ORIGINAL ARTICLE - WSJ - James Altucher
The great FRED WILSON's response - HERE!
My humble take:
Thanks Fred - Some great 'Yang' to a load of old 'Ying' - I replied to the same article -
A
great sensationalist headline maybe, but a totally flawed argument
nevertheless. It isn't the internet as an investment that is dead, more
a coming to terms with the fact that millions of eyeballs doesn't, on
current business models, equate to big returns and that those
properties have been wearing the emperor's new clothes for far too long.
The
smart money will however recognize that consumer loyalty is
increasingly moving online and so far the big brand advertisers haven't
really found a new home yet so they can follow suit. Opportunity
abounds for investors in platforms which offer that new home as they
will be the delivery mechanism for all media in the future. So far on
an 80/20 rule, all the big online names have built businesses which
don't and won't accommodate the rich 20% because of their format. (Look
at the quality of advertising as a percentage on any of the above
sites.)
Some of us feel there is a chunk of money in that 20%
slice which has not yet been claimed and it has ours and our investors
name on it.
Jan Simmonds - Founder/ CEO at famebook
My Response to THE WRAP article - READ HERE!
Hi Sharon,
It always amazes me how big media who, on the face of it, should have the luxury of objectivity still sees things so subjectively!
Years ago now, I remember having a conversation with a rather well known head of one of the big record labels who was very excited that their new corporate website project would offer people the chance to buy records online. I said at the time the idea was flawed because it would be impossible to attract audiences to all the labels individually and sure enough Napster ensued not so long afterwards and subsequently iTunes!
This period in terms of video, news and even social content is no different and all of the big media brands are currently kidding themselves that they can create chargeable ecosystems within their own portfolios. It is true that people will pay for quality content and also that big advertisers are also yearning for an elegant online home, but it won't be found within any individual platform owned by one media company, rather with the most successful aggregators of that content! (No prizes for guessing who I'm hoping one of them is!)
I think Bob Iger is a pretty smart guy, but he's trapped by corporate responsibility and duty to Disney, as are the innovators at TW, Newscorp et al to their own brands. The principals are sound, but even in the clouds, it's all about execution. Regretably I anticipate more AOL type disappointments before these guys learn how to be portably profitable rather than waste so much time and money competing with each other building fortresses.
In the meantime of course it leaves the floor wide open for us humble entrepreneurs who are unencumbered by the confines above. Perhaps they should all rally round and invest more in us and save themselves further expensive mistakes!
Jan [at] famebook [dot] com
PS. Nice offices btw