George Angel's Blog (10)

I went to the Startup camp 2008 event tonight and stayed for the first 3 presentations. They were: - Patrick Lor, the founder of iStock, who has successfully sold his company for $50 million. He talked about VC pitches - George, one of the founders of Smart Hippo, a site that provides you with the best mortgage deal possible - Bruno, one of the founders of DokDok, a document and version management software that banks on people not changing their habits of sending files by emails rather than cre… Continue

A new study by USC and UC Berkley has come to some astounding conclusions about the way young people use the Internet and especially Web 2.0 technologies to learn important social and technical skills: * There is a generation gap in how youth and adults view the value of online activity. * Youth are navigating complex social and technical worlds by participating online. * Young people are motivated to learn from their peers onl… Continue

Hello everyone, Did you know it was entrepreneurship week starting November 17, 2008? Since most of us (if not all) are entrepreneurs by nature, I thought it was worth mentioning. If you want to get involved, here is a site that celebrates this week: unleashingideas.org. For more information on how this week came into existence and what it means to be an entrepreneur in today's economy, as well as some very interesting, preconception-shattering fig… Continue

A very interesting article came up on the electronic version of McKinsey Quarterly about the unequal structure of industries, especially those rich in IP and other intangibles, called "Using 'Power Curves' to Assess Industry Dynamics". What this statistical analysis shows is that the more an industry progresses, the more the wealth generated is concentrated in the hands of fewer an… Continue

Here is a chart from the Economist which shows how the US, Japan and the OECD countries' economies will react over the next two years:

The GDP will bounce back, but the unemployment will be severe. Continue

A recent study by the Marketers Executive Networking Group published by Marketing Ladders under the title "Marketers still face steep Web 2.0 learning curve" shows once again the low level of understanding of the new media by marketers in general. 75% of respondents define social media as media that is based on conversations among users… Continue

A recent article from Marketing charts called "Three Marketing Initiatives Key to Breakout B2C Brand Growth" presents a study by the Marketing Leadership Council, as the title describes it, about three key initiatives to growing you consumer brand: Future-Nee… Continue

Recently I read an article in the McKinsey Quarterly called "Seven Ways China Might Surprise Us in 2009" and I wrote about a way that I thought was not very much explored in the article. Here is my letter (which might get published in the print version of the McKinsey Quarterly): "Hi, I truly appreciated your article since I am a great fan of Chinese culture and business. I have recently traveled to Chin… Continue

Howard Lindzon, a Canadian hedge fund manager, inspired a blog by Seth Godin about thinking big and acting small as a company. A very interesting perspective on today's economy, where mass media rewards thinking and acting big, which leads to the kind of debacle we are living right now. It triggers a reflection about startups as well, hiring loads of programmers befor… Continue

There is quite a buzz going on right now about cloud computing. It is hailed as the future of the Internet and predicted to change the face of business forever. But how will this concept going to change your marketing? This is a question that we will try to explore in a series of posts which will start by defining and demystifying cloud computing all the way to understanding Nicholas Carr's "The Big Switch" and how to make the best use of these new concepts in your marketing efforts. Stay tune… Continue