Ideation on social media, venture capital and startups 
Leveraging Ideas
October 2007
The Archives
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10.31.07Social Architecture
Social MediaA term I have been using with increasing frequently is “social architecture,” particularly in the context of explaining an area of my expertise. To me, social architecture is best thought of as a cross between three elements: interface design, social media functionality and user engagement strategy. The roots of social architecture are in sociology principles, especially relating to community. Social architecture is a sub segment within the growing field of technology, specifically social media. Social media itself spans many genres; from marketing (SMM) to optimization (SMO), to design to PR to communications to development. In my opinion, social architecture ...
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10.30.07Investing in People For a Profit: The Human Capital Marketplace
Pop CultureWhen VCs make investments we are told that they are really “investing in people.” Some businesses invest in advanced education for their top employees. I have always thought it would be interesting if people could invest in other people. Consider this – if a VC is really investing in people, then why are people not investments in and of themselves, rather than simply vehicles to investment? We can now invest in everything from weather derivatives to exotic asset classes. What if you could invest in an entrepreneur, rather than his or her company? Would that person have more incentive to ...
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10.30.07Who Knew Work Was Such a Dirty Word??
Pop CultureWarning: This Post Contains Links to Adult Content At Heights Media Group, we have been doing quite a lot of research surrounding the concept of “work.” Most recently I conducted an SEO analysis for the keyword work to see what were the most searched for combinations of search terms surrounding “work.” You might think that the results would include working-out, work sucks, work help, etc. You would be wrong…. I present to you the analysis with keyword combinations and number of searches per month. Shockingly, the number one result? “Big Tits at Work,” which leads to some rather adult content. ...
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10.29.07Facebook Isn’t A Social Network, LinkedIn Is
Social NetworkingIf networking is defined as “expanding one's social network or sphere of influence by initiating mutually advantageous new relationships with people,” then the majority of Facebook users are not networkers. It’s clear to me in analyzing the current trends in Facebook use, that networking -- despite popular belief -- is not a core activity among users. For example, try sending someone you don’t know a friend invite…more than likely you will get turned down. Do you accept invites from people you don’t know? Probably not. Instead people use their favorite social utility to keep in touch, manage and ...
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10.27.07Making It Happen to Get Shift Done
Brands and MarketingLast year I blogged that one of my favorite expressions was “Make It Happen.” To me, it means no more bullshit -- just get it done. For one of the projects we’re working on we recently brainstormed on possible taglines. ‘Make it happen’ (not surprisingly) was at the top of the list. Unfortunately a startup called PlanHQ (collaboration software for startups) has used the name for their blog and a few other companies have used the phrase pervasively in copy. As a result, we’ve decided against using it, but I am left wondering how trademarks apply to taglines? Also, when ...
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10.25.07Paid Volunteerism, the New ‘Philanthropic’ Trend
CSRVery interesting article from Tuesday’s New York Times highlighting the trend for “paid volunteerism.” The article highlights Frederick A. O. Schwarz Jr., the retired Cravath Partner and heir of the F.A.O Schwarz fortune. Stated Schwarz: “An organization and a person are simply more committed to each other when the person is paid.” According to the Times, an ever-growing number of retirees and nonprofit executives believe that this mindset is how modern retirees view nonprofit work. Experts agree that the automatic link between doing good and working for nothing has been permanently severed. The article further states that even the wealthiest ...
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10.25.07An Analysis of New York City Venture Capital Investors
Venture CapitalI recently got my hands on a database of New York City venture capitalists and was able to run some numbers. Altogether the list represented 29 firms and 259 VC’s. Despite opinions to the contrary – at least in New York – it certainly helps to have an MBA and in particular, have attended Harvard Business School…how east coast :) Some Stats: Only 9.6% of NY- based VCs are women Of the 250 who had listed their undergraduate alma maters 41% attended an Ivy League school 140 (56%) hold MBA degrees Of the MBA’s, exactly 50% went to Harvard Business ...
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10.24.07Your Facebook Profile is Worth $306.12
Social NetworkingI don’t have much to say on Facebook/Microsoft deal, expect to say, “wow, that’s a lot of money.” Nevertheless, I wanted to provide some vaguely helpful insight, so I started digging into a few numbers. My first thought was: I wonder what an individual profile is valued at under this deal? Also, how does that figure compare to Myspace two years ago? Furthermore, what’s the implication for the social networking marketplace? Web 2.0 valuations are of interest to me because no one has come up with a method for valuing the hundreds (maybe thousands) of social networks and other platforms that exist. ...
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10.23.07New York: The True Social Media Hotspot?
Brands and Marketing, Social MediaOddly, despite San Francisco’s reputation as the social media hub, not one of the ‘top’ independent digital agencies specializing in social media holds offices in the bay area. Where do these social media bad boys all shack up then? New York City! Advertising Age recently published a list of the top 17 independent digital agencies. Of those 17, five were specifically listed with social media as a core offering. These social media specialists include: LBI/ Iconnicholson, 360I, Campfire Media, Deep Focus, and iCrossing. Of these five, all but iCrossing have offices in New York. Sounds great, right? Well a social ...
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10.22.07Facebook, Google & Video Tagging: Inevitable and Scary
Social Media, Tech'nomicsOne of Facebook’s simplest, yet most powerful features is the ability for users to upload photos which anyone on Facebook can then ‘tag’ with the names of the people in the photo. Not only does the “tagging” feature allow someone to identify if you are in a given photo, but it also allows them to specifically identify what person you are. From Facebook.com: “Facebook allows users to "tag" photos. Tagging a photo means that you identify the people pictured in the image. If the people are your Facebook friends, the tags will serve as links to their profiles. The ...
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