Posts from ‘Business’
Who Needs an IDEA GUY??!
“But I came up with the idea.” How many people creating a startup have heard this line before? It should be looked at like creating a band. Who wants a singer that says “We need to sound like Maroon 5 mixed with Incubus.” but then can’t really sing. It is more important that all members of your startup team are good and willing to do the work. There is no need or room for an idea guy!
The idea is such a small part of the actual success of anything. Everyone is creative and has ideas everyday. Look at Lucas Films. What if George Lucas just thought about Star Wars and couldn’t execute. What is the value in that. The ability to execute is the value.
I’m not saying that having ideas are a bad thing. That is what I am on this team, I have so many ideas. I’m the one who catches myself saying “If only we could capture 1% of the mobile market we will be loaded!” LOL. I’m here to say there are way too many IFs in that sentence. Doug is very good at grounding an idea to simple practical achievable and common sense goals. I have already scaled out our current project in my head that could take us another 5 years. But we all have a practical skill to help execute and fulfill our creation.
So I’m just here to say it is great to have ideas. Ideas spark the work. But you need to be able to work. Make it or do it yourself.
Video is power the most powerful source on the internet!
It is almost common sense and almost hard for some people to swallow how obvious it is.
Individual stats like Facebook passing the 400 million users mark, Twitter hitting 50 million tweets per day, and YouTube viewers watching 1 billion videos per day are impressive on their own, but what if we looked at Internet-related stats in it’s entirety? Jesse Thomas did just that in his video State of the Internet.
The video — created and animated by Thomas with data from multiple sources highlighting the figures I feel like we all probably know deep down inside. Here is a must see video for anyone trying to wrap there head around the concept and power of online video.
- There are 1.73 billion Internet users worldwide as of September 2009.
- There are 1.4 billion e-mail users worldwide, and on average we collectively send 247 billion e-mails per day. Unfortunately 200 billion of those are spam e-mails.
- As of December 2009, there are 234 million websites.
- Facebook gets 260 billion pageviews per month, which equals 6 million page views per minute and 37.4 trillion pageviews in a year.
Check it out! This is really interesting breakdown of viewers on the internet and where they go to get there source.
JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.
Apparently we are getting technology advice from aliens. LOL just kidding. =) Buy some energy while your picking up some groceries!
Recently, Bloom Energy has revealed there fuel cell technology to the world. It looks like Silicon Valley VC isn’t just helping to produce groundbreaking web applications. It is also playing a part in the green tech boom. Bloom Energy (Be the Solution) is one of them. The company has been in operating for eight years, raising $400 million in funding from VCs including Kleiner Perkins (investors in Netscape, Amazon, Google and others).
Right now, the refrigerator size technology, is doing beta testing with some major corporations (i.e Google, Coca-Cola, Ebay and Fedex.) Only, these fortune 500 companies can afford one of these beasts at this point costing about $800,000. Not in my budget yet guys. It is being developed for our homes in the near future. The goal is to change the way homeowners buy energy. Its “Bloom Box” houses fuel cells that run on oxygen, natural gas, landfill gas, bio-gas or solar power. The companies currently using the technology has showed a sizable decline in energy costs and CO2 emissions. So basically it is an power source that is poised to save us money and better the environment.
Here are some questions you may have about the technology and the answers.
1. When will the Bloom box for the home arrive, and what will it cost?
K.R. Sridhar, CEO of Bloom Energy, has said he hopes to see brick-sized energy servers powering homes within 10 years. The price: Somewhere south of $3,000, although it’s unclear what the initial cost might be. Bloom Energy says its corporate customers will see a 3- to 5-year payback on their initial investment.
2. How durable would it be?
Fuel cell technology has been around for decades — it was even used during the Apollo moon missions — but it’s unclear just how reliable Bloom’s technology is. The Energy Server uses an electrochemical process to generate electricity, and it operates at extremely high temperatures. Could a home energy server last at least 10 years? A shorter lifespan might severely limit cost savings for consumers.
3. Buy or lease?
A lot of homeowners probably won’t want to shell out a few thousand dollars for a newfangled energy device. Perhaps your friendly power utility might lease a Bloom server to you and handle whatever maintenance tasks are required. Then again, would this business model kill the cost benefits for homeowners?
4. Would I be able to sell energy to the grid?
Yes! Let’s say you’re using only 75-percent of the energy your Bloom box produces. Why not sell the excess power back to your local utility? If feasible, the energy server might actually help defray a homeowner’s power costs.
5. What about future applications?
A Bloom box for the home makes sense. But what about other power-hungry devices? Automobiles, for instance. A brick-sized Bloom box is the right size for a car or truck. Heat dissipation might be a serious issue, however. Laptops and cell phones? Unlikely.
Q&A provided by msnbc.com
You can keep up with us on google buzz at:
Anyone with GMAIL?? FOLLOW MAKEMEALIVE ON GOOGLE BUZZ HERE
Google is finally getting there hands in social networking and it is called Google Buzz. In the short time Google Buzz has been available to the public it has been used for millions of comments and sharing by users. So with such a powerful platform developing like this by the Google monster…. what is going to happen to facebook?? Why do we need to use Twitter? Why does this inevitable cycle that has been proven pretty solid thus far for social networks look like its going to nail facebook like the others? I don’t feel like we have really even seen a successful social network as of yet. Friendster and Myspace sold for a ton of cash but was either actually successful?? Not in my opinion, they are not even relevant anymore. Facebook has millions of users and continues to develop but will it last? As Google Buzz evolves we will absolutely find out. But the Google Monster continues to grow in every aspect of media. I think it is safe to say they are the conglomerate media mogul of the future.
Buzz’s five key features include:
• Automatic friends lists (friends are added automatically who you have emailed on Gmail)
• “Rich fast sharing” combines sources like Picasa and Twitter into a single feed, and it includes full-sized photo browsing
• Public and private sharing (swap between family and friends)
• Inbox integration (instead of emailing you with updates, like Facebook might, Buzz features emails that update dynamically with all Buzz thread content, like the photo viewer we mentioned above)
• “Recommended Buzz” puts friend-of-friend content into your stream, even if you’re not acquainted. Recommendations learn over time with your feedback.
WELCOME TO GOOGLE BUZZ!
IS IT MOBILE??
Of course it is!! Google did create Android. I think they are well aware of the value in the mobile market.
What are your thoughts about Google Buzz? Is it the end of Facebook, twitter…etc? Or is it just another social network like the rest? Tell us what you think.
If you do like it. We have installed a buzz this button on each of our posts. Share with your crew and spread makemealive!
Now I know I’m gonna get shit for posting this the to the MakeMealive.com blog. So I’m gonna apologize to Derek, Doug and John ahead of time. Sorry Guys! And John… I apologize that this post is going to get more viewers than your “seed fund startup investment for gen-y demographic people… …. … .. . “ = ) but i think this link deserved more than just a tweet and or a facebook post.
Why this webpage www.milliondollarhomepage.com caught my attention is due in large part of my envy for this kid. Here we work 15 hour days developing robust database driven internet apps and this kid creates one f*cking webpage and becomes a millionaire.
I still think this idea was stupid but on the other hand we have to give the creator credit. He understood the value of advertising and the efficiency of internet marketing for advertising revenue and part of me feels like I need to absorb a lesson from stumbling upon such a website. Although I admire his creativity and marketing mind, I still believe paying $1 dollar per pixel for adspace is a tremendous price to pay for such little space. Growing up in a billboard world can really f*ck with your perspective on a business model such as this… Anyways I will come up with a more informative and moving post in my next blog but felt like I wanted to share this with the MakeMeAlive readers.
What does everyone think?! Please comment on this post I am dying to know everyone’s thoughts!
kidding about $100..
Right Side Capital is the latest company to announce their seed-phase fund, which will invest in 100-200 start-ups per year. Their approach is to focus on quantity, not quality. In their eyes this gives them the best shot at finding the “black swan” start-up that other wise would have been missed because of the vigorous typical funding process. If you are a technology start-up looking for funding to get started, all you would need to do is submit an online application and wait to hear back. Not everyone that submits an application will be funded obviously, but your chances are a lot higher with a seed-stage company like Right Side than a traditional VC fund. In fact, VC money has been in serious short supply lately, just as demand is reaching an all time high.
Right Side Media follows a very similar model of Y Combinator, which started seed funding companies a couple of years ago. Y Combinator runs a three month program two times a year, exclusively in the Silicon Valley area. You don’t have to be from Silicon Valley to be funded, but do have to travel and live in the Mountain View area of California for the three months where you will receivve private coaching and be introduced to key contacts and investors. A typical company that is accepted into the Y Combinator, or Right Side Capital program will receive $10 – $20,000.00 and give up 6%-10% equity of their start-up in return. Right Side Capital differs from Y Combinator in that start-ups that are funded will also need to put up a little bit of their own money to ensure they have some skin in the game, and founders will not receive as much one-on-one coaching time.
Y Combinator Seed Funding Company Located in the Bay Area
I love the model and have been thinking for a while that there was a lack of small scale seed funding for the companies not ready for VC, but need some start up cash to get on their feet.
Start-Up Guru and Founder of Y Combinaror Paul Graham with a Class of His Start-Ups
Over the past two months, I’ve been reading a ton of business books and felt that I needed to share these amazing works with all of you!
The first book I started with was, “Getting Real,” by 37 signals. I first fell in love with the way multiple distribution options they created. Consumers are able to buy a hardcopy of the book for $25, download the pdf version for $19, or read it online for FREE! They really encompassed our generations immediate satisfaction mentality, as well as, our belief in freedom of information. The book explains 37 signal’s unconventional approach to starting a business. Among the topics covered are, starting and staying with only a few employees, by staying small an agile you are able to adapt quickly and cost-effectively to changes within your market. Trim the fat of your business, don’t include unneeded features in software, don’t hire unneeded employees. The idea I liked most was to just do it. Stop talking about building a website, application, or whatever and start building it. Stop having meetings and start developing, nothing ever goes as planned and you will always have to keep updating and changing your product. So why not just put it out there for your consumers to use, pick apart, and give feedback?!?!
I could go on and on about the revolutionary ideas in this book, but you’re better off checking it out for yourselves. You can read it for FREE here!
And stay tuned for the release of their latest book entitled, “Rework,” which hits stores March 9th! Watch the teaser trailers below.. HYSTERICAL!
******** UPDATE ********** NEW TRAILER VIDEO *********
Although Google without a doubt has been a great facilitator in internet technology and has changed the world of business, I am starting to have doubts about the current direction they are heading with the new Chrome OS. With the domination of Windows 7 , Snow Leopard , and Linux what makes Google think they can compete in the OS market? I don’t think billions of dollars can save them this time.
I have predicted the inception of this type of OS for a few years now and had an inkling that Google was going to be the one to produce this according to the rate at which they are pumping out all sorts of apps. A few years ago while I was analyzing and studying RIA’s ( rich internet applications) I knew that the desktop would eventually become obsolete. What we are currently seeing here is the evolution of the personal computer into a “cloud computing shell” or “big brother” computer. Although the integration of information is key to the evolution of technology, I still believe Microsoft and Apple will still remain the champions toward facilitating this change.. NOT Google.
Here are my top three reasons for this thing floppin’…
1. Google is promoting this OS initially on netbooks…. enough said there…
2. Open Source OS’s like Ubuntu and Red Hat have been working on a system like this for years. What makes Google think they can just jump in the market? What is the benefit of a Google OS… Adsense on the side of your desktop now? There are too many players in the game in the open source OS market, Google needs to let the grassroots open development companies take care of it instead of trying to monopolize open source culture.
3. Hardware companies already have an agreement with software companies. These powerhouse relationships wouldn’t want to be disrupted for an open source solution to run native. I would be really upset of if my MAC came with a free, buggy, Open Source Google OS… with the $3000 price tag. As far as the netbook market… these are currently controlled by huge Asian vendors which doesn’t give a shit about a new OS. The switch over would cost millions in operations.
Ok… Before I bash Chrome OS before It comes out… let see what they say…
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/releasing-chromium-os-open-source.html
“Most of all, we are obsessed with speed. We are taking out every unnecessary process, optimizing many operations and running everything possible in parallel. This means you can go from turning on the computer to surfing the web in a few seconds. Our obsession with speed goes all the way down to the metal. We are specifying reference hardware components to create the fastest experience for Google Chrome OS.”
It looks like Google’s biggest selling point is speed……..Ok… like every other OS.
“Google is promising boot times measured in seconds, not minutes”
“Windows 7 is Engineered for speed. Special attention has been given by the Windows 7 team for making Windows 7 faster than the previous operating systems.”
“In ways big and small, Mac OS X Snow Leopard makes your Mac faster, more reliable, and easier to use. Snow Leopard is seriously faster than its predecessor.”
SEE A PATTERN HERE?!
That’s just my two cents… I don’t blame Google for getting into the market because it has the budget to have a crack at it. As a smart business decision… I don’t think it will pan out like Google thinks.
I’m always open to debate… let me know what you think through the comments below!
If you like whiteboarding, IdeaPaint is a dream come true. It is also a successful start-up founded by three Babson College undergrads in 2005. The concept for IdeaPaint came while Jeff Avalon, John Goscha, and Morgan Newman where involved in an intense brainstorming session but had to keep erasing the whiteboard to fit new ideas (hate when that happens). For three years, with help from chemists, they invented a durable, smooth, and nonabsorbing paint.
The product was first marketed in 2008 at a NeoCon home-furnishing trade show, where it won its Innovation and Gold Awards. The three founders, all mid-twenties, were first successful in raising angel investment while at college still, and recently raised $5 million from Breakaway Ventures of Boston.
This year’s Super Bowl infamous ads companies are a bit different this year. Not like in years past with pepsi…etc. Who have decided to take the millions of dollars spent on Super Bowl ads and gear it towards viral and social marketing campaigns. Guess what… it payed off big time!
Look below to see who is changing the face of EXPENSIVE SUPER BOWL ADVERTISING. Hope it is profitable for them…
CHRYSLER will be the only U.S. automaker to advertise in this year’s Super Bowl, forking over millions of dollars to restore its image following its bankruptcy and the federal bailout that followed.
“What better way to illustrate to our customers that we are still here than to air on the Super Bowl, which is not only watched for the game, but also for the advertising spots,” said Chrysler spokeswoman Dianna C. Gutierrez.
HYUNDAI released a few of there 5 spots early to get a social census of which people liked best. This one below is what we believe won the contest!
Now, here’s the thing: this ad, from Google’s “Search Stories” YouTube channel, is from back in November, but John Battelle says he’s got a source telling him that ‘Parisian Love’ is the one that will air tomorrow night, during the third quarter of the SuperBowl. Either way, Google’s Eric Schmidt tweeted that he couldn’t wait to watch tomorrow, in addition to something about “hell freezing over.” So… that’s the first good reason we’ve heard to tune in. You with us?
The Census Bureau
WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO WHEN THE GOVERNMENT HAS A SUPER BOWL AD????!!!
Faced with record levels of red ink into the foreseeable future, Washington is spending $2.5 million to create buzz for the census — by advertising during the Super Bowl.
The Census Bureau is hoping to exploit the strong ratings from this annual attraction, aiming to get more participation from people who now seem disinclined to mail back a government questionnaire or even answer the door.
Census officials call it a good investment, saying the front-end costs of purchasing the ads can be quickly recouped if they succeed in encouraging people to mail back their census forms. A recent poll found nearly 1 in 5 residents said they may not fill them out, mostly because they were unfamiliar with the census or weren’t interested.
The government relies on the census not only to learn about Americans and their lives but also to parcel out federal dollars and, as required by the Constitution, to determine the number of U.S. House seats representing each state. The census officially began last month in rural Alaska, and most of the U.S. will receive forms by mail the week of March 15.
Not everyone is happy about spending taxpayer money to tout the census during the Super Bowl.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., tweeted this week that the government “shouldn’t be wasting $2.5 million taxpayer dollars to compete with ads for Doritos!” Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., called on the Census Bureau to justify every dollar of its $133 million ad campaign, citing the tight economic times.
Domain sales must be way up! Go Daddy this year is forking over big bucks to be the only ones using sex to sell web services! Fox had refused to air some of the racy commercials. The hole idea is to show a sex ad and then revert the viewer to godaddy.com to view the uncensored version on there site. Great idea in my book! Sex still sells!
ALL I KNOW IS I MISS THE BUDWEISER FROGS!!!!
