Dawn of the Post App Era

“Skate where the puck's going, not where it's been".


In the book “Total Gretsky”, author Bob McKenzie credits The Great One’s father, Walter with this sage advice. The ability to quickly find the open ice is critical to this type of strategic thinking. Successful entrepreneurs and their ivestors are expert at this.

Dawn of the Post-App Era?

When it comes to mobile investing, seasoned VC’s are thinking tools and platforms, not the next Angry Birds.

Last month during the Annual Silicon Valley App Conference, Jay Jamison a venture partner at BlueRun Ventures indicated how hard it is to zero in on the right investment by opining “I think the bar is raising”.

Jamison says he looks hard for tools and platforms that support the development and deployment of applications.

Somewhere out there Steve Jobs has a Cheshire Cat Grin on his face.

Jobs stubbornly insisted that the widely-used Flash technology wasn’t good enough for the iPhone and iPad, and instead favored the newer HTML5 standard, which is iOS, Android, RIM and MS Mobile compatible.

And HTML5 allows web developers to deliver a better SmartPhone experience than an app . . . without an app. Check your current browser’s (SmartPhone or Desktop) HTML5 supportability rating here.  You may be shocked.

Gone in a Flash?

ZD Net reports (Flash is dead. Long live HTML5) that “Adobe’s love affair with its Flash format has come to an end.” The report goes on to note that Microsoft is bailing on its Flash competitor Silverlight.

Will this result in a huge boost in rates of adoption (market penetration) for HTML5?

One camp argues a slow path to adoption primarily because the HTML5 standards are still in the development stage. The WC3 Working Group estimates final recommendations on standards will be issued in 2014.

But Elevations Partners’ incredibly tech savvy co-Founder and Director Roger McNamee has already made a bee-line for the open ice.  Watch his recent presentation at a Paley Center for Media Conference from FORA TV .

Unlocking Value

A Line Extension Roll Out in the New Media Eco-System


An insanely great concept or product virtually sells itself. It is something so extraordinary that critical masses of people are anxious to be first to spread the word to peers they want to impress..

And all that is necessary is for the originator is to get the concept or product into the hands of a select group of opinion-leaders who are likely to care.

If your product or concept is exceptional, constant social networking - interactive hype – all the new media stuff the “experts” tell you is absolutely necessary really isn’t. Because most everyone who matters (even my octogenarian uncle) is already connected, everybody's online; there are now more cell phones than people in the United States. If an idea or a product is “insanely great”, the public will rush to spread the word for you.

The guy whose last name was the same as what this country needs more of got it!

Brand building is an “S-L-O-W” process.

Everything with enduring worth develops slowly.

Now, I can’t tell you if HJ Heinz has developed an insanely great product-line extension, but their marketing strategy has already proven buzz-worthy.


On November 14th the company will roll-out Heinz Tomato Ketchup Blended with Balsamic Vinegar - but only on Facebook.

It costs markedly more than the high-fructose original and you pay $2 for shipping. But you can bet there are a bunch of budget foodies out there who lust for a sample…. The “anticipation” is palpable. To them, this exotic product blend represents a self-satiating luxury on the cheap that represents an early adopters’ “status” acquisition. Conceivably, Heinz has come up with a formula to market a product that “fans” will love so much that they will be anxious to recommend it to like-minded “friends”.

This is a great example of “Adaptive Innovation” in an effort to elevate a line extension to insanely great status.   This is not a product endorsement, but a tip of the hat to an innovative approach to marketing an otherwise conventional business decision.