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Outsourcing My Life 2 – Loic’s RunCast Comments

Net — Mon, 28 May 2007 16:45:08 +0000

This is becoming funnier and funnier. Loic just posted his RunCast with comments and and a new challenge to me as a follow-up from my previous Outsourcing My Life 2. Now I have been challenged to comment on Le Web 3 in RunCast format too! Don’t worry. A RunCast with Outsourcing My Life 3 will come too now with comments on Le Web 3.
And Loic, what about turning peoples VideoCast on Le Web 3 into an actual Advisory Cast Board?
Stay tuned to the RunCast, SwimCast and PoolCast too..
Technorati Tags: loiclemeur , leweb3 , netanel , outsourcing, entrepreneurs, video

New Research:The User Revolution

Net — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 11:32:01 +0000

Piper Jaffray just published a fat report called "The User Revolution: The New Advertising Ecosystem and The Rise of the Internet as a Mass Medium". Here are some of its key findings:

We expect global online advertising revenue to reach $81.1 billion by 2011, representing a 21% CAGR (2006-2011).

The User Revolution. The advertising world is going through a revolution, one that we call the "User Revolution" as it is happening primarily with the consumers, who are taking control of content consumption and branding. We believe this trend will cause a significant rise in prominence of the Internet as a major content consumption and marketing medium.

"Communitainment." The Internet has increasingly become a principal medium for community, communication, and entertainment–three areas that have collided together and are impacting each other’s growth–generating a new type of activity that we call communitainment.

The Internet Is Mainstream. The Internet has become a mainstream media outlet that now rivals traditional media for reach and advertising dollars.

Media Fragmentation. The proliferation of online and offline media outlets has resulted in shrinking television audiences and an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

The Golden Search. We believe search continues to gain ground, driven by the rise of search as the New Portal, the increasing use of search in branding campaigns, and the local search opportunity.

We believe Google’s wide variety of non-search-related products creates a virtuous cycle of brand affinity that drives incremental search volume.

Video Ads Could Drive The Next Wave. We believe Internet video ads could become a game changer for large brand advertisers, who are used to the 15- or 30-second TV commercial

Internet Usage Patterns Are Changing. Portals maintain the highest reach, but the fastest growing category of destinations is communitainment sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

Ad networks are experiencing increased demand due to increasing Internet fragmentation, desire for more targeted inventory, increasing usage of networks for branding, and increased site visibility.

Agencies are rapidly evolving into more sophisticated, technology-savvy entities that combine best of breed offerings.

Companies to watch: Google (and YouTube), Yahoo!, Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, Microsoft, InterActive, Facebook, Craigslist, Brightcove, Yelp, SINA Corp., Baidu, aQuantive, ValueClick, 24/7 Media, Netflix, Wikipedia, MobiTV, Digg, and Hakia to be the most important players to watch.

Like my good friend Kaiser Kuo, Group Director for Digital Strategy, for Ogilvy China, mentions in this new (and great) blog " Ich bin ein Beijinger" : none of this should come as a surprise, but the report is full of eye-opening finding regarding the decline of TV viewing, changing viewing and decline of broadcast TV ad as percentage of total ad spend.

Kaiser who has a unique insight to China (and was very much responsible for Maxthon getting discovered and funded..) is confident that advertisers will flock to video ads and all the opportunities that are opening up for digital media advertising in China .However, he wonders how ready people really are for pre-roll commercials stuffed in to things they want to watch.

I tend to agree with Kaiser, although there is a fantastic opportunity for advertisers, the Internet savvy users might very well prefer to block ads if possible. This is something we have learned at Maxthon and seems to be especially true for Chinese Internet users. Al the sophisticated ad-blockers and filters that come pre-installed in Maxthon has definitely been one of the key driving factors for Maxthon success in China.

Anyway, next week I am flying down to Beijing again to talk on Piper Jaffrays Annual China Growth Conference on behalf of Maxthon. I will then have a chance not only to meet up with Safa and rest of the Piper Jaffray gang, but also to meet with Kaiser again and plot how we can deliver some interesting advertising opportunities together in China.

Thanks to Mark Pols for sending me this fat report!

Bonus: Video Interview with Kaiser I made just before he left the Red Herring.

Linux Journal: Maxthon The Real Firefox-Killer!

Net — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 23:48:00 +0000

This is quite amusing. It seems that the interview I gave to ReadWriteWeb a few days ago have stirred up quite some emotions. Believe it or not, Linux Journal calls Maxthon The Real Firefox-Killer...

For the real challenger comes not from Microsoft directly; instead, it’s from a new browser that uses IE’s rendering engine, Trident, but which is produced completely independently of the company. This means that it can offer all the "benefits" of 100% compatibility with what is still the dominant Internet browser, together with a host of real improvements - some of which go beyond even Firefox. This new competitor is called Maxthon..

Interesting take. I couldn’t agree more with the author. Besides the fact that we are not fighting any browser war. We are just a very good alternative. There is plenty of space for all of us, just like there is a market for more than Ford and Volvo..

BTW, read the comments – quite interesting..

Maxthon for Linux anybody?

Technorati Tags: Maxthon, Linux, IE7, Browsers, Linux Journal, Firefox, Technology

From Beijing To Hong Kong

Net — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 09:22:35 +0000

I had a couple of very good days in Beijing with the Maxthon team, some partner meetings and night out. Hong Kong will be my next destination where I will hook up with some entreprenuers and an active Maxthon plug-in developer hope to be able to Vlog that time permitting.

Abover is a picture of two happy WI Harper fellows from our evening out. Yuzhu Xiong , VP and Ping, Analyst.

Google or Yahoo?

Net — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 10:37:48 +0000

Michael Arrington With The Maxthon U3 Key!

Net — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 09:03:47 +0000

Dinner in Tel Aviv with Techcrunch

Here’s a group picture from the Techcrunch dinner in Tel Aviv. From the right, Michel Arrington (look he’s got Maxthon on a U3 key around the neck!). I’m the happy guy between Michael and Ouriel.

Maxthon Make The Illuminati Seem Like Exhibitionists

Net — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 15:35:27 +0000

Internetweek, just ran an article called a very good article called: IE7 Vs. Everyone Else, where they let four tech expert battel over which is the best browser. One of the experts, Ron White from Networking Computing wrote this superbt piece in support of Maxthon, as the best alternative:

The first rule of Maxthon is, “Don’t talk about Maxthon.” If Firefox and Opera are underground favorites among Web surfers, then Maxthon must be the double-dog double-secret browser. Over the last four years, Maxthon has quietly developed a base of devoted — and tight-lipped — users who make the Illuminati seem like exhibitionists. How obscure is Maxthon? It’s so obscure that, despite more than 46 million downloads, even Google barely knows about it. When I did a search for Firefox, Google yielded some 412 million hits, while a search for Maxthon returned a scant 4 million. I can get more hits than that off my own name. (Of course, it helps if you share a name with a well-known comedian.)

Usually such obscurity is well deserved. But in the case of Maxthon, it’s as though Jack Nicholson never made it out of B horror flicks. Maxthon is simply the most powerful, and yet the simplest, browser to be used anywhere, anytime, by anyone.

Ron White, really managed to capture much of the spirit of the Maxthon community by saying that we” make the Illuminati seem like exhibitionists” – that’s hilarious! Ron continues,

When you install Maxthon, it emerges on your screen fully decked out in an array of features and tools and conveniences, as if to say “We’ve anticipated everything you could possibly need for your surfing.” It’s like being on a safari with room service.

Ron then comes to what sets Maxthon apart:

What sets Maxthon apart is pure brawn. To say it browses is misleading. It blitzes the Internet like a cybertank wrapped in armor plate and studded with heavy-duty weaponry.

Finally, towards the end of the article, Ron asks, why we haven’t heard about Maxthon?:

All this invites the inevitable question, “If Maxthon is so smart, why do Firefox and Opera get all the press?” Could it be that, while Firefox and Opera have the clout of free-world capitalism behind them, Maxthon is the creation of one man, working mostly alone, in the warehouse of a company in China? (Really.) There are no PR people pushing Maxthon at CES. No advertising. No press kits.

Well, dear Maxthon brothers and sisters, I think that that Ron White has deserved to become a member of our beloved, well kept, devoted and tight-lipped fraternity. As to Ron’s question “If Maxthon is so smart, why do Firefox and Opera get all the press?”, the answer is quite simple. We are still a very small company (but we are growning..) and so far we haven’t invested any money on advertsing and PR people, but been focused on developing a great product. However, like Bob Dylan sang, “the times they are a-changing”…(in true cryptical spirit please pay attention to a few lines on the last verse..) so stay tuned for more exposure during 2006.

Technorati Tags: Maxthon, Firefox, Opera, IE7, Microsoft, Google, Illuminati, Browsers, Internet Week, Network Computing, Bob Dylan, Ron White

Huber Burda Media Digital Lifestyle Day

Net — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 17:52:48 +0000

I have been invited to attend DLD06 – Digital Lifestyle Day organized by Hubert Burda Media and Yossi Vardi in Munich, January 23-24. If you are attending or in Munich at this time and would like to meet up to discuss Maxthon or just hang out, please let me know. Maxthon can now provide companies and organizations with a customized branded browser with special services integrated into it such as RSS feeds, Podcast, pre-installed channels, plug-ins and much more. We are also soon releasing Maxthon 2.0, a major upgrad that also comes with a built in blog editor and many other goodies.

Israeli VC’s & The Search for the Internet Success

Net — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 01:07:43 +0000

What have we learned from our mistakes? Will the local Israeli venture capitalist’s get in the game? With these questions in mind the Israeli VC Gemini Israel Funds gathered a group of former and current influential from the Israeli Internet scene.

There where people from ICQ, Speedbit, Hotbar, Aladdin, Netsnippets, Spearcast, Maxthon (guess who..) and others I don’t know. The event was opened up by Bob Rosenschein, CEO and President of Answers.com (formerly Guru.net) sharing some of his lessons learned over the years. Afterward Gemini Israel’s Daniel Cohen, gave a presentation to open up a discussion on why it is so quite on the Israeli Internet scene. Where is the next ICQ, Hotbar or Answer.com ? What are Israeli VC’s lacking that the US based VC are not? Why can’t Israeli VC spot an Internet success in the making?

Well, one of the explanations David gave was the geographical distance that somehow does not seemed to be bridged by cutting edge communication like Skype etc. We are just not there in the coffe shops of Paolo Alto or hanging out in Silicon Valley. I agree on that one, but I believe some of the main hurdles of Israeli VC’s are:

Lack of balls – they are simply to afraid to follow their gut feelings (after having been burned by the previous bubble)
An obsession with R&D based companies
A fixation with patents and unique technology platforms

With this in their back heads, they are simply missing the lesson that successful Internet companies are not rooted in heavy R&D, patent and they often lack any particular cutting edge technology. Rather their DNA is made up by

A cool brand that is community oriented and sharing based, or answers an immediate need (think Maslow‘pyramid) and are often disruptive.

Anyway, I think it was a very good initiative to organise the get-to-gether – and who knows, perhaps the next Internet success in the making is really just around the corner or right under their noses….

DivX At CES

Net — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 11:36:10 +0000

More CES stuff: Today I was invited to DivX for a private demonstration of their latest technology. Maxthon‘s VC – WI Harper is actually the biggest shareholder in DivX and have mentioned them to me many times, so it was great to finally get to meet with them. Just when I was entering their private showroom I ran into Mena Trott (founder) and Andrew Anker (VP) from Six Apart…seems like they are shopping for a good video codex for Typepad and Movable type ( I told you that Video Blogging is going to be big 2006) If so, its an excellent choice. DivX is conquering the world with its fantastic video codex and we got a good demonstration of what you can do and it looks great. I will transfer my videos to DivX now since it demands only have of the storage compared to other formats.

Alot of funny things happen here, the other day I was having breakfast at my hotel, when suddenly AOL’s Ed Fish asks if he can sit down with me. Ed was responsible for AIM and ICQ when I was at ICQ and is now responsible for a number of things at AOL among other things AOL Music. We had a great chat about old times and some new interesting stuff that AOL music is working on. Ed is a great guy always full of passion for what he is doing.