Alec Saunders SquawkBox

It's been a crazy final day at VON. However, we did get the Squawk Box done, and here it is for your listening pleasure.  Topics we covered this morning included:

1. A brief call-in from VoiceCon attendee Dan York, who gave us a run down on some of what was happening there.
2. We also discussed Wharton's piece on amateur versus professional media, and how they are coming together.
3. And we chatted about Harry McCracken's piece in PC World where he polled readers on Vista vs XP.

Enjoy! 

 

 Squawk Box [23:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today was the Facebook episode. 

We're discussed three things:

1. Yesterday Facebook announced a whole new suite of privacy controls.  We talked about what they are, and whether people will use them.
2. Facebook also previewed their new IM client.  Is this the beginning of a push into Real Time Communications?
3. Comscore announced that Facebook has surpassed Myspace in daily visitors.  What does that mean?

Enjoy!

 

 Squawk Box March 19 [30:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Jeff Pulver is a vision guy. His keynote yesterday was proof positive, as he presented example after example of how the demographic segment called the "Millennials" (kids and teens) are communicating differently from the way that previous generations have.  Cell phones, social networks, and the web have completely changed the dynamics of how people reach other. 

So, here's my beef, telecom industry.  One of the industry's true visionaries stands up every six months and paints an incredible picture of where we can all go.  He does it with enthusiasm, zeal and fervor.  And what does the industry do?  Nada.

Iotum was the proud recipient of a VON Magazine Innovators Award last night for the work we've been doing to build conferencing services into social networks.  And we were in good company.  But none of the companies that can actually act as a channel to market for the innovations that we and the other 64 recipients of these awards are developing, were represented. 

Lead, follow or get out of the way you Old Skoolers… there's a crop of innovators out there who are champing at the bit to reach markets.  

Walking the aisle at VON yesterday, I ended up talking with Ray Beauchamp, VP Strategic Development for VendorRate.  They're a new company that allows potential purchasers of equipment to see how others felt about the relationships they have with the vendors they purchase from.  It's free to use, and he was offering a $5 Starbucks card for every new rating put into the database.  It's amazing what I'll do for a latte!

So I filled out a ranking on ThinkEngine Networks, the vendor that we purchased iotum's conference bridge from.  You can pay me later guys…

VendorRate looks like it could be a quick and easy evaluation tool for anyone looking to make a major equipment purchase.  And for sales people, it could be pure gold if you have a loyal and satisfied customer following.  The value, of course, will depend on the quality of the database they're able to build.  Hence the $5 latte cards.

There's a message being lost in the very public fracas between Albert Lai and Rick Segal, which is that startups in Canada are undersupported.  Canadian VCs have a reputation among entrepreneurs for being excessively cautious, which is perhaps undeserved.  After all, the size of the funds they've raised are dramatically different from Silicon Valley funds, so the impact of poor investments on IRR is much larger.  Moreover, it's not a problem confined to Canada.  I've met with many other entrepreneur friends at VON this week in San Jose, and it's clear that the exodus to the valley is continuing. Whether you're from Canada, Boston, Europe or Australia, the network, the people and the money here is significantly richer than other places.  That's why CEOs continue to move their companies here.  

As an entrepreneur I have sympathy for Albert's viewpoint.  He and I shared a hotel room on one of many fund raising trips to the Valley and swapped war stories about some of the people we'd pitched. Raising money can be a frustrating experience.  I have sympathy for Rick's view also, and his defence of the venture community which he's de facto representing.  There are lots of smart people starting smart companies in Canada. Rick wants to see more people starting more great companies — it's the life blood of his business. 

Let's not lose sight of the fact that we could have a more vibrant community of startups if more support (speaking broadly, and not just about funding) were available.  I think at the end of the day that's what matters the most.