I went to Ravi Belani and Michelle Gonzalez‘s Influencer Series event tonight. I’m a bit too tired to write a formal review, so I thought I’d just share my raw notes and quotes (taken with my iPod Touch) and let you judge for yourself if the event was worthwhile:
Consumer electronics is swinging away from Japan. Now it’s SF (design) and China (mtg). TaskRabbit = MyLackey 2.0
Ann: From 2003 to now, cost of product Dev decreased. Capital has been commoditized. Geographically distributed life. Euclid = Urchin for real life–will change ability to tell if advertising worksThe 4 Fallacies
- I’ve seen this movie before
- This is X meets Y
- I invest in great people
- I don’t know how it will make money, but it will have value
Me: I don’t think they’re fallacies. I can’t predict markets and tech, but I can predict people. Correlation Ventures: The first quant VC Thanks to Social Media and app stores, today is more of a meritocracy than any other time in history.
It’s not that Microsoft is a bad company, they just don’t build good products. Hype is important because it drives recruiting
Marketing is not hype Zappos: Measured themselves on the number of customer wows.
Foursquare: FS connected directly to loyalty cards, purchasing habits Wine sippers vs Beer slammers
Up to 20% discount = promo
Over 40% discount = deep discount
In between doesn’t matter. 4square’s competition isn’t Facebook, it’s Amex/Visa/MC. When you swipe your card, you’re checking into location and product.
From the invitation, looks like HPPP – Hand Picked People Pontificating … probably sounded like the Howell's
http://blog.earnmydegree.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/the_howells_gilligans_island.jpg
you're a pretty down to earth guy Chris – how you were ever picked for what sounds like a pretentious bunch of blowhards who apparently like to hear the sound of their own voice because they clearly have very little to offer in terms of new thought, is probably a more interesting read.
(okay, I admit, as a hardworking beer and pizza kind of guy, that invitation language rubbed me the wrong way – and you'd think that people who think so highly of themselves to even write something so bragadocious would at least have something remarkably unique to offer – credit cards are the checkin? yeah, and 2+2=4, dark is the absence of light, cold is the opposite of hot, and after 9 comes 10 – but don't tell anyone outside this room!)
Paul,
I was very tempted at one point to point out, "The last people you should ask for advice on coupons are a bunch of VCs and angel investors."
Do CC companies really pose a threat to anyone working on checkins or loyalty? I've been told by someone who used to work in the banking/CC industry that government regulation prevents them from keeping enough tracking information around to connect those dots. In my mind the biggest threat would be from smart point of safe devices, or perhaps NFC in the longer term.