David Croslin

Over the last several months I have been offering my time, experience, knowledge, network and reputation to increase the success of established companies as well as startups. Through the power of LinkedIn, I have been contacted by over 700 companies to date with about 600 of those being early to mid-stage startups.

It is amazing the diversity of products, services and markets that innovators around the globe have shown me! New web technologies. New green technologies. New consumer products. Innovators from every where: U.S., Canada, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, Africa, Australia, France, Belgium, Russia, Israel, England…the list goes on and on.

The potential to dramtically improve our world is all around us within these innovations and entrepreneurs - but, that potential is often unfulfilled for a myriad of diverse reasons. As I talked to these innovators, examined their ideas/products and considered how to work with them I quickly became frustrated by the lack of support systems to guide these companies toward success at low costs that fit their budget constraints. After working with many groups and individuals, I have assembled assets to help virtually any company regardless of their current stage or position.

If you have seen the new television show ‘Shark Tank’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLhyny2GLtk&feature=related), then you have seen a very small sampling of the challenges that entrepreneurs are facing. The old adage “It takes money to make money” is never more true than within a young company. And the “sharks” take full advantage of that!

Some of the challenges that startups must resolve include:

• Prepare a working business plan that can be quickly evolved for investors and partners.
• Put together an investor presentation.
• Develop financial projections - costs, earnings, breakeven, etc.
• Create a one pager executive summary.
• Lay out operations and sales processes.
• Establish a board of advisors with industry leaders participating.
• Determine executive management transition plans to meet investor’s requirements.
• Begin networking to foster introductions to VCs and angels.
• Establish distribution channels and partnerships.
• Define sales prospects and layout sales pipeline.
• Create marketing and sales collateral.
• Develop website and online presence.
• Reach out for potential customer introductions.

I am the former Chief Technologist at Hewlett-Packard and the Chief Product Architect at Verizon. I hold 25 granted patents. My book, Innovate the Future: A Radical New Approach to Innovation, will be published by Prentice-Hall in May, 2010. I am a GLG Expert Leader and Vistage Chair. I have recently assisted companies innovating in areas as diverse as drug delivery systems, consumer electronic materials, supply chain creation/management, social networking services, Smartphone services, identifiying angel and VC funding, clarifying all aspects for consumers, markets and investors, and many other areas.

If your company (established or startup) could benefit from the knowledge, experience, professional network and reputation of a globally recognized technology and innovation leader, please contact me at the email address below.

Also, please join my Innovate the Future group on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1831025

If you would like to connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/innovatethefuture

Best,

David…

David Croslin
President, Innovate the Future, Inc.
www.davidcroslin.com
www.innovatethefuture.com

Several weeks ago I posted a discussion on LinkedIn offering to work with startups. It has been an exhausting, exciting and surprisingly informative time. If you are interested in having me work with your startup in some way, please read this post thoroughly. If you do read it, you can avoid the errors of many other startups. PLEASE NOTE: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A COMPLETED ONE PAGER TO CONTACT ME!

I Received over 400 Responses 

I received well over 400 responses (most in a four day period) and I am still receiving responses. It is impossible to describe the sheer breadth of innovations that were described in these responses: social networking to SmartPhone applications to business processes to medical instruments to energy conservation devices. I tried to give each response a reasonable degree of due diligence, but the sheer volume of responses caused me to reject a large number within minutes of receiving them. I will try to explain why I rejected so many including quite a few that sounded like they could be real winners. 

I Rejected 300 Immediately

The thing that surprised me the most was how many of the startups did not know how to present their inventions/innovations in a manner that would attract my interest. Of the 400 responses, I rejected over 300 of the startups for four reasons:

1. Too far outside my area of expertise/interest – In many cases this was done based on review of a single sentence or paragraph. There was often so little information for me to go on that I had to guess what they were trying to describe. I easily received 30-40 responses that consisted of a single sentence explaining the “tremendous opportunity” of their startup.
2. Pushing for immediate funding assistance – I do not mind working with startups to find funding but I have to believe in the company first. The majority in this category often created a negative feeling by focusing on using me rather than involving me.
3. Throwing out one idea after another – I am a firm believer in exploring many potential opportunities. However, several responders approached me with “I have a cool idea” as their major selling point. There was no description of market, competition or anything else. Just a “cool idea”.
4. Partners – The startup wanted to make me their partner so that I could sell their products and make us both rich. I can understand the desire to use my network of contacts. But, I am not a salesman and my credentials should make that pretty clear.

I Rejected 20 Asking Me to ‘Fly Blind’

Of the remaining 100 responses, about twenty I ignored completely because they asked me to sign an NDA or to call them right away without providing any details at all on their startup. I want to get involved, but I kind of like to know what I am getting involved in. Just to be sure I wasn’t rejecting the cream of the crop, I called two of the early responses in this category and each of them wanted to sell me something. The rest got chucked quickly.

I Rejected 50 More Because They Couldn’t ‘Sell Me’

I either emailed or spoke with all of the remaining 80 responders. In about 50 cases I asked for more information and never received anything that kept me from categorizing them into the four groups described above. While the additional information was sometimes helpful it in no way provided me with sufficient information to make an informed decision to become involved. These startups had no ready ‘elevator speech’ to entice me to remain involved.

I Rejected 15 that Couldn’t Explain Why They Were Contacting Me

I was really surprised by some of the startups that presented themselves very well and appeared to have a good product, good market and real potential. The conversations I had with about 15 of the remaining 30 followed something like this:

Startup: ‘What can you do for us?’

Me: ‘Why did you contact me?’

Startup: ‘We weren’t sure what you could do for us, but we figured with your background we should contact you.’

Me: ‘You have seen my credentials. What synergies do you see between your startup and me?’

Startup: ‘Oh, lots of synergies. Please let us know how you want to get involved.’

At this point I rejected them. I don’t have time to analyze their business to see if I can help them. I suspect that many of them just wanted to use my name without any real involvement on my part in the startup. Sorry, I don’t work that way. If I am involved, then I am truly involved.

 15 Remaining

Of the remaining 15, here is a brief summary:

1. I accepted being on the board of advisors of an excellent startup. This company will now be a use case in my new book.
2. I accepted being on the board of advisors of a wonderful non-profit organization, the International Child Art Foundation. The ICAF will now be a use case in my new book.
3. I am working with 3 startups to assist them in identifying funding.
4. I am mentoring 4 young entrepreneurs
5. I am talking to the rest about working with them further.

 Summary of the Responses

 Here is an approximate breakdown of the over 400 replies and what the startups were contacting me for:  (percentages exceed 100% due to multiple needs within the same startup):

1. Seeking funding - 60%
2. Seeking mentoring - 70%
3. Seeking board member - 60%
4. Seeking executive team member - 75%
5. Seeking partner - 15%
6. Not completely sure why they contacted me – 20%

What Was Missing in the Responses?

 So, out of the 400+ responses, I rejected over 385, some with very little review. What could the startups have done better in order to attract, maintain and lock in my involvement?

Below is part of what was missing. Please note that I never once mention a business plan. I will explain more about the business plan later.

1. ONE PAGER - A clear definition of who the startup was and what they were trying to accomplish. This can, AND MUST, be accomplished in a single ‘one pager’ document. VC’s, angels and advisors such as me require a brief summation of the startup to provide the initial detail needed for evaluation. This is the MOST critical piece of paper you will ever produce for your startup. Surprisingly, I received only TWO one pagers out of the over 400 responses.
2. DEFINITION OF NEED - You don’t go to the grocery store without some idea of what you need. Coming to a potential investor, potential partner or potential advisor with anything less than a clear definition of your need is a complete waste of everyone’s time and energy. 
3. DEFINITION OF DIRECTION – What is the roadmap for your product? How do you plan to develop it? Evolve it? Test it? Deploy it? Maintain it? You don’t have to know the details of each stage in the roadmap such as exact cost and time. But, you must be able to articulate that you have a firm understanding of the challenges ahead and how you plan to address them. You must be able to ball park costs and timeframes.
4. DEFINITION OF MARKET – How big is your market? Global or domestic? What are the potential challenges in each market? What are the potential liabilities? Don’t ask an investor to enter into a relationship blind. If you try, you will quickly lose the investor once they discover in the due diligence phase that you either haven’t considered all issues or you are not exposing the risks.
5. DEFINITION OF COMPETITION – Who is going to stomp you before you get to market? Who are the big and little players in the market? Great ideas don’t mean a lot if they never make money because the competition got there first or crushed you when they did get there.
6. DEFINITION OF UNIQUENESS – Can you defend your product with patents, trade secrets, time to market or other mechanisms? How long will it take the big competitors to create a work around to your intellectual property and then crush you?
7. LACK OF APPRECIATION OF OPPORTUNITIES – I had a very brilliant gentleman call me this morning  out of the blue to assist me with a business issue. We had never met before and a common acquaintance pointed him in my direction. He was nice enough to take time out of his day (New Years Day!) to call me. I was extremely grateful and made sure he knew it. Many of the contacts I made withthe representatives of my 400 startups were equally as gracious and appreciative of my time. Some were not. Enough said.
8. MORE AND MORE…

Forget the Business Plan

Notice that I did not say I expected to see 400 business plans. Frankly, I would probably shoot myself if I had to read 400 business plans. That is why the one pager and the other info I mention briefly above is so critical. Let me give you an example. Over the last three months I have met with ten of the largest VCs in North America to discuss one of my startups. Here are the steps that were followed in ALL cases:

1. Either I made direct contact or a member of my network made direct contact with the VC or angel. The initial contact included forwarding the one pager for the startup.
2. Investors that were not interested immediately declined getting involved. In many cases this was due to a conflict with an investment they already had in place. But there are other reasons that can be negotiated away.
3. Phone call to discuss product, market, competitors, funding and other topics to validate the VC’s understanding of the one pager and to set up a time for a face to face meeting.
4. Face to face meeting to expand details with multiple representatives of the VC. In EVERY case the VCs showed up with a marked up version of the one pager. It was the foundation for our continued discussions.
5. Follow up calls and emails to establish understanding and interest.
6. VC begins due diligence.
7. Business Plan, term sheet, investor deck, etc are now needed.

Notice where the one pager and other info I described earlier are? Step ONE! Notice where the business plan is? Step SEVEN! In between steps one and seven the VC expects you to be able to prove to them that they should remain involved. Otherwise, they don’t have time. And they never want to see a business plan until late in the funding process, if then.

If you don’t get anything else out of this posting, please understand this: YOU WILL PROBABLY NEVER GET MONEY FROM A POTENTIAL INVESTOR IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A POWERFUL ONE PAGER AND UNDERSTAND HOW TO PRESENT YOUR COMPANY TO THE INVESTOR! Your company’s one pager is the equivalent of your personal resume. You must have the best one pager around to open the investor’s door to further discussions and eventual funding.

So What Are Your Next Steps?

If you are interested in contacting me about working with your company, you DO NOT have to have a completed one pager and the other materials discussed above.

Two weeks ago I posted a discussion on LinkedIn offering to work with startups. It has been an exhausting, exciting and surprisingly informative two weeks. If you are interested in having me work with your startup in some way, please read this post thoroughly. If you do read it, you can avoid the errors of many other startups.

If you have already contacted me about your startup and I passed on working with your startup for some reason, please read this posting. You can re-contact me by sending me your one pager (as described below).

For those of you that did not see the original posting, here is the text of that post: 

If you know of a startup company that could benefit from the knowledge, experience, professional network and reputation of a globally recognized technology and innovation leader.

 I am looking for one or two startups that I can work with on their road to success as a virtual C-level officer, board member, advisor or other relationship.

 I am the former Chief Technologist at Hewlett-Packard and the Chief Product Architect at Verizon. I hold 25 granted patents. My book, Innovate the Future, will be published by Prentice-Hall in April, 2010. I am a GLG Expert Leader. I have recently assisted companies innovating in areas as diverse as drug delivery systems, consumer electronic materials, supply chain creation/management, social networking services, Smartphone services, identifying angel and VC funding, clarifying all aspects for consumers, markets and investors, and many other areas.

I Received over 400 Responses 

I received well over 400 responses (most in a four day period) and I am still receiving responses. It is impossible to describe the sheer breadth of innovations that were described in these responses: social networking to SmartPhone applications to business processes to medical instruments to energy conservation devices. I tried to give each response a reasonable degree of due diligence, but the sheer volume of responses caused me to reject a large number within minutes of receiving them. I will try to explain why I rejected so many including quite a few that sounded like they could be real winners. 

I Rejected 300 Immediately

The thing that surprised me the most was how many of the startups did not know how to present their inventions/innovations in a manner that would attract my interest. Of the 400 responses, I rejected over 300 of the startups for four reasons:

1. Too far outside my area of expertise/interest – In many cases this was done based on review of a single sentence or paragraph. There was often so little information for me to go on that I had to guess what they were trying to describe. I easily received 30-40 responses that consisted of a single sentence explaining the “tremendous opportunity” of their startup.
2. Pushing for immediate funding assistance – I do not mind working with startups to find funding but I have to believe in the company first. The majority in this category often created a negative feeling by focusing on using me rather than involving me.
3. Throwing out one idea after another – I am a firm believer in exploring many potential opportunities. However, several responders approached me with “I have a cool idea” as their major selling point. There was no description of market, competition or anything else. Just a “cool idea”.
4. Partners – The startup wanted to make me their partner so that I could sell their products and make us both rich. I can understand the desire to use my network of contacts. But, I am not a salesman and my credentials should make that pretty clear.

I Rejected 20 Asking Me to ‘Fly Blind’

Of the remaining 100 responses, about twenty I ignored completely because they asked me to sign an NDA or to call them right away without providing any details at all on their startup. I want to get involved, but I kind of like to know what I am getting involved in. Just to be sure I wasn’t rejecting the cream of the crop, I called two of the early responses in this category and each of them wanted to sell me something. The rest got chucked quickly.

I Rejected 50 More Because They Couldn’t ‘Sell Me’

I either emailed or spoke with all of the remaining 80 responders. In about 50 cases I asked for more information and never received anything that kept me from categorizing them into the four groups described above. While the additional information was sometimes helpful it in no way provided me with sufficient information to make an informed decision to become involved. These startups had no ready ‘elevator speech’ to entice me to remain involved.

I Rejected 15 that Couldn’t Explain Why They Were Contacting Me

I was really surprised by some of the startups that presented themselves very well and appeared to have a good product, good market and real potential. The conversations I had with about 15 of the remaining 30 followed something like this:

Startup: ‘What can you do for us?’

Me: ‘Why did you contact me?’

Startup: ‘We weren’t sure what you could do for us, but we figured with your background we should contact you.’

Me: ‘You have seen my credentials. What synergies do you see between your startup and me?’

Startup: ‘Oh, lots of synergies. Please let us know how you want to get involved.’

At this point I rejected them. I don’t have time to analyze their business to see if I can help them. I suspect that many of them just wanted to use my name without any real involvement on my part in the startup. Sorry, I don’t work that way. If I am involved, then I am truly involved.

 15 Remaining

Of the remaining 15, here is a brief summary:

1. I accepted being on the board of advisors of an excellent startup. This company will now be a use case in my new book.
2. I accepted being on the board of advisors of a wonderful non-profit organization, the International Child Art Foundation. The ICAF will now be a use case in my new book.
3. I am working with 3 startups to assist them in identifying funding.
4. I am mentoring 4 young entrepreneurs
5. I am talking to the rest about working with them further.

 Summary of the Responses

 Here is an approximate breakdown of the over 400 replies and what the startups were contacting me for:  (percentages exceed 100% due to multiple needs within the same startup):

1. Seeking funding - 60%
2. Seeking mentoring - 70%
3. Seeking board member - 60%
4. Seeking executive team member - 75%
5. Seeking partner - 15%
6. Not completely sure why they contacted me – 20%

What Was Missing in the Responses?

 So, out of the 400+ responses, I rejected over 385, some with very little review. What could the startups have done better in order to attract, maintain and lock in my involvement?

Below is part of what was missing. Please note that I never once mention a business plan. I will explain more about the business plan later.

1. ONE PAGER - A clear definition of who the startup was and what they were trying to accomplish. This can, AND MUST, be accomplished in a single ‘one pager’ document. VC’s, angels and advisors such as me require a brief summation of the startup to provide the initial detail needed for evaluation. This is the MOST critical piece of paper you will ever produce for your startup. Surprisingly, I received only TWO one pagers out of the over 400 responses.
2. DEFINITION OF NEED - You don’t go to the grocery store without some idea of what you need. Coming to a potential investor, potential partner or potential advisor with anything less than a clear definition of your need is a complete waste of everyone’s time and energy. 
3. DEFINITION OF DIRECTION – What is the roadmap for your product? How do you plan to develop it? Evolve it? Test it? Deploy it? Maintain it? You don’t have to know the details of each stage in the roadmap such as exact cost and time. But, you must be able to articulate that you have a firm understanding of the challenges ahead and how you plan to address them. You must be able to ball park costs and timeframes.
4. DEFINITION OF MARKET – How big is your market? Global or domestic? What are the potential challenges in each market? What are the potential liabilities? Don’t ask an investor to enter into a relationship blind. If you try, you will quickly lose the investor once they discover in the due diligence phase that you either haven’t considered all issues or you are not exposing the risks.
5. DEFINITION OF COMPETITION – Who is going to stomp you before you get to market? Who are the big and little players in the market? Great ideas don’t mean a lot if they never make money because the competition got there first or crushed you when they did get there.
6. DEFINITION OF UNIQUENESS – Can you defend your product with patents, trade secrets, time to market or other mechanisms? How long will it take the big competitors to create a work around to your intellectual property and then crush you?
7. LACK OF APPRECIATION OF OPPORTUNITIES – I had a very brilliant gentleman call me this morning  out of the blue to assist me with a business issue. We had never met before and a common acquaintance pointed him in my direction. He was nice enough to take time out of his day (New Years Day!) to call me. I was extremely grateful and made sure he knew it. Many of the contacts I made withthe representatives of my 400 startups were equally as gracious and appreciative of my time. Some were not. Enough said.
8. MORE AND MORE…

Forget the Business Plan

Notice that I did not say I expected to see 400 business plans. Frankly, I would probably shoot myself if I had to read 400 business plans. That is why the one pager and the other info I mention briefly above is so critical. Let me give you an example. Over the last three months I have met with ten of the largest VCs in North America to discuss one of my startups. Here are the steps that were followed in ALL cases:

1. Either I made direct contact or a member of my network made direct contact with the VC or angel. The initial contact included forwarding the one pager for the startup.
2. Investors that were not interested immediately declined getting involved. In many cases this was due to a conflict with an investment they already had in place. But there are other reasons that can be negotiated away.
3. Phone call to discuss product, market, competitors, funding and other topics to validate the VC’s understanding of the one pager and to set up a time for a face to face meeting.
4. Face to face meeting to expand details with multiple representatives of the VC. In EVERY case the VCs showed up with a marked up version of the one pager. It was the foundation for our continued discussions.
5. Follow up calls and emails to establish understanding and interest.
6. VC begins due diligence.
7. Business Plan, term sheet, investor deck, etc are now needed.

Notice where the one pager and other info I described earlier are? Step ONE! Notice where the business plan is? Step SEVEN! In between steps one and seven the VC expects you to be able to prove to them that they should remain involved. Otherwise, they don’t have time. And they never want to see a business plan until late in the funding process, if then.

If you don’t get anything else out of this posting, please understand this: YOU WILL PROBABLY NEVER GET MONEY FROM A POTENTIAL INVESTOR IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A POWERFUL ONE PAGER AND UNDERSTAND HOW TO PRESENT YOUR COMPANY TO THE INVESTOR! Your company’s one pager is the equivalent of your personal resume. You must have the best one pager around to open the investor’s door to further discussions and eventual funding.

So What Are the Next Steps?

I still want to work with startups and help them become winners. But, it is critical that you present your startup in a professional and well defined manner to anyone you are asking for assistance, be it time, advice or money.

Many of those that contacted me wanted mentoring concerning their startups on how to define their product, how to market it, how to find partners, how to get funding, how to locate investors, etc.

I spoke with my advisors about how to assist so many startups and still maintain my own life and sanity. They recommended I put on a webinar that will cover these topics in much greater detail.

This webinar will cover the following: 

1. How to create a one pager that will optimally sell your startup to VCs, angels, potential board members, partners, etc. Free samples (fictitious) will be provided.
2. How to talk to investors and show them that they need to invest in your company.
3. What you need to know about your competitors and their products, your markets, your roadmap and many other topics.
4. How to talk business and not technology. Most investors no longer want to hear about the technology first. The most critical aspect is the business impact - customers, development roadmap, current stage and just how much and when are they going to make money.
5. How to find and get in front of VCs and angels and other investors (corporate, etc.).
6. Understanding what will impress an investor or partner and keep them involved with you. What is the true value of advisors, board members, etc?
7. How to map your invention/product to a market and describe the benefits, potential returns, etc.
8. How to avoid the ‘cool idea’ syndrome.  ‘Cool ideas’ don’t sell investors.

In addition, after the webinar, you will be able to submit your one pager to me for review. I will then use that as a foundation for evaluation, establishing further discussions and possibly assisting you moving forward. 

SIGN UP FOR THE WEBINAR

If you are interested in learning more about how to create your one pager and how to sell your startup to investors and advisors like myself, please drop me a note and let me know. Depending on response, I will try and schedule a webinar soon.

SPEAK WITH THE AUTHOR:
David Croslin consults on this and many other topics through Gerson Lehrman Group. Please click here to contact David Croslin. 

Original Web Article: Netbooks post higher demand than notebook PCs in Q2

Review Summary: 
Viewing Netbooks standalone makes them appear as a low end, second device choice for consumers. In reality, they will have major impacts in enterprises.It is critical to understand the impacts of three Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) initiatives:

• Windows 7
• Windows Media Player 12
• Office 10

In addition, key shifts in how software and services integrate with devices are occurring right now. These include expansion of cloud computing (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, AaaS), ‘good enough’ platforms (Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) Fusion) & security.

Review/Analysis:  
Frankly, the first time I looked at a Netbook all I could think of was my Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) Compact Computer-40 released in 1983 for $249. Sure, the Netbook has a lot more memory, storage capacity, processor power and connectivity. But, would I be able to do my job using a netbook? Or, was it just a new, more powerful product for my kids that supercedes their Nintendo (OSA:7974) or xBox?

If you just look at a Netbook today, you see a ‘good enough’ product that will solve some people’s needs. Kind of a large SmartPhone. But, why bother?

Why did Microsoft put the brakes on installing XP on Netbooks that had a hybrid drive environment, a Solid State Drive (SSD) and a Hard Drive (HD)? It made a lot of sense to give the Netbook faster startup using the SSD and then the rest of the OS on the HD. But, Microsoft outlawed this in June. They now allow XP on Netbooks only with up to a 16GB SSD OR up to a 160GB HD. Why?

My take is that Microsoft wanted to DE-celerate the Netbook market until Windows 7 is available. Windows 7 is designed to run optimally from SSD. It is also more touch oriented, versus keyboard oriented, than XP. In short, Windows 7 is designed to maximize a Netbook environment. I am sure that Microsoft will lift the SSD/HD hybrid ban once Windows 7 is available.

Will you actually need the hard drive? Will the SSD be enough? After all, Netbooks are already lacking lots of other components like CD/DVD drives.

I can hear you saying “16GB SSD”! No way! What about all my media content? What about all my applications that I need to use for business?

Well, the answer is simply ‘the cloud’. I know, I know. What cloud? Well, it is coming and it is coming at an accelerating pace. My PCs are all backed up into the cloud and have been for the last two years. Including all my media. 

A lot of the ‘media’ we use now is already in the cloud. TV on demand. YouTube. NetFlix (NASDAQ:NFLX) downloads. iTunes.  And guess what Windows Media Player 12 is designed for. Yep, handling all that content in the cloud. Not to mention Windows Media Center, which is designed to extend the cloud into your home devices on command.
What about those pesky applications? Like Word? Excel? Check out Microsoft Office 10. Web based. Full featured. Very similar user interface to existing Office platforms. But, primarily based in the cloud.  CRM? ERP? Check out what Oracle is trying to deliver with their Fusion products. Or, solutions from companies like Epicor (NASDAQ:EPIC). Cloud based solutions that are good enough to easily handle small to medium enterprises.

The cloud concept isn’t new. So, why is it possible today? Because of virtualization, inline deduplication and other technologies that maximize the utilization of data center resources. No idle servers. No duplicated storage. And higher and higher speed communications make the transmission virtually transparent.

Netbooks are the dream of every Chief Security Officer on the planet. No data stored on the local Netbook. Add a biometric logon feature and you have a virtually impenetrable access device. Why slow down the universe with layers of anti-virus, anti-spyware and other monitoring layers?

IT departments will love Netbooks. No applications on the end device. All web based definitions. Replacing failing devices is a breeze. Retraining for hardware upgrades becomes nonexistent. Upgrade costs are drastically reduced. Pay per use applications.

Netbooks by themselves are cute. Combine them with the right OS, the right media manager, data center virtualization, high speed communications and all types of cloud computing (Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, Software as a Service, Application as a Service) and Netbooks then become the portable workhorse of the future.
 

SPEAK WITH THE AUTHOR:
David Croslin consults on this and many other topics through Gerson Lehrman Group. Please click here to contact David Croslin. 

SPEAK WITH THE AUTHOR:
David Croslin consults on this and many other topics through Gerson Lehrman Group. Please click here to contact David Croslin. 

Original Web Article: Microsoft, Yahoo Expected To Sign Online Search, Advertising Deal

Review Summary: 
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) controls 75% of the Search/Advertising space. They are garnishing over 90% of all new growth. Time to break the monopoly? What will the potential Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) & Yahoo pact mean?

Review/Analysis:  
The potential deal between Microsoft and Yahoo has always been a good idea. People got greedy and delayed it for a year and cost Yahoo shareholders an arm and two legs.

But, what difference will a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo make now? Google controls the search space and by inference the advertising space. Google is approaching control of 75% of the search market and is garnishing over 90% of the new market growth.

There are a couple of issues that are eventually going to be headed to the courts:

• Who should own the ’search index’ for the Internet? If I want to list my business in a phone book, I can do so and I get equal billing with all the other companies that pay the same rate as me. Yet, Google’s processes make it almost impossible for a new company to appear in search results, no matter how applicable, unless they pay Google for searchs and ads. Google’s systems consistently try to force an advertiser to increase their bids. I have had keywords become ‘inactive’ because my bid was too low to appear on the first page of search results. Yet, when you look, there are only one or two ads on the search results page.There will come a time when the Google monopoly control of the Internet ‘index’ is broken up - like ATT (NYSE:T) was for the US phone network.  
• Ads often use copyrighted and trademarked names. Google, like the advertisers, make money off of those names because they lend credibility to the ad and entice consumers to click on the ad.  Class action lawsuits are already being filed to pursue damages against Google and others.
  Let’s face it, the Internet ’search index’ is quickly becoming a natural monopoly that should be controlled by a single source and utilized, at a fee, by all search companies, including Google. IP addresses are centrally controlled by the not-for-profit ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). Then anyone could freely make their companies available to open search engines. I would love to see who REALLY has the best result for my search query, unfiltered by ad generation algorithms.

Following an ICANN model for the search index also falls directly inline with current moves to expand broadband penetration to rural areas and businesses. Spending $7.2 billion dollars on network infrastructure so that rural companies can sell products and provide jobs is great. But, if the companies can’t be visible to their markets due to search result filtering practices the equation starts to fall apart.

Microsoft and Yahoo are potentially good partners. They complement each other well. Microsoft’s new Bing search engine is an excellent evolution of searching, something that Google has no desire or impetus to do. How can Google improve the search experience when it is driven by revenue expectations in their ad business? In spite, of all the Google innovations, Google still makes 97% of their revenues from advertising (page 38).
 

SPEAK WITH THE AUTHOR:
David Croslin consults on this and many other topics through Gerson Lehrman Group. Please click here to contact David Croslin. 

SPEAK WITH THE AUTHOR:
David Croslin consults on this and many other topics through Gerson Lehrman Group. Please click here to contact David Croslin. 

SPEAK WITH THE AUTHOR:
David Croslin consults on this and many other topics through Gerson Lehrman Group. Please click here to contact David Croslin. 

SPEAK WITH THE AUTHOR:
David Croslin consults on this and many other topics through Gerson Lehrman Group. Please click here to contact David Croslin.