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Saturday, October 20, 2007
Friendster Newsletter: Now in Chinese
Thursday, October 18, 2007
MySpace to Open Up, Too
MySpace to Open Up, Too
When media tycoon Rupert Murdoch surveys his empire, something looks amiss. His Internet crown jewel, MySpace, boasts 110 million users—more than double the tally for archrival Facebook. Yet Facebook is on the verge of taking a chunk of cash that could give it a value of $15 billion, while shares of Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS) family of businesses have barely budged this year, despite rapid online growth.
What gives? "It tells you that News Corp. is totally underpriced," Murdoch, the company's chief executive, said of his company's share performance at a Web industry conference Oct. 17. Earlier in the day, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of social networking site Facebook, told attendees that the company has nearly wrapped up financing that could value it at $15 billion (BusinessWeek.com, 10/17/07). This year shares of News Corp., which closed Oct. 17 at $23.64, are up just 1.4%, giving the company a market value of $69.61 billion—just five times Facebook's potential value, on nearly 200 times its revenue.
Third-Party Programs
Murdoch and MySpace co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe have a plan to change the parent company's online fortunes: They'll make it easier for outside software developers to build MySpace tools and then let them share in resulting ad sales. MySpace is following in the footsteps of Facebook, Apple (AAPL), and other tech trailblazers in harnessing the legions of programmers, many of them independent or affiliated with smaller companies, jonesing to craft the next big consumer application, be it related to games, photos, music, or other interests. "We are opening our platform within the next couple of months to all developers," DeWolfe said at the Web 2.0 conference put on by O'Reilly Media in San Francisco.
For News Corp., the aim is to generate revenue by courting new users and making current ones more active by giving them more to do on the site. Within the next two weeks, MySpace intends to publish a catalog of third-party programs that users can easily find and add to their pages. By December, MySpace plans to test with 2 million members a special portion of the site for installing applications that developers create using tools supplied by MySpace. Most of that software will eventually end up on the broader site, DeWolfe said.
Perhaps most important, MySpace will give outside developers a special page on which they can sell ads. That's big news for developers, whose businesses rest on the booming market for add-on "widget" software for Facebook, MySpace, and other social networks. Facebook's growth has boomed since May, when it opened up. Max Levchin, founder and CEO of widget software maker Slide, calls the ability to sell ads "the single most exciting opportunity for widget makers on MySpace," in an interview before News Corp.'s announcement. "Facebook's innovation was that you don't need a relationship with them to share revenue with them," he says. "They didn't invent the concept of widgets. But they got millions of people to stick around, and they actually made real money. Developers have a financial incentive to play."
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Why Google Won't Help Your VC Pitch
linky:
Why Google Won't Help Your VC Pitch
A conversation with a top venture capitalist yields three cautionary pieces of advice for Web startups seeking seed funding.
Why Google Won't Help Your VC Pitch
A conversation with a top venture capitalist yields three cautionary pieces of advice for Web startups seeking seed funding.
Ancestry.com parent sold for $300 million | Tech News on ZDNet
Ancestry.com parent sold for $300 million | Tech News on ZDNet
The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com, said on Wednesday that Spectrum Equity Investors will lead an investment of $300 million to buy a majority stake in the company. Spectrum, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based private equity firm with $4 billion in investments, has been a shareholder in TGN since 2003. Its portfolio includes a variety of financial services, media and communications companies. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Ancestry.com has collected more than 5 billion names from historical records and counts 2.5 million active site members. TGN owns a portfolio of sites including Ancestry.com and related international sites, MyFamily.com, RootsWeb.com and Genealogy.com. Other products include Family Tree Maker software and Ancestry Magazine.
The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com, said on Wednesday that Spectrum Equity Investors will lead an investment of $300 million to buy a majority stake in the company. Spectrum, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based private equity firm with $4 billion in investments, has been a shareholder in TGN since 2003. Its portfolio includes a variety of financial services, media and communications companies. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Ancestry.com has collected more than 5 billion names from historical records and counts 2.5 million active site members. TGN owns a portfolio of sites including Ancestry.com and related international sites, MyFamily.com, RootsWeb.com and Genealogy.com. Other products include Family Tree Maker software and Ancestry Magazine.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Seven Steps to Graphing Your Facebook Strategy
For nostalgic hippies in the SF bay area, this was the 40th anniversary of 1967’s famous Summer of Love. But for every Silicon Valley developer, entrepreneur, and VC who has a pulse it’s been the Summer of Facebook.
While it’s easy to put aside geeky exuberance over the latest insanely great technology, it’s impossible to ignore the growing size and scope of Facebook, and the impact it’s having on internet startups and traditional businesses alike. Over half of Facebook’s 43 million users visit every day, spend an average of 20 minutes on the site, and view over 54 billion total page views per month.
In a few short months Facebook has quickly become one of the most impressive user acquisition channels on the web, rivaling SEO & SEM strategies for priority with new startups. Over 60 Facebook applications have more than 1 million total users, and over 40 have at least 100,000 daily users.
With the groundbreaking launch of the Facebook Platform this past spring, and the subsequent runaway growth of Facebook Apps adopted by millions of users this summer, the question on everyone’s lips (including Google and Microsoft) has been: “So what’s your Facebook strategy?”. If you’re still scrambling to figure out yours, read on.
Seven Steps to Graphing Your Facebook StrategyMonday, October 01, 2007
Spotlight on Bebo
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Friday, September 28, 2007
Social Networking Apps for the Enterprise
I've been checking out social networking for then enterprise, here's some stuff to look at in regards to:
BEA AquaLogic Pathways 1.0 http://en.terpri.se/alpathways/demo/demo.html
Cogenz Enterprise Edition 1.0 https://eweek.cogenz.net
Connectbeam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZAwwjm2BEQ
IBM Lotus Connections 1.0 http://demos.dfw.ibm.com/on_demand/Streamed/IBM_Demo_Lotus_Connections-1-Mar07.html
BEA AquaLogic Pathways 1.0 http://en.terpri.se/alpathways/demo/demo.html
Cogenz Enterprise Edition 1.0 https://eweek.cogenz.net
Connectbeam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZAwwjm2BEQ
IBM Lotus Connections 1.0 http://demos.dfw.ibm.com/on_demand/Streamed/IBM_Demo_Lotus_Connections-1-Mar07.html
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Associated Press: Report: Microsoft May Buy Facebook Stake
The Associated Press: Report: Microsoft May Buy Facebook Stake
Setting the stage for a possible bidding battle, Microsoft Corp. is mulling an investment in Facebook Inc. that would value the rapidly growing online hangout at $10 billion or more, according to a report published Monday. Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal said Microsoft is holding preliminary discussions that could culminate in a $300 million to $500 million investment in Facebook, a Palo Alto social-networking site founded just 3 1/2 years ago.
In exchange for the money, Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft would receive up to a 5 percent stake in privately held Facebook, which has previously raised nearly $41 million from venture capitalists and other individual investors. Facebook declined to comment on the reported discussions as did Microsoft, which branded the report as 'rumor and speculation.' An outright sale of Facebook is considered unlikely.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's 23-year-old co-founder and chief executive, has repeatedly expressed his desire to remain independent. He rejected a $1 billion acquisition offer from Yahoo Inc. last year.
Setting the stage for a possible bidding battle, Microsoft Corp. is mulling an investment in Facebook Inc. that would value the rapidly growing online hangout at $10 billion or more, according to a report published Monday. Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal said Microsoft is holding preliminary discussions that could culminate in a $300 million to $500 million investment in Facebook, a Palo Alto social-networking site founded just 3 1/2 years ago.
In exchange for the money, Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft would receive up to a 5 percent stake in privately held Facebook, which has previously raised nearly $41 million from venture capitalists and other individual investors. Facebook declined to comment on the reported discussions as did Microsoft, which branded the report as 'rumor and speculation.' An outright sale of Facebook is considered unlikely.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's 23-year-old co-founder and chief executive, has repeatedly expressed his desire to remain independent. He rejected a $1 billion acquisition offer from Yahoo Inc. last year.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
ThemBid.com » Blog Archive » Facebook Founder Announces 10 Million Dollar Grant Fund
ThemBid.com » Blog Archive » Facebook Founder Announces 10 Million Dollar Grant Fund
Mark Zuckerberg has announced today, at the Tech Crunch 40, that the investors at Facebook have created a 10 million dollar fund to support companies that develop on the FaceBook platform. The fund is open for application to existing developers as well as start ups. They are looking for ideas that are innovative and disruptive. No formal web site exists; however, you can pitch your idea directly at platform@facebook.com. They do not require re-payment; however, they want first right of refusal upon obtainment of VC capital. The will fund between 25K and 250K.
Mark Zuckerberg has announced today, at the Tech Crunch 40, that the investors at Facebook have created a 10 million dollar fund to support companies that develop on the FaceBook platform. The fund is open for application to existing developers as well as start ups. They are looking for ideas that are innovative and disruptive. No formal web site exists; however, you can pitch your idea directly at platform@facebook.com. They do not require re-payment; however, they want first right of refusal upon obtainment of VC capital. The will fund between 25K and 250K.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Volkswagen 'Nazi' Subpoena Points Up Social-Networking Privacy Policies
Volkswagen 'Nazi' Subpoena Points Up Social-Networking Privacy Policies
A legal spat between YouTube and Volkswagen is throwing light on the increasing copyright surveillance of social networking sites. Volkswagen has filed a subpoena seeking the identity of a YouTube user who posted a Nazi-themed parody of a recent VW Golf commercial.
Volkswagen's move underscores the privacy risks to a blossoming community of users on sites like YouTube and Yahoo Video, and social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Copyright holders and their agents have long been monitoring activity on file-sharing networks such as BitTorrent and Gnutella. Now they're turning their attention to the social networks.
'The social networking sites have definitely become a new focal point,' said Evan Cox, a San Francisco copyright attorney who, with his colleagues, issue thousands of takedown notices a year. 'As a consequence, they've gotten more focus from copyright owners.'
A legal spat between YouTube and Volkswagen is throwing light on the increasing copyright surveillance of social networking sites. Volkswagen has filed a subpoena seeking the identity of a YouTube user who posted a Nazi-themed parody of a recent VW Golf commercial.
Volkswagen's move underscores the privacy risks to a blossoming community of users on sites like YouTube and Yahoo Video, and social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Copyright holders and their agents have long been monitoring activity on file-sharing networks such as BitTorrent and Gnutella. Now they're turning their attention to the social networks.
'The social networking sites have definitely become a new focal point,' said Evan Cox, a San Francisco copyright attorney who, with his colleagues, issue thousands of takedown notices a year. 'As a consequence, they've gotten more focus from copyright owners.'
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Facebook Parts Walled Garden, Triggers Privacy Concerns
Facebook Parts Walled Garden, Triggers Privacy Concerns
Does opening the social networking site to search indexes make Facebook a 'quasi-White Pages of the Web?
Facebook on Sept. 5 made its member listings searchable by outside users and public search engines, and in a seemingly innocuous move to help its 40 million users find each other, threatened its hard-won reputation for strict privacy practices.
The adjustment means a query of a Facebook member's name on search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN will return a user's name and thumbnail picture, and thus the end of the walled garden image often touted by the site.
Conscious of the fact that the new approach may raise privacy concerns, Facebook made it clear that users will only appear in searches outside Facebook when search settings are set to 'Everyone' and will allow users approximately one month to set their privacy options before Facebook allows search engines to index public search listings.
But the practice attracted the attention of several high-tech bloggers, including Danny Sullivan, John Battelle and Om Malik, who, in his blog, GigaOm, called the move a switch from social networking to a 'quasi-White Pages".
Does opening the social networking site to search indexes make Facebook a 'quasi-White Pages of the Web?
Facebook on Sept. 5 made its member listings searchable by outside users and public search engines, and in a seemingly innocuous move to help its 40 million users find each other, threatened its hard-won reputation for strict privacy practices.
The adjustment means a query of a Facebook member's name on search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN will return a user's name and thumbnail picture, and thus the end of the walled garden image often touted by the site.
Conscious of the fact that the new approach may raise privacy concerns, Facebook made it clear that users will only appear in searches outside Facebook when search settings are set to 'Everyone' and will allow users approximately one month to set their privacy options before Facebook allows search engines to index public search listings.
But the practice attracted the attention of several high-tech bloggers, including Danny Sullivan, John Battelle and Om Malik, who, in his blog, GigaOm, called the move a switch from social networking to a 'quasi-White Pages".
Friday, September 07, 2007
Quechup is rotten: don't accept invites - Boing Boing
Quechup is rotten: don't accept invites - Boing Boing: "Quechup is rotten: don't accept invites Posted by Xeni Jardin, September 4, 2007 6:30 AM # Discuss (38) As blogged here yesterday: While you were Burning / vacationing / spacing out offline this Labor Day weekend, many folks online were hit with invitations from a social networking service called Quechup that violates your address book, and abuses user trust by spamming all your contacts. "
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Twitter Updates: Exploring Twitter
Hello Twitter-ers,
We've launched a new area of our web site featuring different ways
you can interact with Twitter. Our friends at Stamen Design created
a particularly engaging application called Blocks--an interactive
way to discover people on Twitter. Special thanks to Motorola for
their sponsorship of this launch. There will be more cool stuff
here in the future so please come on by and check it out.
Explore Twitter: http://explore.twitter.com
Are You Mobile?
Sure, Timbaland and his MTV pals Twitter by txt but you don't have
to be a rock star to send and receive Twitter updates on the fly.
If you normally use Twitter over the web, why not switch things
up? Activate your mobile phone to work with Twitter so you can send
and receive updates anytime, anywhere.
Activate your phone: http://twitter.com/devices
Vegas, Baby!
Twitter will be in Las Vegas hobnobbing with some of your favorite
musicians and artists at the Video Music Awards starting tomorrow
and going all weekend. The MTV folks made arrangements to have a
bunch of cool artists Twittering away. If you want to follow these
artists as they party in Vegas, just text FOLLOW VMA to 40404.
Or visit the twitter.com/vma profile.
MTV VMAs: http://twitter.com/vma
What Happened This Morning?
We were performing optimizations to make Twitter faster and more
reliable and it took longer than expected. We scheduled some
downtime for the wee hours of the morning but the work spilled over
into normal human daytime. Hopefully, this didn't put too much of
a crimp in your Twittering style. The good news is we got the work
done and Twitter is better for it.
Search Twitter
Recently, we've launched search so you can find more folks to
follow or even discover people you didn't know were on Twitter. We
also built an easy way to find out who from your Gmail Address book
is already on Twitter. To use either of these new features, click
the "Find & Invite" link at the top of of the Twitter web site.
Find & Invite: http://twitter.com/invitations
Other Cool Stuff
There's a geeky new show premiering later this month on NBC and
the character Twitters: http://twitter.com/chuckbartowski
Reactee has created an easy way to make your own t-shirts
customized with your Twitter username: http://twitter.reactee.com
71Miles is using Twitter to send exclusive, limited discounts to
classy resorts and spas in California: http://twitter.com/71miles
Okay, that's all for now. Gotta get back to work.
Happy Twittering,
Biz Stone and the Twitter Team
http://twitter.com/biz
We've launched a new area of our web site featuring different ways
you can interact with Twitter. Our friends at Stamen Design created
a particularly engaging application called Blocks--an interactive
way to discover people on Twitter. Special thanks to Motorola for
their sponsorship of this launch. There will be more cool stuff
here in the future so please come on by and check it out.
Explore Twitter: http://explore.twitter.com
Are You Mobile?
Sure, Timbaland and his MTV pals Twitter by txt but you don't have
to be a rock star to send and receive Twitter updates on the fly.
If you normally use Twitter over the web, why not switch things
up? Activate your mobile phone to work with Twitter so you can send
and receive updates anytime, anywhere.
Activate your phone: http://twitter.com/devices
Vegas, Baby!
Twitter will be in Las Vegas hobnobbing with some of your favorite
musicians and artists at the Video Music Awards starting tomorrow
and going all weekend. The MTV folks made arrangements to have a
bunch of cool artists Twittering away. If you want to follow these
artists as they party in Vegas, just text FOLLOW VMA to 40404.
Or visit the twitter.com/vma profile.
MTV VMAs: http://twitter.com/vma
What Happened This Morning?
We were performing optimizations to make Twitter faster and more
reliable and it took longer than expected. We scheduled some
downtime for the wee hours of the morning but the work spilled over
into normal human daytime. Hopefully, this didn't put too much of
a crimp in your Twittering style. The good news is we got the work
done and Twitter is better for it.
Search Twitter
Recently, we've launched search so you can find more folks to
follow or even discover people you didn't know were on Twitter. We
also built an easy way to find out who from your Gmail Address book
is already on Twitter. To use either of these new features, click
the "Find & Invite" link at the top of of the Twitter web site.
Find & Invite: http://twitter.com/invitations
Other Cool Stuff
There's a geeky new show premiering later this month on NBC and
the character Twitters: http://twitter.com/chuckbartowski
Reactee has created an easy way to make your own t-shirts
customized with your Twitter username: http://twitter.reactee.com
71Miles is using Twitter to send exclusive, limited discounts to
classy resorts and spas in California: http://twitter.com/71miles
Okay, that's all for now. Gotta get back to work.
Happy Twittering,
Biz Stone and the Twitter Team
http://twitter.com/biz
How Mark Zuckerberg Turned Facebook Into the Web's Hottest Platform
How Mark Zuckerberg Turned Facebook Into the Web's Hottest Platform:
"How Mark Zuckerberg Turned Facebook Into the Web's Hottest Platform By Fred Vogelstein Email 09.06.07 | 2:00 AM Photo: Emily Shur He didn't have much choice but to sell. It was summer 2006, a little more than two years after Mark Zuckerberg had created Facebook in his Harvard dorm room as a way for him and his friends to better connect with schoolmates. In the intervening years, he'd raised $37.7 million from venture capitalists and transformed his modest Web site into a certified social phenomenon. College kids across the nation clamored for access, which Zuckerberg doled out, school by school. By mid-2006, about 7 million users, most of them college students, had a Facebook account."
"How Mark Zuckerberg Turned Facebook Into the Web's Hottest Platform By Fred Vogelstein Email 09.06.07 | 2:00 AM Photo: Emily Shur He didn't have much choice but to sell. It was summer 2006, a little more than two years after Mark Zuckerberg had created Facebook in his Harvard dorm room as a way for him and his friends to better connect with schoolmates. In the intervening years, he'd raised $37.7 million from venture capitalists and transformed his modest Web site into a certified social phenomenon. College kids across the nation clamored for access, which Zuckerberg doled out, school by school. By mid-2006, about 7 million users, most of them college students, had a Facebook account."
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Startup Offers Privacy For Sale -- But Is Anyone Buying?
The commercials have started on TV also - a $1,000,000 guarantee that you won't be a victim of identity theft. The inevitable product of social networks and the internets.
1. Sign up for service
2. Hire script kiddie to break for $10,000
3. PROFIT!?!?!?!
Startup Offers Privacy For Sale -- But Is Anyone Buying?:
Privacy is fast becoming the trendy concept in online marketing. An increasing number of companies are flaunting the steps they've taken to protect the privacy of their customers. But studies suggest consumers won't pay even 25 cents to protect their data. In one week in July, Ask.com unveiled AskEraser, a tool that will allow users to obliterate their search histories; Microsoft announced enhanced privacy controls for its Windows Live service; and Google and Yahoo shrank the amount of time they retained IP addresses and search logs, reducing the ability of government agencies to subpoena such data.
1. Sign up for service
2. Hire script kiddie to break for $10,000
3. PROFIT!?!?!?!
Startup Offers Privacy For Sale -- But Is Anyone Buying?:
Privacy is fast becoming the trendy concept in online marketing. An increasing number of companies are flaunting the steps they've taken to protect the privacy of their customers. But studies suggest consumers won't pay even 25 cents to protect their data. In one week in July, Ask.com unveiled AskEraser, a tool that will allow users to obliterate their search histories; Microsoft announced enhanced privacy controls for its Windows Live service; and Google and Yahoo shrank the amount of time they retained IP addresses and search logs, reducing the ability of government agencies to subpoena such data.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Social Networking Hits Investing
Social Networking Hits Investing:
"Social Networking Hits Investing More investors are meeting and sharing ideas in online trading communities. Should you base your portfolio moves on the wisdom of crowds?"
"Social Networking Hits Investing More investors are meeting and sharing ideas in online trading communities. Should you base your portfolio moves on the wisdom of crowds?"
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