Archive | July, 2006

How long is the Long Tail?

Jul 26, 2006
in Web/Tech

We all know about the groundbreaking work from Chris Anderson from Wired about the Long Tail. In theory it makes a ton of sense – on the web, companies have no inventory costs and can stock as many titles or products as possible and that over time the one-offs or misses can generate as much [...]

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I hate shitty software – webroot spysweeper v5

Jul 25, 2006
in Web/Tech

Having invested in a couple of security companies, I am pretty adamant about security when it comes to my personal computers.  Until now, I have been using Norton Antivirus, ZoneLabs ZoneAlarm Security Suite, and Webroot’s SpySweeper.  Things were going great until a few days ago when I upgraded my Webroot Spysweeper from v4.5.9 to v5 [...]

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Reliving the bubble

Jul 23, 2006
in Entrepreneurship

Fred Wilson has a great post on remembering the old wounds from the last bubble in 2000.  In particular, he highlights the question that many of us have asked at board meetings – are we being too conservative or is it time to step on the gas a little.  This is a vibrant area for [...]

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Free phone calls!

Jul 22, 2006
in VOIP

Sipphone (full disclosure-my fund is an investor and I am on the board), developers of Gizmo Project, made a bold move yesterday offering users free calls to mobile and landlines in over 60 countries.  It is akin to the old MCI Friends and Family plan where customers could call other MCI customers for free.  This [...]

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Software & Information Industry Association survey

Jul 20, 2006
in Entrepreneurship

It is always helpful to get benchmark data on your competitors and on other companies that have a similar business model.  To that end, I encourage you to sign up for the SIIA Financial Survey to see how you stack up against your competitors.  We encourage you to invite your software industry portfolio companies to [...]

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VOIP and IM World Update

VOIP and IM World Update

Jul 19, 2006
in VOIP

Congrats to the Sipphone team (full disclosure-portfolio company and I am on board) for getting the Gizmo Project client out for the Nokia Internet 770 Tablet (see Andy Abramson’s blog for more on this).  This is quite exciting as the company is executing on its vision and roadmap to extend its SIP and IM service [...]

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Knowing more about my readers

Jul 11, 2006
in Web/Tech

I am always looking for new tools and services to help me better understand who my readers are, what they like to read, and where they like to go.  Besides the more active participants that like to comment and trackback to some of my posts, many of my readers have been anonymous to me and [...]

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Why wireless apps are tough

Jul 11, 2006
in Wireless

As you know, it is no secret to look to Europe and Asia to understand the future of new wireless services.  As I mentioned in the past, having a hit wireless app can be a big play, but the chances of making it happen are far and few between, especially since business success hinges on [...]

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When to hire a VP of Sales

Jul 6, 2006
in Entrepreneurship

As I mention in an earlier post, companies evolve and need different types of management with different profiles as they grow.  A clear kiss of death that I have seen more often than not is hiring a VP of Sales too early.  Here is the typical scenario – you just signed 3 or 4 customers [...]

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