Darren Herman wants a conflict-free ad exchange. So do I. We assume there could be one because we look at the much bigger and more efficient financial markets and see they are run on exchanges. But, in reality, the financial world has moved on from exchanges, and so will the ad world. An article of […]
Fiddling while Rome burns
I read Curt Hecht’s AdExchanger interview this morning with puzzlement and, eventually, horror. Vivaki is drawing the precisely wrong conclusions from their evaluation of the situation. [re Invite Media] Google realizes it’s for the DFA stack, away from media, and they appreciate that it works just like search bid management or serving ads. It’s a […]
Google/Invite acquisition
I know plenty of people who know the facts, but none of them will talk*. So I’ll just tell you the rumors. Invite Media was acquired by Google last week. The initial guesses at the purchase price were in the $60 to $70 million range. Peter Kafka now says it was $81 million in cash. […]
Is it worth trying to ‘improve’ advertising?
I wrote something for AdExchanger today. John asked me whether media and data should be bundled. I said, at the end of a bit of a rant, [We] need a bit more idealism. We need to be trying to make the world a better place. We need to move beyond our defensive posture of being […]
Why isn’t Columbia part of the entrepreneurial community?
I was at a conference about a year ago and listened to the head of tech transfer of one of New York’s major universities say “We’re doing a great job. I don’t think there’s anything we could possibly be doing better.” And he actually seemed to believe it. I had a bit of culture shock. […]
Taxing carried interest is nothing but a political circus
I should start by saying that because of the idiosyncratic nature of my thirteen years of venture investing, I’ve never been paid a carry. And, since I’m now a country gentleman, cutting the brush and tending the horses over here in bucolic Hoboken, I probably never will be. So maybe I’m uniquely qualified to give […]
Information and Markets, Pork Chop Edition
In The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, a thought-provoking book, I came across this. The fact that the nutritional quality of a given food (and of that food’s food) can vary not just in degree but in kind throws a big wrench into an industrial food chain, the very premise of which is that beef […]
Hitting the tropopause
Some of us old-timers are feeling a bit uneasy. My friend Seth is having flashbacks and reliving Q1 2000. I long ago overcame my own PTSD, embracing my dot com bubble grief after being repeatedly compelled to recall the events in excruciating detail by various lawyers and accountants (ah, the joy of working for a […]
A picture worth significantly less than 1000 words
As an aside to yesterday’s post, here’s the mental model I am using for the industry this week.
Who Invests in Quantitative Marketing Companies?
About a month ago Jay Yarow wrote about the financing of The Trade Desk. One of the commenters insisted that only Redpoint, Union Square, Highland, Sequoia or First Round Capital were expert enough to invest in online marketing firms. I think this is wrong-headed (and not just because I was one of the investors listed […]