live blogging web 2.0 expo – tuesday keynotes

See table of contents for full list of web 2.0 expo posts

I got a seat in the front row. No tall person in front of me like at ignite!

Opening Remarks Sarah Milstein (TechWeb)
  • @sarahm – spelling @brady say to send speaker feedback
  • Live stream w2tv.co
  • I had heard Rachel speak earlier in the year – when she was brand new on the job. A lot more confident now.
  • “city streets are the original social network” – DOT.

4 keys

  • Access to technology. Library cruical to providing access [therefore keep talking about cut ting weekend hour s]. Also more wifi in parks
  • Open government – want city to be a platform like twitter where city opens data and others do things with it. NYC holds contests to make that happen. Hurricane Irene was example of nyc.gov going down due to too much traffic. Since data was available before, other sites could make/host own copy. #reinventnycgov first ever NYC hackathon
  • Engagement – reach people through social media. More conversation with public. Twitter promoted @nycmayorsoffice to twitter users identifying NYC as location during irene. Got 30K new followers that weekend. @311nyc quietly launched to ask/answer questions so can see what others ask. NYC has more mobile apps than any other US city
  • Industry – encouraging startups in city, competitions

What Does It Mean to Be a Media Company Today? Alexa von Tobel (LearnVest.com)

told the story of starting her company. Emphasis on how progressed from email to web to tools to ask an expert. Main point: listen to users vs try to identify bucket company falls in.
I did notice the speaker holding notes. Partially because I am in Toastmasters where we practice noticing. And partially because notes at a keynote are rare unless they are for stats.

David, Meet Goliath: Infusing Major Players with Startup Culture Anil Dash (Activate), Brad Garlinghouse (AOL, Inc.), Tony Conrad (about.me, True Ventures & Sphere), Jason Shellen (AOL)

  • big companoes already have scale, can get startup idea bigger faster. Aol can advertise about.me on billboards and in cabs
  • “big companies think ahout compensation the way communists think about compensation”
  • Aol working on no install needed video chat (but said part of aim so do you need aim software or fully on web?)
  • Must give team enough rope to not be dragged into parent. Reddit did it well
  • About.me trying to distance self from main aol
  • Doesn’t always work. Depends on whether parent company will allow autonomy
  • Book: the lean startup
  • Middle part is boring- prioritzation, choosing customers – so nobody talks about it

5 principles

  • Entrepreneurs are everywhere- startup about creating something new under extreme uncertainty. Size doesn’t matter
  • Entrepreneurship is managenent – Fredrick Taylor invented concept of management. Primary tools are planning and forecasting. Which requires long/stable history to forecast. But this century is too uncertain. The pivot – evolved into what needed. Speed wins – first to each pivot wins
  • Validated Learning – a startup is an experiment, how do you know if making progress or wasting people’s time
  • Build measure learn feedback loop – want to minimize ime thru loop
  • innovation accounting – build minimum viable product so customers can try then can experiment more

How Consumers Will Pay in the Future Carleligh Jaques (Visa)

  • Your bank issues the plastic credit card. Visa is the engine behind it.
  • 6 seconds on a full page disclaimer of text
  • Purchasing 2.0 must span onkine, mobile and physical stores
  • Entering credit card online could be more seamless. Especially on mobile
  • Digital wallet has multiple choices for form of payments. Just like we have multiple credit cards and coupons in a physical wallet. Called Visa V but not just for visa cards.
  • Want to enroll indigital wallwt thru where do online banking now and enter card info once. Merchant must have Visa V as option. Then choose which card want to use. [i wonder what happens is you have multiple home addresses because one card doesn’t believe there is a dash in your address]

A Conversation with Fred Wilson and Carlota Perez Carlota Perez (Cambridge and Sussex Universities, UK, and TUT, Estonia), Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures )

  • Book: Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages
  • Crash always comes after mania. The meaning of the collapse is what is important. It means the technology is fully in place. Such as railroada. Right now we are in turning point – the recession after collapse. Governments find it out hard to change without tremendous pressure. Unemployment came out of last huge crash so people could buy house/car and keeo paying if lost jobs for a few months. Now it is about social over consumption. Need to revamp infrastucture and products to be sustainable so last longer. Protests natural now because people are angry. Youth unemployment is much higher than regular. People scared that no future. When universityless important, it was free now it is debt for life [consider cuny less than 10k per year]
  • Can’t go back to past, it is gone. Fianance must be incentivied to support reeal economy.

Innovation in Open Networks and the Media Lab Joichi Ito (MIT Media Lab)

  • Large companies think more about possible downside whe reventure capitalists have minimal downside so can dfocus on upside.
  • Pull what need when needed. Startups don’t stick to original idea. Move towards what need.
  • MIT Media lab is 25 years old. Focus on building things but soans disciplines.
  • Cool slideshow showing variety of domains for what build.

Using Data to Live in a Chaotic World DJ Patil (Greylock Partners)

  • Pendulum (spelling?) game. Guess when last time double pendulum circles. Chaotic patten. Can’t tell when stops and only 4 variables. Only way to predict is to take lots of data, make small predictions and correct.
  • Then tried to balance broomstick on hand. Nice props for last talk.