I’m not the only one that thinks Google is for search only

A while back I wrote that Google is trying to do too much and hardly succeeding at anything other than search.

Its nice to see someone else agreeing with me. Read Don Dodge’s “Google a one trick pony?

Listen to a live pitch to real VCs

Here’s a cool post “Gnomedex 6: Should TagJag be funded ?” from Jeff Clavier that talks about how Chris Pirillo had the creative idea to do a live pitch to VCs about his company TagJag. I suggest you read it as the basic advice is excellent, pointing out many mistakes that entrepreneurs make. Also, listen to the mp3 file of the presentation.

Management Wisdom: Firing People

I’ve had to fire quite a few people over my past n companies. Some firings went really well. Others were a complete disaster, especially when I had to fire those that were consumed by the Dark Side. Wish I had read “When Firing Someone, Focus On Those Who Remain” back then. And if you’re planning on starting/running/building a company, I suggest you read these links too.

Still watching broadcast TV?

Scanning through this TechCrunch post Whither Television Programming? drove me to jot some quick thoughts on the future of TV:

I rarely, if ever, sit through an entire broadcast TV program. I do, however, watch about 2 hours of recorded TV a day and probably another 1/2 hr of Internet-downloaded videos.

I can easily see a day when you will simply subscribe to your favorite video entertaiment via vodcasting (video clips delivered to your computer via podcasting technology) and never go near your cable TV again.

In fact, many will argue that day has arrived already, with the ever-growing lists of vodcasts one can subscribe too. Maybe so, but those are still in the amateur category. I want to subscribe to my favorite news program and watch it on my laptop/pc/media center.

I think the big question/challenge for the traditional media is how to not lose ad revenue. How do you stop people from FFing through the ads?

Easy, but hard: Make the ads relevant to the viewer. Develop a 1-1 with me and what I’m looking for. Do that, and I’ll probably hit rewind and play the ad a few times.