Cameron Peron

America is truly the country in the world that cherishes the concept of the individual so much, that that the country’s entire infrastructure is designed to make each individual’s dreams come true.

America is the world’s most successful “startup country.”  In principle the sociological, political, commercial and legal environments in the United States were structured in the 1770s to provide any individual with the opportunity to at least try to pursue his or her dreams without facing the discrimination imposed on people outside of the United States (i.e. race, gender, nationality and financial background). Whether one wants to own a ranch in Montana, start a business in Silicon Valley or teach in a high school in a small town, the framework of my country offers many means, including tax incentives, financing, educational grants, and unrestricted land ownership, to make dreams come true.

In practice, the framework created by American’s founders has enabled millions of determined individuals, even those from poor and destitute immigrant backgrounds like my grandfathers’, to make a life for themselves when no other option was available.

The key to both benefit from this system and keep it going, is the drive to succeed.  America is unique in that in pulls out the best in its citizens while creating a fertile environment in which new American immigrants can thrive.

Since Jerry resigned as Yahoo CEO, the dark cloud that circled over Yahoo’s stock value and brand doesn’t seem lift.   In reality, Yang was a symptom of the underlying problems that lay in Yahoo’s top level management: lack of focus and poor execution.

Yahoo stock didn’t soar after Yang’s resignation.  Even before Yang took charge as CEO the value of Yahoo’s stock had been in decline from its post dot bomb high point of $43.00 in January 2006.  Navigating a failed acquisition attempt and white knight takeover, Yang managed to drive the stock price down to nearly $12.00 in late October.  Upon his resignation as CEO in mid November, Yahoo’s stock value shot up by a few points, but didn’t achieve the dramatic increase expected by most analysts. After a few weeks it slumped back its October average and followed the same holding pattern from other S&P 500 stocks.

Had Microsoft completed the take over, it would have effectively bought tremendous volumes of traffic via web properties in need of a serious overhaul.  Rather than optimizing the usability of the Yahoo portal page and focusing on several key high value products, like Yahoo Finance and Mail, Yahoo’s management focused on selling them off as quickly as possible.  Leaving another company to figure out what one’s brand, only after the sale, isn’t the best strategy for long term value, especially for stock holders.  Had Yahoo’s management team focused on this basic issue at its high point in January 2006, the value of their web properties would most likely be much higher. Like any online media business the equation is simple: ↑web property value = ↑ traffic volume + ↑ returning users +consistency in the product/service offering.

Probably the most serious issue is that Yahoo’s corporate culture needs an upgrade from start-up mode.  Maybe it was shear ambition that brought Yang back to the driver’s seat.  However, like most successful founders, Yang excels in the starting not in the building of a company. It takes a serious CEO to turn $7B company into $10B one, and Yang wasn’t that man.  Maybe not even Icahn is. The fact that he was appointed and positioned to take on this overwhelming and extremely challenging role, is indicative of management culture struggling to move on from startup mode.

Yahoo is a highly successful web companies, an amazing startup story, and the driving force behind a balanced and competitive online economy.  What Yahoo needs to do, is step up in terms of raising its stock value and keeping search and online advertising balanced against Google.  This can only be achieved by directly addressing the future of Yahoo’s brand, products and corporate culture, and only then placing a serious leader who can restore confidence to investors and execute effectively.  Let’s hope that Bartz is the right choice this time around.

Despite intense mud slinging, dirty tricks and outright name calling, there is a great lesson in online tactics from the 2009 Israeli Prime Minister election. Leading political parties in Israel have not just picked up successful online tactics form the 2008 US federal election, but also literally copy/pasted them into their campaigns strategies. The replication of these tactics, especially in website form and structure set a new precedent in effective communication. In reality those websites that succeed in their objective to constantly upgrade a new precedent for successful communication, are a conduit rather than trademark.

Replicating successful form and structure from while adding unique cultural inferences fast tracks the learning curve. One of the best example is the likud website. This site is completely replicated from Obama’s campaign website:

Despite the blatant copy/paste (the only major difference being right-left Hebrew formatting) Likud uses a smart strategy, applying social tools, video and a structure that wasn’t around during the last election. The funniest part is that its political agenda couldn’t be farther right from Obama’s.

Success speaks for itself. Replicating a website so blatantly isn’t just reserved to foreign political parties.  In fact structure replication is smart for those who want to capture the momentum of success.  Yahoo incorporated a search box very similar to Google’s, the same year that Google issued released their IPO and introducted the power of search.  Prior to this, Yahoo’s core business model was built on predefined communities, not user driven search.

Familiarity adds to website value of usability at scale. Websites that present a structure and flow already familiar to users have a much higher likelihood of achieving their objective.  Practically speaking, this can only be accomplished at scale. Obama’s website site had a very high penetration rate in both the American public and foreign visitors alike.  Moreover, the guy won.  Using the scale and success of Obama’s website, likud outpaces it’s two biggest competitors.

Replication when done smartly, respectfully and cunningly merely advances the message being delivered to a targeted audience.  Although crude examples of blatant copy/pasting detract the connection between architecture and website, these same example streamline communication effectiveness.

One of the most effective uses of the internet, is the ability to promote a movement with upright intentions.  IslamCrunch is an excellent example of a web-property that targets a deep and narrow niche and applies effective communication tools to build a loyal and vibrant traffic base.  It’s one of the most effective projects utilizing web tools to push a religious point of view online today. The brainchild of Mikael Pittam and his wife Su, IslamCrunch is a web property that provides information on Islamic learning and grassroots activism.

Setting a precedent by utilizing the Internet as means to communicate Islamic teachings and promote grass roots activism. Rather than taking the “broad” route, IslamCrunch dives deep into two specific channels: learning and activism. It not only builds a traffic base by providing targeted and rich content on these two subjects, but it also effectively utilizes social tools like Twitter and Facebook to build and engage a community directly and aggregate viral created traffic.

Strictly Western Islam. Probably the highest valued asset of IslamCrunch is its Western approach to Islam - both in the structure of the property itself and the content it provides. It’s a positive force emphasizing teachings over politics or critiques on social issues.  IslamCrunch uses the same tools and technology that are otherwise highly regulated and censored in countries with a conservative Islamic tradition. By doing so, it communicates a view point of Islam that promotes peace, virtue and giving; a process that could only be made possible in a Western country.  In spite of highly polarizing events in the MiddleEast, Pittam posted an excellent audio and video series by 3 Muslim scholars discussing how to cure extremism. No doubt an excellent expression of peace and a deep insight for Muslims and non Muslim alike.

Positioned to effectively capitalize on targeted traffic. A property like this has the potential to build a massive community of highly targeted and active users. Generating targeted traffic with the sole intention of providing high value content is by far the best way to generate consistent and loyal traffic. Leveraging this loyal traffic base through new projects, IslamCrunch can generate several revenue streams as well as provide meaningful services to his users.  Some of IslamCrunch’s possible next moves:
- Social network targeted specifically to Muslim youth.
- Micro-blogging network.
- Localized portal for Islamic activism in US and Canadian cities.
- Reaching outside of Islamic community via interviews and guest posts.

In addition to being a influential source of moderate Islam, IslamCrunch has the potential of becoming a powerful media based business and online cornerstone to the Western based Islamic community. For non Muslims - it’s an excellent read and insight into a hugely unexplored demographic in the West.

It’s wishful thinking to expect that the economy will bounce back to pre June 2008 levels this year. 2009 will be a land grab year for both smart businesses with money to spend and entrepreneurs with business models built on performance marketing.

1. Yahoo will merge or be acquired. It’s inevitable. With a stock pricing straddling $10/share, a group like Ichan’s will continue buying huge portions of Yahoo stock causing stock prices to be driven up even further. With Ichan already controlling enough chairs to influence who takes the CEO chair and playing an active and persistent role on the Board, the company is headed in the right direction for an M&A.
2. Facebook will come to a realistic evaluation. The $15B hype behind Facebook will be put into check. With VC cash drying up, Facebook will have no choice by to increase advertising activities via performance based online advertising. Hopefully this activities won’t scare off users like Beacon. Not only can we expect a more practical valuation of the traffic Facebook is riding, but also a precedent for the valuation of social media in general.
3. Ebay will continue to outpace Amazon. Already ahead by a slim margin in unique monthly visitors, Ebay will outpace Amazon in growth and possibly in stock value. With consumers still spending on tight budgets, the of increase in second hand shopping Ebay gained over Christmas will play an active role in consumer shopping patterns after Q1 2009 post Christmas lull.
4. P2P lending will rise as a serious source of personal finance. Consumers still need small loans despite the average American carrying thousands in credit card debt, and banks raising personal credit rates. P2P lending sites like lendingclub and prosper will rise as a preferred source of banking; providing consumers with easy access to small time loans and empowering investors with additional revenue streams.
5. Angel investing will reach tipping point. Angel investing will become a more prominent and sought after source of funding, given lower startup costs as well as the bootstrapping mentality needed for survival in a recession.  Although still playing an active role with high exit value ventures, VCs aren’t going to take the risks that they have been in the last 2 years. Savvy angel investors will not only provide short term capital but can fill the void in provided valued added strategic guidance.

Let’s see how the ball rolls towards the end of 2009 Q1. Good luck to anyone starting a business this year!