BLOG STARTUPS, VENTURE AND THE TECH BUSINESS
Posts Tagged ‘Innovation’
April 19 2011
by Todd Hixon
How Entrepreneurs Can Help Fix Health Care
I’ve long thought that health care entrepreneurship was about finding new and better treatments for disease. Most innovations offer new therapies or diagnostics, often at very high price points: e.g., drug-eluting coronary artery stents and erythropoietin (EPO), a bio-pharmaceutical that promotes blood cell production, were expensive, breakthrough capabilities that became major businesses. There is another ...
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. ...
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 12 2010
by Thanasis Delistathis
Privacy vs. Relevance (or Convenience): a tricky balance
According to today’s Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the Obama administration is taking steps to regulate privacy practices on the internet. That might include new laws and a new regulatory position. While Europe has always been more aggressive in this area, the U.S. government has largely left it unregulated, lest it might impede innovation. The WSJ ...
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 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. ...
May 26 2010
by Scott Johnson
Brand Advertisers: Not Stupid At All
On the face of it, when you look at old vs new media ad spend, the big dollars go to the old media while the bulk of the time and attention goes to new media. “The advertisers must be crazy or stupid or both” is the quick, logical conclusion to this paradox. Not true!
April 1 2010
by John Backus
Virginia to Entrepreneurs: Start Your Business Here – And Pay No Capital Gains Tax!
Capital Gains taxes on high-tech entrepreneurial startups are going away in Virginia – at least for three years. Founders, Angel Investors, Venture Capital Fund Investors, Corporate Investors to benefit. On Tuesday, March 30th, newly elected Republican Governor Bob McDonnell signed into law House Bill 523 (Senate Bill 428), which provides a 100% capital gains tax ...
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March 26 2010
by Scott Johnson
NEVCA Office Hours at the Venture Cafe in Cambridge
I hung out at the Venture Café (Alfa) at the Cambridge Innovation Center yesterday, and met some great people, saw old friends, and got pitched by a few very dedicated entrepreneurs in an “office hours” format. It was time well spent, and many thanks to the NEVCA for organizing the event. Skip Besthoff of Castille ...
