The Comunicano Daily for Monday March 3, 2014

The Comunicano Daily

Microsoft is being shaken up. As reported first by Re/Code-story below, and now by others, the changes at Microsoft are not unexpected as I wrote on AndyAbramson.com. The politics inside the company are massive, and the changes are going to come fast. --Now onto the news.     Exclusive: Top Execs Bates and Reller to Depart, As Musical Chairs Begins at Microsoft   Two direct reports to new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella - EVP of business development and evangelism Tony Bates and EVP of marketing Tami Reller - are leaving the company, according to numerous sources close to the situation. It's not clear where either exec is headed, if anywhere immediately.       [continue...]     Microsoft Is Said to Shake Up Staff With Penn's Appointment Related Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) 's newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, in an effort to reignite growth, is shuffling management and putting former political operative Mark Penn in the new role of chief strategy officer, according to people with knowledge of the matter.     [continue...]       The car and truck market is the next focus for all the major mobile players. BlackBerry's QNX division is focused on that, and in reality, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a big market, of which the automotive market is one of the biggest. Today, Apple unveiled their eco-system first deploying partners, and they are the creme de la creme of cars--Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Volvo.     Apple CarPlay debuts with Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo Apple has rebranded its iOS in the Car initiative as CarPlay, and unveiled Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo as the first partners to build it into their vehicles.     [continue...]       News and insights don't always come from the media. Looking back at Mobile World Congress, the news was rather blase, but there are stories coming out from Barcelona that are not from the mainstream but which play into the grand scheme of things very well. The head of digital at Nordic telecom giant Telnor has some very good perspectives, as does UK journalist/researcher and pal Brad Rees.     Top trends at Mobile World Congress "Our business is more relevant than ever. The game is changing and we are working up close and personal with the game-changers." Here's a look at Mobile World Congress through the eyes of the Head of Telenor Digital, Rolv-Erik Spilling.     [continue...]     The unsung hero of Mobile World Congress is not an app, a mobile phone or a 'wearable' as Brad Rees examines the Connected City and what it means to the consumer       Wearables, dirt-cheap smartphones and Facebook philanthropy wring from the Mobile World Congress 2014 belltower but there's something big, maybe too big, for our tiny, self-centred consumer brains to take in, which is writ large at MWC, Fira, Gran Via, Hall 3, Stand A11.     [continue...]       How companies raise money is a hot topic these days. First Round Capital led me to a post on story telling tips, something our own "master of the message" Bill Ryan has been saying for years.     Take Your Fundraising Pitch from Mediocre to Memorable with These Storytelling Tips Oren Jacob grew up in a family of storytellers. His parents were teachers who were constantly hosting family, friends, colleagues, passersby from around the world - each with their own story to tell. So it's not surprising he's built his career around compelling narratives.     [continue...]       Three-UK has been a bit late to the LTE game in the UK, but they are catching up quick. What's very interesting is the moves they have made over the past year are not that different than T-Mobile in the USA, but with a difference. Their 11 country data romaing is at 3G/4G/LTE not 2G.     H3G UK confirms 4G network is live in 36 major towns and cities TeleGeography's free daily email summary of the world's top telecom news stories.     [continue...]       Having been a REGUS road warrior for years, and someone who flys in and out of Gatwick Airport outside of London, hearing they have opened a center at Gatwick is welcome news. More importantly, they are innovating, gearing up more for the mobile worker. Gatwick is in many ways a great test bed for new ideas for the traveler as it is an aging facility that needs a makeover badly.       Regus to open mobile working hub at Gatwick Global workplace provider Regus has signed an agreement with Gatwick Airport to open a drop-in business lounge and meeting room centre near the South Terminal Arrivals area, in addition to workspace airside next to the departure gates.     [continue...]       Pal Om Malik may no longer be writing everyday at GigaOm, focusing more on being a venture capitalist at True Ventures, but he's still penning insightfully. His views on journalism are also still spot on. His commentary on the state of media is a a good read as is the Marc Andreessen post of a few days back.     Your Attention Please "Instagrams, Secrets, Whispers, and Snapchats are in direct competition with the Times...Daily attention is being sliced and diced multiple ways." That's me in conversation with Ryan Tate of Wired who asked me to comment on Marc Andreessen's recent post about the state and future of media.     [continue...]     The Future of the News Business: A Monumental Twitter Stream All in One Place BY MARC ANDREESSEN I am more bullish about the future of the news industry over the next 20 years than almost anyone I know. You are going to see it grow 10X to 100X from where it is today. That is my starting point for any discussion about the future of journalism.     [continue...]       Stories about Silicon Valley are fun to read....money being raised, culture, security, insecurty and more.      More Tech Startups are Raising Double-Digit Funding Rounds Within a 12 Month Span - Why? In February 2013, Snapchat raised a $13.5 Series A round from Benchmark Capital. Just four months later, Snapchat took a $60M Series B round led by Institutional Venture Partners. And just six months after that, the ephemeral messaging startup took a $50M financing round, this time from tech hedge fund Coatue Management.     [continue...]     This Industry Is Completely Ridiculous. Let's Hope It Stays That Way.   OK. Let's take a step back from all the recent tech news, look at it with fresh eyes - and try not to burst into slightly hysterical laughter. In Japan, some half-billion dollars' worth of cryptocurrency vanished from a site founded to trade Magic: The Gathering cards.       [continue...]     When Start-Ups Don't Lock the Doors Young tech companies have a long list of to-dos. Signing up users and raising money are usually at the top of the list. Much further down? Data security. That neglect has recently come back to bite many hot new applications and web services - and their users - and has them rushing to improve their products after breaches and holes were discovered.     [continue...]       Last week was a big week here in San Diego. Comunicano's Irena Boostani and Jim Brynes, along with Bill Ryan and Tim Kridel all contributed to a series of launches that have been in the works which will be helping to shape and redefine the San Diego technology scene. We joined Jeff Belk, former SVP Marketing and CSO to launch Bright Light Management, and along with ex Bloomberg Reporter Josh Baylin, Velocity Growth. Both focus on Crowdfunding but with two complimentary approaches. Bright Light Management has partnered with OurCrowd to bring new sources of capital into San Diego, while Velcocity Growth will be involved with rewards based funding.   P.S. Now everyone knows why I'll be staying "home" more and traveling less.     Equity crowd-funding eyed for SD start-ups Young San Diego companies sometimes bemoan the difficulty of raising investment capital locally, which forces them to court venture firms in hotly competitive Silicon Valley or elsewhere. Can the rise of equity crowd-funding websites give these entrepreneurs an additional avenue to raise money? There's a movement afoot to find out.     [continue...]     Innovations in Equity Crowdfunding Take Center Stage in San Diego Securities regulators are still formulating new rules that would allow startups to use Kickstarter-like campaigns for equity crowdfunding. But in the meantime, a couple of investment groups have put together Internet crowdfunding platforms for people who qualify as accredited investors under existing law.     [continue...]     San Diego's StackIQ Gets First-Day Funding Boost on OurCrowd Website StackIQ, which provides Software-as-a-Service for managing "Big Data" computing systems, said today it is the first San Diego startup selected to raise capital from accredited investors through OurCrowd, the online crowdfunding firm based in Jerusalem.     [continue...]       One of the true journalists I respect who has covered and helped define the news market on the internet has called it quits for now. Dan Farber, long a fixture on the San Francisco and New York media scene posted that he's ending his thirty year run and will be seeking new frontiers.

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