DISQUS

Very impressive lineup of speakers. Great work!

Good comments Mathew.
It's too bad that companies don't follow the almost common sensical business advise: under promise and over deliver. And especially on the internet, when competition is just a click away, there is no need to make grandiose statements. Most net users, especially the younger generation, are smart enough to figure out what is good and what is not.

My belief is that on the internet, if you really have a solid product, you will succeed irrespective of the formal effort you put in publicising your product. It might take a little time, but hey, patience is a virture :)

While all this hype may get them some initial audience, the proof will be in the real product. And starting with such hype may turn off some of potential early adopters of the product.

But all this is immaterial if they do have a solid product.

Interesting you say this Mathew, because a while ago when both Mike and Om were about to launch their respective job boards, Mike wanted to join forces with Om, though just for the job board (http://www.crunchnotes.com/?p=263).

Your analysis makes sense....

But then, if they do something like this, what would this really do to the two blogs? Wouldn\'t that really transform techcrunch/gigaom into something like an old world pre-blog era publication? With lots of different sections and writers....And perhaps we\'ll all be back to reading Business 2.0 again!

Or maybe not.... :)

Like your 'Cool Hand Luke' approach to this....

May be it's a dumb question-How are these guys different from Oodle if they are doing aggregation of listings only?

I think Apple is reaping the benefits of great karma right now. I wonder though how long this period of invincibility will last (zune release, something else?). And add to this the nonchalance with which Apple handled the issue of virus infected iPods, we have a perfect candidate for an almost 'arrogant' company. I love Apple and would normally defend them, but their actions of late haven't been really what you would expect from Steve Jobs and co.
You are right, it would have been open season on Microsoft if there were even an inkling of financial misdemeanor on their part.

I think Craigslist is a wonderful service and has been running a really tight ship like in the old days-no VC Funding, no frivolous expenses, no redundant staff. It's a model on how to focus on your business and ignore the noise (VC funding, shinnier corporate offices, increased headcount etc). Perhaps a number of Web 2.0 companies (or other startups) should take note- Do you really need that additional $10 mn or can your little mashup work without the dose of additional capital and the "corrupting influences" it brings!

Mathew, this is great stuff for your blog as well as mainstream newspaper readers. Do you plan to cover Web 2.0 from a Canadian perspective?