There is a claim that adult content was not available on Betamax (possibly because Sony would not allow it) while it was becoming readily available on VHS. Whether or not this was really a factor is a contentious topic….

(read the sotry how VHS format won here)

But then they did…  The folks at mikandi get it for sure. The killer application of all times – porn, now at a screen next to you.

There are still some open positions at the company. But beware, if you are self-righteous, ignorant and/or annoying please do not apply.

I knew that i wanted to control my destiny, so I knew I needed revenues, right, fucking, now. Like I needed revenues now. So I funded the company myself but I did every horrible thing in the book to, just to get revenues right away. I mean we gave our users poker chips if they downloaded this zwinky toolbar which was like, I dont know, I downloaded it once and couldn’t get rid of it. *laughs* We did anything possible just to just get revenues so that we could grow and be a real business…So control your destiny. So that was a big lesson, controlling your business. So by the time we raised money we were profitable.

Personally, I do not see ANY problem with that. In fact, despite the somehow graphic langue and maybe some over bragging, I think that Mark Pincus was/ is doing the right thing. All we have to do is wait and see how it goes…

Still among the top 200 networks, Geocities which was up for more then a decade and was the first example of an open, simple to use, free personal Internet is now being closed. 2,000,000+ sites hosted on Geocities will be gone forever.

There are many morals for this story, but I’d like to point you to just one. Only 10 years ago Yahoo! acquired Geocities for ~ $4,000,000,000 (in stock….) to get this site.

The agreement, which combines two of the World Wide Web’s most popular destinations, would be the largest acquisition involving a Southern California Internet start-up. It also would solidify Santa Clara, Calif.-based Yahoo’s position at the head of the portal pack.

Can it happen again? Can one of today’s web-based leaders will be taken down and its content will be lost forever?

Will anyone pay such amount today?

11.22.2009 Update:

Almost a month later and the site is still pretty high on Alexa…..

Change log

11.22.2009 12:35 am Changed So Yahoo! is taking down Geocities today to So Yahoo! is taking down Geocities..

I read this article and find it to be interesting for multiple reasons:

1. Peter tells a nice story about Passlogix. I like stories. 
2. I second Peter’s thoughts. Customers buy from someone they trust. It does not matter if you work in a big company or a small company. In order to sell, you should gain your customers trust.
3. I was amused that Peter found the mentioned phenomenon interesting. 

Did you ever think why customers buy? why do YOU buy? I always find it awkward when I hear experts talk teach about the art (or science) of selling, but they do not teach why customers buy.  IMO, a customer or a prospect will trust their sales rep if he and the company that he represents are professional, reliable, accurate and will be there when needed. Day or night.  Sun or rain. 

Many years ago, when I sold our first major (at the time) project, I looked at my prospect eyes and told him something along the following lines:

 Believe me… we know what we are doing, you are not the second or third customer for this kind of project

He knew that he was the first, but he trusted us..

 Marc Boroditsky is the president, CEO and a co-founder of Passlogix . He is passionate about his company and will always answer the phone. Companies should have passionate executives at all levels. I wish Mr. Boroditsky (I do not know him) all the best. Such success stories make my day. Learning from my own experience, one day he could not answer the phone for every customer. But then, he must have other executives with the same level of passion that will.

Assaf  adds:  He concludes with “small is the new big”. Maybe the correct line is “Big is the new small?”.

If you believe Rafael’s marketing director, they are pretty consistent in the way they think about marketing movies:  ”We try to make the movies about the place where the defense expo is located,” the company source said, adding that in previous years Rafael had won prizes for its pavilions and marketing techniques. 

Whether you think that the movie is bad and wrong or just not according to your taste, it proves again that there’s no bad marketing.  Just look at the youtube counter. 116,000 and growing..

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp announced plans on Thursday to open its own chain of stores and hired a DreamWorks Animation executive to run them.

The move follows rival Apple Inc’s successful foray into retailing, but comes at a time when consumer spending is under pressure due to the recession.

The company did not say how many stores it was looking to open, or when, or which products would be available.

That is to be decided by David Porter, a former DreamWorksexecutive, which Microsoft named as its new vice president ofretail stores on Thursday.
 

Source: Yahoo!

The company’s investment, announced Tuesday by Intel CEO Paul Otellini at a speech in Washington, speaks to the semiconductor industry’s need to keep investing heavily, regardless of the poor economic climate that has led Intel to cut jobs.

The investment could be a boon to companies that produce chip-making equipment, like Applied Materials Inc. and KLA-Tencor Corp., and is another example of how Intel’s deep pockets have kept rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. at bay.

I love this smell as well

It’s this time of the year. One can smell it. If you remember Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore’s statement ”I love the smell of napalm in the morning”, you know what I’m talking about. It’s the last uphill battle at the continuous war on business. Assaf calls this EQ. I call this the best time of the quarter.EQ – the End of the Quarter. Everyone is on the watch, alerted and ready. This is the time to separate between the boys and men.  Get the POs and meet your personal goals as well as the company numbers. All are reay to take a bite of the pie. 

It’s all about eve sales. The ability to answer the customer needs, create a solution, close a deal and get a PO. All are alerted, focusing on the goal. To be honest, I always thought that sales is an art, but then I’ve learned that it is actually a process.

Old school will use Og Mandino’s sales principles: 

• Don’t pity yourself
• Start each day with a target
• Be friendly always
• Always set an additional step then necessary
• Be alert for each opportunity
• Each problem has a positive side
• Laugh in moment of hatred and anger
• Concentrate on one thing
• Be proud and satisfied
• Examine the acts of the day at night

• Know the players. 
• Don’t blame others. 
• Salute your peers.
• Be a partner, not a pitchman

But the real rules, those that they will not tell you are more simple. Follow the ABC. 

exactly 12 years ago, I realized what the goal should be, but never knew, beyond the basic instinct, what should be done. Then, not so many years ago, Assaf introduced me to David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross.

I admit that most of the movie was boring, but then the sales scene (see transcript here,) helped me to put the pieces together. 

For all of us out there, trying to get it done in such  troubling times, here’s the classic lesson of what should be done.