Millenium Marketer

Microsoft: “Yahoo, you just don’t understand. I really need you.”
Yahoo: “Oh, no, you really don’t need me. I’m not really worth it! And anyway, it’s too late! I’ve already promised 3% of myself to Google, so how could you possibly want me now?”

There’s quite an interesting discussion going on at Tech Crunch today about the finagling of Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft. As one commenter said, “These days I have stopped watching movies for entertainment. YHOO vs MSFT and Hillary vs Obama are more entertaining…”

I have to agree that this is one of those very strange soap operas in an age of acquisitions, mergers and where everyone is just trying to catch up with the competition. It’s not absolutely smart for Yahoo to hide behind Google, and I would agree that this is a weird way to go. If it’s to get their name in the news more often, then they’re doing a good job of it, but maybe they need to take a lesson from Google.

Google, interestingly enough, hasn’t been affected so much by any of this hullaballoo. The stealthy giant stands on the sidelines, not saying much, while still having the ability to make deals with Yahoo as if in a back alley way.

But then again…maybe, just maybe…Yahoo’s founders are ready for an exit strategy?

Read the TechCrunch debate

Last week, I saw something about OpenSocial being used through Google Gadgets.

Open Social still has a lot of kinks in it as a newly released October 2007 source code interface, although as more social networking applications are created, the more important it will be from a developer or marketing standpoint to implement this API. It’s uncertain how quickly adoption of the API will pick up.

Even more astonishing–Yahoo! is combining forces with Google to strengthen the Open Social platform. And then you say, “What? Aren’t they rivals??”

Yes, but according to BusinessWeek, “Yahoo is still fighting off Microsoft’s marriage proposal, but it is still open to making friends.”

Another site, Techtree.com, India, says the plot of the story is like many Bollywood potboilers. “Now Google and Yahoo! seem to be becoming the new best friends for each other.”

As rivals, they have their interests much more aligned than with Microsoft, and it’s no secret that Google is constantly pursuing products to reduce market share for Microsoft. Well, that explains the drama, at least for now.

So the story on BoingBoing today is huge. I had heard the news through the Facebook RSS grapevine and an old high school classmate’s status feed.

China has blocked YouTube due to religious issues or what not and generally being the big bully, turning a cold shoulder against Tibet and YouTube lovers in China are also suffering.

Not such a smart move right before the Beijing Olympics creeping up in August.

Last week, I posted a little bit about what makes an entrepreneur, and that’s the drive to succeed, stay focused and know when you see a good opportunity.
There’s a joke that I hear often in Silicon Valley that whenever someone says “I have a good idea,” the common response is “You should start a company and get some VCs on that.”

A lot of times they don’t mean it and anyway, it never matters what your friends or family say if you have an entrepreneurial idea. The only exception to that rule is if your friends are in the market that you want to appeal to.

It’s important to get it straight: opportunities and ideas are two different entities. An idea is something creative, fun and can certainly spark opportunities, but opportunities mean that you have something with which to create a business.

Here’s an example:
At the Girl Geek Dinner hosted at Google, Katherine Barr of Mohr Davidow Ventures made a great suggestion to me. “If you think you have an opportunity, do some research first, test out your idea and ask them if they will buy your product or service.”

Let’s say I am a former veterinarian with lots of experience and I decide that I want to sell fancy, customized natural dog food diet because I find that it’s easy to make at home in manageable batches in my home oven.

Will anyone buy it? If I do my research, I could go to a dog park and chat with the owners because that is where they all hang out and ask them, “I have this great customizable dog food product that is good for your dog, would you buy it?” It’s best if I find places where dog fans, breeders, and owners hang out. Maybe at a dog park or a breeder’s association gathering.

If I talk to one hundred people and they all say “yes, I would buy it” then I have an opportunity. If they all say no, then I have a great idea but no opportunity. Maybe you have an 80 out of 100, then your chances are still high.

Basic, but hard to put into practice. Next week, we’ll talk about risk and revenue models specific to Web 2.0

The world is abuzz today as Microsoft has proposed to buy Yahoo! AND Yahoo! is actually considering the offer. There are often mixed feelings for users of services acquisitions happen like this. Microsoft isn’t great when it comes to innovation and has been better at simply buying companies who innovate well.

I’m surprised because in some ways, I felt like I should have seen this coming. Microsoft started to go after the big players when they made a bid on Facebook and it’s starting to be come clearer now that they want a bigger share of the online space, while they have been leaders in desktop software for a long time.

Economically speaking, mergers are never good for consumers. First of all, Yahoo’s problem recently has been in scalability and Microsoft can’t solve that problem. There is going to be a lot of organizational change if and when the merger takes place. Second, Microsoft’s goals and Yahoo’s don’t seem well aligned. Microsoft is a stodgy old, uninnovative company and Yahoo needs to figure out some way to act quicker, stay nimble against their number 1 competitor Google.

Maybe it’s because I am a user of Yahoo products, but this just sounds like a bad idea.

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