Is 2015 the Year of the Digital Wallet?
2014 will go down as the year of the major corporate hack. It happened in retail, in banking, in entertainment, in government and probably in many other places that never went public. Personally I have had new debit cards issued three times this past year, all because of a retail hack. Everytime it happens I […]
The rise of Gigwalk: Imagine if your business had a half million mystery shoppers
Businesses rarely know what others do to promote or merchandise their products. Gigwalk, not your ERP vendor, has a slick mobile/cloud solution — powered by a half million ‘Gigwalkers’ — that addresses some costly business problems.
Why I’d Go Big. And Why You Should Ignore Me, and Most of the Others That Tell You That.
Everything on the web, and in SaaS, these days is about going big. Larry Page at Google I/O wants Google to start doing brave new things that build billion dollar markets. Peter Thiel wants the best of us to skip college and go straight to building the next Pallantir and PayPal, just bigger. Elon Musk […]
PayPal President’s Ream-the-Team Email: Good or Bad Leadership?
As you may have heard, PayPal president David Marcus recently zipped off a zinger of an email to company employees which was leaked to Business Insider and featured in this story: PayPal Chief Reams Employees — Use our App or Quit. Some highlights: PayPal It, our program enabling you to refer businesses that don’t accept […]
Big but Underreported Tech Stories of 2013
Big but Underreported Stories of Importance in 2013 In my youth, I used to track all manner of critters on the family ranch. Later on, I tracked poachers. I’m pretty good at it as I make it a point to spot the odd clue, the worn surfaces, the out of place silhouette, etc. Tracking things […]
Marketing: ‘Context will eat the software industry’
For years, marketers have used the phrase “content is king” to signify the importance of substance and depth in selling to both enterprise and consumer buyers. Meaningful content is a foundation of marketing strategies, influencer programs, and other efforts to attract eyeballs in the digital world. Of course, content as a driver of engagement and […]
Square: It’s All About the Momentum, Baby!
Reading about Square’s latest $100 million in capital raised at a $1 billion valuation, it’s tempting to write another Bubble Story. While it’s undeniable that it would be hard to do that financing in the wake of the recent Sequoia RIP Good Times era, there’s something more interesting to think about here. First, let […]
Quality is Part of the UX Too
Just had a back and forth with @dahowlett on Twitter about Dropbox’s recent breach of security. For about 4 hours passwords didn’t matter to Dropbox–you could type in whatever you wanted and access anyone’s data. Dennis went on a pretty good rampage about it, and I have a hard time blaming him. Yes, accidents happen, […]
Connectivity Disrupting Traditional Models: Online Peer to Peer Commerce
As the world became more connected through the Internet in the 1990’s, many disruptive uses of this connectivity were tried and in some cases have grown into wildly successful businesses. One aspect of connectivity is the way it opens up…
Facebook Aiming to be the Central Hub for Social Shopping?
I read that Facebook just started testing a new feature called “Buy With Friends”. It seems that the feature, which only works today with virtual goods inside games, let’s users get discounts on items that their friends buy. When a user makes an in-app purchase of a virtual product using Facebook Credits they are offer […]
