There is a real challenge in being present - that is enjoying right now, this moment. Modern technology and life makes it very easy to be distracted and the stress and pressure of Silicon Valley provide ample opportunity to ponder the past or project the future.
The problem is that such ponderings and projection limit the ability to enjoy right now and sap your energy and effectiveness.
Books on wisdom share a common refrain - the past is the past, the future is uncertain and a projection of anxiety or fantasy, and the only sure thing is right now. Too often people live in their heads - thinking about lost opportunities in the past or making up stories - both good and bad - about the future.
The lack of being present exhibits itself in many ways - chronic BlackBerry checking, the inability to listen, eyes that wander or a blank look that lets you know the mind is somewhere else, conference calls or meetings where it is clear half the attendees are 20% "there" at best.
In many ways, I am far from immune from the risk of living in a fog of yesterday/tomorrow, rather than the very real moment of the now. It is very hard not to be seduced by distraction or to walk around in a fog of thoughts that make it hard to focus or be truly with other people - actively listening and engaged.
When I get home, I try to clear my head and really be home. When I sit in a meeting, I try to clear my head and be there for that meeting. Over a coffee, talking to your wife, your colleague, focusing on the present is laughably hard to do.
But when you can - the ability to enjoy becomes so much greater.
My friend Paul Levine told me that the best you can do is wake up every day and focus on that day - not the day before, the month before, or two weeks from now. But rather, today.
As a CEO, I have found that advice to be very empowering and a great way to handle the ambiguity of tomorrows to come and the anxiety that comes from worrying about missteps in the past.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
The Healing of America
T.R. Reid's book, The Healing of American: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care, is an important read.
Reid, a Washington Post correspondent, explores health-care systems around the world and asks and works to answer the following questions:
The transcript of his interview with Betty Bowser can be found here.
Reid, a Washington Post correspondent, explores health-care systems around the world and asks and works to answer the following questions:
- why is American the only developed economy that does not provide health care to all its citizens?
- why does American spend 2x per capita on health care while leaving 45m uninsured?
- should health care be considered a right or a privilege?
- why are administrative costs 4% of spend in France and 20% of spend in the US?
- why is the US 23rd out of 23rd in life expectancy over 60 amongst developed nations?
- hows does health care work in Germany, France, Spain, the UK, Japan....?
The transcript of his interview with Betty Bowser can be found here.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
How Long Does It Take to Hit $50m in Revenue
Very interesting analysis from Tableau Software regarding how long it takes a software company to hit $50m in revenue..
See my post on "When it Goes Right, What Does it Cost to Build a Great Software Company?" for more analysis on time to profitability, time to IPO, median capital raised, etc.
See my post on "When it Goes Right, What Does it Cost to Build a Great Software Company?" for more analysis on time to profitability, time to IPO, median capital raised, etc.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The New Normal
Bill Gross of PIMCO is one of the nation's sages. His monthly Investment Outlooks marry wit, wisdom, and market insights to great effect.
His August Outlook, Investment Potions, looks at the implication of the "new normal" GDP outlook on jobs, income growth, and return on assets.
His core point is that the current economy is premised on 5% GDP growth - ie factories, retail stores, job levels, asset allocations, forecast pension returns...all presume that the economy will continue to grow at 5% year after year. We geared our companies and economy to a fixed level of expected economic growth.
Now, we are in the Great Recession and facing high unemployment, lower consumer spending, etc., accordingly, PIMCO forecasts GDP growth closer to 3% than 5%. The implication is that we have massive overcapacity built into the system and we will simply not need all the retail space, cars, jobs, houses, etc that we have built when it appeared all but a certainty that GDP growth was a fixed variable set at 5%. Moreover, pension funds, endowments, and private investors will need to readjust their return on capital expectations to match the long-term reduction in GDP growth.
He writes:
A 3% nominal GDP “new normal” means lower profit growth, permanently higher unemployment, capped consumer spending growth rates and an increasing involvement of the government sector, which substantially changes the character of the American capitalistic model. High risk bonds, commercial real estate, and even lower quality municipal bonds may suffer more than cyclical defaults if not government supported. Stock P/Es will rest at lower historical norms, and higher stock prices will ultimately depend on tangible earnings growth in the form of increased dividends, not green shoots hope. An investor should remember that a journey to 3% nominal GDP means default/haircuts for assets on the upper end of the risk spectrum, as well as extremely low yielding returns for government and government-guaranteed assets at the bottom end.
While the stock market continues to perform, analysts like Gross and structural deficits make a recovery back to the 1990's "normal" hard to imagine. Rather, the economy will need to restructure and shed capacity in order to arrive at a new equilibrium.
Rather than build out our economy to support growth - think of the wave CSCO rode in the 1990s - we may see people unwinding capacity. Spending related to growth - networks, factories, private infrastructure - will need to slow/decline.
Technology - a bell weather of growth - will be a challenged market place.
Perhaps the best play will be to buy assets as the market sheds them....ie, there may well value found in buying hard assets at firesale prices rather than investing in high-growth models that are predicated on new market development and spending.
Not a bullish view, I know, but one that may prove to be the reality.
Rather than build out our economy to support growth - think of the wave CSCO rode in the 1990s - we may see people unwinding capacity. Spending related to growth - networks, factories, private infrastructure - will need to slow/decline.
Technology - a bell weather of growth - will be a challenged market place.
Perhaps the best play will be to buy assets as the market sheds them....ie, there may well value found in buying hard assets at firesale prices rather than investing in high-growth models that are predicated on new market development and spending.
Not a bullish view, I know, but one that may prove to be the reality.
Monday, August 24, 2009
End of Summer Reading
Quick post: I am in the middle of an historical novel binge and strongly recommend the following.
Genghis: Birth of an Empire
Genghis: Lords of the Bow
Genghis: Bones of the Hills
Terrific stuff and if you want a great biography on Khan, read Genghis Khan, The Making of the Modern World
Finally - Agincourt, the tale of Henry V's epic battle as told by an English bowman.
Genghis: Birth of an Empire
Genghis: Lords of the Bow
Genghis: Bones of the Hills
Terrific stuff and if you want a great biography on Khan, read Genghis Khan, The Making of the Modern World
Finally - Agincourt, the tale of Henry V's epic battle as told by an English bowman.
Monday, July 06, 2009
The Rise of Consumer SaaS
In the past six months, consumer subscription services have exploded across the web.
Until September of last year, the tried and true revenue model for consumer Internet services was on-line advertising. The model - page views, unqiues, and CPMs - is well understood and sites looked to use direct sales and ad-networks (read Google) to monetize traffic and impressions.
The cooling of the on-line ad market, flight to quality for advertisers (ESPN, etc), and the realization that ad revenue may not scale forced many consumer services to consider charging their users for access to functionality and value.
While SaaS is a well-defined success story in the enterprise space, it was considered a virtual truth that on-line users would not pay for on-line services. Why? - free substitutes, ad-funded business models, and a general end-user belief the web should be free, etc.
Today, "freemium" is on the rise and there are great teams across the valley working to monetize via micro-payments and subscriptions.
LogMeIn's IPO provides insight into the power of direct-to-consumer subscription services, as have traditional success stories such as anti-virus (SYMC, MFE).
However, there are many good examples of the consumer SaaS trend
I expect to see more services looking to move to charging users and to significant innovation in optimizing subscription revenue.
Here at Widgetbox, we use a AAA model to manage the business:
Until September of last year, the tried and true revenue model for consumer Internet services was on-line advertising. The model - page views, unqiues, and CPMs - is well understood and sites looked to use direct sales and ad-networks (read Google) to monetize traffic and impressions.
The cooling of the on-line ad market, flight to quality for advertisers (ESPN, etc), and the realization that ad revenue may not scale forced many consumer services to consider charging their users for access to functionality and value.
While SaaS is a well-defined success story in the enterprise space, it was considered a virtual truth that on-line users would not pay for on-line services. Why? - free substitutes, ad-funded business models, and a general end-user belief the web should be free, etc.
Today, "freemium" is on the rise and there are great teams across the valley working to monetize via micro-payments and subscriptions.
LogMeIn's IPO provides insight into the power of direct-to-consumer subscription services, as have traditional success stories such as anti-virus (SYMC, MFE).
However, there are many good examples of the consumer SaaS trend
- Vimeo
- Dropbox
- Flickr
- Wordpress
- Widgetbox
I expect to see more services looking to move to charging users and to significant innovation in optimizing subscription revenue.
Here at Widgetbox, we use a AAA model to manage the business:
- Acquisition - driving new registered users
- Activity - driving activity, conversions, and value per user
- Ads - monetizing "free usage"
Monday, June 22, 2009
Widgetbox Hits 100m Uniques
Widgetbox recently hit an important milestone - 100m monthly uniques as measured by Quantcast.
To put 100m into perspective, Widgetbox is now the web's 19th largest network.
It is tremendously rewarding to work on a technology platform that touches tens of millions of people a month, and Widgetbox's continued growth is huge validation that the atomization of the web and the rise of widgets as a valuable medium for content syndication, web page construction, and personalization continues apace.
In addition, Widgetbox's focus on self-service solutions and the freemium model is driving tremendous growth in customer acquisition as customers - prosumer, SMB, and enterprise - use the Widgetbox platform to widgetize, distribute, and measure their content.
To put 100m into perspective, Widgetbox is now the web's 19th largest network.
It is tremendously rewarding to work on a technology platform that touches tens of millions of people a month, and Widgetbox's continued growth is huge validation that the atomization of the web and the rise of widgets as a valuable medium for content syndication, web page construction, and personalization continues apace.
In addition, Widgetbox's focus on self-service solutions and the freemium model is driving tremendous growth in customer acquisition as customers - prosumer, SMB, and enterprise - use the Widgetbox platform to widgetize, distribute, and measure their content.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Education of an American Dreamer
In 2005, I wrote about Pete Peterson's wonderful book, Running on Empty. I just finished is autobiography, The Education of An American Dreamer and highly recommend it.
Running on Empty indicts both Republicans and Democrats for ignoring two troubling twin deficits - the the trade deficit and the budget deficit - which, he believes, may ultimately bankrupt the country. The hard-hitting book highlights the off-balance sheet, unfunded entitlement program liabilities that will fall due in the coming decades. With trillions of dollars in Medicaid, social security, and drug benefits promised to current and future retirees, he warns of some very hard choices that face the nation. For example, he estimates if Congress was forced to fund promised entitlement programs, we would face, "an immediate and permanent 60 percent hike in the federal income tax, or a 50 percent cut in Social Security and Medicare benefits."
His recent book walks the reader through his quite amazing career. Quick CV
Each very successful person is somewhat sui generis, however, one can always learn from those who have accomplished so much for so long.
Running on Empty indicts both Republicans and Democrats for ignoring two troubling twin deficits - the the trade deficit and the budget deficit - which, he believes, may ultimately bankrupt the country. The hard-hitting book highlights the off-balance sheet, unfunded entitlement program liabilities that will fall due in the coming decades. With trillions of dollars in Medicaid, social security, and drug benefits promised to current and future retirees, he warns of some very hard choices that face the nation. For example, he estimates if Congress was forced to fund promised entitlement programs, we would face, "an immediate and permanent 60 percent hike in the federal income tax, or a 50 percent cut in Social Security and Medicare benefits."
His recent book walks the reader through his quite amazing career. Quick CV
- Northwestern BA
- Chicago MBA
- Marketfacts (research analyst)
- McCann-Erickson (head of chicago office)
- Bell & Howell (CEO at 36 of Fortune 300 company)
- Chair, Council on International Economic Policy
- Secretary of Commerce
- Lehman Brothers (CEO)
- Blackstone Group (Founder and Chairman)
- Concord Coalition (Founding President)
- Fed Reserve Bank of NY (Chairman)
Each very successful person is somewhat sui generis, however, one can always learn from those who have accomplished so much for so long.
Monday, April 06, 2009
There's No Need to Bat .900
This Sunday's NYT included an interview with John Donahoe, eBay's CEO.
When asked how his management style has evolved, he pointed to a lesson from an early mentor.
When asked how his management style has evolved, he pointed to a lesson from an early mentor.
"Another part of my management style I learned from Kent Thiry, who was another one of my early bosses, and is now CEO of DaVita. I did not know it at the time, but I was suffering from a real fear of failure. Kent said, "you know John, your challenge is that you're trying to bat .900." And he said: "when you were in college, you got a lot of As. You could get 90 to 95 percent. When you took your first job as analyst, you were really successful and felt like you were batting .900." But, he said, "now you are playing in the major leagues, and if you expet to bat .900, eithr you come up to bat and freeze because you're afraid of swinging and missing, or you're a little afraid to step into the batter's box." He said,"remember, the best hitters in MLB can strike out 6 times out of 10 ands till be among the greatest of all time hitters."
And he said,"that's my philosophy - the key is to get up in the that batter's box and take a swing. And all you have to do is hit one single, a couple of doubles, and an occasional homerun out of every 10 at-bats and you're going to be the best hitter or best leader around."
And he said,"that's my philosophy - the key is to get up in the that batter's box and take a swing. And all you have to do is hit one single, a couple of doubles, and an occasional homerun out of every 10 at-bats and you're going to be the best hitter or best leader around."
The interview really resonated with me. The best performers understand that failure is part of the game, that one should focus less on discrete events (single at-bats) and more on the process of performance (practice and routines), and that fear of failure can be paralyzing and self-fulfilling.
In this marcro environment, strike out rates are going up, and it is even more important that leaders focus on singles, doubles, the occasional home run, and mind set that helps to get in the box and take a swing.
In this marcro environment, strike out rates are going up, and it is even more important that leaders focus on singles, doubles, the occasional home run, and mind set that helps to get in the box and take a swing.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Widgetbox Turns 3
Today, Widgetbox turns three.
On April 1, 2006, Ed Anuff, Dean Moses, and Giles Goodwin formally started Widgetbox.
Here is a copy, thanks to archive.org, of the first front door.
The site promised to "change how the world thinks about syndicating functionality on the web."
And so it has!
Since launch, Widgetbox has helped tens of thousands of publishers syndicate their content, service, and applications via widget technology. The company continues to ride the web widget syndication wave and we just finished our most successful month ever - serving over 740m widgets to over 89 million uniques.
Importantly, in addition to traffic, Widgetbox just reached an impressive customer milestone with over 400 paying customers.
Happy Birthday Widgetbox.
On April 1, 2006, Ed Anuff, Dean Moses, and Giles Goodwin formally started Widgetbox.
Here is a copy, thanks to archive.org, of the first front door.
The site promised to "change how the world thinks about syndicating functionality on the web."
And so it has!
Since launch, Widgetbox has helped tens of thousands of publishers syndicate their content, service, and applications via widget technology. The company continues to ride the web widget syndication wave and we just finished our most successful month ever - serving over 740m widgets to over 89 million uniques.
Importantly, in addition to traffic, Widgetbox just reached an impressive customer milestone with over 400 paying customers.
Happy Birthday Widgetbox.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Widgetbox Update
On Jan 22nd, Widgetbox launched its first subscription service, Blidget Pro.
Since launch, CBS, eBay/Kijji, the Golden State Warriors, LA Lakers, the Michigan Times, Lockheed Martin, Steve Spangler Science, and hundreds of other content providers and marketers have become Widgetbox customers.
While the widgets are all unique, some important commonalities exist. Content providers, e-commerce companies, and brands all recognize that widgets represent a powerful medium for reaching new users, driving traffic, syndicating content, and improving natural search performance. While the recognized need is universal, the implementation details continue to be a major friction limiting adoption.
Prior to the Blidget Pro, a widget strategy required material expesnive custom development, one-off anlytics and tracking, custom creative, questions regarding distribution, and a host of complications that frustrated the ability to levearge the opportunity.
The Blidget Pro is based on several important concepts that help explain its success:
Another important element of our strategy is self-service. In a challenged economy and in an emerging technology category, it is vital that prospects are able to self-discover, self-qualify, self-provision, and self-deploy. All day long, customers discover Widgetbox, purchase a subscription, and deploy their widget without ever talking to one of our employees. As with all new markets, expensive technology that requires a push-based selling model will limit adoption.
All of us at Widgetbox are excited by the uptake in customers and in the success of the self-serve model. We are busy working on even better features and premium offerings and will keep our focus on simple, self-service tools that differentiate based on ease of use, ease of adoption, and rapid time-to-value.
Since launch, CBS, eBay/Kijji, the Golden State Warriors, LA Lakers, the Michigan Times, Lockheed Martin, Steve Spangler Science, and hundreds of other content providers and marketers have become Widgetbox customers.
While the widgets are all unique, some important commonalities exist. Content providers, e-commerce companies, and brands all recognize that widgets represent a powerful medium for reaching new users, driving traffic, syndicating content, and improving natural search performance. While the recognized need is universal, the implementation details continue to be a major friction limiting adoption.
Prior to the Blidget Pro, a widget strategy required material expesnive custom development, one-off anlytics and tracking, custom creative, questions regarding distribution, and a host of complications that frustrated the ability to levearge the opportunity.
The Blidget Pro is based on several important concepts that help explain its success:
- configuration vs customization - no coding required
- leverages existing content - syndicates existing video, image, post, and twitter content
- custom branding and linkouts - maintains brand promise and drive traffic
- leverages Widgetbox's platform - syndication, installation, and analytics included
Another important element of our strategy is self-service. In a challenged economy and in an emerging technology category, it is vital that prospects are able to self-discover, self-qualify, self-provision, and self-deploy. All day long, customers discover Widgetbox, purchase a subscription, and deploy their widget without ever talking to one of our employees. As with all new markets, expensive technology that requires a push-based selling model will limit adoption.
All of us at Widgetbox are excited by the uptake in customers and in the success of the self-serve model. We are busy working on even better features and premium offerings and will keep our focus on simple, self-service tools that differentiate based on ease of use, ease of adoption, and rapid time-to-value.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Blidget Pro
Widgetbox just launched an embeddable widget creator.
Simply enter your blog feed, youtube, twitter, hulu, flickr, or vimeo user id into the the widget below and build a branded, tabbed widget that aggregates all your content, like the BBC widget in the side bar, in seconds.
Simply enter your blog feed, youtube, twitter, hulu, flickr, or vimeo user id into the the widget below and build a branded, tabbed widget that aggregates all your content, like the BBC widget in the side bar, in seconds.
The Sweet Remains
As some of you know, my brother, Rich Price, is an rising star in the singer-song writer world.
He recently formed a new band, The Sweet Remains, with Greg Naughton and Brian Chartrand.
Their new album, Laurel and Sunset, is now available on iTunes.
Definitely worth listening to!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wolf Wanderings
My cousin is a wildlife biologist at the University of Montana. He just sent me an email from one of his colleagues about the wanderings of a wolf they had collared.
The email follows, but is an amazing reminder of the huge range predators require. Cool story.
The email follows, but is an amazing reminder of the huge range predators require. Cool story.
and so it begins... :) One of my gps collared wolves is now famous! For those of you that don't know, this 1 1/2 year old female wolf was trapped/collared by a FWP wolf specialist for my project at the beginning of July. She was trapped in Paradise Valley outside of Gardiner, Montana. At the end of September she dispersed and over the following 5 months managed to travel all throughout the western half of Wyoming, through the SE corner of Idaho, NW Utah, and as of Saturday was located just outside of Vail, Colorado. I roughly connected her GPS locations and she has travelled over 1,000 miles as the crow flies!! Her data doesn't do much for my project (since I am using the collars to get accurate estimates of territory size), but it sure is incredibly interesting.
A Colorado news story on the wolve can be found here.
Interview with MIS Financial Review
During my time in Sydney, I spent some time with Julian Bajkowski, a reporter with MIS Financial Review, which covers the Australian IT market.
The article he wrote on our talk and Widgetbox can be found here.
Thanks to Julian.
The article he wrote on our talk and Widgetbox can be found here.
Thanks to Julian.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Widgetbox and Atlassian
Widgetbox and Atlassian just announced an integration that allows Confluence users to add Widgetbox widgets - over 120,000 - to their wiki.
Venturebeat covered the story here.
Atlassian is one of enterprise software's real success stories with over 14,000 customers in 109 countries. Confluence is their flagship wiki product and the following video illustrates how Confluence users can add relevant widgets to their project pages. Other Atlassian products include Jira, Fisheye, Bamboo, and Clover.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Founder Dilution Survey
Sim over at Polaris Ventures is looking for founders to help him quantify dilution over the life of a company (financings, stock option refreshes, etc) and the impact of fund raising on the ultimate stakes founders enjoy in their companies.
Branded Widgets
Quick post to highlight two widgets currently featured on Widgetbox.
The first is from Pampers, one of P&G's crown jewels. The widget, seen below, is a pregnancy calendar that provides week-by-week updates on fetal development. The user is able to configure the title, birth month, day, and year.
Pamper's widget provides dynamic, relevant, and personal information to the user. By using configuration parameters - such as the birth date - Pampers allows each user to make the widget their own. Rather than simply serve an ad, Pampers is providing contextually relevant information to its target audience and inviting them to embed the widget on blogs, start pages, and social networks.
The second is from the CBS show, The Insider. Built by CBS using Widgetbox's Blidget Pro solution, the widget includes three tabs - Insider.com news feeds, video clips, and twitter posts - as well as custom branding. The Insider widget is a wonderful example of how Widgetbox can help content owners quickly and easily turn their content into attractive widgets that get installed across the web.
The first is from Pampers, one of P&G's crown jewels. The widget, seen below, is a pregnancy calendar that provides week-by-week updates on fetal development. The user is able to configure the title, birth month, day, and year.
Pamper's widget provides dynamic, relevant, and personal information to the user. By using configuration parameters - such as the birth date - Pampers allows each user to make the widget their own. Rather than simply serve an ad, Pampers is providing contextually relevant information to its target audience and inviting them to embed the widget on blogs, start pages, and social networks.
The second is from the CBS show, The Insider. Built by CBS using Widgetbox's Blidget Pro solution, the widget includes three tabs - Insider.com news feeds, video clips, and twitter posts - as well as custom branding. The Insider widget is a wonderful example of how Widgetbox can help content owners quickly and easily turn their content into attractive widgets that get installed across the web.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Media09
Last week, I was fortunate to spend three days in Sydney as a guest of Fairfax Digital, one of Australia's leading media companies. Fairfax's assets include the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Domain, and RSVP, Australia's leading dating site.
Fairfax Digital and XMedia Labs organized a one-day digital summit, Media09, that included speakers from around the world. Speakers included, among others, media executives from the BBC, Guardian, Washington Post, Wikia, Blue State Digital, and Widgetbox.
Ben Self, from Blue State Digital and the Tech Director for the DNC, provided a fascinating synopsis of the Obama's use of the Internet to manage online fundraising, constituency- building, issue advocacy, and on-line social networking; see Obama Case Study for more details.
I really enjoyed my time in Australia - the city spectacular, the people welcoming, and the conference a terrific overview of the media strategies of some of the world's leading media companies.
My talk centered on the lessons of Ray Oldenburg's classic book, the Great Good Place, which introduced us to the framework of the Third Place. My talk is embedded below.
Thank you to XMedia Labs and Fairfax for a wonderful trip and a super day.
The widget below is one I made for Fairfax to demonstrate the power of aggregating content via Widgetbox's widget platform in order to better reach the Internet users aggregating in today's on-line 3rd places.
Fairfax Digital and XMedia Labs organized a one-day digital summit, Media09, that included speakers from around the world. Speakers included, among others, media executives from the BBC, Guardian, Washington Post, Wikia, Blue State Digital, and Widgetbox.
Ben Self, from Blue State Digital and the Tech Director for the DNC, provided a fascinating synopsis of the Obama's use of the Internet to manage online fundraising, constituency- building, issue advocacy, and on-line social networking; see Obama Case Study for more details.
I really enjoyed my time in Australia - the city spectacular, the people welcoming, and the conference a terrific overview of the media strategies of some of the world's leading media companies.
My talk centered on the lessons of Ray Oldenburg's classic book, the Great Good Place, which introduced us to the framework of the Third Place. My talk is embedded below.
Thank you to XMedia Labs and Fairfax for a wonderful trip and a super day.
The widget below is one I made for Fairfax to demonstrate the power of aggregating content via Widgetbox's widget platform in order to better reach the Internet users aggregating in today's on-line 3rd places.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Introducing Blidget Pro
Widgetbox just released Blidget Pro: the next generation of our successful Blidget tool and our first subscription-based service.
The Blidget Pro is a far more powerful version of the Blidget - a tool that has converted nearly 100,000 blogs into widgets and served 2.3 billion impressions since its initial launch in 2007.
The Blidget Pro represents a major innovation and is the easiest, fastest way to turn all your feed-based content (videos, images, tweets, posts...) into dynamic, branded widgets.
Since launch, Widgetbox has served over 6.5 billion widgets and widgets are proving to be a very valuable way for publishers and developers to to reach new users across the web. However, to date, many publishers and developers have found the high cost of custom creative a friction in leveraging widgets. Priced at $3.99 per month, Blidget Pro is designed to be the self-service, no coding required solution of choice for those looking to widgetize their content assets.
The best way to appreciate the product is to see a few in action - all made using the solution.
Simpsons on Hulu - media company example with in-widget video playback
AMZN Top Sellers - e-commerce example
NextTag Affiliate Example - using widgets to sell phones and phone accessories
Mahalo Widget - publisher example with multiple tabs
Company Example - how to aggregate training videos, RSS feeds, etc
Blogger Example
Features:
- Easily create viral, branded widgets without any code
- Custom header, footer and/or body assets (jpg, gif, swf, png)
- Tab integration for multiple feeds and formats
- In-widget video integration for YouTube, Hulu and Vimeo (more coming soon)
- New visual layouts (slideshow, brick-mode, headlines with images)
- Custom widget linking (header, footer and/or body)
- Premium promotion on Widgetbox.com
To give the system a try, please visit the site.
Best and please let us know your feedback!
The Blidget Pro is a far more powerful version of the Blidget - a tool that has converted nearly 100,000 blogs into widgets and served 2.3 billion impressions since its initial launch in 2007.
The Blidget Pro represents a major innovation and is the easiest, fastest way to turn all your feed-based content (videos, images, tweets, posts...) into dynamic, branded widgets.
Since launch, Widgetbox has served over 6.5 billion widgets and widgets are proving to be a very valuable way for publishers and developers to to reach new users across the web. However, to date, many publishers and developers have found the high cost of custom creative a friction in leveraging widgets. Priced at $3.99 per month, Blidget Pro is designed to be the self-service, no coding required solution of choice for those looking to widgetize their content assets.
The best way to appreciate the product is to see a few in action - all made using the solution.
Simpsons on Hulu - media company example with in-widget video playback
AMZN Top Sellers - e-commerce example
NextTag Affiliate Example - using widgets to sell phones and phone accessories
Mahalo Widget - publisher example with multiple tabs
Company Example - how to aggregate training videos, RSS feeds, etc
Blogger Example
Features:
- Easily create viral, branded widgets without any code
- Custom header, footer and/or body assets (jpg, gif, swf, png)
- Tab integration for multiple feeds and formats
- In-widget video integration for YouTube, Hulu and Vimeo (more coming soon)
- New visual layouts (slideshow, brick-mode, headlines with images)
- Custom widget linking (header, footer and/or body)
- Premium promotion on Widgetbox.com
To give the system a try, please visit the site.
Best and please let us know your feedback!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
book recommendation: The Shadow of the Wind
Getting on a plane? Keep a list of must-read books?
Over the holidays, a friend casually suggested that I read a book by the Spanish author Zafon. 7 hours later, I had finished what is the most wonderful book I have read this decade.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon's, The Shadow of the Wind, is simply amazing. The book, written in 2001, takes place in post-war Barcelona - the narrator, Daniel Sempere, is the teenage son of a bookseller. After finding a book by the little-known auther, Carax, the boy discovers that, despite the brilliance of Carax's work, all his books are being destroyed one by one.
As Daniel seeks to uncover why, he stumbles into a spider's web of forgotten murders, doomed love, and secret pasts.
The book is a gift and one to savor. Let me know if you enjoyed it and if you can suggest one that proved equally moving to you.
Over the holidays, a friend casually suggested that I read a book by the Spanish author Zafon. 7 hours later, I had finished what is the most wonderful book I have read this decade.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon's, The Shadow of the Wind, is simply amazing. The book, written in 2001, takes place in post-war Barcelona - the narrator, Daniel Sempere, is the teenage son of a bookseller. After finding a book by the little-known auther, Carax, the boy discovers that, despite the brilliance of Carax's work, all his books are being destroyed one by one.
As Daniel seeks to uncover why, he stumbles into a spider's web of forgotten murders, doomed love, and secret pasts.
The book is a gift and one to savor. Let me know if you enjoyed it and if you can suggest one that proved equally moving to you.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Change.gov Widget
For all my Obama friends, please find below a Change.gov widget that will help you track the transition and the Office of the President-Elect over the next month.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Amish Jani - New Blogger
My good friend and former colleague, Amish Jani, is now blogging.
Amish is a MD with FirstMark Capital and one of the smartest venture guys I know.
His new blog, Just Getting Started, covers the venture and tech industry and is definitely worth adding to your blog reader.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The End of Wall St's Boom
If you liked Moneyball and Liar's Poker, I strongly recommend that you read Michael Lewis' latest essay, "The End of Wall St's Boom."
Brilliant.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tenacity
We live in a world of challenge and adversity. I am sure that each of you, at times, feels the weight of expectation and the burden of failure.
Take heart, the greatest of successes are forged in trying times. Like Job, Lincoln serves as inspiration.
A list of Abraham Lincoln failures (along with a few successes) follows:
A list of Abraham Lincoln failures (along with a few successes) follows:
- 1831 - Lost his job
- 1832 - Defeated in run for Illinois State Legislature
- 1833 - Failed in business
- 1834 - Elected to Illinois State Legislature (success)
- 1835 - Sweetheart died
- 1836 - Had nervous breakdown
- 1838 - Defeated in run for Illinois House Speaker
- 1843 - Defeated in run for nomination for U.S. Congress
- 1846 - Elected to Congress (success)
- 1848 - Lost re-nomination
- 1849 - Rejected for land officer position
- 1854 - Defeated in run for U.S. Senate
- 1856 - Defeated in run for nomination for Vice President
- 1858 - Again defeated in run for U.S. Senate
- 1860 - Elected President (success)
Feel better?
Friday, October 24, 2008
Book Recommendation: The Snowball
Warren Buffet is well recognized as the world's best investor and as a man blessed with making the complex simple.
Roger Lowenstein wrote a wonderful biography of Buffet, The Making of An American Capitalist.
Now, Alice Schroeder, a former insurance analyst, brings us The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life.
Warren Buffet allowed Schroeder unparalleled access to his records, business partners, and family and delivers a masterful portrayal of a master businessman. In return, we are granted valuable and entertaining insights into Buffet's life, philosophies, and world view.
Roger Lowenstein wrote a wonderful biography of Buffet, The Making of An American Capitalist.
Now, Alice Schroeder, a former insurance analyst, brings us The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life.
Warren Buffet allowed Schroeder unparalleled access to his records, business partners, and family and delivers a masterful portrayal of a master businessman. In return, we are granted valuable and entertaining insights into Buffet's life, philosophies, and world view.
Occam's Razor states that, "all things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." Of all of Buffet's strengths, the trait that leaves the greatest impression on me is his ability to make simple that which others make so complicated. In that simplicity, the confusion fades and things appear so clear and easy to understand.
His ability to digest ungodly amounts of information - 10Qs, 10Ks, CNBC, the paper, magazines, deal pitches - and to identify signal amongst the noise is simply amazing.
He is loved not just for his brilliance, but also for his complete authenticity - an amazing sense of self and constancy in the face of a world fraught with change and uncertainty.
While few us, maybe none, will replicate his investment track record, there is much to aspire to in regards to his clarity of thought and his internal compass that maintains a steady heading in a stormy world.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Travel Schedule
In the next three weeks, I am lucky to be speaking on three great panels.
Digital Hollywood's Widgets as a Platform on Oct 28th
Widget Summit's Meet the Galleries, on Nov 3rd
Pubcon's The Wonderful World of Widgets on Nov 13th
If you plan to be at any of the events above, please let me know. will @ widgetbox.com
Digital Hollywood's Widgets as a Platform on Oct 28th
Widget Summit's Meet the Galleries, on Nov 3rd
Pubcon's The Wonderful World of Widgets on Nov 13th
If you plan to be at any of the events above, please let me know. will @ widgetbox.com
Monday, October 20, 2008
Another Chapter in the Life is Stranger Than Fiction Column
Who Could Make This Stuff Up?
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, embroiled in an adultery scandal and a tight race for re-election, admitted Friday to having at least two affairs but insisted he broke no laws and will not resign. The first-term Democrat conceded that one of the affairs began as he was running on a family values platform to replace Mark Foley, a Republican who resigned amid revelations that he sent lurid Internet messages to male pages who had worked on Capitol Hill as teenagers. Mahoney, 52, apologized to his wife, his daughter and his constituents, even as he maintained he hadn't been hypocritical.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, embroiled in an adultery scandal and a tight race for re-election, admitted Friday to having at least two affairs but insisted he broke no laws and will not resign. The first-term Democrat conceded that one of the affairs began as he was running on a family values platform to replace Mark Foley, a Republican who resigned amid revelations that he sent lurid Internet messages to male pages who had worked on Capitol Hill as teenagers. Mahoney, 52, apologized to his wife, his daughter and his constituents, even as he maintained he hadn't been hypocritical.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Announcing the Widgetbox Blog Network
I am excited to announce the launch of the Widgetbox Blog Network.
The Widgetbox Blog Network connects bloggers across 29 channels (from art to celebrities to music to politics) using a single widget that dynamically showcases content across all of the blogs in that channel. You’ll notice, for instance, that I’ve joined the Tech News Channel and placed the widget in the top right of my blog template. On each page view, new blog posts are dynamically presented from other bloggers also in the Tech News Channel - and likewise, my blog posts appear on their pages… effectively driving highly relevant traffic across the network and taking advantage of Widgetbox’s large audience / community.
Why are we launching a blog network? Simple, at Widgetbox, bloggers and blogs are the core of our community and the new Blog Network:
- Widgetbox has widgets on over 250,000 unique blogs
- Blidgets (blogs we help turn into widgets) have been served over 1.5 BILLION (!) times
- Widgetbox now reaches over 65 million unique each month (verified by Quantcast)
You will also notice that the widget is customized for my blog – showing a badge of my blog and its rank within the Channel (I’m #8 - need to blog more).
Joining is easy:
1. Visit http://www.widgetbox.com/network and select the Channel that fits your blog
2. Click the Join This Network button, select your blidget (or create one) and then grab the Channel Widget’s code
3. Add the code to your blog template and press activate
I attach a copy of the PowerPoint briefing here:
The Widgetbox Blog Network connects bloggers across 29 channels (from art to celebrities to music to politics) using a single widget that dynamically showcases content across all of the blogs in that channel. You’ll notice, for instance, that I’ve joined the Tech News Channel and placed the widget in the top right of my blog template. On each page view, new blog posts are dynamically presented from other bloggers also in the Tech News Channel - and likewise, my blog posts appear on their pages… effectively driving highly relevant traffic across the network and taking advantage of Widgetbox’s large audience / community.
Why are we launching a blog network? Simple, at Widgetbox, bloggers and blogs are the core of our community and the new Blog Network:
- Widgetbox has widgets on over 250,000 unique blogs
- Blidgets (blogs we help turn into widgets) have been served over 1.5 BILLION (!) times
- Widgetbox now reaches over 65 million unique each month (verified by Quantcast)
You will also notice that the widget is customized for my blog – showing a badge of my blog and its rank within the Channel (I’m #8 - need to blog more).
Joining is easy:
1. Visit http://www.widgetbox.com/network and select the Channel that fits your blog
2. Click the Join This Network button, select your blidget (or create one) and then grab the Channel Widget’s code
3. Add the code to your blog template and press activate
I attach a copy of the PowerPoint briefing here:
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Websites Losing Relevancy for Brand Strategy and Consumer Engagement
Peter Yared's post, “Websites Are So Over,” is a great read. Using Alexa data, Peter illustrates the dramatic decline in daily reach for the websites of some of America’s greatest brands; such as Apple, CNN, Fedex, Disney and others.
The charts below are from Peter’s post and they illustrate the massive fall off in reach experienced by members of the Fortune 500. The CNN daily reach per million data below is particularly telling, a significant relative decline over a two-year period.
The measure of web marketing success used to be measured in page views, visits, and reach. Millions were spent on powerful sites and on related marketing campaigns that focused on driving users back to the company web site. In today’s age, however, of RSS readers, social networks, and huge numbers of user-generated sites, the paradigm has changed. The goal can no longer be simply to funnel traffic back to cnn.com, but rather the new goal is how best to take the content, applications, and ad inventory from cnn.com to the users.
Widgets, social media applications, and RSS feeds are the modern day web marketers tools and the model has inverted from driving users to content to driving content to users.
Peter is also the founder and CEO of iWidgets, a newly launched widget and social application builder that allows brands to take their content and services onto the distributed web and off-domain. The service is currently in beta and well worth checking out. He launched with CBS and is helping to make social syndication of tier one content a reality.
The charts below are from Peter’s post and they illustrate the massive fall off in reach experienced by members of the Fortune 500. The CNN daily reach per million data below is particularly telling, a significant relative decline over a two-year period.
The measure of web marketing success used to be measured in page views, visits, and reach. Millions were spent on powerful sites and on related marketing campaigns that focused on driving users back to the company web site. In today’s age, however, of RSS readers, social networks, and huge numbers of user-generated sites, the paradigm has changed. The goal can no longer be simply to funnel traffic back to cnn.com, but rather the new goal is how best to take the content, applications, and ad inventory from cnn.com to the users.
Widgets, social media applications, and RSS feeds are the modern day web marketers tools and the model has inverted from driving users to content to driving content to users.
Peter is also the founder and CEO of iWidgets, a newly launched widget and social application builder that allows brands to take their content and services onto the distributed web and off-domain. The service is currently in beta and well worth checking out. He launched with CBS and is helping to make social syndication of tier one content a reality.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Quick Feedback: On-line Ad Growth Rates
A friend and great Internet analyst just pinged me on my prior post.
He sees the following growth rates for the on-line ad market
Q3: low teens
Q4: mid single digits
2009: flat
Mix: display down with search growing at display's expense.
Key point: does not see the 20% growth forecast earlier this year by many market watchers.
How will experimental budgets hold-up?
The need to prove efficiency, engagement, and performance will be critical, as will the ability to prove differentiated reach.
He sees the following growth rates for the on-line ad market
Q3: low teens
Q4: mid single digits
2009: flat
Mix: display down with search growing at display's expense.
Key point: does not see the 20% growth forecast earlier this year by many market watchers.
How will experimental budgets hold-up?
The need to prove efficiency, engagement, and performance will be critical, as will the ability to prove differentiated reach.
Where is Money Going?
The Dow fell today 450 points or 4.6%, the S&P 500 fell 57 points or 4.7%, and the NASDAQ fell 109 points or 5%.
Morgan Stanley fell 24% and Goldman, the bluest chip financial firm in the world, fell 14%. GOOG feel $28+, or 6.42%, Yahoo! fell
Where is the world putting its money - gold, up close to $80 dollars today.
The attached widget tracks the price of gold - the price of gold is like the proverbial canary in the coal mine. The faster it goes up the greater the worry regarding inflation and fiscal/economic health.
Again, I find it fascinating that the Bay Area remains largely insulated from the downturn impacting the world's money centers - NYC and London, in particular.
The next few months will help us understand if on-line budgets prove counter-cyclical - Google's next earnings report will be instructive. To date, I can only turn to anecdotal evidence which suggests that on-line spend remains robust, with a particular strength in performance-based spend. Of course, budgets are set months in advance and it may take time for the current economic malaise to ripple through.
As 2009 budgets firm up, we will see if the performance benefits of on-line advertising protect the sector from a downturn. The current growth rates project 20% y-o-y upticks in on-line spend. For start-ups, the overall growth rate certainly matters, but more importantly advertiser appetite for experimenting with new mediums and technologies matters more. The on-line market's growth can slow but IF advertisers' appetites for trialing new ad channels remains robust newer markets will grow faster than the overall market.
Two data points to watch closely - total on-line ad market spend and mix/reallocation within the total spend. For start-ups to grow, the overall allocation and the allocation to experiment with new technologies and forms of advertising will matter a great deal.
As 2009 budgets firm up, we will see if the performance benefits of on-line advertising protect the sector from a downturn. The current growth rates project 20% y-o-y upticks in on-line spend. For start-ups, the overall growth rate certainly matters, but more importantly advertiser appetite for experimenting with new mediums and technologies matters more. The on-line market's growth can slow but IF advertisers' appetites for trialing new ad channels remains robust newer markets will grow faster than the overall market.
Two data points to watch closely - total on-line ad market spend and mix/reallocation within the total spend. For start-ups to grow, the overall allocation and the allocation to experiment with new technologies and forms of advertising will matter a great deal.
Book Recommendation: Supreme Courtship
Politics in America is bordering on the absurd. While the economy is in turmoil, we can't stop reading about field-dressing a moose and lipstick.
The mendacity, absurdity, and sick humor of the current political age is brilliantly captured and skewered in Christopher Buckley's new book, Supreme Courtship.
Buckley tells the tale of President Vanderdamp and his efforts to nominate a new Supreme Court justice. Unfortunately for the President, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee wants the job. The greedy senator blocks two incredible candidates, one for writing, at the age of 12, a critical film review of To Kill a Mockingbird for the school paper. Clearly, a racist.
Ticked off at the Senate for rejecting his nominees, the President decides to get even by nominating America's most popular TV judge to the Supreme Court. Judge Pepper - a hot version of Judge Judy - prepares for the nomination process and the insanity begins.
Great read and a book that perfectly captures the disfunction of Washington.
The mendacity, absurdity, and sick humor of the current political age is brilliantly captured and skewered in Christopher Buckley's new book, Supreme Courtship.
Buckley tells the tale of President Vanderdamp and his efforts to nominate a new Supreme Court justice. Unfortunately for the President, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee wants the job. The greedy senator blocks two incredible candidates, one for writing, at the age of 12, a critical film review of To Kill a Mockingbird for the school paper. Clearly, a racist.
Ticked off at the Senate for rejecting his nominees, the President decides to get even by nominating America's most popular TV judge to the Supreme Court. Judge Pepper - a hot version of Judge Judy - prepares for the nomination process and the insanity begins.
Great read and a book that perfectly captures the disfunction of Washington.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Wall St's Demise and the Impact on Tech
Imagine waking up to read the following headline, "Oracle Declares Bankruptcy, Cisco Sold to Microsoft in a Cut-Rate Deal."
The figurative and literal pillars of the financial economy are falling like dominos - Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman, and now, amazingly, Merrill Lynch is being sold to Bank of America.
Perspective?
It is hard to fathom the depth of the financial crisis on Wall St, yet alone the seismic shock waves that are rippling across the country given the litany of failed and failing firms. The CEO of Bank of America expects 50% of the nation's banks to fail. Yes, that would be 50% of the 8,500 banks in the US.
The tech downturn saw marginal firms fail, however, the financial market failures are not only of a much larger magnitude, but also the names in distress are of a far different caliber. The firms failing today are the bell-weathers of the industry and foundational institutions.
Walking up Park Avenue, or through Times Square and the size of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, etc literally loom over you.
Thousands of employees, billions of dollars, the credibility of regulators, executives, and the ability of markets to effectively price and manage risk are gone.
To date, the shock waves seem to be passing Silicon Valley by.
What will the impact of this unprecedented meltdown be on Silicon Valley and on the Internet sector in particular? To what extent will Wall St's failings and the large credit downturn impact Internet/tech companies?
Will venture firms change behavior or their appetite for certain types of risk?
No one knows...the future is uncertain, however, start-ups can work to reduce risk by exercising real spending discipline - working hard to reduce non-core expenses, thereby delaying capital raising and extending the runway.
Great start-ups play on long-term secular trends - on-line media consumption, mobile Internet, on-line advertising, etc. For us in tech start-ups, I see two important gut-checks - are we working and riding major secular trends and are we investing in growth in reasonable and prudent ways?
So much in life lies beyond one's control. If one is riding a major wave of change and spending wisely to leverage it, then keep your head down and keep making it happen. If you are not....
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Scott Zenko: 1972-2008, RIP
For me, a brother, friend, uncle, and inspiration. A free spirit constant in his love for life, family, friends, and the next adventure.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Widgetbox Posts
I recently posted two blog posts on the Widgetbox blog and wanted to share them here.
As you know, I am five months into my role at Widgetbox and the posts cover some of the reasons I am so excited about our prospects.
The first post responds to a recent CNET article that speaks to the risks of being a social media application, while the second post comments on the attached image - ie that while the web is fragmenting, a the top 10 sites continue to dominate ad spend and how/why that needs to change.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Widgetbox at SF New Tech
Tonight, SF New Tech is hosting a "Widgets up the Wazoo" event. Gigya, Musestorm, iWidgets, Zembly, and Widgetbox are presenting and all will be demoing.
If you are in SF and interested in the widget space, the event brings together some of the leading players in the space.
Thanks to Lawrence at RateitAll for organizing the event.
Thanks to Lawrence at RateitAll for organizing the event.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Alacatraz 100 - One to Add to the Bucket List
Today, I swam the Alcatraz 100; the icnomic swimming race starts at Alcatraz Island and ends 1.5 miles later in SF's Acquatic Park.
The weather, tides, wind, and fog all cooperated and made for an amazing day and experience.
I understand the movie the Bucket List proved to be so-so, the idea, however, of making a list of things to do before you die is cool.
After today, I would suggest, if you enjoy outdoor challenges, that you add the Alcatraz 100 to your list.
As I checked in for the race, the organizer asked me to promise him one thing....in the middle of the race stop swimming and take in the setting...Alcatraz behind you, the Bay Bridge to your left, the Golden Gate to your right, and the city of San Francisco looming directly in front of you.
I managed to stop twice and the views will stay withe me...until next year's race!
Thanks to my colleague, Ryan Spoon, for motivating me.
The weather, tides, wind, and fog all cooperated and made for an amazing day and experience.
I understand the movie the Bucket List proved to be so-so, the idea, however, of making a list of things to do before you die is cool.
After today, I would suggest, if you enjoy outdoor challenges, that you add the Alcatraz 100 to your list.
As I checked in for the race, the organizer asked me to promise him one thing....in the middle of the race stop swimming and take in the setting...Alcatraz behind you, the Bay Bridge to your left, the Golden Gate to your right, and the city of San Francisco looming directly in front of you.
I managed to stop twice and the views will stay withe me...until next year's race!
Thanks to my colleague, Ryan Spoon, for motivating me.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
SWAT Summit
Last week's SWAT Summit in SF brought together leading players in the social media, brand, and agency worlds. Widgetbox participated on the Social Advertising Case Studies Panel.
First, thanks to Cassie Phillipps and the rest of the gang at Room Full of People for putting on a great show and for including us in the conversation.
While the conference centered on how brands and agencies can best harness the power of the social web, the panel focused on specific campaigns and their results. The audience, like many people I speak with, wanted to understand what advertisers can do to leverage social networks and widgets to connect with their audience.
The other panelists were imeem, Votigo, and BeAffinitive.
Widgetbox presented a case study on a cost-per-install campaign that we ran with a music video provider. The results, as you can see by watching the embedded slide show, were powerful. With an 11-day campaign, the widget enjoyed a 50,000% increase in hits, a 110,000% increase in uniques, and a 8,800% increase in subscriptions. The best news is AFTER the campaign finished, hits continue to grow and the widget is enjoying steady organic adoption and distribution.
If you are interested in running a campaign with Widgetbox, please let me know...will.price at widgetbox.com
First, thanks to Cassie Phillipps and the rest of the gang at Room Full of People for putting on a great show and for including us in the conversation.
While the conference centered on how brands and agencies can best harness the power of the social web, the panel focused on specific campaigns and their results. The audience, like many people I speak with, wanted to understand what advertisers can do to leverage social networks and widgets to connect with their audience.
The other panelists were imeem, Votigo, and BeAffinitive.
Widgetbox presented a case study on a cost-per-install campaign that we ran with a music video provider. The results, as you can see by watching the embedded slide show, were powerful. With an 11-day campaign, the widget enjoyed a 50,000% increase in hits, a 110,000% increase in uniques, and a 8,800% increase in subscriptions. The best news is AFTER the campaign finished, hits continue to grow and the widget is enjoying steady organic adoption and distribution.
If you are interested in running a campaign with Widgetbox, please let me know...will.price at widgetbox.com
Mongol, A Movie To See
In July 2005, I read and reviewed on this blog Jack Weatherford's wonderful book, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.
Jack Weatherford outlines Khan's amazing life story and rise from outcast/orphaned Mongol nomad to ruler of the world's largest ever empire. The book serves as a major rehabilitation of Khan's legacy and transforms the traditional view of Genghis Khan from brutal tyrant to transformative ruler who spread the rise of free trade, religious freedom, science, standards, paper currency, postal services and communications, and national identities in lieu of tribalism, religious persecution, and autarky.
Khan's genius lies in his ability to transcend his circumstances and envision completely novel means of organizing armies, ruling empires, and structuring society (merit vs hereditary and tribal). An Indian friend of mine and admirer of Khan's describes him as being "self-born," a force in history with no precedent and a man of ideas and achievement completely non-linear to his context and roots. I really love that concept.
Now, Sergei Bodrov brings us his brilliant epic, Mongol. The move brings to life the steppes, the man, and the incredible rise from obscurity that marked Khan's early life. It is a movie to get lost in and one that you wish would keep going. The good news....Mongol is the first of three and I cannot wait for the sequel.
Jack Weatherford outlines Khan's amazing life story and rise from outcast/orphaned Mongol nomad to ruler of the world's largest ever empire. The book serves as a major rehabilitation of Khan's legacy and transforms the traditional view of Genghis Khan from brutal tyrant to transformative ruler who spread the rise of free trade, religious freedom, science, standards, paper currency, postal services and communications, and national identities in lieu of tribalism, religious persecution, and autarky.
Khan's genius lies in his ability to transcend his circumstances and envision completely novel means of organizing armies, ruling empires, and structuring society (merit vs hereditary and tribal). An Indian friend of mine and admirer of Khan's describes him as being "self-born," a force in history with no precedent and a man of ideas and achievement completely non-linear to his context and roots. I really love that concept.
Now, Sergei Bodrov brings us his brilliant epic, Mongol. The move brings to life the steppes, the man, and the incredible rise from obscurity that marked Khan's early life. It is a movie to get lost in and one that you wish would keep going. The good news....Mongol is the first of three and I cannot wait for the sequel.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Rich Price - Turn Off My Heart Video
My brother Rich's song Turn Off My Heart premired on MTV's Real World show last week. Since then, he is up to the #4 unsigned artist on MySpace for the Folk Rock segment.
Embedded in this post is the video to the song.
Embedded in this post is the video to the song.
Facebook Turning Off Spammy Apps
Guest Post by Tracy Pizzo, my colleague at Widgetbox:
The Facebook f8 platform is just over one year-old, and yet to some app makers it must feel like it is hitting the "terrible two's" a little early...
Last week, Facebook suspended Slide's Top Friends app - one of the most popular on Facebook - for privacy violations. It then suspended SocialMe, also for privacy violations, and this morning TechCrunch wrote about the shutting off of all viral elements of RockYou's Super Wall (newsfeeds, notifications, invites, etc.). Today, TechCrunch reports that SpeedDate is now no longer working.
From the app maker's side, this has had immediate and detrimental effects, as user numbers have taken a nose dive from where they have been for many many months. This could have long reaching and deleterious effects for companies such as Slide and RockYou that have focused an enormous amount of their development energies on a select few platforms. Take a look at this graph on Super Wall to see exactly how fast apps have been spread by spammy invites and notifications, and how fast the drop off happens without them:
But, there's another way to look at this. I applaud what Facebook is doing here - they are putting their users first, which is exactly what should matter most to them. Even if these apps have driven a lot of growth for Facebook over the last year, I think I can speak for most Facebook users in saying that a lot of the methods these apps use to spread themselves around can be really frustrating. Time.com had a great article in April that outlines some of the struggles Facebook users have when using apps.
Time.com notes that "the increase in "junk" notifications is enough to leave [Facebook users] feeling peeved," to which Facebook responded months ago by allowing their users to shut off app notifications one by one. But what I believe has been more frustrating for users is that they simply don't always know what they are getting themselves into. This same article outlines this experience perfectly,
An even bigger nuisance with using Facebook apps is that it's not always clear how they work. Tina House of Combine, Tex., says she accidentally posted a Valentine's Day greeting that said "I love you," not just to her husband, but to all of her friends, while using the application Super Wall, because she did not realize that the program defaulted to sending the posting to everyone. "I still shudder over that one," she says. And because advertisements are slickly intertwined with the apps — they often use the exact same font and graphics — it's easy to inadvertently click one by mistake.
I know that I was duped by the "Click to forward to see what happens" on Super Wall, and I spend enough time with widgets and apps that I should have known what was happening.
This latest suspension by Facebook illuminates a continual ratcheting down on spammy aspects of apps over the last few months, and I don't expect it to stop until they feel their user experience is protected. A lot of companies like Slide and RockYou took huge risks in focusing on such a small number of domains (I'm counting Facebook as one domain). They really pushed the envelope - albeit in a number of innovative and effective ways - on optimizing viral spread of their apps, and because of their sharp thinking they (and by proxy, Facebook) saw enormous success from very early on. That same growth is now starting to have diminishing returns for Facebook, as there has been a leveling off of site usage in both the US and the UK, slowdowns which first started rearing their heads a few months ago. Once those diminishing returns kicked in, Facebook had to take action in order to stay ahead.
What is clear to me is that the early success many folks saw on comes with a big price tag, and they may now have to pay the very real and painful costs as Facebook, and I'm sure other app platforms soon, come collecting. Assuming that growth between apps and Facebook will always go hand in hand and be mutually beneficial is a dangerous game to play.
This news also highlights what I think of as the bigger picture here, which is users' desire for choice. At Widgetbox, we often use an analogy to the early days of television. When TV first went mainstream, everyone was thrilled with the three channels that were available. Those channels saw such success that the networks themselves believed they could accurately predict what EVERYONE wanted to watch. Today, we can look at the rise of cable and the hundreds and hundreds of channels out there and see how untrue that was. Really what consumers wanted was choice. They wanted more channels with more programming focused on smaller and smaller niches so they could easily find what they were looking for. They didn't want to have to sit through programs and commercials the networks chose, but rather wanted their television delivered on demand. Maybe no individual channel had as much blockbuster success as the first three, but in the aggregate they changed the face of television dramatically. I believe this analogy is true for widgets/apps as well. We're huge believers in choice and access, and clearly users - and the platforms themselves - are starting to throw up their hands with the more one-size fits all approach that has dominated the landscape thus far.
Essentially, what this news screams to me is the need for independence. Domain independence, app independence, and network independence. Pretty fascinating stuff, and it continues to be a wild and dizzying ride, with no stopping anywhere in sight.
The Facebook f8 platform is just over one year-old, and yet to some app makers it must feel like it is hitting the "terrible two's" a little early...
Last week, Facebook suspended Slide's Top Friends app - one of the most popular on Facebook - for privacy violations. It then suspended SocialMe, also for privacy violations, and this morning TechCrunch wrote about the shutting off of all viral elements of RockYou's Super Wall (newsfeeds, notifications, invites, etc.). Today, TechCrunch reports that SpeedDate is now no longer working.
From the app maker's side, this has had immediate and detrimental effects, as user numbers have taken a nose dive from where they have been for many many months. This could have long reaching and deleterious effects for companies such as Slide and RockYou that have focused an enormous amount of their development energies on a select few platforms. Take a look at this graph on Super Wall to see exactly how fast apps have been spread by spammy invites and notifications, and how fast the drop off happens without them:
But, there's another way to look at this. I applaud what Facebook is doing here - they are putting their users first, which is exactly what should matter most to them. Even if these apps have driven a lot of growth for Facebook over the last year, I think I can speak for most Facebook users in saying that a lot of the methods these apps use to spread themselves around can be really frustrating. Time.com had a great article in April that outlines some of the struggles Facebook users have when using apps.
Time.com notes that "the increase in "junk" notifications is enough to leave [Facebook users] feeling peeved," to which Facebook responded months ago by allowing their users to shut off app notifications one by one. But what I believe has been more frustrating for users is that they simply don't always know what they are getting themselves into. This same article outlines this experience perfectly,
An even bigger nuisance with using Facebook apps is that it's not always clear how they work. Tina House of Combine, Tex., says she accidentally posted a Valentine's Day greeting that said "I love you," not just to her husband, but to all of her friends, while using the application Super Wall, because she did not realize that the program defaulted to sending the posting to everyone. "I still shudder over that one," she says. And because advertisements are slickly intertwined with the apps — they often use the exact same font and graphics — it's easy to inadvertently click one by mistake.
I know that I was duped by the "Click to forward to see what happens" on Super Wall, and I spend enough time with widgets and apps that I should have known what was happening.
This latest suspension by Facebook illuminates a continual ratcheting down on spammy aspects of apps over the last few months, and I don't expect it to stop until they feel their user experience is protected. A lot of companies like Slide and RockYou took huge risks in focusing on such a small number of domains (I'm counting Facebook as one domain). They really pushed the envelope - albeit in a number of innovative and effective ways - on optimizing viral spread of their apps, and because of their sharp thinking they (and by proxy, Facebook) saw enormous success from very early on. That same growth is now starting to have diminishing returns for Facebook, as there has been a leveling off of site usage in both the US and the UK, slowdowns which first started rearing their heads a few months ago. Once those diminishing returns kicked in, Facebook had to take action in order to stay ahead.
What is clear to me is that the early success many folks saw on comes with a big price tag, and they may now have to pay the very real and painful costs as Facebook, and I'm sure other app platforms soon, come collecting. Assuming that growth between apps and Facebook will always go hand in hand and be mutually beneficial is a dangerous game to play.
This news also highlights what I think of as the bigger picture here, which is users' desire for choice. At Widgetbox, we often use an analogy to the early days of television. When TV first went mainstream, everyone was thrilled with the three channels that were available. Those channels saw such success that the networks themselves believed they could accurately predict what EVERYONE wanted to watch. Today, we can look at the rise of cable and the hundreds and hundreds of channels out there and see how untrue that was. Really what consumers wanted was choice. They wanted more channels with more programming focused on smaller and smaller niches so they could easily find what they were looking for. They didn't want to have to sit through programs and commercials the networks chose, but rather wanted their television delivered on demand. Maybe no individual channel had as much blockbuster success as the first three, but in the aggregate they changed the face of television dramatically. I believe this analogy is true for widgets/apps as well. We're huge believers in choice and access, and clearly users - and the platforms themselves - are starting to throw up their hands with the more one-size fits all approach that has dominated the landscape thus far.
Essentially, what this news screams to me is the need for independence. Domain independence, app independence, and network independence. Pretty fascinating stuff, and it continues to be a wild and dizzying ride, with no stopping anywhere in sight.
Widgetbox is Hiring
Widgetbox is actively hiring senior JAVA and DMBS engineers. The spec follows. If anyone is interested in joining us/me at Widgetbox, please reach out and let me know - will.price at widgetbox.com
Widgetbox is a Sequoia-funded, 23 person Internet startup based in San Francisco that is improving the Internet through choice and access. By connecting widget consumers, creators and advertisers, we provide choice to those who want it and reach to those who need it. We pioneered the rise of widgets to become home to the world’s first and largest widget community, with more than 70,000 widgets and 45 million monthly viewers on over 920,000 domains.
We are interested in talking with candidates who meet the following requirements.
SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS
Expert in Java, Servlets, and XML
Proficient with Hibernate and Spring
Development and design experience with Service Oriented Architectures
Experience with MySQL a plus
Team leadership experience
Solid track record of meeting deliverable targets, and taking part in successful releases
Strong understanding of web technologies used in social networking and Web2 sites
Experience with performance and scalability work and designing scalable systems
Thank you.
Widgetbox is a Sequoia-funded, 23 person Internet startup based in San Francisco that is improving the Internet through choice and access. By connecting widget consumers, creators and advertisers, we provide choice to those who want it and reach to those who need it. We pioneered the rise of widgets to become home to the world’s first and largest widget community, with more than 70,000 widgets and 45 million monthly viewers on over 920,000 domains.
We are interested in talking with candidates who meet the following requirements.
SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS
Expert in Java, Servlets, and XML
Proficient with Hibernate and Spring
Development and design experience with Service Oriented Architectures
Experience with MySQL a plus
Team leadership experience
Solid track record of meeting deliverable targets, and taking part in successful releases
Strong understanding of web technologies used in social networking and Web2 sites
Experience with performance and scalability work and designing scalable systems
Custom Galleries from Widgetbox
Today, Mashable covered the launch of Widgetbox's Custom Gallery Product.
Widgetbox is the largest consumer facing widget platform. One of our core assets is the Widgetbox Gallery; home to over 66,000 widgets. Why so many? Because user's love choice and use us to find content that foots to their individual passions and interests, be it finance, sports, children, or Buddhism....
As Mashable notes, with today's product launch third party blog, social network, and website building platforms are able to offer the Widgetbox's widget content to their end users.
We are fortunate to launch the product with some amazing partners, including Typepad, Xanga, Amnesty Hypercube, Doodlekit, Freewebs, Friendcodes, Netvibes, Nimble.ie, Piczo, Synthasite, Webjam, and others.
Why is this important? Users love to express, learn, and interact with widget content and widgets add significant utility and stickiness to consumer web platforms. With simple IFrame or XML/JSON integration, Widgetbox's partners can offer all or a subset of relevant Widgetbox widgets to their endusers. Some of the partners noted above went live two days after contacting us, and our goal is to make the Custom Gallery a seamless, self-service experience.
Thanks to all our partners on a great launch. If you want to add a Custom Gallery to your blog, social network, or website building platform....drop me a line at will.price at widgetbox.com
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Team Chemistry, Stress, and Success
I recently read an interesting article on what makes a great start-up. The author, a Google alum, noted three important characteristics:
- team chemistry
- rapid iterations
- clear end-user focus
I doubt many would argue with the prescription, however, there is a major paradox implicit the in the list. Team chemistry requires healthy interactions and good behavior. Iterations imply change and change creates stress. Under stress, all of us react in two major ways.
- deflate - withdraw, become resentfully compliant, are negative
- inflate- yell, raise our voice, lash out, seek to dominate
In fact, start-ups are nothing if not stressful. Things are changing constantly - in fact they have to in order to succeed. There is a finite amount of cash on hand, lots of competitors, and major incumbents working to crush you.
Over the years, we learn to develop coping mechanisms to process stress. Sadly, most of our coping mechanisms lead to bad behavior that may protect us in the near-term but eat into the social health of the organization and into our individual effectiveness.
In managing start-ups and in building a culture open to change and to iteration, it really helps to arm the team to recognize that under stress we tend to react badly, and in the negative reaction we hamper the ability to maintain cohesion and our credibility.
It is important to ask people to be self-aware of their coping mechanisms and yours, to be aware of what triggers a negative reaction, and to develop good tools for effectively processing stress and defusing tension.
Some well known tools involve, listening, asking questions and for clarification, remembering not to take things personally, patience, acknowledgement of others, being dependable and trustworthy.
Success is the progressive realization of worthwhile goals. All success and development, moreover, means the abandonment of a familiar position. All growth requires the ability to leave behind the comfort of the "known."
Success will require change - change will lead to stress - and success is contingent on how well we handle stress. Ignoring the reality of how we cope with stress is to risk the health of the team, one of the three pillars of what makes for great start-ups.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Shantaram
Periodically, we stumble across a book or a film we have never heard of and open its pages to discover magic. Shantaram is such a book.
The book, by Gregory David Roberts, is an amazing tale of adventure, betrayal, suffering, and personal growth. The quick summary follows: Roberts escapes from an Australian maximum security prison where he is serving a time for armed robbery. Via New Zealand, he flees to Bombay, where the magic begins.
He quickly settles in Bombay, learns Hindi and Marathi, and opens himself up to the love and friendship of the city's residents. His journey includes a long stint as a slum doctor, time in the Bombay mafia, and a journey into Afghanistan via Pakistan to join the mujaheddin in fighting the Russians. In between the adventures, he wrestles with the meaning of life, suffers through hellish bouts in Indian jails, and grows from a hardened ex-con into a man that is the full reflection of the complexities of life, both good and bad.
I loved every page - all 800+ of them - and if you are looking for a book to get lost in on vacation, flying across the country, etc., Shantaram is one for the ages.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
ThinkTomorrow
I am in Half Moon Bay for the Think Tomorrow Private Capital and Venture Capital Summit.
Think Equity, a boutique investment bank, organized the conference to introduce new comapnies and categories to the investment community.
Speakers included John Doerr, Chad Hurley, Mark Andreessen, Bill Campbell and others.
I spoke on a panel titled, "Monetizing Social Media, Can It Be Done?," along with guys from Rockyou, Flixster, Gigya, and Lotame. Surprisingly, the panel believes that it CAN be done:)
The day started with Bill Campbell, the chairman of INTU and an AAPL board member, interviewing Google's SVP of Product Marketing and Management, Jonathan Rosenberg. The topic, innovation, is at the heart of all we do and the insights were valuable.
Jonathan started off by comparing and contrasting his training in product management with the current model employed by Google.
Jonathan grew up in the MRD -> PRD -> tech spec -> waterfall gant chart method of product management that for many years defined software project management. The documents passed serially from one department (marketing, product management, engineering, qa) to the next, the time frames were measured in months, and engineers were told what to build and when to have it ready. The net result was often dissatisfaction across all constituents - product management failed to get what they thought they asked for, engineers felt like second class citizens/code monkeys, and the business suffered as a result.
At Google, Jonathan found several conditions held true, most of which all Internet companies can relate to. First, the market moved extremely quickly and the product cycles needed to match the market's velocity. Second, the pace of change made requirements analysis challenging and a traditional product development process ripe for failure, and finally the needs of the market were tacit, not overt, and engineers were often best suited to understand the technology/user need base case and find the implementation and feature set that best met that tacit need. The business stack ranked problems and priorities and let engineers solve the problem - a respect and appreciation for the ability of engineers to find elegant answers to the business need permeates the company.
Given change is a constant, Google also focused on hiring generalists. Hiring for a discrete need often failed as the need would change to another priority the day after the specialist started. Finally, he found he needed to free himself from the baggage of his training and open his mind to new approaches - where management becomes a vehicle for encouraging collaboration of very bright people rather than prescribing discrete tasks.
Finally, he argued as the market changes winners and losers emerge (i.e. features) - Google feeds the winners and culls the losers quickly and works to let the users guide them as to what deserves funding and resource.
At Widgetbox, we recognize that the collaboration trumps serial and siloed product development processes. We recognize that engineers are often best suited to think through how best to implement a feature. Accordingly, we are working to be agile, collaborative rather than declarative, and have settled on Scrum as the convention for optimizing the challenge of fast moving markets and a need to organize effectively and efficiently to best respond to users and the market.
Can you be nimble without avoiding chaos? Can you have engineers play a key role in feature implementation without missing the market?
The challenge is to find a convention, a framework, that provides common semantics, rhythms, deliverables, and a method by which the company can rank priorities. We are experimenting with Scrum as our convention, as daily stand-ups, weekly releases, and bi-weekly sprints as our rhythm and deliverables, and are working to create institutional capacity for flexibility and collaboration across functions.
Each sprint team is composed of UE, product, eng, and qa resources and, as in traditional Scrum, sprint teams pull off the highest priority tasks from the product backlog. We are working hard to ensure we gang tackle business problems and let cross-functional teams develop the optimal implementation/solution.
Priorities. Rhythm. Data; three goals we are working to master. Rosenberg's talk proved quite inspirational and a lesson that new markets require agile methods of software development and that management is often tasked more with creating conditions for great people to develop great answers rather than in prescribing the answers to employees expected to merely implement them.
Friday, May 02, 2008
List of Service Providers for Start-ups
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Lost My Voice
Since taking over at CEO at Widgetbox, I have completely lost the blogging muse. The longer the silence, the more pressure I feel/felt to write something interesting.
Why is it harder to write?
Busier? Not really.
If not that, then what?
It finally hit me today. As a VC, I actively worked with nine to ten investments, met with scores of potential investments, and enjoyed a wonderful perch with which to observe start-up life, the venture process, and best/worst practices.
I could write, "I attended a board meeting today and observed x, y, and z." Or, "today I met a VP Sales who really understand the sales life cycle..." The anonymity of the comments provided cover that allowed for rich detail and candid observations on the week's learnings. The inability to tie a comment to a particular person, venture investor, company...etc makes for rich commentary and illustrative examples.
As a CEO, this is harder - it is not "a" board meeting but "my" board meeting - ie the parables and lessons leave little room to the imagination with respect to the source and people involved.
Furthermore, I am wary to turn my blog into a Widgetbox promotional vehicle and simply post about all the wonderful things we are up to at 1000 Sansome St.
I am working on a voice that can replace the lens into the VC world without Wbox chest-beating and/or Wbox confessionals.
In upcoming posts, I plan to comment on the VC vs operating role choice and my observations on what it is like to move from one side of the table to the other. I know it is the quintessential young VC question - and I hope to share my experiences with those thinking through the two choices.
Apologies for the radio silence - I am working to adapt my blogging voice to my new role.
Why is it harder to write?
Busier? Not really.
If not that, then what?
It finally hit me today. As a VC, I actively worked with nine to ten investments, met with scores of potential investments, and enjoyed a wonderful perch with which to observe start-up life, the venture process, and best/worst practices.
I could write, "I attended a board meeting today and observed x, y, and z." Or, "today I met a VP Sales who really understand the sales life cycle..." The anonymity of the comments provided cover that allowed for rich detail and candid observations on the week's learnings. The inability to tie a comment to a particular person, venture investor, company...etc makes for rich commentary and illustrative examples.
As a CEO, this is harder - it is not "a" board meeting but "my" board meeting - ie the parables and lessons leave little room to the imagination with respect to the source and people involved.
Furthermore, I am wary to turn my blog into a Widgetbox promotional vehicle and simply post about all the wonderful things we are up to at 1000 Sansome St.
I am working on a voice that can replace the lens into the VC world without Wbox chest-beating and/or Wbox confessionals.
In upcoming posts, I plan to comment on the VC vs operating role choice and my observations on what it is like to move from one side of the table to the other. I know it is the quintessential young VC question - and I hope to share my experiences with those thinking through the two choices.
Apologies for the radio silence - I am working to adapt my blogging voice to my new role.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
How Widgets and Widgetbox Drive Incremental Traffic
Guest post from Ryan Spoon at Widgetbox.
The article below is excellent validation of the power of widgets to drive incremental adoption and of Widgetbox, in particular, to outperform Facebook and Bebo for long-tail widgets. After 7 days, Widgetbox drove 1.7x Facebook's subscriptions and 3.9x Bebo's.
The article below is excellent validation of the power of widgets to drive incremental adoption and of Widgetbox, in particular, to outperform Facebook and Bebo for long-tail widgets. After 7 days, Widgetbox drove 1.7x Facebook's subscriptions and 3.9x Bebo's.
Davids SEO Adventure posted a great article about trying to drive web traffic via widgets and gadgets. David has launched a new website (SodukoWorld.be) and is documenting its growth - and we were pleased to find that Widgetbox has quite helpful thus far:
And after a couple of hours of messing around with Facebook application development, I went of to visit my good ol’ friend Google to see if there was an easier way to do this. And guess what? obviously there was. It came in the name of WidgetBox, the all purpose widget making type system. So I signed myself up, threw some html at it and watched in enwonderment at the resulting usefulness: a SudokuWorld Widget that could be put in Facebook, Bebo, Wordpress and all other sorts of things.
And while creating a widget and Facebook / Bebo application was easy, David also reports that it was effective:
After 2 days
Facebook: 27 users
bebo: 35 users
WidgetBox: 92 usersOutcome: bright and breezy - not too shabby for a beginner
After 7 days
Facebook: 91 users
bebo: 40 users
WidgetBox: 156 usersOutput: wahoo!
We are obviously very excited about those results and helping David's business (and others!) grow.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
blogger badge - get one today
Widgetbox is home to 43k+ widgets and counting. For all the bloggers out there we just released a blogger badge which I think many of you will find useful.
The blogger badge allows you to provide one click access from a widget to your profiles on:
The blogger badge allows you to provide one click access from a widget to your profiles on:
- facebook
- linkedin
- myspace
- digg
- stumbleupon
- flickr
- your blog
- etc
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Moving from Humwin to Widgetbox
I am pleased to report that, as of today, I have joined Widgetbox as CEO.
HWVP seeded Widgetbox in April of 2006, and I have steadily grown in confidence in the market, team, and opportunity. The company is an anchor tenant in the web widget marketplace and it will be fun to stay in touch with you all as I move onto a new and exciting chapter in life.
While my six years in venture provided amazing exposure to great teams, companies, and learning, I felt compelled to try my hand, once again, on the operating side. The confluence of my personal aspirations and the quality of the Widgetbox board, investors, team, and market made this an opportunity I could not afford to pass up.
If you have the interest and time, I covered my reasons for the move via a guest post on Techcrunch today.
For those of you who read my blog for insights into the venture business, thank you for reading and commenting on my thoughts to date. From today, the blog will focus on my transition to an operating role, the consumer Internet space, the world of web widgets, and my mistakes and learnings as I look to work with my colleagues at Widgetbox in building a great company.
It should be fun!
HWVP seeded Widgetbox in April of 2006, and I have steadily grown in confidence in the market, team, and opportunity. The company is an anchor tenant in the web widget marketplace and it will be fun to stay in touch with you all as I move onto a new and exciting chapter in life.
While my six years in venture provided amazing exposure to great teams, companies, and learning, I felt compelled to try my hand, once again, on the operating side. The confluence of my personal aspirations and the quality of the Widgetbox board, investors, team, and market made this an opportunity I could not afford to pass up.
If you have the interest and time, I covered my reasons for the move via a guest post on Techcrunch today.
For those of you who read my blog for insights into the venture business, thank you for reading and commenting on my thoughts to date. From today, the blog will focus on my transition to an operating role, the consumer Internet space, the world of web widgets, and my mistakes and learnings as I look to work with my colleagues at Widgetbox in building a great company.
It should be fun!
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Why Blog....and Widgets
Entrepreneur Magazine has a fun article on blogging and how it helps VCs find deals.
Brad and I are interviewed - he found Feedburner through his blog and I am very pleased to have found YieldBuild. If you are wondering why we blog, not only is it fun, an incredible forum for learning, but it is also a wonderful vehicle for meeting new people.
Also, I did a podcast (my first one ever) on widgets for Businessweek.com. They recently ran a series of articles on widgets and my talk is part of their CEO Guide to Technology.
Brad and I are interviewed - he found Feedburner through his blog and I am very pleased to have found YieldBuild. If you are wondering why we blog, not only is it fun, an incredible forum for learning, but it is also a wonderful vehicle for meeting new people.
Also, I did a podcast (my first one ever) on widgets for Businessweek.com. They recently ran a series of articles on widgets and my talk is part of their CEO Guide to Technology.
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