Zynga IPO And What it Says About the New Economy

...."It takes decades after an iconic turning point for structural revolutions to come to full flower and upend the social and economic order.  The profound impacts of the first era of computing didn’t start until the late 1980s, nearly 30 years after the invention of the first mini-computer, Digital Equipment Corporation’s PDP-8.   What makes a Zynga possible comes decades after the invention of the Internet.  Now, as then, the velocity of change will accelerate.".......
.....more
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markpmills/2011/12/18/the-good-news-behind-the-zynga-ipo-and-what-it-says-about-the-new-economy/

Steve Jobs and the Seven Rules of Success

When we built System Software Associates as an enterprise application software company in the emerging mid market in the 80's & then reinvented it in the mid 90's we lived by  lessons learned from companies like Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Coke and McDonalds. 

1. Be fast, flexible &  focused
2. Change the way the world does business and change the playing field for competitors
3. Do it right or don't do it
4. A quarter pounder should taste the same everywhere around the world
5. Think globally, execute locally (distributors/affiliates/business partners)
6. Act like what you want to become
7. If you think you can, or you think you can't....your probably right
8. Sell the whole Vision but install in digestible pieces - lead from the front
9. Luck is the intersection of where preparation meets opportunity and you take advantage of it - make your own luck
10. Earn the right to own your piece of the market - clients/customers are what matters most - the rest flows from there

Here is Steve Jobs list for when he founded then reinvented Apple.

BY Carmine Gallo | October 14, 2011|

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Steve Jobs' impact on your life cannot be overestimated. His innovations have likely touched nearly every aspect -- computers, movies, music and mobile. As a communications coach, I learned from Jobs that a presentation can, indeed, inspire. For entrepreneurs, Jobs' greatest legacy is the set of principles that drove his success.
Over the years, I've become a student of sorts of Jobs' career and life. Here's my take on the rules and values underpinning his success. Any of us can adopt them to unleash our "inner Steve Jobs."
1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, "I'd get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about." That's how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.
2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?" Don't lose sight of the big vision.
Related: Why Entrepreneurs Love Steve Jobs

3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn't have any practical use in his life -- until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don't live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.
4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the "A-Team" on each product. What are you saying "no" to?
5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand. What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?
Related: 10 Things to Thank Steve Jobs For
6. Master the message. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't communicate your ideas, it doesn't matter. Jobs was the world's greatest corporate storyteller. Instead of simply delivering a presentation like most people do, he informed, he educated, he inspired and he entertained, all in one presentation.
7. Sell dreams, not products. Jobs captured our imagination because he really understood his customer. He knew that tablets would not capture our imaginations if they were too complicated. The result? One button on the front of an iPad. It's so simple, a 2-year-old can use it. Your customers don't care about your product. They care about themselves, their hopes, their ambitions. Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams, you'll win them over.
There's one story that I think sums up Jobs' career at Apple. An executive who had the job of reinventing the Disney Store once called up Jobs and asked for advice. His counsel? Dream bigger. I think that's the best advice he could leave us with. See genius in your craziness, believe in yourself, believe in your vision, and be constantly prepared to defend those ideas.

Emotional genius?: IBM chip mimics the brain?

This is one of the new cognitive computing chips created by researchers at IBM that is said to mimic the human brain.

(Credit: IBM)


 
Computers with processors that mimic the human brain's cognition, perception, and action abilities are a lot closer than they've ever been after IBM on Wednesday unveiled the first generation of chips that will power them.
The announcement comes nearly three years after IBM and several university partners were awarded a grant by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to re-create the brain's perception, cognitive, sensation, interaction, and action abilities, while also simulating its efficient size and low-power consumption.
The grant was part of Phase 2 of DARPA's Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) project, the goal of which, IBM said, is "to create a system that not only analyzes complex information from multiple sensory modalities at once but also dynamically rewires itself as it interacts with its environment--all while rivaling the brain's compact size and low-power usage."
According to IBM Research project leader Dharmendra Modha, the first tangible results of the grant and a great deal of work by those at six IBM labs and five universities is finally ready to be shown to the world.
"What I hold in my hand as I speak," Modha told CNET by phone Wednesday, "is our first cognitive computing core that combines computing in the form of neurons, memory in the form of synapses, and communications in the form of axons...[and] in working silicon, and not PowerPoint."
The development of the new chips comes two years after Modha's team finished work on an algorithm called BlueMatter that spelled out the connections between all the human brain's cortical and sub-cortical locations. That mapping is a critical step, Modha has said, for a true understanding of how the brain communicates and processes information.
While it's too early to say exactly what kind of applications will be powered by the new chips, Modha suggested that they will likely tackle some of the thorniest problems in computing. Among those he foresees are programs that could analyze financial markets with extreme precision and attention; that could monitor global water supplies and track and report information on things such as wave height, ocean tides, water temperature, and even issue tsunami warnings; and those that could allow a supermarket worker to instantly sense when produce has gone bad.
Others see even more potential applications. For example, the chips could offer earthquake detection due to "infinite patience" and being our eyes and ears on a seismic fault line in a way that would bore people, said analyst Rick Doherty, co-founder and director of the Envisioneering Group. Similarly, the chips could be used for a wide range of military, public health or public safety purposes, Doherty suggested.
All of this is due to the fact, Modha said, that the chips can enable biological "senses" such as sight, sound, smell, and touch, and "drive multiple motor modes while consuming less than 20 watts [of power] and occupying less volume than a 2-liter bottle of soda, and weighing less than three pounds."
While Modha wouldn't say when the first commercially available applications based on the new chips will be available, Doherty said he thinks the first such programs could be ready by 2015 or 2016. And Doherty, who was briefed on the cognitive computing news, said he thinks that IBM's latest work is "exciting" and significant because of the fact that the chips are designed to learn and even give feedback on what they've learned.
Beyond von Neumann
To Modha, his new chips are nothing short of an entirely new computing paradigm, perhaps the first in decades, and one which could far surpass the decades-old von Neumann architecture on which today's computers are based.
IBM's new chips contain no biological elements, the company said, but do have digital silicon circuits "inspired by neurobiology to make up what is referred to as a 'neurosynaptic core' with integrated memory (replicated synapses), computation (replicated neurons), and communication (replicated axons)," IBM said in a release.
At the moment, Modha's team has come up with two prototype chip designs. Each contains 256 neurons, while one has 262,144 programmable synapses, and the other has 65,536 learning synapses, IBM said. For now, the company has used the chips to demonstrate basic applications such as pattern recognition, machine vision, classification, navigation, and associative memory.
And the company expects that the chips will move away from von Neumann computing to "a potentially more power-efficient architecture that has no set programming, integrates memory with processor, and mimics the brain's event-driven, distributed and parallel processing."
Eventually, Modha said, IBM hopes to "weave the [building] blocks together into a scalable network and progressively scale it to a mammalian scale system with 10 billion neurons, 100 trillion synapses, [all] while consuming 1 kilowatt of power [and] fitting in a shoebox. Think of a cognitive supercomputer in your pocket."
Not replacing today's computers
Although the chips may some day create a new computing paradigm, Modha said he doesn't see them as replacing existing computers. Rather, he said, it's about "extending and complementing today's computer stack."
Perhaps more to the point, Modha's team has set out to come up with a new computing architecture that isn't weighed down by the imminent end of Moore's Law.
Today's computers, he argued, are hobbled by three fundamental constraints: first, that they must have progressively increasing clock rates; second, that those clock rates require smaller and smaller devices that are quickly approaching hard physical limitations; and finally that today's computers are essentially programmed systems with linear sets of instructions that are occasionally interspersed with if/then/else statements. By contrast, IBM's cognitive computing chips could in theory put off those physical limits for some additional time, enabling a wide range of previously impossible applications, Modha said.
"Everyone else is playing within the [Moore's Law] system," he argued. "We're changing the game."
(Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between.)

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20093845-52/ibm-says-new-chip-mimics-the-human-brain/#ixzz1VidP8xpq

Groupon IPO not worth the price

Assuming Groupon has a successful IPO - it seems the math shows it will be way over hyped and astronomically over priced.

Learn almost anything for free

What started out as Sal making a few algebra videos for his cousins has grown to over 2,100 videos and 100 self-paced exercises and assessments covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history.

Five Must-Have Characteristics of Nonprofit Mobile Websites

On the Mobile Web, it’s 1999 all over again. Those nonprofits that are pioneering mobile websites today will reap the benefits of Mobile SEO tomorrow. Mobile search engines like Google Mobile, Yahoo! Mobile, and Bing Mobile are hungry for mobile content, especially fresh content. That said, the uber vast majority of nonprofits have not even considered launching a mobile website. They have either not yet had their “Aha” moment about the Mobile Web, or think it is too expensive and time-consuming to be an early adopter. I am here to tell you (and train you) that it is not. Not at all.

Regardless of the nonprofit sector’s slow adoption of mobile communications, the Mobile Web continues to soar. One out of four Americans now access the Mobile Web daily and that’s a trend that will continue to increase rapidly as smartphones become more affordable. Also...........

VC fix?

Many entrepreneurs have longed for a new model. Is it realistic?

Entrepreneurs can use their skills to create self sustaining non-profits, by Paul Lavallee

If entrepreneurs put their venture developing skills to work, more non-profits would be self sustaining, and not reliant on government grant funds from tax payer money. In addition, more services would be made available to those who need it, while the costs to society would be decreased by lessening the loads on systems such as health care and criminal justice. Here is one example which has accomplished all of these goals.

I know this is true because the latest venture I am involved with has nothing to do with the software industry - it is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit located on the historic former homestead of Daniel Webster in Franklin NH. The name of this venture is Webster Place Recovery Center. It is a place of hope for people from all walks of life who have problems with alcohol and other drugs.

My other ventures included founding software ventures, raising venture capital for software ventures, getting involved in mergers or acquisitions of software ventures, or taking software ventures public.This was my first venture into the world of non-profit services.

In 2007, several others and I were asked if we would help form a non-profit board to create a recovery center. I accepted the call, as did the others, and I took on the Chair role during the start up years (2008-2009) and remain a committed board member today.

The person bringing together the board was mutual friend and restaurant entrepreneur Alex Ray, founder/owner of The Common Man family of restaurants in New Hampshire (where our family has a second home.) The non-profit organization would be leasing a portion of Alex's newly acquired property consisting of the Daniel Webster homestead and farm. This historic property had a rich history over the years and had  morphed  from farm, to post civil war orphanage, to convent / school run by the Sisters of the Holy Cross and finally abandoned and left in disrepair. Alex picked up the property as the last standing bidder, and saved the property from demolition and a condo project. There were three 30,000 sq. ft. brick buildings and several house sized structures and a good sized parcel of farm land along the Merrimack river. His vision was to create a place of service and hope for people in need of recovery from alcohol and other drug problems, and to do so with a new model.

The model for this project would be to gut and renovate 1 of the main buildings first, and to create an environment of dignity and respect where people who need services could find an affordable alternative to expensive celebrity type rehabs popularized by movie stars and sports figures. This facility would house a non-profit organization, governed by a volunteer board of directors with diverse backgrounds, who would hire a staff of people who were capable of providing peer based recovery support heavily relying on the 12 step evidence based models successfully used in non-organized recovery peer support groups. The staff would be complimented by local peers in recovery who would come in to offer their stories, mentoring, experience, strength and hope that the new residents could learn how this all worked and see that recovery is real.

There would be no government grants to start the operation, rather it would be self sustaining from program fees. Most of the high end private pay rehabs charge anywhere from $15,000 to $150,000 (on a beach in Malibu) but this program would be targeted to be less than half the low end. In addition, being a non-profit, the mission would be to also include scholarships for those who could not afford such services. In this way, people from all walks of life, would have a recovery experience where professional, lawyers, doctors, pilots, musicians, carpenters, software engineers, restaurateurs, publishing ad executives, electricians and unemployed  single moms (see a case story published in the Plymouth Record Enterprise) could all learn from and support each other in a nurturing environment.

In addition, as opposed to institutional rehabs, people would not just sit around smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, but would be engaged in enhancements to the program of recovery which would include some of the enjoyable things life has to offer such as gardening, farming, culinary arts, music, reiki, acupuncture, karate, furniture refinishing, exercise, spa trips, sports and other activities.

The operation was angel funded via a cash flow loan guarantee from Alex and bootstrapped from operations.

Start-up included renovation of the first building by Alex's realty company - a minimal investment resulted in converting the institutional layout into semi private rooms each with it's own bathroom and showers. All furniture (ALL) was provided by the surrounding community and businesses. Beds, bureaus and the like, giving the place an eclectic, almost antique and homey feel. The first resident arrived in March 2008, and by December the 40 bed capacity was half utilized. By December of 2009 the operation had become cash flow positive and has been so since - facilitating substantial repayment of the initial cash flow loans. The loan should be completely paid down with substantial positive cash flow during the coming year. This money can be used for capacity building and additional scholorships. Another benefit is this private pay model does not add any cost to the overburdened health care system as it is not funded by insurance. Those who can afford the low cost of care, and a low operating cost due to the peer based model (no expensive licensing or regulation to drive up costs) combine to provide opportunities for care for those who can not afford it. To date, some donations have come in, but we have yet to have to have a major fund raising effort.

Most importantly, residents and alumni, from all over New England and beyond, are getting help with their problems with alcohol and drugs. A community of over 400 alumni continues to build. Social networking is keeping folks in touch with each other when on the road, or for those who don't live in the area. Referrals are coming in from industry professionals, treatment centers, rehabs, doctors, and alumni. A need is being served for services. Services which had been all but shut down in the state due to budget cuts, insurance abuses in past years, and lack of political support.

There were the usual start up challenges, but as with any other start up, a program of continuously surveying, monitoring and improving is in place to refine the model as we grow.

The hope is that this model peer based recovery system of support can be replicated in other places where facilities can be re-deployed into value building investments that improve the surrounding community. Perhaps alliances with other non-profits will develop to adjunct competencies. Perhaps mergers to gain scale. The key is that the same skills used to build successful ventures in the business world can be put to use in the non-profit world. It's a way to give back, and help the community without taxing to do it.

So, you're perhaps wondering, why this cause for me personally? Fair question. Family, friends and I have all been positively impacted by the power of long term sustained recovery from alcohol and other drug problems. As a result our lives have become substantially better, and so have those of our families and friends around us. We have also witnessed the destructive nature of these problems if unaddressed. A life of recovery, including giving back to help others, is a much better life.This is just one way to give back. Other non profits I am volunteering my board skills to include Saving Teens in Crisis Collaborative as well as RI Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts.

Questions or comments? Feel free to email me.