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August 2007

The Archives

• 08.31.07
  Wall Street Journal: Beirut/Beer Pong Feature
  Pop Culture

  Anyone see that the Journal had a front-page feature on beer-pong two days ago? Great quote: Georgetown University joined at least a dozen colleges in banning alcohol paraphernalia, specifically including beer-pong tables... Hmm. Maybe next they will outlaw use of quarters across campuses nationwide.
  
  
• 08.31.07
  Evolving Social Dynamics: Media Consumption Patterns and People Skills
  Social Media

  How is the Internet affecting people's offline interaction? Overall, based on your observations, do you think younger generations suffer from a lack of people skills? For example, if kids might opt to stay inside to play video games, watch TV or to surf the net, does this mean that they miss out on developing skill-sets such as 'being able to read people?' If so, the implications for such generational changes could be far reaching. Or is it the opposite? Do kids actually have a better understanding of people because they are exposed to levels of honesty and emotion (via blogs, ...
  
  
• 08.29.07
  What a Dumb Campaign! Sprint’s ‘Expensive’ Island/Phone Combo
  Brands and Marketing

  Things just aren't going well for Sprint mobile these days; not that that’s unusual. Arrington recently ripped them apart, and why not, the service is horrible (love Michael's title, "Sprint Sucks and Their New Website is Stupid." Still, I was surprised today when flipping through the Wall Street Journal to encounter a full page Sprint Ad titled "The First $10.5M Cell Phone." Apparently, when you buy the 8830 crackberry, you also get a private island. Unfortunately the contest is only open to the world's 100 wealthiest people, which means that Riley Bechtel, Stephen D. Bechtel Jr and Ronald S. Lauder ...
  
  
• 08.28.07
  Frengo
  Business Models

  I had the chance to talk with a new player in the mobile-meets-social-networking space several weeks ago. Frengo allows members to create content channels which can be used for private communications and media sharing (publicly or privately) and which can be monetized via a reward system. Mobile allows users to better experience first responder and gut-reactions’ Twitter, for example, allows someone to cover a news event as it happens. Frengo differentiates in its robust feature set, very next-generation, allowing for much greater interaction and community than any other mobile offerings I have seen. Frengo was the brainchild of co-founders Dan ...
  
  
• 08.28.07
  Toothpaste Face-Off on Facebook
  Brands and Marketing

  The other day I was messing around on Facebook and found a poll on toothpaste. It got me thinking about whether or not brands of toothpaste matter. For example in an excerpt from Blue Ocean Strategy the authors claim people are indifferent to toothpaste brands opting for whatever has the lowest price point. Here is the poll at the time of my screen shot: My contention is that brands for niche personal products matter a lot, or at least, a lot more than you might think. For example I grew up using Crest toothpaste. That was the only toothpaste my ...
  
  
• 08.27.07
  Will Consult for Travel
  My Experiences, Social Media

  Had a great idea inspired by Noah Kagan who parlayed his blogging into a trip to Israel. I just graduated from Bschool and am looking to make up for lost travel time. If anyone wants to fly me out and feed me (plus provide a couch to crash on) I am available for 2 day consulting gigs with any company looking to do something cool in the social media space and who is at least a flight away from DC. I have experience doing UI, social media optimization, interactive marketing, business planning and VC fundraising ’“ but I haven’t traveled enough. ...
  
  
• 08.27.07
  LeveragingIdeas Now has a BlogPlan and So Should You
  My Experiences

  I know I have been saying this FOREVER, but my blog redesign will hopefully be out at the end of next week. In conjunction with the redesign, I have also prepared an official blog business plan ("blogplan") for LeveragingIdeas.com and have made it publicly available here via Scribd. (Note: Scribd isn't working so I am going with Zoho Writer). I encourage your feedback and suggestions - particularly because this plan will serve as the guiding force for my strategy and content for the foreseeable future. A blogplan is a great exercise to help authors focus their content and strategies as ...
  
  
• 08.25.07
  Summarizing the Credit-Crunch-Venture-Catalyst Discussion
  Tech'nomics

  Some follow-ups on Keith Benjamin’s article on venture investing and the current credit crunch that stimulated the New York Times article I mentioned yesterday. Keith’s original post highlighted the fact that the credit crunch should negatively impact the number of buyouts and acquisitions we see in the tech space. However, as Keith asserts, this does not necessarily mean overall negative tech sector impacts. In fact Keith believes the credit crunch will actually ’stimulate’ growth in the VC investing space’ this is what the Times jumped all over. VentureBeat has since asked Keith to author a follow-up post, clarifying his positon. ...
  
  
• 08.25.07
  Are You “Googly?”
  Social Media

  I hadn't realized that Google moved from a verb into an adjective as well... [youtube]KIO8UtLTJwM[/youtube]
  
  
• 08.24.07
  Techcrunch vs. Creditcrunch
  Tech'nomics

  The New York Times is running a contrarian article today, highlighting a few Valley VCs who believe the credit crunch could be a boon to tech investing ’“ not a hindrance. "When the credit crunch happened, it almost immediately led to a better mood for tech bankers...the latest events will create critical momentum for the investors tempted to return to technology start-ups. The credit crunch pushes these people over the edge." - Keith Benjamin Partner at VC firm Levensohn Venture Partners
  
  

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