Month: April 2019

Functionality Vs Content – AVC

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

Functionality Vs Content – AVC

The crux of this post is this part right here:

And most importantly, it is the frustrations of the prior model, as I mentioned above, that creates the opening for the new model.

So if you are working on a new model, for anything (it could be crypto, health care, education, finance, etc, etc), you should look very closely at what are the most annoying and frustrating aspects of the current model and focus on leading with features that remove them.

 

Mostly very real but sometimes I see people working on something because they discovered an annoyance but the market isn’t big enough, or there is not a willingness to pay. I want to caveat that part – the annoying better cross with some revenue potential. That being said I agree that there are things to fix in the world that people will pay for.

On to the streaming part, I admit that the announcement of a service I am even closely tempted to pay for without batting an eye is a Disney streaming service. I have kids, so it is a no brainer. All the back catalog Disney content is the best, and if you add in Star Wars, Marvel and anything else they have that is safe family content then for sure this is a must-have.

I defer on the tech and user experience till we can use it, but I doubt it functions as well as Netflix. I still find HBO lame as an app, and in Singapore, with the excellent internet it still sucks where Netflix is a flawless experience day in and day out. I mention HBO since it is built on Bamtech which is the company Disney mostly owns that started as MLB Tech. I want to guess that Warner sucks in building stuff so hopefully, Disney can do a better job, but all of them have a long ways to go tech wise to catch up to Netflix.

The other piece of this to watch is how this plays out globally, Netflix lite up the whole globe and that means you can get it practically anywhere and I am hoping Disney does the same. I wonder where these leaves the HOOQs, iFlixs, and Hotstars of the world over time. I think it comes down to Netflix, Prime Video and Disney forming the global lion’s share but will be interesting to watch how India fairs. China is China and all walled off so hard to say, but I bet Disney goes hard on it.

 

Blockstack Files With SEC to Raise $50 Million in Reg-A+ Crypto Token Sale – CoinDesk

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I think one of the big things coming is the decentralized internet – think all the stuff apps do today but distributed and with ways to pay as they are used. With the payments going to the devs and the layers they can add on top.

Here is one of them – which is doing an SEC approved token sale:

Blockstack Files With SEC to Raise $50 Million in Reg-A+ Crypto Token Sale – CoinDesk

Another one to track in this space is https://www.wireline.io

(Fixed) Is openness key to building an ecosystem?

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

Great podcast with Eric Schmidt. I am not in love with him as a person or even some of the heroes he worships. With that, I am not endorsing the people or the characters but merely grabbing what I think is some important concepts in building an ecosystem.

overcast.fm/+KebucOqZ8

Have a listen.

I am trying something new to help me generate more content – which is to make voice memos and transcript them to edit for blog posts.

This is what I was thinking while listening.

When Eric Schmidt talks about another Silicon Valley, I think it is very relevant where he discusses that the key pillars are capital and time and the culture. The culture is super important and often overlooked. When I consider Singapore, I think it actually has a lot of these things – capital keeps coming and the time is getting about right.

In my opinion, Singapore is on its way to becoming a great ecosystem, but it will take more time. The age of the ecosystem is less than 10 years – maybe even younger but some accounts.

Culture is a tough though. Singapore is not like California, even Eric talks about it, how the California culture is quite an important framework for the success of Silicon Valley. If you think about Singapore then the culture or other soft attributes that surround the ecosystem are going to be lacking. For me, a big thing missing is openness and inherently, if you think of startups and VC – it is not very open by its very nature. It’s actually kind of secretive.

One of the reasons  I enjoy blogging and talking is just to try to enhance my own spirit of openness. It’s not from a perspective of being right or from having an opinion. It’s from just the expectation that if I open up and share, then potentially, we can all learn from it.

I find it interesting when Eric talks about the early days and how the companies used to help each other a lot. Google and Yahoo used to share deals because they figured if Google sold something, then Yahoo would have a chance to sell something to the same company. Yahoo would do the same thing and share the information with Google. That’s a pretty interesting dynamic between companies that you probably never thought was actually happening. Imagine if little bits like this, sharing or a paying it forward culture begin to permeate in the Singapore or South East Asian region.

The local ecosystem or startup scene would rise to a level that you don’t see today. Everybody would benefit and if everyone benefits then the ecosystem is going to improve.