Comments on: RSS:Blog = HTTP:Web = SMTP:Email

By: Vidyuth Srinivasan

Vidyuth Srinivasan — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 07:56:17 +0000

Talking of google, have you wondered whether the MSFT/Yahoo merger, is a joint bid to curtail the possible threat that Google Talk could be growing to? We all know of microsoft’s worries (Google OS), but is this another market consolidation move by them or is it a sweeping statement directed towards google? Would also be interested to know the basic biz model that these ims work on.

By: John

John — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 19:55:30 +0000

It’ll be interesting to see what happens when Google introduces a “search only blogs” option and kills Technorati with about 10 hours of coding.

By: Nooked Blog

Nooked Blog — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 14:44:02 +0000

RSS feeds attract venture dollars + Bloglines get acquired

Check out this article from CNet News Update According to a post today (Saturday) on PaidContent, Bloglines has been acquired by AskJeeves. Update – Again Brad Feld at Mobius Venture Capital has a great post on RSS + investment I’ve…

By: Brad Feld

Brad Feld — Fri, 31 Dec 2004 19:05:23 +0000

Technorati is a “search engine.” The last time I checked, there were a number of very successful companies that have build real businesses around search engines (e.g. Google, Yahoo). The primary business model is – surprise – revenue from advertising. Interestingly, in the blog world, there are a number of secondary business models based on the nature of the data being indexed – but all are “pay for content” related.

By: efty

efty — Fri, 31 Dec 2004 00:35:39 +0000

but what is techorati’s business model? “real time web” is not a business model.

By: Nikhil Soman

Nikhil Soman — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 10:43:35 +0000

Agree with a lot of stuff you have said re Blogs and RSS as well your NewsGator investment decision.

However, I believe the real power of both RSS and Blogs is still under appreciated. Most of the success these two technologies have seen is due to their basic nature of being participative media delivery vehicles.

RSS has made it easy for people to cull out content of their interest and Blogs have enabled them to cast their opinions/comments or simply put “expression” of their views.

However, it is still fairly difficult to post ones ideas and have people read(reach) them. Most of the content generated in communities still stays limited to those communities (Blogs) and can only be ‘found’ via Google.

I think MessageCast will be a great way to extend these communities and their content.

Another great way to jumpstart the same would be deeper integration with IM platforms that already have significant reach and are the most efficient reach extension vehicles for low-budget micro-communities.

By: John Furrier

John Furrier — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 17:27:46 +0000

I agree with you Brad but would add that the models are evolving and good companies will innovate with the growth some will not. My view is that being in the market today allows firms to help invent & innovate the future. That’s hard to do from the sidelines. So your point of filtering and choosing categorical proven business models is good enough today. Fine tuning them over time as the protocols evolve will determine which mgt teams and boards are smarter.

By: Dave Jilk

Dave Jilk — Sun, 14 Nov 2004 05:39:57 +0000

When people say “haven’t figured out the business model,” it usually seems to mean something more like “haven’t figured out whether [enough] customers will pay for the product/service.” In the late 90s companies got in the habit of changing their business model (e.g., changing from a software product to consulting services, or whatever) when their sales didn’t take off, so it seemed like they were “trying to figure out a business model.”

By: Brad Feld

Brad Feld — Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:04:45 +0000

Indeed it is. Indeed it is.

By: ccouch

ccouch — Fri, 12 Nov 2004 14:02:52 +0000

Isn’t saying “bifurcate into two ..” redundant?

By: Derek Scruggs

Derek Scruggs — Fri, 12 Nov 2004 04:05:45 +0000

Google AdSense is the business model. I know a lot of people who are making a killing on AdSense.

Well, sort of. “Killing” in the individual income sense, not in the VC 10x invested capital of > $1 million sense. Most of them have invested less than $500 getting started. Tools and services that help them make money will be in demand for a while. AdSense is great right now, but they’re nervous about being dependent on one “supplier” of revenue. If and when MSN comes out with their version, they’ll breathe a little easier.

By: Pat Matthews

Pat Matthews — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 22:34:34 +0000

Well said.