YouTube Videos Stir Up New Sales For ‘Will It Blend’ Maker — InformationWeek

YouTube Videos Stir Up New Sales For ‘Will It Blend’ Maker — YouTube — InformationWeek
I love these ads.

September 28th, 2007

Microsoft/Facebook Love

Microsoft Is in Talks To Buy Facebook Stake – WSJ.com
I was of the opinion last year that Facebook sell to Yahoo for $1B, which was a valuation based on smoke and mirrors. If MS is dumb enough to invest, Facebook strengthens their case for 10x what Yahoo offered. In other words, smartly played.

September 24th, 2007

A better alternative to One Laptop per Child?

The Browser: Analyzing the tech biz A better alternative to One Laptop per Child?
I know a little bit about the OLPC project. Some very insightful questions posed here…how does Negroponte out-innovate the entrepreneurs of the world?

September 24th, 2007

Google Gadget Ads are Here

Google Gadget Ads are Here
The “Mighty Heart” widget is very well designed. I like the AdSense evolution here, and what a great way to to define your platform as the standard — it’s not a flash ad, it’s a Google Gadget Ad!

September 19th, 2007

Ray Kroc

I watched a Biography special on Ray Kroc (founder of McDonald’s). Interesting stuff.

The show revealed how Mr. Kroc picked out locations for new McDonald’s. I’d always been curious about how that was done. I heard somewhere that Burger King decided on new locations by building near a McDonald’s, basically piggybacking McDonald’s market research. That begged the question, what was McDonald’s doing to pick out their sites?

Turns out, Mr. Kroc would charter a plane, fly across a suburb, and look for churches. That’s where he figured he’d reach the American family.

Now I’m going to wonder how churches do it.

September 17th, 2007

Ambrosia Software, Inc. — utilities/itoner

Ambrosia Software, Inc. — utilities/itoner
What a dumb idea by Apple. So I have to buy the song twice, then do all the work to edit and fade the ringtone? Here’s a perfect example that the community won’t stand for that garbage.

September 15th, 2007

Google’s PowerPoint killer

Google readies PowerPoint killer
They mentioned the CapGemini tie-up, which was pretty intriguing. I think this has real potential. For its part, Google MUST execute on the ability to use Apps & Docs offline using Google Gears.

September 14th, 2007

The Unregistered Securities Market

Trio of Financial Giants Joins Unregistered Securities Market – WSJ.com
Does an unregistered securities market platform present a disruptive force in the private placement industry? I say yes. Private placement is fraught with ambiguity and “rules of thumb,” so anything that dramatically improves information for buyers and sellers will significantly lower risk for everyone.

September 12th, 2007

HEB buys Albertson’s stores

HEB buys Albertson’s stores – Austin Business Journal:
This is crazy. I visit all of the HEB and Albertson’s mentioned in this article — regularly. The Albertson’s on Gattis School Road is literally 3 minutes away from an HEB on Louis Henna, which already has excellent location. And they’re keeping both. If you know anything about the market power HEB has in this area, you know they’ll both do well.

September 12th, 2007

Senate passes bill boosting college aid – Yahoo! News

Senate passes bill boosting college aid – Yahoo! News

HUGE news for those of us who borrow for school. My favorites:

Loan-forgiveness for 10 years of teaching? Good to know I always have an exit.

And annual payment caps at a percentage of income? Entrepreneurs win if this goes through — they can name their own salary and keep the debtors at bay.

September 7th, 2007