Disqus - Latest Comments for Alan Munro

Re: Venture fund tries to sue entrepreneur who left negative comment on The Funded - bad idea

Alan Munro — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:38:49 -0000

You can't hide on the internet. Transparency is good for good business and maybe it's about time that some VCs were made to feel more accountable too.

If I was inclined to nip over to The Funded now and leave comments about VCs, man, I'd be there all day ...

Re: Online advertising accounts for 18.9% of total spend in UK 2007

Alan Munro — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:12:16 -0000

Not really surprising and current economic pressures will put even more emphasis on ROI from advertising spend. Old fashioned broadcast advertising should really be a distant memory by now and it's only ignorance and laziness that keep the 30 second TV ad alive. If I was running a TV station, I'd be looking for a new revenue model.

Re: The Twitter tsunami

Alan Munro — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:01:26 -0000

I like Twitter. I'm still not completely sure of what it is for but the fact that it is amuses me. With the absence of a revenue model, I still can't see why VCs would put so much cash into it but, then, maybe that's one reason why I'm not a VC...

Re: It is tough founding a business

Alan Munro — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 09:12:57 -0000

Interesting article. Having been on a long, frustrating and so far unprofitable entrepreneurial journey I can assure anyone setting out now that they need to be prepared for a hard slog that may not get them anywhere - even if they do have a great idea. And you're right, Nic, self-starting is the most important of all the entrepreneurial requirements. Every time you get a kicking (and there are lots to be had along the way) you have to get right back up and keep going with renewed enthusiasm and belief. You have to get used to rejection too, especially if you're raising capital, and to dealing with some of the rudest and most arrogant people you're ever likely to meet.

It isn't a road for everyone. But when you know the scale of your opportunity, you know you're right about your market and you know you can deliver your idea and the success it will bring, you don't really have a choice. There is no turning back once you've made that leap of faith.

Re: Ten reasons why startups fail

Alan Munro — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:18:37 -0000

How about sharing the top 10 reasons why start ups succeed? Is it just a case of not making most of the mistakes noted above along with a having lots of good ideas that their market actually likes?

Re: A debate on the prospects for internet display advertising

Alan Munro — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:32:53 -0000

Advertising in the old-fashioned sense of interruptive messaging foisted on consumers when they would rather be doing something else is in terminal decline. No matter what the medium, TV, radio, print, outdoor, online or whatever, people are increasingly reluctant to pay any kind of attention to this sort of messaging. You're right also to say that whatever utility there was in the notion of advertising as a source of information has long since been overtaken by the availability of much better quality information online.

So anyone who relies on 'push' advertising for any part of their revenue really needs to think how they're going to replace that revenue as its value to advertisers falls. And for those of us in the advertising and marketing worlds, we need to learn quickly how to engage with our customers in a completely different way and build meaningful relationships that add value to their lives and our businesses. This is a much harder thing to do than making ads so it is no surprise that the transition is proving to be long and painful.

Selling out before you've cracked your revenue model doesn't make you a web2.0 winner either, surely - that just passes on the problem to the new owner as the owners of Bebo, MySpace, Friends Reunited and many others will no doubt testify ...

Re: Guy Kawasaki on why now is a good time to be an entrepreneur

Alan Munro — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:12:07 -0000

It's always a good time to be an entrepreneur. Markets always need innovation and there are always opportunities for people to succeed, regardless of the economic mood of the time. Guy Kawasaki is right that there are lots of free (or near free) resources available but some projects will still need capital and capital isn't always readily available. Having said that, raising capital and convincing other people to bring their resources to your project is just part of being a successful entrepreneur.

Re: Ad spend to move from buying media to participating in it?

Alan Munro — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:00:15 -0000

Good point, Nic. Media in the traditional sense is changing so quickly that buying it in the traditional sense is on the way out too.

The difficulty that large corporations will have with social media and truly interactive marketing is that it is so incredibly alien to their current culture. Old-fashioned one-way marketing is such an easy option when compared to the difficulty of actually engaging customers and maintaining a dialogue.

I think you're right that there will be start-up opportunities around the support technologies but I think the real start-up opportunities are in creating brand propositions that embrace the potential for proper customer dialogue from the outset and build their businesses on strong relationships with their customers. Having said that, it is still difficult to find venture capitalists or other investors who are willing to back unconventional marketing strategies because they are 'unproven'. As ever, some of the pioneers will make a killing while others crash and burn.

Re: Ad spend to move from buying media to participating in it?

Alan Munro — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:28:39 -0000

Yes, timing is everything. And the would-be start-up entrepreneur's job is to just keep going until investors agree that the timing is right. Having said that, I think the best opportunities make the timing right because they change people's perceptions and shift market direction. That's a different debate though for another day ...

Re: Finding the Right “Brand Voice” on Twitter

Alan Munro — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:15:42 -0000

Excellent post, Kai. It's fascinating watching how brands and individuals are shaping Twitter and these tips will help those responsible for corporate accounts to create a meaningful dialogue with customers.

@alanmunro