Neosophic: New Wisdom

My Mom Has a Brand New RAZR

jb — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:09:40 +0000

At MMV we always say that we have to “solve the distribution problem” for mobile and “build for the hump (of the standard deviation curve)” by building compelling mobile browser-based solutions for our bank clients. And according to my mother and recent data from NPD Group we’ve been focused on the right thing…for now. The Motorola Razr V3 remains the top-selling cellphone in the US, a position unchanged since NPD began tracking this in 2005.

Now here’s the twist, the rest of the top 5:

2. Apple iPhone 3G
3. Blackberry Curve
4. LG Chocolate
5. Blackberry Pearl

“The voice, browsing and music features represented on this list speak to the diversity of portfolios the carriers must maintain for a diverse consumer base,” said Ross Rubin, analyst with NPD Group.
So while the hump remains the hump, it’s only the RAZR that carries the “voice-only” crowd. What’s amazing is that there isn’t a single other “built for voice first” phone in the top 5. Which means two things: a) the US phone user is gettting smarter, b) Moto really was on to something with the RAZR.

Now, I used to own a RAZR back in its heyday and any RAZR owner will tell you the phone has a great design and form-factor. The crap software is the unfortunate surprise. I mean this software is really crap from the contact manager to the openwave browser. So, unsurprisingly I discovered and learned from the online world of Motorola modding. In a few short days, I was running custom firmware and video capture applications.

So, for all of you representing the #1 phone sold, start here: http://www.themotoguide.com/

Red Herring - MMV Article Evokes Bubble Nostalgia

jb — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:27:41 +0000

Red Herring was THE tech startup industry rag about 10 years ago. Particularly for East Coast based, telecom or content plays. In the Gobi days (my first startup experience), it was de riguer for us and our ISP competitors to be mentioned in the Herring, and we loved it. With the Industry Standard and the Herring, we had a good shot of coverage every week. There seemed to be a quota of under-35 CEO cover stories and the writing was a bit more hard hitting than other new entrants such as Business 2.0 or Wired. Also, it seemed that RH adopted the NYC Silicon Alley startup scene with a bit of needed skepticism.
So as you can imagine, it was my pleasure to speak with senior editor at Red Herring, Cassimir Medford about Mobile Money Ventures. I hope we can stay on the RH radar in what in undoubtedly be an interesting period for our company and the mobile industry at large.

Citi, SK Telecom Bank on Mobile [redherring.com]

“SK Telecom has a real desire to come into the U.S. with some of the expertise it has developed, and with Citi’s desire to enter the mobile space, we felt it was a perfect match for us,” said Jayastu Bhattacharya, senior vice president, strategy and business development for MMV.

Softer Circles

jb — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:54:17 +0000

One of the issues that’s cropped up with our “perma-lead” investor model is that discussions with VCs on funding have taken on a shape that I’m not as used to. In my previous startup experience timing has been everything with VCs where the remaining runway is as much a source of pressure for the VCs as it is for us. Given where we are in the cycle and who our initial investors are, runway is not an issue. So the discussions with VCs, strategics and opportunistic funding sources have all turned a bit casual.

Also, the change in the mentality of the VC who typically leads a round to what will definitely be a co-investor is another twist. I will be interested to see how due diligence is approached given the scrutiny that our parent companies give us.

Speaking Engagement

jb — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:32:21 +0000

I will be giving a talk at the Online Retail Banking Services 2008 conference on 5/20-5/21. Christophe Langlois who writes the very informative Visible Banking is chairing the event. I am looking forward to sharing some enlightenment on mobile banking at this event.

Leadoers: The Startup Guys

jb — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:00:59 +0000

As we start to get our new company off the ground one of the key pieces of data that we are filling out is the hiring plan. Having been through the startup hiring cycle a few times before, I think we can avoid some of the pitfalls with some good decisioning. In the early days of the company doing things is everyone’s job. Leading is also everyone’s job. There is space for people who do without leading, but very little. In this phase is absolutely no time or space for leader, pontificators, pure strategists, etc. Everyone has to act and live like a owner/founder.

For those who may be wondering, startup hiring goes in phases:

1) Founders and founding employees: Emotionally invested and dedicated believers in the “vision” and are willing to do anything they need to do to get to the vision. I met some of my best friends from these phases at various companies in the most odd circumstances: Marketing guy sleeping on the floor of the data center because the website had to be released at 3am, graphic designer stuck under a heavy desk connecting Cat5 because he moved the furniture himself instead of waiting (or paying) for help.

These people are all classic doers and do not get political about things. Seeing through to the endgame is a good quality to have if you want to be in this category. Many of them avoid working in corporate all together.

2) Well-funded employees: These are the folks who show up after Series A, maybe after an heavy angel round if you are well connected. Usually a good set of startups on the resume, no real winners yet. Specialties abound here: specific channel marketing managers and the first dedicated PR headcount are common front-office roles in this phase. We start seeing some back-end management, the PMO may rear its head. The idea is that there is some money on the table now, and we need to get this train up to speed and put some rigor into the day-to-day. Most of these hires will fit in very well, having been immersed in the startup culture. Some will be corporate expatriates who may have some process affinities (Six Sig, Rapid Results), favorite partners (creative agencies, tech consulting) and expectations (read: skrilla).

3) Grey-hairs: So now that the board has some VCs on it, things are going to get interesting. The founders are going to start being a bit more tense before the meetings and one day they will come back with a really happy look and say something like, “I’ll get to focus on the true innovative vision!” or “I will offload some of the more management oriented duties and really get back into the guts of the company!”. This is the magical point, where money and “the vision” part ways. Sometimes it happens at 50 employees, sometimes at 100, but as soon as the professional money gets in the company account, you are on the suit invasion timeline.

The way to gauge whether the suit is going to work is whether they try to fit in. The ones that do are the ones that will fail. At a very casual, urban media startup, we had a great BD candidate come in and interview with casual clothes. He got hired and went back to his suits…and ties! Amazingly, because he didn’t try to fit in, he got his work done, when he met with the agents and music label execs, they didn’t try to shoot the shit with him, just listened to his pitch and made a decision. His deal throughput was great. At another company the founders hired a CFO from a major international bank. He came in and tried to dress down after getting the lay of the land. His entire dress down wardrobe was 4 Huxtable sweaters. That guy sucked and quit in 3 months.

What is very cool about the Mobile Money Ventures, is that we have all three categories in it from the start. Also, our angel round is Citigroup and SK Telecom. I hope we don’t ever have those sweaters.