Provoked by Seth Godin’s post on business development, I want to share my experience on this matter. All companies do “business development” from start ups to the SAPs and HPs of the world. Many of the deals are honest and have a real business reason, but many others are there to create a fake feeling of traction and news. Why is it happening and how can smart companies avoid it? Continue reading “Thoughts on business development”
Author: Gadi Shamia
SMB- Redefined?
No one can spell my name right when they hear it. Every time I introduce myself I have to spell my first and last name. By no fault of my own, I live on an unspellable street, which does not help much either… After almost 14 years in the SMB space, I feel exactly the same every time I mention my background, talk to a journalist or an analyst. The first question I am asked is: how do you define SMB?
If you try Wikipedia, the confusion will just grow: not only does every company have a different definition, different companies will have their own ideas as well. SAP defines SMB as companies with $1B worth of revenue and below. Gartner thinks that it is actually companies with revenue of $800M and below. With the dollar shrinking, they may well be right… Nevertheless, the important question is not how one defines SMB but why all the big companies treat it as one market? Continue reading “SMB- Redefined?”
Google and Double Click: Is it really that bad?
I know that a bunch of more-important-than-me people are trying to figure that one out. In short, Google wants to pay $3B for Double Click. Microsoft (look who’s talking…) is saying that the deal will create “the largest database of user information the world has ever known” and warns that user privacy is at risk.
Personally, I think that Google, which has nothing to gain but everything to lose if it mistreats personal data, is a fairly safe choice when it comes to data handling and privacy. Compare Google to the 1000 web 2.0 companies that deal with sensitive data every day. You know the stats: 5 out of 100 start-ups will make it. What will happen with all the data they have gathered after operations are shut down? Let me guess, at least some of it will be kept by the founders or even ex-employees.
To illustrate the idea, I made up a web 2.0 startup. It is called: IILoveMyNeighbors.com Continue reading “Google and Double Click: Is it really that bad?”
The Broken Link
It is so interesting to see how much we use the internet for just about everything, and at the same time most of the mission-critical applications we use ignore it almost altogether. For an average business user, the internet is a great place for search, maps and private email, but when going back to his or her “real job”, the internet plays a minor role.
Want examples? Let’s take Outlook. Continue reading “The Broken Link”
First Post
I know I am fashionably late in starting a blog… The world is blogging itself to death and I am sitting on the sidelines. I am happy to join the family and see if I can interest anyone but myself… time will tell. I plan on sharing what goes through my mind about technology, strategy and business in general. I promise to be short and easy to read, so my very busy friends will not suffer.
Happy reading!
PS- if you love what you read, pass it on, subscribe or comment. I would love the dialog.
Gadi Shamia
Gadi Shamia 