Recently in Rants Category
Now that the Harbinger group owns about as much of the NY Times as the Sulzberger family, questions over the future of the NY Times are arising more than ever.
So, what would you do if you took over the NY Times?
Fred Wilson answers:
So, what would you do if you took over the NY Times?
Fred Wilson answers:
I'd spin off The NY Times (paper and online) into a separate company and bring in new management to run it. I'd liquidate the rest of the assets, possibly including About.com.
I'd make the NY Times all about their audience. Let the people who read the paper have a much larger role in the content that gets published, both online and offline.
The best thing about the NY Times is their readers. The only way they can fix their problems is by leveraging them as the other half of their newsroom.
What would you do?
Facebook app spam after 3 days not logging in:
This just in. The answer to all of Yahoo!'s problems is to become more like Digg.
Ummmm....
Wasn't that previously also the plan for Ask.com?
And, wasn't that also previously the plan for Netscape? Later shuttered. Then later relaunched as propeller.
C'mon guys. Do you really think cloning Digg is the answer to everything?
Sure, Digg is darn cool.
And sure, innovation is the sincerest form of flattery.
But how about a little original innovation?
If Yahoo is serious about social media, why just toe dip? Why not fire the entire Yahoo editorial team, save a ton of cash, and just have users program the entire site?
Seriously, rather than trying to be Digg, why not come up with your own better than Digg?
Ummmm....
Wasn't that previously also the plan for Ask.com?
And, wasn't that also previously the plan for Netscape? Later shuttered. Then later relaunched as propeller.
C'mon guys. Do you really think cloning Digg is the answer to everything?
Sure, Digg is darn cool.
And sure, innovation is the sincerest form of flattery.
But how about a little original innovation?
If Yahoo is serious about social media, why just toe dip? Why not fire the entire Yahoo editorial team, save a ton of cash, and just have users program the entire site?
Seriously, rather than trying to be Digg, why not come up with your own better than Digg?
Anyone out there use Google Mobile News? I consistently find the experience entirely lame.
Try getting off a 8 hour flight, clicking on Google News, and reading a bunch of fairly random day old stories.
Anyone recommend a mobile news service you find particularly useful?
Try getting off a 8 hour flight, clicking on Google News, and reading a bunch of fairly random day old stories.
Anyone recommend a mobile news service you find particularly useful?
Why is Yahoo pissing me off?
It's not because they are dragging their feet on the inevitable yet disastrous Microhoo deal.
No, it's because their Yahoo Small Business customer support is driving me nuts.
Here's the short story. I registered the socialmedian.com domain name with Yahoo many months ago, signing up for domain parking services only. I host the blog on this site at Pair. A couple of weeks ago I tried to add email hosting services for @socialmedian.com. Should be pretty easy to do, right? Well, it seems that Yahoo Small Business is having some billing issues and they are unable to process my order online. Ok, so just give them a call and handle it over the phone, right? WRONG. For some silly reason Yahoo's small business customer support team is unable to take or modify orders over the phone. Ok, so pass me to billing and we'll clear this up, right? WRONG. Yahoo's billing department has informed me that it could take up to 5 business days to get to the bottom of the problem. Ummm.... that was 10 days ago!
grrrrrr...
It's not because they are dragging their feet on the inevitable yet disastrous Microhoo deal.
No, it's because their Yahoo Small Business customer support is driving me nuts.
Here's the short story. I registered the socialmedian.com domain name with Yahoo many months ago, signing up for domain parking services only. I host the blog on this site at Pair. A couple of weeks ago I tried to add email hosting services for @socialmedian.com. Should be pretty easy to do, right? Well, it seems that Yahoo Small Business is having some billing issues and they are unable to process my order online. Ok, so just give them a call and handle it over the phone, right? WRONG. For some silly reason Yahoo's small business customer support team is unable to take or modify orders over the phone. Ok, so pass me to billing and we'll clear this up, right? WRONG. Yahoo's billing department has informed me that it could take up to 5 business days to get to the bottom of the problem. Ummm.... that was 10 days ago!
grrrrrr...
Facebook Fatigue?
I updated my Facebook status daily by mobile this past week.
I logged into the Facebook website only twice in the past week.
I don't recall any memorable FB ad impressions.
I did not click on any FB ads.
I'm sick of pesty FB and lame notifications applications.
I updated my Facebook status daily by mobile this past week.
I logged into the Facebook website only twice in the past week.
I don't recall any memorable FB ad impressions.
I did not click on any FB ads.
I'm sick of pesty FB and lame notifications applications.
In case you missed it, I used to run a company in Seattle. I'm still on the board of directors of that company and was just out in seattle for a board meeting this week. I was told that the day of sun we had when I was out there on Wednesday was the first of its kind in at least 45 days.
I had a love - hate relationship with Seattle. Loved the friends I made, people I worked with, ease of life. Hated the weather, the Seattle style of living (hiking over martinis) and the general Seattle work attitude (despite the beast in redmond, most of the seattle startup scene is the anti-east coast, i.e. non-confrontational)
My take on Seattle is that people who live there for extended periods of time love it -- because you have to in order to put up with it. Sure, for 3 months of the year Seattle is the most beautiful place on earth, but for the other 9 months it can be the gloomiest. You have to want it bad to do it again and again and again (unless you are just a sucker for gloomy).
What you don't see in Seattle is the all nighters that typify the younger Silicon Valley scene. What you do see is a very family friendly, community oriented, close knit startup culture. Seattle is less about the hottest company of the moment and more about the best places to work at. I agree with Glenn's note below that Seattle is NOT Silicon Valley North, rather it is a unique place unto itself.
[I'll note that in 2003/2004 I purposely decided to start Jobster in Seattle not in Silicon Valley because I felt that Seattle would be a better place to build a B2B business and a better place to retain talent for longer periods of time vs. Silicon Valley which seemed to be willing itself out of the dot-bomb crash of earlier in the decade]
Glenn Kelman from Redfin wrote a blog post the other day in which he defends Seattle as a great place to start a company, and extols the virtues of Seattle as a potentially better place to build a grown up long term business vs. Silicon Valley as a place where kids play.
Some choice quotes from Glen's post:
But wait a minute Kellman and Arrington -- Seattle and Silicon Valley aren't the only places to build a startup. New York -- Silicon Alley as some like to call it -- is rapidly becoming THE place to build a digital media company. Over the next few weeks I'll try to capture some thoughts from Silicon Alley entrepreneurs on why they are in a NY Startup State of Mind.
I had a love - hate relationship with Seattle. Loved the friends I made, people I worked with, ease of life. Hated the weather, the Seattle style of living (hiking over martinis) and the general Seattle work attitude (despite the beast in redmond, most of the seattle startup scene is the anti-east coast, i.e. non-confrontational)
My take on Seattle is that people who live there for extended periods of time love it -- because you have to in order to put up with it. Sure, for 3 months of the year Seattle is the most beautiful place on earth, but for the other 9 months it can be the gloomiest. You have to want it bad to do it again and again and again (unless you are just a sucker for gloomy).
What you don't see in Seattle is the all nighters that typify the younger Silicon Valley scene. What you do see is a very family friendly, community oriented, close knit startup culture. Seattle is less about the hottest company of the moment and more about the best places to work at. I agree with Glenn's note below that Seattle is NOT Silicon Valley North, rather it is a unique place unto itself.
[I'll note that in 2003/2004 I purposely decided to start Jobster in Seattle not in Silicon Valley because I felt that Seattle would be a better place to build a B2B business and a better place to retain talent for longer periods of time vs. Silicon Valley which seemed to be willing itself out of the dot-bomb crash of earlier in the decade]
Glenn Kelman from Redfin wrote a blog post the other day in which he defends Seattle as a great place to start a company, and extols the virtues of Seattle as a potentially better place to build a grown up long term business vs. Silicon Valley as a place where kids play.
Some choice quotes from Glen's post:
The New York Times reports Friday that alone among all the cities hoping to be the next Silicon Valley, Seattle "is actually doing it."
But the Times didn't talk to iLike President Hadi Partovi, or Zillow.com CEO Rich Barton, both entrepreneurs who, like many of the folks at Redfin, shuttle between Seattle and Silicon Valley. None of us thinks Seattle is ever going to be much like Silicon Valley. We believe instead that what other cities can learn from Seattle is how to be different than the Valley, not the same.
- In reality, most places don't even want to try to be like the Valley. Seattle has become unrecognizably wealthier in the past decade, yet is oddly unhappy about it. Many Seattleites wish we were still a modest boreal town rather than a Microsoft-Amazon megapolis. The question I am most often asked here is where I went to high school -- twenty years ago -- not what I'm doing next.
- Seattle is different. People live in Seattle because they love Seattle. When I was still looking for a reason to be here myself, I often asked Redfin recruits what brought them to town. The answer I always hoped for was "CONQUEST." But what everyone talked about was something I still barely understand: the lifestyle and schools, the mountains and lakes. "Do you have any idea," I finally told one candidate, "how bizarre it is to swim in a lake at the center of a city?"
Failure to appreciate a lake is viewed by many Seattleites as a sign of mental illness. But the Valley's monomania is really just a kind of pubescence. What else could account for the Valley's self-righteousness, its congregations of frustrated dudes, its all-nighters, idealism, delusions of grandeur, mood-swings, longings, dramas, hero-worship and pranks? Anywhere else by contrast seems all grown-up.
No one in the Valley can afford to grow up. Just as stressful environments delay the onset of sexual maturity in marsupials, a high cost of living - a two-bedroom house in Palo Alto typically costs more than $1.5 million -- prevents people from buying homes and having children. In Silicon Valley, Seattle's 28 year-old family man is still working his tail off for a hit.
-
This is not to say that Seattle is all bad for entrepreneurs, only that
the ways in which it is good only show how different it is compared to
Silicon Valley. Start with Seattle's Rotary Club, the largest in the
world. High-tech entrepreneurs are expected to be pillars of the
business community here, not, as Silicon Valley's establishment likes
to think of itself, pirates of the Caribbean.
At one of the first conferences I attended in Seattle, I was shocked to hear a speaker talk about how to improve K-12 math education, not how to hack a Tivo. It took a while to realize that "K" stood for kindergarten, not kilobytes. But this mindset connects us to a set of civic virtues bigger than any one company. It's why I'm optimistic about Seattle over the long haul.
- This is why Hadi says so many Seattle entrepreneurs develop ideas late. We aren't slow; just out of the loop. Even Seattle's greatest two start-ups, Amazon and Microsoft, were first conceived somewhere else.
- Because if it turns out that Zillow, iLike or Redfin are on to something good, it may be easier to build a long-term business in Seattle. Ten years on at Microsoft, engineers deep in Redmond's rain forests are still writing the next version of Office. Meanwhile the engineers at Google are, as Zillow's Rich Barton points out, plotting their next startup on the company dime.
- I'm not sure which engineers one would rather have, but it is true that there is a blue-collar dedication in Seattle that you don't find in the ADD-addled Valley. "You work hard here because it's gray," Rich writes. "Then you go hiking or fishing or skiing."
- I really like that advice. Unfazed by any heavy weather ahead, Rich keeps chugging along and having fun. And Seattle does, too.
- Redfin
CEO Glenn Kelman wrote a blog post a couple of days ago comparing Silicon Valley unfavorably to the Seattle tech scene. - I spend a lot of time in both places, and I think some of his observations are correct (people here compete to the death, people there go hiking). But even though I occasionally criticize Silicon Valley myself, I think there are some things that are dead wrong in his analysis. If you want a well balanced life, Silicon Valley is not for you. But if you want to change the world and are willing to do absolutely anything to achieve your dreams, there is no better place to be than here.
- Apart from a few arguable points, such as his opinion that it is easier to retain employees in Seattle because they aren't always looking to start their own company, most of the post seems come down to Kelman convincing himself that Seattle's shortcomings are well worth it because it's a nice place to live. Sure, he admits, not being immersed in tech means you tend to be out of it a little, and it's harder to come up with cutting edge ideas: "When you and everyone you know spend 18 hours a day downloading, hacking, breaking, sharing, gossiping, criticizing and arguing about the Web, it's easier to tell when an idea is truly new. And if you don't, it's almost impossible to catch up."
- He explains all that away, though, by suggesting startups in Seattle are more about building a great business than simply being cutting edge, or "cool". "But being apart from Silicon Valley can give entrepreneurs the latitude to think about what works, not what's fashionable," he says.
- The problem, though, is Kelman doesn't provide any supporting evidence for this thesis, and I can't think of any for him. The truth is people come up with good ideas when they have the motivation and intelligence to do so, not when they're surrounded by people who don't know what they're talking about. Having literally tens of thousands of bright tech minds around you to listen to and challenge those ideas, as you do in Silicon Valley, gives entrepreneurs a critical competitive advantage.
- The truth about Silicon Valley is that ideas matter more than
anything. A Stanford (or even the occasional Berkeley) student with an
idea can turn it into a Yahoo. Or a Google. Or countless other success
stories. They are surrounded by people who want them to succeed, who
are willing to give them money to support their ideas, and then help
them grow it. There is no where else in the world quite like this place.
Sure Seattle is beautiful (Kelman talks about lakes and outdoor stuff a lot in his post). And if you want to have a balanced, healthy lifestyle, that's a great place to do it. If you don't think you have what it takes to make it in Silicon Valley, maybe Seattle or other mini-tech hubs is the place for you. But the best of the best come to Silicon Valley to see if they're as good as the legends that came before them. It's a competitive advantage to be here. And if you aren't willing to take advantage of every possible advantage to make your crazy startup idea work, perhaps you shouldn't be an entrepreneur.
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Sure, Silicon Valley is "a heartless amnesiac." There is no nostalgia for the old days, because we are always looking to rip the old stuff up and throw it away for something better
The fact is that all those great things about Seattle, or wherever, don't have a damned thing to do with offsetting the business and cultural advantages of Silicon Valley. Making lifestyle choices is fine, but don't delude yourself into thinking those choices are anything but a tradeoff. If staring at lakes and skiing after work are important to you, don't pretend to be surprised when your startup doesn't cut it.
You spent 16 years in Silicon Valley before fleeing to Seattle, Glenn. Come back, if you dare. I think you have what it takes to succeed. Even here.
But wait a minute Kellman and Arrington -- Seattle and Silicon Valley aren't the only places to build a startup. New York -- Silicon Alley as some like to call it -- is rapidly becoming THE place to build a digital media company. Over the next few weeks I'll try to capture some thoughts from Silicon Alley entrepreneurs on why they are in a NY Startup State of Mind.
My bet is that Microsoft still ends up getting Yahoo.
Integrating Yahoo and Microsoft is going to be a massive headache.
Microsoft knows that it is going to take heroics to gain share on Google in search and contextual ads.
Is the real play here by Microsoft an attempt to put pricing pressure on Google? Make them feel some heat for a while while Microsoft builds for the next phase of the battle?
Integrating Yahoo and Microsoft is going to be a massive headache.
Microsoft knows that it is going to take heroics to gain share on Google in search and contextual ads.
Is the real play here by Microsoft an attempt to put pricing pressure on Google? Make them feel some heat for a while while Microsoft builds for the next phase of the battle?
I was all set to write a long rant this weekend reflecting my thinking that Microsoft-Yahoo would be a complete disaster for everyone included.
Today though we already have word that Yahoo!'s board is set to reject the hostile takeover.
I'm sure that there are many rounds of this to still be played out.
Having lived through the aftermath of the AOL-Time Warner merger as a manager who was charged with helping integrate the companies post merger, here are my top reasons as to why I think this deal should not happen.
Today though we already have word that Yahoo!'s board is set to reject the hostile takeover.
I'm sure that there are many rounds of this to still be played out.
Having lived through the aftermath of the AOL-Time Warner merger as a manager who was charged with helping integrate the companies post merger, here are my top reasons as to why I think this deal should not happen.
- Microsoft is going to F*ck it up. See reasons 2 - 8.
- Microsoft does not have any sort of merger integration of this scale in its DNA. Microsoft likes to build not buy. Sure, Microsoft has done some small acquisitions in the past, but most of them were to acquire talent or a technology, nothing of this scale. Only the aQuantive acquisition comes anywhere close but that was a small small fraction of a buy compared with this.
- Integrate aQuantive and Yahoo at the same time? No way.
- Microsoft is in Seattle and Yahoo is in Silicon Valley. Microsoft is very much a Redmond or bust sort of company. Yahoo will be the bastard step-child in a post merger world.
- Top Yahoo talent are going to flee immediately and Yahoo innovation will be stifled.
- Microsoft does not have consumer Internet in its DNA. Microsoft is a software company, not a web company.
- Microsoft is an arrogant company. Managers at Microsoft are not going to mesh well with the team at Yahoo, especially when the mother ship is telling the silicon valley office what to do.
- This was a hostile takeover! For Microsoft and Yahoo to work, they would need the teams to be jazzed up and excited to make it work. I don't see how that happens with a hostile takeover as it will always be Microsoft in charge.
While many folks have been caught up the past 72 hours with the drama of Microsoft's bid for Yahoo and rumors of potential competing bids, I've been fascinated with how the new news has been covering the drama.
One thing that is for sure is that this big bit of breaking news has been a great test for the new news.
While the traditional new outlets largely work on a daily cycle, the blog networks have been working on minute by minute cycles, pushing publish on the wordpress or CMS of choice each time a new wind blows.
Kara Swisher of the WSJ's All Things D leverages her own unique access to top Silicon Valley brass to probe into the offer with her usual cynical wit:
One thing that is for sure is that this big bit of breaking news has been a great test for the new news.
While the traditional new outlets largely work on a daily cycle, the blog networks have been working on minute by minute cycles, pushing publish on the wordpress or CMS of choice each time a new wind blows.
- Michael Arrington and the team at Techcrunch has clearly been working around the clock, on the phone with a bevy of sources in attempt to be first to break any bit of rumor. Techcrunch has been playing the insider game, breaking stories of palace intrigue based on the Mike's best sources. TechCrunch Stories this weekend include:
- The yahoo team misses the super bowl to strategize on next steps.
- Who might be able to bid for Yahoo to compete with Microsoft's bid.
- Microsoft responds to Google.
- Can Google credibly cry foul? No.
- Google responds to Microsoft.
- News Corp scramles to bid
- Henry Blodget and his team at Alley Insider have taken a more financial approach, offering insights from wall street, investment banking, and even providing alternative suggestions for a Yahoo / MSFT combo:
- The Latest
Yahoo Google May Team Up To Thwart Microsoft
Why the Yahoo-Microsoft Deal Will Be a Disaster
Dear Jerry and Steve...Here's the Answer
Microsoft Conf Call Ballmer + Liddell 8AM / 5AM Monday
Yahoo Refused Polite Offer, So Microsoft Went Hostile
Competing Offers?
Hold Everything! We May Get Another Yahoo Bidder!
Could Private Equity Actually Stop a Microsoft-Yahoo Deal? Unlikely
News Corp Frantically Trying To Mount Competing Bid
Bidding War for Yahoo? We Doubt It
AT&T Not Likely To Bid--Microsoft Insider
Integration Plans
Microsoft Insider on brand, retention, competitive offers, and Yahoo reaction
Yahoo's Shrinking Sales Team
Deal Analysis
Analysis of Microsoft Bid for Yahoo: Brilliant Move, Deal Going Through
Microsoft Conference Call: No Color on Yahoo Reaction
Microsoft Letter to Yahoo Board
Reactions
Madison Avenue: We Love Microsoft-Yahoo!
Interpublic: Microsoft is Muzzling Us
Street Analysts React - ValleyWag has gone for sarcasm and humor:
- Microsoft to Google: Nuh uh, you're a bigger threat to freedom than we are
- Google's turn to waterboard Microsoft
- Yahoo and the future of the Internet: The 100-word version
- Microsoft-Yahoo promises "everything" in the world, says Today Show
- Overworked Tech Reporter Loses Mind
- PaidContent has been slower to follow the rumors than TechCrunch, reporting on them after a few other news orgs also followed, and have primarily focused on deeper analysis and ramifications for the media industry:
- MSFT-YHOO: Special Newspaper Consortium Edition
- Google: MSFT Bid Raises 'Troubling Questions'; Openness Mantra Again; MSFT Responds: We'd be No 2Will Yahoo Tie up With Google To Rebuff MSFT's Bid?Will Yahoo Tie up With Google To Rebuff MSFT's Bid?
- Will Yahoo Tie up With Google To Rebuff MSFT's Bid?
- MSFT-YHOO: Effects On Other Internet M&A
Kara Swisher of the WSJ's All Things D leverages her own unique access to top Silicon Valley brass to probe into the offer with her usual cynical wit:
