There has been a lot of talk lately about privacy and advertising lately. Some of it has been about what happens to collected data – a la Facebook and Apple products. Occasionally, someone crosses the line and confuses targeted advertising with a breach of privacy. There is a clear difference between knowing what might interest … More Why I Like Targeted Advertising

Almost 20 years ago, AOL was THE Place To Be. It brought the internet to the masses with millions of CD-ROMs mailed to households over and over again. If you had a home computer, particularly in middle America, there is a good likelihood you had AOL. People used AOL to connect and reconnect with family … More Facebook: AOL circa 2011

As friends and former colleagues play musical chairs with new positions, I’ve been asked repeatedly for my opinion about various companies. I have no working knowledge of many of these, so for the benefit of those who requested it (and those of you who haven’t) here are six core items for assessing a company’s likelihood … More Six Guidelines for Company Viability

As things improve in the business and investment world, speculation has begun about whether we are experiencing true growth or a bubble. From 50,000 miles away it might look like a bubble the likes of 1999, but when you take more than a cursory view, it is clear that we are not in an investment … More Bubble – No; Bubble Companies – Yes

In 2009, Cisco’s WebEx launched a “Pass the Ball” campaign. The idea was to keep the work moving forward by passing projects along through WebEx. It is a good concept and obviously speaks to WebEx’s core value. However, this stops short of where business is going. I’ve looked into a borrowed crystal ball and see … More Work Globally or Someone Else Will

I don’t know you or your pr firm, so I should be at a safe enough distance to tell you what they won’t tell you. 1)      They aren’t nearly as excited about your product/solution/offering as you are. Healthy pr firms won’t take clients they don’t believe in, but that doesn’t mean they think your product … More What Your PR Firm Isn’t Telling You

Over the last few years, several trends have emerged in the broad cloud computing space. There is now a plethora of aaS companies. SaaS, BIaaS, IaaS, PaaS and OtherThingsaaS I can’t think of. Not to be the forecaster of doom, but all things cloud will not survive. As with every technology cycle, some companies will … More Changing Clouds

I’ve spent the weekend watching a hockey tournament of seven and eight year olds. What I noticed throughout the games is something every hockey spectator sees: when the players stay in their zone, there is a much better chance of winning. Conversely, when everyone chases the puck (the prize) around, you’re likely to lose. So … More Play In Your Zone, or Lose When You Lose Focus

Welcome to the third and final installment of the blog Startup Companies: One CEO or Several? Today, I finish with what it takes to scale past the $50 million plateau. The Scaler – Scaling Past Plateau ($50M-350M) So the company is now growing. You have 150-250 employees including your offshore development center(s). Your revenue is … More Startup Companies: One CEO or Several? – Part 3

A quick recap: in part one of this three-part blog entitled Startup Companies: One CEO or Several, I named four stages for startup CEOs: 1.       The Starter/The Idea Person/The Technical Visionary 2.       The Concept Seller 3.       The Ramper 4.       The Scaler Today, I will cover The Concept Seller and The Ramper. The Concept Seller After … More Startup Companies: One CEO or Several? – Part 2