Zynga keeps popping up on the news as it reportedly heads for an IPO, and one piece asked if it can become the Google of online games. Sure, the business model seems fantastic – precisely what usually attracts competitors. So far they have suffered and didn’t really appear to threaten Zynga. Now Disney is making a move and it’s easy to imagine other players joining the battle. Plus, thinking about games reminded us of Electronic Arts.
Thought-provoking presentation on (buzzword alert!) “information shadows”, “the sensor web”, cloud computing, data collection/ processing/ visualization, local marketing + micropayments, P2P credit-card payments, social network risk evaluation… and how all this is coming together to create new products and services that feed on the cloud and/or organize it. It’s still impossible to tell just how practical this is and who will make money from this, but it’s nice food for thought. Also a comment on the skill of networking.
We came across a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation on the media usage of 8 to 18-year-olds and it’s loaded with interesting stats (highlights inside). Some things translate to Brazil better than others, and this report is full of “traps” in that regard. Overall, it’s quite useful for those interested in Media and Tech.
David Pogue’s presentation at TED in 2006 was pretty funny and carried an important message for designers: simplicity sells. The iPhone wasn’t even out, but the trend is clearer than ever. The talk starts slowly but quickly builds momentum. As we always stress: view it critically, play with the idea, try to contradict it or apply it in some other field(s).
Buffett was particularly expansive regarding his processes and methods, and this alone makes this video worth the time (some 90 minutes). The fact that it was October 1998, a pivotal time in the dot-com boom and just after the LTCM imbroglio makes it even more interesting.
The AOL – TimeWarner merger’s 10-year anniversary inspires a feature in the NY Times, and the videos are a must-see for the candid opinions of the top execs involved. One must remember that talented fund managers got burned in 1998-1999 shorting AOL at a P/E of 100, 200, 300… only to see it reach 700. Not a typo, that’s the P/E ratio.
Zynga Games creates games for Facebook and MySpace. Its users number in the tens of millions, and many of them pay real cash for virtual goods to spice up their gaming. In fact, Zynga might well be making more money with Facebook than Facebook itself is. In paper, the business model seems great. We’ll probably get to know this soon, since Zynga is supposedly preparing for an IPO. Anyway it’s a huge reminder that disrupting technologies don’t necessarily imply that the inventors will make the most money – in some cases, any money. For new and old industries, always look at the entire value chain, be it suppliers, service providers, etc.
DARPA, the US military agency that 40 years ago spawned the Internet, organized a contest to study how people collaborate online and, most importantly, how information spreads virally through social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter. The winning team took less than 9 hours to locate 10 balloons spread throughout the US – unthinkable maybe even 5 years ago… And the implications are quite interesting.
They took questions from Columbia grad students and the event was broadcast live by CNBC. It has an eerie feel to it – with the whole “must keep spirits high” approach. That said, both men think in the long term (15+ years) and it’s always interesting to be reminded of some basic concepts.
Quite specific examples of the levers that move SAP, Oracle and Microsoft – also applicable to Totvs. The bottom line: bargain while you can. Very interesting to illustrate the power of maintenance in the software business.
