Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0

“Enterprise 2.0 [is about] letting users into your back office and turning your company inside out.” – Tim O’Reilly

Today, I attended the Web 2.0 Conference and Expo in San Francisco. I am really loving everything about Web 2.0: The people, the innovations, the causes, the opportunities…

The People

I took Caltrain/Muni up to Moscone today (Woke up around 6:30, yet took the 8am train). My first stop: I walked by the Web2Open area, and just listened to the organizers talk about the formats of the Open Sessions, and how user participation is essential. Here, I met Rebecca, from Australia via India, who is working on her art-related web startup. We chatted a little, and basically hung out throughout the day. Around noon, we caught up with Nick, Rebecca’s partner, also an Australian working out of India right now. We chatted about our experiences, our ideas, and just lots of Web 2.0 related issues that were really interesting. The more people I met at these events, the more I get the impression that Web-2.0-people are so awesome. These people all share a common vision, a common goal, and a common drive. It’s so refreshing and enjoyable to met these kinds of people.

Later in the day, while taking a break from the afternoon sessions, Rebecca and I met another new friend, Steve Yoo, from Missouri, who has is the founder and master coder of Iintern.net — an internship network.

The Innovations

I spent most of the day crawling through the expo. Basically just checking out all the booths, all the demos, and snatching up on some freebies. Okay: freebies first, I got a cool little mini USB-mouse from Suns; Two T-shirts; and One USB-Hub from Disney. Really cool stuff. Anyways, the important part, I talked to several really interesting companies… Some demoing their software platform, some demoing their cool application, some sharing ideas, or pitching some weird product. I really got a lot to think about, in terms of scoping out the market, and understanding the tools that are available for me to use for development. I’ve never seen most of these cool things. It was certainly an eye opener experience.

Beyond that, Tim O’Reilly, Scott Berkun, and Clay Shirky gave fantastic key note speeches. Scott Berkun talked about Innovation. Nothing very new/insightful here, expect a few points: No need to focus on “the moment.” Rather, the preparation that lead to an “idea” and the actions taken upon the “idea” are more important! Other than that, “find real problems, create real solutions.”

The Causes

O’Reilly gave several important and insightful points regarding his observations about Web 2.0. He talked about Enterprise 2.0 being a unstoppable force — companies need to be a part of it, or they’ll lose to their startup competitors (therein lies the opportunity!). This is perhaps the coolest thing I learned today. More and more, I am reaffirmed of my strong faith in my startup. It is the drive to do good, and to create a better tomorrow embracing the Web 2.0 tidal wave that keeps my motors going.

For an afternoon Web2Open session, I attended the Web2.0 Politics session. The session mainly talked about how the Web 2.0 environment has created new opportunities and new methods for public issues to be presented to voters. Many initiatives are able to come to voters because of the mobilization characterization of the Web 2.0 space. Down with Lobbyist and big money corporations!

The Opportunity

Clay Shirky probably gave the best speech of the afternoon. He hammered across his observation regarding the “cognitive surplus.” Simply put, people are dissipating energy by watching tv, surfing the internet, drinking boos, playing video games, or doing stupid things in general. Now, if we count of all that wasted time… He pointed out: Since the invention of TV (50yrs now) 200-billion hrs/yr in the US have been wasted by the human race! Now, what about the collective amount of time that users have spent on writing/editing/maintaining wikipedia? 100-million hours, a far cry from the TV time, eh? Well, it’s so interesting to think of things this way. It is obvious that there is a huge opportunity there.

Note to self:

Buy and read Clay Shirky’s book: “Here Comes Everybody”

Signup for Microsoft Live Mesh

Look into OpenSocial

Research more into Mobile applications, issues and opportunities

Caution: IP issue will require professional help.

The Buying Experience

“Sometimes, the best part of buying something… is the buying part.” – Seth Godin [1]

The human psychology behind the economic decision making process is an interesting thing.

… and this is what I intend to capture in my startup (but this is really as much as I will disclose for now).

Thinking in my Stanford decision analysis class’s terms: the sunk cost principle might have something to do with Seth’s observation. People may feel that the products they buy immediate loses some tangible/intangible value, once they’ve made the purchase.

Yet, perhaps, to some people, the value is in the buying, and not ownership. Is this something that can be quantified?

Example: If there are two exactly identical products, one is being sold at an upscale shopping district; and one is being sold at measly little insignificant store. Then, there is “value” placed upon the store-front, and perhaps, “value” to the consumer in the different buying experiences.

It will be interesting to see how this sense of value will be reflected in my “system.”

[1] Seth Godin, 20080420, Sometimes the best part…