alias.brianna

Yay the internet works today! Finally. Here goes Day 2! I’m missing the first two speeches. (Decided to split this into two because it’s getting pretty long).

1010: User power, using the power.

• Esther Dyson, EDventure, US

Attention is key. People so not want attention form a box, but from other people. Marketers want to monetize attention. People who are obsessive want to quantity attention. Utility is ignored.

Reminds me of some people i know who simply add friends on facebook, friendster and so on, just to gain numbers. Whatever happened to human quality?

“Certainly to gain attention in the modern world, you have to be sexy (attractive)” and so on. Or you could pay someone. Words that ring quite true if you think about it. Sadly, in Singapore, a lot of bloggers are ignored though they have quality material. The popular ones are the ones who post a million photos of themselves online for others to oogle, or are really controversial. Xiaxue, for instance, first became popular because of her “b*tchy remarks. Dawn Yang likewise, gained popularity not because she was a “good/quality” blogger.

On advertisement - attractiveness sells.

“Marketers have to realize that people are not only commercial beings.”. Phenomena of facebook. The virtual exchange garner attention and may influence the purchasing behavior of people (or rather, third party purchasing behavior. “Moral hazard” is present. Do I really like item X or brand X, or it is just because of the money? People shouldn’t be compensated for their attention. It should be given freely.

“The relationship between two people is different than the relationship between a person and a marketer”.

Question of data abuse when it is freely collected/shared. “It’s a free world”. People choose where to go (online). Transparency is important. Organizations should gear towards “here’s what we know about you”, users should be able to choose what’s private, untrue, and what’s not. It’s fair enough that organizations collect data about their customers, it’s how they use it, or what they do with it.

Disclosure statements are present but really, nobody reads them.

“Why can’t (users) see what companies are collecting?” Google web history, for instance. Could customers be part of your CRL? Esther believes so. Transparency and the sharing of information collected (between vendors and their customers) will change the dynamics of the relationship. It could possibly solve all these problems we have about “sensitive data collection and abuse”.

How is media going to evolve? Are they going to “choose their village”? The people alike to target? It’s a natural process.

How many people do you think you can pay attention to? Sociologists suggest that the average group someone can stay connected to in a “healthy relationship” is 150. Monkeys apparently can reach 40. There’s a limit to giving/paying attention to people. Of course, this depends from person to person. “The real shortage is space in your head. How many things can you pay attention to? Some people have more space for brands…”

A strong brand is worth more. “The internet makes it easier to erode” a strong brand, as it can to reinforce it. “The smart brands are paying people to pay attention”.

3 things to pay for as a marketer: Marketing is becoming more and more like PR. You convince (people), you pay them, and let them disclose. Product placement - get your stuff into the hands of people who like them. Sponsoring conferences, communities,shows etc.

You have to listen to your users. The refine your product to give them what they want. What about Apple, who supposedly does things their way? If people like what they like, good for you, and if they don’t? “The market will take care of that.”

How to sort out the criticism that matters? “That’s why we need people not machines.” 2 things we need people for: judgment and to make apologies. “A company cannot apologize, a person can apologize on behalf of the company.” The relationship changes.

Government VS companies. “We are getting to a point where governments are scared of transparency”. The accountability factor is a lot higher for governments. Companies can screw up, apologize and move on. If governments screw up, it may be chaos and may mark the end of it all. “People should be resolving more of their problems themselves. The government is there as a support”. Naturally, we will still need collective agreement.

1040: Coffee!

1115: Entrepreneurs!

• Ralf Leupold, Xploor, Sweden
• Mark Majzner, Australian Wineclub, Australia
• Susanne Kaarnimo-Knight, WinOne, Finland

Ralf is up talking about Xploor that “enriches text”. Basically,if you clicked on word “X, a mini website look-alike pops up, with relevant associated content.

What was interesting for me, was the focus on content that is localized. The website could generate more cross links whilst providing detailed complementary content. Also, it’s non-intrusive. It doesn’t pop up. You need to click on the words for the Xploorified experience.

Process for website owners? Go to xploor.com and sign up for the free service. You get a code to insert into your website and viola! An Xploorified webpage!

End users can also implement it by downloading a browser plug in. Website owners can also offer this plug-in to their visitors. If any revenue is generated by their visitors that has implemented the Xploor system procured through the website elsewhere on the web, the website owner gets “a piece of the pie”.

Show me the money! 70% to website owners if Xploor is on your website. 30% if it’s via a plug-in distribution (your visitors download the plug-n through your website, and surf elsewhere).

Revenue will be generated through contextual advertising and affiliated content.

You can head over to antipodeswines.com to check our Mark’s idea. The famed monopoly of system bolaget is finally over he proclaims! Now you can have wine delivered legally to your home! All taxes included. I honestly was a bit surprised to learn that they have a local call centre and customer service. I suppose once you get into the service industry (or any business for that matter), this should be a natural set up, but it somehow didn’t occur to me.

They have pilot project right not for a 12 month subscription plan. Be surprised with 12 different kinds of wine every 2-3 months for a mere 4800-8640KR! You even get testing notes on the wines and recommended recipes! They are planning to launch this in early 2008

After a nice entrance of serving wine to the people on stage, any parting words from Mark? “Now you have the choice? Use it!”

I’m not too clear how Susanne’s idea is related to the world of “celebrity gossip”, but maybe it’ just me being distracted by jaiku.

Quick fact pointed out: “key markets today are seeing real revenues when it comes to mobile services”. Russia and the U.K. for instance. Often, mobile companies talk about “categorization instead of segmentation” and try to evolve around their product offering.

Onward to the battle of the sexes! What about the women? “It is a myth that women do not like gambling and gaming.” I agree wholeheartedly! Especially about the gaming. Guys give me weird looks when I tell them how in love I am with Starcraft, Warcraft and the like. When I am amongst a community of gamers online, the first few questions people always ask me are : “are you a girl/female?” The funniest part is when I answer in affirmation, I suddenly become the “cool chick”. Why?

Susanne does bring up a pertinent point though: most games are made by men for men. Little or close to none are made by women for women. Whilst there is nothing to say that males cannot design good games to cater for females, is begs the question: why can’t there be more female game developers out there?

Another quick fact: 65% of all games and in 2006 are downloaded and purchased in the U.S. are from female subscribers. 40% of men VS 30% in U.K. are female. Why the discrepancy? “It’s not because females are not interested”, argues Susanne, but rather there is nothing that caters to them.

The “traditional clear segmentation of gaming is blurring as player become more open to new concepts and combinations”. That’s “EnterGainment” for you. Position of WinOne? More closely related to casual gaming. Targeting the “trendy profesional women”, and metrosexual guys”.

“Technology is a qualifying factor. You need it to be in the game.” In Finland they have game studios that companies like Susanne can tap into and outsource jobs to. Why can’t the Singapore infrastructure be more like the Finnish one?

“This is the time for mobile money gaming”. This reminds me of another company met before at this year’s Guldmobilen exhibition. They were involved in mobile poker.

1145: Money Talks

• Danny Rimer, Partner, Index Ventures, UK
• Johan Brenner, Partner, Balderton Capital, Sweden
• Martin Varsavsky, founder FON, serial entrepreneur, Spain

On Xploor…
The key behind the business is from a technical standpoint. The point was to get the crucial part of the team from the onstart. Without that, it’s going to be hard to execute the business idea. - Danny

The challenge lies on the implementation of the technology.In e-commerce, food and wine are less tapped into. If you look atweb2.0, there are many things that can be capitalized upon. - Johan

On Australian Wineclub…
Once again we have the mention of passion. “Passion for what you are doing is extremely critical”. The question is “how is it going to develop?” Other things to consider (and this can basically apply to other businesses) are whether this model and idea can break out of Sweden? -Danny

On WinOne…
The notion that women are not catered to is shared. This is probably one of the reasons Stardolls probably stardoll. Why are people hesitant to invest in mobile applications? Nothing but ringtones have really taken off thus far. The form factor of phones are contributing to this barriers. - Danny

The user interface for the application on the mobile phone. - Johan

Something to ponder upon: Gossip and celebrity obsession have a loyal following. Funny that we’ve thrown nobility out of the window.

Well, that’s that on their comments on the business ideas presented! The fun part was when they started to talk about entrepreneurship and what they looked for to invest, or how they choose to invest.

On failure…
“Failure is horrible. Everyone says you learn from failure…”, Martin starts off, and then he compares the failing of 1 of of 7 projects to having “7 children and one died. It just doesn’t work that way. Failure is horrible. I hate this American idea that failure is great!”

For all of you thinking “I thought failure was good - if you learn from your mistakes?” Danny and Johan are here to clarify matters!

Entrepreneurs need to learn how to let go. Danny illustrates using Martin’s ‘failure’. Martin spent “35M EUR on something that didn’t work but he’s not still trying to make that work. Most entrepreneurs are spending most of their time trying to keep something alive which should be let go… We need more of that in Europe.”

“Entrepreneurs are focusing too much on making every company they set up successful,” Johan laments. Sometimes, “If it doesn’t fly let loose.”

On investment strategy…
Martin gives us the alternative view as the business angel. “All I saw was an entrepreneur that I liked, and a product I used… I didn’t see any business plan, but it’s my money so I can operate like this.” Jesting, he proclaims that he doesn’t have to explain to “that college fund in Nairobi where their money is going.”

For the curious, out of the 500-600 requests for investments received on a regular basis, only 10-14 are entertained in Danny’s company. As Alexander puts it: there is simply no time to sort through everything.

On venture capitalists exiting…
It is “rare that a VC pushes for exit… The reality is if the company is doing well, and we can see that, (and the team is excited about it,) then the VCs would not want to pull out… We want these guys to build an independent stand alone company” - Danny

A little advice to business owners out there looking for venture capital, Johan shares that “companies get brought, not sold”. Approaching a venture capitalist with the intention of selling your company as a priority goal is not going to win you much favor. They look for passion and enthusiasm behind the team.

Investing is like…
1. being a good father. You can help guide and nurture the company, like raising your children.
2. being frivilous. As Martin offers the alternate view: “You could throw your sperm all around and have children”. He gives the most humorously accurate analogies I have ever heard. How do you forget something like that?

Head over here to continue the after lunch affair