Zuckerberg y el networking

Con apenas 19 años, Mark Zuckerberg creó en 2003 Synapse, un reproductor de música que predecía las canciones de acuerdo a los gustos musicales del usuario. Un año después este programador crearía Facebook, una red social para estudiantes (en principio exclusiva para Harvard), similar a lo que ya había ideado con un éxito sorprendente Tom Anderson con su My Space.

Con una excelente visión del servicio y de lo que debe (y no debe) ser una red social (ver video abajo), Zuckerberg está venciendo a Anderson en una carrera que parece estar llegando a su fin. Ya lo dice Marketing Hipster: Tom is NOT my friend.

Rilinho ya lo adelantaba en mayo: Facebook se convierte en la integración por excelencia.

Fue Riley quien me presentó Facebook hace ya casi un año. En principio no me atraía mucho, porque no tenía "amigos" que lo usaran. Sin embargo hoy ya sumo más de 100 contactos y cada día agrego más.

En el fondo es una excelente plataforma para reunir comunidades en torno a intereses comunes. Por ende, es una gran herramienta para aplicar nuevas formas de marketing online, como bien lo han hecho Skittles y Bob Dylan, entre otros.

The Viral Marketing califica a Zuckerberg como un genio visionario, pero no por su idea, sino que por rechazar hace un año la venta de Facebook a Yahoo! por mil millones de dólares...

Ayer The Wall Street Journal publicó que Microsoft piensa invertir en acciones de Facebook y que, debido al tamaño de la puja, la empresa de Zuckerberg hoy se tasa en por lo menos 10 mil millones de dólares.

Uff! Pero hoy no sólo Gates y compañía están con los ojos puestos en Facebook. Se rumorea que Google también. Mientras, Scobleizer cuenta que Apple no se ha interesado, a pesar de que la mayoría de los empleados de la empresa de Jobs usan la aplicación.

¿Es Facebook muy rentable que lo hace tan codiciada? Pues parece que no. Pero Servant of Chaos explica qué es lo que vale: "With 66 million registered users, Facebook is a bargain $7.50 per user, making it a very cheap way of acquiring customers".

¿Y cuál fue el "descubrimiento" de Zuckerberg? Mejor verlo (visto en Blogs Corporativos).

Más...

• Guy Kawasaki: Social Entrepreneurship: Ten questions with David Bornstein.
• Paul Beelen: ¿Por qué Facebook es 'The Next Best Thing'? Tres razones.
• Mashable: Facebook investigated for safety practices.
• Spare Change: Why Web 2.0 matters to Social marketers?
  
• Experience Curve: Conclusive proof: Facebook is mainstream.

Online Newspapers Dropping Fees

In the wake of The Search Engine, it seems that the value chain for online content is being radically reshuffled.

A couple days ago, the New York Times announced that it would stop charging for additional parts of its website, and open up all archived content from 1987 to the present, effective within 24 hours.

Reason being for the NYTimes transition (from the article itself): "What changed, The Times said, was that many more readers started coming to the site from search engines and links on other sites instead of coming directly to NYTimes.com. These indirect readers, unable to get access to articles behind the pay wall and less likely to pay subscription fees than the more loyal direct users, were seen as opportunities for more page views and increased advertising revenue."

The article also alluded to the fact that the Wall Street Journal remains "the only major newspaper in the country to charge for access to most of its website", with reason as their pay dynamic generates over 1 million online readers and about $65 million in revenue.

Regardless, the Wall Street Journal appears to be entertaining the idea of losing such revenue. Rumor has it that Murdoch has it on his priority list to address the access to paid-for-content. An article in the print edition of the WSJ today (a day after the NYT announcement) was titled, "WSJ.com may drop fees".

It seems as if the WSJ, for one, is guessing they might earn more money thorough advertising associated with their content. Thats one part of it.

Even more surprising, is that The New York Times Online (as the leader in onilne newspapers - 13 millon unique visitors per month) is essentially saying that the majority of their exposure is generated externally through The Search Engine.

It is testament to how many people use The Search Engine (it deserves to be capitalized) for everyday content.

More...

• The Response from Blog Runner
• NYT Online, The Focus on Search and Link Based Economy
• Murdoch sees WSJ online going free
  

Culture in the Workforce

A Financial Times article has nicely articulated something that has always stood out for me since my beginnings of professional experience here in Spain.

"At present, Spain has the longest working hours (and one of the lowest productivity rates) in Europe. Two- to three-hour lunch breaks are common, and office hours often stretch past 8pm. As a result, a high proportion of women drop out of the workforce after they have children, or take dead-end, part-time jobs in supermarkets and department stores."

Though this article is primarily about the role of Spanish women in the workforce (which seems low to European standards, a new law will attempt to remedy it), I couldn´t help but think about the relationship between Spain´s unique working format and its potential economic output.

I´ve found out the hard way that businesses, shops and markets across the country abruptly close their doors at 7 or 8 o´clock. Banks close even earlier, and all of this leaves me with no way to "do errands" and often without time to even buy groceries. I know I´m not the only one with this problem.

As a result, my question has always been, wouldn´t Spain benefit from more of a window between the closing of office hours and the closing of shop/business hours? My rationale has been that more spending means more profit, and when there is no time to spend, the upward spiral fails.

Somehow though, Spain has been able to get it done. And this delves into a deeper cultural issue that I´m not capable of understanding or analyzing, nor will I for fear of trivializing it. However, it must be said that these work hours (and apparent lack of work production) stand out as a stark inconsistency with other EU partners. Pointing out the low wages earned by the average professional in the same context might counter that argument.

Taken from nother FT article on such changes in Spanish companies,

"The concern was genuine, as Spaniards are a gregarious lot. Long working hours are punctuated by frequent breaks: the 11am coffee and tapas break, taken, standing up, in a bar; a two-hour,sit-down lunch at 2.30pm, and coffee breaks in the afternoon. Unlike the British, Spaniards would not dream of eating a sandwich at their desks."

Banco Santander has stepped out of the Spanish blend of business hours (by moving out of Madrid and creating a Santander City - a complex 4 times the size of the Vatican, and adapting their work patterns), and it could be the first part of reaction of business to do the same (Telefonica has followed in a similar fashion). It is still to be determined what affect, if any, their actions will have.

Personally, I find the Spanish working hours an interesting contrast in cultures. I do believe that culture is strong enough to resist and even deny change. Its a lesson for all aspiring managers finding themselves in different cultures. The incentive might have to come from abroad, yet the incentives of others might keep it the way it is.

• Spain: A Decade of Boom and Stagnant Wages
• A blog entry on a the earnings of males vs. females

Did you know? (2.0)

La segunda versión del video Did you know elaborado por la compañía XPLANE, The Visual thinking Company que presenta y compara cifras que impresionan a los estadounidenses y al mundo.
Cifras a tener en cuenta.
¿Lo sabías? 2.0, visto en En el medio.

Internet, comunicación y teoría del caos

"Las estrategias de las empresas no deben basarse en predicciones sobre el futuro, sino que deben adaptarse a un escenario probable de posibilidades" (Eric D. Beinhocker, Robust Adaptive Strategies, 1999).

La cita no la tomé del libro de Beinhocker, sino que del artículo El Futuro de las Empresas de Comunicación que elaboró en 2004 el maestro MGEC, Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero.

De este texto me gustaría destacar la relación que hace el autor entre "el mercado de la comunicación y la Teoría del Caos".

Se habla que las empresas y sus líderes enfrentan dos tipos de decisiones estratégicas: Aquellas en que se busca "no perder", porque presentan ventajas notables y sus convenientes son marginales o inexistentes; y aquellas críticas que implican elegir entre posibilidades que incluyen un conjunto de ventajas e inconvenientes bastante equilibrado, o sea, más riesgosas.

En el campo de la comunicación no hay expertos capaces de adivinar o predecir el futuro. En este sector quienes se atreven a hacer pronósticos se enfrentan a una dificultad extraordinaria: los cambios obedecen a circunstancias variopintas (políticas, legales, económicas, demográficas, tecnológicas, sociales, culturales) y además se desconoce en qué grado afectará a la empresa y a su mercado cada uno de estos factores.

Aquí es donde pesa la Teoría del Caos: en los sistemas complejos y muy articulados, pequeños impulsos o acontecimientos pueden generar efectos multiplicadores.

La realidad es cada vez más impredecible. Resulta mucho más difícil competir en un mercado con este panorama. Así es la comunicación.

Los mapas existentes y los principios de gestión comúnmente aceptados sólo sirven para identificar las rutas por las que han navegado antes los demás, pero carecen de utilidad cuando es necesario llegar a donde nadie ha estado antes.

Los grandes fracasan una y otra vez antes de alcanzar sus metas. Es muy difícil alcanzar el éxito sin tropezar antes. No queda otra que adelantarse, tomando todas las precauciones posibles. En el fondo es pura virtud: Tener fortaleza y templanza para tomar una decisión prudente y justa para todos.

Ya lo decía Gary Hamel, en La Revolución como Estrategia: Strategy is revolution, everything else is tactics.

Branding Issues?

A couple months into a new job and I find the company struggling with trying to find a way to improve corporate image. Now the bosses have decided to react, and jump into a re-branding of a certain degree. However, different lines of thought concerning theory and strategy are surfacing at different managerial levels. Any progress has subequently been limited. It has all the makings of an all too familiar HBSP Case Study from class...

Over at slideshare.net (a great site for topic based PPT presentations), I stumbled upon a presentation that gave a bit of insigt into the present situation. And, perhaps a bit vicariously, I wanted to share it with who I could.


For the direct link: click here