My latest post is now up on TechCrunch. What follows is the unedited director’s cut.
The point of this article is to redefine how startups (not solely tech companies) view and define early adopters and the “echo chamber” in order to gain momentum in order to “cross the chasm” to the next tier of evolution, adoption, and monetization. This is about uncovering the very people who can benefit from what they’re introducing and in turn, evolve the product/service based on real world feedback.
I had the pleasure of attending the S.F. Bay Area Web 2.0 executive group meeting, at Plug and Play Tech Center in San Jose.
Shobeir Shobeiri, business relationship manager for Plug and Play, organized and hosted the event.
When I asked him about his inspiration for starting such a group he told me he wanted to, “create a group for executives to grow together.” Simple enough. He continued, “Our group is intended to grow a community of people in the Web 2.0 realm.”
This was STIRR ’s sixth event and there was no doubt that it was the biggest to date. In fact they had to move from Blue Chalk in Palo Alto to The Whisper Lounge in SF in order to accomodate the growth. In discussions with Sean Ness and Joanne Wan, estimates were easily placed at about 225.
Last night’s Silicon Valley NewTech Meetup was definitely the biggest yet.
Vincent “Vinnie” Lauria again took center stage to welcome guests, which included VCs, engineers, programmers, entrepreneurs, bloggers, and plenty of CEOs.
The evening’s lineup included four up-and-coming Web startups, some more well known than others (and maybe one that really isn’t a startup per se). And interestingly enough, all seem to have found their niche for creating a loyal customer-base.
What a last couple of days….sorry to report on this so late, but, as always, you will get one helluva a report!
For all of you SiliconBeat readers, you may have found this message…
And for you others, you may have read at SiliconBeat, Valleywag, Stowe Boyd’s Message, among many others…VentureBeat recently launched, and then crashed amidst the linking frenzy that ensued…but has emerged as a bonafide resource for Venture-related deals and companies worth tracking in and around Silicon Valley.
With all of the hype and buzz around free WiFi and big investments in companies trying to bring free connectivity to a neighborood near you, including venture-funded Fon, Google’s new service for Mountain View residents and employees and Wireless Silicon Valley…one company is taking a different approach. They are making Wifi earn money for you!
Founded by David Sidrane and Rob Harding, WifiTastic officially introduced its public BETA program recently. Unlike the others, WifiTastic enables any broadband subscriber to create a revenue generating hotspot, providing high speed, wireless internet access to users of WiFi-ready laptops, PCs, Macs, and PDAs. In a sense, it’s a one stop shop package to seamlessly resell shared access to the Web.
Skeptic over at Dead “Twenty”- inside joke- ran an impressive post today regarding the ideas, benefits, and consequences of blogs taking VC funding.
I’ll run a few excerpts, but make sure to jump over there and read the full article.
He starts by asking, “So the question is, can bloggers successfully build businesses that are worth funding?” Then continues, “An even better question is: why raise the money?”
Unfortunately I had to miss what turned out to be an amazing party. I had to sneak-in one last camping getaway with the family before the end of summer. Laurence (Lo) Toney, VP Marketplace Operations, art.com, attended TechCrunch 7 and was gracious enough to provide us with his wrap-up report.
Brian Solis is principal at Altimeter Group, a research-based advisory firm. Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has studied and influenced the effects of emerging media on business, marketing, publishing, and culture. His current book, Engage, is regarded as the industry reference guide for businesses to build and measure success in the social web.
Recent Comments:
February 8, 2012
February 8, 2012
February 8, 2012
February 8, 2012
February 8, 2012