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Showing posts from October, 2012

Windows 8: Microsoft's Seppuku

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The Microsoft's empire peaked a couple of years ago, but last week it has started collapsing. Windows 8 together with the Windows RT and the glorified Surface tablets are the evidence. It is unbelievable, but the bundle is a complete self-ingited disaster. For consumers the reason to stay with Windows has been the backwards compatibility. Which has just been broken now. Windows 8 is no longer compatible with the previous versions of Windows. Whoever is presented with the Windows 8 start screen is immediately lost and confused. No desktop. Just tiles. And when they find the "desktop" tile, they get the desktop without the Start button. Try it for yourself and experience the feeling. For many Windows users it is now easier to move to MacOS or ChromeOS than to move to the Windows 8. Or even better to stay with Windows 7. Which is the reason consumers will reject the 8. Windows RT goes even further in breaking the backwards compatibility. Nothing works there. Literal...

Successful Startup (Part 4)

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My previous posts on startups were focused on people and the organization. Now let us move towards the products. Creating a startup always is about creating a better product. And again it can be a better iPhone or just a better corner grocery store. The scale does not matter, but the goal is to find customers willing to spend money. Therefore what is delivered must appeal to them either on a global or a local base. So how do we create a better product? Of course it starts with an idea. Which again does not have to be revolutionary. A corner shop almost never is revolutionary but can be very successful. When? When it delivers to the customers a value they are willing to pay for. And not just once. Customers must be willing to return. Or recommend you to the others. This is possible only when they see a true value in your product. So how do you create a product that has value? It starts with a mindset. Your own and the mindset of the team. The mindset to create, build and deliver s...

Web Or Apps (Revisited)?

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The Web vs Apps dilemma keeps on rolling. It started with the iPhone1, which opened the idea of an "App", as we understand it today. Then we started comparing platforms by counting the number of available apps: iOS had this and Android had that and Blackberry had only this... Then HTML5 has come along and many (including myself) believed Apps were going to die because they would soon be replaced by new powerful Web technologies. Then Facebook announced the HTML5 decision was the worst they ever made. So where is the future? In the Web or in Apps? Here is my opinion based on the work we have done at WiHo.me : Apps will die and will be replaced by the Web technologies known as HTML5. And at the same time Apps will live and will not be replaced by the Web technologies known as HTML5. Confused? Keep on reading. The first statement: Apps will die and will be replaced by HTML5 applies to desktop computing. There are less and less dedicated, so called "rich client"...

Successful Startup (Part 3)

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Resuming today the entrepreneurship season (which will be interlacing with other topics from now on), let's briefly recap the two previous posts. The first one was about the entrepreneur and the three personal traits: passion, courage and perseverance, being a prerequisite to a success. In the second one I named the team as the most important piece of the puzzle, placing the team before the ideas, the products and the business models. Today I want to write about the risks. The risks of the entrepreneur, he is willing to take with his courage and mitigate with his passion and perseverance. I am using a plural form, but in fact there is just one risk. The risk of failure. The risk of failure has many faces. Some are afraid they will be subject of jokes in the community. You should not. The act of engaging and creating a startup is itself the act of courage. After all you might have had a hot job and a chance to spend the bank loan on a new house. You left the job to starve, ...