tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62969322024-02-28T09:21:33.732-08:00Peter Weyant Ideas and InputThoughts about current business and technology areas...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-73982814368372280102012-03-31T09:05:00.001-07:002012-03-31T09:05:03.781-07:00Building Virtual Teams: Strategies For High Performance - Forbes<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/03/30/building-virtual-teams-strategies-for-high-performance/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">Building Virtual Teams: Strategies For High Performance - Forbes</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-56117725595096606172012-01-24T07:40:00.000-08:002012-01-24T07:40:48.592-08:00<div>Ownership has it's privileges, leverage that across the whole team.</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2012/01/24/creating-a-company-of-owners/">Creating a Company of Owners - Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing :: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-18913688263583322912011-11-04T19:53:00.001-07:002011-11-04T19:53:35.439-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Great comments on Groupon's IPO today - comparing it with a fertilizer company that had its IPO today as well. Who has the stronger fertilizer?</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Groupon's IPO may have surged today, but like most other big tech IPOs, the chances of it staying at that price are slim.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Rentech Nitrogen Partners L.P., a nitrogen fertilizer company, also launched its IPO at today at $20 per share. It probably has a better chance at sustaining its model than Groupon and subsequent daily deal copycats ever will. Says The Wall Street Journal:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Rentech has a lot of alluring attributes. Its chief competitors' stocks are up 50% for 2011. It's riding a wave of positive cyclical attributes such as high product pricing and low feedstock costs. And it plans to pay out a dividend that could yield between 11% and 12% over its next fiscal year, based on the midpoint of its expected $19 to $21 price range, a great draw for income-starved investors.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Groupon's bling is fake. Says the New Yorker, eloquently:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Most big tech I.P.O.s surge and then drop. And, with its decreasing profit margins, fishy accounting, massive marketing expenses, floundering innovations, massive insider payouts, and surging competitors, Groupon is surely not worth thirteen billion dollars, or whatever its market cap is at this very moment.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">If merchants start pulling out of the daily deals space because they're losing money on Groupons, the gold will start chipping away, revealing nothing but a cheap trick, a flimsy tin.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">- ReadWrite</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-56369577491684368212011-08-05T08:43:00.000-07:002011-08-05T08:43:41.932-07:00Build Your Own Productivity Style by Remixing the Best [Productivity]<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/fQH7p7R2fLI/how-to-build-your-own-productivity-style-by-remixing-from-the-best">Build Your Own Productivity Style by Remixing the Best [Productivity]</a>: "<div style="float:left;padding-right:10px"><br /> <br /> <div><a title="Click here to read Build Your Own Productivity Style by Remixing the Best" href="http://lifehacker.com/5828033/how-to-build-your-own-productivity-style-by-remixing-from-the-best"><br /> <img style="border-color:#B3B3B3;border-width:0 1px 1px;border-style:none solid solid" height="120" width="190" title="Click here to read Build Your Own Productivity Style by Remixing the Best" alt="Click here to read Build Your Own Productivity Style by Remixing the Best" src="http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/images/17/2011/08/small_nextactions-banner.jpg" /><br /> </a></div><br /> </div><br /> You've tried everything: asked around, played with a few theories about 'how you work best', and downloaded app after app promising to make you more efficient. If you feel like nothing's working, this crash course examines some of the most lauded productivity systems, then walks you through how to can cherry pick the methods that work for you to create your own productivity style. <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5828033/how-to-build-your-own-productivity-style-by-remixing-from-the-best" title="Click here to read more about Build Your Own Productivity Style by Remixing the Best [Productivity]">More »</a><br /> <br /> <br /><br /><a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=79d8586c8434c68206b3ca4c7c859e07&p=1"><img alt="" style="border:0" border="0" src="http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=79d8586c8434c68206b3ca4c7c859e07&p=1" /></a><br /><img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" src="http://segment-pixel.invitemedia.com/pixel?code=TechBiz&partnerID=167&key=segment" /><img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" src="http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-8bUhLiluj0fAw.gif?labels=pub.28252.rss.TechBiz.5734,cat.TechBiz.rss" /><div><br /><a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/lifehacker/full?a=fQH7p7R2fLI:-rq8Jtln-ig:H0mrP-F8Qgo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/lifehacker/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/lifehacker/full?a=fQH7p7R2fLI:-rq8Jtln-ig:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/lifehacker/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/lifehacker/full?a=fQH7p7R2fLI:-rq8Jtln-ig:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/lifehacker/full?i=fQH7p7R2fLI:-rq8Jtln-ig:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/lifehacker/full?a=fQH7p7R2fLI:-rq8Jtln-ig:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/lifehacker/full?i=fQH7p7R2fLI:-rq8Jtln-ig:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0" /></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~4/fQH7p7R2fLI" height="1" width="1" />"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-9022330821706340612011-07-23T10:29:00.000-07:002011-07-23T10:29:16.287-07:00Before you get locked into Lync, consider open source options | Open Source Software - InfoWorld<a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source-software/you-get-locked-lync-consider-open-source-alternatives-167683-0">Before you get locked into Lync, consider open source options | Open Source Software - InfoWorld</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-82549224235247309702011-06-27T06:48:00.000-07:002011-06-27T06:48:12.980-07:009 Steps to Consider When Valuing Your Startup<a href="http://mashable.com/2011/06/26/startup-value/">9 Steps to Consider When Valuing Your Startup</a><div>
<br /></div><div><meta equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 21px; ">Determining your startup’s worth is one of the hardest parts of the fundraising process. There is no magic formula that will spit out a valuation, namely because the number is highly subjective. The entrepreneur, for example, anticipates huge potential and may therefore put a high valuation on his company. The investor, on the other hand sees a company that needs capital to grow and may fail without it, so he may set a low valuation. To help the process, we’ve devised a few considerations to help value your company.</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-19766921133426437862011-05-11T11:45:00.000-07:002011-05-11T11:45:34.608-07:00Keep an eye on Google Chrome OS, making some major noise at the Google conference this week. Including new edge devices (Chromebooks) and services supporting the offline use of Google core applications coming this summer. Some major issues addressed on cost and security from a corporate standpoint as well as another option for a low cost consumer device to stroke the cloud.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-27358992036733099022011-04-09T18:46:00.000-07:002011-04-09T18:46:53.488-07:00Facebook is Great, But Does It Make Businesses Any Money?<a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/biz/2011/04/facebook-is-great-but-does-it-make-businesses-any-money.php?sms_ss=blogger&at_xt=4da10be3bf832a7d%2C0">Facebook is Great, But Does It Make Businesses Any Money?</a><div><br /></div><div><div>Some thoughts on social networking and revenue creation...</div><div><br /></div><div>Social networking is nothing more then another visibility tool for an initial dialog. The ability to to be available and engage an individual when and how they choose to engage is the issue. Opt in community (another word for social networking) to qualify who and why they should be in dialog with you to solve a problem is really no different then asking a neighbor about a lawn care service or a friend at the Chamber of Commerce meeting about a business attorney recommendation. The question of monetization for the business is really no different then evaluating that effort (hard/soft costs) for social activity vs. conversion - resulting revenue. Revenue for most is not a click through event, what I am referring to is the actual generation of core service or product revenue. Advertising and product placement in social sites is the same as yellow pages or search engine marketing. If that is where the buyer is, then engage them in the way they want to dialog. For customer support, social networking just provides another portal to engage and support, mainstreaming into all other forms of contact - i.e., call, email, chat...I would really look closely at both hard and soft costs as well as competitive position in use of social networking before investing a substantial amount of resources.</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-77099908404378371302011-01-06T06:53:00.000-08:002011-01-06T06:53:36.247-08:00Sentenc.es - A Disciplined Way To Deal With Email<div>A new movement to deal with email in a manner similar to SMS...more compressed and iterative. Three sentence responses to all email. Think you can play? I am going to try.</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://three.sentenc.es/">Sentenc.es - A Disciplined Way To Deal With Email</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-6461314156930973822010-12-17T07:45:00.000-08:002010-12-17T07:47:03.024-08:00Some on target predictions from James Carlini about emerging technology trends in 2011.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://wistechnology.com/articles/8140/">Technology predictions for 2011 (WTN News)</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-90627179283327070122010-12-16T10:31:00.001-08:002010-12-16T10:31:53.623-08:00Dancing Snowman Scam Spreads Virally on Facebook <a href="http://ping.fm/G58TG">http://ping.fm/G58TG</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-7014240621442793412010-12-15T13:42:00.001-08:002010-12-15T13:42:36.842-08:00Do You Need Those Other Social Networks? <a href="http://ping.fm/hdl8I">http://ping.fm/hdl8I</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-33175904836327568592010-11-30T05:49:00.001-08:002010-11-30T05:49:01.892-08:00Always assume competition <a href="http://ping.fm/GUSni">http://ping.fm/GUSni</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-42766625410511471392010-11-30T05:47:00.001-08:002010-11-30T05:47:21.370-08:0010 Things I Know For Sure About Building a Business <a href="http://ping.fm/ctLmE">http://ping.fm/ctLmE</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-71270410539626628222010-11-16T11:07:00.000-08:002010-11-16T11:07:24.151-08:00Rumblings From the LibreOffice Camp Signal Good Things Ahead<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ostatic/~3/KV3sjiCy2tg/rumblings-from-the-libreoffice-camp-signal-good-things-ahead">Rumblings From the LibreOffice Camp Signal Good Things Ahead</a>: "<div><br /></div><div>So the big winner here in a fork for open source business application suites - Google. Anyone else with any thoughts?<br /><p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3547/3401763157_fdf4dbaf50_o.jpg" alt="" width="155" height="62" />We've written widely about developers of the open source OpenOffice productivity suite <a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/the-forking-openoffice-community-bodes-well-for-users">resigning</a>, with broad <a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/openoffice-org-3-3-0-almost-here-is-it-the-last">implications for the suite</a> and for LibreOffice, the promising new fork of OpenOffice. Although it's only been a matter of weeks since the fork was announced, The Document Foundation (TDF) and community members are working away at a new suite, and there are signs that users will see much improvement in it, as compared to OpenOffice. Judging from these signs, and what has been achieved with previous OpenOffice forks, users are still likely to win following the big OpenOffice brouhaha.</p><br /><p>OpenOffice has millions of users, and if a fork of it achieves meaningful goals, that is good news. It's not unheard of. Many people already favor the Go-oo fork of OpenOffice, <a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/go-oo-a-lighter-faster-openoffice-with-extras">which is lighter, faster and has surprising extras</a>. Many people lament certain problems with OpenOffice, citing its spreadsheet and database as particularly lacking.</p><br /><p>If you're interested in checking in on the status of LibreOffice, Bruce Byfield provides a good guide to the latest information, <a href="http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3913286/LibreOffice-Rethinks-the-Office-Suite.htm">in this post</a>: </p><br /><blockquote><p>"Recently, though, more concrete information has been released. This information appears in LibreOffice blog entries, notably those of <a href="http://planet.documentfoundation.org/">Charles Schultz</a> for November 10 and October 28, and in TDF announcements, one in <a href="http://www.golem.de/1011/79298.html">German</a> and the other in <a href="http://www.documentfoundation.org/lists/announce/msg00016.html">English</a>."</p><br /></blockquote><br /><p>In Byfield's post, he also supplies more information directly from the folks at LibreOffice. Most interesting of all, it sounds like the LibreOffice suite is being retooled to put content ahead of ever more features--probably a good idea. We all consume much more content now than we used to, and OpenOffice never really detoured to reflect that trend.</p><br /><p>Among other things I'd like to see in LibreOffice is a much improved word processor. I spend most of my day in browsers, word processors and on email, and a truly great word processor would be a great centerpiece for a new overhaul of OpenOffice. </p><br /><p>Byfield also reports that the LibreOffice folks are looking closely at new hardware platforms. That may or may not be a good idea. Netbooks, for example, are showing less promise than they once did. Could a retooled OpenOffice have a future on tablets, though?</p><br /><p>One thing's for sure: LibreOffice's reimagination of the OpenOffice suite is going to be a big open source story, and one that may benefit a lot of users. </p><br /><p> </p><br /> <p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><table style="background:#e6f0f2;padding:0;font-size:12px;border-top:2px solid #2f697e;vertical-align:top;text-align:left"> <tbody><tr style="vertical-align:top;text-align:left"> <td style="vertical-align:top;text-align:left"><br /> <h3>Related Activities</h3><br /> <ul><br /> <li><a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/rumblings-from-the-libreoffice-camp-signal-good-things-ahead#comments">Comments (1)</a></li> <br /> <li><a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/rumblings-from-the-libreoffice-camp-signal-good-things-ahead#addres">Post a Comment</a></li><br /> <li><a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/rumblings-from-the-libreoffice-camp-signal-good-things-ahead#addrelquestion">Ask a Question</a></li><br /> </ul><br /> </td> <td style="vertical-align:top;text-align:left"><br /> <h3>Related Software</h3><br /> <ul><li><a href="http://ostatic.com/openoffice#rss">OpenOffice</a> (<a href="http://ostatic.com/openoffice#alternatives">19 alternatives</a>, <a href="http://ostatic.com/openoffice#comments">25 reviews</a>)</li> <li><a href="http://ostatic.com/go-oo#rss">Go-OO</a> (<a href="http://ostatic.com/go-oo#alternatives">add alternative</a>, <a href="http://ostatic.com/go-oo#comments">1 review</a>)</li> </ul><br /> </td> <td style="vertical-align:top;text-align:left"><br /> <h3>Related Blog Posts</h3><br /> <ul><li><a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/what-if-you-threw-a-proprietary-software-party-and-nobody-came#rss">What If You Threw a Proprietary Software Party and Nobody Came?</a> (<a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/what-if-you-threw-a-proprietary-software-party-and-nobody-came#comments">post comment</a>)</li> <li><a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/the-forking-openoffice-community-bodes-well-for-users#rss">The Forking OpenOffice Community Bodes Well For Users</a> (<a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/the-forking-openoffice-community-bodes-well-for-users#comments">5 comments</a>)</li> <li><a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/openoffice-org-3-3-0-almost-here-is-it-the-last#rss">OpenOffice.org 3.3.0 Almost Here - Is It the Last?</a> (<a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/openoffice-org-3-3-0-almost-here-is-it-the-last#comments">5 comments</a>)</li> </ul><br /> </td> </tr></tbody> </table><br /> </p><hr /><p><br /> <a href="http://more.watchmouse.com/transaction_monitoring"><br /> <img src="http://a.gigaom.com/feed-injector/img/watchmouse-2010-10-07.gif" alt="WatchMouse Transaction Monitoring: Set up a public web status page in six minutes!" border="0" /><br /> </a><br /></p><div><br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ostatic?a=KV3sjiCy2tg:YOG3V06iU5s:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ostatic?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ostatic?a=KV3sjiCy2tg:YOG3V06iU5s:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ostatic?i=KV3sjiCy2tg:YOG3V06iU5s:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0" /></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ostatic/~4/KV3sjiCy2tg" height="1" width="1" />"</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-49447298744282545722010-11-12T17:08:00.001-08:002010-11-12T17:08:57.001-08:00How to Write Better Emails <a href="http://ping.fm/muwJ7">http://ping.fm/muwJ7</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-73995471234470483362010-11-06T17:47:00.001-07:002010-11-06T17:47:23.076-07:00How to Use Blekko to Rock at Your Job <a href="http://ping.fm/lgYAW">http://ping.fm/lgYAW</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-47571171708124583102010-10-31T18:01:00.001-07:002010-10-31T18:01:20.919-07:00Nerd Vittles <a href="http://nerdvittles.com/">http://nerdvittles.com/</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-6852437945344263872010-10-23T18:59:00.000-07:002010-10-23T18:59:27.093-07:00FLASH - Marketing Person Changes Light Bulb...<br />
<br />
Ok for all my tech friends who doubted marketing person skills - yes I did change a light bulb in the headlight of my old minivan, and have the pictures and dirty hands to prove it. How am I suppose to shake and close a deal now? OMG, I can not even touch my computer.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfUknC6GYxfqgt4xqW0WXPTRRDC0RKY8KCXpk3_wpRO5kadHQ7E_jiGCeyGCunZzKB2Sq0Gg819aZ1Zub8A30N7xjtXe0_WpNhYIi3eBBp_gfn03T6jHwy4MkrguneYDu3MCk/s1600/Lights+Working.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfUknC6GYxfqgt4xqW0WXPTRRDC0RKY8KCXpk3_wpRO5kadHQ7E_jiGCeyGCunZzKB2Sq0Gg819aZ1Zub8A30N7xjtXe0_WpNhYIi3eBBp_gfn03T6jHwy4MkrguneYDu3MCk/s1600/Lights+Working.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4L5-FB3scRXXv4z_o-UTnll2LbYVKJ-bUoq8YBaOQck73qtJgll1_EOlTkd11odzwxRJ3Uekb3yMJ5OL3glAFGmubEvne-2BstAMdkIXbZXlUWVjMJP5iM4RX_8InWoyHVd8y/s1600/Hands+Dirty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4L5-FB3scRXXv4z_o-UTnll2LbYVKJ-bUoq8YBaOQck73qtJgll1_EOlTkd11odzwxRJ3Uekb3yMJ5OL3glAFGmubEvne-2BstAMdkIXbZXlUWVjMJP5iM4RX_8InWoyHVd8y/s1600/Hands+Dirty.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-42339175975089817742010-09-22T12:43:00.001-07:002010-09-22T12:43:14.956-07:00History lesson: 35 years of open source software <a href="http://ping.fm/Nq1Vi">http://ping.fm/Nq1Vi</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-8135888831802279472010-09-22T12:36:00.001-07:002010-09-22T12:36:48.945-07:00Is the Cloud Right for Unified Communications? <a href="http://ping.fm/38kGJ">http://ping.fm/38kGJ</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-9539276231475521482010-09-16T06:05:00.000-07:002010-09-16T06:05:51.047-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; vertical-align: top;" width="99%"><h1 style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px;"><a href="http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource" style="color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="(http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource)">451 CAOS Theory</a><br />
<a href="http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/451opensource" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" style="padding-top: 6px;" /></a></h1></td><td style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="1%"></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em;"><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/451opensource/~3/djM2ryAfWSU/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email" name="12b183ba339a115a_1" style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" target="_blank">On innovation and participation</a></div><div style="color: #555555; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 9px;"><span>Posted:</span> 15 Sep 2010 07:17 AM PDT</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Two of the themes that have risen to the surface in the open source blogosphere in recent week are innovation, and the apparent lack of it when it comes to open source; and participation, and the continued lack of it when it comes to corporate contributions to open source projects.<br />
The H recently <a href="http://www.h-online.com/open/features/Comment-The-hype-is-over-1070147.html" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">asked</a> why there is no more new open source, while OStatic <a href="http://ostatic.com/blog/why-does-foss-development-lag-the-innovation-curve" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">asked</a> why open source lags the innovation curve. Meanwhile Ian Skerrett <a href="http://ianskerrett.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/growing-the-open-sourcefree-software-commons/" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">called</a> for increased focus on corporate contributions, citing a <a href="http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2010/09/09/the-new-kingmakers/comment-page-1/#comment-635732" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">similar call</a> from Matt Asay, and <a href="http://twitter.com/mmilinkov/status/24416937790" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">gaining</a><a href="http://twitter.com/webmink/status/24417622274" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">support</a> from elsewhere.<br />
It occurred to me – not for the first time – that these issues might be related. I previously <a href="http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2010/04/26/how-soon-is-now/" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">noted</a> that in the data management space we are seeing the Apache Hadoop ecosystem the various NoSQL databases being driven by open source corporate contributions that are innovating beyond the realms of the established relational database and establishing new database market segments.<br />
So why haven’t we seen this level of corporate user-driven open source innovation in other market segments? I think the reason lies, in part, the fundamental tensions at the heart of traditional open source-related business strategies.<br />
One of the most often–repeated statements about open source business strategies is the observation made by Marten Mickos, that open source users include those who will spend time to save money, and those who will spend money to save time.<br />
Most traditional open source-related business strategies – be they the provision of support services, subscriptions, dual licensing, or closed source extensions – are based on separating those that are likely to spend money from those that are likely to spend time. It stands to reason, though, that those who are prepared to spend time are more likely to participate and contribute code.<br />
Given that, as I previously <a href="http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2009/04/16/is-it-asking-too-much-to-expect-corporate-contributions-from-paying-customers/" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">noted</a>, is it not somewhat unfair to expect those that have already spent money to save time to also spend time on open source contributions?<br />
Then of course there is the fact that copyright assignment <a href="http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2010/08/27/on-copyright-assignment-contributor-and-participant-agreements/" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">policies</a>, vendor-dominated development projects and cathedral-style development models – all of which have dominated commercial open source business strategies in the last ten years – act as a barrier to corporate participation.<br />
Meanwhile most commercial open source support agreements, even without any of the above barriers, are based on an agreement that modifications to the core code base will not be supported.<br />
It is also true to say that vast majority of the open source-related vendors in the last decade have focused on disrupting established markets, rather than crating new markets. That isn’t to say that they haven’t innovated, but if it is true that open source developers scratch their own itch, then the dominant itch over the last few years has been market disruption.<br />
What makes the Hadoop and NoSQL movements is that their growth is driven less by the itches of the associated vendors than it is the itches of the users/developers. Indeed we see vendors in these markets being led by existing users/developers in trying to figure out the opportunities for commercialization.<br />
The fact that the rise of these projects has coincided with an increased focus on collaboration and community, as well as commercial interests, has been <a href="http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2010/08/09/the-golden-age-of-open-source/" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">well</a><a href="http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2010/09/01/open-source-4-0-excellent-for-dancing/" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">documented</a> on this blog.<br />
In short, the dominant business strategies that epitomised the vendor-dominated open source development/distribution projects of open source 3.0 limited the potential for corporate participation in collaborative development and the focus on disrupting existing markets limited the potential for true, market-establishing innovation.<br />
The increased focus on collaborative development communities, indirect revenue generation, distributed copyright ownership and permissive licensing are more likely to deliver both innovation and corporate participation.</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-22697043859469166682010-09-09T07:47:00.001-07:002010-09-09T07:47:13.931-07:00<h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" data-ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span class="UIStory_Message">Just uploaded 'Unified Communications' to SlideShare. <a href="http://slidesha.re/cSHzqg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://slidesha.re/cSHzqg</a></span></h3>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-2519535560516043362010-08-17T09:23:00.001-07:002010-08-17T09:23:29.168-07:00Google vs Oracle, open vs closed, or good vs evil <a href="http://ping.fm/8RlEU">http://ping.fm/8RlEU</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296932.post-55202345903611686102010-08-12T09:01:00.001-07:002010-08-12T09:01:58.099-07:00The Art of the Elevator Pitch: 10 Great Tips - ReadWriteStart <a href="http://rww.tw/b5AnoS">http://rww.tw/b5AnoS</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789205873373097011noreply@blogger.com