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#1
March 23, 2011, 08:36 AM
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Are we in a new "dot-com" boom?
Hi,
I just saw the movie "The Social Network" (on DVD)... I love "entrepreneur" movies. They're not made that often, and in the last decade, of the few that have been made, many have been about "dot com" businesses... Such as - Startup.com (documentary about an imploded tech company, GovWorks.com) - e-Dreams (documentary about another imploded tech comapny, Kozmo.com) - The Social Network, based on the true story of how Facebook got started... (How true? Depends who you listen to!) But what makes it look like we could be in a new dot-com boom are the rise - and high valuations - of a number of new "dot-coms"... companies like - Facebook - supposedly worth $50 billion+ - Groupon - supposedly worth $15 billion+ - Twitter - supposedly worth around $10 billion - Zynga (they make the game "Farmville" and "Mafia Wars" on Facebook, plus others) - supposedly worth around $10 billion And some of them (like Groupon and Zynga) have grown unbelievably fast! (Groupon was started just over 2 years ago!) What do you think? Are we in the middle of a new "dot-com" boom, as I'm starting to wonder in this post? Your opinion, you know, is of interest! - Dien Last edited by Dien Rice : March 23, 2011 at 08:50 AM. 
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#2
March 24, 2011, 01:50 AM
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Re: Are we in a new "dot-com" boom?
Thanks Dien.
1. I think Zynga and Groupon both are solid businesses based on their revenue. They don't have ballooned valuations as far as I can see. Twitter - I have my doubts. Can it create an advertising program that would earn them that much revenue? I have my doubts. But they certainly do have traction. 2. Unlike the first dotcom boom and bust, this time we're not seeing IPOs. Not even facebook has come up with an IPO yet. We're mainly seeing private money. And mergers and aquisitions by bigger companies before a company goes public. (Intuit buying Mint. All the companies salesforce has bought.) So unlike last time, we won't see the masses lose a lot of money within days. 3. Saying that, the number of startups being funded is insane. I know 1 incubator called something like the startup fund - invests in 500 startups a year! Ycombinator - one of the more popular incubator invests in about 80 startups a year. Overall, we're seeing north of a 800-1000 companies who are receiving seed money to start off - every year - and this only from North America. Obviously a majority of them will fail. So in that sense, yes there is a boom/bust situation going on. When investors fund a 1000 new companies, you know that many of them will be full of fluff. But these failures have low monetary risks for the angels and vc's who invest in the startups (most of them receiving only about $20,000). So we won't see the widespread bust as we saw before.
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#3
March 25, 2011, 07:34 AM
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Re: Are we in a new "dot-com" boom?
And just as I wrote this post - Sequoia and others invested $41 million in color.com!
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/23/col...on-in-funding/ More than they did in Google. So who knows - maybe we are in a unsustainable boom.
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#4
March 25, 2011, 06:12 PM
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Re: Are we in a new "dot-com" boom?
Quote:
I agree with you, that various things about this "dot-com boom" are different from the one around 10 years ago... As you've pointed out, many of the companies are profitable this time around - unlike 10 years ago! (Twitter might be the exception in the companies I listed - but I'm pretty sure that Facebook, Zynga, and Groupon are all generating large profits.) Also, there are no big IPOs yet (that is, none of these companies are yet listed on the stock market)... so the general public has no chance (so far) to participate in this latest boom. The beneficiaries are pretty much limited to company founders, early employees (who may get stock), venture capitalists, and angel investors. If you are generating a lot of profits, you probably have less "need" to "cash out" through an IPO... However, some people criticize the lack of IPOs, since, as I said, the general public can't share in the profits this time. At least not yet. A third difference is that many of these are "Web 2.0" companies, and are specifically about creating or exploiting online social networks... It's good to know about these things - so we can also figure out how to profit, too - as well as see where the "trends" are headed! Thank you, Ankesh, for your insights! By the way, just out of curiosity, is there a similar "Start Up" frenzy in India, to your knowledge, with venture capital, angel investors, etc.? Best wishes, Dien
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#5
March 26, 2011, 02:06 AM
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Re: Are we in a new "dot-com" boom?
Quote:
India is definitely seeing a lot more startups popping up too. But its not as frenzied as North America. Lack of money and resources: Not as many angels and VCs are there in India. And there is a big gap in the middle where startups are past the angel stage and need to raise about $50,000 to $500,000. In USA, there are investors who specialize in that money bracket. None in India. Marketing problem: No startup blog or magazine like techcrunch that has mainstream acceptance. There are lots of startup focused blogs in India - but none having a readership of over a few thousand people. Legal problems: It still takes 30-60 days to incorporate in India. Getting a merchant's account to accept credit cards is a really painful process. Even if you get a merchant's a/c - you can't charge cards on a recurring basis. If you sell a plan that has monthly billing with it, you have to ask the client to fill in their credit card details every month. (Thats why, most tech Indian startups create something that can be sold globally - and accept PayPal or get a US based merchant's a/c.) What is working for India however is the people. Lots of people who were working for software outsourcing companies are starting their own ventures. Many of them are taking a concept thats worked in USA and replicating them in India. But there are quite a few very innovative ideas coming out too. So things are changing. And rapidly. But the ecosystem is still no where close to that of Silicon Valley.
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#6
March 24, 2011, 01:54 AM
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Re: Are we in a new "dot-com" boom? Groupon clones offer Glimpse of the Future! ...
Hi Dien,
Good to see you're doing well... Enjoying "entrepreneur" movies, Life and Posting...  Excellent movies... Especially "The Social Network", Some Great business lessons Worth picking-up... Quick Answer to you Question(s)... What do you think? Are we in the middle of a new "dot-com" boom, as I'm starting to wonder in this post? Your opinion, you know, is of interest! Definitely! ... Those who Study “Group Buying 101”... And Re-work the Overall concept(s) Intelligently... SowPubbers included... Will Find lotsa Fresh new “intriguing” Ways & Possibilities of Cashing in-On Group Buying! ... Even without doing a Copy-Cat Groupon Clone related site... Something Different... Keep your "Eyes" wide Open for All the Up & Coming Fresh new (Niches) selling like Hotcakes! ... Dig-Up those Start-up Problem(s) or that "One" missing (link) idea(s)... Go for it! ... Take a Risk... You just Never Know if you don't Simply Try! it ... "Niche" Group Buying Hotsheets? ... Especially Locally! ... Groupon related Affiliate program(s) revenue sharing... Joint Ventures, referrals, CPA offers, University/College student billboards, desks & chairs etc. etc! ... With an Advertising business model "Spin" to it... Who Knows... Get to Work... Fresh new Groupon(s) micro-niches to get into including Groupon Nightmares... http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=27580 http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=28005 “Do not make Recession your Obsession, Just remember to forget it and you’ll be OK” - http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthre...ht=Mina+Tadros... Part Three: Group-buying Groupon clones offer glimpse of the future...  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...rticle1949667/ A Blast from SowPubs... “Circa” 2003! ... The Key is Getting the Message out There in Some Unique way... “Think” YouTube and Company! ... 8 Years later... Students Today, Love this kinda stuff, for the Fun of it! A Good Party time Fun way of meeting... Free for all and Great Publicity for your Brand(s) & ideas! ... Flash Mobs, the Internet, and Publicity... http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5048 8 Years later...  http://www.google.com/search?q=Flash...ed=0CBMQpwUoAg Once again... Endless Opportunities & possibilities... Making $100,000+ a year from YouTube http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=27448 http://www.reelseo.com/ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...rch-2011-3.DTL http://www.blogher.com/15-benefits-y...areer&crumb=12 Phil Last edited by Phil : March 24, 2011 at 02:32 AM. Reason: additional info...
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#7
March 25, 2011, 06:23 PM
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Re: Are we in a new "dot-com" boom? Groupon clones offer Glimpse of the Future! ...
Quote:
Part of the reason for bringing up this topic is that there are many huge opportunities here... As - of course - you have also pointed out! Thanks! Best wishes, Dien P.S. Thanks, also - your post inspired this new post from me, with new info on how some people are making big money from YouTube... http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=28118
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#8
March 26, 2011, 01:16 AM
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Re: Are we in a new "dot-com" boom? Groupon clones offer Glimpse of the Future! ...
Dien,
Glad some Can see those "Huge" misc. opportunities Just waiting to be Discovered and Developed into Fresh new ideas... One more Quick one! ... Food for thought... From Google & company... As you Get Ready to Launch... Your Fresh “Unique” B2B/B2C Group Buying concept... The relevance of a "keyword rich" domain name May be becoming less important... Watch Matt Cutts, the head of Google's Webspam team, as he clearly answers this question... Short video... Dated March 7, 2011... Actually! ... Matt... Doesn't really Fully answer Completely... Highly recommend Going... the Dual purpose... Multiple domain name(s) route... How important is it to have keywords in a domain name? http://danieldryzek.com/2011/03/25/h...a-domain-name/ Better Yet! ... Jeff Schneider's comment below the Blog post Explains it almost Perfectly... According to Matt Cutts and his definitions our website name UseBiz.com is perfect. We wonder what he would be willing to offer us for it ? It has always been apparent to us that the best of all worlds would be to have a .COM Business Addresses that has High Brandability along with Key Words. Our Business Address has all three. What a confirmation ! Great Post ! Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) Interesting Take on Things! ... Date: Monday, August 7, 2000, 12:00am EDT Area e-biz consultant: There's Gold in that Alphabet... http://UseBiz.com Little Known Industry Secret http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/s...07/story8.html More "Golden" YouTube related ideas & opportunities in the Near Future! ... Phil Last edited by Phil : March 26, 2011 at 01:25 AM. Reason: additional info...
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#9
March 26, 2011, 06:02 AM
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Perfect example... As suggested! ... B2B Group Buying concept... BizGrouper.com
Good to Know...
Smart Entrepreneurial Minds are Listening... And Taking Advantage of the "Huge" money making opportunities & possibilities... Simply Grab this thread... Take a little Risk... Add 1 Litre of Creativity! ... And Make it Happen... Hot off The Press! ... BizGrouper Looks to Help Businesses Find Online Deals... Prescription for Success... While the daily-deal Web site market shows no signs of slowing, the business-to-business deal Web site market is still in its infancy and was born out of what startups see as an unmet need. Indeed, Miranda said he was driven to start BizGrouper.com after Groupon turned down an offer by his Web development company to get half off Web site design. “Groupon said it doesn’t do b2b stuff,” said Miranda, noting that the interaction served as a catalyst to fill the void in the market place... http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com...s-niche-deals/ Phil Last edited by Phil : March 26, 2011 at 06:12 AM. Reason: additional info...
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#10
March 30, 2011, 04:59 AM
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Never-ending "Specialized" Group Buying once again! ... Heartsy Is Groupon For Etsy..
Almost like One a Day as Predicted...
Long-term... We'll have to see where All these Specialized "Grouponies" Go Revenue wise in the Next few years! ... Should be interesting... Investment wise etc. etc... In the Meantime, in Between-time... Spying on Specialty business models, Especially intriguing products & ideas is a Great Learning experience... http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/28/heartsy-groupon-etsy/ Phil
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