As a half-Puerto-Rican, half-Black, American, female entrepreneur, who grew up in Germany and now lives in Canada (yes, you can tick off quite a few boxes with me I have to say a sincere “Thank You” to Mike, Soledad, and all the other Black entrepreneurs who have participated in this online discussion! Through this conversation, I have discovered several other minority entrepreneurs and have read about their innovative ventures. What I have most appreciated about many of the posts in this aftermath is the focus on building a solid business!

I am a serial entrepreneur. My first start-up sold, the second one was too early to market and was tabled, the third one has turned into a “lifestyle business” and is growing modestly and bringing in revenues, the fourth one was only a feature and never meant be a business, and I’m currently launching my 5th, an innovative digital and social publishing platform. I cannot claim to speak for other black, Latino, or female entrepreneurs. However, I can speak personally to the satisfaction of building something “meaty” that has the potential of truly disrupting business-as-usual. And, as someone who has been down this path a few times, it is not as easy as many suggest.

I, too, am currently raising the next round of financing (as a start-up CEO, when are you not doing this?!). And, I sincerely hope that the financing I receive is based on my business and the potential it has to give investors (and me!) a HUGE return. I do NOT want to be “given” anything simply because I represent a “diversity quota”. I want to be backed by investors who believe in what I am building and believe that my business deserves their support!

Once again, thank you Mike, Soledad, and all the others for recognizing that the issue is much bigger than race, gender, geo-location, or whatever. Yes, we all bring our cumulative, personal experiences to each of our ventures and that diversity of perspectives should add value to each new opportunity. That said, it is ultimately about building a truly disruptive, innovative and solid business. I firmly believe I am building such a business and my job, as is the job of any entrepreneur, is to sell everyone I can on my vision, the business potential and my ability to deliver everything I say and more! No less, and hopefully a lot more!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Over the weekend, I had an exchange with another colleague of mine about a great online video that was an hour long (for those of you interested, it’s about How and Why Ideas Spread in Social Media). My colleague mentioned that the video would be much more “viral” if it were shorter and better edited. I did not disagree, but also argued that SOMETIMES, if something is important to you/your career, you need to invest the time and the effort to learn about complex insights and wisdom. And, in fact, it is perhaps those who do take the time to watch and listen, who may come out ahead.

Now, I’m the CEO of a publishing technology company, BookRiff, and I teach Social Media Strategy & Marketing and Social Media Monetization at the University of British Columbia. I firmly believe that BOTH long-form and short-form content have their places. That said, I am always surprised at the expectations of many people who believe they can quickly become “experts” or “gurus” because they can get bite-sized pieces of information quickly and efficiently.

Perhaps I am just an “Old Fart”, who has spent many, many hours reading, listening, watching, and networking. Maybe I’m missing something in the “New School Way of Learning”. But, I do believe that sometimes we simply have to put in the time and effort. For some, it will be spending hours using the new tools and coming to their own conclusions. For others, it will be spending the time reading others’ summaries and lessons learned. In either case, I do believe that there are few short-cuts to climbing the mountain. The paths may be different, but in the end, they all require a certain investment of time, money, and effort. Whether you choose to spend your time, money and/or effort is purely a personal choice. But, thinking that everything can be internalized and distilled down to 140 characters is probably not the answer either!

What do you think?! Am I just an “Old Fart” who’s hoping experience, thought, and analysis still count for something or am I simply missing something in the “New School Way” of communicating, building relationships, and learning? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Much like Apple, Amazon is building an ecosystem around digital content and the Kindle eReader. But, unlike Apple, Amazon is betting on digital content not the hardware. It is well known that Apple makes more significant margins on hardware sales and not as much on iTunes or its Apps Store. (I haven’t seen any figures yet for the iBookstore.) Amazon seems to be following a different approach and is betting on its Kindle/Amazon Stores to be the revenue drivers. (I guess it is similar to the HP printer model, where profits are generated from the consumables and not the hardware.)

Given Amazon’s leadership position in the ecommerce and online shopping space this makes perfect sense and it will be interesting to see if there comes a time when the Kindle will even be sold at a loss (people are already saying that it’ll be $99 within the next year).

Both Amazon and Apple are playing to their strengths and I look forward to seeing how these business models pan out in the coming months! Will it be an Amazon vs. Apple world? What role might Google play with the launch of Google Editions? Can B&N or Kobo come from behind?

What I do know is that exciting times are ahead and I am thrilled to be a part of this amazing publishing transition!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I am extremely excited by BookRiff because they have developed a solution to a very important (and fundamental) issue facing media today, namely: How can consumers use media as they wish, while also ensuring that content owners get paid?! BookRiff answers this question quite elegantly and simply.

Essentially, BookRiff is a technology platform that allows consumers to mix content from virtually any source–published books, websites, and their own files–to build custom compilations called Riffs. Think of Riffs as “Mixtapes of Text”. Each time a Riff is distributed, all content owners and contributors get paid. BookRiff’s technology manages the authoring, bundling, licensing, attribution, and payment details for each of these custom compilations. That’s pretty powerful!

To provide a little history, BookRiff was initially incubated within Vancouver-based D&M Publishers, one of Canada’s largest independent publishers, and was recently spun-off as an independent venture.  I have been “dating” the company for a couple of months and we mutually decided it was finally time to “go steady”! I am thrilled that President of D&M Publishers and founder of Bookriff, Mark Scott, has entrusted me to drive BookRiff’s future success! We already have some great partners and plans in place and we are building a phenomenal team! Do stay tuned for more exciting announcements in the very near future!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I’m often referred to as one the “Exotic Birds” here in Vancouver. (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. ) I have lots of senior management, operations, finance and investment experience and the city would like to court more people like me. So, why aren’t there more people like me in Vancouver? Well, based on my experience, I think there needs to be a realignment of what it “costs” to be a global business player.

Recently, I’ve been approached by several local companies and organizations to join their teams, and while the opportunities have been very exciting, the conversations have come to a screeching halt (a little exaggerated) once dollars start being discussed. Now, I do understand that Vancouver isn’t NY, San Francisco or Toronto, but why am I consistently presented with compensation packages that equate to what I earned 10 years ago?! (And, this is not to point the finger at any one Vancouver company; this has happened numerous times.) At the same time, I’m being heavily courted by companies in other cities that are offering packages that are 2-3 times higher.

I really want to stay in Vancouver! But, as a business person, I am trained to balance opportunities with maximizing revenues. And, that’s exactly what these companies want me to do, once hired. So, why would I act any differently when it comes to my own earning potential. Now, I am not completely mercenary. (Frankly, if I were, I would be much richer and definitely NOT living in Vancouver.)

So, where does that leave us… well, I would like to see a shift in valuing those very skills that seem to be lacking here.  Right now, we aren’t raising the bar to make Vancouver business opportunities attractive on a global scale! (To this point, I have spoken with at least a dozen phenomenal/qualified/ambitious colleagues in the past two weeks and we all joke that we’ll meet at YVR on our way to companies that do value us.)

Vancouver did a fabulous job raising the bar for the Olympics and for two weeks it truly felt like a global city! Now, we need to take that same energy and investment to make it become a world-class business environment! I’m not leaving, yet…but, I am putting the city on notice!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I am finding some interesting (and unsettling) discussions about “old” leaders/entrepreneurs. On the interesting side, there was a post in Techncrunch this morning about the benefits of older entrepreneur leaders, and I was also impressed with Jay-Z’s recent interview on Bill Maher, especially in answering why an “old” man (40) like him is still successful in a industry that’s all about youth. On the unsettling side, I do get a sense that a quote in Seth Godin’s, Tribes, best describes what I sometimes hear/sense from younger entrepreneurs:

…some people admire the new and stylish far more than they respect the proven state of affairs…As a result, new ways of doing things, new jobs, new opportunities, and new faces become ever more important.

Well, technically, I now fall into the “old” category! (Although, thanks to my parents, I’m told I look younger ) Am I one of those “old, stodgy, outdated” leaders/entrepreneurs?! I’ve always said:

I’m a Gen Y in a Gen X body! I’ve always been a change agent and have even been too early to a market.

So, what makes me and my “older” colleagues successful in industries that seem to value youth?! I would argue that it is a combination of curiosity, flexibility, AND experience allowing us to have a unique perspective, as well as, partnering with 20-somethings who have the energy, time, and market insight to launch new and sustainable ideas!

Perhaps, I’m only saying this because I’m 40. If I were 28, I might be disagreeing with this argument. There are still a lot of amazing opportunities out there and I plan to bring ALL of my experience (and flashiness ) to every endeavor I’m part of. I’ll be sure to keep you posted…

Happy New Year!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

On the Web, value is not created primarily by either content or distribution. Users create value out of content through the use of tools that enable them to do something with the content, whether it’s to move it, share it, reformat it, store it, discover it, mash it up or embed it. What the media companies most sorely lack is not sufficient content or adequate distribution but a workable mechanism for capturing a fair share of the value users are creating for themselves. Ultimately, media companies need to become not distributors or content owners but enablers.

At Donat Group, we often have this conversation with media clients — both large and small. It is always interesting to propose a scenario to them in which neither the content nor the distribution have significant value and to see where the conversation meanders. When we present our model of Audience Engagement Value, most clients are initially quite surprised. (I know this sounds like B-School/Corporate-speak, but bear with me ) What this all boils down to is the fact that today’s audiences (however you define “audiences”) want to do something with content — theirs, yours, it doesn’t really matter.

So, the real questions on the table are: What is that “something” you’re going to let them do?! And, is there perceived value to them in doing that?!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I was very fortunate to connect with several bright, sharp and visionary people and am still digesting all the nuggets of wisdom that were doled out. It’s going to take a while before completely internalizing all that I heard.

I must admit that I am always most interested in the question of “What’s happening with ‘Business’?” All I can say is the only consistent answer I heard was: Change! Awesome!! Changing business models mean lots of new opportunities and challenges, and, of course, lots of uncertainty! I thrive in uncertainty!

As a teaser, here are a few of the “nuggets” that have me stewing:

• Social Capital and its role in the Social Media Economy
• The Importance of Micro-transactions in Social Media Monetization
• The Importance of Social Experiences to ALL media businesses
• Synergizing the Mob
• New Leadership and Organizational Models
• Agile Business Planning

Unfortunately, I don’t have any concrete answers right now; lots more thinking to be done! If you’re interested in batting around some of these ideas with me, do send me a note!

In the meantime, I’ll try to catch up on my email backlog and recharge my battery before my week begins…and, for all my US colleagues and friends, have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites