BLOG STARTUPS, VENTURE AND THE TECH BUSINESS
Author Archive
February 23 2011
by Scott Johnson
Amazon Changes the Game (again).
Amazon is a company I hold in the highest esteem as a customer, and as an informed observer of tech-based businesses. Evolving from discount books to discount everything to cloud services is that rare case of excellent strategy meets superior execution. Other online retailers are mere specs in their rear-view mirror. Now they have set ...
February 15 2011
by Scott Johnson
Another Great Day for Android
Apple’s new publisher subscription policy is a big win for Android. By forcing publishers to offer subscriptions at the same price via iTunes, and then skimming 30%, Apple will drive high-value content off its platform. Apple went from smart to greedy with this policy. It is fine to get paid a nice 30% bounty when ...
February 8 2011
by Scott Johnson
Groupon Super Bowl Ads – Brilliant?
There is a ton of buzz around the Groupon Super Bowl advertisements, and it is all “negative publicity.” Let’s stipulate for now that the ads were insensitive. Even further, let’s stipulate that they lost some subscribers as a result. Short term, this is not good. Long term? I think all this attention is a big ...
February 8 2011
by Scott Johnson
Is The UnGoogle Economy Viable?
Is there enough market to sustain a startup that competes directly with Google? This is an increasingly frequent topic, as we find ourselves asking entrepreneurs and our CEOs “what if Google decided to do this?” Back in the mid nineties, we used to ask this same question about Microsoft, as the graveyard of companies ...
January 28 2011
by Scott Johnson
Mobile Clicks Are Garbage!
Most mobile advertisement banner clicks are accidental. The Harris group published a study yesterday saying this. Surprised? I’m not! Has anyone actually clicked a mobile banner on purpose? Really? I can’t imagine doing so – the experience is so bad. I think Shakespeare might have been thinking of mobile banner ads when he quipped “It is ...
January 18 2011
by Scott Johnson
Mobile Monetization 2.0
Mobile monetization 2.0 is going to happen in 2011. Marketing budgets against mobile are showing up in the hundreds of millions, some new monetization schemes (CPL and CPD) are paying good eCPMs, 4G is coming, and this is all really great news for entrepreneurs and mobile app publishers as everyone everywhere taps into mobile apps. ...
January 3 2011
by Scott Johnson
Thank You – Cloud!
These Microsoft cloud commercials are everywhere – showing people using the cloud to improve their lives. And I could be the source of one. This weekend I was reading email at home and suddenly my laptop froze. I tried to reboot in safe mode. Not happening. Looks like a disk failure. Virus induced? No way ...
December 3 2010
by Scott Johnson
“Do Not Track” – Some Predictions to Guide Investment
Congress has proposed an opt-out capability for user tracking. Much has been written about Do Not Track, and I won’t rehash all of that. I will simply say I think it is a good idea, and in general expecting that any industry will effectively police itself is naive. What has not been widely discussed is: ...
November 22 2010
by Scott Johnson
Web Browsing in the Living Room
David Pogue published a rather scathing review of Google TV in the NY Times today. He has two main objections: Damning exhibit A is: The Remote Control. He tested a Sony TV and a Logitech STB, and really disliked the experience. And that got me thinking – what, if anything, will ever be a good ...
November 17 2010
by Scott Johnson
Expanding “Opt In” to include “Claw Back.”
My partner Thanasis wrote a thoughtful piece about the trade-offs between privacy and convenience. Since I am a table pounding “opt-in” zealot, I felt compelled to weigh in. Opt-in is why Pontiflex is taking share so rapidly from legacy “email list brokers”. Opt-out is the reason Facebook got kicked in the gut when they launched Beacon, and how ...
