Category: Tech

Path Talk

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

I keep using Path cause my parents are on it and it’s an easy place to share things. Because of this my brothers are also on it. So we all use it – but not heavily.

It’s funny how it is growing though, feature wise not users, and it reminds me a lot of my Koprol days and how we use to daydream about what we wanted Koprol to be when it grew up. It was always about the conversations around places. So it is interesting to see Path add the ability to talk to a place versus about a place. It sounds cool but it only works in the USA. I am sure it is useful but I still don’t see how it will make money, unless they charge for it, and how they will scale it – while still making money.

http://blog.path.com/post/98818902277/now-in-path-talk-message-people-and-places-in-one-app

India Time!

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

Warning – I am biased here to some extent but I am always a harsh critic.

Looking around Asia we can all see that China has had it’s time – Alibaba going public is huge evidence of that. Not saying China is over but mostly pointing out that a lot of focus has been there. Now it looks like India is coming into focus. Startup funding is going nuts, lots of VIPs are going to India, and Modi is getting the world interested again. I am pretty fired up about it all and of course bodes well for my main project – Spuul.

http://fortune.com/2014/09/27/why-investors-should-bet-on-india/

One of the biggest deals of our time…

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

Lots of people in the west a few years ago had never heard of Tencent or Alibaba. Those of us in Asia obviously have but I think many people don’t realize that these two companies created some of the largest investment deals ever. Naspers buying a large share of Tencent for millions that turned out to be worth billions. Then Jerry Yang and team buying a large share of Alibaba for millions that is also worth billions. What’s stunning is how a lame duck board and an even lamer CEO at the time sold a lot of the Alibaba shares for a fraction of what they were worth a few years ago. Just a stunning mistake. Of course Yahoo still made a ton of money and who the hell knows what they will do with it. Just look at how Ebay is dumping PayPal to unlock some value to see that the threat of breaking Yahoo up is very possible.

There is so much more to talk about when it comes to the downfall of Yahoo, their missed Asian oppurtunities and what they will do now – not sure I have enough time to cover it but bottom line is the Yahoo joint ventures look to be the better businesses for Yahoo than their own owned and operated businesses. It’s a shame Yahoo didn’t create a lot more of them when they were in such a dominant position to do so. I honestly don’t believe Yahoo will ever make a substantial comeback in their core businesses.

For I will always enjoy the limited time I spent working with Yang – check out this Fortune article on Yang, the Alibaba deal and what he is doing today.

Russell heads to TechCrunch

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

Wow. Been hearing rumors of lots of things changing at The Next Web and now we see Jon has left. Not much else to say other than congrats on the new gig. Interesting to see TechCrunch expansion in Asia and where Jon will take the coverage going forward.

Jon – just let me know when you want your first interview. 😉

Have fun on your trip!

Android First

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

Untitled

The prevailing wisdom is to generally ship iOS first when it comes to mobile apps. However in certain circumstances when the region and the needs permit it, I think it can make more sense to go with Android first.

I met the http://stylhunt.com/ team while mentoring at JFDI and have been fortunate to stick with them past the program while they raise money and launch their product on a wider scale.

If you look at their target market – Thailand, the Android tools available to them and the fact that payments are not the first focus, then it makes complete sense to go Android first.

Yes – they have plans for iOS but at the moment they are rocking the Android charts and people are noticing.

Will try to interview Sam at some point for the blog.

On big phones

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

I need a new phone but I don’t know if it will be a 6 or 6 plus yet. I need to feel it and play with it.

On just returning back from Thailand you notice phablets everywhere. To me it’s a simple reason why – I think for a lot of these people this is there only device and the bigger the better. Within reason of course but it has a bigger battery, bigger screen and they don’t care what they look like talking on it, watching videos on it or taking pictures with it.

It’s their computer and happens to fit in their hand.

For me it’s just that simple.