The Return of Electric Cars
I went to the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab event yesterday. The keynote speaker was the CEO/founder of Tesla Motors. It was an informative lecture on why electric cars are more efficient compared to other types of "fuels".
Telsa is planning to start with a high-end $90k 2-seat roadster. The company will continue to develop less expensive options over the next few years.
Most of the cars in product planning have a range of fewer than 250 miles. It works for a daily commute car and just won't work for a road trip.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Superbowl 2007 Ads
I am a big fan of Superbowl ads. I think of commercial breaks as the highlights of Superbowl. I was fairly disappointed at the quality of ads this year. They were relatively disappointing so I stopped watching at half time.
I was pleasantly surprised when I came across my marketing strategy professor's website. Every year, Prof. Calkins get together for 30 Kellogg students to evaluate the Superbowl ads. They evaluate these ads on their business and branding building initiatives. This year, Prof. Calkins published their findings in this document.
As a consumer, I still look for entertainment value and creativity of Superbowl ads every year. As a marketer, I examine each ad for its user acquisition or brand building business goals.
I am a big fan of Superbowl ads. I think of commercial breaks as the highlights of Superbowl. I was fairly disappointed at the quality of ads this year. They were relatively disappointing so I stopped watching at half time.
I was pleasantly surprised when I came across my marketing strategy professor's website. Every year, Prof. Calkins get together for 30 Kellogg students to evaluate the Superbowl ads. They evaluate these ads on their business and branding building initiatives. This year, Prof. Calkins published their findings in this document.
As a consumer, I still look for entertainment value and creativity of Superbowl ads every year. As a marketer, I examine each ad for its user acquisition or brand building business goals.
Foreign Languages
My husband and I recently traveled to Europe for our very own "Roman Holiday". Neither of us speaks Italian. He pointed me to the BBC language site. A few weeks before the trip, I downloaded the MP3s from the site and managed to learn some basic phrases.
If you are traveling abroad, it is always good to try your best to speak the local language. Locals welcome the fact that you are making the effort. They will invariably speak to you in English and help you out.
My husband and I recently traveled to Europe for our very own "Roman Holiday". Neither of us speaks Italian. He pointed me to the BBC language site. A few weeks before the trip, I downloaded the MP3s from the site and managed to learn some basic phrases.
If you are traveling abroad, it is always good to try your best to speak the local language. Locals welcome the fact that you are making the effort. They will invariably speak to you in English and help you out.
Executive Summary and Beyond
I went to an excellent talk at Stanford on Tuesday. The speaker was Tom Fountain from Mayfield. Tom talked about the state of venture capital investments and gave advice on how to prepare an executive summary (slides here).
He talked about the three pillars as blueprints for success: people, market and product.
He further emphasized the importance to talk to customers. For enterprise products, talk to 10 to 20 customers. For consumer products, talk to as many people as you can. Launch the product and build the initial audience.
The logical flow for securing funding for your startup is as follows:
The investor presentation should be about 15-20 slides.
Overall, this was a great summary of the current tech market and VC funding. I was excited to hear that this is a great time to start up a technology company.
I went to an excellent talk at Stanford on Tuesday. The speaker was Tom Fountain from Mayfield. Tom talked about the state of venture capital investments and gave advice on how to prepare an executive summary (slides here).
He talked about the three pillars as blueprints for success: people, market and product.
- People - The entrepreneurs should have some unique insights about the problem they are addressing. The best ideas tend to be drawn from the founders' own professional experience.
- Market - It should be a large and rapidly growing me.
- Product - it should be a painkiller, not just a vitamin.
He further emphasized the importance to talk to customers. For enterprise products, talk to 10 to 20 customers. For consumer products, talk to as many people as you can. Launch the product and build the initial audience.
The logical flow for securing funding for your startup is as follows:
- Develop a business plan
- Prepare the investor presentation
- Draft an executive summary - this is a sales tool to pique interests. It should be 1-2 pages and tell a story.
The investor presentation should be about 15-20 slides.
- Vision statement - start with "what is it that you do?"
- Executive team
- Problem description
- Product solution
- Go to market plan
- Competitive landscape
- Operating plan
- Financial details
- Step 1: contact VC (day 1)
- Step 2: initial presentation (day 21)
- Step 3: due diligence (up to day 60)
- Step 4: sign term sheet (day 60)
- Step 5: close financing (day 90)
Overall, this was a great summary of the current tech market and VC funding. I was excited to hear that this is a great time to start up a technology company.
Monday, February 12, 2007
My Favorite Podcasts
I've been a big fan of podcasts since a couple of years ago. To be frank, I haven't gotten into the so-called user-generated content yet. In many ways, I appreciate the higher production quality of NPR or New York Times programming.
Some of my favorite professionally produced podcasts include:
More on podcasts later...
I've been a big fan of podcasts since a couple of years ago. To be frank, I haven't gotten into the so-called user-generated content yet. In many ways, I appreciate the higher production quality of NPR or New York Times programming.
Some of my favorite professionally produced podcasts include:
- 60-Second Science
- American Public Media: Marketplace
- BusinessWeek - Cover Stories
- Grey's Anatomy Official Podcast
- New York Times Health Update
More on podcasts later...