulf stream. And apparently I have also been very lucky with my visits - as on my only Lo...

Spent three great days in London. Just like the last couple of times before that, the weather was sunny and warm. It was easy to forget how far north London is compared to say New York, although spending a day on Gavin’s ship for an AMEE offsite provided a reminder with a huge change between high tide and low tide. I was told by the AMEE team that the mild climate in the southern UK is largely due to the Gulf stream. And apparently I have also been very lucky with my visits - as on my only Lo...