Pragmatism or Cause for Concern?

By Mark Evans in Web 2.0 No Comments

The Financial Times has story – Web 2.0 fails to produce cash – that’s a bit of a head-scratcher.

It includes these quotes:

“There is going to be a shake-out here in the next year or two” as many Web 2.0 companies disappear, said Roger Lee, a partner at Battery Ventures.

“If you look at some of the valuations, you wonder what fantasy of revenues they’re based on,” said Mitchell Kertzman, a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Hummer Winblad.

Should we take these statements as signs of trouble on the horizon? Or are they simply people trying to be pragmatic about an environment that is verging on frothy but not quite there enough for many people to be that concerned….yet?

Part of the unwillingness for people to climb on the bubble bandwagon may be because there’s still so much excitement and enthusiasm about all the new services and applications being launched.

With development, distribution and marketing costs declining, and IPOs non-existent, it makes the current dot-com landscape so much different from dot-com 1.0 when costs were raging and IPOs were a dime a dozen.

More: Andy Beal has some thoughts on the FT article, as well as some insight from his startup, Trackur.com.

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The Mainstream-ification of GPS

By Mark Evans in Wireless 4 Comments

Gps
GPS technology has been around for 30 years and existed as a consumer device for the past decade, slowly moving from an expensive novelty (“Hey, I can tell where I’m located using a satellite!”) to something looming on the periphery of the mainstream as prices decline, devices becomes more user-friendly and more services are created.

But based on anecdotal experience and the fact you can’t browse through a consumer electronics flyer without seeing multiple GPS units vying for your attention, 2008 is going to be the year GPS truly goes mainstream.

In some respects, GPS has been a cool technology looking for a problem to solve. It was great for people, for example, who did outdoor sports such as camping, mountain climbers and hikers and for geocaching. but it was arguably a niche product.

For whatever reason, the GPS market has evolved or matured. It now appears the GPS has found its mainstream sweet-spot as a must-have for drivers going from point A to point B – a huge market. No matter if you’re tooling around town or taking long trips, the GPS is starting to appeal to everyone. In fact, it’s starting to replace map books such as Perly’s that people kept in the glove box of their cars.

With GPS units being easy to use and configure, there’s little pain of buying a $100 to $300 unit from a GPS maker such as Garmin and TomTom. Even if you don’t use it that often, more people see clearly having one as no longer a luxury but a requirement.

Meanwhile, GPS is making aggressive inroads in the cell phone market where more units are GPS-equiped – something carriers love because it generates even more revenue/users. Most of these services cost $5 to $10/month and give you everything from voice navigation and restaurant reviews to event listings.

Now, if they made GPS units for urban bicycle commuters, then I might consider one to navigate Toronto’s network of back alleys. :)

Note: Last year, 33.9 million GPS units were sold compared with 11.9 million in 2006. In the U.S., 10% of drivers own a GPS device compared with 20% in Europe. And speaking of GPS, you know it’s really hit the mainstream when you see lots of interest in a story about a Swedish art student who created a large “drawing” using GPS.

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Show Us the Money

By Mark Evans in Web 2.0 1 Comment

Businessmodel
Maybe it’s just me but the relentless and incessant chatter about Twitter’s business model – or lack thereof – is starting to get tired/amusing.

The company should charge super-users, place ads on Twitter.com or charge for premium services. For a company that just raised $15-million in venture capital, Twitter has no lack of people happily willing to offer it financial advice.

Stepping back, it is interesting that services such as Twitter and Friendfeed have exploded with little hint of a business model. It just goes to show that the build it and they will come…and then we can create a business model is still alive and well.

For what it’s worth, Steve Rubel has some thoughts on Friendfeed’s business model, while Dan Farber suggests people who love Twitter and use it a lot, pay for it.

Cartoon credit: Gaping Void

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A Browser Renaissance?

By Mark Evans in Browsers, Venture Capital 2 Comments

When someone mentioned last week that Flock, the much-loved but second-tier Web browser, had raised $15-million in venture capital, my immediate reaction was “Really!”

Despite Flock’s continued improvement, growing number of users and its drive to become the social networking browser, it was still a surprise to see it attract so much money, led by Fidelity Ventures.

Based on the press release, the rationale for the investment is that “there are currently over 230 million members of social networks globally, and revenues are projected to reach $2.4 billion by 2012″. Translation: Flock could become an interesting business if it can roll out new features and capture more market share.

With Flock revitalized, Firefox 3.0, Internet Explorer 8.0 looming on the horizon and Apple’s growth giving Safari a boost, the browser market is becoming a far more interesting place. In fact, it’s probably the most exciting competitive landscape since IE and Netscape went head-to-head nearly a decade ago.

Back then, IE pulverized Netscape, and arguably innovation in the browser market disappeared until Firefox appeared on the scene. Today, the browser market is vibrant again, and Flock’s financing could suggest investors are taking a deep look at the engine driving Web 2.0.

This should not come as a surprise given there’s a lot happening in the search market despite the fact Google has a stranglehold on it. New players such as Powerset continue to emerge and there’s no lack of stealth projects trying to develop a better mouse trap. There are also many companies going after niches that Google doesn’t want to pursue – a vertical approach that some new browser start-ups may want to explore.

If a browser renaissance is, in fact, happening, it can only mean good things for consumers and the Web’s evolution as a computing platform.

For more, check out today’s New York Times, which describes the browser market as a “battleground”.

Funding Enables Flock to Expand Globally and Extend Leadership in Browser Innovation

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Flock (www.flock.com), the innovative, award-winning social Web browser, today announced that it has completed a $15 million Series D round of venture funding led by Fidelity Ventures. All previous lead investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners, Catamount Ventures and Shasta Ventures, also participated.

This new funding exceeds the amounts raised in all prior rounds combined and will be used to provide growth capital to expand Flock’s business, including research and development, marketing and expansion into new global markets. According to Datamonitor, there are currently over 230 million members of social networks globally, and revenues are projected to reach $2.4 billion by 20121. Fidelity Ventures brings the advantages of its tremendous global reach and experience to assist in growing Flock’s business.

“We are thrilled to close this significant round of financing,” said Shawn Hardin, CEO of Flock. “Following the tremendous market response to Flock’s commercial release, this new funding will enable us to continue our browser innovation – making engagement and participation across social networks and the Web as effortless as consumption.”

“The browser is strategic because it enables nearly everything users do online,” said Larry Cheng, Partner at Fidelity Ventures. “Flock’s social browser is the most compelling innovation in the browser market in over a decade. The reasons we invested are simple: great product, fantastic user adoption, and excellent revenue growth.”

Since January 2008, Flock’s user base has increased by more than 250 percent while its revenue has risen by more than 400 percent. In addition, Flock was named the winner of the Webby Award in the Social Networking category, which also included noteworthy nominees Facebook and Bebo. Hailed as the “the Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The 12th annual Webby Awards received over 10,000 nominations from more than 60 countries worldwide.

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Stepping Back from the Digital Abyss

By Mark Evans in Web 2.0 4 Comments

Given that meshU and mesh last week were exhilarating but exhausting, the thought of then going away for a boys weekend at a friend’s cottage was a little difficult to be wildly enthusiastic about compared with the idea of recovering at home, eating food that wasn’t cookies or beer, and catching up on sleep.

Still, when the duty calls (along with the prospect of good times with friends, cold beverages, BBQs, low stakes poker and golf), you do what you need to do. Once arriving at the cottage, several of us discovered there was no Internet access or neighbours willing to share a Wi-Fi connection. This meant at least 48 hours without access to the Web – a lifetime for someone connected all the time.

So what do you do when forced to go Web-less with no Twitter, Techmeme, TechCrunch, YouTube, etc.?

Well, there’s talking with friends. Reading. Reflecting. Laughing. And time for deep thoughts. In other words, an opportunity to get off the grid and recharge, which seems like an oxymoron but, in reality, should be mandatory once in awhile.

Without Internet access, you quickly discover what great reads the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine can be. You find yourself rifling through bookcases featuring romantic pulp, well-worn classics and non-fiction that you pull out, dust off and retreat to the couch with beverage in hand.

You realize going off-line feels good and gives you an opportunity to breath non-digital air. It doesn’t take long to feel re-energized, which is just what you need upon discovering there is 155 messages in your inbox.
:)

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What Happens at a Conference? Multi-Tasking, Twittering, meshing

By Mark Evans in Web 2.0 No Comments

With meshU and mesh now wrapped up, I’ve got a ton of new ideas, a few dozen Web sites to check out and lots of new connections.

Looking back at two conferences, one of the things that was particularly fascinating was watching what people were doing during the keynotes, panels and workshops. With a lots of Wi-Fi bandwidth available, it was abundantly clear that multi-tasking was alive and well.

Many people were reading e-mail, blogging, Web surfing, downloading applications, checking out speaker bios, watching videos and, of course, Twittering. Meanwhile, they were also listening to what was happening onstage, which were terrific.

In other words, people were happily connected to the Web at all times during the sessions. And then during the breaks, everyone seemed to disconnect to do some enthusiastic networking.

By far, Twitter has become the telltale technology for conferences. Offering a quick and easy way to deliver micro-commentary, Twitter provides an instant sense of what’s happening during a keynote, panel or workshop, whether things are interesting, and what the moderator and speakers should be doing.

It’s a different world from just a year ago when thoughts and feedback were delivered in blog posts – sometimes a few hours after a particular session and sometimes days afterward. Now, you get instantaneous reaction and a fascinating sense of how things went.

More thoughts about meshU and mesh on the way over the next few days.

More: Speaking of multi-tasking, Dave Fleet live-blogged both days of mesh. Cool. Speaking of liveblogging, TechCrunch’s Erick Schonfeld blogged on ScribbleLive – a live-blogging start-up founded by two Canadians, Michael De Monte and Jonathan Keebler.

Update: For a really good wrap-up on mesh, check out Mathew Ingram’s post, which includes a bunch of links to mesh-related videos, presentations and blogs.

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