Barb Wired

The QuiVivity blog will focus on topics and issues related to starting a technology company, especially those in marketing, business development, channels and funding.

Thoughts related to Business Strategy and general Marketing trends will be posted to the fine BUsiness Strategy blog at new media company The Faster Times http://thefastertimes.com/businessstrategy

Feel free to ReTweet and Digg any content you see that is compelling, such as

http://thefastertimes.com/businessstrategy/2010/02/22/facebook-isn%E2%80%99t-just-for-kids  is a recent post.

I was giving a seminar at WPI as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week when one of the attendees asked about the value of advertising on Facebook. Since this was the third time in one week this question was posed to me, I had some thoughts lined up. However, since my experience is limited (personally and anecdotal), I thought I’d ask a wider audience: are the ads you receive on Facebook just a new form of SPAM?

Some points that have come out of the conversations are listed below. Submit yours as a “PRO” or “CON”.

PROS

1. You can target your ads by profile fairly easily. That includes geography, age, gender, education level and other profile info provided to FB when you registered.
2. Ads are fairly inexpensive: great for startups and small businesses.
3. You only pay for what is served up.
4. FB asks for usefulness of ads it serves to individuals
5. There are a heck of a lot of people on FB
6. It’s fairly easy to create a following.
7. There are tools to help find conversations on FB, Twitter, etc. These can provide insight to your industry/ profession for free.

CONS

1. Since ads are fairly inexpensive, the barrier is low as is the screening. Are the companies real and above board?
2. Most folks don’t click on the ads.
3. The definition of ‘Friend’ is very broad so are you really reaching people that care/ are of the demographic you intended?
4. How meaningful is a link sent by a Friend you hardly know? Does it add to a company’s brand/ credibility?
5. Clicking often downloads an application… virus fears.

Barb Finer

barbwiredblog.blogger.com

blog.quivivity.com

www.quivivity.com

Several blogs and listserv postings I read seem to get the same basic set of questions every few months. I was responding to a request for good sources of business plan outlines and executuve summary tips with the usual suspects:

– the SBA and SBDC web sites have great infor for small businesses, especially retail, consulting, and other services

– the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge has a great list of links for tech-based companies, even those with consumer electronics

– several venture capitaists have links on their sites

   Then I ran into this:  http://www.hbs.edu/entrepreneurship/resources/businessplan.html It is a very useful set of documents from a wide audience of experts. Check it out. Full disclosure, one of my articles on “the Team” that I wrote for Mass High Techmade the list.    It must be good!

WPI Venture Forum hosts Making Green from Green program (case and panel) in Worcester, MA on Sept. 8th. http://www.wpiventureforum.org/

My question is: Are the business models that exist today, ones that require 2-3 year ROI reasonable? Or, do we need a new reckoning?

I am working with a startup that has a fun technology that generates power but currently, the ROI will likely take quite a while. Are good intentions enough? Longer term payback?

I don’t have enough time in the day to pursue (and peruse) all of the wonderful content available to me on the Web. There are so many interesting and important topics available.

Am I the only one? I doubt it. Some one needs to develop a search engine-like tool that lets me enter topics of interest and then gathers the best of the best within each… I think.  Better than Google Alerts.

For me, I try to set aside a few hours a day to read about topics related to my professional world. For example:

• – keeping up on trends in marketing (my field of expertise)
• – learning about best practices
• – engaging with others in discussions

Then, I need to be aware of general business trends and topics:

• – new companies making an impact, especially in the tech arena
• – business and players in my region
• – the economy

And this doesn’t even include fun things like music, video, movies and games.  Or keeping up on what friends and colleagues are up to on FB, Twitter or LI.

I’ve been hearing a lot about the (lack of) business model for viable online content with content being posted ‘for free’. While there is an appeal to thousands of contributors to various topics, how do people choose their sources? How do I know who to trust?

Is it time for consolidation of information sources?

How about ranking systems with ratings that (like those that assure us an ecommerce site is ‘trusted’)?

Will we need to pay for a personalized filter?

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer stopped its print version. The Boston Globe is considering doing the same. And yet, these publications are not making enough money, typically from advertisers, from their online versions to survive in the form they exist today.

I am a news glutten — especially industry and business news, as well as some local. There are so many aspects of every topic, company, technology, .. that I rely on many sources. Do you?

How would you get trusted information should your primary news sources dry up? Will the myriad blogs, by non-credentialled sources, replace media as we know it today? Or is there another way of paying for professional reporting, editting and (e-)publishing?

What about the Cable TV model??

I am involved with a team of senior-level people interested in starting a company. We’ve been going through some brainstorming about common problems that can be solved with technology and trends that will probably take on a life of their own.

One of the trends involves the confluence of 3D graphics and 3D worlds [think SecondLife], gaming, and shopping [whether for clothing, electronics, day camps or vacation spots].

What are your thoughts?

Will e-commerce 3.0 (or 4.0) be a 3D environment where you troll the aisles, pickup and view all sides of a product?

Will it include communities where you meet your friends to shop together?

Will we try on clothes to see if they (really, based on measurements) fit?

Will we watch people play blackjack so we can learn?

If you are a fan:

When do you think people will be ready for this? What application is most appealing and would get your stickiness? [tell us your age, gender and country...we're not setting cookies!]

I was just at a meeting with a tech company that grew from a sophistated VAR/SI to a developer of hardware/software products that are OEM’d to others. After several years, some pain, a lot of hard work, being opportunistic and tenacious, they are poised to cross the chasm. I don’t run in to too many of these in the tech sector.

I spoke with a bunch of Angel investors last week. In the old days, angels invested in people they believed in, often in technology or markets they knew. They knew they’d get rewarded. It didn’t have to be huge money through an acquisition or IPO. Today, angels seem to only invest in companies with these exit strategies.

Both M&A and IPO paths are fraught with constraints; decisions are made that help the company get to this goal. They are often mutually exclusive from decisions that would be beneficial longer-term. Let’s face it: the stock market rewards short term thinking.

So, are there still companies that can develop a product and get it to market using customers (sales) to fund growth? What are some of the parameters?

Created this list to help startups find angels.

http://www.quivivity.com/angels.pdf

A group of us are starting to turn the startup model upsidedown - an upstart! Several execs that are currently unassigned (read: not fully employed) decided that, since most businesses fail due to poor teams and poor execution, we get the team first and the product second.

If you have an interest, contact me. RULES of engagement though:

– Technology-based product/service

– B2B target best but will consider B2C

– Product has to have a large market (perhaps VC-fundable) — not ad supported or membership-based

– You have spoken to VCs, angels, and/or high-level advisors and gotten and taken feedback

– The most critical component for your success is getting an experiened team

– Willing to be based in Massachusetts

– Pragmatic

Thoughts?