Twittering, Twittering, Twittering

So, do you twitter? Apparently over 2 million people do.

What is twitter? "Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length". -- Wikipedia

So, why would anyone twitter? And why would anyone follow someone else? I've asked that question, as have many others baffled by the concept of tracking someone else's tweets.

However, twitter has proven to have some surprisingly useful applications. For example, The Los Angeles Fire Department used twitter during the October, 2007 wildfires. Large companies are now using twitter to send product and service information. Currently, US Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is the most followed person on twitter with nearly 70,000 followers. You can bet that the Obama campaign people understand the value of using twitter to keep supporters and general population engaged with his campaign.

In a service company like ZeroDash1 Ascentium, twitter can help push out our brand into the exploding social media arena. We can expose our expertise by posting white papers, blogs and events. We can give glimpses of our corporate culture with tweets about social gatherings with co-workers.

So, I have now started twittering. Here is my account if you are interested. I'd love to share our experiences on twitter in future posts. See you on twitter.

ZeroDash1 | Ascentium releases A/B Multivariate Testing White Paper

ZeroDash1 Ascentium released a white paper on the landscape of A/B and Multivariate Testing. Please click here to download. Otherwise, you can get a summary from Anil Batra's blog webanalysis.blogspot.com.

Check it out, it's a good read, as we've had a lot of downloads so far (nearly 400).

No Where to Hide for Successful Venture Capitalist

Meet Ike Lee, a successful businessman and venture capitalist who came to Seattle looking for peace and quiet. Ah, the greenery, the clean air, and relaxation… no way! Ike has had a tremendous track record of finding unique business opportunities. Now, these opportunities are finding him - even here in Seattle.

After the burst of the internet bubble in 2000, Ike came to Seattle, leaving the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley. He wanted to do “nothing” in Seattle but quietly raise his two young children and lower his golf handicap.

For people like Ike, however, doing “nothing” is not possible. It’s in their blood to do “something” – “something special”. By 2002, Ignition Partners, a prestigious local venture capitalist group, talked him into joining their team as a senior advisor and venture partner. Last year, Ike was involved in more than $300 million worth of mergers and acquisitions activities through his company, Lee Technology Consulting. “I wasn’t really looking for these opportunities,” Ike said. “Lots of requests came in looking for my help.”

Well, that is not surprising given Ike’s impressive track record. He came to the United States in 1980 working for the Korean conglomerate LG International. Two years later, he started his own defense electronics company, Amtech, in Los Angeles. When that industry suffered a downturn, he refocused the company on microchips. By 1986, he put angel investment into the then emerging microprocessor company, Cyrix, which later listed on the NASDAQ in 1993. “Once I got a taste of an IPO, I switched my focus to becoming an investor,” Ike recalled.

Ike eventually moved north to Silicon Valley and was involved in six IPO’s, including the hugely successful listing of Netscreen Technologies in 2001. Goldman Sachs voted this as its IPO of the Year after raising $160 million from the offer, well above its target. Netscreen Technologies continued its success story when it later sold to Juniper Networks for $4 billion in 2004.
In Silicon Valley, Ike oversaw the incubation center at Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto, California, which produced four of the IPO’s on his resume. Although Ike has enjoyed business success on many fronts, he has especially enjoyed working to represent American companies into the Asian markets. For example, he facilitated the $35 million acquisition of 3DO’s digital semiconductor division by Samsung.

Do “nothing”? Currently, Ike is working on his seventh IPO, as the company prepares for its road show. Meanwhile, the business plans continue to pour in for his review. And he just can’t seem to resist reading them. “I’ve noticed that some companies really grow during difficult economic times,” he said. “Actually, these tough times often present a lot of opportunities. We have a two-year window to make good investments.”

How can he do “nothing” when he enjoys so much helping young entrepreneurs? In this regard, he especially would like to help young Korean-American entrepreneurs. He has noticed a lack of venture-backed Korean-American entrepreneurs in the Seattle area, compared to those in California. Ike has volunteered to be a panelist on a session about “Harnessing the Entrepreneurial Opportunities” for an upcoming Korean-American Coalition (KAC) National Convention that will be hosted in Seattle September 26-28.

Ike’s successes are truly an inspiration to all. His willingness to help young entrepreneur is a tremendous gift to all those who take advantage. As much as he has tried to avoid the spotlight here in Seattle, those in the know understand what he can contribute to the local business community. In fact, he recently has been nominated as a Business Ambassador by the State of Washington.

As for his original goal of spending time with his children, his daughter is now in a boarding high school on the east coast and his son is in Junior high school becoming ever more independent. As for lowering his golf handicap, he unfortunately suffered a back injury that required surgery. Well, I guess it has turned out well that business opportunities keep following this charmed man.

Developing Digital Media offers Niche Opportunities

Digital Information is doubling every 18 months. Much of this growth is driven by Social networking/community, Blogs and Video's, according to Michael Mendenhall, CMO at HP. The digital media also encompasses Search, Email/IM/SMS, Websites, and Podcasts..

• Social networking/community:

• 47% growth in unique visitors from 2005 to 2006

  There are over 200 million users on seven key social networking sites
  globally

• Blogs:

• 278% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate)of total blogs from 2004 to 2006

  Estimated that there are 110 million blogs currently on the internet

  On average, two new blogs are created every second and users add more
  than 1.6 million posts each day

• Video:

• 38% CAGR of total videos streamed from 2003 to 2007

  Average “streamer” accesses 60-80 videos per month

  In July 2007, YouTube served nearly 3 billion video streams
  worldwide
  

Mendenhall thinks the following are the opportunities that this new digital media represents:
1. Proliferation of new digital forms, forums and engagement platforms
2. Audience migration away from traditional media
3. Emergence of new digitally-enabled brand “influencers”
4. Shifting expectations around how customers interact with brands

Challenges are:
1. Dynamic and evolving influence ecosystem
2. Value chain and audience fragmentation
3. Lower switching barriers and “democratization” of media
4. Inadequacy of traditional “push” models, methods and measurements

This all bodes well for small, nimble consulting organizations that focus on the leading front of these changes. Large agencies will remain “agency of record”, but will have to rely on these thought-leaders to help clients maneuver through the ecosystem of the new digital media.

Facebook Can Boost Corporate Image

ZeroDash1 recently put up its presence on Facebook. Right now, ZeroDash1 Facebook has only 27 fans, many internal fans (or friends). Yet, I remain very convinced about the long term positive effect of this initiative.

Today, we live in a time when web presence is critical to business. More times than not, the web presence is not about selling or even advertising online. Most businesses’ primary reason for having a website (or other forms of web presence) is to offer information to all interested stakeholders (which in turn will help them make money). This information can be actual words or it can be a “statement” without words.

For example, ZeroDash1 is a part of a digital advertising agency, Ascentium Interactive. Our image among this greater interactive marketing community is very important to us. This image effects our positioning in the market, defines our niche, determines the type of person we can recruit, and so forth.

To use a SEO (search engine optimization) analogy, it is common knowledge that organic search will out-perform paid search. In a similar way, providing easily accessible information that is useful can possibly have much more impact on “branding” ZeroDash1 than formal advertising means (especially true for smaller companies without large marketing, branding budgets). That’s the power and reality of Web 2.0.

To this regard, we have blogs and white papers on our website as well as our Facebook page. We also announce our seminars and social events through both Facebook and website. Uniquely, however, we distribute photos from these events and tag attendees through Facebook. We also plan to send invitations to our “fans” through Facebook for future events, which should be much more effective than a generic email invite.

Yes, we have only 27 fans right now, but the list of fans will not become obsolete as personal Facebook accounts stays with an individual whether that person moves or changes jobs. At every seminar or event that we sponsor, we will ask permission to send a Facebook Fan Request. Imagine in six months if we have even two hundred fans from our industry? Can 200 people within our industry effect a larger collective perception of ZeroDash1? I certainly think so.

Over time, I expect our humble start to a Facebook account for ZeroDash1 to improve. We will invest the time and effort to make it so. Meanwhile, by all means, be a fan (friend) of ZeroDash1, if so inclined.