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"We think we have done a lot to make this by far the safest jetpack ever built. But it's not a high bar."
--Glenn Martin, in the New York Times, July 29, 2008, A13
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One of my jobs at Akona Consulting is to run the dev team that releases Microsoft's Windows Live Quick Applications. That's why I'm excited to announce that we've recently released a whole bunch of new Quick Applications - here's the "press release".
The Quick Applications are sample open-source web applications that show you how to build sites with the Windows Live Platform. Anyone can grab this source code and use it as the starting point for their own site - even if its a commercial site!
Here's a few money shots of some of the sites:
Check out the sites and the code.. and if you have any questions about what you can do with the Windows Live Platform just shoot me an email - jason at jasonkelly dot net.
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I read about Zynga's $29 million round of VC funding [wsj.com] just after getting home from Bill Bryant's StartPad presentation "Venture Capital - The Good, Bad and Ugly". Considering that just last week I was reading about VC's going dry on Facebook apps, the timing couldn't be better.
Zynga seems to have found the magic formula - build a simple, immersive experience that Facebook is not likely to copy. Games are just the ticket - they are getting tons of casual gamer eyeballs and keeping those eyes glued to the game for long periods. There's no better ad opportunity on Facebook.
What about Zynga's next step - are they going to really push their developer platform? They have the chance to be a huge casual gaming platform, but their big Series B round must be going chiefly to developing new first-party games. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the third-party story.
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I've trying to learn everything I can about starting up a new business. Along the way, I'd like to get acquainted with those who've done it and those who are in the business of funding it.
Along those lines, there's an interesting event coming up at StartPad:
Venture Capital Unplugged - The Good, Bad, and Ugly
http://startpad.org/countdown/venture-capital-unplugged-the-good-bad-and-ugly
When: 6:00 pm, Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Where: StartPad offices, 811 First Avenue, Ste. 480, Seattle
Hope to see you there if you're interested too...
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Here are the slides from my presentation on Data Portability at Social Media Camp Seattle.
It was my first BarCamp presentation and I'm really glad I did it. It's a great format, especially because it was so easy to get a conversation started. Instead of the standard "presentation followed by Q&A", it was more like as the presenter, I was spurring a discussion.
Looking forward to the next one!
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I'm sitting at Social Media Camp in Seattle.. It's an approachable, intimate group of about 75 people, most wandering between the two presentation rooms and the open space in the middle. There's a nice buzz going on about social media. It seems like everyone here is either working in a startup, revving up their own startup, or (like me) just about to make that commitment to get something started.
The BarCamp format is ideal for this kind of gathering. Those who probably wouldn't take the mantle of presenting at one of the big conferences are getting up and sharing what they're working on and what they are passionate about. It's just the kind of place for a recalcitrant presenter like me!
I'm bummed that I already missed BarCamp Seattle 2008. I'd love to go to a more targeted BarCamp in Seattle later this year.. any pointers? Or do you want to set one up? Drop me a line.
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Tomorrow (Saturday, July 12, 2008) is Social Media Camp in Seattle. Social Media Camp is a BarCamp targeted to those interested in Social Media and community-based marketing.
I've never even attended a BarCamp, but I figured I should just go boldly into it... So I'm presenting a session on Data Portability. I've recently started singing the praises of Data Portability, because I'm feeling a growing sense of ownership of my social data. The tools being built out there to create and share social data are changing the world, for sure. But they're just tools, after all. The data we create has a life of its own beyond those tools - and we should be able to do with it as we please.
The benefits of Data Portability go far beyond the ideals of freedom and ownership - it presents great business opportunities as well. Yoono is the primary sponsor of Social Media Camp, and they probably wouldn't even exist if it weren't for the fledgling efforts the big social media companies have made toward portability.
The most passionate supporters of Data Portability put together a working group - The DataPortability Project - to encourage services to use open standards. Many of the big companies in this space have joined the group (deep breath... LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, SixApart, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, et al). So if you care about Data Portability, throw a little support behind The DataPortability Project; they have the attention of the big guys.