The Ponderings of Woodrow

Business 2.0's 100 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies...

I've been critical of Business 2.0 and its penchant for lists, so it's only fair that I give them some credit for their most recent list:

• Business 2.0 100 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies

What I like most about this list is the breadth of focus. There are large- and small-caps (and everything in between). There are companies growing organically and those using acquisitions to fuel growth. Medical technologies are well represented, as are aerospace, defense and industrial. There are current darlings of the Street, and stocks that have seen better days.

Although I spend most of my time on this blog discussing software matters, as an investor my focus spans a much wider universe. This list of 100 companies is, probably, the most representative depiction of my areas of interest and focus I've ever seen in a widely read publication.

Hats off to Business 2.0 for understanding that "tech" doesn't have to imply IT-centric, and also for recognizing that growth can be defined in many different ways.

business2.0 investments growth innovation woodrow enterprise irregulars

Note: This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security, but is merely a personal analysis to foster discussion for informational purposes only. At the time of this writing, I and/or funds I maintain discretionary control may have maintained long equity positions in some (or all) of the securities mentioned. We also may, at times, carry derivative options on underlying positions as a hedge.

 

Twitter...Revolutionary or Delusionary?

Let me first admit that I've not given Twitter a real walk through. I only just signed up for the service today and because of some issues on their end, couldn't try out the IM portion of the service at all. Yet, after a day of toying with it, I am at a loss to explain some of the reactions I'm coming across.

I just don't get it. I want to. I really do. But I just don't.

Colleagues, including some of the smartest thinkers in the world of enterprise software, are speaking of this like it's a major breakthrough. We have been discussing this amongst the EIs and here are some of the discussion points that have come to the forefront:

Dennis Howlett blogs: At a 500+ yard distance, the Twitterised landscape resembles semi-organised chaos. My sense is that the Pavlov Dog reaction to systematize everything we do is so pervasive that the disruption services like Twitter represent seriously challenge our ability to change. Even those that believe the current crop of technologies can foster change are wary.

Anshu Sharma says: [Update: Anshu was clearly being tongue-in-cheek in our chat about this, it may not be clear in the context of this blog post] In the enterprise world, we would call this (Twitter) "Event Driven Architecture" or some such lame term. And Apollo app would be called a Business Activity Monitoring Dashboard. Imagine if your shipments could twitter where they are and then your plasma tv screen in the office, should the patterns by how many dots lit up with what color. Twitter is EDA & BAM for human beings at 1 millionth the cost. When RFID and sensor based computing grows up, it should look like this perhaps.

Jeff Nolan thinks I'm missing the difference between "twittering" and using Twitter: In a way its like an iPod- there were always services that you could use to serve this need but its sometimes easier to learn a new 'service' and use it in a new way then to relearn a new way of using the same service. What I am trying to say is - you can twitter (as in the verb) with IM or SMS but most people didn't know that twittering was fun/useful/possible. Twitter as in a noun or technology is stale but twittering is new! That's why we are learning to twitter, not learning how to use Twitter.

I hear what they are saying, as well as the deluge of positivity I'm getting from others. Yet, I have never felt more confused by the disconnect between my view of the service versus what seems to be the consensus view by people I generally respect.

I feel like the technology-focused blogosphere has succumbed to mass hallucination.

So I ask you all, am I missing the boat here? Is Twitter revolutionary? or Delusionary?

twitter enterprise irregulars innovation woodrow

So is Woodrow.cm worth more than Woodrow.com?

Business 2.0 has an interesting story on Kevin Ham, arguably the world's most successful domain name registrant. Essentially Ham has cornered a huge chunk of internet traffic thanks to a deal he worked with the nation of Cameroon. Cameroon owns the rights to the domain (.cm) and per their agreement with Ham, route any URL that's not owned by someone to his company (a process called wildcarding); which in turn generates revenues from click-through advertising.

What's so special about Cameroon's domain? It's all about the "O" or, rather, to omission of "O." Well, if you consider that a) there are 55 million domains with ".com", b) people often misspell URLs when typing them, the numbers can be very large.

The story broadly touches on some of the more successful domain name registrants, the most famous of which is Yun Ye who sold his domain name portfolio to Marchex (MCHX) for $164 million in 2004.

If you're still unclear about what this is all about, simply type in a few random URLs and replace the '.com' with '.cm' and it'll clear itself up. For example:

• www.enterpriseirregulars.com brings up the EI site
• www.enterpriseirregulars.cm on the other hand brings up Agoga.com; which is Kevin Ham's property

If you ascribe to the efficient market theory; as an investor it's hard not to appreciate the simplicity of what Ham and his counterparts have done. Clearly the opportunities may be transient, but the money being made by these "typo squatters" is evidence of the inefficiencies that persist.

Note: This is not a recommendation to buy or sell MCHX or any other security, but is merely a personal analysis to foster discussion for informational purposes only. At the time of this writing, I and/or funds I maintain discretionary control over did not maintain a position (long or short) in MCHX. We also may, at times, carry derivative options on underlying positions as a hedge.

 .cm cameroon wildcarding woodrow enterprise irregulars

Susan Scrupski joins BSG...the Irregulars population in Austin, TX doubles overnight

I've come to know Susan Scrupski over the last year through our mutual affiliation with the Enterprise Irregulars. Susan is a charming, hard working and insightful person and a New Jerseyan to boot. If you're not reading her blog, IT Insider, it's your mistake.

Susan announced the next stage of her career today. She'll be packing up her family and moving to Austin, Texas and joining BSG Alliance. If that names sounds familiar, you're not alone because it's a relaunch of the BSG of the 80s and early 90s. That incarnation of BSG focused on helping companies transition from mainframe environments to client/server architectures. What will the reincarnated BSG focus on? From the company's teaser site:

What a vision we have for BSG Alliance Corporation -- helping enterprises navigate the world that is flat and the one that's not; forging quick-hit and longer term alliances and balancing the promise of Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 with the needs of adequate IT governance.

Congratulations and best of luck to Susan. Her move serves to cut the NJ Irregulars contingent in half, while doubling the Austin contingent. Charlie, take good care of her!

scrupski enterprise2.0 opportunity bsg bsg alliance woodrow enterprise+irregulars

Musings on the Google + Doubleclick Deal

By now you're well aware of Google's acquisition of DoubleClick for $3.1billion.  Few things get the blogosphere buzzing like a juicy Google story, and this one was no exception.  With Techmeme being taken over by this deal, there isn't much new I can add to the conversation for now. Instead, let me highlight some of the coverage I found most interesting:

• Fred Wilson on banners being the new black
• Brad on the 10x return on equity Hellman and Friedman generated in two years time
• Matt Ingram on the irony of Microsoft's antitrust claims
• Paul Kedrosky on why focusing on valuation is pointless in this deal
• Eric Savitz on the sell-side reaction to the deal
• Phil Wainewright on the difficulties of serving two masters [publishers and advertisers]
• Larry Dignan on why Yahoo! comes away looking good from this deal
• HipMojo with a contrarian take on why this deal makes little sense
• Will Hsu on Google-DoubleClick coming full circle

So where do I stand on the deal?

1) The big winners here are clearly Hellman and Friedman. They made a smart, ballsy call that was met with a LOT of cynicism at the time; and came out with enormous returns for themselves and their LPs
2) This wasn't a defensive move on Google's part, it was an offensive one
3) Regardless of whether the purchase price was egregious, I don't want to hear that Microsoft is better off for having not made the deal. There was a time, not so long ago, when Microsoft wouldn't have been outbid for a strategic asset. The fact Microsoft was in the bidding, and by most accounts initiated the talks, speaks volumes
4) The inevitable "myth of cascading M&A" was in full effect today, with 24/7 Media (TFSM) and Aquantive (AQNT) up sharply as traders tried to find the "next" deal in the space. My bet? None of the above

Note: This is not a recommendation to buy or sell GOOG or any other security, but is merely a personal analysis to foster discussion for informational purposes only. At the time of this writing, I and/or funds I maintain discretionary control over, maintained a long equity position in MSFT and YHOO but did not maintain a position (long or short) in AQNT, GOOG or TFSM . We also may, at times, carry derivative options on underlying positions as a hedge.

google doubleclick advertising m&a hellman and friedman investing woodrow enterprise+irregulars

McAfee on the "Pursuit of Busyness"

Andrew McAfee posits that the next generation of knowledge workers is a different breed, no longer beholden to the tried and true concept of "seeming busy."  As usual, he captures the essence of the status quo and the benefits of evolving beyond it.

Companies that are full of knowledge workers and that have built cultures that value busyness face a potentially sharp dilemma when it comes to E2.0. These companies stand to benefit a great deal if they can build emergent platforms for collaboration, information sharing, and knowledge creation. But they may be in a particularly bad position to build such platforms not because potential contributors are too busy, but because they don't want to be seen as not busy enough.

And even if the leaders in such companies sincerely want to exploit the new tools and harness the collective intelligence of their people, they might have a tough time convincing the workforce that busyness is no longer the ne plus ultra. Corporate cultures move slowly and with difficulty, and it will take a lot more than a few memos, speeches, and company retreats to convince people that it's a smart career idea, rather than a poor one, to contribute regularly and earnestly to E2.0 platforms.

It's missives like this which make Andrew, a fellow Enterprise Irregular, a must read for anyone looking to better understand and/or support the emergence of social software within the enterprise.  I'm looking forward to participating with Andrew in the Enterprise 2.0 Rave next month; something you'll be hearing more of in the next few weeks.

mcafee enterprise2.0 social software busyness enterprise 2.0 rave woodrow enterprise+irregulars

Spanning Sync launches...and passes the "penny gap test" it seems

A quick word of congratulations to friend and fellow Enterprise Irregular Charlie Wood on his launch of Spanning Sync. It's been fascinating to watch Spanning evolve from a nascent idea in Charlie's head to a full-fledged commercial launch; and I wish him all the best.

Spanning Sync joins the wildly popular functionality of Apple's iCal with the Google Calendar and Gmail. Although I'm not an Apple user (yet!), I can appreciate the complexity of any two-synchronization between disparate calendaring and contact databases; and this is a service that almost every Mac user seems to crave.

The easiest way to get what Spanning is all about is to view the Demo.

While Spanning has, functionally, been well received there appears to be a bit of a boondoggle over the proposed pricing.  A quick read through the comments at TUAW suggest that Charlie may have to either:

A) Re-think his $25 per annum price point, or

B) Develop a more defined ROI use case. As a veteran of many software term sheets, I'm sure Charlie will handle this with his usual aplomb.

But the feedback he's getting is, in its own way, a positive when you counterbalance that against a fascinating piece Josh Kopelman penned this week on his blog.  Josh, a partner at First Round Capital, spins a cautionary tale of the challenges entrepreneurs face getting someone to pay for a service.

Josh Kopelman: The Penny Gap

...The truth is, scaling from $5 to $50 million is not the toughest part of a new venture - it's getting your users to pay you anything at all. The biggest gap in any venture is that between a service that is free and one that costs a penny...

If you read through the TUAW comments, you'll notice that almost everyone is willing to pay for the service, even if they don't want to pay the list price. Using Josh's "Penny Gap", Charlie is well ahead of the game.

Note: At the time of this writing I, and/or funds I maintain discretionary control over, did not maintain a position (long or short) in either Apple (AAPL) or Google (GOOG).

charliewood spanningpartners spanningsync calendaring sync spanning google apple ical enterprise irregulars kopelman redeye penny gap charlie wood woodrow

Enterprise 2.0 Flip Test: Andrew McAfee weighs in...

Historically, I haven't made a practice of referencing other people's blog posts unless I felt I had an additional spin on the matter. But sometimes (no, many times), that means I'm potentially doing a disservice to both readers of this blog and to my friends who deserve to have their conversations extended to a broader set of eyes.

So from now on, I'm going to make a concerted effort to call your attention to interesting blog posts that stand well on their own.

First up, Andrew McAfee (a fellow Irregular) and his fascinating take on applying the flip-test to Enterprise 2.0 initiatives:

A Technology Flip Test: Introducing Channels in a World of Platforms [Andrew McAfee]

The writer and  and cultural observer Stanley Crouch, when asking his audience to consider a given issue, sometimes proposes a 'flip test' in which important elements of the status quo are reversed.  It's an effective way to unmask hidden assumptions and double standards.  And it can work quite well for questions around technology.

One useful flip test consists of mentally switching the order of appearance of a new technology and an existing one.  At a conference years back I was sitting on a panel that was asked to talk about future of the book.  As the discussion was heating up about the inevitability of the electric media, someone on the panel (I wish it had been me) proposed a flip test.  He said  "Let's say the world has only e-books, then someone introduces this technology called 'paper.'  It's cheap, portable, lasts essentially forever, and requires no batteries.  You can't write over it once it's been written on, but you buy more very cheaply.  Wouldn't that technology come to dominate the market?"  It's fair to say that comment changed the direction of the panel. [continued]

enterprise2.0 enterprise20 flip test irregulars enterprise irregulars mcafee social software emergent software andrewmcaphee woodrow

Dion chronicles the Enterprise 2.0 meme...

Dion Hinchliffe does an excellent job of chronicling the Enterprise 2.0 meme from its roots in an Andrew McAfee article in the MIT Sloan Management Review to it's burgeoning acceptance as a marketing term of art for companies leveraging social software technologies within the enterprise. I encourage you all to read Dion's article in its entirety, but in the meantime, here are his key talking points:

1. Harvard's Andrew McAfee introduces Enterprise 2.0
2. Nicholas Carr says some skepticism is in order
3. The first Enterprise 2.0 related products appear
4. The challenges and issues of Enterprise 2.0 get largely bounded
5. Enterprise 2.0 hits the conference circuit
6. Enterprise 2.0 undergoes a minor struggle of definition
7. Enterprise 2.0 case studies become popular but remain scarce

It's hard to believe that just a few months ago, we were fighting like dogs just to get the term accepted into Wikipedia. Whereas just a few months ago, we had to argue about WHETHER THE TERM SHOULD EXIST [it should], we're now moving onto far more important discussions about REFINING THE DEFINITION [I'm in favor of a more inclusionist definition] and BUILDING PRACTICAL USE CASES [they're coming, we just need to get companies to open up more about what they're doing].

As we wrap up 2006 and look forward to 2007, I'm certain that the power of social software will not only continue to pervade the enterprise, but the user-generated benefits and evangelism will go a long way toward forcing CIOs to embrace these tools at a far faster rate than they might have otherwise preferred.

enterprise2.0 enterprise20 hinchcliffe irregulars enterprise irregulars mcafee social software emergent software andrewmcaphee woodrow

The Virtuous Cycle of the Blogosphere...

A few months ago Jeff Nolan left SAP to become CEO of Teqlo; embarking on a bold ambition to reshape the way software-based processes are developed, assembled and architected. Not long after, fellow Enterprise Irregular Rod Boothby announced his resignation from Ernst & Young to pursue a new opportunity.

Well, if there was ever any doubt on the power of the blogosphere to shape one's circle of influence and personal brand, take a look at today's announcement. Rod has joined Teqlo and will be working with Jeff to help build out the library of Teqlets in addition to more traditional business development work. Rod really captures the power of the personal brand in his post from a few days back:

My wife and I just arrived home from a 6 day trip to Kauai.   The reason for the trip?   We were celebrating my new job.

For me, one of the most amazing things about my new job is that the job found me through my blog. I am going to be writing more about the job and the amazing company I am joining over then next few days, however, in the short term, I'd like to focus on describing how this blog has helped me move on to the next stage in my career. [continued]

Congratulations to everyone involved. Getting to know Rod over this last year, not only have I found him intelligent and competent, but his enthusiasm and passion for the power of social software within the enterprise is unmatched. Rod embodies what Teqlo stands for in so many ways.

Meanwhile you already know where I stand on Jeff and the Teqlo team. It's great to see the Enterprise Irregulars fostering a virtuous cycle, allowing one another to explore opportunities they otherwise wouldn't have been able, or willing, to pursue.

rod boothby new venture teqlo innovation enterprise irregulars irregulars good luck woodrow