Web 2.0

The Battle Between Connectivity and Content

By Mark Evans in Media, Web 2.0 2 Comments Tags: , , ,

For all the talk about Rupert Murdoch attempting to re-establishing the paywall for content, and online start-ups struggling to make free services viable through advertising or freemium plans, one thing that doesn’t get a lot of attention is how Internet service providers are happily raking in the dough.

The more people use the Web, the more services they consume, including growing amounts of video, the more they want a better, faster online connection, even if it means paying more for it. The high-speed service providers have been more than happy to meet this demand by offering new tiers of premium services. Rogers, for example, has five broadband services, capped off – for now – by an Ultimate package that delivers 50Mbps for $99.99/month.

In other words, high-speed access is a good, high-margin market even taking into account that cablecos and carriers have had to make major investments in their infrastructure to offer better, faster service.

At the other end of the spectrum are the players that supply the content that makes high-speed access so valuable and necessary. This group include newspapers, magazines, video sites, software-as-a-service for businesses and consumers and games. Without high-speed access, it would be difficult to deliver a good experience.

As a group, the content players are struggling. Newspapers, for example, are trying to figure out how to generate enough advertising revenue to support shrinking infrastructures. Google is still working away on making the ever-increasing YouTube profitable, while online start-ups are hoping that subscriptions may emerge as an alternative to advertising as a revenue source.

In other words, one group – the high-speed players – is thriving, while the other is scrambling to make money. At some point, something has to give become the current situation doesn’t appear to be viable in the long-run. You can’t have a healthy ecosystem when one group is fat and happy, and the other is sick.

At a Canadian Telecom Summit panel that I moderated yesterday, this was an interesting topic of discussion that could have been even more interesting if someone from a content company has been there.

While the broadband players are working with content suppliers to expand their distribution and, in the process, hopefully make more revenue, the theme that struck me is how high-speed companies such as Rogers are starting to drive even more revenue by expanding their service footprint.

Rogers, for example, recently launched video-on-demand online, and offers access to content through it wireless network. The strategic thrust for Rogers is “convenience” so consumers can access content any time, anywhere on any device. Of course, you have to pay for convenience but, again, consumers seem to be willing to pay for access to get content.

Content may be king but on the Web, connectivity is where you’ll find the money.

When Should Startups Start Charging?

By Mark Evans in Web 2.0, Web-based Services 4 Comments Tags: , ,

One of the challenges facing many online start-ups is getting people to actually pay for their services, which probably explains why so many of them offer free services. This is great for consumers but leaves start-ups scrambling for ways to generate revenue so they can transform themselves from projects into businesses.

I have come to the conclusion that this approach is untenable because there’s too much risk and uncertainty inherent in the belief that a business model will eventually emerge. As a result, I think start-ups should have a revenue-generating business model from the start, even if it’s a freemium model with a free, basic service.

Given this philosophical approach, it was interesting to hear Sean Ellis’ presentation at meshU yesterday. In a nutshell, Ellis believes many startups should launch their services without charging for them. Instead, he suggests start-ups focus on creating services that resonate with a small group of engaged users, who will provide them with insight, guidance and feedback on how to evolve a service so can have broad appeal.

This is a process Ellis describes as the “gratification engine” – something that start-ups need to spend more time focused on as opposed to trying to attract more users by adding features.

When the start-up has a better idea of the service and how it meets the needs of consumers, Ellis said it can introduce a paid service, while providing the original users with a discount as a reward for their contribution.

When I pushed back about coming out of the gate without charging for services, Ellis said making money from early or beta users is somewhat irrelevant given the more significant revenue could come, in theory, from the large amount of users who come on board afterwards.

To be honest, I’m still not completely convinced that only having a free service is the right way to go. If people want to pay for premium services, there should probably be a way to take their money.

Five Reasons to Attend mesh ’10

By Mark Evans in Social Media, Web 2.0 No Comments Tags: , ,

It is hard to believe that mesh ’10 – the fifth addition of mesh – is just around the corner. Every year, it comes as a surprise even though we spend months planning, talking and meeting about it. In many respects, mesh is a labor of love with the big reward coming when the music starts to kick things off on day one.

So, why should you come to mesh’10, which happens May 18 and 19 in downtown Toronto?  Here are five reasons:

1. It is the most vibrant, fun and diversified networking opportunity within Canada’s Web community. There’s really no other place that features entrepreneurs, investors, academics, government officials, marketers, public relations folks, advertisers, developers, designers, people from non-profits and those just interested in how the Web is changing how we work, live and play.

If you haven’t been to mesh before, you’ll discover the breaks between the keynotes and panels are pretty long, and people like it that way because it provides a real opportunity to meet new people and catch up with friends and colleagues.

2. The mesh keynotes. Truth be told, getting the right keynotes is one of the most challenging things about putting on mesh. Every year, we spend hours thinking about the right people who can provide insight about what’s over the online horizon.

So, we’re really excited about our keynote line-up of Chris Thorpe (The Guardian), Joseph Menn (hacker expert and author), Scott Thompson (Paypal) and Arvind Rajan (LinkedIn).

3. The swag. Once again, Right Sleeve is the official mesh partner for all things swag so you can expect Mark Graham and his swag gang to come up with something cool and creative.

4. The workshops and panels. If you could get a sneak-peek of the behind the scenes action, you would discover that we spend countless hours discussing and exploring the programming for mesh. For us, programming is paramount and a pillar.

5. The people who come to mesh. We just organize mesh, it’s the people who attend mesh who really make it happen. They come with enthusiasm, energy, curiosity and optimism. They jump-start the programming by getting engaged with the speakers (and asking lots of questions!), they network like crazy and make everyone feel welcome, and then they socialize in a major way.

So, are you coming to mesh? If you haven’t bought a ticket yet, I suggest you get one soon ’cause they’re going fast. They’re available here.

URL Shorteners Here, There, Everywhere

By Mark Evans in Web 2.0 1 Comment Tags: , ,

Bit.ly announced a bunch of new features today, including a refreshed and improved look and feel.

What struck me about the news was not so much what bit.ly did but the fact bit.ly is just one of dozens of URL shorteners battling for users. It wasn’t that long ago that tinyurl.com was pretty much the only game in town. Now, I don’t see tinyurl as much. Instead, there’s a non-stop number of URL shorteners with all kinds of strange names.

The question is whether and when the URL shortening bubble will bust. While bit.ly offers a premium service, many URL shorteners are free – and we all know how successful the free model has been beyond a handful of anomalies.

Here’s a chart comparing traffic for bit.ly and tinyurl.com:

For more on bit.ly changes, check out ReadWriteWeb.

Six Questions with…Prezi

By Mark Evans in Web 2.0, Web-based Services 2 Comments Tags: , , ,

If you’ve got to a technology conference recently, you may have noticed some presenters using a new and cool tool rather than PowerPoint. Instead of slides, these presentations look like a giant landscape with text and images on them that can be easily be accessed by roaming around. For presenters, the downside is the presentation tool attracts as much if not more buzz than their presentations.

So, what is this new and mysterious tool? The answer is Prezi, which can be used to create presentations online, and then, if you want, have them downloaded for off-line use.

Prezi is a freemium service with a free versions, and two premium versions selling for $59/year and $159/year. The company started in Budapest before opening an office last year in San Francisco. Its investors include Sunstone Capital and TED Conferences.

Curious to learn more about Prezi, I fired off an e-mail to CEO Peter Arvai while attending WordCamp Toronto on Saturday.

1. Why did Adam Somlai-Fischer and Peter Halacsy decide to start Prezi?
Adam and Peter working on Prezi in 2007 as they felt slides limited their ability to develop and explain ideas. They were frequent presenters before working with Prezi and thought that Prezi could help them in their work.

2. How is Prezi different from other presentation software and services?
Prezi works with a big canvas instead of slides. This allows users to develop their ideas in an uninterrupted way. Presenting with the Prezi canvas offers a new presentation style: you can skip the slide-by-slide approach, show the big picture and then drill down in the topic that interests the audience.

3. Do you see Prezi as a rival to Powerpoint, or complementary?
We think slideshows are good for monologues aimed a large crowd (the path walkthrough of a Prezi works like a slideshow). The canvas approach is better for smaller meetings where dialogue, questions and brainstorming plays an important part.

4. What’s the target audience? If other words, who are the people out most likely to use Prezi?
Prezi is for anyone who’d like to develop their ideas and communicate them on a single surface. We see a lot of users who are used to presenting ideas as part of their everyday work, e.g. marketers, sales people, teachers, students, project managers.

5. Are you surprised by how Prezi has been embraced, particularly in the presentation market?
We’re very happy and proud of the embrace of Prezi.

6. How is Prezi’s freemium business model been embraced.
Our model has worked well so far. Its aim is to encourage both users who can and can’t afford to pay for services. We have asked our free users to publish their presentations so that they contribute with the content they create.

The Debut of StickerYou

By Mark Evans in Web 2.0 No Comments Tags: , , , ,

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been immersed in the world of stickers in helping a new client, StickerYou.com, prepare for its official launch, which happened today.

A few things I didn’t know before starting with StickerYou: the North American sticker market is worth about $1-billion, and there’s no dominant player.

Andrew Witkin was inspired to start StickerYou while walking on Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles. He noticed stickers everywhere, and how they played a key part of the local scene. Inspired, he came back to Toronto and launched the company, which has raised capital from a group of angels that includes Jordan Banks through Thunder Road Capital.

So, how is StickerYou different and unique? While there are other online sticker services, StickerYou’s technology lets you create high-quality vinyl stickers in any shape or size, which means you’re not stuck using the standard oval or circle. And you can order them by the dozen or by the thousand depending on your needs, which makes it great for individuals or businesses.

In terms of the bigger picture, StickerYou is another example of Canada’s vibrant high-tech landscape. There’s a growing amount of activity, which is being fueled by the emergence of capital for start-ups. For the first time in years, angel investors are starting to get active, while funds such as Mantella Venture Partners, Extreme Venture Partners and Rogers Ventures are stepping up to the plate too.

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