Billions Pouring into Sustainable Energy Ideas
Demand is surging among investors for business ideas that will take advantage of changing views and regulations on greenhouse gases. However, at present there are not enough good projects to jump into.
Worldwide investments in sustainable energy (including wind, solar and water power) more than doubled from 2004 to 2006, to 70.9-billion, according to a 2007 report...Venture capital and private equity investments in sustainable energy increased 69% in 2006, to 8.6-billion.
Read the full report from here
Friday, November 9, 2007
Cisco I-prize - Seeking the Next Billion-Dollar Idea
Cisco Seeks Next Billion-Dollar Idea via I-prize
Cisco has launched a contest to find the next billion dollar idea.
The Cisco I-Prize is a global competition the company said is designed to help it find the next billion-dollar opportunity. The main requirement is that teams must use Cisco's collaboration technologies to develop their projects. The winning team will get an employment contract with a $250,000 signing bonus and up to $10 million in funding over three years to develop the business.
...one of the premises of the I-Prize contest is that ideas "have the potential to bring in at least $1 billion revenue to Cisco over a five- to seven-year period, and submissions must use the IP network as a platform."
Full news @ Internet News
Cisco has launched a contest to find the next billion dollar idea.
The Cisco I-Prize is a global competition the company said is designed to help it find the next billion-dollar opportunity. The main requirement is that teams must use Cisco's collaboration technologies to develop their projects. The winning team will get an employment contract with a $250,000 signing bonus and up to $10 million in funding over three years to develop the business.
...one of the premises of the I-Prize contest is that ideas "have the potential to bring in at least $1 billion revenue to Cisco over a five- to seven-year period, and submissions must use the IP network as a platform."
Full news @ Internet News
Sunday, September 2, 2007
How to Profit from the Billion Dollar Debt Crunch?
How to Profit from the Debt Crunch
September 2, 2007, Times Online
One man's problem is another man's opportunity, and this is once again exemplified by an article from Times Online UK.
The article says:
"
Volatility in the financial markets is throwing up good deals. These include repossessed property, pawnbrokers and cheap shares. Clare Francis reports
INVESTORS are being urged to turn this summer’s financial-markets crisis to their advantage as the turmoil has shone the spotlight on ways to profit from the world’s spiralling debt crisis.
As debt levels rise towards the £1,500 billion mark in Britain, firms that profit from borrowers’ desperation, such as pawnbrokers and insolvency specialists, are being tipped for a period of unprecedented success.
Meanwhile, buy-to-let investors have been cashing in on the highest level of house repossessions in five years by picking up properties at huge discounts.
"
Billion dollar problems = at least million dollar opportunity for many?
September 2, 2007, Times Online
One man's problem is another man's opportunity, and this is once again exemplified by an article from Times Online UK.
The article says:
"
Volatility in the financial markets is throwing up good deals. These include repossessed property, pawnbrokers and cheap shares. Clare Francis reports
INVESTORS are being urged to turn this summer’s financial-markets crisis to their advantage as the turmoil has shone the spotlight on ways to profit from the world’s spiralling debt crisis.
As debt levels rise towards the £1,500 billion mark in Britain, firms that profit from borrowers’ desperation, such as pawnbrokers and insolvency specialists, are being tipped for a period of unprecedented success.
Meanwhile, buy-to-let investors have been cashing in on the highest level of house repossessions in five years by picking up properties at huge discounts.
"
Billion dollar problems = at least million dollar opportunity for many?
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Network Computing - Offering More than What I Want?
Network Computing - Offering More than What I Want?
Read an interesting post discussing the importance of network-driven applications and network driven computing, as opposed to client (PC/Laptop) driven computing that is in vogue today.
It is indeed interesting to read some of the latest developments, "Google, Microsoft, and Apple have all announced new online storage offerings...the widening race to stake claims in online storage heralds the impending emergence of a new platform, or paradigm, that has massive disruptive potential." While as an idea network centric computing is nothing new (remember The Network is the Computer slogan from Sun? looks like many years ago!), there is little doubt it can have disruptive potential, most definitely a billion make that multi-multi-billion) dollar idea. My guess is, going by Clayton Christensen's logical description of how disruptive businesses take root, Google and Co will need to try to understand the disruptive process better. If they are able to identify a couple of low-end applications that users will only be too glad to store online and start with these to take the assault to Microsoft, it could work better.
For instance, I'm not too comfortable having all my word processing and spreadsheet and other office applications online. I mean, they are working just fine right now, and the costs are not unaffordable, plus having them on desktops is convenient, need not depend on connectivity. But there are some things I'd like online - mail for one (sadly, an open secret!), whatever application I use to publish my blog (in my case Blogger), my bookmarks, contact details of my friends and relatives (just in case I forgot my diary I can always look it up online from anywhere)...that's all I can think of...for the rest, my desktop applications are doing just fine!
This is I think is the crux - Google and the Bog Boys, in their ever present messianic attitude, try to give us things that we are simply not ready for, or not really keen on...if they instead try to find from folks like me if there are other things I'd love to have online, perhaps that will be a better start for network computing becoming mainstream?
Just some thoughts...
Read an interesting post discussing the importance of network-driven applications and network driven computing, as opposed to client (PC/Laptop) driven computing that is in vogue today.
It is indeed interesting to read some of the latest developments, "Google, Microsoft, and Apple have all announced new online storage offerings...the widening race to stake claims in online storage heralds the impending emergence of a new platform, or paradigm, that has massive disruptive potential." While as an idea network centric computing is nothing new (remember The Network is the Computer slogan from Sun? looks like many years ago!), there is little doubt it can have disruptive potential, most definitely a billion make that multi-multi-billion) dollar idea. My guess is, going by Clayton Christensen's logical description of how disruptive businesses take root, Google and Co will need to try to understand the disruptive process better. If they are able to identify a couple of low-end applications that users will only be too glad to store online and start with these to take the assault to Microsoft, it could work better.
For instance, I'm not too comfortable having all my word processing and spreadsheet and other office applications online. I mean, they are working just fine right now, and the costs are not unaffordable, plus having them on desktops is convenient, need not depend on connectivity. But there are some things I'd like online - mail for one (sadly, an open secret!), whatever application I use to publish my blog (in my case Blogger), my bookmarks, contact details of my friends and relatives (just in case I forgot my diary I can always look it up online from anywhere)...that's all I can think of...for the rest, my desktop applications are doing just fine!
This is I think is the crux - Google and the Bog Boys, in their ever present messianic attitude, try to give us things that we are simply not ready for, or not really keen on...if they instead try to find from folks like me if there are other things I'd love to have online, perhaps that will be a better start for network computing becoming mainstream?
Just some thoughts...
Disruptive Business in the Rock Guitar World
Disruption in the Rock Guitar World
Came across an interesting item on disruptive ideas at The Disruption Group blog.
The author discusses anothe classic case of a disruptor entering established markets with a new product and winning (at least on the way to winning it.
In the case study presented in the post, the disruptor - Line 6 - rather than asking how to beat the incumbents through incremental innovations in electric guitars (almost always a failing strategy), looked at things differently. Using their expertise in digital modeling amplifiers and effects that recreated classic tube sounds via modern DSP (digital signal processing) electronics, Line 6 asked the question that no guitar builder would ever have considered: why not model the guitar itself using the the DSP created classic tube sounds? By dramatically altering the process in which the sounds are created, Line 6 was able to offer an electric guitar that "digitally recreates any of 25 vintage guitar sounds at the touch of a knob, allowing you to use the same instrument to perform with sounds as varied as those of Keith Richards or Bruce Springsteen, who use Telecasters, to Johnny Cash, who used a Martin. Settings include a 1959 Fender Strat, a 1968 Telecaster, a 1961 Gibson Les Paul standard, a Rickenbacker 12 string, a hollow-body Gretsch, a Martin acoustic, a Dobro resonator, an electric sitar, banjo and a dozen other variations."
Line 6, according to the post has been quite successful...
Read more from this interesting post @ The Disruption Group blog
Came across an interesting item on disruptive ideas at The Disruption Group blog.
The author discusses anothe classic case of a disruptor entering established markets with a new product and winning (at least on the way to winning it.
In the case study presented in the post, the disruptor - Line 6 - rather than asking how to beat the incumbents through incremental innovations in electric guitars (almost always a failing strategy), looked at things differently. Using their expertise in digital modeling amplifiers and effects that recreated classic tube sounds via modern DSP (digital signal processing) electronics, Line 6 asked the question that no guitar builder would ever have considered: why not model the guitar itself using the the DSP created classic tube sounds? By dramatically altering the process in which the sounds are created, Line 6 was able to offer an electric guitar that "digitally recreates any of 25 vintage guitar sounds at the touch of a knob, allowing you to use the same instrument to perform with sounds as varied as those of Keith Richards or Bruce Springsteen, who use Telecasters, to Johnny Cash, who used a Martin. Settings include a 1959 Fender Strat, a 1968 Telecaster, a 1961 Gibson Les Paul standard, a Rickenbacker 12 string, a hollow-body Gretsch, a Martin acoustic, a Dobro resonator, an electric sitar, banjo and a dozen other variations."
Line 6, according to the post has been quite successful...
Read more from this interesting post @ The Disruption Group blog
Subscription Model Great Way to Create a Billion Dollar Company
Subscription Model a Great Way to Create a Billion Dollar Company
Read an interesting (though quite old post by Net standards, July 2004) @ Paul Allen (the lesser) blog.
A recurring revenue model, such as the one with a subscription business, is an excellent model to grow big in reveenues in a reasonable amount of time. Why?
As Paul says in the post, "Once you get a customer signed up, and the product is good enough to keep them happy, you generate revenue for months or years. So your marketing pays off long-term."
And he quotes some companies with a subscription model that have billion plus market caps (all 2004 figures):
1. Netflix: 2 million subscribers and is worth $1.86 billion.
2. XM Satellite Radio: 1 million plus subscribers . Market cap: $5.2 billion.
3. RealNetworks reached 1 million subscribers to its content service by April 2003. Market cap: $1.1 billion.
Interesting indeed for anyone wanting to create a billion $ company. Well of course all of us have the same question, and so does Paul: "The question is, is it possible to create new ones that have the potential to generate a million subscribers, or have all the good ideas already been taken?"
Hmmm...
Read an interesting (though quite old post by Net standards, July 2004) @ Paul Allen (the lesser) blog.
A recurring revenue model, such as the one with a subscription business, is an excellent model to grow big in reveenues in a reasonable amount of time. Why?
As Paul says in the post, "Once you get a customer signed up, and the product is good enough to keep them happy, you generate revenue for months or years. So your marketing pays off long-term."
And he quotes some companies with a subscription model that have billion plus market caps (all 2004 figures):
1. Netflix: 2 million subscribers and is worth $1.86 billion.
2. XM Satellite Radio: 1 million plus subscribers . Market cap: $5.2 billion.
3. RealNetworks reached 1 million subscribers to its content service by April 2003. Market cap: $1.1 billion.
Interesting indeed for anyone wanting to create a billion $ company. Well of course all of us have the same question, and so does Paul: "The question is, is it possible to create new ones that have the potential to generate a million subscribers, or have all the good ideas already been taken?"
Hmmm...
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Need a Million Bucks Quick? Sue Google!
Need Big Money Quick? Sue Google!
Interesting post at Wired, by Michael Myser
Certainly not a billion dollar idea, and probably not an idea we would recommend, but who knows, you or your company might be qualified enough to sue Google and make some serious millions (pocket change for the big G)
The post says how companies from all across the spectrum are running to the courthouse to sue Google.
Examples quoted:
Perfect 10 - the porn company is suing over Google helping others to get its pics free!
Universal Tube and Rollform - complaint: trademark infringement and "nuisance traffic" due to the similarities between utube.com and YouTube.com - hmmmph!
iLor - for alleged patent infringement on a hyperlinks idea
American Blind & Wallpaper - for Google allowing its competitors to purchase its name for their AdWords advertisements!
Intertainer - for infringing on its patent for delivering digital video and music over the Internet (and we thought every one on the Net had been delivering video and music last ten years).
Not sure how many of the above and many more who sue will succeed. But one thing is sure: Billion dollar successes sure will bring billion dollar bothers as well.
Read the full post from Wired here
Interesting post at Wired, by Michael Myser
Certainly not a billion dollar idea, and probably not an idea we would recommend, but who knows, you or your company might be qualified enough to sue Google and make some serious millions (pocket change for the big G)
The post says how companies from all across the spectrum are running to the courthouse to sue Google.
Examples quoted:
Perfect 10 - the porn company is suing over Google helping others to get its pics free!
Universal Tube and Rollform - complaint: trademark infringement and "nuisance traffic" due to the similarities between utube.com and YouTube.com - hmmmph!
iLor - for alleged patent infringement on a hyperlinks idea
American Blind & Wallpaper - for Google allowing its competitors to purchase its name for their AdWords advertisements!
Intertainer - for infringing on its patent for delivering digital video and music over the Internet (and we thought every one on the Net had been delivering video and music last ten years).
Not sure how many of the above and many more who sue will succeed. But one thing is sure: Billion dollar successes sure will bring billion dollar bothers as well.
Read the full post from Wired here
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