Someone asked me what was the revenue model and I told them it didn't matter any more. It's taking the time to select the right model and add it incrementally. YouTube could easily turn on a 15 second advertiser video clip prior to each video served and likely have a $100 million dollar a year company. In addition to YouTube.com, there have been some incredible stories over the last couple of years. MySpace (obviously with its $580 million sale last year), Vonage, FaceBook, etc.

So, what's happening... some observations:

1) The Internet has become a lifestyle for many ... something they could (or at least) prefer not to live without... like the Microwave.
2) Internet based businesses can scale at an unprecedented rate if they become successful. Never before could one medium reach so many people so quickly. Broadcast television perhaps, but the Internet is a bi-modal medium.
3) The Internet, at it's old age of 15 or so, is definitely evolving again and its my opinion that broadband and mobile access are the enablers this time .... opening new markets, new solutions, and new opportunities.

These are amazing times... now if we could only get rid of Spam.

Technorati : The YouTube Phenomina

If you are a fan, I'm sure you'll enjoy. Here is the link: The Classic Liners of Long Ago

Enjoy!

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Hot areas that I will be checking out include: LBS (location based services), IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), mobile TV and video, any/all of those cool new 3G applications. Being that I own a cell phone accessory business we have some new products that I'll be showing off to specific distributors & carriers.

I always thought it was interesting that the Chinese government pursed the TD-CDMA standard ... likelyto give the government more control and to capitalize on a proprietary technology (don't forget, this is not a democratic government). Thatsaid, it looks like global 3G standards will be allowed to compete in China. In response to a question by GSM Association Chairman Craig Ehrlich, Wang said the Chinese government has committed to awarding 3G licenses this year and will have 3G networks up in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He also said that the government is expected to issue 3G licenses for the TD-CDMA standard because so many Chinese companies have intellectual property in the homegrown technology. Just what the world needed, another wireless standard.

With the numbers and growth that Wang reported, it seems impossible for any Chinese wireless operator to fail, but wireless networks don't come cheap. Some notes I have from Shailendra Pandey, an analyst with ABI Researchwho cited several examples from around the world. Verizon Wireless, which continues to record the highest subscriber net additions in the United States and is expected to invest $15.7 billion, of which a significant part will be spent on network and IT systems, of which the goal being operational savings down the track. 3 Italy is expected to spend a total capex of approximately $1.1 billion in the next two years, most of which will be spent to extend the 3G network coverage to more than 90 percent of Italy's populace. And China Unicom, which spent nearly $4.8 billion (with disappointing results) on CDMA network expansion during 2005, will outlay a further $1.5 billion on its GSM network in 2006.

2006 is going to be an exciting year for the cellular / mobile around the world as the highly anticipated 3G networks, consumer devices, content and services become available to the masses and are affordable. Unfortunately this all comes about six years later than most people predicted back in 1999/2000.

The topic surrounds off-portal content and how much is Reality versus Hype?

The hype cycle is definitely in overdrive when it comes to the subject of off-portal content and how quickly consumers are adopting / consuming it. The latest "sure" thing according to many entrepreneurs and upstarts is the direct-to-consumer retail play.

Although consumers still purchase the majority of their mobile entertainment from the wireless carriers' deck, operators in the U.S. markets are realizing that their walled garden can be limiting when it comes to making purchases – particularly if a consumer is interested in buying an obscure ringtone, wallpaper, or application that didn't make a Top-10 list. This is causing some carriers to re-think their off-deck (portal) strategy and cautiously allow 3rd party / off-portal content access and sales.

The strategy amongst most carriers to address the direct-to-consumer challenge is to put 3rd party companies through a rigorous evaluation that leads to a “preferred partner" status, meaning that they have a solid billing relationship with the operator of which the operator will be sure to get a solid revenue cut and their content has met certain quality guidelines. Finally and maybe most importantly, the carriers want to make sure that their off-portal partners have a customer care department to field calls so that the operator's call centers aren't bombarded with inquiries if a consumer has a problem. How a consumer is suppose to know when to call the carrier or “preferred partner” is still a mystery to me.

When you think about it, the logic and appeal of this direct-to-consumer retail play could be huge for big brands, particularly those that are already selling other forms of entertainment to consumers via their Web or retail sites. An straight forward example would be a record label, such as Sony or EMI who could promote and sell CDs from its various music artists and entice buyers to also buy a ringtone or a wallpaper featuring their favorite artist. This type of one stop shopping makes sense, particularly if you are trying to entice impulse purchases. One completed, this gives companies a direct-to-consumer mobile marketing channel that can be very powerful if utilized properly.

The significant challenge is for unknown players that have no brand or existing relationship with the consumer. I expect that the off-portal model will be a long uphill battle for these folks. How will these companies draw consumers to their Web sites to make purchases? How will they make consumers feel comfortable buying content from these unknown companies. I certainly would trust a well-known brand before I'd trust some unknown player unless it is presented to me as a “certified” partner / company. While I do have more thoughts on this subject, I’ll keep that for another blog entry.

To make it in the off-portal world, I think many of these early stage companies need a reality check on the difficulty level and should focus on marketing strategies enough to catch the attention of the consumer to gain access to their pocketbooks.

What do you think?

Fast forward eight months and two of my three goals are underway, a physical consumer product company (FlyFashions.com) and a digital consumer based product company (Project X). The acquisition is still a work in progress, but moving forward.

Last week Thursday I sat down with a great friend of mine (Kevin) for beers to talk business. He has had a good career at MSNBC, but has peaked and looking for his next challenge. That said, Kevin is smart guy and someone I know well and can trust, so I propositioned him with the idea of getting out on his own and forming a partnership should the right business come along. Kevin hasn't had the exposure to early-stage that I have, nor the opportunity, buy my general consensus is that he is at the right point in his life to jump off the corporate ship and into the waters of opportunity.

After six or seven beers and discussing several other businesses I've taking a look at, the night ending on a positive note with a handshake and a verbal MOU of mutual interest.

With that long rambling story now told, I should get to the point of this blog post. There are a lot of bright people I know that focus on developing careers in the corporate landscape, yet I find time and time again, they become constrained by the environment itself and boredom. I think Kevin will make a good entrepreneur and his time is now. He has the smarts, the determination to accomplish goals and friends that can help him along in an environment that is completely foreign and challenging.

Is the person reading this blog post also in the same position? If so, take a step back, evaluate the resources you have at hand (cash, friends, significant other, knowledgeand experience). Write down your thoughts, your goals and a general (e.g. realistic) timeline for accomplishing those goals.

When you feel comfortable and 88.88% confident that starting or buying a business is something you need to do to be happy, make it a priority and go after it.

While cell phone "charms" have been extremely popular in Asia, they never really took off in Europe or the U.S., due (in my opinion) to the core demographic differences when it comes to appearance. Hello Kitty just isn't going to fly in the USA or Europe. The belief is that "high-fashion" accessories, like Fly's mobile jewelry are the right product for the U.S. and European genre. The recently released report by Arch Chart - Fashion and Style in the Mobile Handset Industry is another recent example of the growing trend towards consumer personailization vs. commoditization. A number of market studies have show that a majority of people view their mobile devices as more that a tool, its part of their persona. It will be interesting to to see how AOL's recent acquisition of WildSeed, a company that focused on personalization of mobile devices will evolve as AOL continues to emphasize the importance of mobile.

Fly Fashions has a consumer web portal, but sells primarily thorough carriers, national distributors and mobile phone OEM's.

At the end of the tour, the military scans you for radiation. Sure enough this joker has radioactive dirt stuck to the bottom of his show that set off an alarm and had to be removed before he could leave. I'm booking my flight tomorrow as you just haven't lived until you've seen the site of a nucular accident!

The more recent news is that MTV will launch mobile videos in Japan starting June 30th. I can only predict that this will follow the usual adoption path of Asia, Europe and then to the Americas.

I can only assume viewers will be forced to watch a 15 second advertising clip prior to the music video ... how else is MTV going to drive revenue? Maybe through co-branded device.

Sumsung relased a MTV Themed Phone when it sponsored the 2005 MTV Asia awards.