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Niall’s Startup Search

In the category of, why didn’t I think of that, I wanted to give a shout out to Niall Kennedy’s newest site ‘StartupSearch’.  The site, sponsored by True Ventures (Big in Japan client), tracks ‘the web technology ecosystem commonly references as Web 2.0.’  What is it?  Niall explains the data-driven website tracks:

• web 2.0 Startups
• their products
• key employees
• investment firms
• investment partners
• success of products (i.e. using public metrics)

The site’s goal is to become ‘a research tool, a discovery engine, a fact-filled directory of our little Web startup world.’  They site is written using Python, Django and YUI.  Very cool Niall!

 

Web 2.0 = the need for less $

But what if your cool new Web 2.0 startup has too much cash? Instead of buying those aeron chairs, you can hire a killer CEO. You may have never heard of Joost (evidently the new way to watch TV - yawn), but they recently closed a huge $45MM round from Index Ventures and Sequoia. In a coup for the little company, according to Staci Kramer, they lured former Cisco exec Mike Volpi to join the team as CEO. Mike SVP-GM, at Cisco from 1994 to this year, was seen as the likely heir to CEO John Chambers. Om Malik suggest that Mike might have immediate impact in the organization. If the little company is going to show us ‘how TV will be watched from now on’ they need someone who can swim in the shark filled waters of Hollywood. Is Mike slick enough? I suspect so!

Are Agencies getting Big in Japan?

When we created Big in Japan we didn’t want to build an agency. The hourly or resource focused model didn’t appeal to me or my team. Instead we preferred a traditional software or software as a service model.  For example, Microsoft’s clients never ask, "how many hours did you spend to deliver Exchange, instead they simply pay for the value received. 

Sure, we got started pitching social media consulting services that seemed a lot like marketing strategy, but we facilitated that work by creating managed consumer products (i.e. blogs, wikis, podcasts and advergames). We sold our products/services based on valueEach time we retained the intellectual property rights reworking each to create something new. Today we have our own brand portfolio with titles like: egorcast, elfurl, frankenfeed, feedvault, instantfeed, qwikping, socialmail, podserve, fanpodcast, hresume, hiddentalent and most recently serviceguy. As our brand portfolio has grown so has our client list working with folks like FX Network, Lego, TechData, Claria, LogoWorks, TradeKing, Federal Reserve Bank, Mystic Tan, D Magazine and so on.

I have been spending time talking to a few agencies (traditional and interactive) and it is becoming clear they are headed in our direction. Agencies are more and more interested in marketing their ‘own’ products to their clients. They are also interested in incorporating ’social media’ into their offerings. Of course this is what we have been doing for the last two years. Time and time again we have tried to get agencies to sell our products/services to their clients without much success. As a result, as we have solidified our intellectual property through the use of the United States Patents and Trademark Office, we have come to the conclusion that we need to insert ourselves into the marketing process earlier than we have in the past. The question is: How?

Marc Brownstein, from the Brownstein Group, suggests:

Looking ahead, agencies should broaden their appeal to become as much content providers as idea generators. With the explosion of cable channels, websites, satellite radio and niche publications, content is running thin. Why couldn’t agencies specialize in generating it? We could create more shows (like the Geico Caveman spinoff), inspire more channels, capture eyeballs on sites with compelling content and publish magazines. Why not leverage our strategic planners, copywriters and art directors? The days of agencies relying solely on creating ads for TV, radio, print and outdoor are so over. Just ask any client.

Ironically, as agencies and clients are moving in our direction, we are looking for a business model that will allow us to become more like an agency. We need the delivery model agencies use so successfully without the traditional concept of compensation for hours worked or percentage of markup.  My current thinking is that we could either build a quasi-agency to support and sell Big in Japan products/services or we could buy or merge with an existing agency. There is an opporuntity to leverage our social media experience as well as our intellectual property.  My only fear is that we get gobbled up in something that is so complex we lose sight of what makes our business interesting…

Trackstick: Expensive Paper Weight!

I bought a Trackstick a while back. The idea is simple, it tracks where you have been via a GPS. It supposedly connects to Google Earth. It wasn’t cheap, costing almost $200. In any event, it doesn’t work as advertized (see description at bottom of post in italics).

Problems:

• Battery life is not "one month", instead we have experienced one to two days.
• It doesn’t track your movements very well. It missed more than 50% of our journey throughout Portland in a single day.
• The software was buggy, it had problems working in Windows out of the box.

My advice? Don’t bother!

The Super Trackstick^TM is an obvious choice for government agencies and intelligence personnel. The weatherproof case and removable magnetic mount allow for covert installation. Features like this make Super Trackstick^TM best suited for police or homeland security personnel.

The Super Trackstick^TM is conveniently powered by two (2) AAA batteries. With the built in vibration detector and proprietary low power GPS technology, the Super Trackstick^TM will run for over a month with average use. The 4Mb of flash memory ensures that the Super Trackstick^TM will log weeks or even months of travel histories. User selectable features allow the record time to be changed from an interval of every 5 seconds, or from 1 minute to every 15 minutes.

Like all Trackstick^TM devices, Super Trackstick^TM will work anywhere on the planet. Using the latest in GPS mapping technologies from Google Earth^TM, its exact location can be shown on satellite-based maps and 3D geographical terrain.

The Super Trackstick^TM comes equipped with the highest technological features available on the market today. With the detachable magnetic mount and belt clip, Super Trackstick^TM can be carried on a belt, in a bag or covertly installed and placed on anything that moves. Trackstick’s^TM technology enables a continuously updated record of the exact route, stop times, speed and direction and other valuable information. The Super Trackstick^TM even has its own built in temperature recorder to monitor and record its environment.

All of Super Trackstick’s^TM information can easily be downloaded to your computer via the USB port and quickly viewed on Google Earth’s^TM 3D model of the planet. No monthly fees are required and all software needed to run Super Trackstick’s^TM technology is included.

AmberMac and Leo Laporte on EgorCast!

Amber MacArther and Leo Laporte talked about our cool Jott/Twitter/Jaiku mashup called Egorcast on their net@nite show.  Amber and Leo have been friends of Big in Japan since the PodServe days ~ thanks for the plug guys!  More about Egorcast: the what, the how, and the why. 

 

The Black Donnellys ~ no more

I am sad to report NBC has officially cancelled The Black Donnellys.  I had written a few scripts on spec for the show and was hopeful that they might appear in season two.  Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, the creators, are talking to Mark Cuban about season two (keep your fingers crossed).  The first seven episodes were aired on NBC and the remaining six episodes will air on HDNET.  Of course, you can see the full season on iTunes. 

ServiceGuy Final Logo Revealed

Less than a week after the Big in Japan team decided to build and launch ServiceGuy, the final logo has arrived.  Thank you for your comments, suggestions and ideas.  I personally liked the Lego looking guy, but I understand why the logo below was the final choice:

 

 

 

Hopefully ServiceGuy grows on you.  It is not certain that ServiceGuy will catch on outside of Dallas, but the team is excited enough to invest a week of their lives to see.  The guys are in Portland for RailsConf and should start in earnest next week. 

JPG: Break-up can be ugly!

No one ever claimed breaking up was easy.  In the case of JPG magazine it can get down right ugly (worse than a tiff).  I noticed a new Flickr screenshot from Tara Hunt showing that she had deleted her JPG account.  Why would she do that I wondered, and I as read on I realized that two of the founders Derek and Heather Powazek had left the company. 

Evidently the magazine began as a small project sold through Lulu.com.  The project turned into a major magazine and the new management team really wanted to get away from the ‘down and dirty’ history of the publication (amaturish digest printed periodically).  The decided to focus on the future and market to a broad ‘Barnes and Noble‘ audience.  Derek and Heather didn’t agree with the direction.

Paul Cloutier, editor and publisher of JPG, explains that JPG is three things:

• a magazine (printed six times a year)
• a website (photographers can upload photos and stories for the magazine)
• a community (existing exclusively for photographers)

Paul suggest that, "Without you [the community], we’re nothing.  Turns out lots of JPG’s community liked the history of the magazine.  Evidently, for many, the people in the community were more important than the new marketing strategy.  So what did they do about it?  They left the community ~ publically.  There is a Flickr group dedicated to people who have left JPG magazine’s community (more than 236 strong) as seen below:

 

 

 

I suspect that there is much MORE to the story than is reported by Derek in his blog, but to be clear JPG reall f’ed up this one.  Shame on you Paul ~ don’t walk away from your community… 

Craigslist, leaving a little on the table. . .

Craigslist is a small company, fewer than 25 employees generating more than $25,000,000 in revenue.  Their website offers, largely free, classified ads in more than 450 cities and is the top ten most trafficed internet sites. 

The success of the site is likely due to the fact that the company has NOT tried to maximize revenue.  The site charges nominal fees for job posts in seven cities and for real estate listings in New York ~ every other listing is free.  Analysts estimate the site could be worth hundreds of millions in revenue if the company would simply add texts ads on the site.  

Business Week is running an interview with Craigslist CEO, Jim Buckmaster titled, "Craigslist’s Ongoing Success Story."  The story explains,

Craigslist.org CEO Jim Buckmaster has been called many things: anti-establishment, a communist, and a socialistic anarchist. Traditional businesspeople are often confounded by the company’s business model. After all, the online classified advertisement site over which he presides consistently ranks among the Internet’s most trafficked sites, yet he remains decidedly uninterested in monetization.

Perhaps we should all take a hard look at Jim’s (and of course don’t forget Craig) strategy.  Maybe leaving a little on the table allows us all to eat.  Had the company focused on monitization from the start the site might not generate more than $1MM per employee, much less hundreds of millions of dollars. 

 

Service Guy Logo Voting

On the Biggu Blog we are asking for comments on the various logo design concepts for the ServiceGuy concept.  Please comment there, but here are the logos:

 

 

 

 

 

I needed a new pool guy so. . .

We are building another referral network for contractors. Everyone says we are nuts including Lee Blaylock, who founded ServiceLane. The Big in Japan team built the engine for Architel’s CSP system and with a little tweaking we are turning it into "ServiceGuy".

The idea is very simple. For example, if you were a pool guy in Dallas you would visit the ServiceGuy page for pool service in Dallas and enter your phone number. Lets say that 30 other pool guys in Dallas entered their phone numbers into the system as well. Now whenever a homeowner needs a pool guy, he would simply dial the ServiceGuy phone number for pool guys in Dallas and the system would dial all 31 numbers. The first pool guy to answer the phone and press one would be connected to the homeowner.

There are lots of referral networks, but most of them require creating an account, entering demographic data and completing a quiz to determine the best contractors for your project. The ServiceGuy concept is to create an immediate connection with as little overhead as possible. For the homeowner they simply dial a number. For the service provider they simply enter their phone number. Oh, and it is free for both parties. Could we make it easier?

In any event, now that I am remodeling our new home I will be focusing on the trades needed for my project. You could image we will be adding drywall guys, painting guys, countertop guys, plumbing guys and so on. Fortunately there is no pool in the new house and we finally found a great pool guy for our old one. The project is described in a post titled, "Quick Project: ServiceGuy Referral Network." Here is a draft of the website design:

The Costanza Principle Applied to Business

If you are an entrepreneur having a prolific failure under your belt is seen as a "badge of honor" in most circles. This would seem to be a perfect example of how the Costanza Principle can be applied to business. I have blogged about the principle more than a few times in posts such as, "The Costanza Principle" and "The Costanza Principle Applied to Traffic", but when it comes to business a little counterintuitive thinking can be helpful. To truly succeed you must fail ~ the more brilliantly you fail the better your chances are for stellar success.

Carleen Hawn, wrote an interesting post titled "The Opportunity to Fail" in the Found Read blog. Her thesis? Bankruptcy is a great opportunity for a founder to learn. She points to Robert’s post, Jeremy’s post and James’ post as examples of this concept. She explains:

Simply put, we live in a country that encourages dreamers to take risks, and the laws protect those “entrepreneurs” from the potentially excessive consequences of failure. Bankruptcy laws enable risk-takers to protect themselves and start over. There is no other nation on this planet that by its very by-laws fosters such an economic environment. This spirit, the acceptance of failure, while counter-intuitive, is crucial to this country’s enormous success within the world economy.

So our success as individuals and as a country is tied to our ability to fail and for others to accept our failures. My own personal experiences with failure have served me well as I have explained periodically in this blog in posts like, "LayerOne: My Biggest Failure!". Have you failed big time? No? Maybe you aren’t taking enough risk. George Costanza wasn’t the sort to take risks, but when he did he either failed hilariously or succeed beyond our wildest imagination. Carleen concludes:

It seems weird, I know. The ability for a U.S. entrepreneur to go bankrupt is actually the most important element of this country’s economic success and wealth. It’s a great example of why I love counterintuitive thinking.

Selling our house, the new strategy!

Well, my wife has been reading Dr. Dyer recently and has decided that we should live in abundance versus scarcity.  What does this mean?  For the Muse family it means we bought a new house without selling our old home.  This seemed a little crazy to me at first, but I learned long ago that my wife has very good instincts and ignoring them is a very bad idea.  We bought the home six years ago and when we listed the house we decided to list at a ‘break-even’ price, despite the fact that housing prices have increased substantially here in Dallas.  We decided on this low price to offset the objections potential buyers might have with the house backing up to a busy street (Greenville Ave). 

Three months later we had not had a single offer.  Our realtor suggested that we lower the price.  We followed his advice, but a month later no offer.  He then suggested we lower the price yet again.  I asked why, thinking that our real problem was location.  The realtor explained that we might find more ‘internet searchers’ in this lower price range.  Based on this theory raising the price would actual accomplish the same thing.  In fact, I began to think that buyers who were interested in a high-end home with similar finishout and square footage might be looking $100-150K more.  Maybe we were missing out on these buyers.  I didn’t even bother to look at homes in my price range when we bought, perhaps others who might consider the home missed it as well.

Randolph Harris, writing for Capitalism 2.0, wrote an interesting article titled Housing Market Friction earlier today suggesting that the housing market has turned around, despite what experts from the industry are suggesting.  He points to new research and suggests that this news is "huge" because a) Federal policy makers are basing current policy on faulty assumptions, b) there is a current "surge in activity" due to "hip-pocket" transactions that do not appear in MLS, c) the market has already corrected, and buyers are missing the opportunity to buy at deep discounts and d) the press is no longer a viable source of research.  He concludes, "One of the unique economic aspects of residential real estate is that fact that the markets are driven so heavily by information asymmetry.  It seems that this monopoly-on-information is maybe even more widespread, more intentional, and probably more damaging to everyday home buyers than I had thought."

This information asymmetry is explained by Steven Levitt in his New York Times best selling book, Freakonomics.  Based on research conducted by Levitt and Chad Syverson at the University of Chicago, real estate agents did a much better job of selling their own homes than the homes of their clients.  Specifically, realtors kept their houses on the market longer and sold them for significantly higher prices than the homes of their clients.  You can read the original academic paper here.  To sumarize: Agents are often better informed than the clients who hire them and may exploit this informational advantage.  Real-estate agents, who know much more about the housing market than the typical homowner, are one example.  Because real estate agents only receive a small share of the incremental profit when a house sells for a higher value, there is an incentive for them to convince their clients to sell their houses too cheaply and too quickly.  We test these preductions by comapring homes sales in which real estate agents are hired by others to sell a home to instances in which a real estate agent sells his or her own home.  In the former case, the agent has distored incentives; in the latter case, the agents wants to pursue the first-best.  Consistent with the theory, we find homes owned by real estate agents sell for about 3.7 percent more than other houses and stay on the market about 9.5 days longer, even after controller for a wide range of housing characteristics.

What does this mean for us?  Our realtor is actually a great guy and has done a great job, but I do think that Levitt’s prediction that realtors will "attempt to convince their clients to sell their houses too cheaply and too quickly" is true.  Instead, I am going to assume the data Harris has reported is true and we have in fact reached a bottom and increase the price of our home to reflect a 5% increase over the last six years (a far cry from the 20-60% other homes are listed at).  Needless to say our realtor is freaking out.  He has NEVER heard of anyone increasing the price of their home.  The truth is we don’t really need to sell our home for less than we paid, in fact we could easily rent the property and generate a small monthly income.  So if you are looking for a great house is Dallas, take a look at ours here on Zillow. 

 

Microsoft may hasten patent reform in the U.S.

Microsoft is a patent machine.  They basically own a patent on ’software’ in general.  Want to write code that does anything?  According to Microsoft you are in violation of at least 235 of their patents.  The latest news comes from Roger Parloff in a CNN article titled, "Microsoft takes on the free world."

Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties from distributors and users. Users like you, maybe.

 

Dallas Rowing Club Regatta Next Weekend

The Bachman Lake Annual Sprint Trials, the 2007 BLAST Regatta is this Saturday at 8AM.  I recently joined the Dallas Rowing Club so I won’t be racing, but I will be there working the race.  Hope to see you there.  Sign-up on Upcoming.org. 

 

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