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Archive for April, 2009

KAC Networking Social Highlights Need for Innovation

Posted in entrepreneur, tagged , , , , , , , on April 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, I had the privilege of MC’ing a professional networking social event in Seattle. This event, organized by KAC (Korean American Coalition), highlighted entrepreneurship.

I gave the following perspective on the importance of entrepreneurship:

We live in a time of exponential changes. Advancement in technology continues to redefine our lives at a rapid pace. China is now the third largest economy in the world, having surpassed Germany last year. Experts predict that China will surpass the US as the largest economy in 18 years. China and India have more honor students than we have children in the US. What does that mean for the future?

To me, it means that innovation is what will continue to give America its edge. We excel in ideating new visions and new inventions. The book-smart Chinese and Indian look to America for innovations. That’s high-value advantage that we need to protect.

As for Korean-Americans, or Asian-Americans in general, we tend to gravitate toward professional livelihoods such as law, medicine and sciences. These are honorable professions, and honor is particularly important to the first generation Asians.  However, the exponential changes in our world today demand that we also cultivate innovation and creative thinking. We need to develop more entrepreneurs, along with lawyers and doctors within our Korean-American communities.

A survey showed that 47 percent of all venture-backed companies in the US have a founder or a co-founder who was not born in the US. What a testament to America’s standing as truly a land of opportunity. Yet, Korean-Americans represent a poor percentage of these venture-backed founders, far behind the Chinese, Indians and even the Israelis, among others. 

One part of the explanation, I believe, is because Korean American parents still push their children to be study and become lawyers and doctors. Also, the Korean culture is generally averse to risk-taking.  

So, we need to change because change is all around us. We need to cultivate an environment that creates more venture-backed start ups with Korean American founders. 

At the KAC Professional Networking Social, four local startups got to introduce their companies:

Guppy Media:  A cutting edge mobile and online advertising network, currently with distribution presence in over thirty countries.

Rice N Roll:  Serves fresh sushi rolls. Three locations throughout greater Seattle, and three locations at Safeco Field. Franchises offered.

Eggsprout: Social networking for professionals with focus on job searches.

Presalepassword: Subscription-based information web site for the secondary ticketing industry.

I’m looking forward to more such events.

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Susan Boyle’s Got Talent and So Much More

Posted in society, Uncategorized, tagged , , on April 19, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Meet Susan Boyle. She’s taking the world by storm with her fairy tale story. Susan is a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent and quite possibly the best reality television story ever.

Susan, you see, is blessed with a generous sense of humor, great moral character. Yet, she is a 47-years-old sinister who has never been kissed. Yes, she’s someone whom you would probably appreciate more for her personality than her physical attributes. Despite being someone that modern pop culture would normally dismiss as not “marketable”, Susan has turned the entertainment world upside down.

Susan showed up to the Britain’s Got Talent show, and was introduced more or less, it seemed, as a comical side bar for the show. These reality shows often times show the most unlikely contestants to poke fun at them for entertainment value. When she first arrives on the show’s stage, snickering can be heard.

Then, she performs an unbelievable rendition of Les Miseables’ I Dreamed A Dream. The audience, the judges, then later, the world would listen stunned. 

I’m not a fan of reality shows, but the lesson taught by Susan Boyle’s performance is one of the most powerful moments I’ve ever seen on television. So many emotions: Mean-spririted pre-judgement; utter astousnishment; appreciation; shame; pride for the human spirit.

The producers have asked YouTube to disable the embedd, so you’ll have to click through if you want to see the video for the first time, or to see it once again. Bravo Susan Boyle. 

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Anil Batra, New Member on WAA Board

Posted in Digital Marketing, web analytics, tagged , , , on April 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

anil1Meet Anil Batra, my favorite guru of Analytics. It so happens that he also works with me at Ascentium as Chief Analytics Officer.

Last week, Anil was one of seven newly elected board members to Web Analytics Association (WAA). This is the leading association within the web analytics industry that supports its members by providing quality education, developing standards and best practices, conducting research and advocating for the industry’s issues.

Anil will bring much passion and energy to the WAA. He has been a thought-leader in the field of Web Analytics for the past five years and writes one of the industry’s most popular blogs. As marketing continues to evolve with emerging new media, analytics strategy and the ability to optimize campaigns and other marketing efforts are becoming center piece issues on the minds of CMO’s. As Anil would say, what are we trying to do here? And why? And how will we appropriately measure and optimize to meet or exceed goals. I know for a fact that Anil’s vision and leadership has added tremendous value to Ascentium’s marketing POV for our clients.

I first met Anil when he was leading Zaaz’ Microsoft account. He didn’t really drink, and he’s quite particular about what he eats. So, we just talked about the industry during that initial meeting. Later, I was fortunate enough to have him join ZeroDash1 shortly after we launched the Web Analytics consultancy. He brought energy, his industry perspective and definite credibility. Just as important, however, was his sense of humor and reassuring loyalty.

Together and with other  team members, we developed ZeroDash1′s reputation enough to be eventually acquired by Ascentium. 

He is definitely a worthwhile person to follow within the industry. He twitters, blogs and speaks at various conferences. He also provides great value to Ascentium’s clients with his expertise.

Congratulations Anil. Let’s go to Cafe Zum Zum for a bit of lamb, spinach curry to celebrate.

anil1

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Moral Conscience Sides with Rape Victim Maria

Posted in society, tagged , , , on April 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

mariaMeet Maria. She was brutally attacked in full view of a New York City subway clerk. Then, she was forcibly dragged down the steps onto a deserted platform where she was raped and raped again, the assailant not stopping even when a subway trained pulled into the station.

The horror occurred July 7, 2004, two days before the young woman’s 22nd birthday. Maria (doesn’t want her full name released) sued the MTA because its workers did not do more to help her during the attack. She has since suffered years of constant nightmares, bouts of depression and anxiety. Now, a judge has ruled that the two transit workers (including a train conductor who also saw the attack) had no obligation to do anything to help her other than to signal their superiors that police were needed at the station.

Maybe by the letter of the law, those two workers didn’t need to do anything more, but their moral duty certainly required them to do more. At least, I would hope so.

Imagine, a young woman is screaming and running up the stairs and makes direct eye contact with you, pleading for help, then a man catches her from behind in a bear hug, dragging her back down the stairs. Is there any ambiguity there? What is your moral responsibility?

Okay, maybe you are afraid and want to stay behind the window screen, but why not at least get on the intercom and try to help? Inform the assailant that the police is on their way. Do something more to help.

She screamed all the way down the stairs. In fact, she was crying and screaming so loud, the assailant lifted her over the tracks in a 45 degree angle, threatening to drop her, to get her to stop. Are those cries still haunting that worker? 

Laws are legal written rules to govern our society. It’s based on literal words that are interpreted by judges. Moral rights and wrongs are more intuitive to most of us. We know instinctively what our moral duty is. These transit workers know, as they did then, what was the right thing to do, or not to do.  Our society knows that their inaction was cowardice and wrong. If you read the comments section to this story, that’s clear. I trust the moral conscience of our society more than a legalistic judge in this instance.

Maria says she has forgiven the assiliant, who has never been found. But the transit workers, she cannot forgive.  “Unfortunately, the man who assaulted me was obviously mentally ill and psychotic,” she said. “He probably had no basis of reality. He didn’t have a conscience, but the transit worker did. He was a human being capable of feeling emotions as I was. I just felt that it was so coldhearted and just completely abominable to basically look the other way.”

Read the original story here (with video from the interview with Today’s Meredith Vieira). Maria couldn’t finish her graduate studies at NYU due to the trauma.

Some will think Maria is being opportunistic by taking her story public. I couldn’t disagree more. It’s tremendously courageous for her to take her story public, and in doing so, she’s making sure that the societal moral conscience is being better defined through public opinion, even if our court of law sees it otherwise.

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Sensuality, not Sleaziness, in Adult Novelty

Posted in society, tagged , , , , , on April 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Meet Coco de Mer, a provider of exotic luxury. Coco de Mer operates stores in the UK and has a compelling website for those in the US. The brand sells designer sex toys and lingerie. Coco de Mer is but one of many companies trying to take adult novelty products to the mainstream — or more accurately, high-end mainstream.

Our perceptions and attitudes about sex has changed dramatically even in the last decade with the wide deployment of broadband. We feel more comfortable researching our human sexuality — and there’s a lot of diverse information out there in the world wide web. While our culture still considers much of the adult novelty industry a sleazy business (some of that the fault of the unimaginative marketers within the industry itself), some innovators are transforming “sleazy” into edgy, into mainstream sensuality.

Ohmibod is another brand exuding edgy sexiness. Omnibod’s main product is a vibrator that moves to the rhythm of your music on your ipod. The Ohmibod website is tasteful and as sexy as a contemporary music video, not raunchy sleazy like most other adult novelty sites.

This is a developing space that represents tantalizing potential. Other than the high-end designer sex toys of Coco de Mer or the hipness of the rhythmic toys of Ohmibod, there WILL BE other brands that capture even more of the imagination of the mainstream. I will be presenting one such brand in coming months. I hope this brand will capture your sensual imagination as well. Stay tuned.

Here’s a video from Coco de Mer: Whatever Tickles Your Fancy

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Caffe Umbria Can Offer More Than A Cup Of Cappuccino

Posted in People, personal stories, Uncategorized, tagged , , on April 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

 

 

It’s just 30 minutes of refuge during a work day. But it makes the whole day better.

Around 4pm, three of us from the office walk across the street to a brick square framed by art galleries, and our favorite caffe, Umbria. We score a table on the patio, and the sun massages us with warmth. Feels so good, so comforting. 

Soon, I have a cup of dry cappuccino with a small chocolate. I remember living in London and watching European women meeting friends, delicately scooping up the foam with the small spoons, laughing and talking. They made a cup of cappuccino seem so much more than the Starbucks latte paper cups we tend to carry around with us. 

For me, having coffee is more about the conversations than the caffeine boost. Today, we talk about Discovery Channel’s episode on the brain’s role in sexual attraction. Ok, we aren’t solving the world’s problems, but we are sure having fun. Anyone ease-dropping might have thought us as silly. No matter though, because the laughter we shared for 30 minutes between sips of cappuccino made for a good day.

The spreadsheet work, or the “pitch” I was working on for a large RFP came into true context. My work is important, no doubt, but so is laughing with good company over a cup of cappucinno. 

Okay guys, same time, same place tomorrow. The sun will be out, and I’ll try to come up with some new jokes. If you happen by, please don’t mind us ;) .

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Charmed Suite 504

Posted in business, Entrepreneurs, tagged , , , , , on April 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Meet Suite 504.  It’s in the FX building in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square. I work there.

At first glance, the sparse space looks rather ordinary and humble, quintessential office loft. It is approximately 2,000 square feet with an open floor plan accented with wooden beams and brick walls.  We thought about removing the commercial ceiling tiles to expose the overhead beams, but worried about what we may find hiding up there.  

gridnetworks1Despite this modest appearance, Suite 504 has a rich history. Prior to our lease, Gridnetworks occupied this space while building its high-quality video distribution technology. Last year, Gridnetworks raised $9.5 million from Comcast, Panorama Capital, and Cisco while working in Suite 504. Soon thereafter, Gridnetworks moved uptown for higher-grade facilities.   Now, there are reports that Gridnetworks has been sold to an unidentified “desktop video environment company” based out of New York.

esurg2Prior to Gridnetworks, the  space was occupied by Esurg, an online medical, surgical, pharmaceutical and office supplies company. In the early 2000′s, this startup’s successes accumulated to its own eventual acquisition by LLS National LLC in 2005. 

My company, ZeroDash1, moved into Suite 504 in September, 2007. We were a small team of 12 trying to build up a web analytics consultancy. We cleaned up the austere space, organized the open spaces and made it home. Five months later, we were acquired by digital marketing agency, Ascentium. Actually, we had two separate offers for aquisition, and ended up selecting the better fit.

Ascentium kept Suite 504 as a small Seattle satellite office. Ascentium’s headquarters is in Bellevue. Most of us split time between the large, premium, well-equipped Bellevue office, and our cozy Seattle office, still with its unique startup feel. Someday, we will vacate Suite 504, and another startup company will move in. Will that company keep the streak going?

Yes, Suite 504 looks pretty plain. It’s like so many other Pioneer Square office spaces that are favored by Seattle technology entrepreneurs. Yet, Suite 504 is anything but ordinary. Some extraordinary ideas have grown out of its rustic walls.

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