Steve Woda's blog

links for 2009-12-31

• Using Google Apps 5 Ways to Avoid Getting Hacked - ReadWriteEnterprise
  Security is one of the biggest concerns for business owners when deciding whether to use an online service like Google Apps. So what are the best ways to protect yourself when using it? Amit Agarwal is a professional blogger and technology columnist. He writes digital inspiration, a world-class technology blog. But Amit got hacked this week. He wrote about it on his blog, providing some excellent advice on how to protect yourself from a similar kind of attack. Amit wrote that he often receives false requests to change his password. He received a similar message this week, but ignored it. A few minutes later he started getting error messages. He could not get to his accounts. Amit had been hacked. He thinks that a hacker accessed a backup email that he had set up for his accounts.
  (tags: google apps security)
• Google's Chrome OS Cited as Likely Hacker Vehicle - BusinessWeek
  Google's computer operating system, due to be released next year, may rank among software most targeted by hackers in 2010, according to a Dec. 29 report from the computer security company McAfee (MFE). The Web-based operating system, dubbed Chrome, relies on a technology known as HTML 5 that's designed to help Web applications behave like PC software. Developers use HTML 5 language to ensure that software delivers fast response times and stores information that users can access even when they're not connected to the Internet. Yet because sites written with HTML 5 can directly access a user's PC online or off, they may provide a rich target for cyber attacks, McAfee said in its "2010 Threat Predictions."
  (tags: google chrome security)

links for 2009-12-30

• Technology Review: Making Money with Social Media
  In retrospect, 2009 may be viewed as the year "social media" came of age: Facebook passed 350 million active users, Oprah made Twitter mainstream, and LinkedIn introduced a service to help recruiting agencies search the site for job candidates. But using microblogs, photoblogs, user-generated content, and even traditional blogs to interact with customers takes time and money, and some companies still question whether all that effort is doing them any good. So how does a company not only measure the results of its social media efforts but also effectively manage them?
  (tags: social media)
• Five Tech Startup Predictions For 2010 - InformationWeek.com
  It's that time of the year again when everyone provides their predictions for the upcoming year. I'd like to take a look at five predictions for 2010 related to tech startups.

  Some of these predictions might just be wishful thinking but there's always hope!

  
  
  
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  StartupCFO: Sell yourself
  
  
  I met with an entrepreneur this week who is building a web service that tackles a very big problem. In his case, there are diverse customer needs. Every customer needs something slightly different. One of the big challenges will be to come up with a standardized set of requirements that best fits those needs. The other challenge is to satisfy them in an easy to use, compelling web service.

  The entrepreneur himself has clear expertise in the space. He undersands the market pain because he lives it himself daily. What he lacks (like everyone who's just starting out) is capital and resources.

  When you're tackling a big problem, you either raise lots of capital to pay for the time and bodies needed to solve it, you break the problem into smaller chunks and tackle a portion of it, or you give up. It was clear to me that this business was not investor ready. Raising lots of cash was not a possibility. I thought there is another way: selling himself.

  
  
  (tags: Entrepreneurship vc)
  
  

links for 2009-12-29

• Advertising Yourself: Building a Personal Brand through Social Networks - Knowledge@Wharton
  In 2007, Jim MacMillan was at the top of his profession -- a photojournalist who had just shared a Pulitzer Prize for pictures from Iraq's deadliest combat zones -- but he also started to wonder what kind of future that profession had in store for him. His newsroom in Philadelphia was making steep job cuts in the face of plummeting revenues. Then MacMillan attended a BlogWorld conference and returned with a determination to re-invent himself though social networking. MacMillan has since become highly skilled at using social networking to gain new fans of his photography, and he is hardly alone. Over the last few years, creative professionals -- including musicians, writers and artists -- have found they can reach an engaged audience by making songs available on a MySpace page or building a national readership by blogging. Now, many individuals are wondering how to build a buzz about themselves and find new employment by adapting the same kind of branding techniques used by businesses.
  (tags: brand marketing social media)
• Content-Search Deals Make Twitter Profitable - BusinessWeek
  Twitter is ending 2009 on a high note. The microblogging site has reached profitability after inking $25 million of deals that make its content searchable by Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT), Bloomberg BusinessWeek has learned. In October, Twitter said it had struck multiyear arrangements that make users' short blog postings available on Google.com and on Bing, which is run by Microsoft. Those agreements carry sufficient value to help Twitter achieve a small profit for 2009, say two people familiar with the company's finances, who asked to remain anonymous because Twitter's books are not a matter of public record.
  (tags: twitter google microsoft,)

links for 2009-12-28

• Twitter acquires Mixer Labs to become more location savvy | VentureBeat
  It looks like Twitter and the applications built around it are going to get smarter about where you’re tweeting from. The company just announced that it has purchased Mixer Labs, a startup that created the TownMe activity guide as well as GeoAPI, a set of developer tools for accessing TownMe’s location data.

  The San Mateo, Calif. team was trying to build a Yelp competitor of sorts. It went beyond business listings and user reviews by pulling in other information available on the web, such as US Census Data.

  
  
  (tags: twitter geolocation)
  
  
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  Google Applications May Reach 150,000 in 2010 Amid Apple Chase - BusinessWeek
  
  
  Google Inc.’s Android mobile software may offer as many as 150,000 applications by the end of 2010, as the company chases Apple Inc. for downloads, according to a mobile-application research firm.

  “A lot of developers have come onto the Android platform” because of efforts by Verizon Wireless, Motorola Inc. and Google to promote the system, Flurry Inc. Chief Executive Officer Simon Khalaf said today in an interview. Flurry, based in San Francisco, is a firm that studies applications and their use.

  
  
  (tags: google android apps marketplace mobile)
  
  
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  Android Arcade on Facebook
  
  
  
  (tags: android app marketplace mobileme)
  
  
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  Chief Of The Year: Vivek Kundra -- Chief Of The Year -- InformationWeek
  
  
  On the wall of Vivek Kundra's Washington, D.C., office hangs a poster-sized IT diagram with such fine-grained detail that it strains the eye to study it. The diagram, showing the computing infrastructure of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was created to expose data that could be made publicly available as part of President Obama's government "transparency" initiative. Kundra, appointed the nation's first federal CIO in March, has learned that it's not enough to mandate data disclosure; he must get involved.
  
  
  (tags: vivek kundra cio government)
  
  
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  Mo. video gamer sentenced in Sanger teen sex case
  
  
  A Missouri man accused of crossing state lines to have sex with a 15-year-old Central California girl he communicated with through an online video game has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.

  Federal prosecutors Friday said 27-year-old Edward Stout of Richmond Heights, Mo. will also be under lifetime surpervision and will have to register as a sex offender upon his release. Stout pleaded guilty in September to having an illicit relationship with the Sanger, Calif. teen.

  Prosecutors say Stout and the girl developed a relationship in April, 2008 and talked while playing video games on Xbox LIVE.

  They say in late January 2009 Stout drove almost nonstop for 30 hours from Missouri to Sanger, where he engaged in sexual activity with the girl.

  
  
  (tags: predator kidsafe security)
  
  
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  What Makes You Roar? The Timberland CEO Wants to Know - NYTimes.com
  
  
  This interview with Jeffrey Swartz, the president and C.E.O. of the Timberland Company, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant.
  
  
  (tags: leadership)
  
  
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  6 Holiday Gifts to Rock Your Productivity
  
  
  What would you like for Christmas? I don’t know about you, but the question strikes fear into my heart and often leaves me stumbling for something to say. The real reason for my noncompliance on the gift question is that I don’t feel I can credibly tell the truth, which is…

  “Well I don’t really need anything, and I have too much stuff anyway and if I wanted anything it would be an ocean-side vacation home on the Big Island of Hawaii, an all-expenses-paid trip to India or a new Kate Spade designer purse. But I’m guessing you just don’t have that much spare change lying around and besides we’re not that close.” Or something like that.

  If you’re in a similar dilemma about what to get or what to give this holiday season, check out this list of productivity-enhancing presents. They’re all good for business, but won’t break the bank.

  
  
  (tags: technology)
  
  

links for 2009-12-27

• 5 Social Media Implications for Brands in 2010
  Social media strategists are dusting off their crystal balls to make their predictions for 2010. Recently, I took mine out at the FrogPond in an attempt to see the future and, lo and behold, my crystal ball had miraculously transformed into a Magic 8 Ball. I shook it and asked if some of my predictions for 2010 would come true, but the plastic thingy read, "Cannot predict now." At first, I thought it was busted, but then I realized my 8 ball was quite savvy. Technology changes so quickly in this space, it just couldn't keep up. Despite this, I pushed on and below you will find my top 5 social media implications for brands. Remember, these are the ones that were more likely to get a reading from the 8 ball of "It is decidedly so" than "My sources say no."
  (tags: social media)
• Daily Text Messages Exceed 4 Billion
  One thing that hasn't faded during the Great Recession is our need to talk to each other — via cell phones. But increasingly that chatter is in the form of text messages. The latest figures from the cell phone industry's trade association show that, during 2009, most indicators were pointing up, including the number of U.S. subscribers, the average monthly bills, data traffic, and even the number of cell towers. Text messaging soared. During the first half of 2009, users sent about 740 billion text messages. That's about 4.1 billion per day, or nearly 17 texts per day by everyone with a data-capable phone. That total was about double the number seen in the first half of 2008, when "only" 386 billion text messages were dispatched.
  (tags: texting)

links for 2009-12-24

• A VC’s Advice On How To Pitch VCs
  Its been almost five years now that I’ve been in venture capital. I finally know what i don’t know. The one thing I do know is how to give better advice on pitching VCs now that I’ve sat through hundreds of pitches and made 8 investments. I gave some advice in an earlier post—this one builds on it at a deeper level (three years later) I’ve mentioned in the past that there are some key things you should include in your presentation when you are pitching a VC. David Cowan’s post on what to include is a great starting point. I thought I would expand on this and add some of the nuances within each section. This may not apply to all types of companies but I think it works for internet-related businesses.
  (tags: vc Entrepreneurship fundraising great)

links for 2009-12-22

• Entrepreneurs Take On Sexting and Child Safety Online - US News and World Report
  Last year, Northern Virginia entrepreneur Steve Woda experienced an incident that seems all too common in the Internet Age: A young member of his extended family was contacted online by a suspicious adult. While the family member was not harmed, it forced Woda and his family to think about ways to prevent the new technologies their kids use—such as social networking and text messages—from opening doors to sexual predators. But he didn't just think about what his own family could do. He and his brother Tim started a business to help parents monitor their children's use of the Internet, text messages, and cellphones.
  (tags: sexting cyberbullying safety security kidsafe woda)
• SafetyWeb To Target Anxious Parents
  Mike Clark and Geoffrey Arone are preparing to roll out a new startup – SafetyWeb – we’ve confirmed. The company has raised a small angel round from Battery Ventures. Clarke was an early executive and SVP of Engineering at Photobucket and was there from the start and for two years following the $300 million acquisition from FIM/MySpace. Arone, a cofounder of Flock, recently sold his startup DanceJam to SportsNet. Both are now full time on SafetyWeb. For now the two aren’t saying much about the product. Except for this: SafetyWeb will target parents who want to know what their kids are up to online. This isn’t about filtering and key logging the home computers, but rather a service that will monitor publicly available information on the Internet and report back to parents. The key goals are to understand how to interpret real v. perceived threats to children/teens, and also report back any anomalies that the parents should be aware of.
  (tags: safetyweb)

links for 2009-12-18

• Playing the Entrepreneurship Game, at Least Virtually
  Prof. Ian MacMillan helps develop an online game that gives underserved youth access to entrepreneurship skills and Wharton undergrads a chance to teach them. "Oh no, I hate rats! I can't have rats in my store. I need to get a cat and an exterminator!" exclaimed one store owner. A nearby store owner, who was dealing with a flood, could be heard yelling, "That's not fair! My stuff can't be ruined like that!" And a few stores down, another owner was realizing that not only did he have to pay rent and electricity, but also a year's worth of taxes all in the same month. "Do I really have to pay the taxes?" he asked. These are all real problems that entrepreneurs can face, however these vocal store owners were actually West Philadelphia High School juniors and seniors playing the Johnny Money Online Game in a class taught by Wharton undergraduates.
  (tags: Entrepreneurship game wharton macmillan)
• Tenacity
  Tenacity is probably the most important attribute in an entrepreneur. It’s the person who never gives up – who never accepts “no” for an answer. The world is filled with doubters who say that things can’t be done and then pronounce after the fact that they “knew it all along."
  (tags: vc Entrepreneurship)

links for 2009-12-16

• The Six Twitter Types

  It took me a few months to figure out that all Twitter users are not created equal and don’t have the same agenda. It’s much more complex than “cool people talking about cool things.” In order for you to come up to speed faster than I did, here is an explanation of the principle types of Twitter users, how they predominantly tweet, and a recommended approach to each of them.

  (tags: twitter)

• Nearly 1 in 3 older teens gets ‘sexting’ messages - msnbc.com

  Thirty percent of 17-year-olds who have cell phones say they have received "sexting" photos or video messages, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Eight percent of 17-year-olds say they have sent such sexually suggestive images. Among teens ages 12 to 17 years old, 15 percent say they have received nude or nearly nude images of someone they know via text messaging on their cell phones, while 4 percent say they have sent such photos. Among 12- and 13-year olds, 6 percent say they have received "sext messages." "It’s an issue that teens grapple with and deal with in their lives, and one that deserves attention," said Amanda Lenhart, Pew senior research specialist who worked on the "Teens and Sexting" report.

  (tags: sexting kidsafe security)

links for 2009-12-11

• Mobile Internet Users to Double by 2013, Says Report

  Internet, and mobile Internet, use is on the rise. While China has the most Internet users and mobile online devices, the United States has the highest number of total connected devices. Online shopping, and advertising, are also expected to skyrocket worldwide. It’s a Web, Web, Web, Web world. And that’s just the half of it. According to a Dec. 9 report from research firm IDC, there are currently more than 450 million mobile Internet users around the world, and that figure is expected to more than double over the next four years, passing the one billion mark.

  (tags: mobile internet)

• Got Wingmen? Never Fly Solo

  Air Force fighter pilot Rob “Waldo” Waldman learned how to overcome fear, anxiety, and self-doubt to fly combat missions that pushed him to his limits by disciplined training and the help of his wingmen. Wingmen are people with different backgrounds, skills, and experiences unified under one agreement—to never think or act alone. A wingman watches your back. In Never Fly Solo, Waldo threads real world experiences to encourage the development of a check-six culture. Check-six refers to the six o’clock position where the jet is most vulnerable—the pilot’s blind spot.

  (tags: leadership)

links for 2009-12-09

• Google Buys AppJet To Power Wave -- InformationWeek

  Google appears to be in a rush to get its holiday shopping done, having just acquired its fourth company in less than a month. On Friday, AppJet, a start-up co-founded by an ex-Google employee, revealed that it had been bought by Google. In October, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said his company would be looking more actively for acquisition targets. In 2007, Google acquired 16 companies. In 2008, it bought only two. AppJet makes an online collaborative Word processing program called EtherPad that allows real-time collaborative authoring similar to what Google offers in Wave.

  (tags: google wave appjet M&A)

• The 7 Most Important Words Any Leader Can Hear (or Say)

  At one time or another, I’m sure you have heard the well-traveled leadership lesson called “A Short Course in Human Relations” (in case you haven’t , here’s a good little video reminder), which starts with the Six Most Important Words (“I admit I made a mistake”), and ended with the One Most Important Word (“we”). It’s well traveled because despite its contrivance, there are some great lessons there. However, it never stuck in my mind as much, or ultimately became as important to my leadership learning, as a little addition to that list I heard about 22 years ago.

  (tags: leadership)

• Are We Mismanaging Our Top Talent?

  Asked why they left their past jobs, a group of high performers (at Wharton) didn't offer the usual "I hate my boss" or even "I don't fit." Their unhappiness with their former employers boiled down to questions of fairness. And there might not be a solution to be found in today's organizations.

  (tags: wharton cappelli hr career leadership)

• Does a VC’s brand matter? – chris dixon's blog

  Suppose you are in the enviable position of choosing between offers from multiple VC firms. How much should you weigh the brand of the VCs when making your decision? I think the answer is: a little, but a lot less than most people assume. First, let me say the quality of the individual partner making the offer matters a lot. However, in my experience, there is a only rough correlation between a VC’s brand and the quality of the individual partners there. There are toxic partners at brand name firms, and great partners at lesser known firms. There are only two situations I can think of where the firm’s brand really matters.

  (tags: vc Entrepreneurship)

• Information Arbitrage: Thoughts on Taking Venture Money

  My (highly intelligent and experienced) friend Chris Dixon just posted on the importance of VC brands. He makes many good points and you should read his perspective. But the issue Chris raises begs a more fundamental question: whether or not to take venture money, and if so, from whom?

  (tags: Entrepreneurship VC)

• Great article by Jim Randel on "The Soul of an Entrepreneur"

  I have had the good fortune to be close to many successful entrepreneurs. And so I have a perspective as to what separates those who make it big from those who don't. Yes, the quality of the idea is critical, of course, as is the access to capital. And certainly being at the right place at the right time is the ultimate good fortune. But, if I had to put my finger on the one dominant factor of entrepreneurial success stories, it is the absolute total unwillingness of the entrepreneur to say "uncle." My premise is that if you put twenty entrepreneurs in a controlled environment, all with the same idea and the same access to capital, only some (if any) will take the idea to the moon. And those who do will be the men or women with the most resolve.

  (tags: Entrepreneurship)

• Blogging Innovation: Four Quadrants of Innovation

  I recently wrote up a post, "Innovation Perspectives - No Shooting Stars." In it, I discussed the issue of organizations myopically focusing on only disruptive innovations to the exclusion of more incremental or sustaining innovations. In doing more research on the subject, I began thinking about the dynamics that apply when a firm pursues different kinds of innovation. A post by Venkatesh Rao, Disruptive versus Radical Innovations, was very useful for distinguishing between disruptive and radical innovations. Building on that, I wanted a framework for delineating innovations based on their technology and business impacts. Because they're not necessarily the same. The four quadrants below describe the dynamics for innovations according to their technology and market impacts:

  (tags: Innovation)

links for 2009-12-08

• Facebook board aims to keep kids safe - CNN.com

  Facebook has joined forces with five Internet groups to help protect kids, the social-networking site said. "We believe that the only way to keep kids safe online is for everyone who wants to protect them to work together," Elliot Schrage, a Facebook vice president, said in a statement Sunday. "The formation of a board to advise specifically on safety issues is a positive, innovative and collaborative step toward creating a more robust safety environment, and we are thrilled that such a well-respected, trusted group of organizations has joined us in this endeavor."

  (tags: facebook child safety kidsafe)

links for 2009-12-05

• Oprah Winfrey and Your Leadership Brand - HarvardBusiness.org
  All leaders have a brand. Whether that term is used or not, leaders have an identifiable persona that is a reflection of what they do and how others perceive them. I call this the leadership brand. When it comes to cultivating a leadership brand, look no further than Oprah Winfrey, who recently announced that she would be ending her popular talk show in 2011. In a perceptive analysis, New York Times media columnist David Carr suggests that Winfrey's brand and the key to her longevity is a combination of things she didn't do as well as things that she did do. On the "don't do side," she did not over-merchandize nor take her company public; she kept control of her products and thereby her image, unlike Martha Stewart. On the "do side," she always stayed true to herself. As she told her business partner Gayle King years ago, "I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds it."
  (tags: leadership marketing)
• To Hell With Personal Branding - Brazen Careerist
  Hey, Personal Branding, I have something to tell you: I don’t care. I just don’t care anymore. You have prevented me from having fun for the last time. I bought my URL domain and secured a couple of social media profiles. Your job is done, I’m moving on now. Because really, all that you’ve ever really taught us is stuff we already knew. Did we really need someone telling us how to be authentic or respectful?
  (tags: marketing career)

links for 2009-12-04

• Can Google really hack it in business? - InfoWorld
  After conquering the search world, Google is now pushing hard to be a major provider of business software, tackling longtime dominator Microsoft over productivity and collaboration apps. But does this company, most famous for free consumer-oriented offerings like search and basic apps, have what it takes to be taken seriously by business? Can you really rely on Google Apps?

  Ken Godskind thinks so. The chief strategy officer at AlertSite moved his company's 45 employees to the Premier Edition of Google Apps in late 2008. He likes the fact that he gets not only e-mail but word processing, spreadsheets, a Web-based calendar, Web-based collaboration, Google Talk, and Google Video for $50 a year per user. That's a third or less of what he would pay to get the same from an internal, Microsoft-based environment.

  
  
  (tags: google apps)
  
  
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  Official Google Blog: Introducing Google Social Search: I finally found my friend's New York blog!
  
  
  Your friends and contacts are a key part of your life online. Most people on the web today make social connections and publish web content in many different ways, including blogs, status updates and tweets. This translates to a public social web of content that has special relevance to each person. Unfortunately, that information isn't always very easy to find in one simple place. That's why today we're rolling out a new experiment on Google Labs called Google Social Search that helps you find more relevant public content from your broader social circle. It should be available for everyone to try by the end of the day, so be sure to check back.
  
  
  (tags: google social search)
  
  
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  Twitter: 3 Things That Are Not So Hot
  
  
  Like many shiny new technologies, Twitter hit the radar screen of small businesses in the past year with hyped-up expectations, much experimentation, some wins and some disappointments. Marketers looking for innovative ways to reach out to customers, prospects and the public started singing Twitter’s praises. Others expressed a high degree of curiosity toward Twitter.

  But like any new tool, there’s good and there’s bad. Let’s assess the current state of Twitter.com by examining 3 things that are “Not So Hot” about it – and whether those should dissuade you from using Twitter:

  
  
  (tags: twitter)
  
  
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  Poll finds sexting common among young people - washingtonpost.com
  
  
  Think your kid is not "sexting"? Think again.

  Sexting - sharing sexually explicit photos, videos and chat by cell phone or online - is fairly commonplace among young people, despite sometimes grim consequences for those who do it. More than a quarter of young people have been involved in sexting in some form, an Associated Press-MTV poll found.

  That includes Sammy, a 16-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area who asked that his last name not be used.

  Sammy said he had shared naked pictures of himself with girlfriends. He also shared naked pictures of someone else that a friend had sent him.

  
  
  (tags: sexting security kidsafe)
  
  
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  Soothing Anger-Management Techniques - Forbes.com
  
  
  Saturdays at Billy Lowe's beauty salon in Los Angeles' trendy West Hollywood neighborhood can get pretty hairy. Lowe will see up to 10 clients on a Saturday in his personal chair. He never double-books (meaning he sees people from start to finish), so one late client can snarl everything.

  The stress quotient ramped up on a recent Saturday afternoon when one of Lowe's celebrity clients called to say she would be at least an hour late for her appointment. Lowe has styled camera-ready heads from Ellen Degeneres to the cast of Desperate Housewives. He didn't get to that perch without understanding the needs--and stroking the egos--of his clientele. He couldn't make these folks wait because one foul-mouthed starlet couldn't manage her schedule.

  
  
  (tags: stress management)
  
  
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  Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights: How to Protect Your Brilliant Idea - WSJ.com
  
  
  You want to spread the word about your business. But you also want to keep your innovative product or clever brand name safe from rivals, counterfeiters or rip-off artists.

  What to do? Safeguarding your company's intellectual property through patents, trademarks or copyrights will allow you to seek damages, a big deterrent to imitators. Here's a brief overview of all three types of protection.

  
  
  (tags: IP patent)
  
  
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  Apple's Schiller Defends iPhone App Approval Process - BusinessWeek
  
  
  Apple (AAPL) is under fire from some developers for the way it vets applications that can be sold on its online App Store. Facebook developer Joe Hewitt goes so far as to say he's "philosophically opposed" to the very notion of a company deciding which applications can and can't be used on its hardware. The presence of "gatekeepers" in software development "sets a horrible precedent," he says.

  But in his first extensive interview on the subject, Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice-president for worldwide product marketing, outlines the many reasons Apple keeps close tabs on which applications can be downloaded onto the iPhone and iPod Touch. He also outlined ways the company is trying to become more flexible in its approval process.

  
  
  (tags: apple)
  
  

links for 2009-12-03

• Health-care bill's ability to reduce deficits debated - washingtonpost.com
  As the long battle over health care is rejoined in the Senate this week, experts remain deeply divided over whether the legislation would rein in soaring health-care costs or simply add millions of people to a system that is already driving the nation toward bankruptcy. Optimists say the $848 billion package drafted by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) contains all the most promising ideas for transforming the health-care system and encouraging doctors and hospitals to work more efficiently. They say it would eventually reduce both private premiums and the swelling cost of government health care for the elderly and poor. Even pessimists don't necessarily disagree. But they see scant evidence that those ideas would quickly bear fruit, and in the short term they fear that the initiative would leave Washington struggling to pay for a new $200 billion-a-year health program even as existing programs require vast infusions of cash to care for the aging baby-boom generation.
  (tags: healthcare)
• Are You an In or an Out Leader? - HarvardBusiness.org
  I have just spent an intensive week coaching executives in a global organisation, asking my clients the simple question: are you an "In" or an "Out" leader? By that, I mean, how much time and energy are you spending in (or with) your team and how much time out in the wider organisation? It might seem like a simple question, but executives rarely take the time to think about it. It's important to do though, because this single question could answer many other questions that you — or your boss — have about your style and effectiveness.
  (tags: leadership)

links for 2009-12-02

• Tweet victory for Twitter... the most used English word
  It has become many celebrities' favourite way to share their thoughts, however mundane, with the world.

  But now internet phenomenon Twitter has become the most popular word in the English language, according to researchers.

  The microblogging website - which allows its 20million users including Stephen Fry and Demi Moore to transmit 140 character messages across the globe instantly - beat Barack Obama into second place in a survey of the most-used phrases this year.

  
  
  (tags: twitter)
  
  
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  InformationWeek.com
  
  
  I'm wondering if Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Wave is like a concept car for Google. We'll never see it in production--but all of its features and capabilities will emerge in other products released by Google and other companies. Google Wave solves some very real business problems. But I think even Google will have trouble getting companies to adopt it.

  Google says Wave is "what e-mail might look like if it were invented today." If you haven't tried Wave, you probably think that's an empty marketing slogan, that it sounds catchy but means nothing. But if you have played with Wave, you see that it's actually the best possible description. If you took a bunch of Web 2.0 geniuses, locked them in a room, and asked them to invent a system that solves the major problems with using e-mail in a business environment, you'd end up with something like Wave.

  
  
  (tags: google wave)
  
  
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  At Quantico: 'It's supposed to be hard' - washingtonpost.com
  
  
  Arthur Colby arrives at Quantico Marine Base by way of Groton boarding school and Dickinson College -- exclusive, private institutions that aren't exactly pipelines to the military. Officer Candidates School, he knows, will be unlike anything he's faced in his young life.

  At 20, Colby has a résumé crammed with hallmarks of the young and ambitious -- president of Dickinson's freshman class, internships with the Bush and McCain campaigns, a stint with a high-powered Washington consulting firm. He'd be well on his way to a bright future without the Marines.

  Instead, he's expecting six hellish weeks. Predawn hikes, obstacle courses, push-ups, sit-ups, all on very little sleep. But perhaps the biggest challenge he faces at Quantico is not so much physical as cultural.

  
  
  
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  Need Help Selecting a Payment Processor? Look No Further Than Payments-R-Us - washingtonpost.com
  
  
  More and more startups are finally focusing on real business models, ones that are based on actually selling a product or service. You know, for money.

  The irony is that many get pretty far down the development path before realizing that adding billing infrastructure to their offering may not be as simple as integrating with PayPal's API or some other payment processor.

  Choosing the right processor, and many times, processors, from a confusing multi-layered vendor ecosystem can be tricky. Poor decision-making when it comes to issues such as terms of pricing, business fit, or processing capability, can each be a deep gash in any startup's soft underbelly.

  
  
  (tags: payments)
  
  
• 
  
  Facebook Investor DST Expands Mail.ru With Astrum Online Merger - washingtonpost.com
  
  
  Digital Sky Technologies (aka DST), the Russian Internet holding company that holds stakes in several major Russian-language social networking and communication players and notably also recently invested in Facebook, is melting two of its largest portfolio companies together into one online powerhouse.

  Astrum Online Entertainment, itself formed by DST after merging five online game companies that were active mainly in Russia and Eastern Europe (Astrum Nival, Nikita.Online, IT Territory, TimeZero and DJ Games) back in 2007, will effectively become 100% owned by Mail.ru, the leading Internet portal in the Russian speaking world and equally majority-owned by DST.

  
  
  (tags: facebook mail.ru)
  
  

links for 2009-12-01

• The End Of The CrunchPad - washingtonpost.com
  It was so close I could taste it. Two weeks ago we were ready to publicly launch the CrunchPad. The device was stable enough for a demo. It went hours without crashing. We could even let people play with the device themselves ¿ the user interface was intuitive enough that people "got it" without any instructions. And the look of pure joy on the handful of outsiders who had used it made the nearly 1.5 year effort completely worth it. Our plan was to debut the CrunchPad on stage at the Real-Time Crunchup event on November 20, a little over a week ago. We even hoped to have devices hacked together with Google Chrome OS and Windows 7 to show people that you could hack this thing to run just about anything you want. We'd put 1,000 of the devices on pre-sale and take orders immediately. Larger scale production would begin early in 2010.
  (tags: techcrunch crunchpad)