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iSummit Live Blog - Wireless and the Future of the Entertainment Business
 Semi-live blog today - bad wireless connection Moderator: Raja Khanna Andy Wright, Bell Mobility; Giulia Arena, Rogers Wireless; Jason Offet, Nokia; Charlie Miller, Warner Music. Introduction: More mobile devices than televisions now. 18 million mobile subscribers in Canada alone. Huge potential market for mobile entertainment. Charlie Miller - Digital Bus Dev. Getting content to the consumer. Ring tones big par of business today. "Munchable" size content. Giulia Arena - Director of New Products at Rogers Andy Wright - Bell Mobility - Dir Bus Dev - consumer applications. Video and music applications for consumers. Jason Offet - Nokia Question? What are the next gen of mobile services? Bell - Canadians who are on the go and what they want... Inst Msg, PC like consumer services and blogging for mobile... new and exciting ways to talk with consumers. new environment. Rogers - Multi-media is big - content increasingly important. Content from tv now available. i.e. movie trailers to pick movie choice. More relevant content. Multi-plyer content. Peer to peer sharing. ARPU - Avg Rev Per User - data services driving down revenues in voice. Q4 ads for video on cell phones a joke?? Never going to happen. Delivering convenience. Nokia, JO: Club Nokia illustrates that they are not good at providing content. People fall into a couple of groups - want to support both models acquisition of content and sharing groups like bittorrent. Content owners - where do they go?? Not definite yet... fluid. Bell and Rogers invite content partners. They also own content. making content easily accessible to the consumer is critical... standards need to be open. Robustness is critical. Carrier has a trusted relationship with the consumer... one to one relationship helps with some types of content. RK: Fido was the best carrier for demoing video. $50 month plan for unlimited (...read more...)
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/31
Tahoe Ad Hacked
 At the iSummit conference today someone mentioned how the Chevy Tahoe had an online competition inviting people to make their own Tahoe ads. The site is an example of user generated content. This was not what they had in mind: We paved the prairies... We deforested the hills... We strip-mined our mountains... And sold ourselves for oil... To bring you this beautiful machine... So you can finally drive... To see what's left of our wilderness... And now that we're here... We can't get out of the car. America 2006: The ultimate padded cell. Tahoe An American Revolution Update The Tahoe Ad hack is becoming a blood sport. People from all over the net are appropriating the contest to tell the world what they think about SUVs. This is consumer democracy in action and if we learn anything from the "Wisdom of Crowds" it's that companies ignore this kind of populist groundswell at their peril.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/30
iSummit Live Blog - We/Me Media
 When You Are The Content: Moderator - Barnaby Marshall. Panelists: JD Lasica; Matt Mullenweg; David Jacobson; Bob Young. The audience becomes the content - it's about becoming part of a conversation rather than producing high-quality stuff. Hyper-local news sites are a big phenomenon of Web 2.0 - disintermediates the "experts." "Ourmedia.org" launched one year ago. JD Lasica is the head of this non-profit organization. More empowerment of the user. IPTV are exploding with thousands of channels. WordPress author Matt Mullenweg, 22, makes a popular blogging platform. His take is from the trenches of responding to user demand. "We're at the early stage of this phenomenon." "We're in a micro-niche world of content." Update In ten years your personal video recorder will have the capability to store all video/film content ever produced... (not sure that's true but that's what David Jacobson just said). "We can fail faster than ever before... our society is very forgiving." "Those of us who succeed aren't remembered for our failures." MM "The Internet is still driven by first mover advantage... that's why we go out and get tons of money..." Bob Young "heavy.com makes $20 million a year in ad sales." JL "Blogs should not sell out too early because having a few ads is getting in the way of your users." MM "There is another economy behind blogs, he argues, although he does not explicitly describe what it is..." Update 2 Audience question: "What are examples of success in VC investment?" "Are there any?" MM - "The moment you take some money you've sold your company.... hold out." "Check out http://www.dogster.com as an example of user funded projects." "Read Terry Heaton's blog http://www.donatacom.com." "Don't get too confused because the future is going to look an awful lot like today." BY
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/30
iSummit Live Blog - Copyright Conundrum
 Following on the music industry's question from this morning, this panel is about copyright in the digital world. The Sony "spyware" fiasco is the elephant in the room of this discussion. The panelists are: Moderator, Jim Griffin; Michael Geist; Susan Peacock; Marcus Bornfreund; Jake Gold. Will there be a clash of ideologies? Notable moments: Jake Gold said Susan Peacock's intro position on digital sharing's impact on the industry was "Guff." "People will support producers of quality stuff." "Copyright has become everybody's interest." There is a clash of ideologies between the view that appropriating music is the equivalent of going into a store and stealing a dress. The counter argument is that musicians are benefiting because more bands are being given access to the consumer market. WHat the dress argument doesn't respond to is the thousands of dress manufacturers who rip off the Paris houses with impunity. "Should the law codify old business models [that no longer work]? JG Update By far the most surprising spokesperson is Jake Gold of the Management Trust. he argues that the digital realm is much like the old style Music Clubs where members got four CDs for ten cents. The up side to performers was that more people attended their concerts. The EFF makes the same argument. One new business model is "www.burnlounge.com????" that is like a pyramid scheme where people get a percentage of sales down a chain of potential distributors. Interesting model.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/30
iSummit Live Blog - Plenary Panel
 We're doing another live blog this time from the iSummit Conference taking place today and tomorrow at Toronto's MaRs Centre on College Street. The plenary session is on right now. Titled, "Transformation: is it OK to say "Convergence Again?" Moderator is James Lewis. Speakers are Gary Anderson, Norm Bolen, Maria Hales, Mike Lee, and Paul Robertson. For more info go to the iSummit web site. They're discussing the power of video on the Internet. The premise is that this is the future of television. Norm Bolen just said that "Canadians are screwed." Why? Foreign sources with capitalized costs are rolling into our territory and outperforming us. Update 1 "If you don't give them what they want they will bypass you." Paul Robertson, Corus. I can't think of a better way to describe how new Web 2.0 technologies and cultural pull is changing the way we conceive of the media audience. They are no longer passive. "If we're not there experimenting and learning then we'll be left behind." PR "It's a "pull" driven world not a push one." NB "Three years ago we served 3 million video streams, now we serve 100 million." Gary Anderson, Bell Canada. "Quality video is driving consumer behaviour." GA Update 2 "It's about building communities online." Maria Hale, CHUM TV. "User generated content will be bigger than anyone can imagine." NB Well, we have to agree with this and Norm seems to be genuinely on top of the space with an awareness that new market forces are about to leap onto the market landscape. (Editor) "How does user generated content pay for itself?" "How do you keep the "bad" side of user generated content out?" GA Update 3 Questions A representative of the music industry worries that a generation of kids are stealing the content of performers, (...read more...)
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/30
Enterprise Blogs and Wikis
Destination Knowledge Management has a good story on how big business is waking up to the power of blogs and wikis. Here are the ways these collaborative knowledge tools are benefiting companies:*Companies are using collaborative web technologies to help alleviate the cost of lost expertise while cutting down training time and reducing startup costs for new hires.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/30
The Power of Toronto’s TorCampDemoCamp
On paper it seems like a simple thing. Someone - in this case David Crow - puts up a wiki announcing that at a certain time and place up to six companies or startups can tell a group of their peers what they are working on. From there the project self-organizes. People who want to give a demo post their names along with a short description of what they will demonstrate. Audience members post their names and links to their companies and web sites too. Could the process be more straight forward?In true social networking terms what might be a relatively complex organizational project is splintered down to its easily managed constituent parts. This is the power of the Web 2.0. Only 90 minutes long, the event is fast, hip, and informative. Where was the venture community? Last night's presenters included: Simon Woodside - Semacode's Reader SDK running on a camera phone scans a barcode containing a URL and then loads it on the phone's browser.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/29
Web 2.0 Covered in Newsweek Article
 Take a look at this Newsweek story for a lengthy review of the Web 2.0 phenomenon.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/27
A Web 2.0 Primer
Info World has a good story on Web 2.0 that every potential sector investor should look at.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/24
Do You Still Think Games Are Just For Kids?
 Nintendo President Satoru Iwata was the keynote speaker at the 2006 Game Developer Conference. What's Nintendo's big mantra these days? "Disruptive Development." Iwata boasted that Nintendo sold 6 million DS handhelds in one year far surpassing competitor's efforts. The hugely successful "Brain Age" game sold more than five million copies. Digital gaming entertainment sales long ago eclipsed those of the film industry. More importantly for Canadian investors, Toronto has an exceptional pool of talented developers and digital animators that form the basis for a strong industry cluster. For example, the city is home to two of the worlds top digital animation software companies, Alias and Side-Effects. Educational institutions like Sheridan College and the University of Toronto's ITDC created a pool of well-trained digital animators. As more entertainment content migrates from analogue to digital distribution channels this cluster will invariably see strong financial growth. Is our VC industry responding to the opportunity?
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/24
Guy Kawasaki’s Entrepreneur Quotient
Guy Kawasaki, managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, offers his insights into the qualities and characteristics of entrepreneurs. We've borrowed the quiz from his blog.Here's a quiz to determine your "entrepreneurial quotient." My intent is to test a person's knowledge of entrepreneurship. However, scoring high doesn't mean you're the next Steve Jobs, and scoring low doesn't mean you're not. Some answers are debatable, so there will be many comments. #10, in particular, is tricky so read it very carefully.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/22
VoIP Adapters Shrinking
 The VoIP industry is about to reach a tipping point. The SmartLink M-ATA is an ultra-miniature analog telephone adapter that the company claims is the world's smallest. While designed for corporate users, the M-ATA threatens to break open the consumer market (Is this an ideal market segment for a start-up?).The SmartLink M-ATA connects to any standard analog phone or fax machine to a VoIP network broadband. The M-ATA offers caller ID, call-waiting, call-forwarding and conferencing. It can be configured, monitored and upgraded remotely and the unit has built-in Web management, tech support and continuous software upgrades. The M-ATA has a port to connect it to an analog phone or fax machine. It also has an R-45 10/100Base-TX full-duplex/auto-sensing Ethernet port for connecting to DSL or cable modem.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/21
Genetically Modified Crops Remain Controversial
 A United Nations sponsored event on the genetically modified foods industry has ended in Brazil with some minor steps forward. However, attendees contend that discussions on key regulatory issues are being thwarted by the biotech industry. Friends of the Earth International argues that GM crops are not green, do not answer issues of hunger, and offer no real consumer benefits.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/20
Starting a Small Business
The Business Development Bank of Canada's Patrice Bernard, Vice President, Operations Support and Strategic Initiatives has an article in the Globe and Mail on starting a business in Canada. The story launches the 2006 Young Entrepreneur Awards campaign sponsored by the BDC.What are Patrice's key success factors for starting a small business? Information is the key to success. The most successful businesses are run by people who know their sector well Get the help you need. Building a network of professionals such as bankers, lawyers, accountants and experienced consultants who can help you out is a good first step. Prepare a well-structured and realistic business plan. Having a great business idea is not enough. Form alliances. Strategic alliances help entrepreneurs diminish their vulnerability when they first start businesses. Establish clear HR strategies. Recruiting and retaining the right people is a challenge for start-ups as they may lack the financial resources to pay high salaries. Capitalize your business fully. Getting financing for a start-up is already a challenging task since you have to prove your worth and good credit to bankers.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/20
Are Mash-ups Sustainable?
Martin LaMonica of Silicon.com offers an analysis on the long term sustainability of Web 2.0 companies. His take on the phenomenon? Companies that are launched just to be acquired by Google (or Yahoo) should be sure that their business plans are truly viable. Will the enthusiasm for these companies end? Of course, just like our need for five railroads in every city waned as the markets matured. That's the nature of business.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/17
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Local News
The Ontario government is doing something truly unique and laudable says John Albright of JLA Ventures. Last week Ontario's Ministry of Research and Innovation announced a new $205-million fund to help stimulate the province's early-stage ventures.
According to a University of Laval Professor, Canada's Labour Sponsor Funds kill innovation rather than create it. Read the press release here. MediaScrape lands new venture round of $3.2 million. Chris Dingle has been appointed President and Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Dingle was the founding CTO of 24/7 Real Media which sold recently to WPP for $637 million. University Technologies International (UTI) - IGNITE - announces the closing of two first-round financings for two IGNITE companies, Profero Energy Inc. and Circle Cardiovascular Imaging Inc. Kleer Inc. based in California but with a plant in Ottawa landed a $28 million round for its wireless audio product development. The Ottawa Citizen ran this story a few days ago. We've been saying this for years now. When will the public sector make it easier for investment in the province's tech sector? Rick Nathan of the Canadian Venture Capital Association has an optimistic view of the current credit crunch. MSBi Capital announces the addition of two new partners François Gauvin and John Elton. Celtic House Venture Partners of K-W invested in Dublin-based RedMere last week. Rogers Media and CTVglobemedia Inc. announce that Rogers Broadcasting will acquire certain Canadian conventional and specialty television services from CTVglobemedia Inc.
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