comScore IPOs
One of our first clients, comScore, executed a very successful intial public offering this week. comScore has become a dominant player in the online measurement world, providing data and insights to anyone looking to find out what’s happening on the web. We worked with the company in their early days (2000-2002) when they were a newcomer to a relatively mature market that was led by companies like Media Metrix (which comScore later bought) and NetRatings.
Congratulations to Gian Fulgoni, Magid Abraham and all the folks that have been working hard the last 7+ years to build a successful and important company.
Comeback Kids
It was a rollercoaster season for LaunchSquad’s softball team, Jerry’s Lube and Fenders. A dismal performance in the regular season meant we had to play against the best team in the league in the first round of the playoffs. Down by two runs in the top of the final inning, Jerry’s strung together what is now famously known here at 611 Mission as the “Big Freakin’ Rally” and took a two run lead. Brett’s nasty pitching and some strong defense won the game for us in the bottom of the inning and we advanced to the second round.
This reminded me of the amazing run made by the Golden State Warriors this year, an eight seed beating a one seed in the playoffs. But alas, our fate was the same as the Warriors, losing in the second round of the playoffs on a walk-off sacrifice fly with the championship game in sight. To quote Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s poem, Casey at the Bat, “There was no joy in Mudville…”
Overall, it was a great season and we all had a lot of fun. With a nice combination of new young talent and some seasoned veterans, Jerry’s will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in future seasons.
TurnHere Brings Books and Authors to Online Video
Last week, Internet video producer and LaunchSquad client TurnHere announced an exciting new initiative that’s already created quite a buzz: a book-centric online video channel with Simon & Schuster called BookVideos.tv.
The channel aims to take literary consumption to a whole new level by bringing to life popular authors and the stories behind some of their most compelling works. In addition, the site features a host of social media functionalities, including the ability to Digg videos and add them to del.icio.us, comment on them, and share them with friends and book clubs via email and blogs.
Bookvideos.tv has already garnered attention from a bevy of media including The Associated Press, NewTeeVee, Beet.tv, ClickZ, AdRants, and Mashable.
TurnHere’s relationship with Simon & Schuster is the latest addition to the company’s portfolio of customers—the startup has also tapped InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Citysearch and Discovery for video production services.
Wall Street Journal on Enterprise 2.0
Yesterday’s Journal had a feature by Michael Totty about the emerging trend of Enterprise 2.0 – businesses deploying Web 2.0 technologies. “A growing number of businesses, from cutting-edge advertising agencies to venerable insurance companies, have taken the plunge into Web 2.0 tools,” Totty writes.
The story highlights Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co, which is using LaunchSquad client iUpload’s software to enable its 5,000 employees to share knowledge through blogging tools, as well as Proctor & Gamble, which is using NewsGator’s RSS technology to manage how news and information is distributed and shared throughout its organization.
These are but a few examples, and it’s obviously very early here. But the Journal is clearly recognizing the train is moving and not going to stop. Blogs, wikis, RSS…are all incredibly useful technologies for both individuals and companies, and they will become a pervasive part of our daily lives (if they haven’t already), even if in the end we don’t realize it. But they will be there behind the scenes making our lives easier as technology seems to so often do.
Jack and Lars Take Center Stage
Last week I had the great fortune of meeting Jack Welch, one of the most important leaders and innovators in the history of business. He keynoted an event hosted by our client SuccessFactors, which makes software that helps companies like T-Mobile, Arrow Electronics, Kimberly-Clark and thousands of others measure, manage and inspire their people.
SuccessFactors CEO Lars Dalgaard and Jack Welch are kindred spirits: two driven individuals who are passionate about shifting the focus of HR from “picnics, newsletters and benefits,” to driving everything a company does at the highest, most strategic level. They were onstage together (along with Carlos Watson) talking shop about management, finding and keeping great people and a host of issues related to management and people.
When asked how he would convince a great talent to join his organization at GE, Jack responded without missing a beat: “Love. Give them a big hug and don’t let go. Forget the phrase, ‘we’ll get back to you.’ That’s just a killer for HR. Don’t do it. Hire the person on spot.” I thought this was an intriguing response from someone who is often viewed as a tough, hard-nosed executive. I could tell Jack Welch has a huge heart and an unwavering passion for what makes companies and people thrive.
Another highlight from the event was SuccessFactory, which is SuccessFactors’ core DNA for making products and running its organization. It’s based on efficiency to the extreme, Kaizen, releasing new products every 30 days, and absolute response and commitment to customer success. Not service, success.
At the beginning of the event, SuccessFactors rolled out three ideas for the next rev of the product and asked attendees to vote on which one they liked. The SuccessFactory development team then huddled in a mock factory to brainstorm ideas and build a prototype. By the end of the three-day conference, the team finished a live prototype for a career exploration applet that will be added to the next rev of the product. Talk about efficiency and responding to customer needs!
All in all the event was a huge success. Lots of happy customers, happy Jack, happy Lars and a lot of good feelings. SuccessFactors is an amazing company and we’re honored to have them as a client as they continue to change the way the world works!
Attributor and the Content Economy
Our client Attributor made news last week announcing that the Associated Press, one of the world’s largest daily sources of original content in the world, has chosen Attributor to monitor and analyze online use of AP content across the Internet. We are psyched to talk with reporters about it because it’s huge validation for Attributor’s technology and proves that it is built for massive scale, from the smallest blogger up to the world’s largest publisher.
The “Content Economy” is burgeoning but still sorely lacks the kind of transparency and accountability that creates a sensible market for all parties. Attributor’s vision is to become the standard way content creators and publishers interact with and do business with people who want to use and/or distribute it.
Attributor is taking the idea of an online copyright beyond the binary question of whether or not someone can use another party’s content, and instead facilitates a conversation about how the content will be used. By providing complete visibility into how any type of content is being used across the entire Internet, Attributor is giving publishers a powerful new way to both control how their content is being used and to negotiate new opportunities with those that want to use it. So, instead of being a digital copyright cop, Attributor is creating a whole new model for negotiating and expanding the use and monetization of online content.
Attributor’s potential impact on the content economy is huge and we’re pretty fired up about it.
Check out some of the stories we secured for Attributor on the AP news:
Business 2.0
San Jose Mercury News
Associated Press
Editor & Publisher
ZDNet
LaunchSquad Hosts PRSA Event
This week we hosted an event for the Young Professionals group of the local PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) chapter. LaunchSquad partner Jason Mandell moderated a panel discussion with Pheedo co-founder Bill Flitter and journalist/blogger Tom Foremski of Silicon Valley Watcher.
The discussion, titled “Generation Now: What’s Next in Social Media,” delved into a variety of topical areas related to how social media and Web 2.0 technologies are affecting the role and value of public relations. Clearly, we are in the midst of fundamental change in terms of how companies communicate with their various constituencies, and everyone on the panel agreed that the time is now for PR pros to grow and adapt to these new realities.
You can watch a 20 minute edited version of the key highlights from the discussion on LaunchSquad client VMIX’s site.