Author Archives: Allen
Kiva.org Needs Better Twitter Integration (A Micro Case Study)
It can sometimes be difficult to explain to friends and family the power of Twitter, so I’ve resorted to telling them the following story. Furthermore, this story serves as a micro case study as to why Kiva.org needs better social media integration.
How We Raised $550 for a Lady in Cambodia in 7 Hours Using [...]
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Social Enterprise 1 Comments
What Will Ecommerce Look Like in 10 Years?
Last week Fred Wilsion (@fredwilson) posted on his blog, AVC.com, about the movement of Social Commerce – the shift to an evermore social and interactive form of commerce on the web. He declared Etsy.com as the web’s closest equivalent to a real life open air market place, like that of the San Telmo market [...]
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Revenue Models 6 Comments
Why Consultants Need an Internet Presence
“But, we’re in the relationship management business. We don’t need a strong internet presence.” . . .
I hear it all the time from former colleagues and friends in the consulting business. Guess what folks, this isn’t 2002 anymore. An internet presence isn’t just for e-commerce and tech startups. Today, [...]
Posted in Business Development 2 Comments
A Revival of the Mom & Pop
Walmart may have run your local family owned grocery out of town, but they did not spell the end to Mom & Pop businesses. Another type of small family business is making a notable comeback, and they’re doing it on the web.
Artisan food and craft producers managed to survive the corporate invasion of small [...]
Posted in Entrepreneurship 1 Comments
Hacking Consumer Psychology: The Power of the Group (and Groupon.com)
The power of the consumer collective is raging full steam ahead and Groupon.com is cleaning up in its wake!
The Chicago based startup, that offers extreme discounts on local products if enough people opt-in to the deal, just announced a series B round of financing of $30 million. Their success over the last year can [...]
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Revenue Models 8 Comments
What’s Print Media’s Golden Ticket? A Reverse Engineered New Product.
Publication networks like Conde Naste are the pinnacle of experiential media and advertising. But, they are selling the wrong product.
The severing of Conde Nast’s Gourmet magazine title (among others) was a brash reality check to the entrenched media industry leaders, oblivious to all prior warnings, that NOW is time to adapt or become extinct! [...]
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Revenue Models 1 Comments
Are Financial Services Draining Our Economy’s Future?
A friend passed along an article outlining the historical growth of the financial services industry, as a percentage of total US GDP, over the last 20 years. I was terrified by the results. As of 1965, the financial services industry accounted for only 3% of total GDP. As of 2007, that number [...]
Posted in Unconventional Ideas 3 Comments
Insider Trading: Friend or Foe
Insider Trading – A harmful crime against an unknowing and vulnerable public? Or, a new medium for transparency and competition in a rapidly evolving financial market begging for reform? Either way, we should be looking at it from a different angle.
This weekend’s article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Learning to Love [...]
Posted in Unconventional Ideas 0 Comments
Survival Skills from Chef David Chang
There is no doubt about it, Chef David Chang is kicking some serious food butt, while simultaneously, offering a survival tactic for the rest of America’s entrepreneurs.
The 32 year old NYC chef, entrepreneur, and czar of the Momofuku restaurant dynasty has carved out his spot in the New York restaurant scene through sheer entrepreneurial grit [...]
Posted in Entrepreneurship 1 Comments
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Library For Laos: Updates and Photos