International Business and Economic Development http://tradematch.posterous.com Most recent posts at International Business and Economic Development posterous.com Fri, 04 Feb 2011 17:39:25 -0800 Untitled http://tradematch.posterous.com/42016688 http://tradematch.posterous.com/42016688
Google Buzz experiencing second day of outages, after months of technical glitches. Technical Media: why haven't you noticed?

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Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:48:49 -0800 Untitled http://tradematch.posterous.com/41916391 http://tradematch.posterous.com/41916391
Google Buzz experiencing major outages today. The latest in a series of technical glitches that have plagued users for months.

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Fri, 22 Oct 2010 21:45:21 -0700 Untitled http://tradematch.posterous.com/31315091 http://tradematch.posterous.com/31315091
If this were a Chess Match between Google and Facebook, we would say that Google just lost a Queen. http://goo.gl/26qg

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Thu, 07 Oct 2010 22:38:22 -0700 Facebook Paralysis http://tradematch.posterous.com/facebook-paralysis http://tradematch.posterous.com/facebook-paralysis
I have been neglecting my Facebook page lately to the point where I am not really sure what to do about it.  When I first started using Facebook, I let it read my address book and so immediately I got a bunch of online "friends", and over time about a dozen or so real world friends, and maybe an equal number of business associates have joined my list of Facebook friends, as have a number of Buzz people from here.  In addition, I tend to accept most "friend request" I get from people I don't know, and for me a number of them seem to hail from India plus I have some of the people .  The problem is none of these people have the slightest thing in common so my thread there is really weird to read - at best: uninteresting and irrelevant to where my life is right now, at worst: psychotic.


Last night, I went to Facebook and found it to be a disturbing experience.  The first post I saw was a rant about some horrible child molester from Nothern California.  Fair enough, people need to vent about these things sometimes, but the poster - a woman I had me online, (but not in person) on a dating site went on to say how pathetic it was that the "bleeding hearts" wouldn't want to execute the guy.  Now I happen to be in favor of the death penalty - and I might have wanted to execute this guy, but I didn't like the way she linked "child molester" to "bleeding heart" as she has posts like this all the time - you know, where something incredibly evil or stupid happens, and it is "the liberals" fault.  When one of her friend jumped in with with another attack on those child molester loving bleeding hearts I jumped in with a post defending people who don't believe in the death penalty - even though I am not one of them.  Well, my "friend" came back to defend her friend, and I don't think anyone enjoyed the exchange.


Well that didn't go real well, so I went to the next post in my stream.  This one was from a social media consultant who does have an inactive account here on Buzz, but is far more active on Facebook.  She had a  post that said simply *Google's Days are Numbered* and nothing else - presumably because of the "Facebook Groups" announcement that was made yesterday.   Well I am no Google fanboy, but I fired back that it was a ridiculous statement, and she fired back something about her not being a Fanboy for Facebook but that I should know that "Google Buzz had failed".  A few more back and forths like this, and I don't think either of us enjoyed the exchange either.


So this was not so much the feeling of being part of a "social network" as it of a guy stumbling around at a party where everyone had clustered into different groups, and then listening into their conversation and shouting something - maybe even getting into an argument, and then moving to the next group and doing the same thing.  It is a party that I don't like, and where I do not fit in.


I have some disagreements with the way Google has done things on Buzz, but I am especially concerned that they seem to have been out outmaneuvered by Facebook.  That Facebook would beat them to the punch with their new "groups" function, especially giving that Google has its own perfectly serviceable "Google Groups" product, is astounding.  Is my "friend" right?  Are "Google's days numbered" and has "Buzz been a failure"?


So the situation is this -  just as I am about to leave the party at Facebook, the host brings out a new punchbowl for the guests, and here at the Google Buzz party, at least right now, the punchbowl is empty.

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Sun, 12 Sep 2010 21:40:35 -0700 British Airways giving 250 small businesses airline tickets in global expansion contest http://tradematch.posterous.com/british-airways-giving-250-small-businesses-a http://tradematch.posterous.com/british-airways-giving-250-small-businesses-a
As part of its Face to Face program, British Airways is holding a competition giving small businesses the chance to win free international airline tickets. Some 250 business owners will win international airfare to anywhere British Airways flies and the top 3 video entries will have the opportunity to present their pitch to a celebrity panel, and the grand prize winner gets 10 international airline tickets.  To participate, all you need to do is answer this question:  “If you could travel to any city outside the United States to grow your business, where would you go and how would the trip help meet your business objectives?”  http://www.faceofopportunity.com/

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Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:54:20 -0700 Collaboration – If it Were That Easy We Would all Do It http://tradematch.posterous.com/collaboration-if-it-were-that-easy-we-would-a http://tradematch.posterous.com/collaboration-if-it-were-that-easy-we-would-a
With the demise of Google Wave, which I thought was terrible for collaboration, I thought this article by Carl Frappaolo made some good points.  It is not just about the technology - there is more to it than that.  http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-20/collaboration-if-it-were-that-easy-we-would-all-do-it-well-008243.php

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Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:09:36 -0700 The best way to get someplace you've never been http://tradematch.posterous.com/the-best-way-to-get-someplace-youve-never-bee http://tradematch.posterous.com/the-best-way-to-get-someplace-youve-never-bee
There is a wonderful scene in the old Seinfeld series where Elane just got fired from her job and is walking down the street crying on a rainy evening.  She then bumps into a "Mr. Peterman" who was carrying an umbrella.  He was the guy who was ran a catalog company who later became her new boss.  " I don't even know where I'm going.", Elaine sobbed.  " That's the best way to get someplace you've never been" Mr. Peterman said.

I always thought that was strangely profound,  Not knowing where you are going being "the best way to get someplace you've never been".  It so fit with Mr. Peterman's character of a world traveler and adventurer.  I thought about that today when I came across this post about not setting goals.  Since setting goals doesn't seem to be working out all that great for me, maybe I will give this a shot.

http://zenhabits.net/no-goal/

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Wed, 07 Jul 2010 08:16:38 -0700 Huge rumor: Rob Gordon to launch Alibaba competitor very soon 'www.TradeMatch.us' Very credible source. http://tradematch.posterous.com/huge-rumor-rob-gordon-to-launch-alibaba-compe http://tradematch.posterous.com/huge-rumor-rob-gordon-to-launch-alibaba-compe

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Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:46:47 -0700 Do business plan contests leave out the most worthy start-ups? http://tradematch.posterous.com/do-business-plan-contests-leave-out-the-most http://tradematch.posterous.com/do-business-plan-contests-leave-out-the-most
Tim Berry might be onto something with this post about how most business plan contests leave out the most worthy start-ups.  This problem, he points out, is that these things get controlled by the investors, and the best investments don't necessarily make the best companies. He comes close to saying something important but stops short, "the bootstrappers are still left out; and that’s a shame".

Maybe he should have taken that a just bit farther - most of these contests, and their evil twin the "award dinner" are also a shame.  These "contests" are organized almost exclusively for the benefit of "investors" - who want to see start-up companies go through hoop jumping exercises for them.  For the vast majority of small companies, these contests are a huge waste of time - they do more harm than good.

http://timberry.bplans.com/2010/07/business-plan-contests-leave-out-bootstrappers.html

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Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:01:27 -0700 The Web is Dissolving http://tradematch.posterous.com/the-web-is-dissolving http://tradematch.posterous.com/the-web-is-dissolving
Great post by Julian on Superfeeder, discovered by Tyler Strause on Buzz.  He believes the Web as we know it is "dissolving" in several different dimension: geographical space, time, from our computers, and- the one I found interesting, from our websites:


"This I think is the most intriguing fact. There used to be a time where I would be on NYT.com, on Craigslist, or even on my wells fargo account. This is dissolving too : the data I consume is more and more decoupled from the publishing site. I very rarely go to NYT.com’s home page, however, I keep consuming it from links I see passing by, from news reader… etc. My bank account? I access it from Mint.

The next step is to actually have a true data freedom, where not only my data is exportable, but also where it is in sync : I update my status on service Y, and service X knows about it. I add a friend on Facebook and Flickr knows about it too. My web profile will become this “bus” of data about me that people can access from several endpoints (like Twitter, or LinkedIn, or this blog), and not a huge archipelago of small bits that I need to update one by one".

The full post is worth a read: http://blog.superfeedr.com/the-web-is-disolving/

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Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:18:20 -0700 Unemployment, Internet marketing and the lurking tsunami http://tradematch.posterous.com/unemployment-internet-marketing-and-the-lurki http://tradematch.posterous.com/unemployment-internet-marketing-and-the-lurki
Dennis Yu makes a compelling case that ten percent unemployment is "the new normal" and we can expect a boom in Internet marketing services: http://www.blitzlocal.com/unemployment-internet-marketing-and-the-lurking-tsunami/

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Mon, 05 Jul 2010 11:41:09 -0700 Posterous Growing At More Than 700 Percent a Year http://tradematch.posterous.com/posterous-growing-at-more-than-700-percent-a-2 http://tradematch.posterous.com/posterous-growing-at-more-than-700-percent-a-2
I got started with Amplify instead, but I set up an account there that this feeds into.  I guess I should spend a bit more time in Posterous to see what all the commotion is about.  http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/05/posterous-700-percent/

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Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:42:47 -0700 14 Ways to Expand Your Influence http://tradematch.posterous.com/14-ways-to-expand-your-influence-0 http://tradematch.posterous.com/14-ways-to-expand-your-influence-0
Some nice insights about leadership in this post in the Dumb Little Man blog.  http://www.dumblittleman.com/2010/07/14-ways-to-expand-your-influence.html

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Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:42:07 -0700 14 Ways to Expand Your Influence http://tradematch.posterous.com/14-ways-to-expand-your-influence http://tradematch.posterous.com/14-ways-to-expand-your-influence
Some nice insights about leadership in this post in the Dumb Little Man blog.  http://www.dumblittleman.com/2010/07/14-ways-to-expand-your-influence.html

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Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:52:19 -0700 My introduction to Tagged.com http://tradematch.posterous.com/my-introduction-to-taggedcom http://tradematch.posterous.com/my-introduction-to-taggedcom
I heard about www.Tagged.com from a friend on Google Buzz.  Thought it might be a nice place to meet more adults in my area and possibly make some friends.  Before I even completed my profile, I received a message that "Wendy" had "bought" me, and another that   "Delight" had bought me.  I was mildly amused that there seemed to be a bidding war for me, but when I checked it out "Wendy" had the picture of a dude!  Turns out that this is some kind of game and I am now being bought and sold as a pet on Tagged.  I'm sure there are some nice people on Tagged but is a little weird.  I'll give it more time but this wasn't a very nice introduction to your service.

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Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:06:34 -0700 Assume you are below average http://tradematch.posterous.com/assume-you-are-below-average http://tradematch.posterous.com/assume-you-are-below-average
Here is an interesting contrarian thought from Derek Sivers' blog.  I mentioned on a different network today that it is a well known flaw in human thinking that people credit their successes to their own hard work or intelligence, and their failures to bad luck.  Sivers noted something similar in that most people consider themselves to be "above average" in many areas.  In psychological terms this is called, "illusory superiority".

He recommends dumping this attitude entirely.  Assume you are below average - it may actually confer some advantages.  I do this from time to time and it does seem to work. In the kingdom of the blind, the one eyed man is king.  In a roomful of smart guys, the dumb guy may not be king, but he may have the most common sense.  Worth a read.

http://sivers.org/below-average

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Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:09:31 -0700 New Contests and Competitions for Growing Companies http://tradematch.posterous.com/new-contests-and-competitions-for-growing-com http://tradematch.posterous.com/new-contests-and-competitions-for-growing-com
This is a nice compilation.  I especially like the "Show us your seat" contest sponsored by Office Depot.  My office chair is a torture device - that is one contest I would really like to win!  http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/06/new-contests-and-competitions-for-growing-companies.html

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Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:36:51 -0700 Google Should Stop Going After Facebook & Twitter & Go After LinkedIn Instead http://tradematch.posterous.com/google-should-stop-going-after-facebook-andam http://tradematch.posterous.com/google-should-stop-going-after-facebook-andam
I totally agree with blog post by Chad Catacchio.  I find Linkedin to be lacking in many ways. For one thing, I really don't think they need to block us from communicating with people the way they do, but regardless they absolutely need some competition.  Google is not set up well for business at all right now - for one thing, their profiles are terrible, but a business move with Google Buzz and a few other of their services would be a smart move right now, and I hope they consider it.  http://thenextweb.com/google/2010/06/27/google-should-stop-going-after-facebook-twitter-go-after-linkedin-instead/

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Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:05:20 -0700 Chris Dixon on Venture Capital Tax Rates http://tradematch.posterous.com/chris-dixon-on-venture-capital-tax-rates http://tradematch.posterous.com/chris-dixon-on-venture-capital-tax-rates
I just discovered Chris Dixon's blog this morning, and I have to say I am impressed.  In the post linked below, he expresses the opinion that Money Managers and Venture Capitalists should pay the same tax rate as anyone else -something a bill that recently went through Congress was trying to correct.  http://cdixon.org/2010/06/01/money-managers-should-pay-the-same-tax-rates-as-everyone-else/

This is a view I have not seen expressed very often - especially by someone involved in the venture capital community.  He points out that the argument that this will help "small business" is complete nonsense.  It is simply another tax break designed to help fat cat "investors" get even more rich.   Unfortunately, our government fell for this "small business" line still again so this tax break for billionaires will apparently remain in place.  I have been looking, but I still haven't seen anything creative, innovative or even effective policies coming from our government that can actually help small business.  In fact, I am not even sure that they even know what a real small business or a true start-up company is.

Hopefully there are people in our government who will eventually listen to voices of reason like Chris Dixon.

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Sat, 26 Jun 2010 10:36:28 -0700 Competition is overrated http://tradematch.posterous.com/competition-is-overrated http://tradematch.posterous.com/competition-is-overrated
I agree with this - people with new business ideas are far too paranoid about competition.  As this article points out, almost every good idea has already been built, and finding an existing product in the marketplace can actually be a good thing. I have heard engineers say, for example, that it is often better to be "second" with a product, rather than first.  I have also heard that if you do a start up correctly, no one can really steal your ideas because "they are you".   Worth a read: http://www.businessinsider.com/competition-is-overrated-2010-6#ixzz0ryuQChNC

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