Management and Strategy

Good Article…

A Threat to Startups

Updated August 10, 2010, 12:08 PM

Brad Burnham is a partner at Union Square Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund located in New York City. This was written with Fred Wilson, also a partner at the firm.

We believe that Google and Verizon’s proposed policy principles to preserve an open Internet came out of a good faith effort to bring some clarity to the market for Internet applications and access. But we fear that this agreement is a compromise that does not serve the next great startup enterprise well.

A Threat to Startups – Room for Debate – NYTimes.com

Net neutrality has been topic of discussion especially since news about Google and Verizon deal came out. More info here. I personally think Net neutrality is super important especially for startups. Our economy runs on startup and small businesses and letting Google and Verizon decide whose data is more important on web is just wrong. It means in future Google can pay to push its content for example YouTube and no one else will be able to compete. Will try to consolidate other good articles on the topic on the blog. 

Network neutrality (also net neutrality, Internet neutrality) is a principle proposed for user access networks participating in the Internet that advocates no restrictions by Internet Service Providers and governments on content, sites, platforms, on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and no restrictions on the modes of communication allowed.^[1][2][3]

The principle states that if a given user pays for a certain level of Internet access, and another user pays for the same level of access, then the two users should be able to connect to each other at the subscribed level of access.

Though the term did not enter popular use until several years later, since the early 2000s advocates of net neutrality and associated rules have raised concerns about the ability of broadband providers to use their last mile infrastructure to block Internet applications and content (e.g., websites, services, protocols), particularly those of competitors. In the US particularly, but elsewhere as well, the possibility of regulations designed to mandate the neutrality of the Internet has been subject to fierce debate.

Neutrality proponents claim that telecom companies seek to impose a tiered service model in order to control the pipeline and thereby remove competition, create artificial scarcity, and oblige subscribers to buy their otherwise uncompetitive services. Many believe net neutrality to be primarily important as a preservation of current freedoms.^[4] Vinton Cerf, considered a "father of the Internet" and co-inventor of the Internet Protocol, Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the Web, and many others have spoken out in favor of network neutrality.

Network neutrality – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I guess this is good news. You cannot limit patents too machinery or physical transformation…

The Supreme Court on Monday loosened the limits on the kinds of inventions that are eligible for patent protection in a case that was closely watched for its impacts on innovation.

Supreme Court relaxes limits on innovations that can be patented

Amazing Visualization of Swine flu cases. Makes it real…

Tracking Swine Flu Cases Worldwide

Health officials continue to report mild cases of swine flu throughout the United States and worldwide. Among the hundreds of confirmed infections, 53 people have died, including 48 in Mexico, three in the United States, one in Canada and one in Costa Rica.

New cases are no longer being reported here.

• Changes to the map: Confirmed cases will be based on figures reported by the C.D.C., W.H.O. and the Public Health Agency of Canada, not individual states. Suspected cases will no longer be tracked, as officials report them irregularly.
• The W.H.O. and the C.D.C. have reported a total of 4,780 cases in 30 countries, including 2,618 in the United States.
• Officials in mainland China reported their first swine flu case, a man who had recently flown there from the United States.

Swine Flu Cases Map – Interactive Graphic – NYTimes.com

Microsoft moved from 5 to 4. Apple and Google are still 1 & 2.

With the sudden reversal of the global economy, businesses are struggling not only with shrinking income and budgets, but also with seismic shifts that are upending entire industries, from autos and retail to banking and entertainment. These same forces are apparent in our latest ranking of the Most Innovative Companies. While the 2009 list includes some stalwarts in their usual top positions—namely Apple and Google—15 newcomers have joined the lineup, the biggest change since BusinessWeek and Boston Consulting Group first partnered on this proprietary survey in 2005. These include more companies headquartered outside the U.S. than in the past, such as Volkswagen, Infosys, and Telefónica

The 50 Most Innovative Companies

I had written a post on what is Photosynth few months back(Photosynth- Different way of looking at photo albums). Today I saw CNN promoting photosynth for "The Moment" campaign as part of their inaugural day coverage. It is great to see new Microsoft technology hitting prime time.

More about The Moment at CNN: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/44.president/inauguration/themoment/

Business Week has released its 10 best list of Innovation and Design books for Year 2008. I think it is a great list. I am already readying one on the list and will surely try out others. Enjoy the list. 

Aaron Gustafson

By Reena Jana and Matt Vella

This year, a number of the world’s experts released long-awaited books that augmented a bumper crop of texts on the subject of innovation. Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, for example, published four books in 2008, while Procter & Gamble (PG) chief executive officer A.G. Lafley contributed a volume of tips on how to be innovative. Here we offer our list of the year’s 10 best reads—as in stimulating, practical, and well, inventive. The roster includes some well-known titles and a few surprises, presented in alphabetical order.

Best Innovation & Design Books of 2008: – BusinessWeek

Another good article By Arik Hesseldahl . I saw a touch screen PC by HP at best buy it was impressive but I already own 2 PCs and 2 Laptops. Could not convince my wife to get one more. But touch screen laptop sounds really interesting.

Apple watchers assumed Jobs & Co. would be the first to offer a multitouch laptop, but Hewlett-Packard has beaten them to the punch

From the first time Steve Jobs demonstrated "the pinch"—the two-finger gesture used to zoom in and out of photos and Web pages on the iPhone—some Apple observers assumed it was just a matter of time before a multitouch-enabled screen showed up on the Mac.

That hasn’t happened yet. But as of Nov. 19, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) has beaten Apple (AAPL) to the punch, announcing the first multitouch-enabled notebook PC, the tx2. I can’t help but wonder whether Apple just lost an important race.

Hewlett-Packard Out-Touches Apple – BusinessWeek

Another good article on Business week By David Rocks.

Offshore and domestic customers seek an edge to satisfy India’s consumers, who have more money to spend and are demanding better products

The five-story building off one of the hot, dusty boulevards of South Delhi looks little different from others in the quiet residential neighborhood. But descend the steps to the basement apartment, open the heavy oak door, and you’ll find a thriving design firm called Desmania. The dozens of employees in the crowded room spend their days designing products, crafting logos, and creating Web sites for clients in India and abroad.

India’s Design Boom – BusinessWeek

Just read a great article by Sami Mahroum.

A crisis is precisely the time for governments to boost spending on innovation, not cut it. Otherwise, nations will find themselves playing catch-up

The Austrian economist Josef Schumpeter once declared that economic downturns are "a good cold shower for the economic system." Economic downturns can have positive effects; they force companies to increase their efficiency, cut waste, and strive to do things in smarter ways.

Innovate Out of the Economic Downturn – BusinessWeek