Disqus - Latest Comments for vincentvw

Re: Seven Technologies That Will Rock 2011

vincentvw — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 18:06:23 -0000

In my view, Quora is just Friendfeed, wearing different clothes. The "interest graph" you're talking about has been part of that social network since its inception. The only difference (an improvement) is that it's geared towards serious conversation, though chances are that that will change or already is.

Re: Sunk Costs

vincentvw — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:04:45 -0000

Hi Fred,

Could you in the future write something about Real Options? I believe it's a strong factor in financial decision making but also difficult to quantify as such.

Thanks,

Vincent

Re: Sunk Costs

vincentvw — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:09:56 -0000

Do you think that there is a cultural difference in how sunk costs are perceived? I'm thinking about the differences in the perception of taking risks (such starting a business) in Europe, where it's considered a bad thing, vs. the US, where it's not considered as bad as in Europe. I guess, either way, we shouldn't let it affect our future decisions…

Re: Porter's 5 forces - how they work, 3 examples, and why it's better to be a thief

vincentvw — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 05:29:13 -0000

Ans13, unfortunately I don't have the time to do all the work for you. I would imagine the graph above is a great template for any industry you're interested in, however.

Re: 85,000 reasons why Apple’s iPhone isn’t going to be disrupted

vincentvw — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:02:36 -0000

This was the same point I wanted to make. Firefox has had a great impact on the browser-world, but still hasn't overtaken the most convenient option (IE on PC/Safari on Mac) and is being followed by a much lighter option (Chrome).

But you (Scoble) also note that apps aren't the only factor in the iPhone's success, which clearly has the exclusivity feel, the slick interface, and entirely coolness of it going for it, not to mention it doing stuff that people want, like phoning, browsing, listening to music, GPS, etc. Apps are in there somewhere, but they certainly aren't the first reason why people buy the phone.

Re: Scanning Headlines

vincentvw — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:07:52 -0000

Isn't it more a matter of contextual relevance? What I mean is that news can be relevant to a person, because it's about a certain location (what I imagine that company FW invests in to do, is it called OutsideIN?), to be consumed at a certain time (e.g. when the markets open), or of global interest (e.g. 9/11 or global pandemic)?

It's human nature to browse around for no reason at all, which is what many people do, and no wonder that "(not so) smart" aggregation, basing suggestions only on the past, get confused. Group aggregation is kind of effective, I guess (e.g. techmeme), but it's also often not directly relevant to your every day.

To me, the perfect aggregator collects news that is relevant to my context, and when you really get down to it, that means that Google search is about as smart an aggregator as is needed.

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

vincentvw — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:35:57 -0000

"Unfortunately, we don't have a good mobile broadband system to make streaming possible everywhere."

I'm sorry, I don't buy that statement. I have perfect broadband in all the European countries that I lived, but not much in terms of legal streaming services. I think that the real barrier is that agreements have been made with traditional media channels for a type of exclusive content to be shown here, which prevent content from services like Pandora, Hulu, Netflix to be shown.

Media = the most unflat industry in this modern world and it's mostly thanks to the lawyers.

Re: Does Anyone Use Chrome?

vincentvw — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:31:51 -0000

I like Chrome, because it's just quick and it feels safer than IE. But I like OS X even more, which is the reason why I don't use Chrome.

Re: Is The Exclusive Deal Between Apple and AT&T Anticompetitive?

vincentvw — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:14:45 -0000

I'm not French (nor in France) so other national options may exist, but Orange.fr lists a 32GB iPhone with a 12 year min. contract as €229 base-price + €58 per month for the phone contract for 12 months and €30 per month for unlimited mobile internet for 12 months. That would come to ca. €1310 for that year, with a USD equivalent of ca. $1890.

Re: Is The Exclusive Deal Between Apple and AT&T Anticompetitive?

vincentvw — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:36:57 -0000

That is true and where AT&T/Apple can clearly be attacked in is in their ongoing exclusive partnership, which is now what, 2 years? That said, this can of worms was already opened up before. The whole mobile industry has actively been restricting consumer-choice for more than 15 years. If AT&T/Apple is to be attacked, then I sincerely hope that this sets a precedent for attacking the other carriers too.

All of that said, call it exclusivity or bundling, partnerships make strategic sense in a competitive marketplace.

Re: Is The Exclusive Deal Between Apple and AT&T Anticompetitive?

vincentvw — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:44:07 -0000

A brief comment on exclusivity as well. This is only relevant in the case of monopolistic behaviour. In this case, the only reason that the iPhone appears to be monopolistic is because the competition is simply crap. But no one is stopping other manufacturers from setting up their own app-stores on their own platforms, including distributing them via AT&T. And if you want to argue for the other carriers, then I'm sure plenty of precedents can be found where they themselves form exclusive agreements with a phone-manufacturer.

You might as well accuse Dell & Microsoft of anti-competitive behaviour because those two come in a bundled package. Bundling is simply a strategic move which can make and break companies. I don't like it, but I don't see a legal/logical case for stopping it.

Re: Is The Exclusive Deal Between Apple and AT&T Anticompetitive?

vincentvw — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:36:24 -0000

If there were an unlocked option for $399, I'd buy it immediately. Unfortunately, Apple sells it unlocked (in France) for €749, which comes to about $1050.

Re: Nanomedia

vincentvw — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:51:52 -0000

I'm going even more nano than you. I'm using drop.io + Facebook connect to share a music-station only for my friends. I'm tired of the witch-hunt that is the media-industry (deleted my Last.fm account as well) and want to get back to the reason why I like to find and share music.

Also, as a European, I find the the US-centricity of (online) media very, very bothersome (asking people to pirate, basically).

Re: You Won't See The Palm Pre On Me

vincentvw — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:02:42 -0000

I assume that in October, when the Pre arrives here in Europe, that there will be a Sim-slot in it as well. Because I've never heard of the no-sim phone over here.

Re: IKEA's growth part I - the Scandinavian years

vincentvw — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:59:39 -0000

That's always nice to hear. Hope you get a good grade!

Re: Why Isn't Paypal More Successful?

vincentvw — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:03:10 -0000

Maybe it's a cultural thing? I don't have the empirical facts on this, but I do know that generally Americans prefer to buy stuff on credit (OK, maybe not so much any more) and most (not all) European countries prefer buying via cash they have. So if Paypal takes money off the account directly, perhaps that bothers people? Again, I don't know whether there are significant continental differences as far as the use of paypal is concerned.

Re: Interlude: The "10,000-hours-to-be-an-expert" rule

vincentvw — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:45:22 -0000

Yeah man, since I wrote this essay and Gladwell's new book came out, I've kind of felt that everything he says these days seems like "Duh!"

Then again, I did enjoy "The Tipping Point," kind of.

Re: Some initial impressions about Zara & H&M

vincentvw — Mon, 04 May 2009 05:59:34 -0000

Sure Lotta, go for it! What's the topic?

Re: Design case-study: The Ford SYN-US

vincentvw — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:20:13 -0000

It was a concept at the time I wrote about it. So either it was never launched, renamed to something else, or parts of it were used in other designs, I really can't tell you. Mail Ford about it.

Re: Fred Wilson Dot VC

vincentvw — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:58:50 -0000

can you describe the scent, as briefly as possible? :)

Re: New Disqus Look And Feel

vincentvw — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:43:53 -0000

I couldn't agree more. I find the unasked for pop-ups, no matter if it's on Disqus or that Wordpress live-view thing, super-annoying. It's not a matter of it being useful or not, but that it can easily pop-up by accident and is difficult to get rid of.

Re: Looking For The Yawn

vincentvw — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:41:40 -0000

Hmm, maybe I'm not thinking like an investor, but I'd find it hard to be working a company that produces yawns. All of my previous companies have been in in the "wow" space (consumer electronics, entertainment, space technology, wine, art…). Are you saying that that's the wrong move?

Or is this something about B2B, which, yes, induces yawns in me, but can be pretty profitable.

Re: Help Boxee Build It's Pitch To Content Owners

vincentvw — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 03:44:03 -0000

Frankly, I didn't agree with your last post on this, not because you're not right, but because it entirely doesn't make sense. TV, for better or for worse, is an institution, which reaches a wide audience and has long-standing contracts with content-providers. Boxee is a clear eye-sore for those kinds of companies, who have so far claimed exclusive domain on television. So any pitch you make will have to be with that in mind.

I say, go the Apple TV / Xbox route, and offer TV shows for money. When/if you have enough market-share, you can renegotiate. Alternatively, negotiate for a Hulu-channel, designed exclusively for Boxee, possibly a pay-for version… again, dependent on market-share.

Re: When Government Funds Business

vincentvw — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 03:32:51 -0000

"Being the CEO of a company who has taken government money is like having a big target on your back. Everything you do is going to be second guessed, debated and discussed like never before." Love that quote, welcome to Europe! :)

Re: Confessions Of A Pack Rat (aka My Document Retention Policy)

vincentvw — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:27:58 -0000

That's pretty simple: when you're forced to or when not doing so harms you or people you care about in some way (another way of saying forced to). It's the same principle as when you should defend yourself against physical violence. The tricky part is establishing if harm is actually being done or not.