This post is aimed at helping friends bootstrap projects (although they certainly don’t need me to turn everything into gold, especially these ones). I apologize for the inconvenience caused to readers coming for content, not announcements, but these are 2 AMAZING projects that definitely deserve exposure. Unfortunately, a number of readers won’t be able to [...]
I usually don’t ‘steal’ posts from others -especially without adding any value-adding comment, but I couldn’t help sharing this one – found on Richard’s blog thanks to Twitter (follow him). Here’s a very inspiring slideshow by Index Ventures VC & founder of Open Coffee Saul Klein: The slideshow speaks for itself, doesn’t it? And even if you [...]
That is the question… Video not available anymore, find it here. What do you guys think? via LittleGirl Like Unlike
I’m exhausted and it’s only half of the study trip, but I enjoy SO MUCH going with a great bunch of cool guys to amazing companies like OQO, Netvibes, City Council of SF, l’Atelier US, eBay, Box.net, SRI, Stanford, Meetro and tomorrow Twitter, Neocase, Microsoft, Google, Plug & Play, the Churchill Club, XOBNI – & the day after [...]
In chess, a gambetto – say it with an Italian accent, consists in sacrificing a piece at the beginning of a game to gain a competitive position on the exchequer – for example through the control of the center of the chessboard or one of the long diagonals. Getting back to business (we’ll get back [...]
Over the last 6 years, the Oracle has consistently outperformed its arch rival SAP (see chart below: SAP’s in red) Could M&A be more virtuous than organic growth after all? This is a real, tricky question: Oracle mostly grows through a well-thought acquisition strategy whilst SAP has always preached organic growth. Most people, including my [...]
There has been a good deal of literature on the recent subprime mortgage financial so-called crisis. I haven’t seen anything related to the impact of this downturn on the high tech industry. Let’s hence cross the chasm and write a brief note about it. In short and broadly speaking, what the subprime lending crunch is [...]
The difference between these startups and any Web 2.0 parody of brands is that a vast majority of these software startup actually generate cash. On the WWW, eCommerce companies put aside, the bulk of services generate zero revenues. In the so-called Web 2.0 world, only market leaders like Meetic, LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace are [...]
Heard today at a venture ecosystem gathering: “A VC sowing cash in a start up to see it grow is like a man & woman, married, making a baby. Statistics say 60% of men cheat on their wives and 30% of women cheat on their husbands. I believe the same goes for venture capitalists (men) [...]
Did you know it costs between US$3922 (Infor) and US$5995 (SAP) per user (services included) to deploy an ERP? (source: Aberdeen 2006) I think 1) I find the people complaining about the price of MS Office 2007 (between US$149 & US$679) insane; 2) Deploying an ERP or any other solution is not so expensive after [...]
Yesterday, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Paris-based mobile advertising start up ScreenTonic for an undisclosed amount. First things first, there’s no way I can explain better than David Rowe (in English) or that guy Julien (in French) who had suggested the deal to Microsoft Corp several months ago, why it makes a lot of business [...]
I can’t wait to have a look at mid-2007 financial statements of all major hardware companies like EMC, HP & IBM. It seems software revenues account for the bulk of hardware manufacturers sales and profits – and I suspect the same goes for all major computer network companies (Cisco which has always and quite wisely [...]
Software companies founded by hackers quite naturally have a culture deeply rooted in technology and software development genius. So far, so good. The founder in most times is an excellent software developer with a sound business acumen – or (s)he wouldn’t have found a start up. But since the culture of the company values technical [...]
REGISTRATIONS ARE CLOSED. NO MORE EMAIL PLS. Fellas, I should have 2 months available in Nov.-Dec. 07 – mainly to clear all academic obligations I’ll still have to abide by (reports, thesis, etc.). But I thought I could be efficient for once and find some time to enjoy my last bits of student life. That’s [...]
Who would believe the area of Santa Clara, the self-proclaimed capital city of Silicon Valley, used to be famous for its prunes before the 1940s? In 1939: 2 young engineers, Bill Hewlett & David Packard, started to develop an oscillator in a garage. Silicon Valley was born. While wondering about the reasons for this phenomenon [...]
