Steve Woda's blog

Daily Roundup for 2008-01-31

• Phishing Sites Proliferate, But Experts Say Help Is on the Way
  The population of Web sites dedicated to the crime of phishing jumped markedly in October after dipping late in the summer, according to the latest data from the Anti-Phishing Working Group. The good news, though, is that experts appear to be working out a new way to shut down these sites in a way that will keep fraudsters off the Internet. The group’s October report, released last week, shows the number of unique phishing sites grew 22% from September, to 34,266. That’s the highest number detected by the APWG since May, though it falls far short of the record 55,643 found last April.


• Should I give my lawyers equity?
  When lawyers defer their legal fees, they expect equity for the risk of not getting paid. If their risk is low or they’re not deferring fees, you can say no. In any case, offer them the right to invest $25K-$50K in your financing instead of giving them free equity.

Daily Roundup for 2008-01-30

• eBay's PayPal Unit Acquires Fraud Sciences Ltd.
  eBay's online payment service PayPal agreed to acquire Fraud Sciences Ltd. in a cash transaction worth approximately $169 million. Fraud Sciences is a privately-held Israeli company with expertise in online risk tools.


• Save $11.6B with these click fraud safety nets - iMedia Connection
  As malware and other cyberfraud technologies become more insidious, marketers stand to lose not just money but consumer trust as well. ClickFacts' CEO explains what's hurting the PPC industry and how to fight back. Imagine every time you launch a browser to conduct a search you receive the following message: "Warning: searching online may result in the loss of personal information and even your identity. Proceed at your own risk." While this isn't our reality yet, these flags might become commonplace if a growing crowd of sophisticated, unscrupulous fraudsters get their way.

Daily Roundup for 2008-01-25

• How to Reduce Web 'Purchase Anxiety' - bMighty.com
  From proof of privacy protection to effective testimonials to constructive follow up, here are 8 tips to make visitors feel more comfortable buying from your site. You know that moment when you're thinking about buying something, but you're just not sure if you should pull out your wallet? That's "purchase anxiety." Most people feel it at some point, especially when they're buying a big-ticket item. Or when they're buying something over the internet. Online shoppers tend to suffer from purchase anxiety more than offline shoppers. After all, when you buy something over the internet, it's often a product you've never seen before sold by a person you've never met before.


• EBay's Forecast Falls Short - WSJ.com
  EBay Inc. said Chief Executive Meg Whitman will retire in March, capping a decade of running the global electronic-commerce pioneer. John Donahoe, president of eBay's auction business, will succeed her as the CEO.

Daily Roundup for 2008-01-20

• How 30 minutes a day can result in 250 inbound links
  First, know that the 250 links will come over time - it’s not a one time event. It is actually a pretty simple strategy and will have more benefits than just getting inbound links. I am referring to the practice of strategically commenting on blogs.


• Buzz Monitoring: 26 Free Tools You Must Have
  There are a lot of companies that will happily relieve you of your dollars, in exchange for buzz monitoring services. While many large companies will enjoy the peace of mind that comes from having a company track their reputation for them, the rest of us need something a little less expensive–or better yet, free!

Daily Roundup for 2008-01-18

• Online shoppers worrying about privacy - baltimoresun.com
  Privacy concerns stemming from online shopping rose in 2007, a new study finds, as the loss or theft of credit Privacy concerns stemming from online shopping rose in 2007, a new study finds, as the loss or theft of credit card information and other personal data soared to unprecedented levels. Sixty-one percent of adult Americans said they were very or extremely concerned about the privacy of personal information when buying online, an increase from 47 percent in 2006. Before last year, that figure had largely been dropping since 2001.


• Asia-Pacific B2C E-Commerce Awakens - eMarketer
  In 2006, B2C e-commerce sales for the five major markets in the Asia-Pacific region totaled only $59.1 billion, and Japan accounted for a tiger’s share of the sales. But things are changing.

Daily Roundup for 2008-01-17

• Online Privacy's Call to Arms
  Web surfers aren't just mad about online privacy violations. They're getting even. Consumers are speaking out publicly against companies they say have gone too far in tracking their Web surfing patterns, creating public relations nightmares.


• New mass hack strikes sites, confounds researchers
  A massive hack of legitimate Web sites has been spreading malware to visitors' PCs, using a new tactic that has made detection "extraordinarily difficult," security experts said today. According to the researcher who broke the news, the hack, which involves several hundred sites, may be related to a November 2007 break-in at Fasthosts Internet Ltd., a U.K.-based hosting service that in early December acknowledged that some clients' log-in credentials had been pinched.

Daily Roundup for 2008-01-15

• Cheerleader and Taskmaster
  Bob Greene, co-founder of Contour Venture Partners in New York, wants you to know that venture capitalists aren't half as tough as their reputations would have you believe. "A lot of entrepreneurs think VCs are haughty or arrogant," says Greene, who earned his bachelor's degree from the Wharton School in 1982. "All the VCs I know, we do it because we love it. We want to see entrepreneurs succeed. If the wrong impressions get cast, it's because we get inundated with requests for review and capital."


• ‘Go with Your Gut’ - Wharton Alumnus and StubHub Founder Jeff Fluhr Counsels Young Entrepreneurs
  The most important advice Jeff Fluhr, W’96, Eng'96, got as a young entrepreneur was to go with his gut. Fluhr, founder of online ticket sales website StubHub, says he had to stay focused on his vision for the business even while others who became involved in the business advised differently. “I learned that it’s important to listen to what others have to say,” said Fluhr. “But you have an obligation to do what you think is right.” Fluhr co-founded StubHub in March of 2000 and was responsible for setting the overall strategic direction. As CEO, he led the company to its position as the fan's top choice when looking for a safe and trusted way to purchase or sell event tickets online, attracting A-list investors and advisors including major league sports teams, NCAA universities and top performing artists. StubHub was sold to eBay in early 2007.

Should Entrepreneurs Worry About the Loyalties of Their Lawyers?

Should entrepreneurs worry about the loyalties of their lawyers?  That is the question posed in a recent article on TheFunded.com, and to be honest, it is a fair question.

Most venture financings have closing legal expenses in the mid-five figures, and I know of Series B deals where the closing expenses have approached a quarter million dollars (yes, you heard me right... $250,000).  At the end of the day, these expenses are ultimately paid for by investors.  In addition, within local venture ecosystems, the venture lawyers obviously do many deals with the venture capitalists in their area over the course of time.  These factors certainly create the potential for major conflicts of interest, and according to many entrepreneurs, the conflicts of interest are real.

My team has always had the benefit of terrific legal counsel, and we haven't personally struggled with this issue.  However, if you honestly assess the dynamics of the venture relationships as well as the economics of where and how corporate lawyers get paid, you will have to agree that entrepreneurs probably should be keeping a close eye on your lawyers.

As I mentioned, there was a terrific post on this subject at TheFunded.com - Venture Legal: A Conflict of Interest and a Complicated Mess.  The author of this post hit the issue right on the nail.

Daily Roundup for 2008-01-08

• AuctionBytes Report on Online Buying Survey, Part 1
  Why do people shop online? How do they find items, and what factors are important to them in making purchasing decisions? These are some of the questions we set out to explore in our December online-buying survey. Over 900 people took the survey. By aggre


• Scoble Finds Out Facebook Is the Jealous Sort - Advertising Age - Adages
  Robert Scoble, he of many thousand friends on Facebook, was suspended from the social network after he used a new Plaxo feature to automatically export the contact info of his Facebook friends. Facebook has now let him back in, but only after the uber-blogger's brief hiatus created quite the stir in--where else?--the blogosphere. This brings up an interesting question: Do you own your social network? Or does Facebook?

Daily Roundup for 2008-01-03

• Product Blocks Click Fraud in Real Time
  Click Forensics, Inc., a provider of click fraud prevention solutions, recently announced the availability of Click Forensics for Publishers. The new product allows online publishers and ad networks to automatically block sources of click fraud and poor-quality traffic from hitting pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements running on their sites, according to the company. Similar to a spam filter, the product filters out click fraud and other low quality traffic in real time so publishers can improve the overall quality of the traffic they pass through to advertisers.


• Will A Talented Entrepreneur Make $1m From His Startup? - Ask The VC
  In your experience, what are the chances a talented entrepreneur will make $1M from his startup? (And no, I don't mean making $150K/year for 6 years and 8 months. :)