Reflections & analysis about innovation, technology, startups, investing, healthcare, and more .... with a focus on Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes. Blogging continuously since 2005.

Tag: Innovation (Page 7 of 7)

Esther Speaks: An Inside Look at PC Forum

As a follow-on to my earlier post today, I asked Esther Dyson some questions about her upcoming event in Carlsbad, CA, March 12-14. She was kind enough to take out some time to give me her perspectives. Here’s the interview:

What should attendees expect at this year’s PC Forum?
Esther Dyson: The people they sit next to at lunch and dinner will be interesting — either prospects or competitors or potential partners or both, with challenging ideas and opinions. [Ed: and that doesn’t even include breakfast, my personal favorite!] Aside from that, the content will be thought-provoking. The subtheme — “Users in Charge” — sounds like a mindlessly cheery, rarely-delivered-on slogan. But it’s preceded by the provocative reality of “Erosion of Power.” New business models, when they’re delivered on, often destroy old ones. Users in charge is no mere slogan; it’s a threat to the people who were in charge. Pcforumlogo_2 Businesses have a choice whether to lead the changes or resist them. But just deciding to respond isn’t that easy. You have to figure out how: how to put users in charge, how to listen, how to mediate among users who disagree, how to collect revenue (and for what)….and most important, how to change a culture. So, in many ways, things are easier for startups — except they lack resources and have to prove their new business models. So, the discussions will be fun. I have spent the last two months interviewing all the speakers — but I know I’ll still be surprised with what they say, especially once they start talking to one another and engaging with the other participants.

How might it compare with previous years’ events?
Esther Dyson: In character, it will be the same, but we have new material — everything from recent developments around Google to a gaggle of startups ranging from Spot Runner to invisibleCRM.

How is PC Forum different from other conferences?
Esther Dyson: The content tends to be more provocative because we don’t have any outside sponsors. By and large, we don’t let speakers “present.” We ask them questions. And they really talk among themselves, rather than presenting serially. There’s a dramatic tension that gets people paying attention. Beyond that, we really cater to all the attendees, not just to the speakers. It extends to the details: The badges are large and readable and don’t flip over, so it’s easy to find people you want to meet. [Ed: And they have a great attendee networking site, with features better than any I’ve seen.] We keep the lights up in the auditorium so you can see the other attendees as well as the speakers. We encourage people to bring their families, and that makes the atmosphere more relaxed and friendlier than at most conferences I attend. Also, we hold it in a slightly out of the way place, so people (even speakers) come and stay, instead of dropping in.

Please tell us about the types of attendees you attract, and the quality of networking attendees can expect.
Esther Dyson: They include entrepreneurs, investors, industry veterans, big company execs, analysts, press. We’re proud of what we do and we charge for it, so we get high-level attendees. On the other hand, we work hard to bring in new people and especially startups, so many of these high-level people are ones you haven’t heard of — yet. And things start happening at PC Forum: for example, Eric Schmidt met Larry Page at PC Forum, IBM met Lotus, and AOL met ICQ/Mirabilis.

How do you select the categories for companies you debut, and the companies themselves?
Esther Dyson: We select the companies first, by and large, and then we design the categories to fit them. We’re looking for companies that will be successful, of course, but we’re also looking for new ideas. We want attendees to walk out saying, “Now that’s a neat idea!” Over the years, our debutantes have included Flickr, Brightcove, IronPort, Technorati, Emode (Tickle), Groxis, Junglee, Mirabilis (ICQ), Eurekster, and JotSpot, to name several.

What are your conference themes this year, and which of these are getting the most buzz so far?
Esther Dyson: Well, in addition to what I said in answer to the first two questions, “Users in Charge” is getting lots of buzz. But it’s my contention that many people who think they resonate with it don’t quite get all the implications.

What are the three outcomes you most hope will result from this year’s PC Forum?
Esther Dyson: I’ll give you four, actually: that 400 people will walk away with new ideas and new friends and business partners…that the 70-odd family members who came will feel appreciated and closer to the world of the attendees who brought them…that the ideas that were floating around PC Forum will get crisper….and that the companies embodying those ideas will learn from one another and will compete more effectively, giving their management better tools and goals, and end up serving their customers better.

My thanks to Esther for these great insights into PC Forum, especially for those of us who’ve never attended. I look forward to seeing any and all of you who can make it. And I of course plan to do many more blog posts on this one…

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PC Forum Declares “Users In Charge”!

One thing is certain: Esther Dyson and her organization, Release 1.0 (now part of CNet Networks), know how to plan an event. The PC Forum conference is the venerable high-level tech event of the year, and the most long-standing one, with a history measured in decades. It never lets down. And the big players come out, bigtime. The theme of this year’s event — “Erosion of Power: Users In Charge” — couldn’t be better timed. Without a doubt, it is a developing reality today in the technology business, and well deserving of spirited discussion by the many big thinkers and doers who will gather in Carlsbad, California, March 12-14, to sort out the implications for all of us.

Lots of buzz will be happening in and around this event, and the 400+ lucky attendees will especially be the beneficiaries. [Registration is still open, by the way, so if you want to get the full-on buzz, live and in-person, get over there now and click.] I’ll be blogging lots about PC Forum over the next couple of weeks, and I’m really looking forward to reporting from the event. Watch for an interview of Esther Dyson in my next post for some special insight into what you can expect.

What kind of an event is it? Officially, it’s a three-day executive-level, business-oriented conference “focused on emerging technologies and business models in software, the Internet, communications, and electronic commerce.” In the mornings, general sessions are moderated by Esther Dyson and deal with key issues and trends that her organization, Release 1.0, have identified throughout the year. [Esther is constantly on the go, traveling worldwide to meet with an amazing array of established industry players and new, emerging ones.] In the afternoons come the company presentations (which I’m particularly jazzed about), where startup companies tout their wares, many of them debuting at the event. Some of the companies in past years that either had their coming-out party at PC Forum or made very early appearances to the world include Flickr, IronPort, Technorati, Emode (Tickle), Groxis, KnowNow, Junglee, Mirabilis (ICQ), Eurekster, and JotSpot. Some are even pre-debut, as will be Brightcove this year. [Can you say “disruptor”?] In fact, according to Business 2.0, which wants to dispense with the over-used term Web 2.0 and replace it with the concept of “The Next Net,” cites several PC Forum presenters, past and present, in its just-published Next Net 25 list. [Great stuff.]

So what are some of the specifics of this year’s PC Forum 2006? Here’s a quick rundown, and I’ll be expanding in coming posts.

The morning general sessions. Esther will kick things off on Monday by moderating two panels that deal with individuals as consumers being in charge of data about themselves. The first will focus on how consumers can manage and even sell our own data; the second, on how marketing companies are using behavioral targeting. Then, something different: a panel on health care, which Esther says will take “institutional muscle to change anything,” with the key institution being employers. Then, in Tuesday morning’s general sessions, Bill Joy (a founder of Sun and now a partner at Kleiner Perkins) talks about “big swings at big problems” — water and energy. Yes, KP is still trying to change the world, but in ways you may not have thought, and Bill says he’s more excited than ever. Following this, a panel on peer-to-peer security will look at how individuals can get empowered to protect themselves. But, wait, there’s more (hope there’s time for a bathroom break): two panels on business models, the first focusing on the shift of power to the edges — featuring the CEOs of Salesforce.com, Brightcove, and Augmentum, and the VP of tech strategy at Microsoft; and the second on (what else) search — in which the business models are going to domain-specific information services (so-called vertical search) — as in Zillow…and, yes, our old friend, personalization — as in Yahoo’s community services. Wow, will my notebook be bursting after these.

The afternoon sessions. As if the morning sessions aren’t enough, I get really excited about what happens next (startup guy that I am), because it includes the company presentations. Many of these firms are being introduced for the first time at PC Forum. Here’s the list, with a snippet on each:
Search:
Healthline – leveraging a deep medical taxonomy.
Illumio (still pre-launch) – bringing knowledge search to social networks.
Kosmix – categorizing search.
New Business Models:
Edgeio – online classifieds via RSS and tagging.
invisibleCRM – adding Outlook front-ends to enterprise apps.
Spot Runner – making TV advertising possible for the little guy.
Access & Control:
Iovation – a reputation system for devices.
Novatium Solutions – a $100 PC with the guts of a cell phone.
Site Advisor – addressing the human side of consumer security on the web.

But the Tuesday afternoon session also includes two great roundtable discussions. The first, on the accountable Net, looks at the interacting concepts of trust, reputation, and identity. And the second Esther calls “Me Media”, which deals with the proliferation of platforms and models of user-generated content — blogs, tags, video, long-tail advertising. What’s fad, what’s lasting? And are there any viable business models in this space? I’m looking forward to this one, as the founders of Wink, Dabble, and Tremor Media lead the discussion. Finally, the dinner panel on Tuesday is called “New Forms of Life” and deals with online community, featuring the CEOs
of LinkedIn and Facebook, and a representative of still-stealthy Seriosity. The notion is that online life isn’t “virtual” anymore — it’s just another form of life, along with work and play.

PC Forum is also featuring a group of very interesting “gallery companies” including Bitty Browser, imeem, Kalat Software, Movo Mobile, and Riya (the latter one of my favs from Demo)….”reflecting the wonderfully diverse instantiations of creativity possible on the user-empowered Web,” says Release 1.0. More soon…

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Meg Whitman Called: She Wants to Know What’s All This About Someone Killing Her Company

One word: Edgeio…or should I say EdgeIO…or edgeIO…or is it edgeio? [Seems to be upper and lowercase challenged.] But it’s all the rage in the blog-o-spherical world lately because somebody said it’s an “Ebay Killer.” No wonder Michael Arrington (the TechCrunch guy) didn’t return my email — he’s been, uh, a little busy lately? And no wonder he didn’t sit in on the presentations at DEMO, but just hung out in the press room. Now we know why! He’s hyping his new play, teamed up with old buddy Keith Teare from RealNames. You’ll remember that as a Web 1.0 company that was going to change everything, but … didn’t … quite … make … it.

Lots of talk out there about this one, and why or why not it will be the next big thing. Whatever, it’s really early-on at this point…. Though they plan to pitch the company formally at one of the next big, buzzy conferences: Esther Dyson’s PC Forum next month at LaCosta (Carlsbad, CA).

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The Takeaways of Demo 2006

Demoviewfromroom_1 Okay, here’s the 30th and last post in my “DEMO 2006” category (many also tagged in other categories, as listed on the right) since I began publishing pre-conference. So, who could have done more posts than this — maybe CNet? Then again, quantity isn’t everything… 🙂 But I was honored to be on a list with many of the great bloggers covering the event — especially since it was my first conference as a blogger (though not as a reporter, for which the number is probably 40 or more).

Just for the heck of it, I’m including a few photos of the surroundings at Demo, which I took with my cell phone cam — showing things I was too busy to do, like golf, pool, hot tub. But I didn’t care — didn’t have time to. [Besides, I had my beach time and a surf session in San Clemente the day before I got there.]

This post is essentially my recap on the themes or takeaways I got from this great happening….this blockbuster celebration of tech and entrepreneurship. Net-net: I wouldn’t have missed it for the world! Demohotelpool_1 It was non-stop buzz, business models, and blabbing about everything imaginable relating to today’s souped-up economy for technology startups (especially Internet-related ones)…a giant energy-drink slurpee lasting three days. And the people — wow! I know I met many who’ll be valuable contacts and friends for years to come. Plus I learned about some cool new services that’ll help me in my crazy, tech-challenged world…just as I know they’ll help you.

So here, as best as I can break down something this intensely information-packed, are the themes I got from DEMO 2006. (Note time didn’t allow me to post about every single one of the companies I mention here; but I’ve included links to all their sites if you wish to read more.)

User-generated content and sharing is exploding. To say that consumer-generated content is a major trend in this age of “new media” and social networking I don’t think will surprise you. If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you know it was the major theme of the conference. [And there would be a sub-theme you got out of reading those, too: revenue-sharing with content creators.] Demopool_1 Companies in point who presented at Demo that are taking advantage of this trend in various ways include: Vizrea, TagWorld, SmileBox, Zingee, LocaModa, Sharpcast, Tiny Pictures, GarageBand.com, Yahoo! Photos (of course), Multiverse Network, and Gravee….and I posted about every one of ’em.

Search goes wider, search goes deeper. Meaning more data types as relates the former, and, no surprise, going vertical for the latter. Presenting companies that fit into this theme included Krugle, Riya, AOL via its acquisition of Truveo (online sometime this spring), Nexidia, Gravee, BiggerBoat, Kaboodle, Raw Sugar, and Kosmix….several of which I posted about.

E-commerce can still get better and easier. As big as it is (one example: BestBuy.com, a site on whose launch team I served, is now selling more than a billion bucks a year), we’re hardly done with e-commerce improvements. And that notion is sure to be welcomed by today’s increasingly savvy, instant-gratification online buyers. Companies worth a look here include Transparansee, Pay By Touch, and PayWi (which lets you buy from your cell phone). I was also impressed with CNet Channel’s intelligent cross-sell technology. This is a tool for e-tailers that with save a huge amount of hassle, automating what’s been a very time-intensive and hit-or-miss process for online store managers.

Now that phone service is free or really cheap, what more can we do with it? Skype thundered into this space in a huge way — and thank God people now have a decent moniker they can attach to the concept instead of “VOIP”! And the category will only get huger, as we all know. Watch out for upstarts that are gonna ride this trend with more innovations — such as being able to make Skype calls from your cell phone: EQO Communications…and getting a whole rich set of features for your VOIP residential service: My People.

Small business needs big help with information technology. It’s a huge market, but what will appeal to them and how do you reach them? Two companies that are giving it a try are Interprise, which has a free online ERP/CRM solution for the little guys….and Sprout Systems, which is developing online solutions for companies with 10 employees or fewer, coming out of the chute first (now seeking Series A) with an email management system. [I wish both luck. Raise the big bucks, or get a deep-pocketed gorilla to buy you.]

P2P is not going away – and more apps are on the way. If you think peer-to-peer technology had its day, think again. Just because it got a bad name for a while doesn’t mean it won’t change the world. At least three of the presenting companies at Demo are using the technology to buiild their dream: Zingee, a flat-out content sharing play, as I posted about previously…Vsee, which is using the technology to improve desktop video conferencing…and Tiny Pictures, which says it has P2P technology to enable you to share your cell phone pix quickly and easily.

What DEMO 2006 was NOT about. The biggest thing was it wasn’t about gadgets, as the event was known to have been for so many years. Today, the technology world — whether it’s consumer or enterprise — is much more about services. Gadgets are only a means to enable a service, for the user to do something valuable he or she needs to get done. I sit here hard-pressed to name game-changing gadgets presented at the event…. Okay, there was MooBella, the customized, Linux-based ice cream vending machine, and Pleo, the new robotic toy from the inventor of Furby. Yeah, they were cool, but so what? I’m not in the food business or the toy business, and I don’t think most of you are either. The producers threw those in just for shock value and dramatic effect. [And, trust me, Demo’s producers know how to get publicity. They also know how to get buzz, which is why they had so had so many bloggers there. If you want to know what I mean, read this great new post from Guy Kawasaki on how to get buzz these days.] Two gadgets of note I just remembered were the iGuitar — very cool, but you gotta be a musician, which I’m not anymore (surfing took over)…though it’s a big market space ($3 billion) they’re playing in. And the Chili™ from ZinkKat was the other one. But don’t try to find a photo of the device on their web site — it hasn’t been updated since before DEMO! [Hello?] The Chili is the “first wearable cell phone/MP3 player/Podcast and web stream receiver, all on one,” says the company, which is aiming it (of course) at teenagers, for use in the home. [Too bad the voice interface, which is how you operate the thing, sounded so bad. Here’s a clue: no matter how cool your gadget looks, if the interface isn’t right, you have some…uh, work to do?]

And one more thing to take away from DEMO. We’re all learning a lot about blogging, folks. Me included. [And there’s nothing like throwing yourself into it headlong to learn from the inside.] Demosilhouette But I was fascinated by how blog-savvy so many of the companies are that launched at DEMO — and I learned a lot from them. They get the blogging model, the power of the blogging community. They spent just as much time talking up the bloggers as they did the traditional press. Blogging is even changing the model of how some tech companies launch — read: without traditional PR. My fellow blogger and conference reporter Shel Israel did a great post on this topic (just prior to Demo), and this is about the third time I’ve linked to it — it’s that major. Just another example of how the growing online community is changing the game. And Guy Kawasaki’s post, cited above, just adds to that message.

Hope you liked my DEMO coverage. Please drop me a line if you did — or better yet, post a comment.
Cheers…over and out.

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[Written at Bloomington, MN, on the coldest weekend
of the winter so far…ah, sweet memories of Phoenix.]

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