BLOG STARTUPS, VENTURE AND THE TECH BUSINESS
November 10 2010
by Scott Johnson
Appointment Viewing
Someone who’s opinion I highly respect posited to me that appointment viewing of video, except for live sports, was on its way to zero; that all pre-recorded TV would be consumed on demand. I disagree, and I say why below, but this got me thinking about how we will consume different types of video content ...
October 29 2010
by Todd Hixon
The Chosin Few
Walking down the street last night in a blue-collar suburb of Boston, I passed a tough-looking older man wearing a baseball cap marked: “The Chosin Few”. I asked the person walking with me (not my wife) if she knew what that meant, and she replied, “Well, the guy can’t spell.” That saddened me. We spend ...
October 20 2010
by Thanasis Delistathis
5 checklist items to raising money
I know this is a somewhat mandane subject, but yesterday someone sent me a one-pager “executive summary” of a business, and after reading it I couldn’t really tell what they do. So I read it again, and still couldn’t figure it out. The summary was fully buzzword-compliant: you know!, it had all those fancy words ...
October 19 2010
by Thanasis Delistathis
Why is it so hard to offer good service?
I have been pondering this question for some time and have had a few conversations about it with VCs and entrepreneurs. I think that offering great service will be an important strategy and opportunity for companies as more and more products are converted into service (e.g. cloud-based software). How many times have you dialed into ...
October 18 2010
by Todd Hixon
Europe Lags In Mobile
I’m just back from 12 days in Europe, visiting Positano and Rome, Italy and Munich and Frankfurt, Germany. I’m struck by how much Europe lags the U.S. in mobile. This is a small arbitrary sample: 3 major cities and an upscale beach resort in 2 countries. But, the visible difference is stark. 1. The data ...
October 15 2010
by John Backus
2 Ways to Build a $1 Billion Business from Scratch
(Read on: $40 Wine and Clothing discount codes inside!) At New Atlantic Ventures, we see over 1000 quality new business ideas each year (I don’t say business plans because I can’t remember the last time someone sent me a classic “plan.) We meet with a few hundred and we fund half a dozen. Really, not ...
October 12 2010
by Scott Johnson
Why I Invested in Fashion Playtes (Again)
Fashion Playtes recently announced an oversubscribed up round led by our friends at Fairhaven Capital. The company has a platform enabling custom clothing design by tween girls (ages 6-12). It is a simple concept really. Girls can go on the web and choose different embellishments to be sewn onto dresses, shirts, pants, bags, etc. ...
October 4 2010
by Scott Johnson
The Future of the App Store
I have been trying to clarify my vision of the evolution of the mobile app ecosystem. As the handheld becomes our primary media and service consumption vehicle, a lot is at stake in becoming the app of choice for consumers in every category. The next five years are land grab time, and a lot of ...
October 1 2010
by Scott Johnson
Brain Snacks – Gaining User Addiction
When you think about it, Facebook, Zynga, Twitter and YouTube have one important thing in common: they are very easy to snack on and highly addictive. Kinda like chocolate – delicious and not too bad for you. Casually scrolling your FB feed, scrolling your tweets, farming in farmville, or browsing short videos are like a mini ...
September 24 2010
by Todd Hixon
Robots Romp at MIT: Notes From EmTech10
MIT held its annual Emerging Technologies conference this week. It’s an MIT conference rather than a venture conference: many of the the speakers were from major tech corporations (Qualcomm, Microsoft) or academics. Innovations from corporate labs, university labs, and start-ups had equal prominence. It was not about raising money: no explicit pitches, few VCs there. ...
