Today I got pulled over by law enforcement, handcuffed and interrogated for 2 hours. “Are you from NYC?” “Yes” “Is this a rental car?” “Yes it is”. “Were you in Torrance?” “uhm. Yes I was.” In the moments I was pulled over and was being cuffed, the cop rattled off these questions. I answered, unaware […]
When Tim Cook was interviewed by Charlie Rose after Apple’s mega launch event a few weeks ago, he scoffed at any mention of competitors, highlighting only Google as Apple’s arch-rival. Apple and Google are entrenched in a modern version of the PC war, and are the only two players with relevancy at the operating system […]
This post was originally published on Medium. Yesterday there was a lot of idle speculation that a 15 second video format will somehow transform Instagram into a massive moneymaker for Facebook. And that because advertisers may re-purpose ads generated for other mediums on Instagram and Vine, FB and Twitter will start printing money. This couldn’t […]
We all know that the pressure for Facebook to monetize is massive and growing. Yesterday Zuckerberg fulfilled the promise he dropped at TC Disrupt to release a product that will finally compete with Google. To put socially relevant people, places, interests and photos all at your fingertips. The truth however is that the link between […]
Strategically there’s a subtle underlying reason Facebook needs to buy / copy / kill Snapchat within its first few months of existence – it’s not because Snapchat has seen crazy initial success for a new mode of communication (impermanent photos) but because Snapchat is effectively a new social network being built outside Facebook, not on top […]
The exercise below is meant to draw a representation between the WhatsApp network and the value a potential suitor, including Facebook, would agree to pay. According to TechCrunch, WhatsApp has tens of millions of daily active users, the vast majority 1 to 1 messages between 2 people, not group messages. But these numbers are approximations, […]
This weekend the NY Times cited sources that Facebook is out looking to staff up a hardware development team to build a smartphone. So let’s get this straight: in 2010, two years ago, and 2 iPhones ago, Facebook assembled a team tasked with creating the Facebook phone, then the project died when they realized this […]
This post originally appeared on TechCrunch. On Thanksgiving, Pinterest’s co-founder Ben Silbermann sent an email to his entire user base saying thanks. It was fitting, as Pinterest was born two years ago on Thanksgiving day 2009. Ben had been working on a website with a few friends, and his girlfriend came up with the name while they were […]
We all know that the delineation between public and private was eroded by Facebook a long time ago. Over. Done. But now Facebook’s sheer scale is pushing it in a new direction, one that encroaches on your authenticity. Facebook is no longer a social network. They stopped being one long before the movie. Facebook is […]
TechCrunch link For years, offline merchants have been acquiring data about you in attempts to personalize your experience through loyalty and rewards cards, credit card data, and surveys. But the problem is these interactions occur after it’s too late: at the point of sale. You’ve already checked out and are leaving the store, or have […]