mad dog in the fog

A round-up of app's for the New LinkedIn application platform

"Now we have Magpie, which has the tag-line: “convert your tweets into bling-bling”. Magpie matches up advertisers with Twitter users who have agreed to periodically send out “magpie-tweets” containing the advertisers message, which will contain a link to the advertiser’s site."

"The problem with trying to determine ROI for social media is you are trying to put numeric quantities around human interactions and conversations, which are not quantifiable."

At VentureBeat’s Downturn Roundtable event this morning, Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr just gave a rundown of the top 10 things startups should be doing right now to keep their companies afloat in hard times.

"…we are seeing many companies looking at their cash balances and burn rates and deciding to cut burn to increase runway. We've done an exercise with our own portfolio that I wanted to share with all of you. I am calling it the survival matrix."

"When the service first appeared a couple of years ago, its appeal seemed largely limited to narcissists who wanted to let everybody know what they were doing in real time. But, like blogs and social-networking sites, Twitter is starting to cross into the mainstream, as a wide range of people find interesting uses for the brief notes."

"To preserve cash, many tech start-ups are rushing to lay off employees and cut expenses. They are shelving their dreams of Google-size riches and getting small, humble and thrifty, all with the more modest goal of surviving the coming economic winter."

"Of course, one man’s trivia may be another man’s must-know scoop. For every reader bored by a tweeter’s updates on his daily doings, there’s another who’s delighted to learn that their friend is taking up the cello or buying a new computer. Sorgatz uses his feed in part to keep up with friends who live in other states: “It’s kind of ‘ambient friendship,’” he says, “I learn about what they’re doing from these little pieces of information I pick up. I feel more connected to them…It’s part of their life, what they’re thinking about.” "

Good in-depth article about Twitter Spam. And I'm quoted!

Good checklist if your're planning an event / conference

A healthy dose of skepticism from Mr. Howlett. And make sure to read the comments from Tim O'Reilly.

Videos from FOWA 2008

"Both are all about getting software in the hands of prospective customers as fast as possible, and look to monetize that adoption downstream rather than upfront. Both provide a lower cost of entry and (often) a long-term cost savings, with a subscription-based revenue model."

"Any minute now we're having Yahoo! mass layoffs; in the past month, a dozen dotcom companies have slashed staff and at least five people I know have lost their jobs. As someone who went through a layoff last February, and another one right around Christmas 5 years ago (Thanks, AOL), I'd like to share some tips for surviving and going on to your next thing, assuming you're someone who gets the ax."

Makes a case for Twitter figuring out a revenue model ASAP

"So, last quarter: (1) the iPhone was a bigger revenue and profit generator than either the iPod or Mac; (2) Apple sold more iPhones than RIM sold BlackBerrys; and (3) Apple trailed only Nokia and Samsung in worldwide mobile phone handset revenue (and they’re not far behind Samsung)."

"Last week's bust of the largest spam operation in the world, which was run by a Queensland resident, has had no measurable impact on global spam volumes."

"Twitter, a start-up company in San Francisco that has become a household name, is the leading microblogging outfit. … But Twitter has absolutely no revenue — not even ads.

Yammer, a new and much smaller copycat aimed at corporate customers, has a mere 60,000 users. Unlike Twitter, its founders set out from the beginning to charge for its service. Just six weeks after its public debut, Yammer is already bringing in a modest amount of cash."

"…on the flip side, a bad economy will probably lead to an overall uptick in blogging, Alden says. "When you don't know where else to invest," he explains, "you invest in yourself."

Which is kind of a slick way of saying that when you get laid off or your company goes under, it's a good time to build your personal brand by blogging. Or, for that matter, if you suddenly find yourself with a lot of time on your hands, you might blog to fill the empty spaces. "You look for a way to reassert control," Alden points out. "That's a reason blogging surges in down times." "

"In the past five years, trends have justified that optimism and helped fuel massive venture-capital investments in online start-ups that will, theoretically, one day be advertising-supported. But what if the advertising isn't there, or if the shift doesn't happen as fast as once thought?"

That's the new reality filtering down to start-ups: If advertising was your panacea, better think of something else and quick.

New blog focused on disruptive advertising

"Now is a great time to start a company. Why? Because great people are available to join you, VCs are loaded with cash, and office space is available cheap. Everything is cheap and readily available in a recession."

"Why are companies doing this now? Based on the CEOs I’ve spoken with, it isn’t just about cutting costs in preparation for a downturn. Some CEOs see this as a once-in-a-startup opportunity to get rid of the deadwood in the company."