February 2012
1 post
Startup Valuations: Strong Like Bull
Startup valuations are going up. The ‘series-A crunch’ and imminent doomsday prognosticators can go suck it. I can’t argue that valuations aren’t ‘high.’ They are. But all any investor should care about now is where they go from here. And my math says they’re going higher because of asset reallocation, uninvested funds, and market under-representation of...
January 2012
1 post
Best Mobile Payments Co? @Uber.
Yeah, I know, it’s a car service. But it’s also an excellent example of what mobile payments is really about; that is, tap and go.
Sure booking your ride via iPhone with a few taps and seeing it show up on the map is pretty cool (except when it doesn’t show up and your downtown, cold, and drunk with unfortunately easy access to Twitter - sorry again fellas), but as I mentioned...
December 2011
4 posts
From Check-In to Check-Out
Here is the future: we will use one application to: find a place to go, get a targeted/relevant deal, book our reservation, check in and share our location, get recommendations and tips, see the location’s inventory and place our order, check out and pay, and maintain our loyalty programs.
FIND+DEAL+BOOK+CHECK-IN+TIPS+INVENTORY/ORDER+PAY+LOYALTY
Foursquare is likely best positioned to win...
Cookies for the Real World
I feel like Groupon, LivingSocial, foursquare, and similar companies are providing the real-world equivalent of digital cookies. Here’s what I mean…. Ten or fifteen years ago there was lots of online content and everyone was trying to figure out how to monetize it. At the same time, there were lots of companies selling stuff online and they were trying to figure out how to get people...
Promoted/Social Discovery and, um, Deals?
Just thinking about promoted / social discovery a bit more here…. I rambled last week about how Twitter will make lotsa money from promoted tweets similar to how StumbleUpon already makes lotsa money from promoted stumbles (both = promoted discovery); and a few weeks prior re foursquare and social discovery. But what if we think about them together and swirl in some daily deals…?
...
Twitter : StumbleUpon :: Google :...
Twitter’s gigantic freakin’ revenue opportunity is promoted tweets. And similar to how Google found its business model at Goto.com/Overture, Twitter is taking its cue from StumbleUpon. But first….
Remember when Google didn’t have a business model? Yeah, the Internet and media giant with a valuation of $150-200 billion, $35+ billion in annual revenue, and ~$15 billion in...
November 2011
3 posts
Foursquare v. Yelp, the Sequel to Facebook v....
The battle between Yelp and foursquare isn’t just heating up (with foursquare’s website relaunch), it’s also starting to smell a lot like the Google / Facebook war. (For what it’s worth, Facebook is winning that war.) And for good reason - by leveraging their respective social graphs, both Facebook and foursquare can and will give users information that is more relevant,...
Caterpillar Cowboy: Notes from Yelp's S-1 IPO... →
caterpillarcowboy:
Some quick thoughts after skimming Yelp’s S-1. Read it in the raw here.
22M reviews of 19M businesses, averaging 100 words per review.
529k businesses have “claimed” their page.
19k local businesses pay for advertising, spending an average of $234/mo.
Yelp made $40M in local…
Mike Damone's Five Point Plan for Raising Venture...
First of all Rat, you never let on how much you like a girl you’re impressed by an investor. “Oh, Debbie @fredwilson. Hi.”
Two, you always call the shots. “Kiss Invest in me. You won’t regret it.”
Now three, act like wherever you are whatever space you’re in, that’s the place to be. “Isn’t this great?”
Four, when ordering...
October 2011
1 post
: Check-In Based Ad Platform LocalResponse Raises... →
localresponsepress:
Alyson Shontell | Oct. 12, 2011
LocalResponse, a location-based advertising platform that runs across social media networks including Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter, has raised $5 million in equity financing.
Investors include Cava Capital, Vodafone Ventures, Advancit…
August 2011
2 posts
Why Love Groupon? They Hated Amazon Too...
I’m warming up to Groupon because of all the hate. Let me preface this by saying I’m not a buyer yet. And I may never be. And I may be early. And I may be late. Regardless, I’m warming up and here’s why….
It’s hard not to love something everybody hates so much. A hyper-growth, money-losing, digital media company valued at around $15 billion by the secondary...
July 2011
4 posts
It’s the (Social/Mobile/Cloud) Economy, Stupid...
And now for the dramatic conclusion…. In Parts 1 and 2, I outlined how the social/mobile/cloud economic expansion will stimulate job growth, market gains, and consumer spending that will incite a sustained period of broad economic growth. Now let’s look at how it trickles down to bankers, investors, and consumers. (Uh huh, trickles down.)
NASDAQ 5K
“When the ducks are quacking,...
It’s the (Social/Mobile/Cloud) Economy, Stupid...
In Part 1, I outlined how the social/mobile/cloud economic expansion we’re experiencing will stimulate job growth, market gains, and consumer spending that will incite a sustained period of broad economic growth. So let’s talk about those jobs (timely, considering we didn’t really create any in June)….
>2.5 million jobs. Per year.
So we need people to build, manage,...
It's the (Social/Mobile/Cloud) Economy, Stupid...
We are gonna party like it’s 1999.
We are 1-2 years into a 5 year cycle during which we will see robust economic growth that, similar to 1995-2000, will drive market indices to (almost?) unprecedented levels. And it’s all because of the move to social, mobile, and the cloud. Since before the LinkedIn IPO, the debate about whether we are or are not in a bubble has persisted. So...
6 Reasons Why @Jason is Wrong about $GOOG+
The debate about who will win social - Google or Facebook - is strikingly similar to the decade ago debate about who will win search - Microsoft or Google. And recently, Jason Calacanis gave us six reasons why Google+ will win big (he also suggests, admittedly again, that Google will steal half of Facebook’s value). So here are six reasons why history says he’s wrong….
1. He...
May 2011
1 post
LinkedIn Didn't Get Screwed - Zip It, Henry
The story thus far…. LNKD priced at $45, opened around $85 and has held or bested that valuation since then. Blodget argued that LinkedIn got “screwed” and that the bankers mispriced the deal. He then argued that even the “smart” arguments justifying the IPO pop were bogus. Gimme a break. A few notes….
The company raised >$400 million dollars on a valuation of...
March 2011
1 post
Why Google is Fucked(*)
(I’m finally putting this up after i read the fake report that Facebook was testing a new web search box on its homepage. Fine, it was a fake, but let’s be clear - Facebook will do search. And they’ll do it well. So without further ado….)
Not too long ago TechCrunch asked, “Do you think Google should feel threatened?” My answer then: ”yes.”...
January 2011
1 post
Ahhhh....
Took me a while. Just had to find my voice. Ahhhh.
February 2009
1 post
