Disqus - Latest Comments for Sramana Mitra

Re: A Web 2.0 revolt against Yahoo management

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 14:59:20 -0000

Mathew,
Please read this article: 4C: Yahoo's Turnaround Formula.
Regards,
Sramana

Re: eBay and StumbleUpon: don’t get it

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:03:39 -0000

For a long time, I have believed that eBay should have spent money on advertising venue oriented companies, and thought that the Skype acquisition was a stupid move. Only now, it seems to me that eBay's leadership is coming to the same conclusion! Read the rest of my thesis.

Re: Blogs and the business of community

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:37:25 -0000

Here's my take of what's going on in the blog business:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/12/deal-radar-2...
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/20/deal-radar-2...
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/20/deal-radar-2...
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/11/deal-radar-2...
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/10/deal-radar-2...
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/06/deal-radar-2...

Sramana

Re: The REAL Problem with Mike Arrington and Robert Scoble…

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:42:30 -0000

Re: Oracle to swallow Siebel?

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 08:50:14 -0000

Time for E.piphany to wake up and capitalize on the situation.

Re: If Google and Stanford are doing 3D maps, why not Berkeley?

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 13:49:21 -0000

Danny Hillis already has this at Applied Minds.

Re: Electronic Arts getting ready to outsource?

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 14:32:09 -0000

Hmmm... the animators and graphics talent in India is not AT ALL in Bangalore, in case they are wondering. I hope Vivek Paul knows where they are.

Re: eBay & Google learn the China lesson: You gotta be there

Sramana Mitra — Sat, 25 Jun 2005 17:47:30 -0000

Well, one of the exciting opportunities that eBAY could open up for the Chinese small businesses is to do cottage-industry style international trade. And, for that matter, they could do the same for India.

Re: Ram Shriram says India bereft of middle management, skilled engineers

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:18:10 -0000

It is not just the middle management and skilled engineers that are a problem in India right now. Read this analysis of the young venture capital industry that is developing.

Re: VC to aspiring entrepreneur: Are you sure you want our money?

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 19:51:37 -0000

There is a glut of good small business opportunities out there right now, especially because the Internet makes it ever so easy to market, generate traffic, etc.

I want to also point out that entrepreneurs ought to consider not taking ANY outside money at all, which leaves them an option of running a cash business for years, without being forced to have an exit. The moment, however, they decide to take any outside money, they have to exit, and that's not necessarily always desirable.

Re: KKR makes $700 million investment in Sun

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 23:58:50 -0000

May be, Jonathan just wants to get to know George Roberts, and pave way for a PE job later :-)

Re: Cisco dives into Web 2.0, buys Five Across

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 13:06:14 -0000

I'm surprised. Adobe should have bought FiveAcross. Read this.

Re: Filmloop’s demise, the reputation of VCs, and how you can help

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:47:00 -0000

Matt, With the overinvestment in web 2.0, we will see a lot more of this kind of rollups, portfolio shuffling, rebalancing, etc. coming.

Sramana

Re: Story of Sergey Brin

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:50:58 -0000

It's a nice piece, though. There is something human and decent about the Brin family that comes across, a phenomenon largely absent in the larger Silicon Valley milieu. A 'value system' that's plain good.

Re: Geni aims to build family tree for whole world

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:21:57 -0000

I have to play with this thing ... knowing fully well that it is going to become a massive time sink!!!

Re: Cisco acquires WebEx for $2.9 billion

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 00:48:33 -0000

Here's my analysis of the deal: http://sramanamitra.com/blog/687

Re: Is Web 2.0 over and out?

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 20:49:51 -0000

Here's my 2c: http://sramanamitra.com/blog/728

Re: Roundup: FunnyOrDie, StumbleUpon sale?, Google’s latest and more

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:16:54 -0000

Re: SezWho lets you have say on blog commenters

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:02:20 -0000

Hi Matt,

I am testing this application on my site. I have told Jitendra that I will write about it only after he has demonstrated the traffic ramp he is promising :-)

Sramana

Re: TheFind, the clean shopping search engine, raises $15M more

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:01:40 -0000

Hi there,

You may want to read this to get a feel for the company: http://sramanamitra.com/2007/04/03/thefind-life...

Sramana

Re: Adap.tv raises $10 million for online video ads

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:42:53 -0000

Hi,

You may want to read this interview of the CEO:
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/06/20/cracking-the...

Sramana

Re: Sequoia Capital hires three partners, one each in Israel, India and U.S.

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:54:31 -0000

Notice how Sequoia hires in India. Clearly outlines their focus on retail and real estate as asset classes, not technology. If they had any interest in technology, they'd hire entrepreneurs with tech background, I suppose.

It is also a reflection of the fact that real investment opportunities in Tech, in India, are few and far between. I wrote about this a year back, but things haven't changed much:
http://sramanamitra.com/articles/venture-capita...

Re: Ad Networks: Why it’s better than ever to be a targeted content site

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:31:59 -0000

Here are my posts on Ad Networks. I agree, they're going to become the next big channel for advertisers to access targeted audiences:
http://sramanamitra.com/blog/962
http://sramanamitra.com/blog/942

Re: The race to win women’s fashion on the web

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:34:45 -0000

I am doing a review of the women's segment on my site:
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/07/23/women-web-30...

Re: Bain acquires 3Com, the voice and data networking company

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 12:14:53 -0000

Matt,

Here's my analysis of the deal:
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/09/28/3com-is-now-...

Sramana

Re: Facebook roundup: Hedge funds invest $500 million, and more

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:31:22 -0000

Hi Matt,

Don't you think Zuckerberg should make the valuation "real" by using the currency to acquire some real money-makers, and thus beef up his business model?

http://sramanamitra.com/2007/07/25/facebooks-mo...

Sramana

Re: Real estate site Trulia showing momentum; Is Zillow in trouble?

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:36:03 -0000

Matt,

I had raised questions about Zillow's business model not being commensurate with the amount of money it has raised earlier.
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/07/11/ziprealtyzil...

Sramana

Re: Q&A with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, on hiring, growth, and its platform

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:38:56 -0000

Right. He talks of plenty of specifics about things he should never have opened his mouth about, lest people like me are listening:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/02/05/deal-radar-2...

Re: Facebook gets another $40 million -- starting location-based mobile services?

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:34:18 -0000

Billionaires can be pretty clueless sometimes:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/02/05/deal-radar-2...

Re: Rumor: Ad network Federated Media raises $50M from Oak Hill Capital Partners, at $200M valuation

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:04:37 -0000

"Some, like one commenter on our last story on FM funding, are questioning whether or not FM is actually worth this much money, as there are many advertising options available to publishers." - Would that be me, Matt?

http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/12/deal-radar-2...

Re: Foundation Capital raises $750M fund, claiming focus on cleantech

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:00:44 -0000

My article, The Real VCs of Silicon Valley poses the question, Silicon Valley VCs are moving to later-stage investments and larger funds. Who, then, practices real venture capital?

You can read it here:
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/04/04/mit...

And also access the discussion around this topics here:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/25/first-time-e...

Re: Confirmed, finally: Online ad company Federated Media raises $50 million

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:29:43 -0000

I think FM should pick up a few flagship sites that they can use to drive traffic to the rest of their portfolio.

One of the things that is not happening much yet, but if big media plays its cards right, it will, is that “traffic” will be used as a currency to recruit strong voices into networks. In other words, WSJ can easily recruit FM’s top authors with the lure of brand and traffic.

What is FM’s strategy to counter this, when it starts happening?

Re: Roundup: EBay still struggling, the decline of tech on Digg and more

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:49:50 -0000

Here's my eBay analysis: http://sramanamitra.com/2008/04/17/not-bullish-...

Re: Travel Ad Network raises $15 million round

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:49:50 -0000

Big valuation too, it seems:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/04/21/travel-ad-ne...

Re: VC investment in India small but steady

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:22:16 -0000

Aficionados of Indian Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship may want to read this series, Vision India 2020: http://sramanamitra.com/2008/05/06/vision-india...

Re: Unitas Equity Fund II raising $125 million

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:11:59 -0000

Here's an interview with Chris Brookfield of Unitus discussing their rather unique Microfinance focus.
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/07/28/selecting-gr...

Re: Sun Microsystems to 5,000 to 6,000 jobs

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:01:22 -0000

I hoped the people who are losing their jobs don’t get discouraged. This is a good time to explore being in business yourself.

I want to point you to my new book, Entrepreneur Journeys (Volume One), which many discouraged people are using to get some positive momentum, inspiration, and encouragement, as well as learn the ropes of entrepreneurship if this way of life is new for you.
Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1439206872

Many great companies have been found during downturns and recessions. Many people have found their way into self-employment during difficult times.

Do not give up hope.

Sramana
www.sramanamitra.com

Re: Obama appoints John Doerr to economic advisory board

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:04:58 -0000

Doerr is a great nomination.

Who will be representing the voice of the bootstrapping entrepreneur, trying to build a business on a shoestring?

Re: iPhone Battery Tests Were Performed Under Laboratory Conditions. Actual Results May Vary. Wildy.

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:10:24 -0000

One of the biggest concerns seems to get addressed with this news.

Here's my iPhone and the Future Series, which readers might enjoy:
http://sramanamitra.com/blog/999

Re: Believe the Hype (Most of It, Anyway): An iPhone Review Roundup

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:58:22 -0000

The UI is the biggest question mark in the iPhone's future, and the keyboard, the most key driver of the adoption curve ... http://sramanamitra.com/blog/999
I still cannot imagine typing long blocks of text on this device, but if they have truly got this right ...

Re: First iPhone Reviews

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:07:48 -0000

Re: Apple to Intel: We Shafted IBM and Motorola. We Can Shaft You Too.

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:17:28 -0000

Apple's doing something very risky:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/04/23/apples-compo...

Re: 2007/02/08/five-across/

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 13:02:35 -0000

I'm surprised. Adobe should have bought FiveAcross. Read this.

Re: 2007/04/17/adify/

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 13:55:20 -0000

In my Giving Up on AdSense piece, I referred to the WPNI program, which is powered by Adify.

Sramana

Re: 2007/04/18/ebay-stumbleupon/

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:49:54 -0000

Re: 2008/04/16/skype-earnings/

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:53:30 -0000

Hereâ€™s my eBay analysis which addresses your question:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/04/17/not-bullish-...

Re: Romulan Attack Because of Microsoft Office

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:47:27 -0000

Hi Zoli,

I had minimal slides last night. You can see them on my site along with some notes. http://sramanamitra.com/2007/08/16/enterprise-3...

I generally prefer not using power points at forums, and in the future, will stick to my principals on that issue :-)

In fact, I have done numerous VC pitches without a single powerpoint, purely on the strength of the content. I find that far more powerful. I had mixed feelings about allowing the presenters to use powerpoints, as they are never consistent. It's a club policy that ought to be revisited IMO.

In terms of deliberately embarrassing Microsoft, I hadn't thought about it that way, but I guess it made a point about SaaS as a great model that requires no version control.

Regards,
Sramana

Re: Romulan Attack Because of Microsoft Office

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:47:27 -0000

Re: Nokia buy Navteq for $8.1bn

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:25:51 -0000

I have been covering Navteq for a while. Here is my analysis:
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/1.....comes-key/

This is an excellent move on Nokia’s part. Note, there is no other indepdendent GIS data vendor in the market.

Regards, Sramana

Re: Nokia to acquire NAVTEQ

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:26:10 -0000

I have been covering Navteq for a while. Here is my analysis:
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/1.....comes-key/

This is an excellent move on Nokias part. Note, there is no other indepdendent GIS data vendor in the market.

Regards, Sramana

Re: How many still use Yellow Pages?

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:09:50 -0000

One of the important unknowns of the industry is that Yahoo and Google license their Yellow Pages / Local capabilities from one or another YP company.

You can get rid of the books, but it seems that the "new media" players don't yet have the ability to provide this service on their own, without some help from the dynosaurs!

Re: Mike Arrington’s dream team has wrong goal

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:21:14 -0000

Re: MySpace Claims 85% of all Teen Social Network Users

Sramana Mitra — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:26:21 -0000

You may also want to check these reports:
Here and here.

Re: Digg Dumps Google in Favor of 3-Year Microsoft Deal

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:01:26 -0000

Andy,

Looks to me like FM got dumped ...
[link moved to profile name]
Sramana

Re: Facebook Feeding Frenzy

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:33:41 -0000

I think Zuckerberg should make the valuation "real" by using the currency to acquire some real money-makers, and thus beef up his business model ... perfect opportunity.

http://sramanamitra.com/2007/07/25/facebooks-mo...

Sramana

Re: Palm buyout happening by Thursday?

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:47:24 -0000

I am surprised that Dell isn't bidding.
http://www.sramanamitra.com/blog/642

Re: Updated: What Ails Entrepreneurship in India? A Demand Side Perspective

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:03:36 -0000

Gaurav,

One question: why does the demand side need to be India-market facing alone?

Zoho is addressing the US / global market.

I think, it is time that Indian entrepreneurs / innovators start taking on global opportunities.

And if you look at it that way, the market - what you call demand-side - is there.

Sramana

Re: It's official: FIM Acquires Photobucket; Adds Tool Site Flektor

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:12:43 -0000

What's next? Microsoft acquires Shutterfly?
Looks like Microsoft doesn't have a play in yet another important category ... Photo Sharing category overview here, if you want to speculate who else might be a target!

Re: A Compilation of VC And M&A Deals In Digital Media In 2006

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 08:14:52 -0000

Yusuf,

They are doing very little outside Consumer Internet in India. You can read my Venture Capital in India article on my web site (under Articles).

Sramana

Re: Updated: Indian Digital Music Sales To Surpass Physical Format This Year: Study

Sramana Mitra — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 23:37:28 -0000

"The study, however, says that online music sales will remain minimal for the next three years." - Perhaps true. However, online music downloads of Indian music should go up, I would imagine?

In a country like India where every film is a musical, the entire culture is musically oriented. Every third Indian I know sings. How can this population not wake up to the potential of digital music?

Re: Tribune Update: Zells Keeps Talking; Stamford Sale Blocked; Shareholder Sues

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 02:16:41 -0000

Zell needs to read my article, http://sramanamitra.com/blog/803 "Newspapers: Industry in Turmoil" for an overview of the strategic
manueverings going on, and more importantly, should be going on. Regards, Sramana

Re: Cisco's Media Group Makes First Acquisition: Social Net White Labler Five Across

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 18:06:46 -0000

I'm surprised. Adobe should have bought FiveAcross. Read this.

Re: Earnings: Netflix 4Q Revenue Rises 44 Percent; Hopes 5K Online Movies By Year-End

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 04:55:18 -0000

Hope they won't blow all the profits in some stupid online delivery experiment for which the market isn't ready ...

Re: Malgudi Days And Fauji At Rajshri.com; Republic Day Content Soon

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 04:50:10 -0000

Amusing! Fauji was a serial from my highschool days ... first time anybody every saw Shahrukh Khan. How is it that this is one of the top picks at Rajshri? Is it because it was Shahrukh Khan's first? Mahabharat also was from my high school days.

So, has nothing worthy happened since then on Indian Television? (I'm completely out of touch, so this may be a very stupid question!)

Re: Retrevo Recieves $3.2 In Venture Capital

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 05:40:36 -0000

We just covered the Gadget Geek segment, and Retrovo in this Segment and Lifestyles report.

Re: Yahoo's Branded Universe Unfolding

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:28:07 -0000

Very recently, I wrote 4C: Yahoo's Turnaround Formula, criticizing them for having haphazard offerings with no segmentation.

This announcement addresses some of my points, in that they are actually tying together various disjointed and haphazard properties around a particular brand, and creating an integrated experience.

I like it.

Re: Harper Collins Invests in NewsStand; To Launch Digital Books Services

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:55:45 -0000

Please read an analysis of the eBooks business in this context : eBooks Future. Sramana

Re: STAR Puts TV Content Up For Sale At Indya.com

Sramana Mitra — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 23:40:35 -0000

Sameer, What is your assumption about the Global South Asian Population? In other words, what is the TAM (Total Available Market) estimate for this? Sramana

Re: It's Official: Tribune To Go Private At $34 A Share -- If Sale Goes Through; Cubs To Be Sold

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:15:22 -0000

Does Sam Zell understand what he has in his hands, and what needs to be done?

Re: Palm to Sell 25 Percent Stake To Elevation, For $325 Million

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 16:23:11 -0000

I'm not quite writing Palm off as yet. My analysis is here: http://sramanamitra.com/blog/1085.

Re: Google Invests in India Via New Investment Firm Seedfund

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 19:15:18 -0000

Good move. The hole in the Indian venture market has been the $15-$25 Million fund that can focus on very small, real seed deals.

Re: US Mobile Payment Company Obopay Enters India; Hires Yes Bank's Aditya Menon As CIO

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 04:53:06 -0000

And Carol Realini is a very good CEO. This may be a company worth watching.

Re: Web 2.0-Type Fundings At $844 Million in 2006

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:51:27 -0000

Here's my 2c on the web 2.0 debate: http://sramanamitra.com/blog/728

Re: Salon Media CEO Elizabeth Hambrecht Resigns; Chris Neimeth New CEO

Sramana Mitra — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:55:33 -0000

Seems to me that Salon is an utterly mismanaged company that should not be public by any means.

It's a very nice brand with a nice audience. I wish someone would clean the company up.

Sramana

Re: Yahoo Replaces CEO; Founder Jerry Yang Back In Seat; Decker Is President

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:23:59 -0000

My analysis is here: http://sramanamitra.com/blog/1147. Yahoo can be turned around.

Re: NWS-DJ: Done Deal; Both Boards Approve; Announcement Soon

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:13:30 -0000

So what's next for WSJ?
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/07/31/murdoch-gets...

Re: Google Earnings: 'The Silence Of The Cynics'; Google's One Day Surge Almost A Yahoo

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:21:09 -0000

Google is still not paying attention to verticals. Microsoft is. Have a look at this analysis: http://sramanamitra.com/2008/04/18/google/

Sramana

Re: Correction: CNBC.com And Microsoft Partner On Ad Sales

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:33:53 -0000

Will this lead to the development of a Finance / Business focused Vertical Ad Network by Microsoft / MSN?
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/12/09/vertical-ad-...

Sramana

Re: LeapFrog To Launch New Interactive Reading Device, The Tag; Includes Online Emphasis, Downloads

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:39:33 -0000

Yep, it's the core piece of their turnaround strategy:
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/11/22/turning-arou...

Re: Earnings: YHOO Q407 Call: Yang: 'Confident Headed In Right Direction'; 1,000 'Targeted' Job Cuts

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:56:13 -0000

Hmmm ... "Confident"?

http://sramanamitra.com/2008/01/30/time-for-pri...

Re: IAC's M&A Targets: Time To Rethink Portfolio?

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:00:13 -0000

Hi Rafat,

Here's a similar analysis on News Corp: http://sramanamitra.com/2007/09/10/web-30-news-...

and I have just started a series on Gannett today:
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/09/24/web-30-ganne...

Regards,
Sramana

Re: Federated Media Receives $40M-$50M, From Oak And Others: Report

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:21:40 -0000

FM needs to roll up some publishers and focus on its core verticals:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/12/deal-radar-2...

Re: Federated Media Receives $40M-$50M, From Oak And Others: Report

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:54:12 -0000

Also, here's a quick take on where this whole vertical ad network movement is headed:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/04/14/vertical-ad-...

Re: Confirmed: Federated Media Receives $50 Million Third Round; Interview With Battelle

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:20:21 -0000

I think FM should pick up a few flagship sites that they can use to drive traffic to the rest of their portfolio.

One of the things that is not happening much yet, but if big media plays its cards right, it will, is that "traffic" will be used as a currency to recruit strong voices into networks. In other words, WSJ can easily recruit FM's top authors with the lure of brand and traffic.

What is FM's strategy to counter this, when it starts happening?

Re: Industry Moves: Facebook Hires Google Ad Exec Sheryl Sandberg As COO; Fills #2 Gap

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:40:12 -0000

So how does an executive make money off Facebook at this point?
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/02/05/deal-radar-2...

Re: Free WSJ.com Would Need 12x Traffic To Offset Loss; DJ Buy To Shave A Penny From NWS: Analyst

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:21:41 -0000

$6 CPM is all WSJ can get? That doesn't sound right ...

Re: Updated: Facebook Investor Li Ka-Shing Upping Stake To $120 Million: Report

Sramana Mitra — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 01:32:07 -0000

Ka-Shing should have read this before investing:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/02/05/deal-radar-2...

Re: MSFT-YHOO: Yahoo Shares Up Again; Market Doubts Story Is Over

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 06 May 2008 19:19:11 -0000

As I said, Microsoft should go cold turkey on Yahoo for a year, and focus elsewhere.

http://sramanamitra.com/2008/05/05/microsofts-s...

Re: Nokia Takes Minority Stake In Mobile Payments Provider Obopay

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:20:31 -0000

you may want to read this interview to understand Obopay's business:
http://www.sramanamitra.com/2008/05/23/bringing...

Re: Dow Jones Recommitting To Ventures Group Again; Will Consider Acquisitions

Sramana Mitra — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 01:07:47 -0000

And your hope is that she would acquire you, right Rafat?

Good luck :-)

Sramana

Re: LinkedIn Close To Its 'Nuclear Winter' Round?

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:04:21 -0000

There is a price for everything. If Microsoft goes out shopping for Internet properties, LinkedIn should be on that list:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/05/05/microsofts-s...

Re: Nokia Unveils Financial Services For Banking Deprived

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:29:25 -0000

Here's my story on Obopay, it will give you details about who and what is behind the Nokia payment solution:
http://tinyurl.com/nokiaobopay

Re: What The Future Will Look Like For Journalists

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:13:50 -0000

You may want to read my Future of Journalism post:
http://www.sramanamitra.com/2009/03/01/future-o...

Re: Economist.com Considering Charging For All Content

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:52:23 -0000

I think the Economist should charge for all its content. It has a loyal following, and it is extremely expensive to produce quality content of the caliber they produce.

I see no reason why they should give that content away for free.

Re: What Google Can Do To Make The Web Less Of A 'Cesspool'

Sramana Mitra — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:38:13 -0000

I agree, there is something unfair about Google making money off the names of brands that are actually created by the brands themselves.

Also, here's a piece I wrote on The Future of Journalism, which may be of interest:
http://www.sramanamitra.com/2009/03/01/future-o...

Re: Semel Out, Yang In, Yahoo Uncertainty Remains Exactly the Same

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:08:14 -0000

My analysis is here: http://sramanamitra.com/blog/1147. Turnaround is very possible.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Will Become COO of Facebook

Sramana Mitra — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:37:19 -0000

I think 2008 will be a very difficult year for Facebook:
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/02/05/deal-radar-2...

Sramana

Re: BoomTown Decodes TechCrunch's Dream Team Memo (So You Don't Have To)

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:18:37 -0000

Kara,

May I bring to your attention 3 posts that I recently wrote on the topic, on FM, GigaOm, and Techcrunch?

http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/12/deal-radar-2...
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/20/deal-radar-2...
http://sramanamitra.com/2008/03/20/deal-radar-2...

Sramana

Re: Memo to Yahoo: Incoming--Duck and Cover!

Sramana Mitra — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:30:46 -0000

I can't wait for this charade to end. http://sramanamitra.com/2008/04/24/yahoo/

Re: EXCLUSIVE PHOTO: Jerry Yang Still Open to a Microsoft Deal

Sramana Mitra — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:10:51 -0000

Microsoft will save about 10 Billion or more by walking away from Yahoo now, as the stock continues to drop. Later, when they come back and re-bid, the offer will be lower.

Meanwhile, with the money they save, they can go shopping for things they would need even if they bought Yahoo, because these are companies that Yahoo should have bought.

http://sramanamitra.com/2008/05/05/microsofts-s...