The Archives

01.24.08

10 Pros and 10 Cons for Facebook Being the Next Google
Social Networking
Cons 1. Employees self-proclaim “we don’t do any work!” 2. First serious attempt at monetization was a disaster 3. Early scam artists are now investors 4. Struck a deal with Microsoft, not Google 5. CEO is regarded as a ‘douche bag’ 6. MySpace still crushes FB in terms of eyeballs and MySpace really sucks 7. The younger generation is all about Webkinz 8. FB top engineer masquerades as a stripper on weekends 9. Facebook’s idea of good PR is a 60 Minutes special 10. The valuation is crazy even compared to companies making real revenues Pros 1. Catching up to Myspace like a Ferrari 2. Has a war chest of cash on ...
01.17.08

Um, When Did Media Conventions Go to Hell?
Pop Culture
Over the last two weeks there have been some crazy happenings in the world of media consumption… Steve Jobs informed us that 40% of Americans read one book, or less last year Gawker Media decided to rip on an innocent girl for once being overweight and the audience ate it up The AP [Reuters] declared, “Now and for the foreseeable future, virtually everything involving Britney is a big ...
01.14.08

Startup Monetization Strategy: Brand-Claimed Accounts
Business Models, Social Media
There is a good dialogue taking place on business models started by Chris Anderson. However, one model I see left out is what I call “brand-claimed accounts.” In a recent post on handles and user names I made the point that many startups have begun to attract interest (use) from brands and other organizations who are looking to have presence on new media websites and apps. The reasoning for a brand to want presence on different sites could range from communications and marketing (Twitter) to advertising (Facebook Fan Pages) to Biz Dev (Jobster or LinkedIn) to SEO. While ...
01.08.08

The Mistake That Some Startups Make
Social Media
From an investment perspective it has always bothered my that some startups launch with the goal of first obtaining scale, and only later introducing advertising or other form(s) of monetization. However, this strategy has also bothered me from my perspective as user. It wasn’t until now that I knew why. Fred Wilson over at Union Square Ventures and host of others have recently chimed in regarding Twitter’s lack of a business model. Twitter is perhaps the epitome of a startup lacking any clear money making direction and yet we all know it is coming. Facebook is another example of a ...
12.28.07

Sam Huleatt’s Beautiful and Bold 2008 Predictions
Business Models, Social Media
In no particular order: It still looks, feels and tastes like 2007. [Brilliant Post] The domain real-estate business is going to blow up. Thrice this week I heard someone describe a business model involving the purchase of high-octane URLs as key to strategy…twice from startups and once from an investment firm. Tactics are already gaining sophistication and personal real estate is key to social graph identity Web 2.0 upstarts not generating cash ...
12.20.07

“MySpace is for strippers who work from home”
Social Networking
12.03.07

Launching a Business Via Facebook Pages: New York Singles Scene
Brands and Marketing, Social Media
An idea came to my roommate and I this evening. Why not try the reverse of what Facebook intended for companies using Facebook Pages? Instead of advertising an existing company, why not use the Pages medium to launch something new? But, what to launch? Since I have been writing about dating in 2007, it seemed obvious! I could kill two birds with one stone. Thus is born experiment number two: “New York Singles Scene” (NYSS). In the spirit of anti-stealth, I have no idea how we will monetize this business, but that’s not really the point (see below). Here is ...
11.27.07

Back to Basics
My Experiences
I’m not happy with this blog. I have been blogging a lot recently but I am not getting much satisfaction from it. I don’t like the fact that the majority of my posts for the last six months have been focused on Facebook. Facebook is a huge force, but it’s not the be all end all and it doesn’t play nearly as large a role in my professional life as my reference frequency would indicate. Over the past couple weeks I have been very into updating my “status” in GChat (equivalent to an away message in AIM) and with some ...
11.26.07

Facebook Pages: The Myth, the Legend, the Lameness
Pop Culture, Social Networking
Still Puzzled… I still have not heard back from Facebook regarding what I allegedly did wrong. However Facebook did indicate that it removed one of my pages! I cannot figure out if this actually happened, but if it did, Facebook is on my shit list. All FB needed to do was politely inform me, take over the disputed Page (brand) and then give the Page to its ‘rightful’ owners. I use 'rightful' loosely. There is nothing indicating authentication is necessary to register a Page, so anyone should be able to do what I have done without consequence. Plus, why erase ...
11.24.07

I offended Facebook
Social Networking
Apparently I have gone and done something bad on Facebook... But what did I do? I have no idea, unless this has something to do with the brand pages I made a couple weeks ago. So I have emailed Facebook's Management (the warning does not even reference the disputed ‘Page’ in question) to figure out if this is a mistake. More to come…

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