Archive | January, 2007

Free web-based calling!

Jan 31, 2007
in Uncategorized

For those of you who read my blog, you know that I am big believer in frictionless sales.  (see an earlier post) "Frictionless sales means reducing the pain for customers to adopt and use a service/product and consequently reducing the cost of sales and marketing and service to get a customer and generate revenue.  As [...]

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The trend is your friend – leveraging the power of commoditization and the efficiency of the web

Jan 29, 2007
in Open Source

I always like to say that the "trend is your friend," and it is pretty clear that one of the most powerful trends in the technology industry is the commoditization of existing markets which are currently served by high-priced, proprietary vendors.  In addition, it is also quite clear that companies that can leverage the web [...]

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Why vision statements matter

Jan 29, 2007
in Entrepreneurship

Vision statements matter.  Sometimes we get too focused on the daily bump and grind, the next product release, and forget about the big picture and what we are trying to accomplish (see an earlier post on Vision).  Trust me, the word vision became a dirty word during the bubble as many companies were long on [...]

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One hurdle to a true wireless revolution – ease of use

Jan 18, 2007
in Wireless

It is pretty clear that Scott McNealy’s pitch years ago that the "Network is the Computer" is finally coming into fruition with broadband penetration at 50% and wireless data speeds getting faster and faster every year.  Having a network available to you 24/7 makes it easier to keep your data in the cloud and accessible [...]

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Bring out yer dead…I’m not dead

Jan 11, 2007
in Entrepreneurship, Web/Tech

We all know that there is something different this time about the web startup market.  As I have written before, it costs next to nothing to get a service on the web (look at MyBlogLog as an example), the market is much bigger as broadband penetration has grown from 10% to 50% over the last [...]

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Communicating with your board

Jan 4, 2007
in Entrepreneurship

A couple weeks ago I sat down with a new CEO of one of our portfolio companies, and we discussed goals for 2007 and what I and the board expected of him.  Yes, there was your usual conversation about getting more customers, building out a team, and ramping up revenue while managing costs, but one [...]

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