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Archive for the ‘Venture Capital’ Category

To charge or not to charge…

Posted in Business models, Investments, Market research, Strategy, Technology, Venture Capital, Web 2.0 on March 9, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Here is an interesting post by Josh Kopelman at redeye VC that I came across. I does refer to the recent wired article by Chris Anderson – “Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business”

“The huge psychological gap between “almost zero” and “zero” is why micropayments failed. It’s why Google doesn’t show up on your credit card. It’s why modern Web companies don’t charge their users anything. And it’s why Yahoo gives away disk drive space. The question of infinite storage was not if but when. The winners made their stuff free first.”

Click here to read this post

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Viewpoints from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, Gerbsman Partners, Intellectual capital, Investments, Market research, Mobile, Open Garden, Technology, Venture Capital, Web 2.0, Wireless, Wireless 2.0 on February 19, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Tony Fish is a member of Gerbsman Partners Board of Intellectual Capital and spend his days with AMF Ventures in London, UK.

I have just had the pleasure of spending a few days with the Ogilvy team at the MobileWorldCongress in Barcelona and though that you may wish to have my early thoughts!

Overall you get the impression that 2.0 thinking [the move from isolation, separation and solitude to engagement, relationship and conversation] is being taken seriously by all the players in the extended value chain – motivations being fear and greed. There is a definite awaking that customer ownership and indeed Brand Value is not about billing or handsets.

Innovation, being a good yard stick, would defiantly indicate that there is plenty of opportunity to capture both new value and leak it away from existing players, with an expectation that a ‘new entrant’ will emerge to capture a significant proportion of the value whilst the major global web and mobile players are diverted; fighting each other.

However my sense was that technology, which has been the heart of MWC in previous incarnations was not the driver this year. Indeed I would go as far as suggesting that ‘mashup’ was the focus as each of the key platforms [mobile, web, TV, print and radio], seek to own more the customers purse and mind share.

The question or debate remains however. ‘Is it open or something else?’ Our growing team http://www.amfventures.com is building and delivering strategy and knowledge on this topic as ‘Mobile Web 2.0’ is becoming main stream.

Whilst speaking with Sun, who is committed to “open”, I discovered that they are supporting a startupcamp, March 7-8th, with MySQL, Google and Saleforce all speaking, and aiming to attract startups who want to be the Google, given that many of the major 2.0 players already run on Sun! http://uk.sun.com/sunnews/events/2008/mar/startupcamp/

Widgets & Gadgets featured heavily at MWC as they have already had a significant impact on content distribution and the viral take up of new services such as social networks like Facebook and MySpace and with a number of widget only companies raising substantial VC funding recently. mashup* event is running an evening debate on Widgets, which looks to be another worth while event! http://www.mashupevent.com/event/mashup-event-widgets-gadgets

I am still looking for great blogs and content to link to our research page…… http://www.amfventures.com/20_research.html

Warmest Regards
Tony Fish

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Happy, Healthy & Safe New Year- Paris in the Winter

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, Community, Gerbsman Partners, Intellectual capital, Technology, Venture Capital, Web 2.0, Wireless 2.0 on January 3, 2008| Leave a Comment »

There is nothing like Paris in the winter. The city of lights shined bright with hope, laughter and joy. From the moment we arrived, where we met a smiling and helpful customs agent and during our week’s stay, the people of Paris and France were friendly, helpful, supportive and cheerful. Our group ate and walked and ate and walked, etc.

We found little local Bistro’s where the food was like 5 star restaurants. The Eiffel Tower shown bright all night from our balcony and all enjoyed.

During the week I met with 2 VC’s and one Investment Banker. The market in France and Europe has similar characteristics to the US right now, with credit tight, technology companies that were funded over the past 2-3 years needing additional capital and a sense of consolidation for Web 2.0 and Wireless Web companies. Marc Goldberg, Principal of Occam Capital, is optimistic regarding consolidation opportunities for distressed assets and IP and projects a great opportunity for Europe to provide US companies with quality IP assets.

All in all, a great trip. As we begin the new year, may it be one of good health, hope for the future and safety for all.

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Google Gears

Posted in Adobe, Gerbsman Partners, Intellectual capital, Investments, Java, Microsoft, Mobile, Open Garden, OpenSocial, Silverlight, Sun Microsystems, Technology, Venture Capital, Web 2.0, Wireless, Wireless 2.0 on December 26, 2007| Leave a Comment »

holiday07_1.gifTony Fish, a member of Gerbsman Partners Board of Intellectual Capital, posted on his blog Open Gardens, an interesting comment a few days back in regards to Google Gears. Click here for the full entry.

Anit Jaokar, a partner of Tony Fish, discusses Google Gears. Google Gears is comprised of a local database, local processes and a web server – with the logic being written in Java script. Hence, Gears potentially fits in well with Mobile Ajax and Gears as well as with Mobile Web Widgets (and by that I mean Widgets created using Web standards as opposed to Widsets and similar products).

It’s a very intriguing thought in regards to mobile offline browsing. When looking on Java, Mobile Flash, Adobe Air, and MS Silverlight – something emerges. The thought of synchronizing online applications onto mobile device or desktop for later access is what web services and online services have missed out on. It is in fact so, that everyone is not online all the time – and most people unplug to get productive.

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Marvin Davis,- Member of Gerbsman Partners Board of Intellectual Capital releases “TAKE NO PRISONERS”

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, Distressed Intellectual Property, Distressed IP, Gerbsman Partners, Intellectual capital, Investments, Venture Capital on December 9, 2007| Leave a Comment »

bookcover.gifMarvin Davis, a member of Gerbsman Partners Board of Intellectual Capital has just released his new book; “Take No Prisoners”.

“Whether you are a manager, corporate director, executive, or business owner, this book supplies an effective no-nonsense action plan for fixing problems, strengthening weak spots, and building profitable competitive operations”.

As a seasoned turnaround expert, Marvin Davis has seen companies make the same mistakes over and over again. In TAKE NO PRISONERS, he shows companies how to achieve their full profitability potential by asking themselves some very basic questions and analyzing their operations properly, Packed with dozens of real-world examples and ready-to-use worksheets, the book shows you how to critically investigate every aspect of your operations….from marketing strategies to pricing policies, from products and services to operating costs and overhead….uncovering devastating inefficiencies as well as hidden opportunities for enhancing profitability. These often simple, proven ideas have worked for organizations small and large, both public and privately held and they can help yours too.

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