Facebook--How far can it go?

Here's an interesting video about why Mark Z. turned down the $1 Billion from Yahoo.

Steve Jobs, John Doerr and the iPhone Ecosystem

I have always maintained that Apple's future success depends on its ability to orchestrate the iPhone business ecosystem if it is to become more than a niche player. With iTunes and iPod, Apple evolved from being a niche player to be a mainstream player in the music sector. The critical decision was to make iPod and iTunes compatible with Windows. In doing so, Apple could potentially include and involve the multiple millions of Windows users--without such a large network to tap into, Apple would have been a marginal player in music.
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Now it is trying to be a rule-maker in the smart phone sector using a different approach: It is linking with John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins (the company that funded Amazon, Netscape and Google). The VC firm has established a $100 million fund (dubbed the iFund) to spearhead software development. This fund will prime the network in terms of motivating the developers to write applications for iPhone.
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Steve Jobs laid out the iPhone Software Roadmap on March 6. Time will tell if Apple succeeds with iPhone and be a viable competitor to RIM (Blackberry) and Microsoft (Windows Mobile), not to mention Symbian and Palm.

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Apple's move shows the importance of priming the network through investment dollars to gain preferential attention from third-party developers. The incentive has been announced. We will wait and see how the developer community responds.
Update: March 13, 2008
Here's a good video

Yahoo's Delay Tactics is Simply Wrong

Yahoo is floundering in the face of getting what I think is more-than-fair price to be acquired.

First, it says the price is too low and floats an 'acceptable' price. Microsoft does not counter offer.

Second, it tries to explore other possible avenues to see if it can get a reasonably competitive offer. It does not get anyone to make an offer anywhere close to the Microsoft offer.

Third, it tries to find creative ways to combine pieces of TimeWarner (AOL), NewsCorp (MySpace) and perhaps others that may not be publicly disclosed to show its shareholders that its value is much more than what Microsoft offered. Nothing remotely close in terms of a viable business model.
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And Now...
Fourth, Yahoo has mended its bylaws to extend the deadline for nominating new board members. It is afraid that the shareholder--who have already started filing law suits--may accept Microsoft's point of view.

I--for one--believes that Microsoft offered a fair (may be bordering on excessive) price to acquire Yahoo. In this industry--more that anywhere else--timing is critical. If Microsoft-Yahoo as a combined entity is to be competitive against Google, it must act fast. Real fast. Post-merger integration will not be easy--it is not about combining factories and supply chains to gain economies of scale in production. It is about combining smart talent and R&D proficiency to reap economies-of-expertise in delivering software-enabled services in a new marketplace. Protracted delays will diminish the potential synergies of the combined entity and dilute the value to yahoo shareholders--who will receive part of the purchase price in Microsoft stock. So, it is better to figure a way to make it happen or both should walk away from the deal. Nuanced boardroom games will hurt both and only help Google to march ahead.

So Yahoo--Why are you kicking the gift horse in its mouth? I am not saying that this is best for Microsoft but for Yahoo shareholders, this is a sweet, sweet offer.

Google Experiments in the Healthcare Field

Finally, we have the details of Google's experiment in the healthcare arena. Google announced that it is working with the Cleveland Clinic on this initial experiment--which seeks to put patients in charge of their own health information. Cleveland Clinic announced that:

Today, more than 100,000 Cleveland Clinic patients benefit from Cleveland Clinic’s electronic personal health record (PHR) system called eCleveland Clinic MyChart®. The pilot, an invitation-only opportunity offered to a group of Cleveland Clinic PHR users, plans to enroll between 1,500 and 10,000 patients.

It will test secure exchange of patient medical record data such as prescriptions, conditions and allergies between their Cleveland Clinic PHR to a secure Google profile in a live clinical delivery setting. The ultimate goal of this patient-centered and controlled model is to give patients the ability to interact with multiple physicians, healthcare service providers and pharmacies.

The CIO of Cleveland Clinic remarked that: "Patients are more proactively managing their own healthcare information.. At Cleveland Clinic, we strive to participate in and help to advance the national dialogue around a more efficient and effective national healthcare system....Utilizing Cleveland Clinic’s PHR expertise, this collaboration is intended to help Google test features and services that will ultimately allow all Americans (as patients) to direct the exchange of their medical information between their various providers without compromising their privacy."

From Google's point of view: According to Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Search Products and User Experience:

We believe patients should be able to easily access and manage their own health information.. We chose Cleveland Clinic as one of the first partners to pilot our new health offering because as a provider, they already empower their patients by giving them online tools that help them manage their medical records online and coordinate care with their doctors.

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Microsoft has earlier launched its Healthvault with its network of partners.

Now, here is another area of head-to-head competition between Microsoft and Google with little information available now about how the two companies plan to monetize theses initiatives or whether their approcahes will be different.

Transformations in Media: Newspaper Advertising

Newspaper industry shifts underway. What will the transformed business model look like?



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I think this is a fertile setting to study patterns of business transformations from the industrial age definitions and approaches to one reflecting a network point of view.

This data from the NY Times article is interesting to reflect:

Revenues are falling even as readership of major newspapers climbs sharply because of the Web. Most major papers set records for Internet traffic last month, Nielsen/NetRatings reported Thursday; the Web site of The Times had more than 20 million unique visitors, more than any other newspaper site.

It goes beyond the recent layoffs announced by NY Times today and the formation of QuadrantOne for newspaper advertising. It is about the logic of people will search, access, consume and share content in a network era.

Is NewsCorp Deal Serious for Yahoo to Reject Microsoft Offer?

The latest (mostly rumor) news is that News Corp (yes--the one who owns WSJ and MySpace among other properties) is interested in pooling MySpace with Yahoo. On the face of it, it makes sense for News Corp. to try to get into this game: MySpace + Yahoo will be a formidable competitor against Facebook (5% owned by Microsoft). But, I do not see how this could yield $40 plus billion dollars in valuation to seriously reject Microsoft's offer.
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It is more of the mating dance to up the ante. As I said before, the real question is: How high will Ballmer & Co. go to acquire Yahoo (and not make the same mistake that AOL made).

Microsoft-Yahoo Battle--It's all about the money!

Yahoo's counter offer of $40 is a smart move. Microsoft needs Yahoo. From Yahoo's perspective, this is the best of the strategic options available to them. They are simply trying to find an acceptable price.


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It will be interesting to watch how high will Ballmer go to get Yahoo?